Lake Wales (Current through Ordinance 2023-17, Adopted 7-05-2023)
 Code of Ordinances
 Chapter 23. Zoning, Land Use And Development Regulation   
 Article II. Administration And Procedures
 Division 1. Administering Officials And Boards
  

Division 1. Administering Officials And Boards  

§ 23-201. Administering officials and boards established.
Latest version.

The City Commission of the City of Lake Wales, hereby establishes and authorizes the officials and boards designated in this division to administer the provisions of the land development regulations.
§ 23-202. Administrative official.
Latest version.

Sec. 23-202.1 Designated. When used in these land development regulations, "administrative official" shall mean the planning and development director or designee. The director of public works, city engineer, building official, code enforcement official, city attorney and city clerk are empowered by certain sections of these regulations to administer specific provisions of these regulations.

Sec. 23-202.2 Functions and duties. The administrative official shall be charged and provided with the authority to administer and enforce these land development regulations and is charged specifically with the following duties:

a. To certify the accuracy of the official zoning map of the City of Lake Wales;

b. To certify and cause to be made all amendments to the official zoning map;

c. To interpret all provisions of these regulations and maintain a record of all such interpretations;

d. To accept and process all applications which may be required for rezoning actions, variances, text amendments to these regulations, comprehensive plan amendments, sign permits, site plans, subdivision plats, and all other such applications;

e. To coordinate the concurrency management system required by the City of Lake Wales comprehensive plan and provided in section 23-701 et seq. herein;

f. To establish regular meetings of the development review committee, planning board and board of appeals and maintain public records of their actions.

g. To perform other duties as may be directed by the city manager.
§ 23-203. Building official.
Latest version.

The building official is that person designated by the city manager who is responsible for the issuance of all building and related trade permits in the City of Lake Wales including the inspection of work in progress pursuant to city approved building plans.
§ 23-204. Development review committee.
Latest version.

Sec. 23-204.1 Designated. When used in these land development regulations, the development review committee shall mean a committee consisting of the planning and development director, the building official, the public works director, the city engineer, the fire marshal, the police chief and other members of city staff as may be designated by the city manager.

Sec. 23-204.2 Functions and duties. The development review committee shall be charged with the following duties:

a. To review and make recommendations on conceptual and preliminary site plans for commercial and multi-family development projects and for any change of use or expansion of use;

b. To review and make recommendations on planned development project plans;

c. To review and make recommendations on subdivision plats and vacations of plats;

d. To review and act upon applications for site development permits;

e. To perform other duties as may be directed by the city manager.
§ 23-205. Planning board.
Effective on Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Sec. 23-205.1 Designated. The City of Lake Wales Planning and Zoning Board is designated as the Local Planning Agency pursuant to the Local Government Comprehensive Planning and Land Development Regulation Act, F.S. ch. 163, Part II, and referred to herein, as "the planning board". Except as specifically provided in this section, all provisions of sections 2-13 through 2-26 of the Lake Wales Code of Ordinances shall apply.

Sec. 23-205.2 Composition of planning board and terms of members.

a. The planning board shall consist of seven (7) regular members who shall be appointed by the governing body. At least four (4) must be residents of the city, and three (3) members must either reside in or own property in the city.

b. Regular members shall be appointed to three-year terms, staggered so that three (3) regular members are appointed or reappointed in one (1) year, and two (2) regular members are appointed or reappointed in each of two (2) other years. All members serving on the planning and zoning board at the time this ordinance is adopted shall serve the terms to which they were originally appointed.

c. All vacancies on the planning board shall be filled within thirty (30) days. Any member may be removed by the mayor with the approval of the city commission for inefficiency, neglect of duty, malfeasance, conflict of interest or similar cause, after written notice and a public hearing.

Sec. 23-205.3 Rules of procedure.

a. The planning board shall elect from its membership one (1) member to serve as chairman and one (1) to serve as vice-chairman.

b. The term of the chairman and vice-chairman named by the planning board shall be for a period of one (1) year with eligibility for re-election.

c. The planning board shall hold regular meetings at the call of the chairman on the fourth Tuesday of each month and at such other times as the planning board may determine. Special meetings may be called by the chairman or vice-chairman with twelve (12) hours of notice.

d. The planning board shall adopt rules for transaction of its business and shall keep a public record of its resolutions, transactions, findings and determinations which record shall be filed with the official records of the city. The planning board may set a limit on the number of applications which may be scheduled for review on an agenda.

Sec. 23-205.4 Functions, powers and duties. To act as Local Planning Agency pursuant to the Local Government Comprehensive Planning and Land Development Regulation Act, F.S. ch. 163, part II, and perform all functions and duties prescribed therein;

To advise and make recommendations to the city commission regarding applications for amendments to the official zoning map and comprehensive plan, rezonings of property, preliminary planned development projects and subdivisions;

To consider the need for revision or addition of regulations in these land development regulations and recommend changes to the city commission;

To hear and decide applications for special exception use permits and site plans in compliance with these regulations;

To perform any other duties which are lawfully assigned to it by the city commission.

(Ord. No. 2008-04, § 1, 2-19-08; Ord. No. 2008-28, § 1, 9-2-08; Ord. No. 2015-04, § 1, 7-7-15; Ord. No. 2016-01, § 1, 01-19-16)
§ 23-206. Board of appeals.
Latest version.

