Central Florida Regional Planning Council

Central Florida Regional Planning Council

Serving DeSoto, Hardee, Highlands, Okeechobee and Polk Counties

Community Redevelopment

The Central Florida Regional Planning Council assists communities within our region to implement community redevelopment efforts. Our expertise includes the development of Finding of Necessity Studies, the creation of Community Redevelopment Agencies (CRA’s), and the drafting and adoption of Community Redevelopment Plans that are consistent with Florida Statues, the local Comprehensive Plan, and the communities’ unique needs and vision.

Community Visioning

The CFRPC provides assistance to communities in developing vision and strategic plans for the future. These are accomplished through Community Workshops, Consensus Building Workshops, and surveys to develop the core values that can be used as the driving force in the community’s future planning efforts.

Technical Assistance

GIS Mapping

The CFRPC produces maps and conducts geographic analysis to support a wide variety of projects. Most publications produced by the CFRPC include GIS Maps and GIS plays a crucial role in almost all CFRPC programs. The CFRPC maintains a comprehensive database of local and regional GIS data to support these efforts.

Intergovernmental Coordination and Review

Through the IC&R process, the Council reviews applications for federal assistance grants and projects, programs and documents under the National Environmental Policy Act.  State Executive Order 83-150 designated Florida’s eleven Regional Planning Councils as “regional clearinghouses”, giving the Regional Planning Council’s responsibility for reviewing such projects and determining each project’s significance.

Heartland 2060

The Central Florida Regional Planning Council began a visioning effort for Florida’s Heartland, entitled Heartland 2060, in September 2007.  Heartland 2060 encompasses seven counties in Central Florida, including Polk, Hardee, Highlands, DeSoto, Okeechobee, Glades, and Hendry. Through a collaborative and creative process, we will develop a regional blueprint to guide our growth and development over the next 50 years.

Planning Advisory Services

The CFRPC serves 30 local governments including 5 counties and 25 municipalities.  The CFRPC provides assistance to those jurisdictions through Planning Advisory Services (PAS).  PAS include technical assistance in the review and preparation of small and large scale comprehensive plan amendments as well as re-zonings and development proposals.