A 'greener' county

BROOKSVILLE - Developers may have to think 'greener' when planning future subdivisions.

County commissioners Tuesday unanimously approved holding two public hearings to consider amending the county's land development regulations requiring developers to build neighborhood parks in their subdivisions.

The park requirement would only apply to developments with 50 or more homes and the facilities would be maintained by mandatory homeowner associations.

The size of the park would depend on the size of the subdivision and range from a minimum 3 acres and a maximum 20 acres, according to Planning Director Ron Pianta.

Because the facilities would be privately maintained and not part of the county system, they would be ineligible for impact fee credits.

The first public hearing is at the Jan. 14 planning and zoning meeting. The second hearing is at the Feb. 13 land use hearing.

Among the requirements of the amended regulations:

The people who live in the subdivisions must be able to easily access the neighborhood park, either by automobile, bicycle or by foot. To that end, the park should be centrally located in the community.

Each park will have certain amenities, including (but not limited to) benches, picnic tables, playgrounds, basketball and tennis courts, boardwalks and nature areas. At a minimum, the developer will provide bicycle racks.

The developer will have to submit to the county a plan of the park and its location within the neighborhood. The appropriate county officials will sign off on the site plan.

Developer Nick Nicholson said he is in favor of neighborhood parks accessible to homeowners.

"But there has to be some give and take," he said.

If the county is requiring a builder to sacrifice acreage to green space, there should be some concessions, he said.

Otherwise, the builders will be forced to pass along that cost to the homebuyers and reduces the amount of affordable housing in Hernando County, Nicholson added.