(PENSACOLA, Fla.) --- Many residents underestimate the power of a city's planning commission.
Not sure why, since it's right in the title-Planning.
As a taxpayer here, I understand the importance. I also understand, since I am a two-decade-long reporter, beginning with Gannett in 2005, and more recently at WEAR-TV, Pensacola, as seen here in my portfolio.
While I never covered a planning board meeting, I did cover city hall, as read here regarding affordable housing, which remains a pressing issue years later. Well, I am back, beginning with this Pensacola Planning Commission Meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 12. What's different from my short stint with Sinclair Broadcasting, working under News Directors Kimberly Wyatt and Robert Noonan, is that I now get to report what I see with no middleman.
Rather, I work with a robot. It's my AI assistant that took the hour-long meeting and summarized it in seconds for me here, before I go in real-time to fact-check and report. It really is that simple and revolutionary, and I am honored to be on the ground floor.
So let's begin with the Pensacola Planning Commission agenda. Only two items on the agenda, with the second more important than the first, which required approval of aesthetics on a resident's property.
Next, OpGov.ai picked up the below.
"The City of Pensacola Planning Board meeting, held on January 12, 2026, proceeded with remarkable efficiency, seemingly at the expense of comprehensive public engagement or deep board deliberation on potentially contentious issues," OpGov.ai reports. "While minutes were swiftly approved, and a minor aesthetic review for a single-family home passed unanimously with minimal discussion, the core of the meeting, a rezoning request for Lots 1-6 Terraces at Tarragona, highlighted significant regulatory shifts and inherent risks."
I am not sure I could have explained it better myself, but I will let you know that I was there in real time and captured it. I am purposely not using my photos to show you do not have to attend a meeting to get the full transcript, summary, and key takeaways in minutes with frightening accuracy.
Pensacola Planning Chair Paul Ritz at the Tuesday, Jan. 12 meeting at town hall, discussing the rezoning amendment approved unanimously.
As noted in staff reports, Sally Fox, representing Dabo’s Holdings, LLC, is requesting a Zoning Map Amendment for the properties located at Lots 1 through 6 Terraces at Tarragona, previously addressed 120 S. Tarragona Street prior to its subdivision.
The ask was to rezone the SSD, “site specific development zoning” to HC1 “historic commercial," with no change to the existing Future Land Use category of “Historic & Preservation.” On top of her game, Fox said, "I'd like to just go through the six elements just so that that's a record."
Attorney Sally Fox, and property owner before the Pensacola Planning Commission Tuesday, Jan. 12.
And she did, beginning with the proposed rezoning being compatible with the surrounding land use.
"Obviously, with the historic overlay, maintaining that historic site development and acting as a kind of transitional zoning, we believe that the change to the H1 will accomplish that goal of the comprehensive plan much better, obviously, than the SSD," Fox said.
A comprehensive timeline records the property history dates property history back to 1989 when the deputy city manager was Ed Hinkle and the planning director was Peter DeVries.
Pensacola Planning Commission presentation slides showing rezoning differences.
OpGov.ai reports "concerns from a board member regarding the potential for this prime downtown property to become a mere commercial parking lot were noted but not fully assuaged, relying heavily on Architectural Review Board (ARB) oversight without robust current protections."
Additionally, "the shift to a 'quasi-judicial' format for rezoning, while ostensibly increasing formality, seemed to limit open discussion and ultimately saw the rezoning pass unanimously, according to the platform.
However, my AI-assistant did not pick up what only a human could, the exact words and concerns of commission members read below.
"I believe that changing it from SSD to HD 1 is an appropriate action to get it compatible with the many things discussed, but definitely of the nearby neighborhood," Chair Paul Fritz said. "I walk past this probably twice a day, Monday through Friday."
Fritz noted that "the 1989 kind of predates my time on the board," he does remember "when this was a daycare, and there was some action on this board quite some time ago, I think during my first term, an SSD came up then, but this had a different view at that time than now."
In 2006, the revised conceptual design seen below involved demolishing the structure.
Staff report regarding proposed rezoning of property
After letting the past go, commission members agreed they did not want to see the area wasted, as first brought up by Planning Commission Member Daniel Grundhoefer.
"I believe a parking lot is an allowed land use in HC 1," Groundhoefer aid before asking, "Could take this whole lot and turn it into a parking lot?"
Answer, no.
Once commission members decided the rezoning met all requirements, the idea was handed over to the public, or rather, the lack thereof, as reported by the platform.
"Public comment was notably absent in person, with only a pre-meeting voicemail from a concerned citizen, 'Cat Lady Santiago,' being reported, which staff failed to fully convey due to time constraints, underscoring a potential barrier to effective public participation."
"A homeowner residing in another Site Specific Development (SSD) district called Mr. Hardy regarding the rezoning application for Terraces at Tarragona. Mr. Hardy left a voicemail explaining the application and process, but his explanation was cut off due to time limits. The commenter did not call back."
To sum it up, it is obvious the Pensacola Planning Board has one motive, keep our community preserved as much as possible, and for this I am grateful.
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