On March 5, 2015 the Martin County Local Planning Agency (MCLPA) met to discuss the proposed rezoning of a small area of land within an existing parcel, without subdividing the parcel, in order to allow the construction of a telecommunications tower within the Sailfish Marina at 3565 SE St. Lucie Blvd. in a residential neighborhood in Stuart.
The Agency also reviewed the application for construction of the tower itself. They recommended approval of both the land rezoning and the tower construction to the Martin County Board of Commissioners, who will discuss the matter on Tuesday, April 7, 2015. The meeting will be held at 9 A.M. at Martin County Administrative Center, 2401 S.E. Monterey Road, Stuart, FL and is open to the public.
WHAT THE MCLPA DID
The rezoning effort was not standard, one could characterize it as creative, inasmuch as it involved something the staff called “postage-stamp rezoning.” Martin County zoning regulations require that the County Zoning Atlas be amended to address an inconsistency between the future land use designation and the zoning district. Any proposal which triggers the need for a development application requires consistency between the land use designation and the zoning district. In essence, the applicant requested a zoning change for a 640 square foot development site for the telecommunications tower, but not for the entire approximately 107,000 sq. ft. parcel.
The applicant stated that they used "postage-stamp" zoning to minimize concerns of the neighbors about potential negative effects of rezoning the entire parcel from its current R-3A Liberal Multiple Family District to Waterfront General Commercial (WGC). Specifically, rezoning only a small area for the telecommunications tower instead of the entire parcel would prevent the construction of additional buildings and facilities, such as restaurants, bars, clubs, and other activities that might generate noise and traffic in the neighborhood. The surrounding residential neighborhoods are particularly concerned about this possibility.
During the meeting, the Martin County staff reviewer discussed the Development Standards for the proposed new designation of Waterfront General Commercial. These include minimum lot sizes of 10,000 square feet, minimum lot width of 80 ft. and setback requirements of 25 ft.
WHY OUR RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOODS ARE IN DANGER
Intervenors (homeowners who live within 300 ft. of the parcel) asked how these Development Standards would be applied to this newly created "postage-stamp" WGC zone, inasmuch as it is only about 26 ft. square. A 25 ft. setback requirement would limit construction in that zone to a small patch 1 ft. square. Both the staff and the county attorney could not/did not explain how the setback requirements would be addressed but rather maintained that they would not be applicable to the new, "postage-stamp" WGC zone nor to the parent parcel. A disconcerting discussion describing zoning for the lot and parcel ensued.
In addition, in response to questions, both the county attorney and the staff stated that this practice which they called “postage-stamp zoning” had been used before, and was accepted in the county. Shockingly, they agreed that this zoning technique could be used again in the future to justify additional changes to this same site, perhaps to install a restaurant!
WILL POSTAGE STAMP REZONING BECOME THE NEW NORM FOR MARTIN COUNTY?
It appears that in Martin County, the owner of a parcel who wants to do something or build something that is not currently permitted under the current zoning, can ask to rezone a portion of the parcel and be exempt from most if not all of the Martin County Development Standards. This "postage-stamp" approach to rezoning should be feared by all citizens of Martin County.
