A master plan for Pace was completed in 2006, and one for Navarre was put together in 2018. Now county staff have put together one for East Milton.
Commissioners during yesterday’s meeting discussed the ineffectiveness of the two prior plans and expressed hope the new plan would be implemented instead of shelved. The board also recognized that having staff complete the study in-house saved money.
Santa Rosa County Planning Director Shawn Ward on Tuesday presented details about the effort to the board. “Traffic, traffic, traffic,” he said, stating that “everybody” keeps presenting the same problem with congestion on U.S. 90, an issue which has been ongoing for years.
Data for the study was collected last summer using 897 submitted surveys, a public workshop and stakeholder meetings.
The resulting draft of the Master Plan includes but is not limited to
- Establishing a Hwy. 90/Hwy. 87 commercial corridor into the Future Land Use Map;
- Conducting a bicycle/pedestrian plan;
- Adding sidewalks/parks;
- Forcing subdivisions with more than 25 to hook onto sewer;
- Swapping NAS Outlying Field Santa Rosa with the Dept. of Defense;
- Seeking grant money for projects.
Another topic discussed yesterday was Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) from within the Rural Protection Area, located in the north end of the county, to East Milton, which would allow for higher density development within District 2. Ward referred to the TDRs as a “sticky wicket.”
East Milton resident John Syzmoniak asked commissioners to put the document out for public review and comment, stressing the need for transparency and avoiding pre-determined decisions, like using the current 700-acre outlying field for industrial purposes; however, the board took no action on his request.
