This code shall be officially entitled the "Land Development Code (LDC) of the City of Apopka, Florida," and may be referred to as the "Apopka Land Development Code," the "Land Development Code," "LDC," or "this code."

The general purpose of this LDC is to promote the public health, safety, and general welfare, and to implement the goals, objectives, and policies of the City's adopted comprehensive plan and other adopted plans. More specifically, this LDC is intended to do the following, consistent with the goals, objectives, and policies of the comprehensive plan and other adopted plans:

1.3.1.

Establish comprehensive, consistent, effective, efficient, and equitable standards and procedures for the review and approval of development that implement the comprehensive plan and other adopted plans, respect the rights of landowners, and consider the interests of the City's citizens.

1.3.2.

Provide a sufficient supply of land to meet the City's growth and development.

1.3.3.

Ensure that land uses and development are organized and located in a rational and efficient manner.

1.3.4.

Provide a diversity of housing opportunities.

1.3.5.

Protect the character of existing residential neighborhoods from incompatible development.

1.3.6.

Support economic development in ways that are consistent with the City's desire to maintain its small-town character.

1.3.7.

Support and encourage vibrant, pedestrian-friendly, and higher density mixed-use development in the Downtown.

1.3.8.

Support and encourage higher density, pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use development in the East Shore area and the Kelly Park Interchange area.

1.3.9.

Support and encourage redevelopment and revitalization of neighborhoods and the City's commercial corridors that is consistent with its context.

1.3.10.

Ensure the form and design of new development is consistent with the City's desired character.

1.3.11.

Support and encourage green building practices.

1.3.12.

Establish standards to protect the City's natural resources, including natural lands, Lake Apopka, wetlands, and other smaller lakes and waterways, as well as the drinking water source of the City.

1.3.13.

Provide specific procedures to ensure that development orders are conditioned on the availability of public facilities and services to adequately accommodate that development (concurrency).

This LDC is intended to ensure that all development within the City is consistent with the goals, objectives, and policies of the adopted comprehensive plan, and all other adopted plans of the City.

It is the legislative intent of the City Council in adopting this LDC that all provisions shall be construed to implement the comprehensive plan and other adopted City plans, and guide development in accordance with the existing and future needs of the City as established in this LDC, and promote the public health, safety, and welfare of landowners and residents of the City. It is also the legislative intent of the City Council that if any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this LDC is for any reason held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity and continued enforcement of any other provision of this LDC. The City Council hereby declares that it would have adopted this LDC and any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, or phrases of the LDC is declared invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction.

This LDC shall become effective on March 6, 2019, and repeals and replaces in its entirety the Land Development Code as originally adopted on August 19, 1992, and subsequently amended.

The Apopka City Council is authorized to adopt this LDC in accordance with Article VIII, Section 2(b) of the Florida Constitution, the charter of the City of Apopka (effective September 9, 1882, amended March 1919), Chapter 166 of the Florida Statutes (the Municipal Home Rules Powers Act, Section 163.3202, Fla. Stat., and all other relevant laws of the State of Florida.

Whenever any provision of this LDC refers to or cites a section of the Florida Statutes (Fla. Stat.) or Florida Administrative Code (FAC), and that section is later amended or superseded, this LDC shall be deemed amended to refer to the amended section or the section that most nearly corresponds to the superseded section.

Reasonable fees to offset the costs of administration of this LDC shall be set by resolution of the County Council. All fees must be paid at the time set out in said resolution.

(Ord. No. 2959, § I, 9-21-2022)

The provisions of this LDC shall apply to the development of all land within the corporate limits of the City of Apopka.

A.

The provisions of this LDC shall apply to development by the City or its departments, and to land owned by the City.

B.

To the extent allowed by law, the provisions of this LDC shall also apply to development by any county, the School Board, the State of Florida, or its agencies, the federal government or its agencies or departments.

No land in the City shall be developed without compliance with the requirements of this LDC, and all other city, county, state, and federal laws and regulations.

If a provision of this LDC is inconsistent with another provision of this LDC, or with a provision found in other codes or ordinances of the City, the more restrictive provision shall govern unless the terms of the more restrictive provision specify otherwise. The more restrictive provision is the one that imposes greater restrictions or burdens, or more stringent controls.

If a provision of this LDC is inconsistent with a provision found in the law or regulations of the state or federal government, the more restrictive provision shall control, to the extent permitted by law.

Nothing in this LDC is intended to supersede, annul, or interfere with any deed restriction, covenant, easement, or other agreement between private parties, but such deed restrictions, covenants, easements and other private agreements shall not excuse any failure to comply with this LDC. The City shall not be responsible for monitoring or enforcing any such private agreements.

Nothing in this LDC is intended to repeal, supersede, annul, impair, or interfere with any vested rights under applicable law, provided such rights are lawfully established and remain in effect.

The Official Zoning District Map is established by this LDC. It designates the location and boundaries of the various base zoning districts, special purpose zoning districts, overlay zoning districts, and planned development districts under the LDC.

