62-330.476. General Permit for Private Single-Family Residences Within Jupiter Farms, Palm Beach County

(1) A general permit is granted for the construction, alteration, maintenance, operation, abandonment, and removal of single-family residences and associated on-site residential improvements within the wetlands and other surface waters in Jupiter Farms, Palm Beach County, as identified below. This includes the construction, alteration, maintenance, operation, abandonment, and removal of culverts or bridges over non-navigable drainage or irrigation ditches to provide access to the residence.

(2) This general permit is limited as follows:

(a) The single-family residence is to be located within:

1. Township 40S, Range 41E – Section 33 or 34;

2. Township 41S, Range 41E – Section 1, 2, 3, 4 (east half), 9 (east half), 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, or 16; or

3. Township 41S, Range 42E – Section 7 or 18.

(b) Only one, single-family residence is authorized per parcel or lot. However, this shall not preclude additional living areas, such as “mother-in-law” and guest quarters that are part of the primary residence or other structures authorized under subsection 62-330.476(4), F.A.C.;

(c) The activities are not part of a larger plan of common development proposed by the applicant;

(d) The total area of dredging, filling, construction, land clearing, and other disturbance in wetlands and other surface waters within a parcel or lot shall not exceed 0.75 acre;

(e) The permittee offsets the functions provided by wetlands and other surface waters that will be lost as a result of the above activities through mitigation, as provided in subsection (3), below; and

(f) The activities undertaken under this general permit:

1. Are associated with a private single-family residence to be used by the current owner; and

2. Are not intended for, or being proposed by, a corporation, partnership, or other business entity, and otherwise will not be used for commercial or industrial purposes. However, this does not preclude an owner from conducting commercial activities on the property that are ancillary to a private single-family residence, such as sale of home-made crafts or home-grown produce; and shall not prohibit a trustee, beneficiary, or current resident from qualifying as an applicant when title to such single-family residence and associated on-site residential improvements is held in trust.

(3) To implement mitigation that will offset impacts from the construction of residences within the above-described sections, persons wishing to use this general permit shall pay Palm Beach County, as described below, an amount calculated as “X” times $4,000, where “X” equals the number of acres of wetlands or other surface waters that will be subject to construction, alteration, maintenance, or operation activities authorized herein, rounded to the nearest 0.01 acre (up to 0.75 acre).

(a) Initially these monies shall be applied to the Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management South Loxahatchee Slough Wetland Restoration Fund to implement the restoration, enhancement and long-term management of 237 acres of impacted wetlands within a 780-acre undeveloped parcel known as the South Loxahatchee Slough Restoration Project (SLSRP), in accordance with the “Memorandum of Understanding between the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, and Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners through its Department of Environmental Resources Management Regarding Mitigation for Jupiter Farms and Palm Beach Country Estates,” dated August 26, 2002, (http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-03149) which is incorporated by reference herein; a copy of this MOU may be obtained from the Agency, as described in subsection 62-330.010(5), F.A.C. These wetlands are located south of PGA Boulevard, north of the Bee Line Highway, and west of the eastern leg of the C-18 Canal. This site is acknowledged to have the capability of providing 151.9 acre-credits of mitigation for wetland impacts within the above-described sections of Jupiter Farms;

(b) The Department recognizes that all of the wetland impacts within Jupiter Farms cannot be offset within the SLSRP, and that additional mitigation sites will have to be identified, funded, and implemented in the future. Therefore, the SLSRP shall be available under this general permit to offset impacts within the above-described sections of Jupiter Farms until the available credits within that site are exhausted, at which time the money will be directed to other suitable mitigation sites which shall be approved by the Department and identified through amendments to this rule.

(4) For the purposes of this general permit, “associated on-site residential improvements” include projects that are directly associated with a private single-family residence on the property, such as: a driveway, garage, on-site sewage treatment and disposal systems, wells, utility services (water, electricity, telephone, cable, and gas), recreation structures, sheds, barns, stables and animal pens, walkways, boardwalks, lawns, fences, pools, ponds, and gardens. To be authorized under this general permit, such associated on-site residential improvements must be constructed concurrently with construction of an individual single-family residence, or after such residence has been lawfully constructed, and must conform to all the conditions and criteria of this general permit. For purposes of this general permit, associated on-site residential improvements shall not include docks, piers, boat ramps, or other structures designed to provide boating access in, on, or over surface waters, and also shall not include improvements used in whole or part for commercial agriculture or aquaculture operations.

(5) In addition to the general conditions of Rule 62-330.405, F.A.C., and the other limiting conditions of this general permit, the following specific conditions shall also apply:

(a) On-site sewage treatment and disposal systems shall be constructed in uplands unless there is an insufficient unrestricted area of uplands within the contiguous ownership of the applicant on which such treatment and disposal systems can be located. For the purposes of this section, “unrestricted area of uplands” means an area of uplands that is not restricted by easement, deed restriction, local government regulation, or similar restriction that would prevent the on-site sewage treatment and disposal system from being located in those uplands.

(b) Material and debris resulting from any clearing and grading of the property authorized under this general permit shall not be deposited in wetlands or other surface waters outside of the footprint of the residence and associated on-site residential improvements authorized under this general permit.

(c) Culverts or bridges installed in drainage or irrigation ditches to provide access shall be located and sized so as to maintain existing capacity for water flow and volumes.

(d) Any areas excavated under this general permit shall not result in new connections to canals, ditches, swales, or other existing drainage systems within Jupiter Farms.

(6) Persons wishing to conduct activities under this general permit must file a notice with the local office of the Department, which shall include:

(a) A description of the proposed activity on the parcel or lot, including scaled or fully dimensioned plan and cross section views of the proposed dredging, filling, and construction;

(b) A statement that the residence and associated on-site residential improvements comply with the requirements of paragraph (2)(f) of this general permit;

(c) A statement that the parcel or lot is not part of a larger parcel or lot that was subdivided into two or more parcels or lots after 2-19-03;

(d) A statement that the activities are not part of a plan of common development proposed by the applicant;

(e) A location map showing the relationship of the parcel or lot to existing roads and other land features that can allow a person unfamiliar with the area to locate the site. The map shall include property descriptions from the county tax assessor’s office;

(f) The area (in square feet) of wetlands or other surface waters proposed to be subject to dredging, filling, and construction;

(g) A description of the efforts made to locate the on-site sewage treatment and disposal systems in the uplands, including a map depicting the location and extent of the proposed on-site sewage treatment and disposal systems in relation to existing wetlands and other surface waters on the property; and

(h) Proof of the payment as required in subsection 62-330.476(3), F.A.C., in the form of a receipt from Palm Beach County.

(7) This general permit shall not be applicable on any parcel or lot that has been the subject of a prior filing of a notice under this section when the combination of activities to be conducted pursuant to the prior and pending notices exceeds the thresholds of this general permit. However, use of this general permit does not preclude the use of other permits or exemptions that may be applicable on the parcel or lot, except that the general permit under Rule 62-330.475, F.A.C., shall not be used with this general permit.

Rulemaking Authority 373.026, 373.026(7), 373.043, 373.118(1), 373.406(5), 373.4131, 373.414(9), 373.418, 403.805(1) FS. Law Implemented 373.118(1), 373.406(5), 373.413, 373.4131, 373.414(9), 373.416, 373.418 FS. History–New 2-19-03, Amended 11-3-04, Formerly 62-341.476, Amended 10-1-13.