Newberry Planning and Zoning Board approves Morlynn Subdivision, With Conditions

NEWBERRY ‒ The year’s first Planning and Zoning Board meeting was kicked off by a request for preliminary plat approval for Morlynn Properties, LLC. Morlynn Subdivision is proposed on 1.69 +/- acres located at 25749 S.W. 1^st Avenue.

The Morlynn Subdivision was recently rezoned from Residential, Single-Family (RSF-2) to Planned Development (PD) on July 11, 2022. This property is wholly or partially located within the Urban Service Area, Community Redevelopment Area, Historic District, Economic Development Opportunity Area and Transportation Enhancement Project Area.

The subdivision will contain 15 lots for construction of detached single-family residences. The existing home on the proposed Lot 15 will be preserved and incorporated into the Planned Development. Access to the homes will be by a private alley. Maintenance of the “open space” and alley will be controlled by a homeowners’ association. Electric, potable water and sanitary sewer services will be provided by the City. Utilities are proposed to be located in the alley.

Newberry Principal Planner Jean-Paul Perez said that the proposed request is consistent with the City of Newberry Comprehensive Plan and the Land Development Recommendations and he recommended that the Planning and Zoning Board forward a recommendation for approval to the City Commission.

Following discussion, the request was approved with two recommendations; the first of which was that the Commission require that the engineer consult the County arborist regarding the best way that sidewalks could be constructed with the least harm to the existing trees. The second recommendation was that the Commission requires that foundation surveys be conducted. The second recommendation followed discussion regarding two individual homes that were built by two separate contractors and were found to have their foundation locations inconsistent with the original plans.

In other business, the Planning and Zoning Board next considered four applications for changes to the City’s Comprehensive Plan that would clear the way for the City Commission to approve rezoning of the properties.

As part of the process to incorporate properties into the city limits of Newberry, each request must go through annexation, Comprehensive Plan Amendment (CPA) and rezoning from County designation to City designation. The four properties were annexed into Newberry on July 11, 2022.

All four CPAs were unanimously approved for recommendation by the Planning and Zoning Board and are scheduled to be heard by the City Commission at their Jan. 23 meeting.

The first application was for 22.75 +/- acres owned by Joshua P. and Tracie A. Blackford. The property is located on the west side of the intersection of Northwest County Road 235 and Northwest 46^th Avenue.

The next application was for 4.35 +/- acres owned by Clifton A. and Shari D. Brown. The property is located on the west side of Northwest 32^nd Avenue.

An application for 20.68 +/- acres owned by Richard Marion Fowler II was also approved. The property is located on the southwest corner of West Newberry Road/State Road 26 and Southwest 266^th Street.

The final application was for 40 +/- acres owned by Martin and Martin (20 acres) and Todd and Lori Martin (20 acres). The property is located on the east side of Northwest 298^th Street (County Line) in the southwest quadrant of Section 19, Township 17 East, Range 9 South.

Once the CPAs were approved, the Board considered changing the zoning from Alachua County Agricultural to City of Newberry Agriculture (A).

All four zoning applications were recommended for approval as well and will also be heard by the City Commission at their Jan. 23 meeting.

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