Planning board recommends EAR-based comp-plan corrections to City Commission after state law voided two policies

The Port St. Joe Planning Board voted on Feb. 3 to recommend EAR-based amendments to the city's comprehensive plan to the City Commission after a planner explained that state law affected recently adopted language.

Consultant Ray Greer told the board that the comp plan adopted last July had been submitted to the state and that Senate Bill 180 "went to effect in July" and was applied retroactively to 2024. Greer said the law voided two policies in the board's adopted plan that were more restrictive than the prior standards, specifically two infrastructure-level-of-service provisions: "So this is the comp plan minus those 2 policies that you approved back in December."

Greer said the remedy in the presented version was to restore those two policies to their prior language so the plan would conform with the state law and be re-approved by state review. He summarized that the bill's effect had required the change and that the board was being asked to forward the corrected plan to the City Commission for final consideration.

A board member moved to recommend the amended comp plan to the City Commission; the motion was seconded and the board recorded the outcome in the transcript as "All paid." The transcript does not list individual roll-call votes. The board discussed who would present the Planning Board's recommendation at the City Commission hearing and a member volunteered to do so.

The record includes references to the comp plan adoption date and the state review process; no additional conditions or modifications were recorded in the meeting minutes excerpt.