The families living near Northwoods Church (3762 Capital Circle NW) respectfully and vehemently urge each Leon County Commissioner to stand up for what makes Tallahassee unique and beautiful. Vote “NO” on the rezoning of the Northwoods Church parcel.

The Church proposes to rezone 32 acres of its property from RA to R3, which would:

• Allow for the development of more than 200 duplexes and interconnected streets, sidewalks, sewer lines, streetlights, etc.
• Prevent future land use, such as cemeteries, which are more appropriate for the location and the current zoning allows.
• Potentially permit access roads that would allow additional development and further exacerbate the problems described below.

Neighbors of the church submit their signatures to this petition against these rezoning efforts for the following reasons:

Incompatible land use: families living adjacent to the church on Flat Road and Maddox Road will be most impacted. These single-residence properties average approximately four acres and are zoned RP, which gives them the right to have animals. How will the county handle public nuisance complaints when mules bray, goats bleat and roosters crow? Honeybees, which have already declined by 89 percent and continue to decline toward extinction, have at least a two-mile foraging radius. Will having at least 200 families an eighth of a mile away be compatible with honeybees? No, allowing the possibility of dense housing so close to these properties is not compatible land use.

Increased traffic: promised traffic studies are of no value to our neighborhoods; the money needed to correct the problem is not guaranteed because it goes into a central pot funding other county road improvement priorities. Further, there is no plan to widen this section of Capital Circle NW, which serves as a truck route that has already seen numerous traffic accidents directly in front of the church.

Decreased property values: duplexes are anticipated to be rentals; studies from FSU and The Washington Post show high density development areas of rental properties cause neighboring properties to decrease in value.

Potential for flooding: the planning department has said storm water runoff and sewer studies, as well as silt and other tests, will be done to make absolutely sure not one thing changes for our properties. Families in the Briarwood neighborhood now flood at every decent rain because of the development of multi-unit properties across the road. Our neighborhoods have little confidence in these studies.

Destruction of wildlife habitats: according to Florida Fish and Wildlife, gopher tortoises are a threatened keystone species. They share their burrows, which are up to 40 feet long and 10 feet wide, with more than 350 other species. Gopher tortoises and their burrows are protected under state law. In the 1990s, the church was permitted to relocate gopher tortoises to develop the church property. Burrows that were said to be inactive in 2000 were photographed in 2022 (22 years later). How many more times will these animals and the ones who share their burrows have to be relocated? At what point will the county and developers have nowhere else to move them?

Covenant with citizens: the introduction to the 2030 Comprehensive Plan states the Plan’s purpose “is to preserve, protect and enhance the quality of life for all citizens.” The plan further states, “The natural environment is one of the many criteria which, when combined, form the community’s perceived quality of life. …As such, it must be protected.” The families on the northwest side of town purchased their properties expecting a bucolic quality of life: woods, wetlands, and wildlife; less traffic; privacy; security; and hobby farming. We expect the commission to protect our quality of life as promised in the Plan.

Tallahassee’s natural beauty: the Vision Statement and Implementation section of the Comprehensive Plan states, “In 1823, the site of Tallahassee was chosen as the seat of government for the Territory of Florida because of its central location and abundance of natural resources. It was noted then, ‘A more beautiful country can scarcely be imagined; it is high, rolling, and well watered.’”

Our neighborhoods represent this exact description. They should be protected.

Now is the time to be heard. Sign this petition today to insist our commissioners VOTE “NO”!