Frequently Asked Questions
The following information is provided to give direction to persons who are interested in applying for an amendment to the Volusia County Comprehensive Plan.
Q. What is the future land use designation of my property?
All real property within Volusia County has a future land use designation, which are described and mapped in the comprehensive plan. Generally, there are thirteen future land use (FLU) designations and described in the table. You can search for your property’s designation here.
Q. What zoning classifications are compatible with my future land use designation?
The following matrix shows each future land use designation with the corresponding zoning classifications that are either assumed, or conditionally compatible. Any request for rezoning must be consistent with the future land use map designation. Here is the compatibility matrix for your assistance.
Q. Are NRMA and ECO future land use designations?
NRMA is an acronym for the Natural Resource Management Areas overlay, and is not a future land use designation. The NRMA boundary was created in 1990 as a future land use designation, but became an overlay in 2010. Properties that contain the NRMA overlay have more restrictive environmental protection standards (Example: A minimum 50-foot wetland buffer is required instead of a 25-foot wetland buffer on non-NRMA properties).
ECO is an acronym for the Environmental Core Overlay, which was adopted to implement the county’s Smart Growth Initiative.
Q. What are the types of comprehensive plan amendments?
There are two types of Comprehensive Plan Amendments; Large Scale (if property is larger than 10 acres) and Small Scale (if property is 10 acres or smaller).
Large scale amendments are reviewed by the state planning agency known as the Department of Economic Development (DEO) under an expedited or coordinated review process. These processes are described in sections 163.3184 (3) and (4) and 163.3187, Florida Statutes.
Q. Who can request a comprehensive plan amendment?
Map amendments for parcels of real property within Volusia County may be initiated by property owners, or by agents of property owners, by written consent. Text amendments may be initiated by the Volusia County Council, the Planning and Land Development Regulation Commission, or staff, but not a private citizen.
Q. How long does an amendment take?
Typically, large scale amendments can take from 3-6 months from submittal of a complete application deadline to adoption. Large scale amendments require three public hearings and are review by the Department of Economic Opportunity and certification by the Volusia Growth Management Commission.
Small scale amendments require two public hearings and certification by the Volusia Growth Management Commission.
Q. What is the process to amend the future land use designation of my property?
1. Pre-application conference. The process for initiating a comprehensive plan amendment begins with a pre-application meeting with the Comprehensive Planning activity. Please call (386) 736-5959 to speak with a planner and schedule an appointment. The applicant should be prepared with property I.D. numbers, a map of the proposed amendment site and a preliminary development proposal. Staff will discuss any supplemental information that may be required in order to adequately review the application and process the amendment. Pre-Application Meeting Form
2. Application submittal. A complete application package, including all associated studies and data and analysis, and the applicable fees must be submitted to the Comprehensive Planning activity in the County Administration building at 123 W. Indiana Ave., DeLand, FL 32720. A submittal checklist is included with the application form. It is the applicant’s responsibility to obtain and submit this information and any supplementary information as discussed in the pre-application meeting in order for the application to be deemed complete.
If the amendment will impact Volusia County Schools the applicant must obtain and submit a school capacity analysis provided by the Volusia County School District. The attached form may be provided to the School District to initiate the analysis. Volusia County Schools development summary form
3. Review of the amendment application. Once the application is determined complete, staff will review it for compliance with the criteria of Chapter 21-Administration and Interpretation element of the comprehensive plan, and schedule the amendment for public hearing in accordance with Florida Statutes. The written staff report will be available one week prior to the public hearing of the Planning and Land Development Regulation Commission (PLDRC).
4. Planning and Land Development Regulation Committee (PLDRC) public hearing. The amendment will be presented to the PLDRC for their review and recommendation to the county council.
5. Large scale amendment transmittal hearing.
The county council may approve, approve with conditions, continue or deny the amendment. If the amendment is approved then it is sent to the Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) State Land Planning Agency for expedited state review (if it qualifies for such) or coordinated state review, and the Volusia Growth Management Commission (VGMC) for their simultaneous reviews.
6. Large scale amendment adoption hearing.
Once the VGMC has certified the amendment and DEO has provided comments, the county council has 180 days to adopt, adopt with changes or deny the amendment. If the amendment is denied, the application is concluded. If the amendment is approved or approved with changes, it is again sent to DEO for a 30-day review period. The amendment becomes effective 31 days after DEO determines the amendment package is complete, subject to no affected party timely filing a petition with the Department of Administrative Hearings.
7. Small scale amendment process.
After the PLDRC public hearing, the amendment is forwarded to VGMC for certification. Once VGMC issues a certification, it is scheduled for a county council adoption hearing. If the amendment is denied by county council, the application is concluded. If the amendment is approved by county council, the amendment is sent to DEO State Land Planning Agency as a matter of record. The amendment becomes effective 31 days after adoption.
* For additional information on the DEO’s comprehensive plan processing guidelines please follow this link: http://www.floridajobs.org/community-planning-and-development/programs/comprehensive-planning/amendment-submittal-and-processing-guidelines.
Last Updated 02/03/16 10:51 a.m.
