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Planning commission recommends NC‑6.1 zoning for Dexter Drive parcel after public concerns about flooding and neighborhood transitions
Summary
After testimony from nearby residents about flooding and habitat concerns, the Planning Commission voted to recommend NC‑6.1 zoning (single‑family detached lot sizes ~6,000 sq ft) for a parcel at Dexter Drive and Atwood Avenue; staff and the applicant discussed prior denials and stormwater requirements that will accompany any development.
The Florence City Planning Commission voted to recommend NC‑6.1 zoning for a parcel at the corner of Dexter Drive and Atwood Avenue, moving the rezoning request to Florence City Council for final action.
City staff said the property is currently zoned NC‑15, which would allow much larger lots, and that the applicant initially sought denser zoning (NC‑6.3) in an earlier request before revising the proposal. Staff explained that NC‑6.1 permits single‑family detached homes on lots with a 6,000‑square‑foot minimum and 60‑foot widths; on the parcel’s roughly 450‑foot width that equates to as many as seven lots facing Dexter Drive under NC‑6.1, compared with fewer lots under NC‑15.
The applicant presented a concept that would use cul‑de‑sacs and internal lots to limit the number of driveways on Dexter Drive and said the intention is to build single‑family homes comparable to nearby garden homes. The applicant said engineering and stormwater studies will be performed during development plan submittal and asserted he builds quality housing.
Several nearby residents spoke against denser development. Kent Fields, who lives about a block and a half away, asked how new development would affect longstanding flooding near Malden Drive and the YMCA and said he opposed duplexes near the neighborhood. Charles Rambo, who said an owl nest is on the property, raised federal migratory bird protections as an issue the applicant would need to address outside the commission’s jurisdiction.
City staff and commissioners repeatedly noted that any development over one acre requires a formal stormwater plan and that the developer will need an engineer to design on‑site stormwater controls and retention as part of any subsequent subdivision or development plan. Staff also said prior council action in 2023 deferred and then denied denser zoning requests, which is why the applicant returned with a revised proposal.
After discussion, the commission voted to recommend NC‑6.1 to city council. The recommendation is advisory; city council will make the final zoning decision. The commission’s recommendation does not itself authorize subdivision or construction; detailed engineering and stormwater controls must be approved through subsequent submissions.
