This is a request to amend the Official Zoning Map of the City of Bunnell for 2,787+/- acres of land from Flagler County "AC, Agricultural" and City of Bunnell "R-1, Single Family Residential District" and "AG&S, Agricultural & Silviculture District" to the City of Bunnell "PUD, Planned Unit Development District" and for the approval of the Planned Unit Development (PUD) Agreement for the development known as the Reserve at Haw Creek.

There is a companion item (Ordinance 2024-09) to amend the Future Land Use Map from "Single Family-Low Density" and "Agricultural & Silviculture" to "Rural Estates," "Single Family-Low Density," "Single Family-Medium Density," "Multifamily," "Commercial-Medium," "Industrial," and "Public." The Ordinance is currently scheduled for Second and Final Reading on June 23, 2025.

In accordance with the City's notification procedures Section 2-87, notices detailing the date, time, and location of the meeting were mailed to property owners of property within the City limits and within 300 feet of the subject property on May 22, 2025. Signs detailing the date, time, and location were posted adjacent to the subject property on May 28, 2025.

The applicant, Northeast Florida Developers LLC as authorized by the property owner JM Properties X LLC, has applied to rezone the subject property, located between State Road 11, State Highway 100 West, County Road 302, and County Road 65, from "R-1, Single Family Residential District" and "AG&S, Agricultural & Silviculture District" to the "PUD, Planned Unit Development District". With the application to rezone also comes the request for approval of the Planned Unit Development (PUD) agreement for the development known as the Reserve at Haw Creek.

The Reserve at Haw Creek PUD is proposed to be an integrated master planned mixed-use community including residential, commercial, light industrial, emergency support services, parks and recreation, and conservation. The community will include housing types ranging from affordable to market rate housing, consisting of attached and detached single-family residences to townhomes, garden homes, and condominiums. A village center is proposed in the eastern portion of the subject development that will provide a mixture of neighborhood and community services, retail and commercial spaces, parks and trails, public services, and amenities. The development will be adjacent to and expand the current urban core of the city. 

Existing Conditions

The total land of the PUD is approximately 2,787+/- acres and abuts the following roadways and jurisdictions:

• State Road 11 (FDOT)
• State Highway 100 West (FDOT)
• County Road 302 (Flagler County)
• County Road 65 (Flagler County)
• County Road 80 (Flagler County)
• Black Point Road (Flagler County)
• East Black Point Road (Flagler County)
• West Black Point Road (Flagler County)
• Deen Road (City of Bunnell)
• Franz Court (City of Bunnell)

The land is currently zoned "AG&S, Agriculture & Silviculture District" and "R-1, Single Family Residential District". The land is mostly used for silviculture purposes; however, within the development's boundaries, there are approximately 1,200+/- acres of wetlands as indicated on the National Wetlands Inventory map. The area also contains designated Flood Zones A, AE, AE Floodway, and X. The surrounding abutting areas include single Family residential to the east, Agriculture and silviculture to the north, and rural neighborhoods to the west and south.

Proposed Conditions/Analysis

The applicant is proposing to rezone the subject property for a mixed-use community with the intention of developing between 6,000 - 8,000 dwelling units with a mixture of housing types. The development will gain access off of State Highway 100 West on five (5) different entry points, State Road 11 on two (2) separate entry points, and County Road 302 on two (2) separate entry points. West Black Point Road, East Black Point Road, and Black Point Road will be internal to the development and will be coordinated between the developer, County, and the City when the initial platting applications are submitted.

The Reserve at Haw Creek Planned Unit Development Agreement outlines the development criteria that will be pertinent to this community as well as the process for any future amendments. The PUD outlines definitions of terms used in the development criteria, Affordable housing, Road Right-of-ways, open space and common space requirements, landscaping and buffer requirements, and more. The development as a whole will prohibit the use of mobile homes except for the use as construction trailers.

