The Daytona Beach Planning Board unanimously recommended that the City Commission rezone about 4.98 acres between North Street and Madison Avenue to a Madison Oaks Planned Development General that would authorize a 32‑unit townhouse subdivision.

Danalee Peddick, senior planner, said the parcel originally carried an approved Madison Oaks residential planned unit development from 2006 that expired in 2011 and never was built; the new PD would reestablish development rights for the same unit count. Peddick told the board the rezoning includes a request for City Commission approval to remove four historic oak trees shown on the PD plan and a requested waiver to reduce minimum lot area for townhouse lots from 2,000 to 1,750 square feet and to increase maximum building lot coverage from 35% to 40%.

Rob Merrill, speaking for the applicant, said the new plan uses a similar footprint but “done much better than the original,” and emphasized efforts to preserve trees and work the stormwater design around them. Merrill said engineers had modeled both the 25‑year and 100‑year storms at the zoning stage and that the project will include compensating storage ponds and discharge control structures that will stage and regulate flow before releasing to North Street.

Multiple neighbors spoke at the public hearing, raising concerns about historic and recurrent flooding in nearby streets (including Mark Street and portions of Madison Avenue), traffic and speeding on local streets, crime in overgrown lots, and potential impacts on property values. Tom Hill Sr., who lives at 1061 North Street, said Mark Street currently floods in regular storms and warned that “putting concrete structures” will increase runoff; Josephine Pope, who lives at 1080 Margaret Drive, described standing water reaching near home driveways after storms and asked the board to preserve single‑family housing instead of townhouses.

Applicant engineers explained design details at the meeting: Jake Stairs (landscape architect) said units include garages with roughly 25 feet of driveway depth so cars will not block sidewalks, and Chris Rollie of Zev Cohen Associates explained the stormwater approach. Rollie said the plan captures runoff in west‑side ponds, interconnects ponds on site, and uses a discharge control structure to regulate peak flows; he said the design holds and stages water to meet 25‑ and 100‑year design requirements.

Board members asked about whether the new owners differ from the 2006 applicant (staff confirmed they are new), whether the project could be built without the LDC modification (staff said it is possible but the waiver was requested to preserve trees and produce more shared green space), and whether the proposed streets will be public (the applicant confirmed the project proposes a public street). The board approved the rezoning and directed that the item proceed to the City Commission for review.