Commissioners approve preliminary plat for Chateau Menemois phase 2 after planning board sign-off; members raise fire-service and density concerns

The Gulf County Board of County Commissioners approved a preliminary plat for Chateau Menemois phase 2 on May 20, clearing 48 single-family lots that bring the overall planned-development project to 100 lots, the maximum permitted under the ordinance governing the development.

Caleb Brown of CWB Engineering told the board the preliminary plat covers about 28 acres of a 74.47-acre parcel at 4400 E. Highway 98 and represents the remaining 48 lots from an earlier-planned development approval. County planning staff and the Planning and Development Review Board (PDRB) reviewed the plat and verified the developer intends to obtain required dredge-and-fill permits where wetlands were identified; the PDRB had recommended approval by a 5–0 vote.

Commissioners asked staff and the developer questions about setback and emergency-response implications. The project’s planned-development ordinance sets side setbacks for detached single-family units at five feet (per-lot) and rear setbacks at 10 feet; staff explained those dimensions were part of the planned-development approval and were intended to meet fire-code separation requirements. Commissioners expressed concerns about compressed lot spacing in a county area with more limited fire-station coverage, asked about parking and rental patterns, and urged careful attention to emergency access and inspection standards as lots convert to built homes.

The board waived the formal quasi-judicial reading and approved the preliminary plat (motion by Commissioner McCrone, second by Commissioner Husband). One commissioner abstained from the final vote due to prior work on related portions of the overall project; the remaining votes approved the plat 4–0 with one abstention. The county clerk will file the development order conditions requiring permits for work in wetlands before construction in those areas can begin.