Toolbox

Planning & Zoning for Health in the Built Environment (APA EIP 38). This Essential Info Packet (EIP) offers planners a collection of resources to help them better understand the connections between health and the built environment and integrate community health considerations into their planning and zoning work. The EIP is an annotated resource list that allows users to click through to the various websites, APA resources, and non-APA documents collected for this packet.The first part of this EIP (Sections I through VI) offers a collection of background resources and how-to guidance on integrating health issues into the policy and regulatory documents that help shape the built environment. The rest of the packet (Sections VII through XII) offers examples of local policies and ordinances from communities across North America integrating public health into planning and zoning documents and regulations.

Polk County Comprehensive Plan Healthy Community Design Policies. Polk County adopted a Healthy Community Initiative within the Comprehensive Plan in 2010 to introduce a comprehensive, formal, and systemic integration of local public health considerations into the community design and development review processes in order to protect and enhance the health of the citizens of Polk County. The adopted Comprehensive Plan language included specific and measurable goal targets that will be used to set priorities and to determine if the policies are actually having an impact on the most important  chronic health and disease factors.

City of Lakeland Comprehensive Plan Healthy Community Policies (presentation). In May 2013, the City of Lakeland adopted comprehensive planning policies into the Future Land Use Element to promote active transportation, public safety for pedestrians and bicyclists, community gardens, aging-in-place, and collaboration with the Health Department and other agencies.

City of Lakeland Land Development Regulations Produce Stands Standards (presentation). To improve accessibility to fresh produce the City of Lakeland has proposed procedures and minimum standards allow the establishment of produce stands as a temporary use. Produce stands may sell agricultural products such as trees, plants, fruits, vegetables and certain “cottage food products” such as baked goods as defined in Florida statutes. To accommodate locations that are most popular with the public, the regulations allow produce stands to be considered not only in commercial and mixed use districts but also where non-residential uses such as schools and churches exist in residential districts. Standards include limits to scale and hours of operation and prohibiting the accumulation of waste and debris.  [Anticipated adoption October 2013]