ITEM DESCRIPTION:
Title
AR-2025-0209: Request for minor site plan approval for a warehouse at 2421 Guava Drive.
Body
OWNER:
Russell Bonanza
APPLICANT:
Mark Morrissette
PROPOSED USE:
FLUM DESIGNATION:
Commercial
ZONING DISTRICT:
B-2, Neighborhood Business
BACKGROUND:
Mr. Morrissette first applied for a minor site plan on December 6th, 2024. The Technical Review Committee underwent three reviews of the minor site plan with the applicant. The Technical Review Committee reviewed the plans and found the application meets the land development code and comprehensive plan.
On July 1st, a resident questioned the legality of approving a site plan in Florida Shores without the development meeting the City of Edgewater’s stormwater requirements including the 25 year storm event and the more stringent standard of retaining a 100 year storm event. The Technical Review Committee subsequently tabled the item until an opinion could be issued from the City Attorney. The City Attorney has made the following statement “In my opinion the acceptance of the Florida Shores plat via annexation and issuance of the Environmental Resource Permit would fall under the exemption to permit requirements pursuant to LDC 21-53.03(d). Pursuant to this section of the LDC the acceptance of the plat (through the voluntary annexation) “shall be construed to include an approval of the stormwater management system and a separate permit under this section is not required.” Article V, Section 21-53.03(d), Exemptions to Permit Requirements, states:
The acceptance of a plat by the City Council in accordance with the subdivision regulations or approval of a site plan, shall be construed to include an approval of the stormwater management system and a separate permit under this Section is not required. Subsequent changes or additions not reflected by the accepted plat, or site plan, however shall be subject to the terms of this Article.
In the early 1990’s the City of Edgewater performed the Florida Shores Roadway Improvements that led to the roads being paved, water, and sewer being installed, with a stormwater system for said improvements. These ERP permits are required under Permit Numbers 22969-1 and 22969-2. The Saint Johns River Water Management District staff report provides a clear summary:
The Florida Shores Subdivision is a large existing platted subdivision of approximately 2,155 acres. This subdivision contains 498 acres of platted right-of-way; 139 acres of which is currently paved (28%). The actual paved surface to date is only 56 acres or 3% of the total land area. The total lineal distance of roadway right-of-way is approximately 82 miles. Since the subdivision was recorded prior to any of the State's current stormwater management ordinances, the subdivision is currently exempt from today's retention/detention criteria. We estimate that in the present level of development (35% of the lots buildout and 28% of the rights-of-way with paved surfaces) that the pollution abatement volume required under today's standards for the road rights-of-way would be 5.8 acre feet and 31.4 acre feet if including lot buildout. The amount provided today, however, is 0.00 acres feet. We further estimated that the ultimate buildout of the subdivision would require under today's standards 20.8 acre feet of pollution abatement for the road rights-of-way and 89.8 acre feet for the entire development. Since all of the lots are owned by separate individuals, the City of Edgewater is only required to provide pollution abatement for the remaining roadways that they pave. This total is only 14.9 total acre feet of pollution abatement volume. Finally, it was demonstrated that the proposed plan will provide approximately 71 acre feet of total storage available for pollution abatement within the abandoned Florida Shores' right-of-way. This demonstrates that the City would be able to retain much more stormwater than that required for the additional paving proposed for the Florida Shores roadways.
The City of Edgewater, in an effort to upgrade the infrastructure of Florida. Shores, applied for a District permit to pave existing dirt and shell roads, the construction of swales and retention ponds, and the replacement of culverts with canal sections. On November 11, 1991, the District issued a conceptual permit for retrofitting of the existing drainage system. The purpose of the stormwater project, in combination with the elimination of septic systems, is to provide water quality benefits to the Indian River Estuarine system. The water quality component of the project is designed to offset the impacts of pollutants generated by paved roads and residential lot development, which will continue to expand in number and usage as the community grows.
The staff report continues to describe the three phases of the implementation plan for the Florida Shores Roadway Improvement project:
The first sub-phase of the improvement program will be the reduction of septic tanks within the master plan area. A re-use system also will be installed, thereby reducing the freshwater flows into the estuarine system of the Indian River.
The second sub-phase of the improvement program will be a potable water system implemented to reduce the potential for salt water intrusion from the coast by limiting the withdrawals. Staff believes that these benefits will enhance the estuarine functions for the Indian River by reducing pollutant loadings from septic tanks and freshwater discharges to the Indian River.
The third sub-phase of the improvement program will be the paving of roads and construction of a surface water management system consisting of roadside swales to convey runoff to a series of on-line retention and detention with filtration ponds. Additionally, the existing master drainage system will be retrofitted, including adjusting culvert inverts and replacing culverts. Most of the culverts will be replaced with a larger size necessitating excavation within the canals and then placement of pipes and backfill.
The surface water management system is designed not to increase flood states within the subdivision and to provide a certain level of stormwater treatment, which does not exist today. Although the stormwater treatment provided does not meet the criteria for discharges to Class II waterbodies, as defined in subsection 40C42 .025 (10), staff believes that the proposed surface water management system, in addition to the sewage and potable water systems, will provide a significant improvement to water quality and a reduction in freshwater discharge volume into the Indian River from the existing urbanized Florida Shores development.
In conclusion, the Florida Shores Roadway Improvements done through the two ERP permits require new development within Florida Shores to account for 1.5” of water retention onsite for the first flush. The system is designed to hold the first 1.5” of rainfall for water quality, not water quantity. The conclusion of the Saint Johns River Water Management district is as follows:
