Commissioners press developer on Almeria site plan, continue review after tree‑mitigation and neighborhood concerns

County planning staff and environmental reviewers told the Board that the Almeria Residential major site plan would meet dimensional standards but falls short on tree and habitat preservation. The plan covers about 12.88 acres with 64 horizontally arranged condominium units; staff identified the removal of many live and laurel oaks and recommended a redesign to preserve roughly 1,000 DBH inches of canopy or provide mitigation credits and an executed conservation easement for wetlands.

Thad Crowe, senior planner, said the design currently ‘sprawls’ through the wooded site and urged the applicant to modify layout to preserve native trees where possible. He also flagged traffic and public‑facility impacts: Smallwood Avenue will be reconstructed to provide safe access, but surrounding links such as Regina Drive may see increased trips and could need proportionate improvements.

Developer Josh Nichols (Schmidt Nichols), representing Efficient Developers Group, described sustainability features including solar panels and battery packs on units and committed to meeting staff’s mitigation benchmarks and road reconstruction. Commissioners pressed the applicant on affordability assumptions (the developer cited a roughly $480,000 price point), neighborhood compatibility, stormwater/drainage concerns and whether the density should be reduced to better match surrounding context.

After debate the board voted to continue the item to a date uncertain so the developer can hold neighborhood meetings, pursue redesign options to preserve trees and address drainage and circulation questions rather than deny the plan outright.

What happens next: staff and the applicant will hold neighborhood outreach, refine tree preservation and mitigation plans, and return to the commission for further action.