Why can’t the City restrict new development?

The State of Florida in 1995 enacted the Bert J. Harris Jr. Private Property Protection Act that created a new cause of action for aggrieved property owners. If property owners could demonstrate that a governmental action “inordinately burdens” their property, they would be entitled to some form of compensation. Prior to the Harris Act, governmental agencies became quite adept at implementing zoning changes that would significantly reduce a property owner’s rights and investment potential with their property but would not rise to the level of a “taking” under an eminent domain or inverse condemnation analysis and therefore the government would not have to compensate property owners for their loss. The legislature realized this was an injustice that should be remedied, and passed the Harris Act to provide protection for property owners. This information and more can be found in Element 12 (12 Property Rights Element) of the City's Comprehensive Plan.

If the City is preempted from impinging on a property owner's right to develop their property, what enables the city's residents to guide growth? 

Here in Florida, every local government is required to adopt a comprehensive plan that sets forth future land uses and establishes residential density and non-residential intensity standards. These standards apply to all properties within the local government jurisdiction and are shown on the Future Land Use Map (found in the Comprehensive Plan's Maps section, Map #5). The Future Land Use Map (FLUM) is composed of categories of land uses that establish the ceiling for development for each property.  The State of Florida requires that local governments update their comprehensive plan at least every seven (7) years.  Punta Gorda's current comprehensive plan (Comprehensive Plan 2045) was updated in 2024.

The Comprehensive Plan provides the roadmap for the establishment of subdivision, street, and land development regulations (zoning) that provide more detailed rights and restrictions that apply to each property.  The City’s current Land Development Regulations were updated and adopted in 2023. Both the Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Regulations updates were based on the findings of the Plan Punta Gorda 2019 Citywide Master Plan. The Citywide Master Plan is a vision plan for the city, which was developed at the behest of city council, local businesses, and residents. All were still struggling to achieve downtown revitalization and fiscal stability after Hurricane Charley destroyed half of the city's economic center a decade-and-a-half earlier in 2004. The updates are intended to enable infill and redevelopment within the downtown and surrounding historic neighborhoods while preserving important historic resources, enhancing resiliency to natural disasters, and respecting the resources of the beautiful natural environment. This plan was generated with significant public input from over 1,000 individuals.

Where is the growth going to be?

Aside from infill development on vacant properties within the city or allowable redevelopment, growth comes from annexation. Under Florida law, the property owners of the area must initiate annexation.  Some property owners of unincorporated Charlotte County have approached the City with an interest in annexing over the past couple of decades. In each case, the determination of the mutual benefit of the proposed annexation is made through a public hearing process, which includes a review by staff, a recommendation by the Planning and Zoning Board, and a decision by City Council

What can the City do to limit growth?

Fortunately for all property owners, Florida has strong property rights laws that protect individual owners from arbitrary or unjust actions by local governments.  Due to these state-level protections, it is exceedingly difficult to reduce a property’s maximum development potential as established by the Comprehensive Plan and LDRs or to deny the development of individual properties that comply with the provisions of these policies and regulations. If the City were to deny a development application that was otherwise consistent with the Comprehensive Plan and LDRs, then the property owner is entitled to file a lawsuit demanding reconsideration of approval of the development proposal and/or monetary compensation. These state-level property rights protections exceed the protections provided by the U.S. Constitution under the Bill of Rights.  As an example of these enhanced protections, under the Bert J. Harris Jr. Private Property Rights Protection Act of 1995, potential liability is created if a governmental entity inordinately burdens an existing use of real property or a vested right to a specific use of real property.

How can the City control traffic?

Traffic that occurs as a result of population growth is not something that can be controlled by any one local government. It is best addressed at the regional level as the generation of vehicular traffic is based on the land use patterns of the larger region.  Within a given region, one location may be desirable for luxury housing or more affordable workforce housing, and another location may offer a more attractive location for retail spaces, and yet another, due to geography or history, may be where vital services, like hospitals, government buildings, and other facilities are located.  It is the geographic mismatch between where people live and where they need to work and recreate that causes vehicular traffic.  The public roads are by their nature open to public use, which does not discriminate based on where vehicles are coming from or going to. Given this reality, the best approach for local government to take is proactive management of traffic to ensure maximum efficiency of the transportation system.

