Agenda Item Name:
Title
Discussion of Flagpole Height Regulations
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Presenter:
Michael Castine, Senior Planner, Growth Management Department
352-374-5249 x.2367
Description:
Staff presentation and Board discussion of options for Flagpole Height Regulations (Legislative) (20 minutes)
Recommended Action:
Recommended Action
Do not make any changes to the allowable height of flagpoles in the ULDC.
Alternatively; if the Board wishes to adopt changes, staff recommends Option B: For non-residential developments, one of the three allowable flagpoles may be up to 50’ in height if it is set back at least 100’ from the property line.
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Prior Board Motions:
December 7, 2021 - Direct staff to bring back recommendations on a narrow increase on flag poles at all public parks from 35ft to 50ft
Fiscal Consideration:
Fiscal Consideration
Costs to cover advertising of the public hearing are covered in 008.65.6500.554.49.04; sufficient budget exists to cover costs.
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Strategic Guide:
All Other Mandatory and Discretionary Services
Background:
At its December 7, 2021 meeting, the Board of County Commissioners directed staff to bring back recommendations on a narrow [height] increase on flagpoles at all public parks from 35 feet to 50 feet. This direction from the Board was in response to the issue being brought to the Board’s attention by the Alachua County Veterans Memorial Committee. Currently, Veterans Memorial County Park has a 35 foot tall flagpole which is part of the monument area at the park. They would like to be able to have a 50 foot tall flagpole in order to allow for greater visibility of the flag throughout the 23-acre park; also so that when the flag is taken to half-mast it will not be as close to the ground.
Flagpole regulations are part of the County’s sign code in Chapter 407 of the Unified Land Development Code (ULDC). The County’s current sign code regulates signs based on type of development and location. The three major tenets of a sign code are:
1. Uniformity in application to like users
2. Content neutral, except that off-site signs may be regulated
3. Rationale for any changes or differences between users
Flags and flagpoles are addressed in Section 407.36 of the ULDC as part of the sign code. As the sign code must be content neutral, the flagpole regulations would apply to any type of flag, not only government flags such as the U.S. Flag or State of Florida Flag. The current code provides that, in non-residential developments, there shall be no more than three flagpoles per principal building on a site, and no flagpole shall exceed thirty (30) feet in height. All flagpoles must be set back at least five (5) feet from any property line. A park is considered to be a non-residential development, and is also considered to be an “Institutional” land use pursuant to the County’s Comprehensive Plan.
Staff has developed two options (referred to as Options A and B) for the Board’s consideration. Option A is a no-change option, and is recommended by staff. Option B provides an alternative approach for revising the ULDC to allow the increased flagpole height per the Board’s direction. Both options are outlined in the options attachment. If the Board would like to move forward with revisions to the ULDC to increase the allowable flagpole height, then staff would recommend Option B, and would additionally recommend deleting redundant Section 407.09, which repeats the flagpole height limits, or if retained, delete the height limits here and correct the reference to Section 407.36.
There is no effect on the cost of affordable housing related to the ULDC Flagpole Height regulations.