Proposed Brownfield Area

Transcription

1 NOTICE OF BROWNFIELD AREA DESIGNATION PUBLIC HEARING The Board of County Commissioners of Indian River County, Florida gives notice of its intent to consider adopting a resolution establishing a Brownfield Area near 74 th Avenue and 9 th Street SW within unincorporated Indian River County (as shown below). The first of two public hearings, at which parties in interest and citizens shall have an opportunity to be heard, will be held as part of the regular Board of County Commissioners meeting on Tuesday April 20, 2010 starting at 9:00 a.m. in the County Commission Chambers of the County Administration Building located at th Street, Vero Beach, Florida. The proposed resolution is entitled: A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA; MAKING FINDINGS; DESIGNATING THAT AREA BY MAP IDENTIFIED IN EXHIBIT A HERETO AS A BROWNFIELD AREA FOR THE PURPOSE OF ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION, REHABILITATION, AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. The proposed resolution is available for public review on the County website at: A copy of the proposed resolution may also be reviewed by the public at the Community Development Department 1 st Street SW located on the first floor of the County Administration Building located at th Street, Building A, Vero Beach, Florida between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on weekdays. For more information, contact Bill Schutt at (772) This is the first of two scheduled public hearings for the Brownfield Area designation. While no official action will be taken to adopt the resolution at the first public hearing, a brief presentation will be provided that will explain the purpose and implications of Brownfield Area designation. If an owner of property within the proposed Brownfield Area determines during the Brownfield designation process that the Brownfield Area designation is not desirable for his property, that property owner may request in writing that his property be excluded from the proposed Brownfield Area. Doing so will result in the County excluding the property from the Brownfield Area designation. Anyone who needs a special accommodation for this meeting must contact the county s Americans with Disabilities Act Coordinator at (772) (TDD # (772) ), at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting. Indian River County Board of County Commissioners By:-s- Peter D. O Bryan, Chairman 9 th Street SW (Oslo Rd.) Proposed Brownfield Area 82 nd Avenue Proposed Brownfield Area Existing County Landfill 74 th Avenue 5 th Street SW

2 PUBLIC HEARING (LEGISLATIVE) INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA MEMORANDUM TO: Joseph A. Baird County Administrator DIVISION HEAD CONCURRENCE: Robert M. Keating, AIC Community Developmen Dire THROUGH: Sasan Rohani, AICP Chief, Long-Range Planning FROM: Bill Schutt, AICP ~ -~- Senior Economic Development Planner DATE: April12, 2010 RE: CONSIDERATION OF ESTABLISHING A BROWNFIELD AREA NEAR 74TH A VENUE AND 9TH STREET SW It is requested that the following information be given formal consideration by the Board of County Commissioners at its regular meeting of April20, INTRODUCTION In 1997, the Florida legislature enacted the Brownfields Redevelopment Act, Florida Statutes Section That act was created to assist local governments and property owners in the development/redevelopment of property that is or is perceived to be contaminated with substances that may be harmful to human health or the environment. As structured, the Brownfields Redevelopment Act allows communities to designate one or more properties as a Brownfield area. For those property owners whose properties are within a Brownfield Area, economic incentives are available regardless of whether the property is contaminated or not. At his option, a property owner may also enter into a specific Brownfield Site Redevelopment Agreement (BSRDA) with the State of Florida or designated local pollution control program agency. 1

