The Pines: 811 D.R. Horton homes clear first Melbourne vote

The Melbourne City Council has given first approval to The Pines, a D.R. Horton subdivision of 811 single-family homes on 424.82 acres at the city’s western edge.

The council voted 6-1 on Tuesday to approve six ordinances that annex part of the land and rezone all of it. Council Member Rachael Bassett voted no on each one, the city’s summary of action for the Oct. 27 meeting said.

The vote came after the city’s Planning and Zoning Board voted 3-2 on Oct. 1 to deny the project’s site plan and development agreement. The board cited safety and a lack of adequate ways in and out. City staff kept its recommendation to approve.

The final votes are set for the council’s Tuesday, Nov. 10, meeting.

Where it is and what would be built

The land sits east of St. Johns Heritage Parkway, between the Melbourne Tillman C-63 and C-54 canals. It runs west to the end of the Norfolk Parkway right-of-way. The details below come from the city’s item report and staff memo in the Oct. 27 agenda packet.

The plan includes:

• 811 single-family homes, at about 1.9 homes an acre
• typical lots of 50 by 120 feet and 60 by 120 feet, averaging about 7,200 square feet
• 68.56 acres of open space, above the 56.1 acres the code requires
• a Norfolk Parkway extension with a roundabout, built in phases

The land is three parcels:

The owners named in the agenda are D.R. Horton Inc., the F Carlyle Platt Family Limited Partnership and Errorhead Inc. About two-thirds of the project falls in the Platt Ranch area, which Melbourne annexed in 2015. Once annexed, all of it would be in Council District 5.

The traffic question

The applicant’s traffic study estimates the homes will generate about 7,346 new vehicle trips. All of them would use Norfolk Parkway. The plan has no other connection to local roads, including Ranch Road to the north.

For the first 714 homes, the only way in would be from the east, through West Melbourne via Minton Road. West Melbourne borders Melbourne, about four miles west. D.R. Horton is proposing separate Norfolk Parkway work there under an agreement with that city.

The development agreement requires Norfolk Parkway to be extended west as a two-lane road to St. Johns Heritage Parkway. That must happen before the 715th home receives its certificate of occupancy. The agreement says the link depends on approval by Brevard County.

Residents raised traffic safety, congestion and access at the Oct. 1 board hearing, the staff report said. Board members cited the traffic study, communication with residents, the timing of the Norfolk Parkway extension and traffic on Minton Road. At the same meeting the board backed the 5.97-acre annexation and land use change unanimously and the zoning changes 4-1. In March it had recommended the 120.65-acre annexation and land use change 4-3.

At the Oct. 27 meeting, Council Member David Neuman asked that the city engineer push for widening Minton Road once appointed to the Space Coast Transportation Planning Organization’s technical advisory committee, the summary said. The council approved the appointment.

Sewer, water and schools

The staff memo covers the services the homes would need:

• Sewer: the City of West Melbourne would serve the homes under a three-way agreement with D.R. Horton and Melbourne. West Melbourne and D.R. Horton have already signed it.
• Water: Melbourne’s Lake Washington Water Treatment Plant.
• Schools: Brevard Public Schools found adequate school capacity for the project. That finding is binding for two years.

What the city expects to collect

The city estimates an average taxable value of $500,000 a home. On that basis the homes would bring Melbourne about $2.25 million a year in property tax. If Amendment 3 passes on Nov. 3, the city puts the figure at about $1.5 million, because the larger homestead exemption would cut the average taxable value to $250,000.

Share this chartFacebookWhatsAppXCopy linkEmbed

Our Amendment 3 budget story and property taxes page explain the measure.

What happens Nov. 10

At second reading the council takes the final votes on the six ordinances. It will also consider three items held back until then:

• the preliminary development plan for the 811 lots
• the development agreement, including the road requirements
• the three-way sewer agreement with West Melbourne

A property owner within 500 feet has also filed notice of a petition against the zoning changes. The petition was due Oct. 22, and staff will tally it before Nov. 10. If owners of more than 20% of the property within 500 feet signed, approval of the zoning will need six of the seven council votes. A March petition against the land use change reached 7.16%, below that bar.

What it means for you

• If you live off Minton Road or Norfolk Parkway in West Melbourne, the first 714 homes would use your roads until the extension to St. Johns Heritage Parkway is built.
• You can speak at the Nov. 10 hearing. The council meets at City Hall, 900 E. Strawbridge Ave. The agenda will be posted on the city’s meeting portal.
• To write to council members before the vote, see our who to call at City Hall page.
• How zoning works here: our building permits and zoning guide.

Also decided Oct. 27

• Downtown Core Streetscape: approved. The council accepted a state-funded Florida Department of Transportation grant agreement. It also awarded the design contract to Kimley-Horn and Associates of Melbourne for $2,175,279.27.
• Outdoor entertainment venue zoning: approved on second reading.
• Melbourne Main Street: $156,550 from the downtown redevelopment agency for 2026-27.
• Wells Park: the council agreed by consensus to pursue a license-based use agreement so Our Lady of Lourdes church and school, on Oak Street, can keep using a strip of the park for parking.
• Controlled burns: after complaints, staff will bring possible city code changes to a future meeting.