Planning board recommends rezoning of 6593 Caroline St. to allow RV park; vote 4-1 with five-year reversion clause

The Milton Planning Board on a 4-1 vote recommended that the City Council rezone a parcel behind properties on Highway 90, identified in staff materials as adjacent to 6593 Caroline Street, from R-2 (one- and two-family residential) to the Recreation district so the owner can develop an RV park.

Planning staff explained the request as a rezoning, not a site-approval: "Keep in mind, what we're presenting to you tonight is not a request for an RV park. This is a request to rezone — rezone from R-2 to Recreation," planning staff said. The staff presentation noted that Recreation zoning would permit campgrounds and RV parks but lacks the dimensional standards that apply in R-2, and that the parcel contains substantial wetlands along its northern and eastern edges.

The staff recommendation to the board was to approve the rezoning but to make approval contingent on a development agreement. The recommended protections include a time-bound performance requirement (staff advised a five-year reversion period was consistent with a prior rezoning), compliance with the Unified Development Code campground and RV-park standards, and meeting fire-department access and hydrant-flow requirements. Planning staff also noted that any impacts to jurisdictional wetlands would require permitting from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP).

Board members and members of the public pressed the applicant and staff on several practical points. Concerns included long-term upkeep and the potential for the property to become derelict, protection of adjacent wetlands, traffic implications on Highway 90 (Caroline Street), and the location of a required secondary access point. Planning staff said FDOT reports an average annual daily traffic count of about 29,500 vehicles on Caroline Street and that staff did not anticipate the project would create capacity issues on the corridor; staff encouraged the applicant to coordinate with FDOT on any state-highway connection permit or modification.

The applicant, identified in the meeting as the owner of 6593 Caroline Street and the back parcel, described the plan as focused on using upland areas and preserving wetland buffers. The applicant said a one- to three-year timeline to secure permits and move forward was reasonable but accepted a longer performance period recommended by staff: "I'm completely fine with that," the applicant said when the five-year contingency was discussed.

Several board members said they favored a time-limited approval rather than an open-ended rezoning. One board member who moved the motion said, "So I'll make a motion to approve with a 5 year contingency." The chair seconded the motion. On the voice vote there were four ayes and one no; no roll-call names were recorded in the transcript. The board clerk confirmed the recommendation will be forwarded to the City Council for public hearing on July 8.

Staff and the board identified the following specific requirements or limits that would apply if the City Council follows the recommendation: compliance with the city's Unified Development Code standards for campgrounds and RV parks (including a prohibition on "permanent occupancy" defined in the code as continuous use of more than six months), fire-department access and hydrant-flow minimums, lighting limits (staff noted lighting cannot exceed one foot-candle at any lot line), landscaping and screening to mitigate noise and visual impacts, and state permitting for any impacts to jurisdictional wetlands.

Planning staff also described the site context: the parcel backs up to the Blackwater Heritage Trail on its east side, has a large FDOT-owned drainage ditch on its west, and abuts C-2 (general commercial) zoning along Highway 90 to the north. Staff materials shown to the board included wetlands mapping that indicated much of the parcel's southern and western portions are upland while wetlands concentrate on the northern and eastern edges; staff said that reality limits the portion of the parcel readily developable and supported Recreation zoning as consistent with surrounding uses.

The board added the recommended condition that approval be subject to execution of a development agreement that would set a reversion period (five years was adopted by the board) so that if the project did not obtain permits and proceed within that timeframe the parcel could revert to its prior R-2 zoning. The board also noted that site-level approvals, wetlands mitigation, stormwater design and other technical reviews would be handled through subsequent permit and site-plan processes before construction could begin.

The board voted 4-1 to forward a recommendation of approval with the five-year development-agreement condition; the recommendation will go to the City Council for a public hearing on July 8. The rezoning itself does not authorize ground disturbance or wetlands impacts — those activities will require separate approvals and state permits as applicable.

What happens next: the Planning Board's recommendation will be transmitted to the City Council for a public hearing on July 8. If council approves the rezoning, subsequent reviews and permits (including any FDEP and local site-plan approvals) will be required before any construction or wetlands impacts occur.