Venice planning commission approves Epiphany Cathedral parking plan after engineers say runoff will fall

The Venice Planning Commission on Dec. 2 voted 7-0 to approve Site and Development Plan petition 2532SP, allowing the redevelopment of a 0.85-acre shell parking lot at 225 Harbor Drive into a paved parking lot to serve Epiphany Cathedral and nearby campus buildings.

City planner Britney Smith told the commission the application, reviewed by the Technical Review Committee, is consistent with the comprehensive plan (strategy LU 1.2.4B) and complies with the Land Development Code. "The proposed plan complies with the land development code," she said during the hearing.

Agent Craig Mayhew of DMK Associates said the revised design addresses the stormwater and access concerns that led to a previous denial in May. Mayhew presented engineering calculations showing that "for the design storm, the 25 year storm under the existing condition, there's, 4.17 cubic feet of, per second leaving the site as our peak discharge. Under the proposed condition, we're at 3.21. It's a 23% reduction in water flowing to the city's drainage system." He also said the plan reduces the existing number of parking spaces from roughly 80-plus to 66, adds landscaping, marked spaces, sidewalks and a crosswalk linking the lot to the cathedral.

Several nearby residents urged the commission to reject or further change the plan, saying existing downstream drains are inadequate. Robert Bostick of 330 Tarpon Street said the site plan diverts natural flow toward Harbor Drive and into pipes that already overflow: "this plan should have never passed city approval because they took the natural flow of the water, diverted it to another direction that impacts residents downstream," he said, describing recurrent flooding on Tarpon Street and West Bay Drive.

Steve Barron, the city's stormwater engineering manager, told the commission the site sits on a watershed split and city staff advised routing the pond discharge east toward what the city calls Outfall 17 because that basin has more capacity. "We decided that it would be best, most beneficial to send it to the east," Barron said, adding that the proposed retention pond both reduces peak flow and delays discharge timing — features he said could provide local benefit even if some neighbors still experience isolated flooding from other causes.

Mayhew and Barron said the project includes a weir-controlled retention pond and a stormwater discharge structure; the agent said the team submitted calculations to DEP and has a self-certification permit under review and that the TRC had accepted the design. The applicant stated the plan connects into the same receiving basin as existing flows rather than creating a new outfall.

The commission's motion to approve cited staff findings and public testimony; the motion, moved by Mr. Wilson and seconded by Mr. Jasper, passed by voice vote 7-0. The commission did not direct additional mitigation beyond the approved plan; engineering staff noted larger watershed- and trunk-line improvements are separate projects identified in the city's recent stormwater master plan.

The hearing record includes the staff report, TRC review, the agent's submitted stormwater calculations and testimony from multiple residents. The commission will next meet Jan. 6, 2026, when several other applications are scheduled.