Residents ask Port Royal council to delay development-code changes amid subdivision concerns

Port Royal residents urged the town council on July 2 to postpone final action on proposed revisions to the town’s development code and to review a contested subdivision that residents say could yield 11 homes on a single parcel.

At the council workshop, a resident reading a letter from Gail Tramontano asked the council to "postpone approval of current code revisions until" the town adopts precise limits on house size in relation to lot size, explicit setback and parking requirements, and mandatory variance submission procedures. The reader said those standards should account for emergency vehicle access and existing trees.

"Postpone approval of current code revisions until the below or the following can be devised to add in it," the resident read aloud, urging councilors to require specific square-footage proportions, two-car parking and guest parking for clusters of homes.

Resident Will Murphy said he believed a moratorium that prohibited more than five houses on any lot remained in effect and asked whether recent subdivision activity effectively lifted that limit. "I thought we were under a moratorium where no houses no things were gonna be allowed to be built with more than 5 houses," Murphy said, arguing the proposed development would harm property values.

John Norman told the council he and neighbors understood that four houses had already been approved on the parcel and that seven additional lots were now proposed, for a total of 11. "We do not want you to approve 7 new houses to be built on Old Shell, for a total of 11," Norman said, asking that the council delay any approvals until the code revisions and moratorium status are reconciled.

Council members did not take a vote at the workshop. Mayor Pro Tem Beth Gray Hayward and staff member Brooke offered to arrange a meeting with residents and planning staff so questions could be answered before the council’s next action. Brooke said staff will collect contact information and try to meet with residents "before next week" or otherwise as soon as possible.

The council is scheduled to hold a formal meeting on July 9, at which the development-code amendments (ordinance 2025-10) are on the agenda for a final reading. Residents requesting a postponement may return at that meeting for the final reading and any formal vote.

The council did not record a formal motion or vote on the record at the July 2 workshop.