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Leon County
Board of County Commissioners Agenda Item#9 January 27, 2026 |
| To: | Honorable Chairman and Members of the Board |
| From: | Vincent S. Long, County Administrator |
| Title: | Request to Schedule the First and Only Public Hearing to Consider a Twelfth Amendment to the Southwood Development of Regional Impact Integrated Development Order for February 10, 2026 |
| Review and Approval: | Vincent S. Long, County Administrator |
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Department/Division Review and Approval: |
Ken Morris, Assistant County Administrator Nawfal Ezzagaghi, Assistant County Administrator Scott Brockmeier, Director, Development Support and Environmental Management (DSEM) |
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Lead Staff/ Project Team: |
Ryan Culpepper, Development Services Director Ryan Guffey, Concurrency Management Planner |
Statement of Issue:
This item seeks Board approval to schedule the first and only public hearing to consider a twelfth amendment to the Southwood Development of Regional Impact (DRI) Integrated Development Order, which requires approval from both the County and City Commissions. The applicant is seeking approval to convert existing traffic concurrency entitlements from office to commercial for three specific sites located southwest of the intersection of Blair Stone Road and Capital Circle Southwest. The purpose of the conversion is to facilitate future development of up to 10,000 square feet of commercial retail uses on each of the three parcels. Retail uses are allowed under the DRI in the referenced locations and all three parcels are located within the City of Tallahassee.
Fiscal Impact:
This item has no fiscal impact.
Staff Recommendation:
Option #1: Schedule the first and only public hearing to consider a twelfth amendment to the Southwood Development of Regional Impact Integrated Development Order (Attachment #1) for February 10, 2026.
Report and Discussion
Background:
This item seeks Board approval to schedule the first and only public hearing to consider a twelfth amendment to the Southwood Development of Regional Impact (DRI) Integrated Development Order (DO) for February 10, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. On November 7, 2025, Stearns Weaver Miller Alhadeff & Sitterson P.A. on behalf of Stadium Place of Tallahassee, LLC, and Paytech, Inc., submitted an application to amend the Southwood DRI DO (Attachment #1) to convert existing traffic concurrency entitlements from office to commercial to facilitate future development of up to 10,000 square feet of commercial retail uses on each of three parcels.
The applicant is requesting to convert general office concurrency entitlements to commercial entitlements for three parcels located within Unit 27 of the Southwood DRI. Unit 27 is located on the south side of Blair Stone Road, west of Capital Circle Southeast (Attachment #2). There are 14 parcels within Southwood Unit 27 and five are currently developed with fast-food restaurants, a daycare, and an office, while the remaining nine are vacant parcels. The proposed conversion, along with mitigation for the remaining balance of 7,210 square feet, would provide sufficient entitlements to allow the construction of 10,000 square feet of commercial retail uses per lot. All of these parcels are located entirely within the Southwood DRI and the City of Tallahassee.
Under Chapter 380, Florida Statutes, the DRI process manages large-scale developments with regional impacts. In 2018, the Florida Legislature amended Section 380.06, Florida Statutes, to eliminate the state and regional review process for DRIs, effectively ending state-level coordination for new large-scale development proposals. However, the amendment did not eliminate local government obligations for DRIs approved prior to the change. Local governments retain full authority and responsibility for administering, enforcing, and amending these existing DRI development orders through their own development review procedures, without further involvement from state or regional agencies.
Accordingly, Leon County remains involved in the Southwood DRI because the DO was an Integrated DO (i.e., jointly adopted by the City of Tallahassee and Leon County in 1999), which still governs the entire 3,222-acre project, and requires approval from both jurisdictions. It should be noted that while most of Southwood has been annexed into the City, three parcels remain in unincorporated Leon County. At the time that the DRI was approved, the development was reviewed for transportation concurrency by both the City and the County, and concurrency entitlements were established for each land use component.
Each use within the DRI generates a certain amount of traffic measured by the PM Peak Hour (afternoon rush hour, between 4-6 PM). As part of the concurrency entitlements established in the DRI DO, each land use component in the DRI was allocated a certain number of PM Peak Hour trips. However, the subject property does not contain a reservation of enough PM Peak Hour trips to allow the proposed commercial use at the intensity desired. In these cases, a property owner within the DRI may request from St. Joe, who is the developer of the Southwood DRI DO, to transfer trips from the overall DRI DO to the subject site. The Southwood DRI DO contains an equivalency matrix that facilitates the transfers. The equivalency matrix allows the applicant to convert trips reserved for one land use to another in terms of PM Peak Hour trips. Alternatively, the applicant may mitigate for the additional entitlements. The proposed change requires approval by both the City and the County.
This is the twelfth amendment to the Southwood DRI DO. The previous Southwood DRI DO amendments are as follows:
The first amendment was for the Independence Landing Project to serve adults with cognitive and developmental disabilities and was approved by the City Commission on October 17, 2018, and by the Board on October 23, 2018.
The second amendment allowed a proposed 82,000 square foot addition to the Florida State University School and was approved by the Board on March 12, 2019, and by the City Commission on March 27, 2019.
The third amendment, which consisted of a proposed 9,000 square foot addition to Creative Day Care, an additional 15 beds for Pruitt Healthcare, and a change to the DRI transportation conversion table, was approved by the Board on May 14, 2019, and by the City Commission on May 15, 2019.
The fourth amendment re-designated a 17-acre Mixed Use Office Commercial parcel to Medium Density Residential and was approved by the Board on June 18, 2019, and by the City Commission on June 19, 2019.
The fifth amendment revised the master plan of the Southwood DRI DO to re-designate a portion of property from MUI-1 to MUEI-5 to provide for the future home of the Tallahassee Classical School and was approved by the City Commission on September 15, 2019, and by the Board on September 17, 2019.
