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Council asks staff to study consolidation of planning, zoning and other advisory boards
Summary
Councilmembers directed staff to prepare options to consolidate the local planning agency, zoning board and several other advisory committees to streamline reviews and reduce scheduling delays; staff will return with code-change options and membership proposals.
Bonita Springs councilmembers asked staff on April 16 to return with proposals to consolidate the local planning agency (LPA), the zoning board and several advisory committees, aiming to speed project reviews and reduce duplicative hearings.
At the council's strategic workshop earlier this year, members discussed combining boards to allow a single panel to review holistic land-use, zoning and design issues. Staff told the council that the change would require code amendments and careful attention to statutory requirements, including designated seats for some boards under state reporting.
"The purpose of these boards were advisory boards to assist council in making decisions, bringing things to our attention, not to work at odds with us," said Councilmember Nigel, urging retirement of committees that had become adversarial. Several council members said consolidation could improve review efficiency but stressed the need to preserve the statutory functions of the LPA and zoning review.
City staff and the city attorney said combining panels would require administrative-code and land-development-code amendments and that some committees' statutory reporting and membership rules (for example, historic and tree-board seats) would need to be preserved in any new structure. Staff proposed initial consolidation targets: local planning agency, zoning board, historical preservation board and possibly the tree board; staff will survey existing board liaisons and return with recommendations on membership size, expertise requirements and a draft code amendment.
Council also voted earlier in the meeting to forward approved advisory-board minutes to council members once boards approve minutes; the change was intended to improve council oversight of committee activity. That procedural change passed by roll call.
Why it matters Council members said timing conflicts among separate advisory panels sometimes extend project schedules. Consolidation could reduce the number of hearings a project must attend and give council more comprehensive advisory review in a single forum; conversely, some members said separate LPA review preserves the long-range plan perspective and statutory review functions.
What's next Staff will: (1) survey council liaisons to advisory boards; (2) draft options for merging defined boards, including membership, required expertise and any statutory seat protections; and (3) bring code amendment language and an implementation timeline to a future council meeting.
