Sebastian planning commission backs amendment to townhouse dimensions in RM‑8 and RM‑10 zones

The Planning and Zoning Commission of the City of Sebastian voted unanimously May 15 to recommend that City Council approve Ordinance 02512, a land‑development code text amendment that changes townhouse dimensional regulations in the RM‑8 and RM‑10 zoning districts.

City staff told commissioners the amendment reduces permitted townhouse lot widths from 25 feet to 20 feet, increases lot depth from 75 feet to 90 feet, lowers the minimum lot area from 1,875 square feet to 1,800 square feet, reduces an RM‑8 side setback from 10 feet to 5 feet, and increases the required separation between paired townhouse buildings from 15 feet to 20 feet. Jim Mann of the Community Development Department said the revision also performs administrative corrections to RM‑10 footnotes that did not make it into the code when that district was added in 2021. "We're proposing to kinda reduce the width of the lot from 25 feet to 20 feet," Mann said during the staff presentation.

The change does not alter the numeric density caps for each district, staff said: parcels zoned RM‑8 remain limited to eight dwelling units per acre, and RM‑10 remains a separate district created under the city’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan to allow up to 10 units per acre. Mann told commissioners the narrower, deeper lots respond to recent pre‑application submissions and the prevailing townhome design trend toward "thinner and longer" footprints, and are intended to make townhouse development more feasible in city neighborhoods. A staff recommendation in the record called for a favorable recommendation to City Council; the first reading is scheduled for June 11, 2025.

Commissioners asked whether the dimensional changes would actually lower housing costs. Commissioner Carter asked if the amendment "allow[s] more density for areas," to which staff replied the density caps themselves are unchanged; Carter later commented, "Well, if history's any indication of that, they'll still be just as expensive." Commissioner Casey noted the minimum living area remains 900 square feet and asked, "And that makes me wonder if the square footage is the same, is that significantly going to reduce the cost of the units?" Several commissioners said they supported the amendment as a modest technical change that could enable more townhouse proposals; Commissioner Reynolds said she was "generally in favor of all of this."

During discussion staff cited examples of other municipalities: the original template used when Sebastian adopted the townhouse standards in 2001 was Satellite Beach, which staff said has reduced lot widths to 15–18 feet; staff also reviewed code language from Melbourne and other jurisdictions. The transcript notes there is currently one townhouse project on Schuman in Sebastian that staff said had been difficult to achieve under the older dimensional rules.

After deliberation Commissioner (motion maker) moved to recommend approval; the commission seconded the motion and then took a roll‑call vote. The commission recorded a unanimous recommendation in favor (Chair Katzenberg: yes; Commissioner Matthews: yes; Commissioner Reno: yes; Commissioner Geasley: yes; Commissioner Carter: yes; Commissioner Battles: yes). The recommendation forwards Ordinance 02512 to City Council for the scheduled first reading on June 11, 2025.

The record shows staff will present the ordinance and the administrative corrections to City Council; no additional formal directions to staff or conditions were recorded at the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting.