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Committee approves PUD rezoning for 250-unit student housing near UNF with traffic‑study condition
Summary
The LUZ committee unanimously approved a planned unit development rezoning to allow up to 250 student-oriented multifamily units on about 17 acres near the University of North Florida, adding a requirement for a traffic study at civil site plan review.
The Land Use and Zoning (LUZ) Committee on April 15 approved PUD rezoning ordinance 2025-0178 to redevelop roughly 17 acres near the University of North Florida for up to 250 multifamily units targeted at students.
Planning staff told the committee the request would rezone property from Industrial Business Park to a PUD and that the proposed density (about 14.7 units per acre) is consistent with the adopted comprehensive plan and is compatible with nearby student housing and adjacent single-family neighborhoods. Staff recommended approval with the three exhibits and one condition listed in the agenda.
Developer representative Steve Devenau said UNF enrollment is currently about 16,000 and the university has a stated goal to reach 25,000 students by 2028, and that the parcel has been slated for development in past master plans. Devenau described setbacks of about 185 feet to the nearest house, additional landscaping and berms that buffer neighboring Glen Kernan, and building orientation that places pools and common areas away from the single-family subdivision.
Committee counsel introduced an amendment requiring that a traffic study be provided at civil site plan review and that it meet the requirements of the Land Development Procedures Manual section 1.10.11 (January 2024). The applicant indicated agreement with the condition. The committee approved the motion, including the amendment and conditions, by a recorded vote of 6–0.
The committee record shows the site is within the UNF master plan boundary and adjacent to The Flats at UNF, an earlier student housing PUD. Staff said a 50-foot landscape buffer already exists between the proposed PUD and the single-family subdivision to the east and noted that proposed building setbacks are similar to the approved student housing to the north.
The developer and staff will provide the traffic study during civil site plan review and return to the city’s permitting process for technical review; no final site plan approvals were recorded at the committee meeting.
The committee’s approval forwards the rezoning to the next legislative step as amended.
