Development Review Committee provides technical feedback on Nassau County affordable-housing pre-application

Tabitha Bostic, chair of Nassau County Development Services, introduced a pre-application for an affordable-housing project at the Oct. 14, 2025 meeting of the Development Review Committee and asked the applicant to present.

Nick Gillette, agent for the applicant, said, “This is an affordable housing project that, consists of 4 townhome lots and 5 single family lots. They're in the process of going through the Timber to Tides overlay, annexation or rezoning or whatever it might be.”

The committee, which is advisory to department heads, offered technical comments focused on zoning/building placement, utilities, fire protection, transportation, and stormwater. Stephanie Kaiser of Planning noted overlay requirements for the T3 frontage, saying, “So for the T3, the frontage build out is 50%.” Kaiser also referenced required building placement and front-setback parameters found in the Land Development Code. Bridal Rigdon of Nassau County Fire Rescue advised, “The only comment that Fire Rescue had was the the fire hydrant location to make sure that we're not greater than 600 feet per NFPA from the closest hydrant to the front of any building.”

Caleb Perris of Development Services summarized street and trail requirements for projects inside the Timber to Tides design overlay: “Per section 45 by 3 0 2, the new street within the development is required to meet the street type shown within it.” He added that a multi-use trail must be integrated into the development and that, where the site abuts Pages Dairy, a minimum 6-foot sidewalk is required along the frontage.

Staff highlighted additional technical standards applicants must address at formal submittal. Planning staff listed T3-frontage rules (50% frontage build-out), building placement and setbacks (15-foot minimum front setback, 20-foot maximum in some contexts), requirements that attached garages be recessed at least 5 feet from the facade, porch minimum depths of 6 feet, private frontages (common yard or porch/fence), minimum trees per lot per landscaping rules, and a standard 25-foot wetland setback. Development Services staff pointed to stormwater rules in Article 10, including 100-year storm design, geotechnical studies, and a stormwater-infrastructure maintenance plan; staff also noted that stormwater facilities in the overlay are intended to be designed as amenities.

On utilities, Gillette said the site would be served by water through JEA and that the team had “spoken with Mike Godwin about doing a group septic for it,” because sewer service is a long distance away at Chester Road. Planning staff advised the applicant to consult traffic-impact guidelines; because the proposal is small (the applicant described the development as low-trip-rate), staff said it may meet the de minimis threshold but advised follow-up with the county transportation engineer.

Staff also noted submittal requirements to the county: a preliminary plat must be submitted (Nassau County Code chapter 29-14), school bus stop and mail kiosk locations are required per LDC section 5.107, and standard general notes, paving, and construction inspection fees will apply at engineering submittal.

The committee provided no formal vote; as an advisory panel it offered comments for the applicant to incorporate before preliminary binding site-plan or final submittal. Gillette and county staff agreed to follow up on frontage/build-out details, hydrant locations, stormwater design, and utility servicing options as the rezoning/annexation and formal submittals proceed.