Florida Administrative Code › 18 - BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT TRUST FUND › 18 - Departmental › Chapter 18-21 - SOVEREIGNTY SUBMERGED LANDS MANAGEMENT › Section 18-21.004 - Management Policies, Standards, and Criteria

Current through Reg. 50, No. 138; July 16, 2024
The following management policies, standards, and criteria
				  shall be used in determining whether to approve, approve with conditions or
				  modifications, or deny all requests for activities on sovereignty submerged
				  lands, except activities associated with aquaculture. The management policies,
				  standards, criteria, and fees for aquacultural activities conducted on or over
				  sovereignty submerged lands are provided in rules
				   18-21.020 through
				   18-21.022, F.A.C.
(1) General Proprietary.
(a) For approval, all activities on
				sovereignty lands must be not contrary to the public interest, except for sales
				which must be in the public interest.
(b) All leases, easements, deeds or other
				forms of approval for sovereignty land activities shall contain such terms,
				conditions, or restrictions as deemed necessary to protect and manage
				sovereignty lands.
(c) When
				satisfactory evidence of sufficient upland interest is not fee simple title,
				the term of the sovereignty submerged lands authorization will be determined by
				rule  18-21.008,
				 18-21.009 or
				 18-21.010, F.A.C., if
				applicable. However, in no case shall the term exceed the remaining term of the
				sufficient upland interest unless the fee simple title holder agrees to become
				a co-holder of the sovereignty submerged lands authorization.
(d) For construction of docks and piers when
				satisfactory evidence of sufficient upland interest is not fee simple title,
				the applicant's interest must cover the entire shoreline of the adjacent upland
				fee simple parcel or 65 feet, whichever is less. However, this provision shall
				not apply to existing docks or piers constructed in conformance with previously
				applicable rules of the Board where the proposed activity is repair that is
				consistent with the applicable provisions of the rules of the Board; minor
				modifications that do not change the boundaries of the preempted area
				previously authorized; or where such activities result in reduced preemption
				within the confines of the preempted area previously authorized.
(e) Equitable compensation shall be required
				for leases and easements that generate income or revenue for a private user or
				that limit or preempt use by the general public. Public utilities and state or
				other governmental agencies exempted by law shall be excepted from this
				requirement.
(f) Appraisal
				services, when required, shall be obtained through the Division's Bureau of
				Appraisal in accordance with chapter 18-1, F.A.C., except as follows:
1. The applicant shall pay the fee for
				appraisal services. No appraisal services shall proceed until the appraisal
				services fee has been received by the Division. If the applicant withdraws its
				application after appraisal services have begun and any appraisal expenses have
				been incurred, the appraisal fee will be non-refundable. If no services have
				begun and no expenses have been incurred, the appraisal fee is refundable upon
				written request of the applicant.
2. All appraisal services must be reviewed
				through the Division and approved by the Division.
(g) Activities on sovereignty lands shall
				only be limited to water dependent activities and minimal secondary non-water
				dependent uses pursuant to section
				 253.03(15),
				F.S., unless the activity meets the open-air dining area criteria below or the
				board determines that it is in the public interest to allow an exception as
				determined by a case by case evaluation.
1.
				Open-air dining areas that meet all of the following criteria:
a. The open-air dining area must be
				constructed along existing seawalls or other nonnatural shorelines.
b. The open-air dining area must only contain
				tables and chairs to accommodate customers for food and beverage
				service.
c. The open-air dining
				area must be no more than a fixed or floating structure with the following
				allowable ancillary attachments thereto: roofs with optional drop-down
				temporary transparent weather sheeting, handrails and railings with optional
				screening between the handrail and the deck. Ancillary attachments, such as
				walls, windows and screens other than the screens or temporary transparent
				weather sheeting described above are prohibited. The open-air dining area must
				be associated with a contiguous upland restaurant that contains a main dining
				area and must not exceed 30% of the square footage of the main dining
				area.
d. The upland restaurant and
				open-air dining area must be open to the general public with no qualifying
				requirements, such as club membership, stock ownership, or equity
				interest.
e. The open-air dining
				area must not result in any impacts to submerged or emergent vegetation that is
				located on sovereign submerged lands.
f. The open-air dining area must not exceed
				2, 500 square feet over sovereignty submerged lands.
g. The open-air dining area must be located
				outside of an Aquatic Preserve,
2. Open-air dining area requests that meet
				these conditions can be approved pursuant to paragraph
				 18-21.0051(2)(c),
				F.A.C. Facilities that do not meet these conditions or other proposed non-water
				dependent activities are subject to the case by case determination referenced
				in paragraph  18-21.004(1)(g),
				F.A.C.
