Florida HB 4091: Palm Beach County New Fire Station on Flavor Pict Road

Bill Text

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An act relating to Sarasota and Manatee Counties; 2
providing legislative findings; providing legislative 3
intent; creating the University Town Center 4
Improvement District, an independent special taxing 5
district, in Sarasota and Manatee Counties; providing 6
purposes of the district; establishing the boundaries 7
of the district; providing the powers of the district; 8
creating a Board of Supervisors; providing for the 9
organization, powers, duties, terms of office, and 10
compensation of the board; providing for landowners' 11
meetings and election of supervisors; providing non-ad 12
valorem assessments; providing penalties; providing 13
for issuance of bonds; providing minimum charter 14
requirements; providing boundary changes; providing 15
severability; providing construction; requiring that 16
certain requirements be set forth under a special 17
circumstance; providing effective dates. 18
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Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 20
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Section 1. Legislative findings.—The Legislature finds 22
that: 23
(1) The University Town Center area is a largely 24
commercially zoned area located at the intersection of I-75 and 25

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University Parkway that extends into both Sarasota and Manatee 26
Counties near the Lakewood Ranch planned community. 27
(2) The University Town Center area of Sarasota and 28
Manatee Counties have experienced unprecedented growth as 29
commercial development, tourism events, sport competitions, 30
entertainment, and recreational activities have drawn residents 31
and visitors to the region. 32
(3) The University Town Center area contains more than 3 33
million square feet of commercial development with plans to 34
double in size over the next 20 years. Estimates of the 35
University Town Center development's total economic activity 36
exceed $3.5 billion, supporting more than 15,000 permanent jobs. 37
More than 1 million square feet of commercial development 38
immediately adjacent to the University Town Center contributes 39
significant additional economic impact to the area. 40
(4) The University Town Center area is located on the 41
county line of Sarasota and Manatee Counties and has become a 42
significant economic catalyst of the Florida economy, supporting 43
the continued development of tourist development attractions at 44
Nathan Benderson Park and Mote Science Education Aquarium 45
("MoteSEA"), the planned expansion of the sports complex at 46
Nathan Benderson Park, and the attraction of international 47
events such as the 2017 World Rowing Championships and planned 48
2028 "Mega-Worlds" World Rowing Championship. 49
(5) Visit Florida and Visit Sarasota have independently 50

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verified that Nathan Benderson Park, located within the 51
University Town Center area, has generated over $200 million of 52
regional economic impact since Sarasota County's initial 53
allocation of Tourist Development revenue to the project. 54
(6) The University Town Center and Nathan Benderson Park 55
have led to the development of significant additional projects 56
such as MoteSEA. MoteSEA will independently generate $28 million 57
annually to the local economy, attract approximately 700,000 58
visitors, support $120 million in wages, and produce $2.4 59
million in direct tax revenue. 60
(7) The property owners within the University Town Center 61
area have developed and redeveloped the commercial, retail, 62
dining, and entertainment areas with a comprehensive water 63
control plan that provides drainage and water control 64
infrastructure and protection to the commercial properties in 65
the area, and also the surrounding adjacent commercial and 66
residential properties. The flood control measures and 67
mitigation have also facilitated the creation of recreational 68
facilities that attract local, national, and international 69
sports and tourism activities to the region. 70
(8) The property owners within the University Town Center 71
have also constructed and maintained roadways, sidewalks, 72
pedestrian walkways, and supporting infrastructure, including 73
landscaping, signage, and street lighting, to provide 74
connectivity to ongoing attractions and entertainment within the 75

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area. 76
(9) Th