Planning commission recommends transmittal of Alachua County amendment to meet House Bill 1379 requirements

The Local Planning Agency and Planning Commission on Aug. 21 recommended that the Board of County Commissioners transmit a county-initiated amendment to the Alachua County Comprehensive Plan intended to implement provisions of House Bill 1379.

Ben Chumley, principal planner with the Alachua County Growth Management Department, told the commission that "House Bill 13 79, which went into effect on 07/01/2023, was an environmental protection bill primarily dealing with various water quality protection issues." He said the statute requires local governments to consider the feasibility of providing sanitary sewer service within a 10-year planning horizon for any development of more than 50 residential lots served by septic systems and to include publicly funded capital projects necessary to meet Basin Management Action Plan pollutant-reduction targets in the capital improvements element.

Staff reported a preliminary inventory and said it identified about 67 developments within the county’s urban cluster and 38 developments outside the urban cluster that might be subject to the statute; excluding grouped smaller subdivisions would reduce those counts to about 25 and 7, respectively. Chumley recommended adding policy 2.1.8 to the potable water and sanitary sewer element, with staff conducting a feasibility analysis by April 2026 and every 10 years thereafter.

Commissioners pressed staff on cost and scale. "I have some concern that there could be monetary implications on some people who would have difficulty funding it," said Commissioner Rutenberg, urging the commission to consider economies of scale and cost impacts on homeowners. Chumley said the proposed policy does include factors such as potential costs to property owners and the county and that feasibility evaluations will be done case by case.

Stacy Greco of the county’s Environmental Protection Department said the county is legally obligated to reduce nutrient loading and that funding will come from a mix of county stormwater-assessment revenue and state matches. "I mean, the county, we are legally obligated to, reduce nutrient loading in these basins to meet our allocation," Greco said, and added that the county has already begun projects such as Newnan’s Lake and septic upgrades at county parks.

The commission voted to recommend transmittal of amendment Z24000004 for expedited review under section 163.3184, Florida Statutes; the item will next go to the Board of County Commissioners for consideration.