claim as well.” NOTE: Some local governments in Broward County require dedication of easements, as opposed to fee simple dedication. Hernando County v. Budget Inns of Florida, Inc., 555 So. 2d 1319 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990) Hernando County adopted a frontage road ordinance in 1986 to manage development access along its major roadway corridors. The frontage road ordinance requires developers adjacent to major arterial highways to provide a frontage road from property line to property line “upon demonstration of need and demand by the County.” Budget Inns applied for a building permit on an arterial highway in Hernando County. The County determined that although no present need existed for the frontage road, the building permit would be conditioned on a promise to build a frontage road in the future if the County found it was needed. Budget Inns claimed that the Hernando County requirement – to dedicate right-of-way and build the frontage road as a condition of granting a building permit – constituted a taking. The Court of Appeals upheld the constitutionality of the ordinance; however, it remanded the case, directing the trial court to enjoin County enforcement of the ordinance in this instance, given no demonstrated present or reasonable immediate future need for the frontage road, and to order the County to issue the building permit without the frontage road condition. Key Findings A key finding of the legal review are that few if any changes were identified in Florida’s legislative criteria for corridor preservation and management since the 1995 corridor management legislation was enacted. In determining the validity of local regulatory actions, courts will review whether the action is consistent with and based upon a local comprehensive plan. The Palm Beach County case clarified that corridor preservation under Florida law begins with the designation of transportation corridors in the state-mandated local comprehensive plan, and is supported by goals, objectives and policies that are adopted in accordance with Chapter 163, F.S. Transportation corridors should be designated for preservation in the transportation or mobility element of the local comprehensive plan and/or a thoroughfare plan that has been adopted by reference. The plan should identify transportation projects expected to be completed in the planning horizon, particularly those projects that are part of the MPO cost-feasible plan, the state transportation improvement program, and the local capital improvements program. Local governments may also designate future corridors identified in the MPO “needs” plan and other collector or arterial roadways deemed locally important to the efficiency of the transportation network. These thoroughfares, as well as parallel relievers and frontage roads, may be included in the plan. Right-of-way needs for each planned transportation corridor will need to be determined, based upon roadway design standards, planned number of lanes, and/or typical (or corridor specific) cross-sections, and then mapped. This map effectively designates a corridor for preservation and should be part of the comprehensive plan. Goals, objectives and policies for corridor preservation and access management should be included in the transportation element of the comprehensive plan to establish the strategic and policy intent of the community. Corridor management plans should also be tied to valid public purposes as indicated in Florida law (s.163.3164(48), F.S.), which are “to promote orderly growth, to meet the concurrency requirements of this chapter, and to maintain the integrity of the corridor for transportation purposes.” Plans or regulations with an unclear purpose or that appear aimed primarily at suppressing right-of-way costs in advance of acquisition have been deemed unconstitutional.
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