Planning board reviews broad LDR updates including new estate zones and conservation-subdivision rules

The Dade City Planning Board on a recent evening reviewed proposed updates to the city's Land Development Regulations intended to implement priorities from the newly adopted comprehensive plan.

The board heard a presentation from a consultant introduced by staff, who said the package includes three new residential estate zoning districts (including a country-estate/RSCE-type district), an explicit conservation-subdivision option requiring set-aside of native habitat, and revisions to the future land-use and zoning tables to add new categories such as SDR.

The presenter, who identified herself in the transcript as Jen, said the conservation-subdivision provisions would require a substantial portion of a site to be preserved as protected open space (the presentation referenced a 50% conservation threshold in the packet material) and impose minimum site-area and protection requirements for native habitat. "There is a conservation requirement 50 site. It has to be in conservation. It has to have a protection," the presenter said during the summary of the conservation subdivision standard.

Board members also heard proposed grading and hillside rules that create three grading categories (general grading, grading for subdivisions, and site-development grading) and limit large-scale regrading and building pads in sensitive slope areas. The consultant said the standards are intended to limit elevation changes and require design that ties to major collector streets and existing natural contours.

Other code cleanups described in the presentation include consolidating repetitive general-standards language into single sections, updated dimensional standards and tables, an updated plant list, revised PD (planned-development) rules that limit the use of stormwater credits in place of other requirements, new loading and neighborhood landscape standards, and a downtown design guidebook reference to help align future projects with a consistent downtown character.

Staff said minor wording adjustments remain possible before the packet goes to the city commission: "If the board agrees, we could make a recommendation tonight, and we can see about adding that language in before we go to the city commission," staff said.

The planning board did not take a final vote on the full LDR package at the meeting; staff said a recommendation from the board would move the amendments to the city commission for formal consideration and that the city commission hearing date may be adjusted to accommodate packet changes.

What's next: staff will incorporate any recommended edits from the board and forward the revised LDR amendments to the city commission for its review. The board discussed one amendment to Article 6 (fencing), which it later recommended to the commission with clarified frontage language (see separate coverage of the fencing action).