3 Doing so would then allow the property owner to take advantage of administrative assistance, regulatory assistance, technical assistance, and financial incentives for cleaning up his property. When a property is located within a designated Brownfield Area, the property owner is not required to enter into a Brownfield Site Redevelopment Agreement. That decision is entirely up to the property owner. Since enactment of the Brownfields Redevelopment Act, 238 Brownfield Areas, comprising more than 174,000 acres, have been designated in Florida. Within the 238 designated Brownfield Areas, only 142 Brownfield Site Redevelopment Agreements, consisting of approximately 3,300 acres, have been entered into. According to state law, a Brownfield Area designation may be initiated at the request of a specific property owner, or a Brownfield Area designation may be initiated by a local government. When a Brownfield Area designation request is initiated by a specific property owner, that request is limited only to the property owned by that property owner. When a larger area is being considered for Brownfield Area designation, the local government would initiate the process. To designate a Brownfield Area, the state recommends that local governments conduct a minimum of two public hearings. One of the public hearings must be conducted within or near the proposed Brownfield Area. According to Section (1), Florida Statutes, any property owner within a proposed Brownfield Area may request in writing that his property be removed from the Brownfield Area designation, and the local government must comply. If after the Public Hearings the local government decides to designate a proposed Brownfield Area, that local government must adopt a Brownfield Area designation resolution. That resolution must include either a legal description or map of the Brownfield Area. 74th Avenue/Oslo Road Brownfield Area Consideration Earlier this year, INEOS New Planet BioEnergy contacted Indian River County staff and requested that staff initiate the process of designating the former Ocean Spray site, located at th A venue, as part of a Brownfield Area. Currently, INEOS New Planet BioEnergy has a contract to purchase that property and use it for a new bioenergy facility. In conjunction with the property acquisition, INEOS hopes to obtain financial incentives that are available only through a Brownfield designation. One of those incentives is available only to companies that have not made a final location commitment, but have expressed an interest in locating at a specific brownfield site. While INEOS New Planet BioEnergy has an interest in designating the Ocean Spray site as a Brownfield Area, INEOS is not yet the property owner and thus cannot officially request the designation of the property. Although INEOS cannot initiate a Brownfields application for the Ocean Spray site, the County could pursue creation of a Brownfield Area that would encompass the Ocean Spray site, and would also encompass multiple publicly and privately held properties near and adjacent to the Ocean Spray site. 2

4 On March 2, 2010, the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) voted to initiate the process of Brownfield Area designation of all of the properties within the 74th Avenue/Oslo Road Commerical/Industrial node and several publicly designated properties adjacent to that Commercial/Industrial node. Those properties include the Ocean Spray site, several County Solid Waste Disposal District owned properties adjacent to the Ocean Spray site and multiple privately owned properties. Subsequently, a public hearing workshop was held on April 5, 2010 at the Brackett Library at the Indian River State College Mueller Campus to obtain public input on the proposed Brownfield Area designation and the proposed boundaries for the 74th A venue/oslo Road Brownfield Area. Based on comments received, the overall size of the proposed Brownfield Area has since been reduced. In addition, one property that had been removed from the original proposed Brownfiled Area (packing house east of 74th A venue) has been added back into the proposed Brownfield Area. This was done at the property owner's request. At this time, the Board of County Commissioners must conduct a public hearing to consider the modified proposed Brownfield Area. If after that hearing the Board of County Commissioners agrees to continue moving forward with the Brownfield Area designation, a second Public Hearing will be held as part of the regular meeting of the Board of County Commissioners on May 11,2010. ANALYSIS Proposed Brownfield Area As proposed, the Brownfield Area shown in the map on the following page includes properties within the 74th Avenue/9th Street SW Commercial/Industrial Node. Excluded from the proposed Brownfield Area are properties in that node where the property owners specifically requested to be excluded from the Brownfield Area. Within the County's Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Element, the 74th Avenue/9th Street SW Commercial/Industrial node is designated primarily for industrial type uses. The plan also envisions that those uses will utilize a planned interchange at Interstate 95 and 9th Street SW. As proposed, the Brownfield Area is consistent with the County's Future Land Use Element. 3

5 Proposed Brownfield Area and Planned Future Land Use 5 th Street SW AG-2 C/I C/I C/I Proposed Brownfield Area C/I PUB 74 th Avenue 9 th Street SW (Oslo Rd.) AG-1 Existing Landfill Dept. of Corrections Property Ownership The aerial image on the next page depicts general property ownership within the potential Brownfield Area. As proposed, the Brownfield Area includes multiple privately held parcels north of 9 th Street SW, one privately held parcel east of 74 th Avenue and south of 9 th Street SW, two privately held parcels south of 9 th Street SW near Interstate 95, several parcels owned by Ocean Spray at the south west corner of 9 th Street SW and 74 th Avenue, and several parcels owned by the Indian River County Solid Waste Disposal District (SWDD) between the C-5 Canal and 9 th Street SW. 4

