Introduction to Concurrency Management

What is Concurrency?

Chapter 163.3177, F.S. requires Comprehensive Plans to adopt a concurrency management system, including goals, objectives and policies that define the necessary standards for ensuring the availability of required public facilities to serve permitted development.

Rule 9J-5, F.A.C. establishes the minimum criteria for the standards necessary to ensure the availability of public services and facilities concurrent with the impact of development

If adopted level of service standards cannot be met, development cannot be permitted!

What Public Services and Facilities are Subject to Concurrency?

Potable Water Sanitary Sewer/Wastewater Treatment Solid Waste Disposal Recreation and Open Space Drainage Mass transit Transportation (new requirement ) Public Schools

Key Components of Concurrency

The Capital Improvements Element of the Comprehensive Plan must be financially feasible and capital projects should maintain adopted level of service standards

The local Comprehensive Plan must include a system for ensuring adherence to the adopted level of service standards and for monitoring concurrency status.

The concurrency program should contain guidelines for how and when to review development against adopted level of service standards during the development review process.

The local government must adopt land development regulations that implement the concurrency management system and ensure that development permits do not result in a reduction in the levels of service below adopted level of service standards.

So What Does All This Really Mean?

It means you need to adopt any necessary capital projects in your Capital Improvements Element and your Capital Improvements Program to maintain adopted level of service standards

It means you need to have adopted in your comprehensive plan, and in your development regulations, a method for assessing and monitoring compliance with the adopted level of service standards.

And it means your development review process needs to include making a binding determination that adequate capacity for each of the 7 public services and facilities is, or is not, available to meet the needs of the project.

How do you develop appropriate level of service standards?

First – you need to determine whether you have control over all, some, or none of the referenced public services and facilities

For those services and facilities for which you do not have control, you should adopt the standard adopted by the agency or government with responsibility.

If your local government has direct responsibility for the provision of any of the required services and facilities, you need to work with your respective technical professionals to establish a meaningful standard that you can subsequently use to compare development proposals against.

An example…

Pinellas County government

Concurrency Management System

Assessing level of Service Conditions

Each calculation is basically a matter of looking at capacity and planned improvements, and dividing by existing and projected demand

If the adopted standard can still be maintained after adding in anticipated impacts, then level of service conditions are met, capacity is available, and development can be permitted

Pinellas County Level of Service Standards

Concurrency Management System (CMS) Process

Pinellas County developed their CMS back in 1990, following adoption of the original comp plan.

It is designed around an annual snapshot of conditions – that “snapshot” is adopted annually as an ordinance which assesses the operating conditions for each of the 7 services and facilities.

Basically, it represents our annual concurrency test.

For the next year, our Development Review staff uses the Ordinance, as the basis for deciding if development can be approved.

Since the assessment is a snapshot of conditions, we build in a “safety net” by also taking a look at future conditions –

That is, we also look at the effect of an extra year’s growth on the operating conditions for each service and facility.

If we can still meet, or exceed the adopted standards, then level of service conditions are acceptable.

Thanks to good planning, and a strong capital improvements program, the County has never encountered an inability to meet adopted standards – with the exception of transportation.

Good capital planning is the KEY COMPONENT of your Concurrency Management System!

Good Capital Planning includes…

In the County’s case, participation in the regional water authority, effective conservation programs, and ongoing funding of transmission, distribution, and treatment infrastructure, and ongoing maintenance.

Funding major upgrades and maintenance to the regional wastewater treatment facilities, the collection system and the water reclamation distribution system

Land acquisition, park development and maintenance to meet recreation and open space requirements

Stormwater projects to addressdrainage deficiencies

Improvements at the resource recovery plant and in recycling operations to extend the life of the landfill and waste-to-energy plant

Solid Waste and Resource Recovery

All of these funding commitments are required to make sure the County can…

Meet its adopted level of service standards,

Permit development, And meet the needs of citizens,

businesses and visitors, and its retail and wholesale commitments, today and into the future.

Concurrency approvals are not indefinite

If no progress is made on the development, concurrency approval can be revoked, making any future submittal for development approval subject to a new concurrency test statement and a new assessment of level of service conditions.

What does the future hold for concurrency?

The County will be evaluating its adopted level of service standards during the course of the upcoming year;

The overall concurrency process will be evaluated to see how it fits with the new school concurrency requirements; AND

We will see what happens with the Penny for Pinellas – the main means of funding capital improvements needed to meet concurrency

Questions?