Florida Florida Statutes
§ 163.3208 — Substation approval process
FS § 163.3208Ch. 163
Statute text
View on source(1)It is the intent of the Legislature to maintain, encourage, and ensure adequate and reliable electric infrastructure in the state. It is essential that electric infrastructure be constructed and maintained in various locations in order to ensure the efficient and reliable delivery of electric service. Electric infrastructure should be constructed, to the maximum extent practicable, to achieve compatibility with adjacent and surrounding land uses, and the criteria included in this section are intended to balance the need for electricity with land use compatibility.
(2)The term “electric substation” means an electric substation, including accessory administration or maintenance buildings and related accessory uses and structures, which takes electricity from the transmission grid and converts it to another voltage or lower voltage so it can be distributed to customers through one or more lines.
(3)Electric substations are a critical component of electric transmission and distribution. Except for substations in s. 163.3205(2)(c), local governments may adopt and enforce reasonable land development regulations for new and existing electric substations, addressing only setback, landscaping, buffering, screening, lighting, and other aesthetic compatibility-based standards. Vegetated buffers or screening beneath aerial access points to the substation equipment shall not be required to have a mature height in excess of 14 feet.
(4)New and existing electric substations shall be a permitted use in all land use categories in the applicable local government comprehensive plan and zoning districts within a utility's service territory except those designated as preservation, conservation, or historic preservation on the future land use map or duly adopted ordinance. If a local government has not adopted reasonable standards for substation siting in accordance with subsection (3), the following standards shall apply to new electric substations:(a) In nonresidential areas, the substation must comply with the setback and landscaped buffer area criteria applicable to other similar uses in that district, if any.
(b)Unless the local government approves a lesser setback or landscape requirement, in residential areas, a setback of up to 100 feet between the substation property boundary and permanent equipment structures shall be maintained as follows:1. For setbacks between 100 feet and 50 feet, an open green space shall be formed by installing native landscaping, including trees and shrub material, consistent with the relevant local government's land development regulations. Substation equipment shall be protected by a security fence consistent with the relevant local government's land development regulations. 2. For setbacks of less than 50 feet, a buffer wall 8 feet high or a fence 8 feet high with native landscaping consistent with the relevant local government's regulations shall be installed around the substation.
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Legislative history
s. 1, ch. <a href="#!-- #ID=LA