§ 138-50. Type of Development Not Subject to the NROGO Permit Allocation System.

The NROGO shall not apply to the development described below:

(a)

Development with no net increase in nonresidential floor area. The redevelopment, rehabilitation or replacement of any lawfully established nonresidential floor area which does not increase the amount of nonresidential floor area greater than that which existed on the site prior to the redevelopment, rehabilitation or replacement.

The Planning Director shall review available documents to determine if a body of evidence exists to support the lawful existence of nonresidential floor area on or about September 19, 2001, the effective date of the original NROGO. Such evidence shall be documented and submitted to the Planning Director on a form provided by the Planning and Environmental Resources Department. Any issued Monroe County building permit(s) confirming the existence of the structure(s) and its use(s) on or about September 19, 2001 can stand as the only piece of evidence for an NROGO exemption.

If there are no building permit(s) which confirm the lawful existence of the structure(s) and its use(s) on or about September 19, 2001, the application shall include, at a minimum, at least two of the following documents:

(1)

Any other issued Monroe County building permit(s) supporting the existence of the structure(s) and its use(s) on or about September 19, 2001;

(2)

Documentation from the Monroe County Property Appraiser's Office indicating residential use on or about September 19, 2001;

(3)

Aerial photographs (to confirm the number of structures, not the type of structure) and original dated photographs showing the structure(s) existed on or about September 19, 2001;

(4)

Nonresidential County Directory entries on or about September 19, 2001;

(5)

Rental, occupancy or lease records, on or about September 19, 2001, indicating the number, type and term of the rental or occupancy;

(6)

State and/or county licenses, on or about September 19, 2001, indicating the nonresidential use;

(7)

Documentation from the utility providers indicating the type of service (commercial or residential) provided and the number of meters in existence on or about September 19, 2001; and

(8)

Similar supporting documentation not listed above as determined suitable by the Planning Director.

Nonresidential floor area established after the effective date of the original NROGO should be documented through the NROGO permit allocation system. Such nonresidential floor area that received such an NROGO allocation(s) that was constructed may be lawfully established through verification of the certificate of completeness/occupancy alone. Provision of affidavits to support the existence of nonresidential floor area is allowed, but affidavits cannot be the sole record upon which a decision is based. Other than files in which the growth management division is custodian, provision of documents is the responsibility of the applicant. Nonresidential floor area determined to be exempt from the NROGO per this subsection that has not been previously acknowledged by the Planning Director may also be a nonconformity, pursuant to Chapter 102, article III nonconformities. Such occasions shall require a separate determination by the Planning Director as to the lawfulness of the nonconformity.

(b)

Areas exempted from residential ROGO. Any area of the unincorporated county exempted from residential ROGO as provided for in Section 138-22.

(c)

Public/governmental uses. Public/governmental uses, including public buildings, as defined in Section 101-1.

(d)

Development activity for certain not-for-profit organizations. Except for the nonpublic institutional uses on Big Pine Key and No Name Key pursuant to Section 138-49, nonresidential development activity within Tier III designated areas by federally tax exempt not-for-profit educational, scientific, health, religious, social, cultural and recreational organizations which predominately serve the county's non-transient population, if approved by the BOCC after review and recommendation by the Planning Director and Planning Commission. This exemption is subject to the condition that a restrictive covenant be placed on the property prior to the issuance of a building permit. The restrictive covenant shall run in favor of the county for a period of at least 20 years. Any change in the use or ownership of the property subject to this restrictive covenant shall require prior approval by the Planning Commission, unless the total floor area exempted by the Planning Commission is obtained through an off-site transfer of floor area and/or nonresidential floor area allocation. If the total amount of floor area that is transferred and/or allocated meets or exceeds the total amount of floor area exempted, the restrictive covenant shall be vacated by the county. This exemption is not applicable to nonresidential development proposed within any Tier I or Tier III-A (special protection area) designated areas.

(e)

Vested rights. Landowners with a valid, unexpired development of regional impact approval granted by the county prior to January 4, 1996, (effective date of the Comprehensive Plan) or an approved vesting determination by the county from the nonresidential allocation requirements of this section and the Comprehensive Plan.

