Council approves Hawks Landing preliminary plat amid seawall, HOA concerns

The Sebastian City Council voted to approve Resolution R-25-41 on Dec. 3, allowing the preliminary plat for Hawks Landing, a 162-townhome subdivision on about 20.38 acres east of Schumann Drive.

Developer engineer Wesley Mills described the site plan: 28 buildings containing 162 townhomes with roughly 40% open space, more than 25% native-vegetation preservation, a gated main entrance, a pool amenity, and about 300 parking spaces including parallel parking in the right-of-way and 11 parking spots near the pool. "We have over 40% open space for the project," Mills said. Staff planner Jim Mann told council the project had passed site-plan review at Planning & Zoning and recommended preliminary plat approval with conditions, including requiring a School Concurrency Availability Determination before the first building permit and that the dog park be maintained by the HOA in perpetuity.

Public testimony included several neighbors opposed or concerned about density, traffic and seawall maintenance. Steven Wooldridge, a Day Drive resident, said "Hawks Cay Landing is not affordable housing" and urged the council to vote no on R-25-41; Damien Gilliams, president of the Sebastian Homeowners Association, urged a continuance and called for more traffic and property-impact analysis.

Council discussion focused on the seawall that borders the project's canal system, and whether requiring the HOA to maintain the seawall would establish a costly precedent given that parts of the canal and seawall may lie outside private property lines. Councilmember Dodd said the seawall is a "systemic issue" and expressed concern about asking an HOA to maintain seawalls that may not sit within HOA property lines. Staff and other council members replied that final-plat verbiage can establish that "the canal system ownership and maintenance of the seawall will be represented on the final plat" and can require maintenance to be consistent with city specifications.

Council added, at staff suggestion, that final-plat language and HOA declaration requirements be refined so responsibilities for roads, sidewalks, stormwater, public park maintenance and seawalls are represented and consistent with other nearby developments. After deliberation the council approved the resolution by roll call; one council member voted no while the rest voted yes.

Conditions of approval recorded by staff included no conveyance until the preliminary and final plats are approved, submission of a SCADL from the school board before issuance of building permits, representation of canal ownership and seawall maintenance on the final plat, HOA maintenance of the dog park, and amenity-timing requirements for construction of public amenities.