Panama City residents give their input on neighborhood rezoning maps

PANAMA CITY, FL. (WMBB) –  Panama City officials will be creating new zoning maps for Glenwood, Millville, and St. Andrews.

And they want a lot of input from the community before finalizing the plans.

City officials said that an updated mapping and rezoning will enable improved development and encourage revitalization of the areas.

It’s part of a strategic vision and neighborhood master plan that was drafted in 2019, shortly after Hurricane Michael, and approved in 2021.

Officials are in the final steps of this plan with the rezoning map being the finish line.

In city hall Monday night, dozens of residents from Glenwood, Millville, and St. Andrews gathered to give their two cents for the future of their communities.

They all had one thing on their mind… resiliency.

“I think resiliency could come a bunch of different ways. Zoning is not the only fix to resiliency, but it is one of them. So one of the things that we’ve described tonight is investing in places that are higher in elevation, that are existing communities, not spreading out into places that are undeveloped and concentrating growth on places that have the propensity to be resilient,” said Dover Kohl and Partners Urban Designer and Town Planner Claire Morris Williams.

The updated maps will be divided into three sections.

Neighborhood downtown, neighborhood, general, and neighborhood residential.

Within these districts will allow and permit certain buildings, encourage middle-class housing such as duplexes and small apartment buildings, and improve walkability.

“For us for zoning, it’s really about economic resiliency and developing in your historic districts,” Morris said.

Officials said the goal is to preserve the historic nature of the neighborhoods by welcoming in new businesses.

“The whole goal or intent is, is to preserve the cultures and the traditional nature of those developments and make them into places where people want to live and be again,” Panama City Director of Development Services Michael Fuller said.

Some residents are concerned that these zoning changes will affect their current property.

“If change the ordinance change the easement requirement and if you build up to the easement, you’ve now encroached on my property, I need to understand the overall effect of this new zoning,” resident Jim Bennet said.

Officials said that these changes will not cause any harm to current property owners.
“You mentioned your property rights, what this rezoning is going to do is enlarge that bag. It’s going to say things that are prohibited today and make them legal to do. And so, in essence, it’s not a take in the way you reflect that it’s a gift. The zoning doesn’t of undo the city’s procedures,” said Dover Kohl and Partners Founder Victor Dover.

With these updated changes, officials said there will also be updates to the infrastructure.

This will not be the last time that the future of these neighborhoods will be in discussion, but three more meetings are coming up.

AUGUST 5TH:

Millville : 2 p.m. at Daffin Park Clubhouse

Glenwood: 5 p.m. at Glenwood Community Center

AUGUST 6TH:

St. Andrews: 2 p.m. at Oakland Terrace Park Clubhouse

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to mypanhandle.com.