6 Proposed Brownfield Area and General Property Ownership 5 th Street SW Privately Held Properties 82 nd Avenue Privately Held Properties County Owned SWDD Properties Ocean Spray Properties 74 th Avenue 9 th Street SW (Oslo Rd.) Privately Held Property Although the properties owned by SWDD were originally purchased by the County with the intent to expand the footprint of the landfill north to Oslo Road, that changed in At that time, the SWDD Master Plan was revised to exclude the subject properties from the future landfill expansion area in favor of expanding the landfill facility on existing County owned land south of the C-5 Canal. Part of the justification for that decision was the desire to preserve the land north of the C-5 canal for possible commercial/industrial development. At that time, the SWDD Board also determined that a planning study should be prepared to determine the best alternatives for the County owned property. If the SWDD properties are designated as part of a Brownfield Area, that will not commit the County to the future use of the properties as commercial and/or industrial. That will, however, increase the potential for the County to develop the sites with commercial and/or industrial uses. Brownfield Area Designation Criteria In order to designate a Brownfield Area, a local jurisdiction must consider several criteria. These criteria include: 1. Whether the Brownfield Area warrants economic development and has a reasonable potential for such activities; 5

7 2. Whether the proposed area to be designated represents a reasonably focused approach and is not overly large in geographic coverage; 3. Whether the area has potential to interest the private sector in participating in rehabilitation; and 4. Whether the area contains sites or parts of sites suitable for limited recreational open space, cultural, or historical preservation purposes. While the above criteria are listed in the Florida Statutes, there is no requirement that a proposed Brownfield Area meet all of the criteria. In fact, the statutes fall silent on this issue. With respect to the proposed 74th Avenue/Oslo Road Brownfield Area, that area meets criteria number one, of being an area that has a reasonable potential for economic development activities. This potential exists because the area is designated for commercial/industrial use on the County's future land use map. While the current zoning of many of the parcels within the C/1 node is for agricultural use, the agricultural zoning designation is intended as a temporary holding zone until property owners request a change of zoning to commercial or industrial. As proposed, the 74th A venue/ Oslo Road Brownfield Area also meets criteria number two, in that it is not overly large in geographic coverage. At this time, the proposed Brownfield Area is limited to the Ocean Spray site, multiple County owned properties adjacent to the landfill and Ocean Spray site, and a few privately held properties. Criteria number three is also met for the proposed Brownfield Area. Since the contract purchaser of the Ocean Spray site initially requested the Brownfield Area designation and has stated his intent to enter into a Brownfield Area Site Redevelopment Agreement (BSRA), that indicates that there is private sector interest in participating in Brownfield Area rehabilitation activities. As currently proposed, the 74th A venue/ Oslo Road Brownfield Area does not meet criteria number four. This is because no land within the proposed area has been designated for limited recreational open space, cultural, or historical preservation purposes. Proposed Brownfield Area Designation Resolution Attached to this staff report is a draft Brownfield Area designation resolution. That resolution meets the requirements of Florida Statutes. As drafted, the resolution acknowledges that the County has considered the brownfield area designation criteria, recognizes that the County has followed public hearing requirements, provides a map depicting the proposed brownfield area, establishes the persons responsible for brownfield site rehabilitation, and establishes an advisory committee to review proposals for site rehabilitation. 6

8 As noted, the draft resolution involves creation of a brownfield area advisory committee. That is a requirement of Florida Statutes. As proposed, the committee will have five members and provide advice on brownfield rehabilitation activities to the BCC. Even though the proposed resolution is included as an attachment to this report, that resolution may not be adopted at the April20, 2010 Public Hearing. While the resolution is attached to this report to provide the BCC and public with the opportunity to comment on it, no action may be taken on the resolution until the Board of County Commissioners has conducted the second Public Hearing on May 11, At this time, the Board of County Commissioners must obtain public comment on the proposed Brownfield Area and decide whether or not to continue to pursue the establishment of a proposed Brownfield Area near 74th Avenue and Oslo Road in its current proposed configuration or an alternative configuration. RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that the Board of County Commissioners: Provide direction on the proposed boundaries of the Brownfield Area; Provide comments on the proposed resolution; and Authorize staff to schedule a second Brownfield Area adoption public hearing. ATTACHMENT 1. Brownfield Area Designation Resolution Indian River Co. Approved Date Admin. Legal Budget Dept. RiskMgr. Approved Agenda Item: F or:,a~pt<!r=ile-::2=0~, 2=0::..!:1~0 By: F:\Community Development\Users\EDplannr\Incentives & Funding\Brownfields\INEOS\bcc agenda item- Public Hearing #!.doc 7

