NEFBA’s Government Affairs Committee: The next Government Affairs meeting is 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 28, at the NEFBA Offices (103 Century 21 Drive, Suite 100).
Landscape Code: The City of Jacksonville has updated its Landscape Code to comply with Bill 2017-396. Some key changes are evergreen letters of credit can no longer be used for tree mitigation; a tree removed without a permit can result in the permit fee and required tree mitigation being doubled; and tree removal without a permit may be assessed tree mitigation equal to $50,000 per acre.
The bill also reads: “When there has been a permit issued for the proposed work, any property owner who removes more caliper inches than the number of caliper inches approved in their permit as identified in the final landscape inspection is required to pay triple the required amount for those caliper inches that were not permitted pursuant to the formula described in Section 656.1206(h)(14).”
A city bulletin recommended that if you remove more trees than on originally approved plans, you need to provide a revised tree mitigation plan and settle up for any additional mitigation required prior to the landscape inspection for that project to avoid being charged the increased mitigation.
Duval County issues: Jessie Spradley, [email protected] and (904) 725-4355
Transportation Impact Fee: The Clay County Board of County Commissioners is considering the return of the transportation impact fee. The fee is anticipated to go into effect in December, with 50 percent collection for the first six months. The fee on the residential side is divided into three categories: Fewer than 1,500 square feet ($2,764); 1,500-2,499 square feet ($3,461); and 2,500 square feet or more ($3,910). The proposed fee is a reduction from the previous fee level ($4,341-$5,814), which had been placed in moratorium.
School Impact Fee: The Clay County School Board has recommended delaying the collections of the school impact fee from permitting to when the electricity is turned on. The move was part of an effort to move the payment of the fee as close to the impact as possible. The 4-1 vote was supported by NEFBA, but was opposed by Superintendent Addison Davis. The recommendation will be sent to the Clay County Board of County Commission.
Builders Council: Jessie Spradley, [email protected] and (904) 725-4355
St. Johns County Impact Fee: The St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners and the St. Johns County School Board hosted a joint impact fee workshop to discuss proposed changes to impact fees. The study update conducted by James Nicholas proposed a residential impact fee (not including schools) for homes between 1,251 square feet and 2,500 square feet of $11,177 per unit, a 63 percent increase over the current fee. The school impact fee for that size unit is proposed to decrease by 13.7 percent, to $4,509.72. Nicholas said the decrease in the school impact fee was due to the addition of the one-half-cent sales tax for schools that was implemented since the last study update. Nicholas also said St. Johns County has not taken advantage of all of its transportation funding opportunities, including gas tax and sales tax, which puts more of the cost burden on impact fees and new construction. The proposed increase would also affect commercial projects, with many of the commercial impact fee categories doubling in cost.
RARA: The St. Johns County Commission will consider an ordinance to remove Registered Architecture Review Associations from the County’s Land Development Code. This change would mean the county would no longer be authorized to delay a building permit because of an HOA’s architecture review board. If approved, the ordnance would replace RARAs with neighborhood bill of rights notifications for relevant building permits inside HOA communities.
Builders Council: Leona Brown, [email protected] and (904) 725-4355
Building Inspection Schedule: The Nassau County Building Department announced that an inspection schedule is now available on the Building Department’s web site. Nassau County has added this feature to alleviate issues with clients not knowing when an inspector is scheduled to arrive. The Building Department plans to update the schedule daily and will include a list of inspections each building Inspector has for that day and the order in which they are anticipated to take place. To locate the inspector schedule, visit the Nassau County’s web site (nassaucountyfl.com), select Building Department under the department tab, and then select Inspection Schedule.
Builders Council: Palmer Kuder, [email protected] and (904) 725-4355
Baker County issues: Jessie Spradley, [email protected] and (904) 725-4355