§ 5-281. Criteria and procedures for designation as a natural resource area.

(a)

The designation of real property as a natural resource area shall be made by the board of county commissioners following a public hearing. Before a site may be designated as a natural resource area, the board shall make a finding that the real property is populated by native vegetation associated with one (1) or more of the following ecological communities:

(1)

Beach and dune community: Composed of unconsolidated sand facing the ocean and shaped by the wind, waves, currents and tides. Sand may be piled up by the wind forming dunes. Characteristic plant species include sea oats, sea grape, beach sunflower, beach star, beach creeper, Spanish bayonet, cocoplum, railroad vine, beach peanut, beach croton, beach bean, saw palmetto, prickly pear and nickerbean.

(2)

Coastal strand forest community: A community consisting of tropical hardwood hammock found just landward of the beach and dunes. Soils contain limestone substrate, sand and organic material. Characteristic plant species include sea grape, poisonwood, mastic, black ironwood, paradise tree, torchwood, spanish stopper, silver palm, inkwood, gumbo limbo, sabal palm, live oak, strangler fig, marlberry, white stopper, wild coffee and snowberry.

(3)

Mangrove community (saltwater swamp): Occurs primarily along saltwater shorelines. Soils are very poorly drained peat or fine sand underlain by sand or clay. The most frequent tree species found in this community are red, black and white mangroves, buttonwood and pond apple. Plants found in mangrove swamp include leather fern, sea oxeye, coin vine and rubber vine.

(4)

Scrub community: An inland community that occurs on nearly level to sloping land. Soils are deep, acid, somewhat poorly to excessively drained and coarse textured. Trees found in such communities include sand pine, Chapman oak, sand live oak and myrtle oak. Shrubs include saw palmetto, scrub palmetto, gopher apple, prickly pear, shiny blueberry, staggerbush, fetterbush and palafoxia. Ground cover is scattered, and large areas of light-colored sand are often noticeable.

(5)

Pine flatwoods community: This community is identified by flat topography and pine and palmetto vegetation with an understory of grasses and herbs. Trees found in such communities include slash pine and occasional oaks. Shrubs include saw palmetto, shiny blueberry, gallberry, tarflower and wax myrtle. Flatwood communities have a high water table during the rainy season.

(6)

High hammock community: This community develops slowly as organic materials accumulate creating a favorable land elevation. The presence of a high hammock indicates that the site has been undisturbed for a period of time. High hammocks are among the most diverse systems in South Florida, containing more than one hundred (100) species of trees and shrubs. Characteristic tree species include live oak, pigeon plum, paradise tree, gumbo limbo, willow bustic, lancewood, mastic, strangler fig, satinleaf, mulberry, Simpson stopper. Shrubs include marlberry and wild coffee, and such communities include a variety of ferns.

(7)

Low hammock community: Low hammocks are areas of dense forest vegetation dominated by tree species, such as laurel oak, strangler fig, cabbage palm, dahoon holly, scattered cypress trees and wax myrtle. Low hammocks develop on land that is of sufficient elevation to be seldom flooded, but in close proximity to water environments, and is protected from fire. They frequently occur in transitional areas between drier upland communities and lowland vegetation types, such as marsh, wet prairie, cypress swamp or mangrove.

(8)

Cypress wetland community (freshwater swamp): Cypress wetlands occupy some portions of the freshwater lowlands of the Atlantic Coastal Plain in Florida. Temperate deciduous trees dominate and the areas are often seasonally flooded. Soils are nearly level or depressional, poorly drained, and have a loamy top layer and sandy subsoils. Characteristic trees include bald cypress, red maple, cocoplum, dahoon holly, strangler fig and pond apple. Leather fern, royal fern and other fern species are found in cypress wetland communities.

(9)

Everglades community (freshwater marsh): The Everglades is a flat expanse of freshwater wetlands dominated by sawgrass and dotted with free islands. The dominant plant species include sawgrass, coastal plain willow, wax myrtle, elderberry, cattail, spike-rush, pickerelweed, waterlily and periphyton. The vegetation found in the tree islands is determined by elevation, fire history and hydric factors, and varies from low willow heads to bay heads to tropical hardwood hammocks.

(b)

The board of county commissioners shall by resolution direct the county administrator to publish and mail or hand deliver a notice of hearing to consider designation of a site as a natural resource area. Notice of hearings to be held by the board of county commissioners to consider designation of a site as a natural resource area shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in Broward County and shall be given by mail or hand delivery to the property owners at least fifteen (15) days prior to the hearing date. Such notice shall state that the property is under consideration for designation as a natural resource area and shall include the time, date and place of the hearing, the location of the property under consideration, the ecological community or communities alleged to be included within the property, and the effect of the designation on lands classified as natural resource areas. For purposes of this notification, an owner of property shall be deemed to be the person who is shown as the owner on the tax rolls of the Broward County Property Appraiser unless the Broward County Office of Planning has actual notice that a person or entity other than the person or entity shown on the tax roll is the owner. In such case, the notice shall be mailed to the person or entity known to be the owner.

(c)

Within five (5) days following the date a notice is mailed to the property owner pursuant to subsection (b) above, or upon hand delivery, the real property under consideration shall be subject to the provisions of this article until the public hearing provided that the public hearing date is no later than forty-five (45) days from the date of the notice. A copy of this article shall be included with such notice. This provision shall not apply retroactively to sites designated during the same public hearing at which this article is adopted. If the board does not designate the property as a natural resource area at the public hearing, the property shall no longer be subject to the provisions of this article.

(d)

Following designation of a natural resource area notification of such designation shall be sent to the property owner(s) as determined according to subsection (b) of this section and such notice shall also be sent to the municipality having jurisdiction over the area. In addition, the map depicting sites designated as natural resource areas as described in section 5-282(b) shall be furnished to the planning council and to each municipality having such an area within its jurisdiction and shall be maintained in the office of planning for viewing by the public.

(e)

Sites may be designated in conjunction with the adoption of this article provided that the procedures in this section have been complied with.

(Ord. No. 89-6, § 1, 1-31-89)