Commercial development projects in Milton get first greenlight. Here's what's planned:

The Santa Rosa County Zoning Board gave preliminary approvals to a pair of commercial development projects planned for State Road 87 in East Milton.

The projects are planned to bring a new grocery store and several new strip malls to the area, however, the board denied a request to include new apartments in one of the projects.

One of the projects features a central building with a 43,000-square-foot grocery store and an adjacent 4,875-square-foot retail building. The plan shows two strip mall style retail buildings, estimated at 16,250 square feet and 16,900 square feet, respectively, on either side of the grocery store.

This project sits on a vacant parcel at the northeast corner of State Road 87 and Nichols Lake Road, just down the street from Southern Raceway. The Zoning Board unanimously approved recommending it.

The other project features a plan to turn roughly 6 acres into a strip mall and an apartment building at the corner of State Road 87 and U.S. 90, across the street from Piggly Wiggly. The zoning request was originally filed by Santa Rosa County Commissioner Sam Parker. Only the commercial rezoning portion of the proposal was given the OK, while the Zoning Board denied the component involving building the apartments.

Industrial growth in Santa Rosa: 'Project Unstoppable' is out, but Santa Rosa commits $2.8 million for industrial park

What housing options exist in the county: Apartments are rare in Santa Rosa County, but the economy is making them much more popular

The area is primed for growth as the county plans for significant industrial growth to the north.

The newest of the county's industrial parks, the Milton Interchange Park is designated for transportation and distribution, taking up about 190 acres at the intersection of State Road 87 and Interstate 10.

The Zoning Board's Thursday recommendations are not final and will go before the Board of County Commissioners for a final verdict in two weeks.

Regarding the grocery store project, Kruse Group Properties LLC is requested to rezone a vacant parcel at the northeast corner of State Road 87 and Nichols Lake Road from rural residential to a highway commercial property, which the board recommended approving Thursday evening.

"We desperately need some stores in that area. A grocery store would be fabulous," said East Milton resident Greg Luther. "Right now, we're having to drive 10-15 miles minimum to get to anything even remotely like what this is offering."

County staff have predicted the proposed zoning will cause an increase of car usage on the roads peripheral to the project.

Using the current site plan, a small part of the project sits within an airfield accident potential zone because of its proximity to the Santa Rosa Navy Outlying Field, but the Zoning Board recommended the plans move just outside of that space as part of its approval.

"We will fly at the airfield 300 times a year. We'll fly over this property, near this property, and adjacent this property," said Randy Roy, the community planning liaison at NAS Whiting Field. "There will be noise … at all times over this property."

On the other project involving both a strip mall and apartment, the board approved a portion of the request involving rezoning to a commercial property, but took issue with the component involving apartments and ultimately denied that aspect of the project.

Beckie Cato, who presented the rezoning request to the board, said the area needed both housing and amenities.

"This is a good location for more affordable multi-family development. Which we know the East Milton area needs. The area's growing," Cato said. "It's growing with jobs that are bringing in more people that will be looking for those homes. And then, of course, those people will be looking for the commercial resources."

Still, nearby residents who attended the meeting voiced several reasons they disapproved of the latter project, including worsening already-existing stormwater troubles, traffic safety concerns and noise.

"It does not need to be residential in any way, shape or form … we are putting an industrial park out there just up the road. This is where our businesses need to come so our children, your grandchildren, my grandchildren have a place to work," said county resident Sherry Chapman. "We don't need to add more people to the mix."

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: East Milton commercial projects OK'd by Santa Rosa Zoning Board