Walton County’s Technical Review Committee conditionally approved a major developer application Dec. 3 for a 49-unit vehicle, boat and RV storage facility with an associated sales center, to be built in two phases on about 10.06 acres east of McDonald’s in Miramar Beach.

Staff entered the application into the record and said the most recent resubmittal had been missing the landscape plan and architectural materials, which limited a complete review. Curtis Smith of Nautilus Civil Engineers told the committee that the team resubmitted after addressing environmental comments, revised the stormwater analysis to clarify differences between phases, and planned to file a deviation request for the Design Review Board (DRB) because some design elements technically do not meet code.

Engineering staff said a preliminary review had been completed and that they are finalizing comments. Committee members discussed whether the pond closest to Highway 98 is a wet pond and whether Chapter 6’s buffer/setback/retention language applies to ponds along Highway 98; staff concluded the scenic-corridor buffer language likely applies to the corridor buffer rather than to the whole project.

Staff recommended conditional approval pending resolution of all outstanding comments and submittal of the requested architecturals and landscape plan. The committee approved the conditional motion by voice vote. The item will move forward to the DRB once the outstanding materials and comments are addressed.

What’s next: Applicant to submit architectural and landscape plans and to address outstanding staff comments; staff to finalize engineering review and forward to DRB for design consideration.