Levy County is reworking its comprehensive plan, and two August workshops are open to the public
The county commission meets on August 13 and the planning commission on August 17. The plan they are working on sets what can be built in Levy County, and where, for the next twenty years.
Levy County has two comprehensive plan workshops scheduled this month, and both are open to anyone who wants to attend.
The Board of County Commissioners holds a special meeting and Comprehensive Plan Workshop #1 on Wednesday, August 13, from 1 p.m. at 310 School Street in Bronson. The Levy County Planning Commission holds Comprehensive Plan Workshop #3 on Sunday, August 17, from 5:45 p.m., at the same address.
The two bodies appear to be running separate workshop series, since the commission is at its first session while the planning commission is at its third.
What a comprehensive plan actually does
A comprehensive plan is the document that governs what can be built in a county, where it can go, and how densely.
Every local government in Florida is required to adopt one under the Community Planning Act. Section 163.3177 of the Florida Statutes sets out what it must contain, and the list is broad: a future land use plan setting the distribution of residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, recreational and conservation uses; a transportation element; sanitary sewer, water, drainage and solid waste provision; conservation of natural resources including wetlands, water quality and wildlife habitat; recreation and open space; housing, including what the statute calls “affordable workforce housing”; a schedule of capital improvements covering at least five years; intergovernmental coordination; a property rights element; and, for counties on the coast, a coastal management element.
The statute also requires plans to look a long way out. A comprehensive plan must cover “at least two planning periods, one covering at least the first 10-year period … and one covering at least a 20-year period.”
In practice that makes it the most consequential land use document a county produces. Zoning decisions and development approvals have to be consistent with it, so what is decided in a workshop now shapes what can be permitted for years.
Why the public part matters
Florida law does not treat public involvement in this process as optional.
Section 163.3181 states the intent that “the public participate in the comprehensive planning process to the fullest extent possible.” It requires local planning agencies to adopt procedures for broad dissemination of proposals and alternatives, opportunities for written comment, public hearings, open discussion, and — the part that carries weight — consideration of and response to public comments received.
Affected people can raise concerns in writing or in person during the public hearing stage. The statute also allows an affected person to request an administrative hearing challenging whether a decision is consistent with the comprehensive plan, within 30 days of the hearing.
If you want to attend
Both workshops are at the Levy County Board of County Commissioners offices, 310 School Street, Bronson.
Dates, times and locations are taken from the county’s own calendar, and the county changes them from time to time, so it is worth checking before travelling. Agendas and supporting papers are published by the county ahead of each meeting.
For confirmation of a date, an agenda, or guidance on addressing the board, the Levy County Board of County Commissioners can be reached on 352-486-5218 or at LevyBoCC@LevyCounty.org.