Traffic management is an especially important approach to take here in Punta Gorda, a small city in population and geography, within a much larger and rapidly growing region.  Additionally, many of the most heavily traveled roadways within the city are owned and maintained by the State of Florida, US 41 (Tamiami Trail) and US 17 (Marion Avenue and Olympia Avenue east of US 41 southbound), and by Charlotte County, Burnt Store Road, Jones Loop Road, portions of Taylor Road, Carmalita Street, and Airport Road to name a few. There the City works in coordination with Charlotte County, the Florida Department of Transportation, and the Charlotte County-Punta Gorda Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO).  The MPO is responsible for the long-term transportation planning for all of Charlotte County including the city through the oversite of state and federal transportation. 

What is the difference between the Comprehensive Plan and the Zoning Code?

Every city and county in Florida is required to have a comprehensive plan. It provides the policy foundation for local planning and land use decisions on capital improvements, conservation, intergovernmental coordination, recreation, open space, future land use, housing, transportation, coastal management, property rights, historic preservation, public school facilities, infrastructure, and community facilities. It provides direction to the actions of the local government through goals, objectives, and policies (GOPs).  It is within these GOPs that the maximum level of development allowed on each parcel of land is established.

The Zoning Code, known locally as the Land Development Regulations (LDRs) implements the Comprehensive Plan.   The LDRs provide a complete and extremely detailed regulatory framework for all development and use of the land.  From building setbacks to fence heights and parking space dimensions to the size of signage on businesses. The LDRs guide the architects and engineers that develop the plans which are turned into the places where we sleep, work, shop, and visit every day.   

In many respects, the relationship of the Comprehensive Plan to the Zoning Code is comparable to the relationship of the Florida Constitution to the Florida Statutes.  The Comprehensive Plan provides the big picture vision through the goals, objectives, and policies (GOPs).  The Land Development Regulations are the instructions for designing and building the place envisioned by the GOPs.

 Why can’t proposed projects be discussed with citizens following the submittal of a formal application?

Formal applications for land use matters (development), such as rezoning, planned development, and special exception are established as quasi-judicial public hearing processes under Florida law.  In the quasi-judicial process, the governing body, City Council, and any advisory body, like the Planning and Zoning Board, serve as judges in the process. Similar to actual courtroom judicial matters, these quasi-judicial decisions must be based on factual information made as part of the public record during the public hearing on the matter at hand. The due process rights of all participants, applicants, the City, interested third parties, and the public in general, include notice (advertisement and posting of hearing date/time), the opportunity to be heard (public comment), and the right to be advised of all facts (presentation by City staff and the applicant) on which the decision makers rely. For this reason, our Council Members and Planning and Zoning Board members are advised by the City Attorney’s Office to not respond to letters, phone calls, emails, or requests for meetings with constituents regarding a quasi-judicial public hearing, outside of the confines of the applicable public hearing. Citizens are welcome and encouraged to attend and speak at public meetings at which quasi-judicial hearings take place.

What does quasi-judicial mean? How does it differ from everything else you do?

City Council serves as primarily a legislative body responsible for the budget and other important policies of the City, including hiring a City Manager, City Clerk, and City Attorney.  The City Manager along with the City Clerk and City Attorney serve to manage the daily operations of the city based on the budget and other policy direction provided by the City Council.  In the legislative process, public opinion and the opinions of individual council members, as well as facts and professional opinions as presented by City staff, can all play a role in the decision-making process.

By contrast, in land use matters such as rezoning, planned development, and similar matters, the City Council serves as judges in a quasi-judicial process as proscribed by Florida law.  In these quasi-judicial proceedings, the City Council is required to apply the law as embodied by Florida Statutes, the City’s Comprehensive Plan, and the City’s Land Development Regulations to the evidence presented before them through the application, City staff report, and other evidence and testimony presented at the public hearing. (The actual adoption of the Land Development Regulations and the comprehensive plans themselves are a legislative process.) The decision made by City Council in the quasi-judicial process must be supported by competent, substantial evidence.  The standard of competent, substantial evidence does not include the personal opinions of the public or the City Council member.  No matter how strongly felt or deeply held, opinions cannot be used to decide quasi-judicial public hearings; only evidence which directly relates to the matter at hand and based on the applicable Florida Statutes, Comprehensive Plan, and Land Development Regulations may be considered to render a decision. 

