Panama City commission adopts neighborhood planning and zoning package, OKs police pension COLA and sells cell-tower easement; tables impact-fee vote

The Panama City Commission on Jan. 28 approved multiple items the city described as central to its long‑term recovery and downtown redevelopment while setting a schedule for further public workshops on transportation fees and strategic priorities.

The commission unanimously adopted a package of planning and zoning measures that apply neighborhood planning-area designations and three new neighborhood zoning districts to parcels in Glenwood, Millville and Saint Andrews. The panel also approved an ordinance to raise the cost‑of‑living adjustment for future Panama City Police Department pension recipients from 2% to 3%, accepted an unsolicited $742,000 offer for a perpetual easement for a cell tower site and authorized the city attorney to demand compliance from a downtown business that has withheld promised public parking.

Why it matters: The zoning and map actions implement neighborhood plans developed after Hurricane Michael and aim to encourage more walkable, mixed‑use development in long‑neglected neighborhoods. The pension change is a personnel benefit that staff said is already budgeted; proceeds from the cell‑tower sale are slated for Saint Andrews parking improvements. Several items — notably a proposed transportation impact‑fee ordinance — were removed from Wednesday’s agenda and set for community workshops.

Neighborhood plans and zoning package The commission voted 5‑0 to adopt four related measures that together apply the neighborhood planning area (NPA) future land‑use designation and three neighborhood zoning districts (neighborhood downtown, neighborhood general, neighborhood residential) to approximately 2,200 acres in Glenwood, Millville and Saint Andrews.

Planning division manager Joanne Haley and Amy Groves of Dover Cole and Partners gave a joint presentation explaining that the ordinances implement work that began in 2019 and that the changes are intended to reduce front setbacks, lower minimum parking requirements in district cores, encourage "missing middle" housing, and require building fenestration and pedestrian‑oriented features on corridor parcels. Groves said the zoning text and maps were revised after stakeholder meetings held in mid‑2024 and noted that the zoning package includes provisions for conditional use review of…