Catching up

Last month we reported on Raker's Crossing, a 191-home subdivision planned for about 174 acres on the north side of Shadeville Road. A homeowner whose land borders the site appealed the county's August 2026 renewal of the project's development permit.

Here is what has happened since:

• Sept. 18: The homeowner filed his appeal and paid the fee.

• Sept. 24: The planning director rejected the appeal as late and said the file would be closed. The homeowner filed a second appeal the same day, challenging that rejection.

• Oct. 5: He told the County Commission, during Citizens to be Heard, that the director had rejected the second appeal too and that the county's permit portal listed both as denied. He asked the board to hear his appeal.

• Oct. 15: The county posted a notice scheduling both appeals, BOA26-01 and BOA26-02, for a public hearing on Oct. 28. Read the notice here: https://cms4files.revize.com/wakullacounty/NOPH_BOA26-01_and_BOA26-02.remediated.pdf

The county's side

The county's reason for rejecting the appeal was timing. The permit renewal, DP26-1038, was approved Aug. 6, 2026. County code Sec. 3-23 allows 30 days to file an appeal, and counted from Aug. 6, that window closed Sept. 5. The appeal was filed Sept. 18. In the Sept. 24 letter, the planning director treated the appeal as untimely and started a refund of the fee.

That is a real argument, and the board will have to weigh it. The homeowner's answer is that whether an appeal is valid and on time is a question for the board, not for the staff member whose decision is being appealed.

What he told the board

On Oct. 5, the homeowner spoke for a little under four minutes. He walked the commissioners through both rejections and then laid out his reading of the code.

"There is no such thing in the land development code as an administrative denial."

He said the decisions he was appealing were made by the planning director, so the appeal should go to the board.

"The appeal goes up. It does not go back to the person who made the call."

He also told the board that no certificate of imminent peril had been issued. Under Sec. 3-23, as he described it, that certificate is what allows work to continue while an appeal is pending. He said work was continuing anyway. His request was simple: put the appeal on a Board of Adjustment agenda.

"The staff can make their case to you at the hearing, not in a letter to me, but to this board in public on the record the way the code was written."

He handed the board a packet he described as receipts showing he had followed the process. The chair thanked him. No commissioner or staff member responded on the record. Ten days later, the hearing notice was posted.

Watch his comments here, starting at about 10 minutes in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BycUG9g8T1U&t=610s

What we found in the county's file

Since the first post, we went back through the records the county released and checked them against the county code and state law. Here is what stands out.

A 2006 plat number on 2023 plans. The project's preliminary plat, PP05-19, was approved Feb. 6, 2006. Under county code Sec. 7-21(2), as it read during the 2022 and 2023 review, a preliminary plat approval lapses if a final plat is not submitted within 18 months, and a new application has to be filed. For this project, 18 months would have run out in 2007. We did not find a final plat filing or an extension in the records released. Even so, the development plans approved Oct. 19, 2023 carry a county stamp reading "FILE # PP05-19." The June 2025 revision is stamped "PP 22-06 (PP05-19)," the first time a 2022 plat number appears anywhere in the file.

To be fair to the county, the 18-month wording we have dates from 2015, and we have not seen the version that was in force in 2006. The records we have also do not show what PP22-06 is or whether it went through a public hearing.

The 2023 permit's six-month window. The 2023 development permit, DP23-1554, says on its face that it is valid for six months, which would have put its end date around April 19, 2024. That is not the whole picture, though. Wakulla was under the Hurricane Idalia state of emergency from August 2023 until at least February 2025. Florida law (s. 252.363) can pause a permit's clock during a declared emergency, but only if the permit holder notifies the county in writing. We did not find such a notice in the records released. That does not prove none exists, so we are not saying the permit expired. We are saying the six-month window appears to have run, and the record does not show why the permit was later "renewed."

The county was counting these homes in 2021. On Jan. 15, 2021, County Administrator David Edwards emailed the School Board the county's sewer planning figures. "Rakers Crossing 191 Units" is on the list, among homes counted "based on current platted lots." That was more than a year before the 2022 development plan review began. It is planning data, not a concurrency approval or a school capacity letter.

How to be there

• When: Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. This is a special meeting, on a weekday afternoon.

• Who decides: The Board of County Commissioners, sitting as the Board of Adjustment.

• Where: County Commission Chambers, 29 Arran Road, Crawfordville, west of the courthouse.

• Can you speak? Yes. The notice says interested parties are invited to attend and present testimony.

• The documents: Documents are housed here.

• Need an accommodation? Call the county administration office at (850) 926-0919 at least two days before the meeting.

What happens next

The board will hear from the homeowner and from staff, and it will decide two things: whether the appeal was filed in time, and if so, whether the permit renewal should stand. Either way, the decision will be made in public, on the record, which is what the homeowner asked for on Oct. 5.

We will be watching, and we will continue to follow the facts as they develop.

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