Boards and committees — Sebastian, Florida

The Sebastian City Council is advised by nine appointed boards and committees, from the Planning and Zoning Commission to the Veterans Advisory Board, and sits itself as the Board of Adjustment and the redevelopment agency board.

The city's Boards and Committees page lists the Board of Adjustment, Charter Review Committee, Citizens Budget Review Advisory Board, Community Redevelopment Agency, Construction Board, Natural Resources Board, Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee, Planning and Zoning Commission, Police Retirement Board of Trustees and Veterans Advisory Board. Two of those are the Sebastian City Council wearing another hat: the Council acts as the Board of Adjustment, and it also governs the Community Redevelopment Agency. The rest are citizen bodies whose members are appointed by the Council.

Three Sebastian bodies make binding decisions in hearings, the Planning and Zoning Commission, the Construction Board and the Board of Adjustment, while the others recommend to the City Council.

The Planning and Zoning Commission exists to review, conduct hearings, and act on certain land development requests and amendments to the Land Development Code in Sebastian; it was on the city calendar for October 8, 2026. The Construction Board approves applications for contractor licensing and conducts licensing violation hearings. Variances from the code go to the Board of Adjustment, where the five member City Council hears them directly.

Hearings of that kind follow fixed rules. Section 2-174 of the Sebastian Code sets quasi-judicial procedures, stating that the City Council of the City of Sebastian recognizes the need to observe fundamental due process in all quasi-judicial matters. The Police Retirement Board of Trustees is different again: it transacts the business of the police officer retirement system and meets quarterly at a minimum. The advisory bodies, including the Citizens Budget Review Advisory Board, the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee and the Veterans Advisory Board, report recommendations to the Council, which keeps final authority. The Citizens Budget Review Advisory Board has 7 members and 2 alternates and meets during budget season, when it reviews the proposed Sebastian budget and makes recommendations to the City Council before adoption.

Sebastian board members must normally be city residents of at least one full year, and the City Council appoints them from applicants listed by the City Clerk.

Chapter 2, Article VI of the Sebastian Code defines a resident as someone who permanently resides in the City of Sebastian and has been living in the city for at least one full year prior to application. Section 2-167 states that the city council shall make all appointments and reappointments to the boards and committees, filling vacancies from the clerk's list, and that the Council may choose to interview applicants at a public meeting. Every board has at least one and at most two alternates, and no person shall serve on more than one city board or permanent committee simultaneously.

Expertise counts more than politics on paper. Section 2-170 makes technical, professional, financial, business or administrative expertise the primary consideration, and directs the Council to weigh any Form 8B conflict memos an applicant filed on earlier service. The Veterans Advisory Board page notes that its members may be non-residents. The Construction Board vacancy notice adds that its seats are subject to annual financial reporting requirements for every member.

Sebastian board members serve staggered three-year terms, and board meetings must start by 6 p.m. and end by 9:30 p.m. unless briefly extended.

Under Section 2-171, members are appointed to specific three-year terms, staggered so that no more than three members of a particular board shall be appointed in any given calendar year, and a member stays seated until the Council appoints a successor. Section 2-168 requires City of Sebastian board meetings to begin no later than 6:00 p.m. and adjourn at 9:30 p.m., with up to 30 more minutes by majority vote, and adopts Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised as a guide.

Attendance is enforced. Section 2-173 provides that a member absent from three consecutive meetings without an acceptable excuse is automatically removed once the chair notifies the Sebastian City Council, and that alternates must attend every meeting so a quorum can be met. Section 2-172 lets the Council remove any board member at any time without cause by a resolution passed by majority vote, and sends complaints about members to the city attorney.

Sebastian's advisory boards each carry a standing workload: the Natural Resources Board runs the Sustainable Sebastian Program and the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee reviews the city's parks.

The Natural Resources Board is charged with championing the tasks of the Sustainable Sebastian Program, which the City Council supported through Resolution R-19-30, and its stated mission is to improve the quality of life in Sebastian by balancing the needs of residents and the environment through protecting, preserving and promoting natural resources. Its most public product is the city's Earth Day and Arbor Day Celebration, held on Saturday, April 18, 2026 at Riverview Park on U.S. Highway 1, with a recycling and spring cleaning event the same morning at the Barber Street Sports Complex.

The Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee reviews the City of Sebastian park system and recreation programs, from the Barber Street Sports Complex to Easy Street Park and Blossom Street Park, and meets on the fourth Monday at 6 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers. Its members post their city email addresses on the Parks department page so that residents can send requests for new amenities, and the committee also runs nominations for the Sebastian Community Volunteer of the Year award.

On October 10, 2026, Sebastian listed openings on the Construction Board, the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, the Natural Resources Board and the Citizens Budget Review Advisory Board.

The city's Board Vacancies notices spell out the Construction Board openings: one regular member in the HARV contractor position with a term expiring 9/2028, one engineer or architect position and one contractor position expiring 9/2027, and one alternate contractor position expiring 9/2028. Applicants must have been City residents one year prior to application. The Natural Resources Board page, which meets on the first Tuesday at 6 p.m. in City Council Chambers, stated the same day that it had no open positions, so the Clerk's office is the place to confirm a seat.

Applications come from the Office of the City Clerk at Sebastian City Hall, 1225 Main Street, between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on weekdays, and Section 2-169 requires the clerk to announce every vacancy publicly. The Charter Review Committee runs on its own clock: it meets for six months once every five years starting in January, with 15 members, 10 appointed by Council members and 5 at large, and the city scheduled it to organize in 2025 and meet in 2026. The city home page carried a Citizens Budget Review Advisory Board press release in October 2026.

Last verified: October 10, 2026, on the City of Sebastian website.