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Residents object to land‑development task force makeup; commissioners consider narrowing selection method
Summary
Public speakers said the newly proposed land development code (LDC) task force favors builders and developers; commissioners debated reducing the panel, allocating picks and setting a 60‑day reporting window and moved related agenda items to the regular Thursday meeting for final action.
Residents and community groups urged Santa Rosa County commissioners to change the membership of a citizens' land development code task force they say is stacked toward building and developer interests.
Speakers at public forum described the task force as "heavily weighted in favor of builders and real estate interests." Robert Smith, representing the North Santa Rosa County Utility Coalition, said his coalition "represents over 100,000 residents in the North End of Santa Rosa County" and asked the board to reconsider appointments and to include representation from the coalition. Enid Siskin of Gulf Breeze and Dara Hartigan of Save Our Soundside made similar requests, saying the task force should include citizens without financial ties to development.
Commissioners debated options for the panel’s size and selection method. Commissioners discussed reverting to a smaller body, with one proposal asking that each commissioner pick two people — one "professional" stakeholder and one "lay" citizen from Santa Rosa County — and to keep the group small (10 or 11 members) to avoid unwieldy meetings. Several commissioners emphasized the need for an odd number of members to avoid tied votes.
One commissioner proposed a 60‑day timeline with a tentative report at 60 days and the option for the administrator to grant a single 30‑day extension. County staff said a task force representative estimated 4–8 meetings would likely be needed to complete its limited scope.
The county clerk and staff will compile public comments and make them available to the task force, the zoning board and the board of commissioners, staff said. The board directed staff to place the LDC resolution (item 2) and the list of appointees (item 3) on the regular Thursday agenda for final action, and commissioners asked for a formal public comment capture process to ensure the task force receives community input.
Why this matters: commissioners said the task force is intended to focus on discrete chapters of the LDC — primarily stormwater/erosion controls, tree mitigation and enforcement "teeth"— rather than reopen the entire code. Residents and advocacy groups said past code rewrites favored development interests and urged an imbalance be corrected.
Public engagement and next steps: the board asked staff to include a commissioner response line on future agendas (three minutes per commissioner) to respond to public concerns publicly and to clarify the task force's membership and timeline at the Thursday meeting.
