Planning board recommends approval for 120‑unit 'Villas on 5th Avenue' despite neighborhood opposition

The Planning and Zoning Board on Sept. 5 recommended that City Council approve a package of land‑use changes and a site plan for the Villas on 5th Avenue, a proposed 120‑unit, three‑story townhome‑style development at 2600 Northwest 5th Avenue.

The board voted 5–1 to advance the future land use map amendment, rezoning and site plan after hearing hours of public comment and staff presentations. The developer’s application seeks to change the property’s designation from residential‑low to residential‑medium‑high, rezone from R‑3D to R‑3B and authorize construction of 22 three‑story buildings with 120 three‑bedroom units and associated amenities.

Staff and the applicant said the project is tied to a companion thoroughfare amendment that reduces the required right‑of‑way on NW 5th Avenue from 100 to 90 feet. Jim Bell of Development Services said the technical change would allow a 14‑foot dedication from the developer to reach a total 90‑foot corridor and permit a four‑lane, multimodal street design. Bell said staff found the land‑use and rezoning requests “consistent with the comprehensive plan” and recommended approval with conditions.

Developer representative David Millage said the current proposal scaled back earlier, larger plans: “We’ve reduced the number of units by 62. We’ve also reduced the height from 50 feet to 33 feet,” he told the board, and said the applicant would proffer a 14‑foot ROW easement and underground utilities, measures he estimated at roughly $900,000 in value including undergrounding and the easement.

Neighbors expressed strong opposition at the public hearing. Dennis Gureshkin, a Wynwood property owner, urged the board to deny the land‑use change, calling the proposed right‑of‑way reduction “a very valuable public asset [that] the city would lose out on” and flagging concerns about substandard lane and median widths and impacts to street trees. Multiple speakers raised traffic and school‑drop‑off safety at nearby J.C. Mitchell Elementary, and questioned the adequacy of stormwater management and guest parking.

Board members pressed the applicant on several technical points, including parking and the proposed reduction of the gated‑reservoir length from 100 feet to 70 feet. Staff confirmed the existing zoning and future‑land‑use allowances would have allowed roughly 24–28 units on the site; the applicant seeks 120. Millage said the design provides two parking spaces per unit plus 25 additional guest spaces and that lease restrictions would limit vehicles to assigned spaces.

On drainage, the applicant’s civil engineer said the site must meet South Florida Water Management District rules and that the project would retain 100% of stormwater on site, using detention, retention and exfiltration trenches in locations outside the city wellfield where allowed. The applicant also described design elements — bioswales, landscape buffers and a perimeter wall — intended to reduce offsite impacts.

Several board members said they were persuaded by the public benefits the applicant is offering — the ROW dedication to support a future complete‑streets cross‑section and the undergrounding of utilities — while continuing to express reservations about guest parking. The board directed staff and the applicant to refine certain condition language before the item goes to City Council.

The board’s 5–1 recommendation will be forwarded to City Council for final action. No final council vote was recorded at the meeting.

The next procedural step is the City Council hearing, where staff and the applicant may present revised conditions and the broader public will have another opportunity to comment.