Santa Rosa County Commission OKs rezoning request, paving way for new K-8 school in Milton

Santa Rosa County Commissioners have approved a conditional use request to build a new school in a Milton residential neighborhood despite outcry from residents who say the school will cause traffic woes that will negatively impact their property values and ways of life. 

Commissioners approved the Santa Rosa County School District's request by a 4-1 vote Wednesday night, overturning the zoning board's Feb. 13 decision to deny the request. District 1 Commissioner Sam Parker was the lone "no" vote on Wednesday night. 

The commissioners' seal of approval paves the way for the school district to begin site planning for the 25-acre parcel of land behind the Whisper Creek subdivision in Milton. The school district hopes to open the new kindergarten through eighth grade school by fall 2022. 

“We need the school,” Superintendent Tim Wyrosdick told the board Wednesday night. “We need it desperately and we need it quickly.”

Residents concerned:Milton neighbors say new school near Berryhill Road would cause a traffic nightmare

Controversy over the parcel centered around the fact that residents in the Whisper Creek subdivision said they never knew the land had been intended for school use, despite the developers of the property specifically earmarking the parcel for a new school as a condition of getting approval to build the subdivision in 2004. 

Whisper Creek residents signed a petition and attended county meetings about the proposed school, saying they were OK with a new school but wanted the school district to consider building a new road to alleviate traffic congestion on Whisper Creek Boulevard and Berryhill Road. 

"By all means, we like the school, we want it to be in our backyards, we welcome the school, we’re not here to argue about the location of the school,” said Whisper Creek HOA President Karen Rothwell at the rezoning meeting. “We are asking for our safety, our enjoyment of our homes and our property values to be protected.”

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The school district has said it is looking at other options to construct a new road to get to the school facilities, including an adjacent property that has an easement with Gulf Power. 

The new school, which will serve a little more than 1,200 students, will have parking spaces for 208 cars and 21 buses, as well as a carpool line for 165 cars. 

The approval for the new school comes at a time of rapid expansion for the school district, which has more than half of its schools at or over capacity. Another K-8 school is currently being constructed on Elkhart Drive in Navarre, and in December the school board voted to purchase a 41-acre parcel of land in Navarre on U.S. 98 that will also be the site of a school in the future. 

Annie Blanks can be reached at ablanks@pnj.com or 850-435-8632.