9 RESOLUTION NO A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA; MAKING FINDINGS; DESIGNATING THAT AREA IDENTIFIED BY MAP IN EXHIBIT "A" HERETO AS A BROWNFIELD AREA, TO BE KNOWN AS THE 74 A VENUE/OSLO ROAD ECONOMIC ENHANCEMENT AREA, FOR THE PURPOSE OF ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION, REHABILITATION, AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, the State of Florida has provided, in Sections , Florida Statutes, for the designation, by resolution, of certain contiguous areas consisting of one or more brownfield sites as "Brownfields Areas," and for the corresponding provision of economic development and environmental remediation for such areas; and WHEREAS, Indian River County wishes to notify the Florida Department of Environmental Protection of its decision to designate a Brownfield Area for rehabilitation pursuant to the provisions of Sections , Florida Statutes; and WHEREAS, Indian River County has considered the criteria set forth in Section (2)(a)l.-4., Florida Statutes, namely whether the proposed Brownfield Area warrants economic development and has a reasonable potential for such activities, whether the area represents a reasonably focused approach and is not overly large in geographic coverage, whether the area has potential to interest the private sector in participating in rehabilitation, and whether the area contains sites or parts of sites suitable for limited recreational open space, cultural purposes, or historical preservation purposes; and WHEREAS, the notice and public hearing requirements set forth in Section (4)(b), Florida Statutes, have been followed, with notice having been published in the Indian River Press Journal on March 23, 2010, AprillO, 2010 and, 2010, and one public hearing workshop having been held on April 5, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. near the proposed 1 of5 Attachment 1

10 RESOLUTION NO Brownfield Area and two public hearings having been held on April 20, 2010 at 9:00a.m. and May 11, 2010, at 9:00a.m.; and WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners finds it in the best interest of the citizens of Indian River County that the mapped area depicted in Exhibit "A" attached hereto be designated a brownfields area. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA Section 1. That the Board of County Commissioners finds the above stated recitals to be true and correct and incorporates them herein by reference. Section 2. That the Area depicted in Exhibit A, attached hereto and incorporated by reference, shall be designated as the 74th Avenue/Oslo Road Economic Enhancement Area for rehabilitation in accordance with the intent of Sections , Florida Statues. While Indian River County shall be the entity responsible for designating the Brownfield Area pursuant to Section , Florida Statues, such designation shall not render Indian River County liable for costs of site rehabilitation or source removal, as those terms are defined in Section (17) and (18), Florida Statues, or for any other costs, above and beyond those costs attributable to the County's role as designator of a Brownfield Area. Each property owner in the Brownfield Area shall be the "person responsible for brownfield site rehabilitation" as defined in Section (13), Florida Statutes. Section 3. That the County hereby establishes an advisory Committee to address redevelopment of the 74th Avenue/Oslo Road Economic Enhancement Area for the purpose of improving public participation and receiving public comments on rehabilitation and redevelopment of the brownfield area, future land use, local employment opportunities, community safety, and 2 of5

11 RESOLUTION NO environmental justice. The advisory committee shall include 1 resident within or adjacent to the brownfield area, 1 person that owns property within the brownfield area, 1 person from a business operating within the brownfield area, and 2 at large persons. Section 4. This Resolution shall take effect immediately upon adoption by the Board of County Commissioners. The foregoing Resolution was offered by Commissioner, and second by Commissioner, and being put to vote, the vote was as follows: Peter D. O'Bryan, Chairman Bob Solari, Vice Chairman Wesley S. Davis, Commissioner Gary C. Wheeler, Commissioner Joseph E. Flescher, Commissioner The chairman thereupon declared the resolution duly passed and adopted this day of, Date: BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF INDIAN RIVER COUNTY BY: Peter D. O'Bryan, Chairman ATTEST BY: Jeffrey K. Barton, Clerk 3 of5

12 RESOLUTION NO APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGAL SUFFICIENCY Alan Polackwich, County Attorney F:\Community Development\Users\EDplannr\Incentives & Funding\Brownfields\INEOS\RESOLUTION\Brownfield Resolution v3.doc 4 of5

13 RESOLUTION NO EXHIBIT "A" of5