By Dotty Nist
The owner of a single-family residence adjacent to part of the Kaiya Planned Unit Development (PUD) is opposing the county’s approval of the mixed-use development, alleging that the approval was “inconsistent with the Walton County Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Code.”
The property owner and plaintiff, Tallahassee resident Edward M. Mitchell, filed his legal complaint against Walton County on June 10 in Walton County Circuit Court, in his own name and that of Mitchell Brothers, Inc., the company for which he serves as president and principal. His Walton County property is part of the Sand Cliffs subdivision.
Kaiya, a mixed-use development approved for a 28+-acre site on the east end of CR-30A, received a 4-0 vote of the Walton County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) on May 10. The main portion of the development site is at the northeast corner of the WaterSound Parkway and CR-30A intersection, with a 2.2-acre portion less than 100 feet in width extending from the south side of CR-30A to the gulf.
The latter portion has been referred to as the May property due to a history of ownership of the property by the May family.
The beginning of subgrade construction on the north side of the Kaiya property, in preparation for homes, was recently announced by Kaiya owners Romair Homes and Jason Romair, with home construction anticipated for 2017.
The Mitchell complaint is related to the southern portion of the development, where a single-family residence has been located for a number of years. According to the complaint, as acknowledged by the county, “The Kaiya South Parcel was approved for 16 attached dwelling units at the north end and a beach club building, swimming pool, cabana and three or four-story multifamily building constructed above a partially underground parking deck at the south end of the parcel. Units located on the south parcel include twelve townhomes, two of which are two-story, ten of which are three-story and four condominium buildings that are three stories in height.”
The northern parcel was approved for 148 residential units and approximately 138,562 square feet of commercial space including retail, office, limited lodging, health and fitness, civic, and back-of-house services.
The southern parcel is classified as Neighborhood Infill, according to the Walton County Future Land Use Map.