Two Escambia rezonings would jump density six-fold on Nine Mile and Highway 29

The May 5 Planning Board hearing takes up commercial rezoning requests for nearly 25 acres on two arterial roads, with the county staff already finding the larger of the two consistent with the Comprehensive Plan.

The Escambia County Planning Board will hold public hearings May 5 on three land-use cases that bear on the western and northern edges of the urban county. Two of the cases are rezonings that would lift residential density caps from 4 or 7 units per acre to 25, and the third is a vested-rights determination tied to a tattoo establishment on Barrancas Avenue.

Each rezoning sits inside the Mixed-Use Suburban future land use category, which the county Comprehensive Plan describes as a category encouraging compact infill and mixed development. The Planning Board recommends; the Board of County Commissioners decides. Staff findings already filed for both rezonings list a June 17 BCC hearing date.

Case Z-2026-10: Nine Mile Road

The first rezoning case covers 8.95 acres at the 5200 block of West Nine Mile Road in District 1, including parcels at 5200, 5203 and 5209. The applicant is Wiley C. "Buddy" Page, agent for property owners Yvonne Hahn, Desa Auriette Hahn Lindsey and Timothy Lindsey. The request would change the zoning from Low Density Residential, capped at 4 dwelling units per acre, to Commercial, which permits up to 25 units per acre.

County staff findings address one of the central legal questions on a rezoning of this kind — whether it would constitute spot zoning. Staff conclude it would not, citing existing Commercial zoning that abuts the property. Staff also note the property "lies directly across Nine Mile Rd from OLF8, a planned large-scale development within the County," and find that adjacent land uses "are changing," which under the Land Development Code criterion on changing conditions weighs in favor of approval.

The findings document concludes that the requested zoning is consistent with the Mixed-Use Suburban category as stated in Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use policy 1.3.1, and consistent with policies that encourage maximum density on underutilized properties in MU-S.

Case Z-2026-11: Highway 29

The second rezoning, Z-2026-11, would change 15.59 acres at the 1400 block of North Highway 29 in District 5 from Low Density Mixed-Use, currently capped at 7 dwelling units per acre, to Commercial at 25 units per acre. The applicant is Meredith Bush, agent for owner DP Developers of North Florida, LLC. The future land use designation, as with the Nine Mile case, is Mixed-Use Suburban.

Case VRD-2026-01: 4113 Barrancas

The third item on the public-hearing portion of the agenda is a vested-rights determination, not a rezoning. The property at 4113 Barrancas Avenue is already zoned Commercial. The applicant, Meredith Bush on behalf of Keyco Holdings, LLC, is seeking a determination under Land Development Code Section 2-6.7 vested rights for the operation of a tattoo establishment.

The May 5 meeting begins at 8:30 a.m. at 3363 West Park Place. Public comment will be taken on each case.