A zoning change is proposed along Thomasville Rd. between Kerry Forest Parkway and Velda Dairy Rd. It involves about ten acres of the Northampton planned unit development (PUD).
The Tallahassee City Commission is getting ready to take up the proposal. A petition being widely shared on social media urges commissioners to reject it, citing the impact on a conservation easement and long-time canopy preservation area.
Artie White helps us understand this on WFSU’s program Speaking Of. He is director of Tallahassee/Leon County Planning, Land Management and Community Enhancement (PLACE).
“The Northampton PUD is an existing planned unit development that is basically a customized zoning district that lays out what’s allowed and what’s not allowed, and which location. The overall PUD is 260 acres, and what’s on the table for consideration now is an amendment to that existing PUD that would address 10.7 acres on Thomasville Road,” White says.
The proposal would make a change from the current low density residential uses to allowing commercial uses. White says a 20-foot wide buffer that includes trees would be required between Thomasville Rd. and the new businesses, known in documents as “Velda Square Shoppes." A 30-foot buffer would be required between the businesses and residential property.
This process of seeking a zoning change starts with a property owner, such as a developer, going through the city/county planning department with a proposal. That begins a long review process. In this case, an amendment to the existing PUD is being sought.
White says they look at the concerns residents often have, like whether the proposal would bring significant traffic problems and excessive noise.
Once a proposal makes it through public hearings and the requirements related to the comprehensive plan, it gets harder for residents to have a say.
“When it comes down to approving a rezoning or approving a development in an area that has a certain zoning, the United States and Florida specifically are very strong in terms of being property rights states.” White says. “From a legal standpoint, there has to be very solid grounds for denying something.”
On Speaking Of, White addresses other zoning issues and explains why more of the city’s vacant buildings and strips malls aren’t being put to use in lieu of new development.
Click LISTEN above to hear the conversation with White, and click here for full episodes of Speaking Of.
