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Board approves Ariana Estates master-plan revision after residents press for stronger southern buffers and flood protections
Summary
The Board approved a large master-plan revision (Bridal Properties/Ariana Estates) that adds roughly 100 acres and allows a mix of housing (including limited 45-foot lots) after the developer agreed to 60-foot south buffers, monotony controls, holiday parking and construction-buffer commitments; nearby residents warned the project could worsen flooding and livestock conflicts without denser plantings or a wall.
Hernando County commissioners voted 4-1 on Tuesday to approve a complex master-plan revision for a large subdivision on Kettering Road proposed by Bridal Properties — a decision that followed hours of testimony from adjacent agricultural landowners worried about flooding, dust and livestock conflicts.
The applicant revised a previously approved plan to add roughly 100 acres and a mix of housing types — townhomes, villas/duplexes and single‑family lots — with a new provision allowing 45‑foot lots in a limited part of the site. Under the approval, 45‑foot lots are capped at 25% of the single‑family product and are concentrated on the plan’s northern edge where the site abuts industrially zoned land.
The development team said the plan reduces overall density compared with prior entitlements, increases the southern buffer from 35 to 60 feet, and preserves a large area for dry retention and passive recreation. Betsy Jolly of Coastal Engineering showed the board a buffer cross‑section that calls for shade and ornamental trees plus hedges and a 60‑foot planted strip along the rural southern boundary.
Residents and nearby landowners pressed for stronger measures than those on the submitted plan, calling for evergreen cedars, stricter maintenance guarantees and, in some cases, a wall to separate housing from working farmland. Ellen Kraft, who lives nearby, told commissioners the borrow‑pit area already holds water and that converting the pit to a recreational pond requires groundwater protections and aeration systems to avoid stagnation. “We do not believe the proposed retention ponds will be sufficient,” Kraft said.
Coastal Engineering and the applicant committed to revisions and stronger plant selections during the hearing. Cliff Manuel (Coastal) described how past grading and mining activity left low basins used for stormwater and said leaving intact natural buffers where they exist is the best mitigation. The applicant also agreed to plant native, drought‑tolerant species in the southern buffer and to phase construction buffers so permanent plantings begin early in the construction schedule.
The board’s approval included a set of conditions the developer offered or accepted in response to Planning & Zoning and public feedback: limits on the share of 45‑foot lots, monotony controls for small lots, a requirement for 10% additional holiday parking in mixed‑use areas, explicit buffer cross‑sections, and commitments to nativer plantings (including cedars) and construction‑buffer practices. The motion to approve incorporated monotony controls countywide for this project and the enhanced southern planting commitments; the measure passed 4-1.
What’s next: staff will incorporate the proffered conditions into the rezoning resolution and the applicant must demonstrate planting plans, maintenance bonds and construction‑buffer sequencing as part of future plat and permitting reviews.
