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Planning board recommends county comp plan changes to align with draft water supply work plan
Summary
The Nassau County Planning and Zoning Board on April 1 recommended approval of CPA 25-002, amending public facilities and capital improvements elements to align county policies with the draft Nassau County Water Supply Facilities Work Plan, add level-of-service standards for additional utilities and set a 2025–2040 planning horizon.
The Nassau County Planning and Zoning Board voted April 1 to recommend approval of Comprehensive Plan Amendment CPA 25-002, which amends the public facilities and capital improvements elements to create consistency with the draft Nassau County Water Supply Facilities Work Plan.
The amendment adds level-of-service standards for the City of Fernandina Beach and the proposed First Coast Regional Utility (FCRU), updates the plan time horizon to 2025 through 2040, and removes the Northeast Florida Regional Council from the work-plan credits. Elizabeth Beck, planning department staff, said the county used consultant eXp to support the draft work plan and that the amendment applies countywide.
The change is intended to unify disparate level-of-service metrics now applied to existing utilities and to ensure the county comprehensive plan references the same planning horizon as the draft work plan. Tyler Blair of eXp and Colin Graff, the county's utility director, were present to answer technical questions.
Board discussion focused on the level-of-service metric expressed as a 350-gallon-per-day equivalent residential unit (ERU) used by Fernandina Beach. Colin Graff told the board that 350 gallons is commonly used as a national standard even when local meter-based studies show lower per-capita use: "350 is a national standard that a lot of communities will just take and use even though that's not what they're doing." Board members pressed whether the county was effectively adopting Fernandina Beach's assumptions without independent verification; staff said the county does not control municipal utility data and that consumptive-use permits and the St. Johns River Water Management District process could prompt later revisions.
Motion and vote: Board member Morris moved to recommend approval of CPA 25-002; board member Henson seconded. The motion carried and the board closed the public hearing on the item.
Why it matters: amending the comprehensive plan to match the draft work plan and municipal utility metrics affects how the county forecasts water demand and prioritizes capital improvements over a 20-year horizon. The amendment does not itself change utility operations or authorize withdrawals; staff and speakers said any change to permitted withdrawals would occur through utility permits and state review processes.
Reported action: The board recommended approval of CPA 25-002 to the next decision-making body.
