Dunedin planning agency hears land development code audit; consultants recommend reorganization, clearer procedures

The Local Planning Agency of the City of Dunedin on March 12, 2025 heard a consultant presentation outlining a diagnostic audit and annotated outline for a comprehensive rewrite of the city’s Land Development Code (LDC), intended to update zoning districts, streamline review procedures, and make the code easier to use for residents and applicants.

Kathy (Cathy) Gadamer, project manager in the city’s Community Development Department, introduced the consulting team. Steve Sizemore, project manager for Kinda Keys Collaborative, summarized the audit’s goals: to “identify what works well, what doesn’t work well in the existing LDC,” align the code with the 2025 comprehensive plan and state and federal law, and reorganize the code to be more user friendly and legally compliant.

The consultants described a three-part drafting approach: (1) general provisions, zoning and land use; (2) site development standards and subdivision rules; and (3) administrative procedures and enforcement. Key recommendations include carrying forward most existing zoning districts while creating a new corridor mixed-use district by merging certain commercial zones along State Road 580, reorganizing use regulations into clearer tables with cross-references, consolidating decision criteria and review procedures into a…