Question 1

What is a comprehensive plan?

Accepted Answer

A Comprehensive Plan (hereafter referred to as ‘Comp Plan’) is a document created by local governments and residents to determine what the focus and vision of the community should be over a long-term period.
 
The Plan looks at the relationships between land uses, infrastructure, such as roads and utilities, and community needs, and can impact how and where a community grows over time. It seeks to include broad, equitable, and diverse public engagement from residents across all areas of the municipality.
 
Florida Law requires that each local government prepare a comprehensive plan. This law is called the Community Planning Act and can be found at Chapter 163, Florida Statutes.

Question 2

Why does a comprehensive plan matter?

Accepted Answer

Because the Comp Plan has the force of law. After a comprehensive plan has been adopted by a local government, all development undertaken by, and all actions taken in regard to development orders by, governmental agencies in regard to land covered by such comprehensive plan are required to be consistent with such plan.
 
In short, the comprehensive plan is:
 
A public guide to community decision making
An assessment of the community’s needs
A statement of community values, goals, and objectives
A blueprint for the community’s physical development
A public legal document adopted by government
Continuously updated as conditions change

Question 3

What exactly is council voting on?

Accepted Answer

At this time, Council will be voting on an amendment to the Future Land Use Element (FLUE) and Future Land Use Map (FLUM) of the 2025 Comprehensive Plan that includes changes to property density, use designation, etc.

Question 4

What are the arguments for/against this vote?

Accepted Answer

FOR

Arguments for the proposed comp plan include:
Residential density can be controlled during the zoning stage of a project
High density is necessary to make current non-compliant properties (i.e. ones that don't conform to the comp plan passed in 2018) come into compliance. 
If major damage occurs to a non-compliant property (such as destruction by fire or hurricane) requiring the structure to be rebuilt, it may not be allowed due to non-compliance.

AGAINST

Arguments against the proposed comp plan include:
if it passes with the expectation that village zoning will control density, we put the village at risk by lawsuits from developers because the comp plan is a legal document, and zoning regulations that don't accommodate the density written into the comp plan may be considered unlawful.
lack of information about long-term impacts
does not take into account the community's vision for the village
widespread changes are not necessary to address the problems with the current comprehensive plan
if we pass a comp plan that includes lower density, developers can apply for a small scale comp plan amendment to accommodate their project
We're due to pass another comprehensive plan for 2025, and broader changes can be addressed for that, giving the village time to get data and listen to the community.
If major damage occurs to a non-compliant property (such as destruction by fire or hurricane) requiring the structure to be rebuilt, the non-compliant property may be rebuilt as a special circumstance.

Question 5

How does this affect me?

Accepted Answer

The changes to the comprehensive plan will affect all members of the Miami Shores Village community, impacting things like:
property values
local infrastructure
local schools and class sizes
traffic patterns throughout the village
MSV parks and recreation
To prevent detrimental effects on our community, we are calling on Miami Shores Village Council to vote "no" at this time, to pass a "fix only" solution, and to produce the necessary (state-mandated) analyses to support increased density through impact studies.

Question 6

Why is the plan called the 2025 Comprehensive Plan if its 2022 now?

Accepted Answer

Our current operative Plan was adopted in 2008 and is called the 2025 Comprehensive Plan because it was intended to set forth the Village’s future planning goals into the year 2025.

Question 7

Does the amendment have to incorporate additional residential density in order to “fix” the errors?

Accepted Answer

For the most part, no. The only area that technically “lost” density in the 2018 plan was the Barry-owned land which was erroneously designated as “institutional.” Prior to 2018, the Barry-owned land historically had a density of 6 units/per acre (equivalent to the average village-wide Single Family Residential density)

Question 8

Can this amendment be put to a vote of the people instead of just 5 council members?

Accepted Answer

Unfortunately, no. Referendums on Comprehensive Plan Amendments are prohibited by Florida Statute. See Florida Statute Section 163.3167(8)(b).

This law is in response to the 2010 Hometown Democracy Amendment, also known as Amendment 4, also known as "Referenda Required For Adoption And Amendment of Local Government Comprehensive Land Use Plans."  If passed the constitutional amendment would have altered the way comprehensive plan amendments are adopted. Proposed comprehensive plan amendments would still be heard by county or city officials, however, if they are approved by those officials, they would then be subject to a vote of the electors of the local government by referendum.

The Florida Hometown Democracy movement came from a concern that these comprehensive plan amendments are granted too frequently, are not scrutinized enough to ensure the area can handle the growth, and are resulting in irresponsible growth across the state.
 
This ballot initiative was on the November 2, 2010 ballot in Florida as an initiated constitutional amendment to the Florida Constitution where it was defeated. The initiative proposed requiring a taxpayer-funded referendum for all changes to local government comprehensive land-use plans.

The initiative appeared on the November ballot as "Amendment 4." In 2011 the Florida legislature passed a bill prohibiting local communities from requiring a local referendum on changes to comprehensive land-use plans. The legislature’s ban on local votes, is a direct response to 2010's Amendment 4.

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