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bentley williams

Beach Fanatic
Feb 24, 2005
652
127
SoWal
Got this in an email from Anita Page, South Walton Community Council Executive Director.


I do not normally send you the agenda for the Technical Review Committee but there are several items in which members of the community have shown an interest.

The meeting starts at 8:30 AM this Wednesday, Dec. 16, and is at the courthouse in South Walton.

Walmart. There has been a lot of discussion in the community about the proposed Walmart. For those interested in learning more about Walmart, there will be two hearings that you can attend. The first hearing is before the Technical Review Committee tomorrow, Wednesday, at 8:30 AM at the SW courthouse. The TRC will review the entire project. The second opportunity will be at the Design Review Board in January. I’ll get that date to you. The DRB will have a limited review as discussed below. As it stands right now, Walmart will NOT be heard before the Planning Commission or before the County Commissioners. Final approval of the Walmart development will be made in-house at the staff level. See comment at the end of this email for further explanation. ....


[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]Explanation of why Walmart will be decided in-house.

[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]Walmart is a part of a St. Joe development called “Topsail West PUD”. “PUD” stands for “Planned Unit Development”. If it were not part of the PUD and were a stand-alone development, it would be a “Major” development. The purpose of a PUD is to “provide flexible land use and design regulations and to permit planned diversification and integration of uses and structures...”. Once a development decides to proceed as a PUD, the overall project is submitted to the Planning Commission and the County Commissioners for “conceptual approval”. Conceptual approval involves some detail but not the detail required for approval of a Major Development. For example, the conceptual plan would identify a 79,000 square foot building as a shopping center but would not necessarily provide any further information about the type of “shopping center”. St. Joe received conceptual approval.

More details for each development within the overall project are provided later. That approval phase is called the “Detailed PUD Plan Approval”. According to county staff, in the past, the Planning Directors have interpreted the Land Development Code (LDC) to allow future development in the detail phase of the approved PUD to be treated as “Minor” developments even if they meet the definition of a Major Development. A commercial development of less than 5,000 sq.ft. is defined as a “Minor” development. Walmart is just over 78,000 sq.ft. The significance of a “minor” vs. “major” development is this: A Minor development request is reviewed and acted up by Staff. A Major Development must go before the Planning Commission for a recommendation and the County Commissioners for final approval. The latter two are public hearings. Walmart is technically a “Major” development. Because it is part of a conceptually approved PUD, however, it will be reviewed and acted upon in house in lieu of being submitted to the Planning Commission and Board of County Commissioners for approval.

This issue of a large development being approved as a Minor development has once again highlighted some problems with PUD developments. Major developments are required to go through a public hearing before the Planning Commission and the Board of County Commissioners because they have more potential to impact the community than a smaller development. Therefore, opportunity is provided for public input and elected officials render the final decision. Concerns about the PUD designation and procedure have been discussed by the Planning Commission several times. The PUD language, however, has not been clarified. A central issue, for example, is what is the function and what are the criteria necessary to allow a development to proceed as a PUD as opposed to a Master Planned community built in phases? The latter is clearly identified as a Major Development.

Also, there are inconsistencies in the LDC relating to the PUD approval procedure. For example, Section 10.02.01 of the Land Development Code gives the County Commissioners the authority for final approval of a Major Development. Under the definitions in the LDC, Walmart, for example, is clearly a Major development. The procedure of designating development within each phase of a PUD as a “Minor” development, even though it would be defined in the Land Development Code as a Major Development would seem to be in contradiction of the authority of the County Commissioners. Further confusion is contained in Section 2.06.02 of the Land Development Code. That section requires staff to review the submitted “Detailed PUD Plan” as a “Major” development. This inconsistency needs to be resolved as well as other issues identified in Planning Commission meetings. (e.g., need for a minimum acreage for a PUD)

It is my understanding that the PUD overlay provisions will be reviewed upon completion of the Comprehensive Plan amendment process. At that time, county staff will be required to review and amend the Land Development Code as necessary. That will be the time to clarify and address the PUD issues.

In the meantime, Walmart will be reviewed in accordance with the procedures currently in place. The importance is that if the public wants more info, they need to attend the TRC and/or the DRB hearing or review the file at the Courthouse Annex and provide comments directly to the planning staff.

Walmart will be returning to the Design Review Board for approval of their compliance with the U.S. 98 Scenic Corridor standards. They asked that their request for a rather substantial deviation from the required building sign size limit be continued to give them an opportunity to re-assess their building signage requirements. The DRB will be reviewing their site plan in terms of site development (e.g., lighting), architecture, landscaping and signage. The DRB is a public meeting. The next meeting will be in January.[/FONT]
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walmart-logo.jpg

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30A Skunkape

Skunky
Jan 18, 2006
10,286
2,312
53
Backatown Seagrove
Thirty years of watching what happened to my hometown after Wal-Martification would hardly constitute "knee-jerk".