A prior proposed sixth amendment by the St. Joe Corporation was withdrawn in March 2020.
A proposed sixth amendment by Halff and Associates, which would allow a ½ acre of golf course property to be designated to allow a single-family residence, was denied by both the City and County Commissions in 2020.
A proposed seventh amendment by Carlton Fields included multiple changes to the Southwood DRI DO that also required the approval of an updated stormwater master plan. The applicant decided to withdraw this amendment due to the amount of time that would have been required to update the stormwater master plan. A newly updated stormwater master plan was subsequently approved by the City on June 30, 2023.
The eighth amendment to the Southwood DRI DO was approved with conditions by the Board and City Commissions on December 12 and 13, 2023, respectively. This amendment included a re-designation of allowable uses in the Town Center and officially designated it as a “Pedestrian Primary Area.” It also provided the option to not construct the Merchants Row Boulevard extension and allow stormwater facilities to be placed within the Town Center properties (Parcel Identification Numbers (PID) #’s 31-15-31-000-0020, 31-15-31-000-0010, 31-22-20-002-0000, and 31-15-27 E-0190).
The ninth amendment allowed the conversion of MUI-2 (Research and Development) and MUOC-8 (Office/Commercial) to MDR-18 (Medium Density Residential). This amendment allowed 252 multi-family units on PID #31-20-20-003-0000, which is located entirely within the City. This amendment was approved by the Board on January 23, 2024, and by the City Commission on February 21, 2024.
The tenth amendment, also known as the “big fix,” included a wide variety of changes that were considered clean up and the approval of the master stormwater plan that was revised and approved by the Board on June 11, 2024, and by the City Commission on June 19, 2024. This approval included the adoption of an Integrated Development Order incorporating the DRI DO with all amendments to date.
The approved tenth amendment included changes to the transportation section of the DRI DO. The revised schedule of Internal Roadway Improvements (Exhibit G) delayed some roadway construction, both within and outside of the Southwood DRI. The roadway improvements are designed to provide a more grid-like pattern in the immediate area of Capital Circle Southeast and south of Apalachee Parkway. This grid pattern will provide more options and allow the preservation of roadway capacity on two principal arterial roadways (CCSE and Apalachee Parkway). The revised schedule is being timed to coincide with new development “pods” that will be constructed in Southwood in the coming years. Table #1 includes the construction deadlines adopted in the 10th Amendment.
Table #1: Summary of Construction Deadline in Exhibit G
| Roadway Name | Segment | Current Construction End Deadline |
|
Merchants Row |
Tram Road to Artemis Way |
June 30, 2028 |
|
Artemis Way |
Capital Circle Southeast to Tram Rd |
December 31, 2028 |
|
Esplanade Way |
Current Terminus to Medium Density Residential (MDR-3) |
December 31, 2028 |
|
Southwood Plantation Road/Biltmore Avenue |
Current Terminus to Apalachee Parkway as aligned with Sutor Rd |
December 31, 2026 |
Analysis:
The evolution of the Southwood DRI is typical for a DRI of its size over many years due to the extent of the development which impacts a large area. Market conditions during the promulgation of a DRI-DO are typically very different at the time of its initial development and require amendments over time to reflect more modern development practices and engineering standards as well as to address market conditions.
The proposed twelfth amendment involves three vacant parcels generally located to the south and west of the intersection of Blair Stone Road and Capital Circle Southwest, within the Southwood Unit 27 Plat and City limits (PID #’s 31-16-27 A-0120, A-0130, and A-0060). The DRI master plan map (Map “H”) designates Southwood Unit 27 as Mixed Use Office – 3, which allows retail uses.
The applicant seeks to establish 10,000 square feet of commercial space for each of the three referenced parcels. Each lot has a total of 9,000 square feet of existing office concurrency entitlements. With the request, the applicant is seeking approval to convert the office concurrency entitlements to commercial concurrency entitlements. Concurrency entitlements are based on the number of vehicle trips generated by each land use. Using the approved conversion matrix, developed in accordance with the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) standards, the applicant proposes to adjust the entitlements appropriately to reflect the commercial land use. While different uses have varying traffic impacts, for example, retail typically generates more trips per square foot than general office, the conversion matrix ensures that any change in land use remains consistent with the traffic expectations established in the approved DRI.
The DRI DO includes a concurrency conversion matrix that is part of the DRI DO, and conversion of trips is a common practice utilized in a DRI. Since office uses generate fewer trips than retail/commercial uses, the conversion would reduce the concurrency entitlements to 2,790 square feet per lot. The remaining 7,210 square feet per lot will need to be mitigated through a proportionate fair share payment to the City of Tallahassee at the time the applicant submits for final site plan approval. This new pro rata share payment would be in addition to Table #2.
As previously stated, the Southwood DRI is an integrated DO jointly adopted by the County and City. Therefore, the proposed changes require approval by both the Board and the City Commission. The City’s Development Review Committee reviewed the project on December 8, 2025, in conjunction with the proposed amendments to the DRI DO and recommended the proposed changes proceed to the Planning Commission for a consistency hearing. The amendment was found consistent by the Tallahassee-Leon County Planning Commission in a unanimous vote at its January 6, 2026 Public Hearing. The City Commission’s public hearing is tentatively scheduled for February 18, 2026.
Options:
Schedule the first and only public hearing to consider a twelfth amendment to the Southwood Development of Regional Impact Integrated Development Order (Attachment #1) for February 10, 2026.
Do not schedule the first and only public hearing to consider a twelfth amendment to the Southwood Development of Regional Impact Integrated Development Order for February 10, 2026.
Board direction.
Recommendation:
Option #1
Attachments: