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ITEM: ORDINANCE NO. 2020-18: REPEALING THE LAND USE ELEMENT AND REPLACING WITH THE LAND USE AND COMMUNITY DESIGN ELEMENT.
AN ORDINANCE OF WELLINGTON, FLORIDA’S COUNCIL AMENDING THE WELLINGTON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, MORE SPECIFICALLY, TO REPEAL THE LAND USE ELEMENT AND REPLACE WITH THE LAND USE AND COMMUNITY DESIGN ELEMENT, INCLUDING ANY ELEMENT MAPS, IN ITS ENTIRETY, AS CONTAINED HEREIN; PROVIDING A CONFLICTS CLAUSE; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
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PUBLIC HEARING: YES QUASI-JUDICIAL: NO
EXPLANATION: The Wellington Comprehensive Plan is being updated. The Plan forms the blueprint for Wellington’s future for the next 10 to 20 years. The Plan is comprised of 10 “elements” or chapters and each element consists of goals, objectives, and policies to guide development and redevelopment, transportation, infrastructure, parks, and capital improvements.
SUMMARY: The update of the Land Use and Community Design Element builds upon the original ideas adopted in 1999 to manage development and reorganizes the principles, guidelines, strategies, and standards into four distinct goals - Land Uses; Neighborhoods & Districts; Protect Our Investment; and Sustainability. Some of the continuing concepts for the element include:
• Compatibility with existing conditions and complementary uses
• Development performance standards to achieve high quality development
• Conservation property management
• Neighborhood and resource protection
• Concurrency for infrastructure and public facilities/services to ensure facilities are in place and funded by development
Generally, the land uses within the element remain the same (refer to Table LU&CD 1-1). Certain land uses have been renamed, but their density/intensity and purpose remain the same. These include:
• Residential Land Uses B and C - simplified
• Commercial Recreation - split into two land uses
o Equestrian Commercial Recreation; only for areas within the Equestrian Preserve Area
o Open Space Recreation; golf courses within the Wellington Planned Unit Development area
• Commercial - combines neighborhood, community, office, and medical into one land use
• Large Scale Mixed Use (LSMU) - previously referred to as Regional Commercial/LSMU
• Flex - previously referred to as Industrial
• Community Facility - previously referred to as Institutional/Public Facilities/Utilities
The proposed plan also includes several new objectives and policies to address changing trends and conditions in Wellington. The following are new concepts in the plan:
• Reinvestment in the Wellington Green Mall
• A State Road 7 Medical Hub
• Potential conversion of existing planned development districts into conventional zoning districts
• Golf courses, including the potential conversion to other uses, addressing buffering and loss of open space, and design
• Advisory land use for future annexation areas to define
Sustainability goal with supporting objectives for economic development, innovative planning, and tree canopy