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West Bay Sector Plan
Community Development
amidst Large-scale Habitat Conservation in the
St. Andrews Bay Watershed
A good plan can come together. From the larger, long-term
regional habitat perspective ... especially in light of likely population
growth - Possibly yes. What do you think? Email
A Wetland system of WestBay. Part
of the Conserved Lands of WestBay Sector Plan
What is the West Bay Sector Plan?
Bay County, the Panama City-Bay County Airport and Industrial
District, and the St. Joe Company are developing an sector plan for
the West Bay area of Bay County Florida.. The West Bay proposal consists
of approximately 75,000 acres situated around West Bay in Bay County
(a natural Bay that due to St. Joe's single ownership, has remained
in relatively good biological shape.) West Bay is the western sub-basin
of the greater St. Andrews Bay ecosystem. This system accepts drainage
for most all of Bay County and some portions of Washington and Calhoun
Counties. Existing land use for the parcel has been primarily silviculture.
The new proposal included moving the existing Panama
City Airport to the West Bay lands, development of many residential
units, commercial areas, industrial areas, a marina. Most interestingly,
the proposal includes the essential set-a-side of approximately 40,000
acres of land around West Bay for environmental preservation through
a combination of easements, mitigation lands and sale of lands to the
State. The large preservation lands component of the West Bay
Sector Plan has been viewed as an offer to good to pass-up and better
then the long term alternative scenario of having the land around West
Bay blocked off into multiple developments and not as well protected
from eventual impacts.
1000 Friends of Florida has had numerous question
of concern regarding the "End Game" for the conservation lands.
For example:
- What presently is, and what will be, the underlying
density (development potential) for the areas identified as the West
Bay Conservation Areas? - and likewise, what will be allowable uses
for the Conservation Areas?
- Are areas around West Bay and the contributing streams
that have been identified as Conservation Area somehow being pulled
out for development? (i.e., is there a squeezing in of development
along West Bay within identified Conservation Area?).
- The overall development of the Conservation Area
from today to 10-20 years out is a multi-faceted, stepwise process.
How do we get from here to there?
- Are lands that are within the designated Conservation
Area, that are not identified as mitigation lands, to be placed for
sale to the State under the St. Joe Lands Project or some other land
buying program? When shall this occur? Timeline.
- Outside of the defined Conservation areas what is
St. Joe planning to do to protect streams, wetlands, isolated wetlands,
other sensitive natural and historical/cultural features? Often good
developers have many features that exceed what many other local developers
are doing. What is St. Joe doing along these lines that people should
know about? (Stormwater practices, easements, BMPs, OFW level protection,
buffers, set-asides, management practices, etc).
1000 Friends of Florida worked hard with various stakeholders
and St. Joe to help tighten up language on just how the preservation
lands "come into being" as St. Joe moves forward with the
development. We still have questions dealing with the need to plan for
the provision of affordable housing and the provision of infrastructure
(particularly water, sewer and roads).
The West Bay Sector Plan Area (see map) is described
as located in north central Bay County, south of Washington County between
State Roads 79 and 77, and includes lands north and south of West Bay
as well as a small portion of Panama City Beach.
Official Components of the West Bay Sector Plan
- Chapter
12, Adopted Sector Plan Element of the Bay County Comprehensive Plan
- Maps
of Sector Plan Area (Various Overlays)
Links Relative to the Sector Plan
- Panama City - Bay County
International Airport Relocation (Consultant Bechtal managed site)
-
West
Florida RPC West Bay Report
-
FDEP
Ecosystem Management Agreement (EMA) with the St. Joe Company
- FDEP
Questions and Answers Ecosystem Management Agreement The St. Joe Company
- Bay and Walton Counties February 25, 2004
- DEP
- Maps of Ecosystem Management Area Showing: (helps to visulize the
areas covered under the Regional General Permit as well as the West
Bay Environmental Management Agreement)
- Road To
Controversy - By MIKE SALINERO, Tampa Tribune Article Published:
Jun 14, 2004
Various Web Sites that Relate to the West Bay Sector
Plan
- DCA
- Sector PLanning Site
- PBS&J
Partner to the Panama City-Bay County International Airport Master
Development Services
Point near West Bay within the Sector
Plan area.
Sector Plan Background
Chapter 163.3245, F.S., authorizes the Florida Department
of Community Affairs (DCA) to select up to five demonstration projects
as demonstration projects to test the feasibility of making sector
plans a regular part of growth management law. The idea for sector
planning generally is to offer an alternative to large scale developments
known as Developments of Regional Impact (DRIs) process requirements
found in 380.06, F.S. When an approved sector plan is adopted into
a local government's comprehensive plan, then the DRI requirements
no longer apply within that area. Preparation of a sector plan is
authorized by agreement between DCA and the host local government.
The agreement must identify the sector plan area, planning issues
to be emphasized, intergovernmental coordination requirements for
extrajurisdictional impacts, relevant data and analysis, and public
participation requirements. A scoping meeting conducted by the RPC
is intended to identify issues to be addressed by any authorizing
agreement and resources available to prepare the optional sector plan.
If the RPC recommends preparation of a plan, the local government
holds a public workshop to explain the process and any terms and conditions.
If the local government executes the agreement, it must do so at a
noticed public hearing.
A sector plan proceeds on two levels. The first is
the preparation of a buildout overlay to the comprehensive plan which
is adopted into the plan although it does not waive any DRI requirements.
The second level requires the additional adoption of specific area
plans as amendments to the comprehensive plan. The specific area plan(s)
must be consistent with the buildout overlay, and until such time
as they are adopted, the existing future land use designations remain
in effect. The long range buildout overlay plan must identify: areas
for urban, agricultural, rural and conservation land uses; regionally
significant public facilities; regionally significant natural resources;
principles and guidelines that address urban form and interrelationships
of anticipated future land uses; and general procedures to deal with
extrajurisdictional impacts.
The specific area plans are the second level, and
must include: areas of at least 1,000 acres which demonstrate a functional
relationship between a full range of land uses; analyses of distribution,
extent and location of future land uses; detailed identification of
regionally significant public facilities, anticipated impacts to those
facilities, and any required improvements; identification of any public
facilities necessary as well as developer contributions and a five
year capital improvement schedule; detailed analysis/identification
of measures to protect regionally significant natural resources; principles
and guidelines that address urban form and interrelationships to future
land uses; and specific procedures to ensure intergovernmental coordination
measures needed to address extrajurisdictional impacts of the plan.
The local government adopting the specific area plan(s) submits to
DCA and the RPC on an annual basis a monitoring report. That report
must summarize any development orders issued, level of development
that has occurred, public facility improvements made, and any public
facility improvements anticipated during the
next five years. If DCA believes that plan violations are occurring,
it may institute administrative or judicial proceedings authorized
by Chapter 380.11, F.S. 
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