Council approves stormwater fee relief for small agricultural parcels
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Summary
The council adopted Resolution 2025-43 to reduce stormwater utility assessments for qualifying agricultural properties of 20 acres or less, recalculating those parcels at 1 equivalent residential unit and estimating a maximum fiscal impact of about $42,946 if all eligible parcels applied.
The Palm Bay City Council unanimously approved a resolution that changes the city’s stormwater-fee methodology for certain small agricultural parcels. The measure reduces the assessment for qualifying properties (20 acres or less with a valid agricultural exemption) so they are charged at the equivalent of one residential unit rather than an average assessment based on 7.29 ERUs.
Deputy Mayor Jaffe introduced the resolution as a tool to preserve open space and avoid forcing small landholders to sell because of disproportionate stormwater charges. Staff said the change would affect three currently exempt parcels in the city but up to 42 parcels could potentially qualify; the total fiscal impact to the stormwater fund would be approximately $42,946 if every eligible parcel took the exemption.
Public commenters and councilmembers praised the change as supporting small farms and conserving open space. Council directed staff to use the city’s existing validation process to confirm agricultural exemptions annually, consistent with county/state certificates, and adopted the resolution by unanimous vote.
Staff noted this would be a limited program to avoid it being used for large developer land-holding strategies—the 20-acre cap was intended to strike that balance.