Planning board forwards Westport PD amendment to commissioners, recommends approval
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Summary
The Charlotte County Planning and Zoning Advisory Board voted unanimously to forward PD-25-11, a Westport development amendment that converts 33,591.24 sq ft of regional commercial entitlement into 206 multifamily units and allows general commercial uses in Tract U instead of medical-only uses, to the Board of County Commissioners for public hearing on Jan. 27, 2026.
The Charlotte County Planning and Zoning Advisory Board voted unanimously to forward application PD-25-11 — a major planned-development amendment for the Westport master plan — to the Board of County Commissioners with a recommendation of approval.
Jay Shell, planning staff, told the board the applicant, Westport Expansion LLC, proposes to convert 33,591.24 square feet of regional commercial entitlement into 206 multifamily units, raising multifamily capacity from 819 to 1,025 units and total residential capacity to about 2,923 units. The request would also amend PD Condition B to allow general commercial uses in Tract U rather than limiting that tract to medical-office uses. Shell said the site is in Commission District 4, within the Murdoch Village CRA, and that the changes are consistent with the county comprehensive plan.
Shell said the Board of County Commissioners adoption hearing is scheduled for Jan. 27, 2026, and that the staff report (dated 11/25/2025) supports the proposed modifications. "Staff have no objection to these changes," Shell said, adding that prior traffic analysis was prepared using commercial-general assumptions and the County Transportation Engineer has reviewed and concurred that the conversions should not create concurrency or peak-hour traffic problems.
Linda Stewart of Morris Engineering, representing the applicant, and Pete Dawson accepted Shell as an expert witness and "concur with the staff report," the applicant said. Sean Cullinan, the zoning official on the record, clarified the amendment applies only to the middle portion of Westport between Toledo Blade and Flamingo Boulevard and does not affect areas developed in the project's first phase.
A board member moved to forward PD-25-11 to the Board of County Commissioners with revised conditions A and B and a recommendation of approval based on the findings in the staff report and the county comprehensive plan; a second was recorded and the board voted "aye," carrying the motion. The board closed public comment before the vote.
The item will proceed to the Board of County Commissioners for public hearing and final action on Jan. 27, 2026. The Planning and Zoning Advisory Board record shows the motion passed with a recommendation for approval.