§ 8.7-4. General legislative findings.

It is hereby ascertained, determined and declared that:

A.

Pursuant to Article VIII, Section 1, Florida Constitution, and Sections 125.01 and 125.66, Florida Statutes, the Polk County board of county commissioners has all powers of local self-government to perform county functions and render county services and facilities except when prohibited by law, including the authority to adopt and impose impact fees through a county ordinance.

B.

Section 163.3202(3), Florida Statutes, encourages the use of innovative land development regulations, including the use of impact fees, to implement the goals, objectives and policies of a county's comprehensive plan.

C.

Both existing development and development resulting from growth, as contemplated by the comprehensive plan, will require improvements and additions to capital facilities to accommodate and maintain the level of service adopted by the county.

D.

Future growth represented by capital facilities impact construction should contribute its fair share to the cost of improvements and additions to capital facilities that are required to accommodate the use of such facilities by growth.

E.

The required improvements and additions to the capital facilities needed to accommodate existing development at the adopted level of service shall be financed by revenue sources other than impact fees.

F.

Implementation of an impact fee structure to require future capital facilities impact construction to contribute its fair share of the cost of improvements and additions to capital facilities is an integral and vital element of the management of growth.

G.

On May 9, 2007, the county adopted the Polk County Amended, Restated and Consolidated Comprehensive Impact Fee Ordinance, Ordinance No. 07-018, which amended, consolidated and restated Ordinances 89-40, 03-27, 05-017, 05-057 and 06-026, all as had been previously amended, and which collectively established and imposed impact fees within the county for emergency medical system, transportation, correctional facilities, educational system, libraries, parks and recreation facilities, fire rescue, and law enforcement capital facilities. Ordinance No. 07-018 has been subsequently amended by adoption of Ordinances 07-035, 07-040, 08-017, 09-005, 09-043, 10-032, 10-035, 10-080, 13-037, 13-048, 13-057, 13-058, 15-014, 15-026 and 18-038. By adoption of the Ordinance from which this chapter derives, the county is consolidating, amending and restating Ordinance No. 07-018, as subsequently amended by each of the above-referenced amending ordinances, for administrative ease and convenience for the county and the cities.

H.

The administrative costs imposed herein are limited to the actual costs of administration and collection of the impact fees imposed herein, in accordance with Section 163.31801, Florida Statutes.

I.

Reserved.

J.

The data set forth in the impact fee studies, as further described in section 8.7-5, which was employed in the calculation of the impact fee rates to be imposed in conformance with this chapter, is the most recent and localized data available for the applicable capital facilities as of the date of each impact fee study.

K.

Capital facilities planning is an evolving process and the level of service adopted by the county for such capital facilities constitutes a balancing of anticipated need and the corresponding cost to implement such standard, based upon present knowledge and judgment. Therefore, in recognition of changing growth patterns, the needs of the community and the dynamics of capital facilities planning, it is the intent of the board that the level of service and the cost of the various capital facilities be reviewed and adjusted periodically, pursuant to section 8.7-121, to ensure that the impact fees imposed pursuant to this chapter are equitable and lawful based on the impact of growth upon these capital facilities.

L.

Reserved.

M.

Reserved.

N.

This chapter shall not be construed to permit the collection of impact fees from capital facilities impact construction in excess of the amount reasonably anticipated to offset the need for and demand on those capital facilities generated by such capital facilities impact construction.

O.

The board hereby finds that there is a significant shortage in the number of practicing physicians in the county to serve the demand of the county population. This shortage has been documented in a medical manpower study conducted by the University of Florida and Shands Hospital. The county is committed to helping all residents of the county obtain access to quality, affordable health care as a core part of the county's economic development plans. Accordingly, the board wishes to recruit new medical office facilities and encourage the expansion of existing medical office facilities which will accommodate additional practicing physicians in Polk County, Florida, by creating the medical office facilities impact fee mitigation program.

P.

The imposition of impact fees herein may place the county in a noncompetitive position with other local governments that have chosen not to require growth to pay its fair share of needed capital facilities and thus hinder efforts by the county and the community to encourage economic development opportunities within the county and to create permanent employment expansion opportunities for the county's citizens, therefore the board wishes to establish an economic development impact fee mitigation program for certain qualified target industry businesses to mitigate any real or perceived disadvantage occurring from the imposition of impact fees.

Q.

In Chapter 420, Florida Statutes, the Florida Legislature directly recognizes the critical shortage of affordable housing in the State of Florida for very low to moderate income families, the problems associated with rising housing costs in the state, and the lack of available housing programs to address these needs. In recognition of these problems and the state's encouragement to local governments to work in partnership with the state and private sector to solve these housing problems, the county finds a need for local programs to stimulate and provide for the development of workforce housing for moderate income persons.

R.

The board desires to provide incentives to develop and provide workforce housing stock within the county so that moderate income persons who desire to live and to work in the county may have access to housing, and thus to offset the negative consequences of the shortage of such housing.

S.

To accomplish this objective the board finds that it is fair and reasonable to create a workforce housing impact fee mitigation program to reduce the burden of impact fees on moderate income persons and encourage the development of workforce housing.

T.

The board hereby finds that there is a need for planned residential communities in the county to serve the demand of the population. The county is committed to helping residents of the county with a developmental disability obtain access to safe, affordable, quality housing. Accordingly, the board wishes to support new or expanding planned residential communities in the county by creating the developmentally disabled planned residential community impact fee exemption.

(Ord. No. 18-048, § I(1.04), 7-24-18)