The Comprehensive Plan is an official document adopted by the City Council that describes and helps guide decisions on the physical, economic and social aspects of the community. The Plan is broad and long-range in nature, covering a 10-year period. It contains goals, objectives and policies, including the Future Land Use Map and Future Traffic Circulation Map, which together serve as the City’s blueprint for development and redevelopment. The State of Florida requires comprehensive planning as a means to ensure that necessary facilities will be in place to serve residents as the City grows and redevelops.
The New Port Richey Comprehensive Plan, originally adopted in 1989, is updated on a regular basis to reflect the community’s changing needs and aspirations. Per the state’s Community Planning Act, an evaluation and appraisal of the Comprehensive Plan is required every seven years to determine if amendments are necessary to reflect changes in state requirements having occurred since the last major update of the Comprehensive Plan.
City Council adopted the last major plan update (2020 Comprehensive Plan) in December 2007 which became effective March 2008. In 2014, Staff evaluated the Plan for compliance with the Community Planning Act. In November 2014, the findings of the evaluation were accepted by the State Land Planning Agency (Florida Department of Economic Opportunity). Staff has since drafted amendments to the 2020 Comprehensive Plan to address the evaluation findings and ensure that the Plan continues to provide sufficient guidance to the City regarding development decisions.
Comprehensive Plan Overview:
The Comprehensive Plan includes 10 elements (chapters) each containing a technical support document and goals, objectives and policies. The technical support documents contain data and analysis that informs the development of the goals, objectives and policies that guide growth, development and public infrastructure decision making. The technical support document is not adopted and may be updated at any time. The goals, objectives and policies are adopted by ordinance and constitute local law.
Comprehensive Plan elements:
- Future Land Use Element: This element establishes the geographic framework for growth in the City by controlling the location, type, intensity and timing of land uses. It promotes compatible development, management of natural resources and provision of adequate public facilities and housing to preserve and enhance quality of life in the City. The goals, objectives and policies in this element include the Future Land Use Map.
- Transportation Element: The emphasis of the Transportation Element is a multi-modal transportation system that places importance on the safety, efficiency and comfort of travel ways for all users. The goals, objectives and policies in this element include the Future Traffic Circulation Map.
- Housing Element: This element identifies housing trends and needs to guide the development of plans, policies, and programs to ensure the local housing supply corresponds to local demographic characteristics.
- Infrastructure Element: This element assesses existing and future service delivery capabilities of potable water, sanitary sewer, solid waste and stormwater drainage infrastructure per the City’s adopted level of service standards. It also addresses natural groundwater recharge.
- Conservation Element: The purpose of this element is to control development activities with potential to damage or destroy natural resources (e.g., water bodies, wetlands, floodplains, groundwater, soils, air, wildlife, habitat and vegetative communities).
- Coastal Management Element: The emphasis of this element is to protect human life and limit public expenditure in areas that are subject to destruction by natural disaster. Also addressed are use of natural resources, natural resource implications for the local economy, development pressure, pollution and hazardous waste, water conservation and future land use impacts.
- Recreation/Open Space Element: The purpose of this element is to plan for a comprehensive system of public parks, open space, and recreational facilities to satisfy current and future needs of City residents and visitors.
- Intergovernmental Coordination Element: This element identifies coordination mechanisms with other government agencies relative to community planning.
- Capital Improvements Element: This element evaluates the timing, cost and ability to fund projects that are needed to maintain public facilities and services at the adopted level of service standards. The goals, objectives and policies in this element include the Five-Year Schedule of Capital Improvements, which is a subset of projects from the City’s Five-Year Capital Improvements Plan associated with maintaining the adopted level of service standards.
- Livable City Element: This element articulates the community’s general urban design preferences and guides decision making to create sustainable neighborhoods and quality places.
Proposed Amendments to the Comprehensive Plan Goals, Objectives and Policies:
This section provides background on the proposed changes to the goals, objectives, and policies denoted in Ordinance #2016-2061 by strikethroughs (deletions) and underlining (additions). The subsections below are organized to correspond to Section II of the ordinance.
A. Title:
Changes to Title – Reflects the new plan horizon, which extends the planning period to year 2030.
