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Residents and county commissioners debate "conservation community" provision in LDC
Summary
Residents and farm owners urged Santa Rosa County commissioners Aug. 28 to exclude a proposed “conservation community” provision from the Land Development Code, arguing it would permit smaller lots than current zoning without a rezoning and could undermine rural land protections.
Public commenters at the Aug. 28 Santa Rosa County commission meeting urged commissioners to keep a proposed “conservation community” provision out of the county’s Land Development Code (LDC), saying the change could let developers build smaller lots than existing zoning allows without a rezoning and could increase density in rural areas.
David Fowler, speaking for PACE, told the board the provision would allow developers to reduce lot sizes compared with current zoning and place the required 25% green space under county control, which he said could later be repurposed by a future board. “The conservation community provision does not specify that the green space remain …” Fowler said, adding that the provision had been used in the past to increase the number of units compared with the underlying zoning.
Ellen Fowler, also representing PACE, told commissioners that rural property owners purchased land under existing lot-size expectations and that allowing small lots in the country would harm farms, raise land prices and create conflicts between farmers and new subdivision neighbors. “If you really want to protect farmers and rural areas, do not allow small lots in the country,” she said.
Commissioners responded that they want to protect farmland and avoid loopholes the board said were exploited in previous alternative-subdivision approvals. An unnamed commissioner said conservation communities could be acceptable if the county can guarantee that green space is protected perpetually and that the mechanism does not enable up‑zoning via a density trade-off. Another commissioner noted clustering requirements apply only when conservation communities border lower-density residential subdivisions and observed that additional safeguards would be needed to protect farms that are not part of a neighboring subdivision.
Board members asked staff and the LDC task force to tighten language to prevent unintended increases in density, ensure any dedicated green space remains protected in perpetuity, and maintain normal rezoning and public-hearing processes when density changes are proposed. No formal vote on the LDC text occurred at the meeting.
