18-24.005. Full Review of Project Proposals

(1) An affirmative vote of at least five council members shall be required to initiate a full review of a project proposal.

(2) For all acquisition project applications voted by the Council to receive full review, a Project Evaluation Report shall be prepared by staff and presented to the Council. The Project Evaluation Report shall:

(a) Confirm or revise, as appropriate, the information provided in the initial acquisition project application and initial review.

(b) Provide a review, including a site visit by staff, of the natural resources, physical, hydrological, recreational, archaeological, historical, and geographic characteristics of the components of the application to determine:

1. The number of Florida Forever goals and measures that are met by the project, and the extent to which the project contributes to meeting each of those goals and measures.

2. The number of Florida Forever criteria that are met by the project, and the extent to which the project contributes to meeting each of those criteria.

(c) Provide the Council with each reporting element required by Section 259.105(15), F.S.

(d) Include an assessment of the relative values of the proposed project for each criterion and goal, and overall, to assist the Council in grouping projects recommended for approval as outlined in Rule 18-24.006, F.A.C.

(e) Include a confirmation of the project boundary as contained in the application and recommend boundary adjustments needed for resource protection, acquisition planning, and management, within the constraints of Section 259.105(7)(b)2., F.S. This shall include a recommendation for which portions of the project required to be purchased, if any, might be declared surplus to the purposes of the project.

(f) Include a recommended manager for the project and a brief rationale for the recommendation, a management policy statement, and a management prospectus prepared pursuant to Section 259.032, F.S.

(3) Full review of acquisition projects by the Council shall consist of:

(a) Consideration of the Project Evaluation Report described above.

(b) Independent consideration by the Council of the provisions listed in paragraph 18-24.005(2)(b), F.A.C.

(c) The holding of one or more public hearings, advertised as required in the Florida Administrative Weekly and in newspapers serving areas affected by potential acquisitions, for the purpose of taking verbal and written comments from the public in support of, or in opposition to, projects under full review. The chair of the Council or his or her designee shall conduct such public hearings.

(4) The Council shall approve, approve with amendments, or reject the project evaluation report.

(5) Boundary Modifications.

(a) Removal of property from Florida Forever Project. Landowners who wish to have their property removed from an approved Florida Forever Project boundary shall submit by certified mail a letter stating they wish their property to be removed and sufficiently identifying such property to the address stated in subsection 18-24.003(1), F.A.C. The Council shall approve such removals at its next regularly scheduled meeting if they meet the foregoing requirements.

(b) Addition of property to Florida Forever Project. All boundary additions shall comply with all the requirements of Rules 18-24.002, 18-24.003 and 18-24.004, F.A.C., except as stated herein.

1. Boundary addition proposals exceeding 1,000 acres or 10% of the original project acreage or $2,000,000 in the most recent county property appraiser’s assessed value shown on the owner’s ad valorem tax bill shall be considered new Florida Forever Projects and shall not be entitled to the expedited procedures herein.

2. Each application to add property to an existing Project boundary that meets the criteria of subparagraph 18-24.005(5)(b)1., F.A.C., shall, within 30 days of receipt, be reviewed by staff to verify sufficiency of information in accordance with this paragraph. Staff shall expedite the application process to add property by updating the original project evaluation report with a project addition summary attached, unless staff determines that the original project evaluation report, or any part thereof, does not fairly apply to or represent the property in the addition, is in need of updating, or other circumstances necessitate preparation of a more thorough amended project evaluation report (such as a change in flora or fauna, a traumatic event, or a change in land use). Staff shall state in its project addition summary whether the foregoing requirements are met. Staff shall submit its project addition summary or amended project report to the Council at its next regularly scheduled meeting after preparation of its report.

(c) An affirmative vote of at least five council members shall be required to add property to or remove property from an existing project.

Rulemaking Authority 259.035(1), (4), 259.105(9), (18) FS. Law Implemented 259.035, 259.04, 259.041, 259.045, 259.07, 259.105 FS. History–New 7-17-01, Amended 4-14-08, 5-1-10.