Destin council approves Drury hotel development order with conditions after lengthy debate on trees, parking and traffic

The City of Destin City Council approved a development order for a proposed Drury hotel and conference center after more than three hours of questions and public hearing testimony focused on landscaping, parking and traffic on U.S. 98.

The quasi‑judicial application presented by Choctaw Engineering on behalf of Drury (Speaker 17) proposes a six‑story hotel with about 320 rooms, roughly 4,000 square feet of conference space, a pool, parking, and stormwater improvements. The applicant’s representatives — Eddie Robinson (Drury) and the project engineer, Mark Seiner — answered technical questions from council about site layout and design.

Council members voiced persistent concerns over three themes: the project’s landscaping plan, how the development relied on code‑allowed parking reductions, and ingress/egress impacts on Highway 98.

“I’d like native trees, not palms — it’s better for the environment and the heat,” Councilmember (Speaker 2) said during questioning, urging the applicant to substitute canopy trees where practical. City staff and the applicant explained that the site meets minimum Land Development Code requirements and that palms are permitted; the applicant said it would return to staff with an enhanced planting plan. The council pressed for a binding commitment. After a short recess, the council added a condition to the approval requiring a designated pet relief area and a higher percentage of native trees as a condition of approval.

Traffic and parking were central to the debate. Councilmembers questioned the project’s left‑turn access onto Highway 98 and whether FDOT would allow median changes. The city engineer reported that FDOT had been consulted and that the access permit allows full access; the applicant said a stacking lane meeting DOT requirements will be constructed and estimated it could accommodate roughly 10 cars. Council members also pressed on parking calculations: staff explained there are code provisions allowing a 20% reduction and an additional internal‑capture credit for conference space, reducing the city‑required spaces from 426 to roughly 333 under current code. “Without those reductions, it was 426 spaces — now we’re down almost 100 spaces,” one council member said, noting the risk of spillover parking.

Municipal staff noted the applicant submitted before the city’s new mobility fees took effect, so the project avoids an estimated mobility fee that would have been substantially higher if the application had arrived later.

The applicant acknowledged some landscaping quantities in the draft plans are the minimum required by code and said their final construction landscaping would exceed that minimum. “We want to be good neighbors,” the applicant said, committing to work with staff on an enhanced landscape package.

The council ultimately approved the development order with the conditions negotiated at the meeting, including a defined pet relief/animal‑relief area and an enhanced native‑tree commitment to be finalized with staff. The development order approval also acknowledged the staff‑issued waiver on roof pitch and noted the project’s traffic analysis and DOT access permit.

Next steps: staff will finalize and incorporate the landscaping condition and the pet relief area into the development order and confirm the final planting schedule and construction phasing. If the applicant later requests changes beyond the conditions approved tonight, those changes would return to the council or appropriate review body.