On Wednesday, December 11, the Tallahassee City Commission voted 3-2 to support a proposed zoning amendment related to land near Kerry Forest Parkway. City Commissioners Matlow and Porter voted no.
Residents in the area spoke out against to the change.
Supporters of the rezoning included the Lutheran Church. Officials with the church say the change will allow them to pay off their mortgage, build a new sanctuary and turn their current building into a fellowship hall.
Proposed Amendment
The proposed amendment is to the Northampton Planned Unit Development (PUD) Concept Plan, which is located on the East side of Thomasville Road, along Kerry Forest Parkway and the North side of Velda Dairy Road.
The application proposes amending the existing PUD to allow a commercial node at the northeast corner of the intersection of Thomasville Road and Velda Dairy Road, while retaining the church’s use at the intersection of Thomasville Road and Kerry Forest Parkway.
The affected portion is approximately 10.7-acres of the 260-acre Northampton PUD.
The amendment also updates the concept plan to remove the PUD’s self-titled Canopy Protection Zone along Thomasville Road (Thomasville Road is not a designated Canopy Road), which extends 150 feet from the centerline of Thomasville Road. This was included in the PUD in 1987 when Thomasville Road was a two-lane road. The updated concept plan replaces this with a standard 20-foot-wide Type B landscape buffer along the Thomasville Road frontage (Type B buffer as described in Tallahassee Land Development Code Section 10-177).
The concept plan also provides a 30-foot-wide Type D buffer (which is the most intense buffer standard provided in code) along all areas that are adjacent to existing residential development.
Residents in the area oppose the change and started a petition urging the “Tallahassee City Commission to Reject the Northampton PUD Amendment.”
The petition, in part, notes “This amendment threatens a conservation easement and canopy preservation area that has been in place for 40 years, protecting our residential section of Thomasville Road from highway commercial development. The application was not sufficiently declared to the community, and it ignores a directive from the city to address any changes to the canopy preservation area.”
The Planning Commission, at its meeting on August 6, 2024, voted 5-0 to find Ordinance 24-Z-29 consistent with the Comprehensive Plan and recommend the City Commission adopt it.
At its meeting on July 8, 2024, the Development Review Committee (DRC) reviewed the proposed PUD amendment and voted 5-0 to recommend approval with conditions.
I'm also disappointed that he church advocated for this on $$$$$ issues. What about the rest of the community that this is affecting? So terrible that this commission and zoning officials are letting these developers ruin our city!
Very disappointed in commissioners’ vote on this project! Thomasville road traffic is already horrific; this will make it worse!?
And Mayor Flintstone and the other 2 are beholden to that family because of the $$$.
David, you already know. It starts with a G and ends with azvini.
Private developers and public projects are targeting all the land that has been protected and declared as conservation removing all protections breaking perpetual agreements.
Sad really. People keep voting for this.
Good for the church
The Developers investing in Leon County have no interest in the quality of life to this area and we don’t need another Orlando or South. Florida.
IF the Change takes place, WHAT will the Change allow someone to do that they can't do now?
WHO will the Change Benefit?