A standing-room crowd at the Brevard County Government Center scored a win when the county Planning and Zoning Board voted to recommend denying the rezoning of the former AM radio station land at 1800 Turtle Mound Road near Lake Washington. But anyone who left the room thinking the project is dead should look closely at what that board actually is, because the decision that binds is still weeks away.
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The Planning and Zoning Board also serves as the county’s Local Planning Agency, and it is an advisory body. It does not approve or deny rezonings. It makes a recommendation. Under the county’s own process, a zoning change requires two public hearings, the first before this advisory board and the second before the Brevard County Board of County Commissioners, who cast the only vote that carries the force of law. The board chairman said as much from the dais more than once, reminding the audience that the commissioners make the final decision. That hearing is set for 5 p.m. on July 9 at the Government Center, Building C, in Viera.
In other words, the recommendation of denial is a strong signal and a real setback for the applicant, but the commission is free to approve the rezoning anyway, deny it, or send it back for more work.
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The proposal that goes to the commission is not the one residents came to fight
The most consequential development Monday happened before public comment even began. Kim Rezanka, the attorney for applicant Defender Homes Airway Heights LLC, told the board the company had heard the neighbors and was withdrawing its request to change the property’s Future Land Use designation from RES 4 to RES 6. That amendment application is off the table, and the crowd cheered.
Rezanka then amended the zoning request itself. Instead of RU-2-6, the low-density multiple-family category that allows up to six units per acre and permits apartments, the company is now asking only for RU-1-11, a single-family detached classification with a minimum lot size of 7,500 square feet. With the land use staying at RES 4, the maximum density is capped at four homes per acre. The engineer of record, Jake Wise, said the most that could fit is about 57 units, and likely far fewer once wetlands are accounted for. The previous owners told the board they were approved for just 11 homes on the site years ago after wetland mitigation.
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Engineer of record, Jake Wise
This matters for July 9 because the commission will weigh a smaller, single-family-only proposal, not the apartment-capable plan that drew the original outrage. It also created a procedural tangle: several board members noted the county staff report was prepared for the original request of up to 86 units, not the revised plan, leaving them analyzing a version of the project that no longer exists. That mismatch is one reason some board members pushed to continue the item rather than deny it outright. The board denied it anyway, but member Ana Saunders cast a dissenting vote, favoring giving the applicant a chance to return with specifics.
Board Member Ana Saunders was the single dissenting vote.
The opposition arrived organized, and loud
Resident Dianne Baumert-Moyik opened the neighborhood’s testimony by submitting a petition she said carried more than 2,300 signatures, with another 500 she said came from residents, and asked the board to keep the property RR-1 with no compromise. Melbourne Vice Mayor Julie Kennedy appeared in person and told the board every member of the Melbourne City Council opposes the project, reiterating the city’s position that its existing sewer force main lacks the capacity to serve the added wastewater demand. When a board member remarked that it was unusual for a city to weigh in on a county matter, Kennedy noted that the two governments’ infrastructure is intertwined.
Board Member Henry Minneboo questioned the City of Melbourne’s involvement in the matter.
Speaker after speaker raised flooding, wetlands that one resident said cover roughly half the parcel, traffic on Turtle Mound Road, protected wildlife, and the rural and equestrian character of the Lake Washington area. One former professional engineer urged soil testing for mercury, citing a trash dump left from the property’s radio-tower days. A recurring theme was that the owner is an out-of-state company from Washington State that develops and manages rental housing, and several speakers demanded to know whether the homes would be sold or rented.
The applicant’s case, and why it is not going away
Rezanka pressed a narrow argument that will carry directly into the commission hearing: this is a rezoning, not a site plan, and the law does not require traffic studies, drainage plans, wetland surveys, or engineering designs at this stage. All of that, she said, is handled later at the site-plan and platting phase, where the county can require turn lanes, stormwater controls, wetland protections, and impact fees. She told the board the staff report found no material violation of comprehensive plan policies and that road, school, and utility concurrency thresholds were met even at the higher density that has since been withdrawn. She also argued the surrounding area is not purely rural, pointing to nearby mobile home parks and the smaller lots of the adjacent Fox Bay subdivision.
Attorney Kimberly Rezanka argues on behalf of the application.
When board members asked whether the company would return with a revised plan and more detail, Rezanka declined, saying the company would not come back with full engineering for what is only a zoning request. That signals an applicant intent on taking its case straight to the commissioners rather than slowing down, which is exactly why the matter remains live.
A procedural flashpoint could also resurface. Fox Bay resident Scott Schiffer argued the item should have been tabled under a county policy he said requires applicants facing organized opposition to meet with affected residents before the board hearing, noting that no such meeting had occurred. The county attorney responded that she was not aware of that being a requirement. Expect that dispute to be raised again on July 9.
What happens next
The Board of County Commissioners takes up the rezoning application at 5 p.m. on July 9 at the Brevard County Government Center, 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Building C, in Viera. The commission is not bound by the advisory board’s recommendation. Written comments filed with the county zoning official before the hearing are entered into the record, and residents may appear and speak. The property sits in County Commission District 5.
Monday was a clear win for the neighbors. It was also only the first of two rounds, and the one that decides the outcome has not yet been fought.
