Brooksville council approves rezoning for 462-acre Southern Hills development after conditions on berms, fire station land

The City of Brooksville on Monday adopted Ordinance 984, rezoning roughly 462.3 acres east of U.S. 41 and north of Powell Road to a Planned Development Project Residential (PDPR) classification after the applicant and staff agreed to a set of conditions meant to address drainage, buffering and future fire service needs.

Council approved the second and final reading of the ordinance by a 4‑0 vote. Council member McKeithen, Council member Hallowell (participating remotely), Vice Mayor Bronson and Mayor Krista Tanner voted in favor.

The rezoning drew the most substantive public attention to two practical issues: how a proposed berm along Powell Road would affect drainage for downstream landowners and how the city would secure land and funding for a future fire station serving the development’s north end.

Applicant representative Cliff Manuel, president of Coastal Engineering, told the council the developer revised the master plan to reflect council direction and staff recommendations and that the plan now includes a six‑foot berm along Powell Road and a donated parcel for a future fire station. "We are comfortable with staff recommendation, comfortable with the berm,…