FAQ’S

●    What is a Comprehensive Plan?

FL Statutes – Title XIII Planning and Development Section 187.101 Description of plan; legislative intent; construction and application of plan:

(1)  The State Comprehensive Plan shall provide long-range policy guidance for the orderly social, economic, and physical growth of the state. It shall be reviewed biennially by the Legislature, and implementation of its policies shall require legislative action unless otherwise specifically authorized by the constitution or law.

(2)  The State Comprehensive Plan is intended to be a direction-setting document. Its policies may be implemented only to the extent that financial resources are provided pursuant to legislative appropriation or grants or appropriations of any other public or private entities. The plan does not create regulatory authority or authorize the adoption of agency rules, criteria, or standards not otherwise authorized by law.

(3)  The goals and policies contained in the State Comprehensive Plan shall be reasonably applied where they are economically and environmentally feasible, not contrary to the public interest, and consistent with the protection of private property rights. The plan shall be construed and applied as a whole, and no specific goal or policy in the plan shall be construed or applied in isolation from the other goals and policies in the plan.

●    What is a Community Plan?

Hillsborough County Planning Commission Community Plan Guide:

A Community Plan is a strategic plan created by stakeholders that is organized around a shared vision and goals for a community’s future.  Community Plans recognize the distinct character of communities in unincorporated Hillsborough County – rural, suburban, and urban – through strategies and actions oriented to community values, design preferences and needs.

A Community Plan must be consistent with the Comprehensive Plan

A Community Plan cannot conflict with State or Federal laws; cannot discriminate against any population group based on age, gender, religion, race, ethnicity, or income level; and must attend to public health, safety and general welfare.

A Community Plan prepared in accordance with this guide is not a regulatory document, nor a budget document.  Community Plan recommendations pertaining to County policy, regulation, or capital and program funding are accomplished through various implementation tools including the Comprehensive Plan, Land Development Code, Capital Improvements Program, Annual Budget and other programs and resources – monetary and non-monetary.

●    Who creates the Community Plan?

A Community Plan is created by community stakeholders in collaboration with the County planning agencies.  Stakeholders collectively determine what they want their community to be like in the future and how to get there.

●    What is a Stakeholder?

A stakeholder includes an individual or group with a direct interest or investment I the area including residents, property owners, business owners, employees, business groups and other special interest groups, and governmental and non-governmental organizations.

●    What is Rural?

The Federal Register’s definition is:  Territory not defined as urban.

Hillsborough County Comprehensive Plan’s definition is:

Rural-Residential – Generally refers to areas that are on the periphery of suburban areas, predominantly residential in nature with some associated agricultural uses and no urban services available.  Intensity of development is mostly lower than suburban areas with lots on land one acre or larger.

Rural-Agricultural – Generally refers to areas that are on the outskirts of rural-residential areas, predominantly agricultural in nature with some associated residential uses and no urban services available.  Intensity of development is mostly lower than suburban areas with lots on land five acres or larger.

●    What is suburban?

The Federal Register does not list “suburban” in their definitions.

Hillsborough County Comprehensive Plan’s definition is:  Generally refers to development on the periphery of urban areas, predominantly residential in nature with many urban services available.  Intensity of development is usually lower than in urban areas.

●    What is urban?

The Federal Register  has the following definitions:

Urban – Generally, densely developed territory, encompassing residential, commercial and other nonresidential urban land uses within which social and economic interactions occur.

Urban Area – The generic term used to refer collectively to urbanized areas and urban clusters.

Urban Cluster (UC) – A statistical geographic entity consisting of a densely settled core created from census tracts or blocks and contiguous qualifying territory that together have at least 2,500 persons but fewer than 50,000 persons.

Urbanized Area (UA) – A statistical geographic entity consisting of a densely settled core created from census tracts or blocks and contiguous qualifying territory that together have a minimum of at least 50,000 persons.