§ 138-26. Evaluation Procedures for Dwelling Unit Allocation.

(a)

Adjustment of residential ROGO allocations. At the end of each quarterly allocation period, the Planning Director shall recommend additions or subtractions to the basic allocation available by subarea, based upon any of the following, as appropriate:

(1)

The number of building permits for new residential units issued which expired.

(2)

The number of dwelling unit allocation awards that expired prior to issuance of a corresponding building permit and which were awarded in the current annual allocation period;

(3)

The number of residential ROGO allocation awards available which were not allocated during the quarterly allocation period in the current annual allocation period;

(4)

The number of residential ROGO allocation awards in previous quarters which were borrowed from future allocations to accommodate multiple unit projects or to accommodate allocation applications with identical scores, pursuant to Section 138-26(b)(2), or which were granted to applicants via either the appeals process, administrative relief or a beneficial use determination;

(5)

Residential ROGO allocations vested during the preceding quarter;

(6)

Any other modifications required or provided for by the Comprehensive Plan or an agreement pursuant to F.S. Chapter 380;

(7)

The receipt or transfer of affordable housing allocations from or to municipalities pursuant to this article;

(8)

Allocations reserved and/or awarded by the BOCC pursuant to Section 138-24(c).

(b)

Initial evaluation of allocation applications. Upon receipt of completed allocation applications, the Planning Director shall evaluate the allocation applications for market rate housing pursuant to the evaluation criteria set forth in Section 138-28.

(1)

Except for affordable housing, the Planning Director shall classify each allocation application by subarea.

(2)

On the evaluation cover page, for each allocation application, the Planning Director shall indicate the subarea and the number of dwelling units for which allocation awards are being requested. Market rate allocation applications shall be aggregated by subarea. Affordable housing allocation applications shall be aggregated on a countywide basis, except for the Big Pine Key/No Name Key subarea.

(3)

Within 30 days of the conclusion of a quarterly allocation period, unless otherwise extended by the BOCC, the Planning Director shall, for market rate allocations:

a.

Complete the evaluation of all allocation applications submitted during the relevant allocation period;

b.

Total the number of dwelling units by subarea for which allocation applications have been received; and

c.

Rank the allocation applications in descending order from the highest evaluation point total to the lowest and by controlling date, pursuant to subsection (e).

(4)

Within 30 days of the conclusion of a quarterly allocation period, unless otherwise extended by the BOCC, the Planning Director shall, for affordable housing allocations:

a.

Complete review of all allocation applications to confirm eligibility of applicants during the relevant allocation period;

b.

Total the number of dwelling units for the unincorporated county for which affordable housing allocation applications have been received; and

c.

List the affordable housing allocation applications in descending order of controlling date from earliest to latest date.

(5)

If the number of dwelling units represented by the allocation applications for market rate housing, by subarea, is equal to or less than the quarterly allocation, the Planning Director may make a recommendation to the Planning Commission that all of the allocation applications for that subarea be granted allocation awards.

(6)

If the number of dwelling units represented by the allocation applications for affordable housing is equal to or less than the available allocation, the Planning Director may make a recommendation to the Planning Commission that all of the allocation applications be granted allocation awards.

(7)

If the number of dwelling units represented by the allocation applications for market rate housing, by subarea, is greater than the quarterly allocation, the Planning Director shall submit an evaluation report to the Planning Commission indicating the evaluation rankings and identifying those allocation applications whose ranking puts them within the quarterly allocation, and those allocation applications whose ranking puts them outside of the quarterly allocation.

(8)

If the number of dwelling units represented by the allocation applications for affordable housing is greater than the total available allocation, the Planning Director shall submit a report to the Planning Commission indicating the applications in order of their control dates and identifying those allocation applications for which sufficient allocations exist and those allocation applications whose ranking by controlling date puts them outside the available allocation.

(c)

Public hearings. Upon completion of the evaluation ranking report and/or recommendation, the Planning Director shall schedule and notice a public hearing by the Planning Commission pursuant to otherwise applicable regulations.

(1)

At or prior to the public hearing, the Planning Commission may request, and the Planning Director shall supply, copies of the allocation applications and the Planning Director evaluation worksheets.

(2)

Upon review of the market rate allocation applications and evaluation worksheets, the Planning Commission may adjust the points awarded for meeting a particular criteria, adjust the rankings as a result of changes in points awarded, or make such other changes as may be appropriate and justified.

(3)

The basis for any Planning Commission changes in the scoring or ranking of market rate applications shall be specified in the form of a motion to adopt the allocation rankings and may include the following:

a.

An error in the designation of the applicable subarea.

b.

A mistake in the calculation of dedicated or aggregated lots/land.

c.

A mistake in assignment of the tier map designation in the application. Such a mistake in reading the tier designation in applying points for the application, any change to the tier map must go through the procedures for amendment of the tier map.

d.

Any other administrative error or omission that may cause the application to be incorrectly scored.

(4)

The public, including, but not limited to, applicants for allocation awards, shall be permitted to testify at the public hearing. Applicants may offer testimony about their applications or other applications; however, in no event may an applicant offer modifications to an application that could change the points awarded or the ranking of the application.

(5)

At the conclusion of the public hearing, the Planning Commission may:

a.

Move to accept the evaluation rankings for market rate housing applications and rankings for affordable housing applications as submitted by the Planning Director.

b.

Move to accept the rankings as may be modified as a result of the public hearing.

c.

Move to continue the public hearing to take additional public testimony.

d.

Move to close the public hearing but to defer action on the evaluation rankings pending receipt of additional information.

e.

Move to reject the rankings.

(6)

The Planning Commission shall finalize the rankings within 60 days following initial receipt of the Planning Director evaluation ranking, report and recommendations.

(d)

Notification to applicants. Upon finalization of the evaluation rankings by the Planning Commission, notice of the rankings, by subarea for market rate housing, and countywide for affordable housing, shall be posted at the Planning and Environmental Resources Department offices and at such other places as may be designated by the Planning Commission.

(1)

Applicants who receive allocation awards shall be further notified by certified mail, return receipt requested. After three (3) unsuccessful attempts to notify the applicant via certified mail, return receipt requested, the allocation award shall expire. Except as provided herein for allocations for affordable housing awarded by the BOCC pursuant to Section 138-24(b) and subsection (f) of this section, upon receipt of notification of an allocation award, the applicant may request issuance of a building permit for the applicable dwelling unit.

(2)

Applicants who fail to receive allocation awards shall be further notified by regular mail; without further action by such applicants or the payment of any additional fee, such applications shall remain in the residential ROGO system for reconsideration in the next succeeding quarterly allocation period.

(e)

Identical rankings for market rate housing applications. If two or more allocation applications in a given subarea have identical evaluation points, these applications shall be ranked in descending order from the earliest controlling date of submission to the latest. The Planning Commission may approve two or more allocation applications with identical rankings and controlling dates despite the fact that the quarterly allocation will be exceeded if:

(1)

A clear statement of findings of fact are made justifying the decision; and

(2)

The excess allocation is reduced from the next succeeding quarterly allocation period or is reduced pro rata from the next three quarterly allocation periods.

(f)

Extension of expiration period for Affordable Housing. Upon the written approval of the Planning Director, the expiration period for an allocation award for affordable multi-unit housing projects may be extended where the applicant is unable to be granted a sufficient number of allocations required to initiate the project. As may be required time to time, the BOCC may extend the 60-day expiration period for an allocation award by resolution upon finding that such extension is in the public interest.

( Ord. No. 006-2016 , § 1(Exh. 1), 4-13-2016)