NORTHEAST TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) — Phase one of the Welaunee Arch Planned Unit Development — a 1,227-acre community — is moving forward, but under conditions.
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The Development Review Committee granted the plan "conditional approval" September 14th.
The development is zoned for about 6,591 dwelling units, commercial spaces, and 395 acres of open and green space.
Before moving forward, developers must meet key conditions: develop a master stormwater plan; redesign construction around protected land, such as relocating stormwater facilities that overlap wetland buffers; and follow city zoning rules, such as updating outdated language to reflect a development process no longer required under city code.
Retired land planner Scott Henderson says potential impacts — specifically traffic — haven't been fully evaluated ahead of the approval.
"You're going to find out that if you do a traffic analysis, you're going to find that Centerville Road fails, it breaks, it's over capacity,” Henderson said. “There's going to be intersections that are going to need traffic signals or roundabouts. Who's going to pay for those? Right now, it's structured to where the responsibility will be on the taxpayers.”
Resident Cara Fleisher is concerned about the environment, recalling the development of the Canopy neighborhood, which is also known as the "Toe," and the Northeast park, which is within the boundary of the PUD.
"We've seen firsthand the amount of trees that have been coming out of the neighborhood,” she said. “We're really concerned that the green space that was promised to us in the master plan for this development is not going to be honored. The new PUD only has suggestions, and they aren't concrete.”
Gary Hunter, the attorney for Landowners Powerhouse Inc., addressed some of those concerns.
Hunter says there are no immediate plans for development, adding that future developers would have to evaluate and address traffic when the land is developed.
"I mean, we had growth community meetings for literally years back in the early 2000s, where lots of voices of varying opinions, environmental groups, etc., all sat down and worked through the issues on that site. All of the sites, all three that I mentioned earlier, the ‘Toe,’ the ‘Heel,’ and the ‘Arch,’ and came up with what I think was a consensus, was the appropriate way to move forward for the overall development of that parcel," Hunter said.
The PUD now heads to the Tallahassee-Leon County Planning Commission on October 6th.
If approved there, it goes to city commissioners for a final vote.
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