Melbourne Beach Planning and Zoning Board Reviews Stormwater Retention Ordinance Section 3A-80 on November 3

The Melbourne Beach Planning and Zoning Board is set to review the town's stormwater retention ordinance at its meeting on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, at 6:30 p.m. at the Community Center. The item is listed as 6.A under Old Business. A preliminary review in the agenda packet, written by board chair Dan Harper and dated October 26, 2026, looks at a rule that requires new single-family homes to retain 8 inches of rainfall in 24 hours. The agenda lists the item as a review. No ordinance change is listed for a vote, so nothing is final.

What Is on the November 3 Agenda

The agenda for the meeting lists two business items. Item 4.A under New Business is the status of the town's Comprehensive Plan update, with an explanation of the process and related timeline. Item 6.A under Old Business is the Review of Stormwater Retention Ordinance. No public hearings are listed under item 5.

The packet for item 6.A has a photo, the preliminary review, and two exhibits. Exhibit A compares the rules before and after the 2019 change. Exhibit B is a survey of nine beachside cities.

What the 2019 Change Did

The review says the town changed its stormwater ordinance, Section 3A-80, in the 2019 to 2020 time period. Exhibit A names the change as Ordinance No. 2019-06.

According to Exhibit A, the rules before the change were these.

• Commercial and multi-family projects had to retain one half inch of rain. Only the added runoff from the new building above the existing condition was counted.

• Single-family homes were exempt and had no retention requirement.

According to Exhibit A, the rules after the change were these.

• Commercial and multi-family projects must retain 8 inches. The total stormwater is counted, not just the increase from the new building.

• The single-family exemption was removed. New single-family homes must also retain 8 inches, counted on the total.

The review says this resulted in new single-family homes needing very large swales and retention basins. It says this has made much of the side yards and back yards of those homes unusable. It says the board is reviewing the policy to see if a less intrusive approach could reach the same goals.

The review says a search for the reasons and professional reports behind the change is ongoing.

What the Review Says About State Rules

The review names the St. Johns River Water Management District and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection as the stormwater regulators for Brevard County. It says state rules and the district's Applicant's Handbook exempt the construction of an individual single-family home that is not part of a larger common plan of development or sale.

The state rule it points to is Rule 62-330.051(13), Florida Administrative Code. That rule lists exempt activities under the state's environmental resource permitting program. Subsection (13)(a) covers one individual single-family home, duplex, triplex or quadruplex and related residential improvements. The exemption applies when the work does not involve wetlands or other surface waters, is not part of a larger common plan of development or sale that needs a permit, and meets the limits in Rule 62-330.050(9). The review says the district considers single-family infill exempt because these projects cause no more than incidental amounts of added runoff.

The review states that single-family infill homes being built in Melbourne Beach are exempt from state stormwater rules. It says any requirements for these homes are those set by the town.

Three Possible Goals for a Stormwater Rule

The review lists three stormwater goals that it describes as set out by the Department of Environmental Protection.

• Flood and drainage control, which deals with how much water flows into collection systems during a design storm.

• Water quality treatment, which deals with how much pollution is removed before runoff reaches the Indian River Lagoon.

• Protecting neighboring properties, so that a new project does not send harmful or added runoff onto nearby land.

The review says these goals can lead to very different required volumes and swale sizes.

On the town's own goal, the review says the chair spoke with the town's former manager and a building official several years ago. It says they both indicated the goal was to keep stormwater from draining onto the neighboring property when a new house is built. The review also says the town's website names a goal of reducing pollutants into the Indian River. It notes that the town recently finished new stormwater work on several streets that did not include retention or detention swales in the easement.

How Other Beachside Cities Compare

Exhibit B reviews the rules of nine beachside cities from Stuart to Titusville. The review says all nine state a goal of preventing harm to adjacent properties from runoff after construction.

According to the survey, two of the nine require on-site retention for single-family infill homes. Vero Beach requires the first 1 inch of rainfall to be retained for impervious area over 3,000 square feet. Titusville requires 1 inch of dry retention, which the exhibit says applies over the entire site for existing sites of one half acre or less and to all impervious surfaces for redevelopment projects.

The survey lists no minimum retention for Stuart, Fort Pierce, Sebastian, Indialantic, Indian Harbour Beach, Satellite Beach and Cocoa Beach. For Indian Harbour Beach, the exhibit relies on an email from that city's building official.

Options the Review Suggests Asking About

The review suggests getting feedback from the town's stormwater consultants, BSE Consultants, Inc. It says they could explain the main design factors and test the effects of different goals. The examples it lists include the following.

• Retaining only the added stormwater from new construction compared with the existing condition.

• Using mean average high annual rainfall instead of a 10 year, 24 hour storm, which the review says would be 5 inches instead of 8 inches.

• Counting the 15 foot easement in the pervious lot measurement, which the review says is excluded now.

• Comparing gallons of retention at 1 inch and at 8 inches.

• Best management practices to keep runoff from reaching neighboring properties.

• Counting only stormwater from impervious surfaces that connect directly to street collection.

• Considering how much impact infill construction actually has.

The review is labeled preliminary. It does not propose ordinance text, and the packet does not include a staff recommendation.

Who May Be Affected

Based on the review, the current rule applies to newly built single-family homes in Melbourne Beach. Owners planning a new home or a tear-down and rebuild, along with builders and designers working in the town, may want to follow the board's discussion. No ordinance is up for a vote on this agenda.

How to Take Part

The agenda states that public comment under item 7 is limited to items that are not on the agenda. It also states that anyone who wants to appeal a decision made at the meeting will need a verbatim record, and that the town does not make one.

The Planning and Zoning Board meets Tuesday, November 3, 2026, at 6:30 p.m. at the Community Center, 509 Ocean Avenue, Melbourne Beach.