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Commission approves rezoning at 6721 Jessa Road for boat and RV storage over staff recommendation
Summary
Bay County Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of changing 4.25 acres at 6721 Jessa Road from R-2 to C-3 to allow a luxury boat and RV storage facility; the decision was made against staff’s recommendation to deny and will go to the Board of County Commissioners.
The Bay County Planning Commission on March 18 recommended approval of a rezoning at 6721 Jessa Road in the Bayou George area to allow general commercial (C-3) uses, including a proposed luxury boat and RV storage facility.
Staff recommended denial, saying the requested change could have an adverse effect on the surrounding residential neighborhood and was not a logical extension of commercial zoning. Planning staff’s report said the subject parcel does not have frontage on Highway 231 and is otherwise surrounded by residential uses. Despite that recommendation, the commission voted to recommend approval and will forward the request to the Bay County Board of County Commissioners for final action.
Applicant representative Mike Ferguson said the proposal covers the rear 4.25 acres of a larger, roughly nine-acre holding and that about half of the combined parcels are delineated as wetlands and therefore unusable for development. Ferguson described proposed mitigation measures, including a “6 to 8 foot tall brick wall” and additional landscaping and screening to minimize visibility and compatibility concerns. “This is not a…storage facility that when you look over, you're going to see a sea of boats or RVs,” Ferguson said, adding the developer plans “a really tall brick, luxurious wall with incredible landscaping.”
Planning staff and commissioners discussed required buffers and screening if the property becomes commercial: a 25-foot vegetative buffer or, in lieu, at least a 6-foot-high privacy fence along the commercial/residential boundary, with the first 25 feet generally left undisturbed. Staff noted wetlands on the parcel limit where such walls or structures can be located.
A few nearby residents spoke against the rezoning, saying they did not want a commercial operation next to their homes. Victoria Harmon, who said she lives immediately behind the parcel, said a commercial wall and business there would conflict with her plans for the property and her expectations as a new homeowner.
One commissioner noted the need to secure northern and western boundaries because stored boats and RVs contain valuable equipment. Another commissioner moved to approve the rezoning against staff’s recommendation; the motion passed on roll call. The commission’s recommendation will be considered at a future county commission hearing.