B. Future Land Use Element
Changes to Introduction – Removes reference to Rule 9J-5, Florida Administrative Code (Minimum Criteria for Review of Local Government Comprehensive Plans and Plan Amendments, Evaluation and Appraisal Reports, Land Development Regulations and Determinations of Compliance) as the rule was repealed in 2011.
Changes to FLU 1.9.1 – Makes clarifications to improve meaning.
Changes to Objective FLU 3.2 and supporting policies FLU 3.2.1 –3.2.22 – Reflects continuing implementation of the City’s Coastal Transfer of Development Rights program; spells out acronyms so the statements will be clear when taken out of context; removes and replaces reference to section of Rule 9J-5, Florida Administrative Code, with corresponding section of Florida Statutes; clarifies relevant “growth management goals of the City” (objectives CME 2.1, CME 2.2, CME 2.3, and CME 3.4 and supporting policies); and makes clarifications to improve meaning.
C.Transportation Element
Changes to Introduction – Removes reference to Rule 9J-5, Florida Administrative Code as the rule was repealed in 2011.
Changes to TRA 1.1.6 – Deletes policy referencing “long-term concurrency management,” which is no longer required by the Community Planning Act.
Changes to TRA 1.2.1 – Extends date (expired) by which capacity constrained roads will be identified.
Change to TRA 2.1.1 – Deletes policy as the City does not collect the necessary data nor have other means to measure the modal split for bicycle and pedestrian traffic.
Changes to TRA 2.3.7 – Extends date (expired) by which the City will assess the feasibility of maximum parking standards for new developments along Transit Corridors.
Changes to TRA 3.1.2– Clarifies boundaries of the Downtown Transportation Concurrency Exception Area and removes reference to Rule 9J-5, Florida Administrative Code.
Changes to TRA 3.1.5 – Extends date (expired) by which the City shall explore the feasibility of rubber-tire trolley service in the Downtown Transportation Concurrency Exception Area.
Changes to TRA 3.1.6 – Clarifies meaning; spells out acronym; and extends the date (expired) by which the City will amend the Code to include site development requirements for pedestrian facilities.
D. Housing Element
Changes to Introduction – Removes reference to Rule 9J-5, Florida Administrative Code as the rule was repealed in 2011.
E. Conservation Element
Changes – Adds a goal and supporting objectives and policies to meet the Community Planning Act requirement regarding energy conservation (Section 163.3177(6)(d), Florida Statutes). Note: The Act does not prescribe any particular policy content so the proposed text may be tailored to reinforce local programs/values. In other words, suggested policy direction is welcome.
F. Coastal Management Element
Changes to Introduction – Removes reference to Rule 9J-5, Florida Administrative Code as the rule was repealed in 2011.
Changes to Objective CME 3.2 – Extends the date (expired) by which the City will establish reconstruction permitting procedures.
Changes to CME 3.4.1 – Extends the date (expired) by which the City will develop a Post-Disaster Redevelopment Plan.
G.Intergovernmental Coordination Element
Introduction – Removes reference to Rule 9J-5, Florida Administrative Code as the rule was repealed in 2011.
Changes to ICE 2.1.5 – Deletes policy as the revised interlocal agreement with the School District has been achieved.
Changes to Objective ICE 2.2 – Deletes objective and supporting policies referencing “special districts,” which is no longer required by the Community Planning Act.
H. Capital Improvements Element
Changes to Introduction – Removes reference to Rule 9J-5, Florida Administrative Code as the rule was repealed in 2011.
Changes to CIE 1.5.1 – Deletes portion of policy referencing a “financially-feasible” plan, which is no longer required by the Community Planning Act;
Changes to CIE 1.6.3 – Deletes policy that references “long-term concurrency management,” which is no longer required by the Community Planning Act.
Changes to CIE 1.6.4 – Deletes portions of policy referencing a “financially feasible” capital improvements program, which is no longer required by the Community Planning Act.
Changes to CIE 1.6.5 – Renumbered.
I. Public School Facilities Element
Changes to Introduction – Removes reference to Rule 9J-5, Florida Administrative Code as the rule was repealed in 2011.
J. Livable City Element
Changes to LIV 3.5.1 – Extends the date (expired) by which the City will develop and implement a Comprehensive Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan.
Changes to LIV 4.2.5 – Extends the date (expired) by which the City will revise the Code to allow porches within the front yard setback and require the front façade of living areas to be closer to the street than garage areas.