BY DAN HILDEBRAN
The Keystone Heights Planning and Zoning Board adjusted its comprehensive plan update timeline after learning it had received a $60,000 planning grant from Florida Commerce, officials said during their November 24 meeting.
The grant will offset city staff costs for the comprehensive plan revision, required by state statute every seven years.
City Planner Janice Fleet said that of the 415 Florida municipalities, only 20 received the award.
“They were looking for ones that are rural,” she said. “We have been lucky enough to be designated as rural in an urban county. Nobody else in Clay County could have applied for it.”
The grant comes with specific deliverables and deadlines, requiring the board to step back slightly from its original timeline.
The city must complete the comprehensive plan update by June 30, the end of the state’s fiscal year.
However, recent state legislation has complicated the process. Senate Bill 180, passed last year under the stated purpose of hurricane preparedness, prohibits municipalities from making comprehensive plans more restrictive than previous versions. Several Florida communities have had their updated plans rejected for minor changes the state deemed too restrictive.
“We’re hearing horror stories from planners throughout the state,” Fleet said. “Any change is being considered more restrictive.”
Fleet added that what was described as minor changes to Orange Park’s comp. plan was rejected because of SB 180.
The legislation has forced planning staffs across the state to carefully review all proposed changes to their land use plans.
Fleet said she is also reviewing Keystone’s proposed changes.
“We’re going through them very judiciously to make sure how they’re going to be affected by Senate Bill 180,” Fleet said. “Your work has not been in vain, but it might take a while before you see the results.”
Board members expressed frustration with the constraints.
“Over my dead body,” will the board simply rubber-stamp the previous plan, Chair John Zieser said, though he acknowledged the need to defer to staff expertise on navigating the new restrictions.
The board’s immediate assignment is to review the city’s future land-use map and consider whether the current land-use categories make sense.
Fleet specifically asked members to examine the mixed-use designation in the downtown area, which currently requires a 50-50 split between residential and commercial development.
“That requirement is hurting development, not promoting development,” Fleet said.
She suggested creating a “commercial downtown” category that would allow residential but not mandate it, similar to what neighboring Green Cove Springs has implemented.
The grant also requires the city to develop a public engagement plan. Board members suggested reaching out to churches, civic organizations like Kiwanis and Rotary, the Lake Region Prosperity Partners, schools, and parent-teacher associations.
“We need to think about how to engage those who don’t normally engage,” board member Dr. Geraldine Robbins said.
