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Neighbors oppose Tulubo Lane lot division; zoning board denies request after concerns about septic, flooding and road access
Summary
Jamieson Construction’s request to divide a parcel into multiple lots without county-maintained road frontage on Toluba/Tulubo Lane drew heavy opposition from neighbors citing septic failures, increased runoff and loss of rural character; the Zoning Board denied the special exception.
The Santa Rosa County Zoning Board denied a special-exception request from Jamieson Construction to create three (opponents said possibly four) lots without required road frontage on Toluba (Tulubo) Lane after a large turnout of neighbors objected to the division.
The applicant, Richard Palmer of Jamieson Construction, described the project as “affordable new single-family homes” roughly 1,200 to 1,500 square feet in size and agreed to a no-mobile-home condition at the board’s request. “It’s not gonna be big homes, probably 1,200 to 1,500 square foot — nice homes,” Palmer said. He said the subdivision would use a 20-foot access easement along the southern property line.
Neighbors strongly opposed the request, citing septic-system limits, flooding, road safety, and the character of the neighborhood. Marvin Fowler Jr. read a petition signed by nearly every Tulubo Lane household and said the proposed division would be “detrimental to our property values” and that “the septic tanks are going to be a foot to 18 inches out of the ground,” pushing fill onto adjacent yards.
Speakers described narrow roads, recent new sidewalks that worsened local ponding and a lack of county capacity for additional traffic and policing. Several residents said the neighborhood is characterized by one-acre parcels used for livestock and personal farms and asked the board not to allow smaller, denser lots that they said would change the area’s rural character.
Board members asked staff and the applicant about septic approvals and access. Planning staff said the site would likely rely on septic and that septic-permit authority has moved to the state (DEP) from the county health department. The applicant said the site already has a 20-foot easement that would serve as the private access drive and offered to agree to a condition banning mobile homes on the newly created lots.
Board members expressed concern about setting precedent for piecemeal divisions and the cumulative effect of repeated lot-splitting across the county. Several members said the request was a “square peg” in a round hole and declined to approve it. The motion to deny passed without objection.
Because the zoning board is the final decision-maker for certain special exceptions and variances, this denial was final for the matter before the board; the applicant was informed of appeal options if he wished to pursue the matter further.
