VENICE — Planning and Zoning staff reached out to 16 owners of property that has been annexed into the city but not rezoned from a county classification, to gauge their interest in city zoning.
“The feedback was generally unsupportive and hesitant” even though fees for rezoning would be waived, Director Roger Clark told the City Council Tuesday.
The Council had directed staff to make the inquiry in the wake of the city’s effort to rezone the Sawgrass community, which still has county zoning.
Sawgrass wasn’t included among the 16 properties, he said, because its rezoning is in process. Neither was the former Murphy Oaks property across Auburn Road from Sawgrass, because a rezoning application is expected.
A county-owned property was excluded as well, Clark said.
The inquiry generated 10 responses, six of which came from attorneys expressing interest in learning more about rezoning but also raising concerns about the impact on their clients’ properties, he said.
“Concerns are centered around the status of current uses on the property, potential tax implications, and other potential increases in applicable City fees and charges,” he wrote in a Feb. 23 memorandum to the Council. “The remaining respondents voiced similar concerns during a phone conversation. Although most were intrigued by the proposal, none indicated complete agreement.”
All but one of the properties has a county Open Use Estate zoning, said attorney Jeff Boone, whose firm represents the owners of several parcels. OUE’s maximum density is one dwelling unit per five acres, but more significant, it’s the county’s main agricultural zoning.
One of the property owners keeps cows on her land, and the city doesn’t have an equivalent of OUE or an agricultural zoning designation, Clark said.
The city has generally required that annexed properties be rezoned within a year, and six of the properties in question had that condition. Most, however, have rezoning contingent on development, which can’t happen without rezoning, Clark said.
If the Council wants to force rezoning before the owner or a purchaser seeks development, the city could create a new zoning designation, he said.
Boone urged the Council to respect the wishes of the property owners.
“The question,” he said, “is whether the city wants to be heavy-handed and rezone all these properties.”
Council Member Ron Smith said rezoning of the six properties contractually obligated to do it is overdue. He would be open to discussing the terms for rezoning, he said, but only after the city begins the process.
Council Member Joan Farrell agreed with him, but the rest of their colleagues did not.
Mayor Nick Pachota said the city could explore creating its own version of OUE zoning as an enticement to rezoning, but said he’s not interested in forcing it.
Only Smith and Farrell voted for a motion to proceed with rezoning the six properties that failed to do it within a year of annexation.
A motion for staff to enter into discussions with the six owners who expressed interest in rezoning passed, 7-0.
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