BY TRACY LEE TATE
Special to the Times
The February 17, 2025, meeting of the Union County Board of County Commissioners was shorter than usual, thanks to both a shorter than normal agenda and the lack of any public comment.
Land development regulations
The board had asked Commissioner Melissa McNeal and County Coordinator Jimmy Williams to work with the North Florida Regional Planning Council concerning requests for possible changes to the county’s Land Development Regulations. Williams included a list of these requests in the meeting’s agenda packet, and the board reviewed them, with additional comments from County Attorney Russ Wade.
The first request was for the planning council to export their geographic information system to allow the county to overlay maps with zoning and the tax map to create a single map that would facilitate answering questions from builders and others without having to refer to multiple maps.
The planning council was asked to draft a proposed ordinance for up to three houses to share a common access drive to a county road if they are otherwise exempt from subdivision requirements. Also, a draft was requested for accessory dwelling provisions for permanent structures, removing “servants quarters” language, at the request of Commissioner Donna Jackson, and kitchen restrictions – applying to all zoning classifications.
The document also requested commissioners to discuss and arrive at a decision concerning accessory dwelling use, including whether square footage should be limited, and if so, what, and whether there should be a limit on rental use or Airbnb/VRBO type rentals. Wade commented that such use was difficult to enforce and that under current regulations, it was legal if the rental was a single structure on the property, but not for accessory dwellings.
Also requested was the draft revision to allow special permits for RV/Travel trailers use as an accessory dwelling on a one-year renewal basis for family use, hardship situations, or caretakers. Wade added that this matter should be dealt with as an annual permit.
The planning council was also asked to research the creation of an RV Park comprehensive plan category.
Wade suggested a workshop for the board to review and discuss these documents and Williams said he would get all the options together, along with any needed explanations from the planning council for the board. Wade added that some of these cases may be best dealt with by special assessments. Wade also informed the board that the deadline for adjusting the existing special assessments was coming up soon and that the board would need to decide on the matter by the end of March.
Impact fees and special assessments
Jackson said she would also like to discuss impact fees in relation to fire protection and Emergency Medical Services. Wade explained that an impact fee would be charged for new development that has no history of paying for services through special assessments. He said that new development created the need for services and the fee would be a way to collect compensation from them. Union County Clerk of Court and Comptroller Kellie Hendricks Rhoades mentioned that to her knowledge, funds derived from impact fees could only be used for infrastructure and not operations costs, such as salaries. Wade responded that such funds would be used for new equipment. He cautioned the board that once the amount of an impact fee was set, it was very difficult to increase at a later time, but additional impact fees could be added for other purposes, such as roads. Williams added that funds from a reasonable impact fee, based on the growth in the county, could pay for a new EMS units or brush trucks in two years and a new fire truck in about five years.
Jackson commented that an influx of new residents into the county was already underway and shows all the signs of continuing. The commissioners all agreed on the need for a workshop to deal with both the special assessment and impact fee issues. Williams asked that they wait until he has the cost-to-the-county figures for the coming year from the New River Solid Waste Association and some other materials for the commissioner to discuss at the workshop. It was decided that the date and time for the workshop would be set at the board’s next meeting on March 3, Jackson said she wanted to make sure that the workshop was scheduled so that members of the public would be able to attend and offer comments on the matters under discussion.
Other issues
Later in the meeting, Jackson commented that she felt the department head reports should be given at the regular meeting (3rd Monday of each month) rather than at the newly established meeting on the first Monday of the month, which was added to facilitate getting the bills paid on time. The new meeting starts at 4:30 p.m., which makes it difficult for working members of the public to attend, and she finds that to be problematic in that the residents cannot address problems with the department heads if necessary. It was decided that, starting with the March regular meeting, department heads will give their reports at the regular monthly meetings.
During the individual commissioners’ reports McNeal noted that the site plan for the fire department fill station at Harmony Baptist Church would be delivered to Clay Electric the following day and that she was in discussions with Farm Share concerning the county facilitating monthly food distributions to the elderly in the county. She said she was told that this would allow the serving of 150 more county seniors.
Commissioner Mac Johns reported that the new roof had been installed on the Providence Community Center to replace the one damaged by hurricane winds in the area. It was noted that some of the cost was paid by insurance on the building, and the balance should be paid by FEMA.
One amendment to the county budget was approved by the board by resolution to recognize unanticipated income from the State of Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services in the amount of $1,985 and was given the county to pay for additional chemicals for mosquito control.
