800-Acre Opt-Out Approved By Escambia Planning Board, Threatening Midwest Sector Plan Future

July 8, 2026

Escambia County’s first and only large-scale attempt at long-range growth planning is on life support following a narrow vote by officials to essentially dismantle its central hub.

The Escambia County Planning Board voted 3-2 on July 7 to recommend approving an opt-out request for more than 800 acres in the heart of the Optional Sector Plan. The targeted acreage, owned by Jerry Long, encompasses virtually the entire area designated as a 300-acre urban-style town center in the original 2011 vision. Board members Ben Nelson and Jonathan Owens voted against the 800-acre opt-out.

The decision now moves to the Escambia County Commission, which will decide whether to transmit the opt-out request to the Florida Department of Commerce for final review.

Authorized under a Florida statute, a sector plan is a state-sanctioned process for long-term planning across massive geographic tracts The Escambia County Optional Sector Plan—originally known as the Midwest Sector Plan—covers approximately 15,000 acres north of I-10, west of Highway 29, and south of Highway 196.

The county first signed a formal agreement for the tract on April 3, 2008, and officially adopted the master blueprint by ordinance on January 20, 2011. This was followed on September 15, 2011, by an ordinance which enacted a Detailed Specific Area Plan (DSAP) to govern specific land uses, infrastructure networks, and environmental protections.

The master plan was envisioned as a public-private partnership driven by the county and three primary landowners, including Long, who sought consistent regional development. The 2011 vision centered on a new four-lane north-south road corridor linking to a new Interstate 10 exit in Beulah. The proposed town center was meant to serve as a pedestrian-friendly, high-density retail, commercial, and residential hub for Cantonment, surrounded by suburban neighborhoods, rural conservation zones, and preserved wetlands.

However, the boundaries adopted in 2011 ultimately extended beyond the three core developers to loop in more than 1,500 individual property owners. The plan has faced steady attrition since 2016, when landowners were first permitted to withdraw their land following complaints over restricted development rights and diminished property values.

Long told the planning board that he sought the exit because the county has failed to advance the plan or secure the necessary infrastructure financing over the past fifteen years, pointing out that critical connection discussions stalled more than a decade ago.

The massive opt-out faced swift pushback. Pensacola attorney Will Dunaway, representing Fred Hemmer, argued against the withdrawal. Hemmer, who owns more than 1,500 acres in the northern part of the sector plan, purchased his property from one of the other original founding landowners. Dunaway stated that a pre-existing memorandum of understanding legally binds the landowners to donate the necessary right-of-way for the primary north-south connector road as development occurs. Opponents also warned that removing the central town center invalidates the traffic data previously used to secure state and federal backing for the upcoming Beulah Road I-10 interchange.

“Long range planning is important. That is the purpose of having a planning board. It is the purpose of having a comprehensive plan. Escambia County put in place a plan for development, and investors have invested in that plan,” Dunaway said. “We do not oppose the concept of opt-outs. It was put in place for the parcels on the periphery in a sense negatively impacted by the plan.”

Click map to enlarge (pdf).

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under TOP STORIES