(f)

De expansion or de minimis addition of new nonresidential floor area. The cumulative addition of up to 1,000 square feet of new nonresidential floor area shall not require an NROGO application and NROGO allocation prior to issuance of a building permit. De minimis is not required to be utilized in whole or limited to a single building permit application; however cumulatively, an individual property shall not receive any more than 1,000 square feet of new nonresidential floor via de minimis expansion and/or addition. Nonresidential floor area permitted via de minimis expansion and/or addition shall be deducted from the annual NROGO allocation or the NROGO bank.

(g)

Uses in the Industrial (I) and Maritime Industries (MI) districts. Industrial uses in the Maritime Industries (MI) and the Industrial (I) land use (zoning) districts, provided that the floor area is restricted to manufacturing, assembly, wholesaling, and distribution uses. Uses permitted in the Rockland Key Commercial Retail Center Overlay District pursuant to Section 130-131. All other forms of industrial uses and other nonresidential uses which may be permitted in the land use (zoning) district are subject to the requirements of this article and will require an NROGO allocation.

(h)

Agriculture/aquacultural uses. Agricultural and aquacultural uses in the agricultural and aquaculture use overlay (A).

(i)

Canopy.  

(j)

Transfer off-site of existing nonresidential floor area. The demolition/removal and transfer off-site of nonresidential floor area from a sender site and the development of the transferred nonresidential floor area on a receiver site in accordance with the following procedures and criteria:

(1)

Eligibility of sender floor area. Nonresidential floor area shall be lawfully established floor area pursuant to subsection (a) or have received an NROGO allocation or transfer of floor area after September 19, 2001.

(2)

Criteria:

a.

The receiver site shall be within a Tier III designated area and, if on Big Pine Key, it shall also be is located within the designated community center overlay area;

b.

The receiver site shall be located within the same ROGO subarea, as set forth in Section 138-20, as the sender site;

c.

The use that would utilize the transferred nonresidential floor area on the receiver site shall not be a high-intensity commercial retail use which will generate more than 150 daily vehicle trips per 1,000 square feet of floor area, unless the receiver site is within an overlay district or area, established in a community master plan or within Chapter 130, specifically allowing such a high-intensity commercial retail use;

d.

The receiver site shall not be located within a V special flood hazard zone;

e.

The receiver site shall not be located in a coastal barrier resources system; and

f.

The receiver site shall not be located in an offshore island/conservation land protection area.

(3)

Limitations on the amount of nonresidential floor area which may be transferred to any one site. The amount of nonresidential floor area which may be transferred to any one site shall be as follows:

a.

No more than a maximum cumulative total of 50,000 square feet of nonresidential floor area may be transferred to any one site.

b.

A structure utilizing the transferred nonresidential floor area shall not be greater than 10,000 square feet, except for a) a structure within the Urban Commercial (UC) land use (zoning) district consist of up to a maximum total of 50,000 square feet of nonresidential floor area and b) a structure within an overlay district or area, established in a community master plan or within Chapter 130, may consist of up to a maximum total of nonresidential floor area set forth in the superseding overlay district or area.

(4)

Procedures. The following procedures shall be followed for permitting transfer of nonresidential floor area off-site:

a.

A minor conditional use permit shall be required to identify, determine the eligibility of and document the approval of the sender and receiver site, pursuant to the process set forth in Section 110-69. If a single receiver site is proposed to receive the transferred nonresidential floor area from multiple sender sites, only a single minor conditional use permit application shall be required. All sender and receiver sites associated with a proposed transfer shall be identified at the time of application.

b.

The minor conditional use permit application required in the previous subsection shall be submitted in a form provided by the Planning and Environmental Resources Department. A development order shall memorialize approval of the minor conditional use permit. After successfully passing all applicable appeal periods, the development order shall be recorded in the official records of the Monroe County Clerk of the Circuit Court. Such recording shall be carried out so that the document is associated with all applicable sender and receiver sites.

c.

No building permit shall be issued for the nonresidential floor area on the receiver site until the sending site structure is demolished as per an issued demolition permit and a final inspection for the demolished floor space has been completed by the Building Department.

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