Land Development Regulations are part of Chapter 23 of the Hernando County Municipal Code. Florida Statute 125.66 (4)(b) outlines how the public should be notified of any proposed changes to the local ordinances. It also describes how public hearings pertaining to these changes should be held, with one occurring during the business day and one occurring in the evening of a business day. However, “a majority plus one” could agree that both hearings could be held during the business day. In the case of Hernando County, that supermajority is four. With Commissioner Jeff Holcomb’s deployment, the BOCC considered making a change to the supermajority and require only three votes.
While originally part of the consent agenda (items voted on with no discussion), Commissioner Diane Rowden asked for this item to be pulled from the consent agenda to be brought to the floor for discussion.
Assistant County Administrator Ron Pianta explained that the only action being requested for 5/10/16 was to authorize staff to publish hearing dates for public hearings to discuss the change to the ordinance. Commissioner Wayne Dukes felt this discussion (pulling the item from the agenda) was not necessary as he had previously brought the matter to the commission and asked for a consensus.
Chairman Jim Adkins asked for public comment and each of the seven citizens who came to the podium stated their desire that the ordinance be left as it is. If one voting procedure or ordinance were to be changed, then this process would be repeated each time a change needed to be made until Holcomb returned. With an even number of voting members, there was a potential for a tie, so having five sitting members was essential. Influence by special interests was also a concern.
Rowden made the motion against moving forward with the proposed change, seconded by Holcomb. The vote was 3-2, with Adkins siding with Rowden and Holcomb. Citizens in the audience applauded the result. While Holcomb is away, the commission must maintain the supermajority of four votes if they wish to have hearings only in the day.