County embarks on project to merge regulations

In an effort to condense pages and pages of regulations from two distinct zoning documents, county staff are in the midst of the Unified Development Code Project.

The project began in March, and is expected to go through September 2018. It intends to bring together the Land Use Regulations, which dictate how a property can be divided and developed, and the Zoning Regulations, which regulate the division of land into permitted uses.

Sarasota County Director of Planning and Development Services Matt Osterhoudt, who is overseeing the project, said the county is mainly trying to condense the two sets of regulations while updating the regulations and making sure they follow the comprehensive plan approved by the County Commission last year. 

“When you want to either do something, or do an activity on your property, or start a new business or improve something — we want to make it user-friendly so you can go to one place,” Osterhoudt said.

The last major change to the zoning code came in 2003, Osterhoudt said, and it made sense to clarify things after the comprehensive plan was approved.

Residents, developers, builders and attorneys are all keeping a close eye. Many are concerned that regulations are going to be changed in the process.

“The county’s desire to combine these two documents presents the opportunity as well as the challenge to see that effort come together,” David Langhout, vice president of land for the Kolter Group said. “But it’s kind of hard in the process of this to not have situations that are going to arise to result in the changing of policy.”

He said he will continue to “watchdog it,” and stay abreast of what is going to end up in the final document, to ensure policies aren’t changing.

“It can be valuable, we just have to make sure they don’t make things worse,” he said.

Dan Lobeck, an attorney in Sarasota County, said the project is hugely important for all residents.

“It will set forth new regulations for development in ways that will affect our neighborhoods, our environment and other aspects of our way of life,” he said. He’s paying special attention to environmental protections.

The first phase of the project, in which county staff identified areas for improvement, was completed in July. The second phase, focused on public input, is in progress now until December.

The third phase will include more traditional public hearings, at which point a draft document will be available to examine.

“The earlier we get the comments back from anybody in the community, the earlier we’re able to identify multiple solutions and work through those options,” Osterhoudt said.