(h) Stilt house,
				boathouses with living quarters, or other such residential structures shall be
				prohibited on sovereignty lands.
(i) The State Lands Management Plan shall be
				considered and utilized in developing recommendations for all activities on
				sovereignty lands.
(j) The use of
				sovereignty lands for the purpose of providing road access to islands, where
				such access did not previously exist, shall be prohibited. The board may grant
				an exception to this prohibition if the board makes a finding that:
1. Construction and use of road access is the
				least damaging alternative and more protective of natural resources and
				sovereignty lands than other access activities; and,
2. In the case of coastal barrier islands,
				such use of sovereignty lands and any upland development facilitated thereby is
				in the public interest, or in the case of other islands, not contrary to the
				public interest.
(k) No
				application to use sovereignty, submerged land adjacent to or surrounding an
				unbridged, undeveloped coastal island or undeveloped coastal island segment may
				be approved by the Board of Trustees unless it meets the following criteria:
1. The application is for the purpose of
				obtaining authorization for a use which was included in a development project
				that has undergone development of regional impact review and a final
				development order has been issued pursuant to chapter 380, F.S., as of the
				effective date of this rule and is otherwise permitted by and consistent with
				the provisions of rule chapter 18-18, 18-20, or 18-21, F.A.C., as applicable,
				provided, however, that in the case of a substantial deviation to said
				development order, no authorization of use may be granted for any use that was
				not included in the original order; or
2. The proposed facility is limited to a
				two-slip private residential dock that complies with the standards set forth in
				paragraph  18-20.004(5)(b),
				F.A.C., and the upland parcel to which the facility will be attached was not
				created by platting or subdividing after December 18, 1990. However, as an
				alternative to multiple private residential docks, the Board may authorize a
				private docking facility of more than two slips if it determines that such a
				facility would result in greater environmental protection for sovereignty,
				submerged land resources than multiple individual docks, and provided the
				facility is otherwise permitted by and consistent with the provisions of rule
				chapter 18-18, 18-20 or 18-21, F.A.C., as applicable. The number of slips
				associated with such a facility shall not exceed the number of slips which
				would have been authorized as individual docks; or
3. With respect to applications to use
				sovereignty, submerged lands for the provision of public utility services, such
				services were in place as of December 18, 1990, and the requested use of
				sovereignty, submerged land will not result in an upgrade in capacity or will
				not service additional customers on an unbridged, undeveloped coastal island or
				undeveloped coastal island segment. Applications may be approved under this
				provision only to allow the maintenance or repair of existing utility lines, or
				as necessary to maintain public safety as ordered by the Public Service
				Commission; or
4. The proposed use
				is for the purpose of allowing access, for public purposes, to publicly owned
				uplands or submerged lands for recreation, research, conservation, mosquito
				control, aquaculture or restoration activities only, and is otherwise
				consistent with the provisions of rule chapter 18-18, 18-20 or 18-21,
				F.A.C.
(l) All existing
				licenses shall be converted to leases upon the expiration or renewal date of
				the license.
(m) For purposes of
				notification of adjacent property owners, requests for revisions to existing
				leases or easements that are reasonably expected to lead to increased
				environmental impact, an increase in preempted area of ten percent or more, or
				a significant change in use (such as one that requires use of a different form
				of authorization or application of different rule criteria) will be treated as
				new applications under this chapter.
(n) The Board shall adopt specific standards
				and criteria for the siting of docking facilities to provide a greater degree
				of certainty regarding the development potential of sovereignty, submerged
				lands. These siting standards and criteria shall serve to direct such
				development efforts to intrinsically suitable sites and shall ensure that the
				Board continues to fulfill its fiduciary responsibilities regarding these
				public trust lands.
(o) Concerning
				the lease of sovereignty submerged lands for the purposes of providing public
				mooring fields and anchorages, the general tenancy on any mooring ball or other
				mooring structure shall be no longer than twelve (12) months and as long as the
				following conditions are met in the determination of the Board:
1. The lessee for the mooring field, if it is
				a marina, shall pursue and receive a "clean marina" designation;
2. Moorings are designed and installed to
				prevent all chaffing of the bottom in which the mooring is anchored;
3. Upland shore facilities associated with
				the mooring field are provided which at a minimum include, garbage, showers and
				bathrooms, and receptacles for recycling for waste oil and fuel;
4. The lessee has been in compliance for five
				or more consecutive years; and
5.
				The mooring field shall be permitted by the Department, and require that
				occupied vessels with marine sanitation devices shall have their holding tanks
				pumped out at a minimum of a 7-day interval while continuously moored in the
				mooring field.