PANAMA CITY — The Bay County Commission on Tuesday is scheduled to vote on an amendment to a plan that is proposed to outline how the St. Joe Co. could develop 23,400 acres of its property.
The property is generally located west of State 77, north and west of West Bay to the Bay-Walton county line, including Breakfast Point, totaling more than 97,000 acres in unincorporated Bay County.
On April 11, the St. Joe Co. submitted an application to amend the currently approved West Bay Sector plan by adding 23,400 acres of St. Joe-owned property in Bay County west of the current Sector Plan, as well as 11,000 acres in Walton County to the plan, and retitle the plan as the “Bay-Walton Sector Plan.”
The commission on Tuesday will be asked to vote to transmit the proposed amendment to the plan to the state’s Department of Economic Opportunity for analysis. The plan calls for allowing 145,494 dwelling units, with 40 to 60 percent of them being age restricted to people at least 55 years old.
“At the conclusion of the 50-year planning horizon, the projected population in the Bay County component of the sector could reach as high as 319,213,” the amendment states.
The plan proposed six self-sustaining Town Center communities unlike anything built to date in Bay County, said Martin Jacobson, the county’s planning director.
“That is the buzz phrase in the planning field at this point,” he said.
The plan adds three new land-use categories to the Comprehensive Plan, including “Town Center,” “Recreation/Open Space” and “Long-Term Preservation.”
The plan amendment states the Town Centers are to provide the commercial, retail, employment and service needs of a broad region and be the “downtown” places for the surrounding Village Center land uses.
“As such, Town Centers generally have larger footprints, are located along or near regional circulation routes and have a wide range of land uses,” the amendment states.
The amendment outlines the maximum numbers of land uses in Bay County, including: 4.5 million square feet of retail/commercial uses, 6 million square feet of industrial use, 11.2 million square feet of office/light industrial and manufacturing use, 2,780 hotel rooms, 19 golf courses and 1,350 hospital beds.
“St. Joe is in negotiations with well-known hospitals because they see that as a critical component to attracting that age group they are looking for” in their communities, Jacobson said.
If the commission approves the plan amendment Tuesday, it would be reviewed by state agencies such as the Department of Transportation and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
RESTORE funding
The commission on Tuesday also is slated to vote on whether to approve a letter of support to Gov. Rick Scott recommending nomination of the Northwest Florida Estuaries Restoration project to the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council for funding from the council’s RESTORE Act funds. The council is accepting nominations for projects to be funded through the second pot of the RESTORE Act funds.
Nominations can be made only by members of the council — the governors of five Gulf coastal states and representatives of six federal agencies. Approximately $150 million to $180 million is available statewide.
The project would allocate $2 million to each of the eight estuaries from Perdido Bay to the St. Marks River. The working group within each watershed would identify the most important projects to be funded through the initiative.
“Prepared by The Nature Conservancy on behalf of Florida coastal communities from Escambia to Wakulla, this project addresses the Council’s Habitat and Water Quality goals as well as the emphasis on projects that are foundational, sustainable, have a high probability of success and that have community benefits,” a letter from County Commission Chairman Guy Tunnell to Gov. Rick Scott states.