Santa Rosa County approves industrial rezoning for Lee property over neighborhood objections

The Santa Rosa County Board of County Commissioners on May 8 approved a rezoning request to change portions of a mixed residential/high-commercial parcel to M‑2 general industrial for property owned by B&J Partners LLC (Mr. Lee), after residents urged the board to preserve adjacent residential zoning.

The rezoning was approved 4–1 with a condition restricting development to the existing site utility services (limited to lay-down yard, equipment storage and similar uses); commissioners said the restriction was intended to prevent heavier industrial activities such as asphalt plants, rock crushers or ready-mix operations. The zoning board had recommended approval 7–2.

The property owner and his attorney, Becky Cato, told the commission the request covers only the purple-shaded portion shown in the applicant's site map and leaves roughly half of the larger parcel as residential, creating what they described as a buffer of about 180 feet on the north side and 50 feet on the west. Cato and Mr. Lee said the rezoning would allow storage and lay-down yard uses contiguous with Mr. Lee’s existing operation and that the owner has no present intent to introduce crushing or asphalt operations.

Residents who live along Hickory Shores Boulevard and nearby streets said the change would reduce property values and increase noise, dust and truck traffic. Dr. Michael Padgett, president of the Hickory Shores Homeowners Association, told the commission the residential lot "should never be rezoned to anything but R‑1" and warned rezoning would allow future owners to install concrete plants or other heavy uses. Other neighbors said they petitioned hundreds of homeowners and provided signatures to the county, described rattling caused by heavy loads at nearby operations, and said they are actively organizing to oppose the rezoning.

County staff and commissioners noted several site-specific facts during the discussion: the applicant's existing operation predates current zoning; part of the parcel is constrained by a power-line easement (50 feet of the easement on each side), and an undeveloped 20‑foot Hickory Shores Boulevard right-of-way provides additional separation. The commission and legal staff discussed the difference between imposing use conditions (which run with the property) and trying to require a reversion to HCD upon sale, with county staff advising that enforceable restrictions must be tied to development approvals and conditions recorded with the property.

Commissioners said the M‑2 designation was sought so the owner could lawfully continue equipment storage and lay-down activities without repeated conditional-use requests; the zoning board’s conditional language limiting development to existing site utility services was accepted by the commission as the means to limit intensification.

The motion to approve carried 4–1. The commission recorded the outcome as approval with the stated restriction; commissioners did not enumerate individual recorded yea/nay votes in the public roll call, only the final tally was announced.