Committee approves PUD rezoning for Heckscher Drive property after adding ban on casita kitchens

The Duval County Land Use & Zoning Committee on March 17 approved a planned-unit-development rezoning for approximately 1.28 acres on Heckscher Drive that will permit a single-family residence, four accessory casitas and a private garage/storage area, with a committee-added condition that the casitas may not contain separate kitchens.

Planning staff told the committee the applicant revised the written project description (dated March 17, 2026) to address earlier planning-department concerns about use intensity, density, building heights and landscaping. Because the parcel is served by well and septic, staff said the comp plan limits the site to two dwelling units per acre and that the project’s written description was amended to reflect that limit; staff recommended approval and noted the Planning Commission had unanimously recommended approval after the revised description was submitted.

During public comment, neighbors said they were worried the casitas could be used as short-term rentals, that four separate entrances and bathrooms might mean de facto multiple dwellings, and that flood-zone exposure and traffic impacts were not clear. Resident Robin Stevens said she had been told casitas would include a shared kitchen under one roof and raised concerns about enforceability if the property were later sold; Suzanne Lupo and other neighbors said they feared the units could become rental properties rather than owner-occupied guest homes.

The applicant’s representative, Zach Miller, said the owner’s intent is owner-occupied use, that the zoning code defines a dwelling by the presence of a kitchen, and that while one of the accessory units could technically be fitted with a kitchen under current code, there was no plan to create multiple individual dwelling units or short-term rental units. Miller said the applicants had voluntarily moved several commercial uses to ‘‘by exception,’’ meaning future commercial uses would require a public application and review.

After discussion, the committee accepted an amendment adopting the revised March 17 written description and then approved an additional Diamond amendment to explicitly prohibit separate kitchens in the casitas. The chair confirmed committee members’ votes and the ordinance was approved as amended with a recorded 7–0 vote.

The action establishes the project’s zoning and the written description (as amended) will be filed with legislative services; the committee also recorded that certain planning-department and planning-commission conditions were incorporated into the revised project exhibit. The item will next proceed in the legislative process as routine per the committee’s order of business.

Representatives: Zach Miller spoke for the applicant; multiple neighbors provided public comment. No formal enforcement mechanism for short-term rentals was created by the committee; Miller noted that land-use approvals cannot by themselves bar rentals under current local code, but the added condition bars separate kitchens in the accessory casitas.