Development Review

The Development of Regional Impact (DRI) review process was created by the legislature in 1973 to provide state, regional and local agencies the opportunity to evaluate the impacts of large-scale development projects. The Council’s involvement includes determination of the facilities and services that will be needed to accommodate these projects. The potential impacts of each project on adjacent governmental jurisdictions and on regionally significant natural resources are also reviewed by the Council. After coordination with affected governmental agencies to ensure that those agencies’ concerns are identified, recommendations are provided by the Council, after a formal hearing, to the local jurisdiction for inclusion in the project’s development order.

Since 1974, sixty-six projects have completed the DRI process within the jurisdiction of the CFRPC. In the past year, one DRI public hearing was conducted involving a phosphate related development. A pre-application meeting was conducted for Old Florida Plantation, a large primarily residential project near Bartow. An addition pre-application meeting was conducted for the Ridgewood Lakes Substantial Deviation. Numerous other minor changes and development order amendments were reviewed at the staff level.

Currently, three large mixed use developments are in various stages of the DRI process. All of these projects are located in Polk County. Two of them are located between Lakeland and Auburndale, the third is located just north of the City of Bartow, on Lake Hancock. The Lakeland/Auburndale projects have been temporarily suspended pending resolution of interchange issues on the Polk Parkway.

The CFRPC also participates in the certification process, which authorizes development of electrical power plants, transmission lines, and pipelines. Council staff continues to monitor the progress of three power plants. Tampa Electric and Florida Power each received final site certification for electrical power production capacity exceeding 4000 megawatts. A much smaller expansion by Seminole Power was approved this year.

Intergovernmental Coordination and Review

Through the Intergovernmental Coordination and Review (IC&R) process, the Council reviews applications for federal assistance grants and projects, programs, and documents that are reviewed under the National Environmental Policy Act. Applications are reviewed by Council staff and appropriate comments provided to the permitting agency. In cases where significant problems are identified, the issue will be presented to the Council for formal action.

During the past year, 13 applications have been reviewed by staff. None required official Council action.