Commission adopts neighborhood plans, zoning maps and code changes for Glenwood, Millville and St. Andrews

Panama City commissioners on Jan. 28 adopted several related ordinances to implement neighborhood planning for Glenwood, Millville and St. Andrews: Ordinance 32-19 (amending the comprehensive plan to add a Neighborhood Planning Area future land use category), Ordinance 32-20 (amending the Unified Land Development Code for three neighborhood zoning districts), and Ordinances 32-23.1 and 32-23.2 (amending the future land use map and zoning map to apply the new category and zoning designations to parcels in the study areas).

Joanne Haley, the city’s planning division manager, and Amy Groves, principal project manager with Dover Collin Partners, presented the outcome of the neighborhood planning process and the proposed maps. Groves summarized the intent: replace general commercial zoning on neighborhood corridors, reduce deep front setbacks, lower minimum on-site parking in walkable downtown/general areas, encourage "missing middle" housing (duplexes, triplexes and similar small multifamily forms), and include building standards for walkability such as fenestration and building placement. Groves described the adopted zoning text as implementing the earlier visioning work and 2021 zoning-text changes, and she noted the district standards include a "special exception certificate" and additional conditional-use limits for corner stores raised during community outreach.

Commissioners and staff discussed reported differences between existing maximum heights and the proposed neighborhood standards (Groves said the proposed downtown standard is about "4 and a half stories" in places where older regulations showed 100 feet, and staff explained existing map tables reflected current zoning). The planning board had recommended unanimous approval on May 13, 2024; staff supported adoption and recommended the commission conduct second and final public hearings.

All four ordinances were adopted by roll call votes of 5-0. Ordinance 32-23.2 rezoned approximately 2,200 acres within the study areas to the new district categories (neighborhood downtown, neighborhood general and neighborhood residential). Staff noted changes since the first reading included map edits and track-changes to the zoning text addressing neighborhood corner-store limits, maximum footprint exceptions for existing buildings and a special exception certificate for vested rights.

Presenters emphasized public outreach last summer and appendices in the packet that show comment comparisons. The record shows several citizen workshops and targeted stakeholder meetings were held. Staff will implement the zoning maps, process any conditional-use permits for corner-store uses, and apply the new standards to future development proposals in the neighborhood planning area districts.

Commissioners said the outcome reflected a long public planning process that started in 2019 and included community charrettes; the adopted package is intended to steer redevelopment in the three neighborhoods toward walkable, mixed-use forms while preserving context-sensitive building scale.