If I live in an alternate universe, then you are simply a cheerleader for the status quo, as you have prove countless times on this board. Wal-Mart is indeed starting to move to a greener model, but do you imagine that they would have come to that conclusion of their own volition, without the criticism of the past decade and/or negative public relations?

I am as poor as the day is long, but I refuse to put my money into that system, and have not for over a decade. It requires me on this extreme end, and you (apologist) on the other to average out this society. Thanks for your comments, though...

I especially enjoy that you think of patronizing small, independently owned businesses that specialize in a few things as being a "lost cause". I don't want to get everything under the same roof, because that would have to be one huge roof. Do you think it is wise to give so much of our money to a small handful of corporations?

The angst induced by being enlightened while knowing everyone else has been duped by the multinational facists has apparently caused you to attribute opinions to me that are not mine. Spend your money where and how you please. I don't care about your consumer habits, as quaint as they may be, just please quit whining.
 

LuciferSam

Banned
Apr 26, 2008
4,752
1,069
Sowal
If at some point somebody revises the PUD with additional information, would that be called the PUDdendum? Just wondering....:dunno:
 

scooterbug44

SoWal Expert
May 8, 2007
16,732
3,330
Sowal
If "quaint" shopping habits mean that I want to shop at a store that doesn't mistreat/underpay their employees, siphon off my taxdollars, is not an eyesore, and carries reasonably priced and quality products, quaint I be! :wave:
 

danhall

Beach Lover
Jul 14, 2006
140
9
danhallstudio.com
The angst induced by being enlightened while knowing everyone else has been duped by the multinational facists has apparently caused you to attribute opinions to me that are not mine. Spend your money where and how you please. I don't care about your consumer habits, as quaint as they may be, just please quit whining.

I can't stop. You are giving me some great material...

I asked you a few questions. I did not attribute opinions to you, but since you brought it up, here is one of your opinions:

"It is far better to accept the reality that Wal-Mart and other big boxes are ubiquitous and more productivity will be realized working with that reality rather than investing energy into the lost cause of what consumers have rejected."

I realize full well that Wal-Mart is ubiquitous, otherwise we would not be having this conversation. I am working each day with that reality firmly lodged in my brain.

I am simultaneously investing energy into your "lost cause" if "lost cause of what consumers have rejected" equals other forms of mercantilism besides the big box retail model.

I do not look down from an enlightened position, I stand with the many others on this board who share concerns about this phenomenon in our culture. Whine complete.
 

scooterbug44

SoWal Expert
May 8, 2007
16,732
3,330
Sowal
Something is only a lost cause if noone is willing to invest any time or energy in it.

We have many people who do not like what Wal-mart stands for and what it will do to the community we love.

Wal-mart coming to Sowal may be a foregone conclusion (another dumb short term decision among many by St. Joe), but that doesn't mean we cannot alter their plans, cut into their profits, or make them conform to standards for development, signage, etc.

And it sure as hell doesn't mean I have to shop there.

You can claim that my opinions on Wal-mart are elitist, quaint, a lost cause, fiscally irresponsible (evidence is against this BTW), but at the end of the day I am putting my money where my mouth is and every dollar I am spending is going towards building and preserving a community, lifestyle, and world I feel is important.
 

30A Skunkape

Skunky
Jan 18, 2006
10,286
2,312
53
Backatown Seagrove
Something is only a lost cause if noone is willing to invest any time or energy in it.

We have many people who do not like what Wal-mart stands for and what it will do to the community we love.

Wal-mart coming to Sowal may be a foregone conclusion (another dumb short term decision among many by St. Joe), but that doesn't mean we cannot alter their plans, cut into their profits, or make them conform to standards for development, signage, etc.

And it sure as hell doesn't mean I have to shop there.

You can claim that my opinions on Wal-mart are elitist, quaint, a lost cause, fiscally irresponsible (evidence is against this BTW), but at the end of the day I am putting my money where my mouth is and every dollar I am spending is going towards building and preserving a community, lifestyle, and world I feel is important.

Well, duh, Scooty. I don't think anyone is for a loud eyesore store. We should make sure that Wal Mart blends with our area as best as is possible. I don't think you are elitist, just humorously agitated.

I like funky specialty stores as much as the next person, and they will not be endangered by Wal Mart. The 'mom and pops' that Wal Mart tends to put out of business sell the same crap as Wal Mart, but at higher prices and deliver products much less efficiently. Is that really such a big loss? Markets change, and while I wax nostalgic for the downtown five and dime store that shut down in my hometown (I fondly remember the day when I used birthday money there to buy a Star Wars figure and a Tarzan pinball game), I know that it was a flawed business model. It was a pain that involved parallel parking, parking meters and limited selection. Then Wal Mart opened, I drank the capitalist kool aid and saw the beauty of endless free parking and more Star Wars toys than Ben Franklin could ever hope to provide (cheaper, too).
 
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