DCA Creates a New Kind of Plan Policy

In Indian Trails Improvement District v. Dep't of Community Affairs, the 4th DCA upheld a final order holding that Palm Beach County's newly adopted plan policy to be "the" provider of waste and potable water in unincorporated areas was an "aspirational policy" that did not have to be supported by data and analysis.

The court provided no analysis of the implications of this "aspirational" policy. Of course, the statute makes NO provision for "aspirational policies" in a comprehensive plan. Development orders and infrastructure investments must be consistent with the entire plan. We'll see what happens the first time that the County attacks one of the other service providers' efforts to install infrastructure in the unincorporated county as inconsistent with its new, "aspirational" policy.