Melbourne City Council Item C.17: Circle K Gas Station Settlement at 1300 S. Babcock Street, Hearings November 10 and 24

On October 13, 2026, the Melbourne City Council approved a Conditional Mediated Settlement Agreement with Lemonade MM Melbourne Babcock, LLC under the Florida Land Use and Environmental Dispute Resolution Act, known as FLUEDRA. Council also approved a motion to rescind its May 19, 2026 Final Order denying a convenience store with gas pumps at 1300 S. Babcock Street. The city's item report calls it the Circle-K project. The action was item C.17 on the regular meeting agenda. The store itself is not approved. Only the settlement and the rescission were approved. The application and Ordinance No. 2026-21 are to be noticed for public hearings on November 10 and November 24, 2026.

The Circle K Application and the May 2026 Denial

The application covers Conditional Use CU2024-0009 and Site Plan PLAN2024-0016. The May 12, 2026 staff report describes about 2.1 acres on the west side of South Babcock Street, south of NASA Boulevard and north of Hibiscus Boulevard. The site holds a 7,325 square foot bank building. The plan calls for a 5,200 square foot convenience store with 14 fueling stations.

The property is zoned C-P, Commercial Parkway. It lies in the Midtown Activity Center and has a Mixed Use future land use. A convenience store with gas pumps needs conditional use approval in that zone. City staff found that the site plan met the code's use standards for this type of store. Staff also raised concerns that the use does not match the mixed use goals the city set for the Midtown Activity Center. The Planning and Zoning Board voted 5 to 2 to recommend approval.

At the May 12 hearing, Council voted to deny the request. The approved minutes state that the motion carried unanimously. The motion cited the code criterion on adverse impacts to nearby land. It named noise, dust, fumes, glare, late-night operations, truck and delivery trips, outdoor storage, litter, and privacy and safety. The Final Order of denial was entered on May 19, 2026.

How FLUEDRA Works Under Section 70.51

FLUEDRA is section 70.51 of the Florida Statutes. It allows a property owner who believes a development order is unreasonable or unfairly burdens the use of the property to ask for relief. The owner must apply within 30 days after receiving the order. The request goes to the head of the government that issued the order. That office must forward it within 10 days to a special magistrate chosen by both sides.

The government must also serve a copy on owners of contiguous land. It must send one to people who testified with specific objections or support and asked for notice. Within 21 days after the request is received, those owners and persons may ask to take part. They may be heard at the hearing but do not become parties.

The hearing is informal and open to the public. The special magistrate's first job is to act as a mediator and seek a solution both sides accept. If no solution is reached, the special magistrate decides whether the government's action is unreasonable or unfairly burdens the property. A written recommendation follows within 14 days. The government then has 45 days to accept, modify, or reject it. The statute also allows the owner and the government to agree on a permitted use before a recommendation is made. The process may not run longer than 165 days unless the parties agree to extend it.

In this case, the item report states that Lemonade served its Request for Relief on June 18, 2026. It challenged the Final Order as unreasonable and an undue burden. It also claimed due process violations at the May 12 hearing. The special magistrate hearing and mediation took place on September 30, 2026. The report says they followed the statute and the city's FLUEDRA guidelines, adopted in 2014 by Resolution No. 3399.

Settlement Terms and the Proposed Conditions

The agreement was approved at mediation on September 30, 2026. It was signed by a Lemonade vice president, the City Manager, and Special Magistrate David Dugan. It states that it is a compromise of disputed claims. It is not an admission of liability by any party. It could bind the city only after approval by a majority vote of Council at a noticed public meeting.

Under the agreement, approval of the settlement and the motion to rescind concludes the FLUEDRA proceedings. The agreement states that approval also renders the May 12 hearing a nullity. The item report adds that the Planning and Zoning Board's review and memo are not affected. If Council had not approved it, the special magistrate would have held the hearing. That hearing had a tentative date of December 9, 2026. The mutual release of claims in the agreement is conditioned on Council approval of the applications.

At the new hearings, the applicant is to offer added operating conditions listed in Exhibit A. The exhibit is titled as proposed potential conditions of approval. Council has not adopted them. They include the following.

• Monitored security cameras, a minimum number of employees at night, and a no loitering policy with signs.

• Litter inspection and collection every 12 hours, plus hooded, wind-resistant trash cans at the fuel stations and the building entry.

• No overnight truck parking, with fuel deliveries and dumpster pickup only between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.

• A "Trucks No Left Turn" sign at the driveway exit onto Rialto Place, a share of the cost of speed humps on Rialto Place if neighbors want them, and work to show Rialto Place as a private road on Google, Apple, and Waze maps.

• Speakers only under the canopy at the pumps, limits on outdoor storage and banners, a Stage 1 enhanced vapor recovery system, and absorbent filters in on-site catch basins to trap petroleum from spills.

What Comes Next for Nearby Owners, the Applicant, and the City

For nearby property owners and businesses, the store is not approved. The application and the ordinance must still go through two public hearings. At the May 12 hearing, a representative of the Rialto Place ownership group asked Council to deny the project. Several Exhibit A items deal with trucks and access on Rialto Place.

For the applicant, the settlement reopens Council review. It does not grant the conditional use or the site plan. The version of Ordinance No. 2026-21 in the May 12 agenda packet would grant the conditional use and approve the site plan, each with conditions. One condition calls for cross access easements from the neighboring owners to the north and south before construction plan approval. That version also lets Council revoke the conditional use if the conditions are not met. It would take effect 30 days after adoption.

For the City, the agreement requires it to file Council's action with the special magistrate within three business days. The Summary of Action also states that Council agreed by consensus to let the applicant's added experts appear virtually at the rehearing.

The application and Ordinance No. 2026-21 will be noticed for a first public hearing on November 10, 2026 and a second public hearing on November 24, 2026.