North Tustin Street Residential Project

A 40-year area resident supported the project, citing affordable for-sale homes and walkability to shops, restaurants, and Walmart right at the front door.

A Coco Palms condo owner since 1989 opposed the zone change, arguing the three-story project violates the city's small-lot design guidelines on neighborhood scale and massing, and raised privacy concerns for a neighbor's bedroom and shower windows.

A former commissioner said putting three-story homes next to one-story neighborhoods is the hardest land-use challenge, called the approach piecemeal, and said late public disclosure was unfair — the public needs engagement, not developer-driven process.

The Coco Palms HOA president said last week's meeting with the applicant felt hostile and unproductive, asked about third-story windows and whether ground-floor dens could become bedrooms, noted some homeowners never got notice letters, and asked for more time and continued dialogue.