Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Opt Out Osp 2025 01 topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Planning board approves opt-out of Jacks Branch DSAP for 2300 N. Highway 29; assigns rural community future land use
Summary
The planning board recommended approving an application to remove a roughly 2.4–2.5 acre parcel at 2300 North Highway 29 from the Midwest Sector Plan (Jacks Branch DSAP) and assign a Rural Community future land use. Staff found adequate infrastructure capacity; a resident objected, citing wetlands and planning-area integrity.
The Escambia County Planning Board voted Feb. 4 to recommend approval of an opt-out application to remove a parcel at 2300 North Highway 29 from the Midwest Sector Plan’s Jacks Branch detailed specific area plan (DSAP) and to assign the site a Rural Community (RC) future land-use designation.
Meredith Bush, agent for property owners David and Diane Fitzpatrick, presented the opt-out application and said staff supports the request. Bush told the board the parcel is not in a wellhead protection area, that cultural-resource review found no historic resources, and that sanitary sewer, potable water and stormwater capacity would be addressed through standard site-plan review processes. “The proposed request is consistent with the comprehensive plan,” Bush said.
County planner Caleb McCurdy summarized staff analysis, noting the parcel is on North Highway 29, is currently zoned Rural Mixed Use (allowing two dwelling units per acre), and that utilities (including ECUA sanitary sewer lines) and transportation capacity are present in the corridor. Staff found that removing the parcel from the DSAP would not fragment the plan and that any wetlands or other environmentally sensitive areas would be evaluated at site-plan review and would require federal, state or local permits if impacts were proposed.
Resident Jacqueline Rogers opposed the opt-out, saying staff had not provided sufficient natural-environment analysis and criticized what she called ad hoc changes to a long-range plan. Rogers reiterated concerns that the DSAP’s wetland protections and the sector plan’s jobs-to-housing balance could be undermined by repeated opt-outs.
Applicant and staff gave differing acreage figures in the hearing record: the applicant characterized the parcel as 2.38 acres and presented calculations based on an 8,168.22-acre development baseline; staff later described the parcel as approximately 2.51 acres and used an 8,611.8-acre sector-plan baseline in related calculations. The record reflects both figures; staff advised that removal of the parcel would be one of multiple opt-outs considered cumulatively by county staff.
After discussion the board moved to approve OSP-2025-01; the motion was seconded and the transcript records the motion carried by voice/raised hands. The planning board’s recommendation will be forwarded to the Board of County Commissioners for final action.
