The Port Orange Planning Commission approved a future land use amendment (CPAM-25-0003) and a rezoning request (REZ-25-0005) for 1737 Fern Park Drive after staff and the property owners described a plan to demolish a dilapidated house and rebuild a single-family home.

Suzette Cameron of community development planning told the commission the amendment would lower the site's maximum residential potential from 37 units to 19 units and recommended approval of both the future land use change and rezoning to the city agricultural zoning district. Cameron said the property had been annexed into Port Orange in 2018 and that owners later could return with a special-exception application to operate a retail and wholesale nursery on the rear portion of the lot.

Applicants Sandra Bridal and Daniel Mortis told the commission they do not intend large-scale development. "We want to preserve the 5 acres," Bridal said, adding they might build one house for a son but do not want neighbors or a townhouse subdivision. A nearby homeowner, Laurie Faust, said she supported the change, citing prior opposition to townhouse development in the area.

Commissioners asked whether future construction beyond a single-family home would require additional public review. Staff and another speaker said a single-family rebuild would proceed with a building permit but that any rezoning or development beyond the agricultural zoning would require a separate rezoning or special approval. Staff also noted recent changes in Florida law make subdivision plats an administrative process.

The commission took roll-call votes on both items; each recorded affirmative responses from the five members present and the chair declared the motions carried. The approval reduces the theoretical density on the parcel and leaves any future special-exception application for a nursery or any rezoning for subdivision to later public review.