The Reserve at Haw Creek will be split up into three (3) phases with a fourth phase being developed simultaneously as the other phases. Each phase will take approximately 5 years to be completed and within each phase are pods that will be distributed to various builders to create a diverse building aesthetic. The development is also split up internally into 7 sub zoning districts that outlines the uses allowed, minimum lot sizes, setbacks, and lot coverage as well as the minimum road widths and stormwater management. The sub zoning districts are shown within Exhibit "C" of the PUD Agreement and are as follows:

• Agri-hood, Clustered (AGH-C)
• Single Family Residential (SFR)
• Single Family Residential Medium Density (SFRM)
• Multifamily Residential (MFR)
• Town Center Mixed Use (TC)
• Light Industrial (LI)
• Public

The minimum lot sizes vary by district; however, no single family detached lot will be less than 40 feet wide and 4,000 square feet in size, and no single family attached lot will be less than 18 feet wide, 1,800 square feet for interior units and 25 feet wide, 2,500 square feet for end units. Multifamily minimum lot size will be 125 feet wide and 7,000 square feet in size.

The Reserve at Haw Creek PUD contains criteria that deviates from the City's Land Development Code, specifically regarding signs, number of required parking spaces, landscaping requirements, sub-zoning districts uses and as outlined above, and whatever is not specifically stated will default to the City's Land Development Code and/or Code of Ordinances.

The applicant is donating the City approximately 10-15+/- acres of land for the use of public services such as additional Bunnell Police Department offices, public works yard, new water treatment facility, and possibly an office for an ancillary utility billing office. The applicant will also be developing and dedicating a new Wastewater Treatment Facility, Water Treatment Facility, and Water Supply Facilities to the City in exchange for impact fee credits that will not only serve the development but also make water and sewer services available to some of the rural areas in the western side of the City as development proceeds. Such arrangements will be outlined within a Statutory Development Agreement.

The Reserve at Haw Creek PUD will have adequate open space reserved and placed in conservation easements at time of platting. All common open space, such as recreational facilities and parks, will be included in each residential neighborhood to serve not only the development but for the Bunnell community as a whole. Residents of the City will have the opportunity to partake in these facilities as they come online.

The rezoning and Planned Unit Development Agreement is consistent with the City's adopted 2035 Comprehensive Plan with the exception of a few minor amendments, such as an update to the City's Future Land Use Element, Transportation Element, and Capital Improvements Element, that will be included in the adoption of the Future Land Use amendment for the subject property. The Reserve at Haw Creek development will be subject to requirements by other agencies for the following:

• Stormwater management (St. Johns River Water Management District)
• Wetland Delineations (Florida Department of Environmental Protection and St. Johns River Water Management District)
• Roadway access and roadway improvements (Florida Department of Transportation and Flagler County)
• Water supply and treatment capacity (St. Johns River Water Management District)
• Wastewater capacity (Florida Department of Environmental Protection)
• Public School Mitigation Fees (Flagler County School District)
• Well and Septic private facilities (Florida Department of Health and/or Florida Department of Environmental Protection)

Public Participation

The applicant scheduled two (2) community meetings at 6pm on July 23, 2024, and July 31, 2024. All neighboring residents within 300 feet of the project's boundaries were notified mail and an ad was posted in the Observer Local News. The applicant stated they had an abundance of residents in attendance that inquired about the scope of project and asked questions about stormwater management and traffic concerns.

PZA Board Recommendation

The PZA Board heard this item at their January 7, 2025 regularly scheduled meeting and recommended approval of the PUD agreement with the following recommendations:

1. Reduce the residential density to 5,500 dwelling units.
2. Include the new stormwater regulations contained within HB 7053 into the PUD.
3. Provide language relating to cup for cup compensating storage within the floodplain.
4. Include historic tree protection measures.
5. Increase the buffers abutting residential lots/uses to 50ft landscaped and 35ft undisturbed natural vegetation.
6. Prohibit Installing individual residential well and septic systems within the development.
7. Include the most recently submitted traffic impact analysis to the City Commission.
8. Consider reducing the maximum sign size and height for entrance signage.
9. Consider the light pollution from the sign pollution and include language on mitigating the effects of the lighting of the signs to the surrounding area.
10. Consider hosting another City Commission workshop for the PUD.
11. Reconsider the ingress and egress access points on the roadways.

The applicant has continuously worked with the public and the City to ensure the proposed development is planned properly. They have made revisions to the PUD to include most of the PZA Board's recommendations, specifically recommendations 4,5 ,6, 8, and 9. Other recommendations list have been fulfilled such as recommendation #10 and #7. The traffic impact analysis, due to the file size, was unable to be included in the staff report; however, it has been transmitted to each city commissioner at the time of the agenda publication and is able upon request.