Bay County Commissioners address concerns over proposed housing development

BAY COUNTY, Fla. ( WMBB ) – Bay County commissioners are trying to balance the area’s exploding growth with the demands on infrastructure. The latest concerns involve a developer’s plans to build dozens of new homes in the Bridgewater Way community, north of Woodlawn.

Neighbors are afraid the new development will cause flooding issues for the existing homes.

Many areas of Bay County are low-lying and prone to flooding. That’s a fact that hasn’t escaped some residents in the Bridgewater Way area. They fear a proposed new development will upset the current balance between wet and dry that surrounds their homes.

“Florida and Bay County have a flooding problem, and sometimes that occurs when a piece of property abuts a neighborhood where the property has not been developed yet. The grade of that property naturally sometimes causes more water into the subdivision,” Bay County Commissioner Claire Pease said.

Developers were originally going to build a 330 unit apartment complex but decided to build 77 single-family homes instead. Pease said the project will require the stormwater to be held on the property instead of running off into nearby neighborhoods.

“Once the property is developed, all of the stormwater for that development has to remain on that property, so you’ll no longer have that natural flow of water causing them some additional flooding problems,” Pease said.

Pease said repairing the bulkhead and pipes adjacent to the development will also prevent flooding.

“There are also two large pipes that go through that bulkhead that have sunk and that need to be repaired. I think that is also going to help with moving some of the stormwater around and maybe not into the neighborhood,” Pease said.

Pease said she understands neighbors’ concerns, but she also said new housing is crucial.

“There is a need for housing and there always will be, and we are growing a lot,” Pease said.

The builder has not announced a start date for the Bridgewater Way development.

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