The Official Zoning District Map, including its entire notation, is incorporated into this LDC by reference and is on file in the office of the Director for public inspection during normal business hours. The City may maintain the Official Zoning District Map as an electronic map layer in the city's Geographic Information System (GIS) database. The official copy of the electronic version of an Official Zoning District Map shall be recorded onto permanent media to ensure all the electronic information is protected.

A.

Changes made in zoning district boundaries on the Official Zoning District Map shall be considered an amendment to this LDC and are made in accordance with Sec. 2.5.1.D, General Map Amendment, Sec. 2.5.1.E, Site-Specific Map Amendment (Rezoning), or Sec. 2.5.1.F, Planned Development, as appropriate

B.

The Director shall enter changes on the Official Zoning District Map within a reasonable period of time after the amendment is approved by City Council. Where the ordinance enacting a zoning district boundary change contains wording explaining or clarifying the location of the new boundary, the Director may enter notations reflecting the ordinance wording on the Official Zoning District Map.

A.

Any lands annexed into the City shall immediately be placed in the T: Transitional District until a zoning district map amendment for the land is adopted by City Council.

B.

Within one year of the effective date of annexation, the Planning Commission shall conduct an evaluation of the land uses and zoning patterns on and surrounding the annexed land, analysis of the comprehensive plan and any applicable City plans, as appropriate, and recommend a zoning district classification for the annexed land to City Council.

C.

The City Council shall take action on the Planning Commission's recommendation on a zoning district classification for the annexed land as promptly as reasonably possible in consideration of the interests of the landowner(s), affected parties, and citizens of the City.

On March 6, 2019, land zoned with a zoning district classification from the previous LDC shall be translated to one of the zoning district classification in this LDC, as set forth in Article 3: Zoning Districts. Table 1.8.1: Transition to New Zoning Districts, summarizes the transition of the zoning districts used in the previous zoning regulations to the zoning districts used in this LDC. If a new zoning district is established, or a zoning district from the previous LDC is deleted, it is also shown in the table. (For example, Table 1.8.1 shows that all lands classified RCE-1: Residential Country Estates-1 in the previous LDC (under the column titled "Zoning District in Previous LDC") are classified as RCE: Residential Country Estate in this LDC (under the column titled "Zoning District in This LDC"))

(Ord. No. 2745, § 1, 1-15-2020)

Zoning districts in this LDC are compatible with and implement future land use designations in the Future Land Use Map (FLUM) in the comprehensive plan. The land use designation in the FLUM that each zoning district implements are in Table 1.8.2: Future Land Use Map (FLUM) Compatibility. (For example, RCE: Residential County Estates is a district that implements the AG Homestead and AG land use designations).

(Ord. No. 2745, § 2, 1-15-2020)

Any violation of the previous LDC and other regulations replaced by this LDC shall continue to be a violation under this LDC, and subject to the penalties set forth in Article 9: Enforcement, unless the development complies with the express terms of this LDC.

If any use, structure, lot of record, sign, or site feature was legally established on the date of its development, but does not fully comply with the standards of this LDC, that use, structure, lot of record, sign, or site feature shall be considered nonconforming and subject to the provisions of Article 8: Nonconformities. If a use, structure, lot of record, sign, or site feature that was legally nonconforming under the previous Land Development Code becomes conforming under this LDC, it shall no longer be deemed nonconforming and subject to the provisions of Article 8: Nonconformities.

No development order shall be issued when an amendment to this LDC is pending before the Planning Commission or City Council, which amendment, if adopted, would render the proposed development nonconforming.

A.

Any development application submitted and accepted as complete before March 6, 2019, but still pending final action as of that date, shall be reviewed and decided in accordance with the regulations in effect when the application was accepted.

B.

Completed applications shall be processed in good faith and shall comply with any time frames for review, approval, and completion as established in the regulations in effect at the time of application acceptance. If the application fails to comply with the required time frames, it shall expire and future development shall be subject to the requirements of this LDC.

C.

An applicant with a pending application accepted before March 6, 2019 may opt to have the proposed development reviewed and decided under the standards of this LDC by withdrawing the pending application and submitting a new application in accordance with the standards of this LDC. The application submittal fees will be waived for this new application.

D.

To the extent an application approved under this section proposes development that does not comply with this LDC, the development, although permitted, shall be nonconforming and subject to the provisions of Article 8: Nonconformities

A.

All development approvals or permits approved before March 6, 2019 remain valid until their expiration date, and may be carried out in accordance with the terms and conditions of their approval, and the development standards in effect at the time of approval, as long as they remain valid and have not expired or been revoked or substantially modified. If the approval or permit expires or is revoked (e.g., for failure to comply with the terms and conditions of approval) or substantially modified, all subsequent development of the site shall comply with the procedures and standards of this LDC.

B.

No provision of this LDC requires any change in the plans, construction, or designated use of any structure for which a building permit was issued prior to March 6, 2019.

C.

To the extent a prior-approved application proposes development that does not comply with this LDC, the subsequent development, although permitted, shall be nonconforming and subject to the provisions of Article 8: Nonconformities.

D.

Any re-application for an expired development approval or permit shall comply with the standards in effect at the time of re-application.