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Developer seeks rezoning for Parker Drive lot to build boat and RV storage; planning board had denied request
Summary
A property owner asked the Panama City Commission May 13 to approve a future land-use and zoning change to General Commercial (GC-2) for a 0.665-acre parcel on Parker Drive to create a small boat, RV and trailer storage lot.
Benjamin Jerakinis, the applicant and owner of the Parker Drive parcel, told the commission May 13 he wants to operate a small boat, RV and trailer storage lot on a 0.665-acre parcel that currently does not have a postal address. "My goal is to create a boat storage RV trailer lot. It'd be a small business. It'd be me and only me owning it," Jerakinis said during the public hearing.
City staff explained that storage uses are allowed in GC-2 zoning, so the applicant requested both a future land-use map amendment to General Commercial and a zoning change to GC-2. The item previously went to the Planning Board on April 14, 2025, which recommended denial unanimously; staff reiterated the commission was conducting the first hearings for both the future land-use amendment (Ordinance 32-64.1) and the zoning amendment (Ordinance 32-64.2).
Commissioners and staff discussed design controls required for commercial uses near single-family homes; staff noted the land-development code requires a 10-foot landscape buffer and a six-foot fence or equivalent screening where commercial abuts single-family zoning.
Several residents and at least one commissioner said they either had not been aware of the application or recommended commissioners drive by the site between readings. A neighbor asked whether mailed notices and on-site signage had been used; staff confirmed notices were mailed to property owners within 300 feet and a sign had been posted. One speaker said Parker Drive does not physically continue to the subject property and emphasized the site's proximity to R-1 homes; staff and the applicant explained the parcel's vehicular access would be from 13th Street, which would place the entrance opposite an existing residence.
Because both measures were presented as first readings, commissioners did not vote on final approval. The ordinance readings will return for a second hearing, allowing time for follow-up inspections, drive-bys and any additional public input.