Why can’t the City insist that developers expand roads if new developments cause more traffic?

In 2011, the State Legislature removed transportation concurrency requirements from Florida law. Florida law enables the collection of impact fees based on a rational nexus of planned improvements by the local government and the relative impact generated by development based on its size.  The City collects impact fees for transportation improvements through a mobility fee. The City’s mobility fee is based on a professional study that established these fees, which are designed to offset the impacts of new development on the overall transportation system. These fees are paid at the time a development is approved for occupancy.  The intent of the fees is that they can help fund projects that address deficiencies in the transportation system. Under the City’s regulations applicants for larger projects must also, provide site-specific traffic studies to determine what, if any, deficiencies may result from the development.  It is left to the City to determine how and when to fund projects that address any deficiency in the transportation network.

Why can’t you refuse new building plans based on limited school capacity?

School concurrency is no longer mandated by Florida law, as of 2011. The impact on schools from development is reviewed by the Charlotte County School Board (Charlotte County School Concurrency Program) staff in coordination with the local governments within Charlotte County via an interlocal agreement. This process provides that School Board staff is part of the development review process. The City's role in the school concurrency process is explained in the Comprehensive Plan Element 8 Public School Facilities Element.   

What criteria can be used to deny a new project?

There are two primary justifications to deny a given development application:                              

1. An inconsistency with the Comprehensive Plan supported by competent substantial evidence, and/or                                                                                                                                             
2. An inconsistency with the Land Development Regulations (Zoning Code) supported by competent substantial evidence. 

Both the City Comprehensive Plan and the Land Development Regulations are voluminous policy documents.  Each contains a myriad of technical and specific provisions and requirements that are intended to enable the productive use of land; protect property values; preserve historic resources, conserve the natural environment; and ensure public services can be delivered efficiently and effectively.

Do we have enough water for future development?   

The City is required by the State of Florida to plan for and maintain an adequate water supply to serve existing customers and accommodate anticipated growth within its service area. To this end, the City is regulated by the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD). The City water and sewer utility area extends far beyond the current city limits.  In planning for anticipated growth, the City must account for development within the city limits, where it has regulatory authority over the use of land, as well as within a portion of the unincorporated county where Charlotte County has regulatory authority over the use of the land.  Fortunately, the City and Charlotte County coordinate closely on development and infrastructure matters within the City utility service area. 

Map #37 - City of Punta Gorda Utility Service Area and City Limits

Through this close coordination, careful planning, and judicious execution of the capital improvements program, the City has a diversified and sufficient water supply to accommodate both existing customers and anticipated growth well into the future. The chart below from the City Utilities Master Plan summarizes the future demands based on the projected population through 2040.

Total Projected Demand (mgd)

STATS

City of Punta Gorda square miles: 32 square miles

Population of City of Punta Gorda: 20,608 (U.S. Census Bureau, July 2022)

Number of households in the City: 9,827 households

Homes built per year in the City: Average 121 single-family homes built per year

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Annexation: The legal method of changing the local government jurisdiction from one local government entity to another or attaching an area into an area controlled by another form of government.

CDD: Community Development District, a local, special-purpose government framework authorized by Chapter 190 of the Florida Statutes as amended, and is an alternative to municipal incorporation for managing and financing infrastructure required to support development of a community. 

Comprehensive Plan: A long-range plan intended to guide the growth and development of a local government. It is sometimes referred to as the “comp plan.”

Concurrency: The requirement that specifies public facilities (recreation and open space, potable water, sanitary sewer, solid waste, stormwater management, transportation) to be provided for, by an entity to an adopted level of service.

Impact fee: A fee imposed by a local government on new development to pay for the construction or needed expansion of offsite capital improvements. These fees are usually implemented to help reduce the economic burden on local jurisdictions that are trying to deal with population growth within the area.

LDRs: Land Development Regulations, commonly referred to as the “Zoning Code,” which further defines use and development of land within the city to implement the goals, objectives, and policies (GOPs) of the Comprehensive Plan. 

Pre-Annexation Agreement: An agreement between a local government and a private property owner setting forth the terms and conditions regarding the subsequent annexation of the subject property or properties.