Comprehensive Plan

Purpose of the Comprehensive Plan

The Comprehensive Plan and how it fits into the hierarchy of local regulations is often compared with the position of Florida’s Constitution at the state level. It is a document that paints in broad strokes a vision for the Town, not only as it is, but as it can be in the future. The Comprehensive Plan is made up of elements regarding state-mandated topics. Each element in turn is comprised of goals, objectives and policies. These are then implemented via the Town’s Code of Ordinances, where detailed legal provisions give refinement and shape to that vision – similar to how the Florida Statutes relate to the State Constitution.

Evaluation and Appraisal of the Comprehensive Plan

At least every seven years, the Comprehensive Plan must undergo an evaluation and appraisal process to determine whether the need exists to amend the Comprehensive Plan to reflect changes in state requirements since the last time the Plan was updated. At the end of that process, the Department of Economic Opportunity is to be notified of the Town's determination. If the Town determines amendments are necessary, the Town must, within one year, prepare and transmit proposed amendments to the Department of Economic Opportunity.

In 2020, the Town’s Comprehensive Plan underwent the afore-described state-mandated evaluation and appraisal process. Prior to the submittal deadline, the Local Planning Agency and Town Council voted to transmit a letter to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity to relay that no amendments were necessary to reflect changes in the requirements of Chapter 163, Part II of the Florida Statutes.

Recent History of the Comprehensive Plan

During the most recent evaluation and appraisal process, it was found that certain policies of the Comprehensive Plan were in need of update, addition or deletion unrelated to the aforementioned requirements. The Town drafted changes to the Comprehensive Plan to eliminate redundancy, to identify goals, objectives, and policies which had been fulfilled since the last update or that had become otherwise outdated and ready to be removed or amended, and to make the document more user-friendly. On November 16, 2021, the Town Council accepted the draft on first reading, incorporating the public input garnered over the preceding summer as well as recommendations from the Local Planning Agency. The draft was submitted to the Department of Economic Opportunity and other required review agencies. A month later, the Town received recommendations for further voluntary changes from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity and the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council. In January the next year, the Town Council decided to further amend the draft based on those recommendations. On April 6, 2022, the Town Council adopted the updated draft and it was transmitted back to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. Approval was provided on May 11, 2022 and the updated "2021 Comprehensive Plan" became effective on June 11, 2022.

In February of 2023, the Town Council adopted Ordinance No. 2023-01, which amended the 2021 Comprehensive Plan. The chief trigger for the proposed amendments was the applicability of certain statutory requirements following action from St. Johns River Water Management District's governing board. That action was the 2022 approval of the Central Springs/East Coast Regional Water Supply Plan in which Indian River County, including Orchid, became part of a large planning area identified as a Water Resource Caution Area. The Town was then required to adopt a Water Supply Facilities Work Plan as part of its Comprehensive Plan. Town staff worked closely with St. Johns River Water Management District and the Indian River County Utilities Department in drafting the Water Supply Facilities Work Plan and composing amendments to the 2021 Comprehensive Plan. These were reviewed by the Local Planning Agency as well as the Town Council, prior to their adoption with Ordinance No. 2023-01.