Sec. 23-206.1 Designated. The City of Lake Wales Board of Zoning Adjustment and Appeals is designated, and referred to herein, as "the board of appeals".

Sec. 23-206.2 Composition of board of appeals and terms of members.

a. The board of appeals shall consist of five (5) regular members who shall be appointed by the governing body in accordance with section 2-26 of the Lake Wales Code of Ordinances, except that all members shall be residents of the city.

b. Regular members shall be appointed to three-year terms, staggered so that three (3) regular members are appointed or reappointed in one (1) year, and two (2) regular members are appointed or reappointed in each of two (2) other years. Regular members serving on the board of zoning adjustment and appeals at the time this ordinance is adopted shall serve the terms to which they were originally appointed.

c. All vacancies on the board of appeals shall be filled within thirty (30) days. Any member may be removed by the mayor with the approval of the city commission for inefficiency, neglect of duty, malfeasance, conflict of interest or similar cause, after written notice and a public hearing.

Sec. 23-206.2 Rules of procedure.

a. The board of appeals shall elect from its membership one (1) member to serve as chairman and one (1) to serve as vice-chairman.

b. The term of the chairman, vice-chairman and secretary named by the board of appeals shall be for a period of one (1) year with eligibility for re-election.

c. The board of appeals shall hold regular meetings at the call of the chairman and at such other times as the board may determine. Special meetings may be called by the chairman or vice-chairman with twelve (12) hours of notice.

d. The board of appeals shall adopt rules for transaction of its business and shall keep a public record of its resolutions, transactions, findings and determinations which record shall be filed with the official records of the city.

Sec. 23-206.3 Functions, powers and duties.

a. To hear and decide appeals where it is alleged that there is an error in any order, decision or determination of the administrative official in the enforcement of these zoning regulations;

b. To authorize such variance from the terms of these zoning regulations as will not be contrary to the public interest where, owing to special conditions, a literal enforcement of the provisions of these zoning regulations would result in unnecessary and undue hardship. A variance from the terms of these zoning regulations shall not be granted until a public hearing is held before the board of appeals;

c. To hear and decide appeals where the planning board has denied an application for a special exception use permit or site plan approval;

d. To perform any other duties which are lawfully assigned to it by the city commission.

(Ord. No. 2008-28, § 2, 9-2-08)
§ 23-207. City commission.
Latest version.

a. To decide comprehensive plan amendments, zoning map and text amendments, annexations, public right-of-way and easement vacations, subdivision plats, developments of regional impact and planned development project plans per the requirements of applicable sections of this chapter;

b. To accept developer donations, dedications, and contributions;

c. To approve development agreements;

d. To decide upon reservations of capacity in public facilities.
§ 23-208. Historic district regulatory board.
Latest version.

Sec. 23-208.1. Designated. The City of Lake Wales Historic District Regulatory Board is designated, and referred to herein as the "historic board." The purpose of the historic board is to administer the regulations within this chapter pertaining to historic districts.

Sec. 23-208.2. Composition of historic board and terms of members.

a. The historic board shall consist of five (5) regular members who shall be appointed by the governing body in accordance with section 2-26 of the Code. At least fifty (50) percent of the members shall reside or own property within the city. Members shall be chosen to provide expertise in the following disciplines to the extent such professionals are available in the community: historic preservation, architecture, architectural history, curation, conservation, anthropology, building construction, landscape architecture, planning, urban design, and regulatory procedures.

b. No member of the historic board may concurrently serve on any other regulatory board of the city.

c. Members shall be appointed to three-year terms, staggered so that three (3) members are appointed or reappointed in one (1) year, and two (2) members are appointed or reappointed in each of two (2) other years.

d. All vacancies on the historic board shall be filled within sixty (60) calendar days. Any member may be removed by the mayor with the approval of the city commission for inefficiency, neglect of duty, malfeasance, conflict of interest or similar cause, after written notice and a public hearing.

Sec. 23-208.3. Rules of procedure.

a. The historic board shall elect from its membership one (1) member to serve as chairman and one (1) to serve as vice-chairman.

b. The term of the chairman and vice chairman shall be for a period of one (1) year with eligibility for re-election.

c. The historic board shall hold regular meetings at the call of the chairman and at such other times as the board may determine. Special meetings may be called by the chairman or vice-chairman with twelve (12) hours of notice. No less than four (4) meetings shall be held each year.

d. Each board member shall make a reasonable effort to attend state historic preservation office training programs.

e. The historic board shall adopt rules for transaction of its business and shall keep a public record of its resolutions, transactions, findings, and determinations which record shall be filed with the official records of the city.

Sec. 23-208.4. Functions, powers, and duties.

a. To hear and decide upon applications for certificates of appropriateness as required under this chapter.

b. To adopt guidelines for the review and issuance of certificates of appropriateness consistent with the purposes of this chapter, the historic preservation element of the comprehensive plan, and the Secretary of the Interior's standards for historic properties.

c. To make recommendations to the city commission on matters relating to the establishment of historic districts and regulation of such districts.

d. To make recommendations to the planning board and the city commission for amendments to the code of ordinances and the comprehensive plan on matters relating to historic preservation.

e. To make recommendations to the planning board and city commission regarding special permits for properties within an historic district in cases in which the special permit involves work requiring a certificate of appropriateness.

f. To perform any other duties which are lawfully assigned to it by the city commission.

(Ord. No. 2008-11, § 1, 5-20-08)