The Okaloosa Board of County Commissioners on Aug. 4 unanimously approved the conceptual master plan for Millwood Ranch, a 104-lot single-family residential subdivision in Baker, after the developer agreed to a development order condition requiring improvements to Garrett Mill Road.

• The approval concludes a review process that stretched over three months. Commissioners first heard the item May 5 and voted to continue it to July 14, citing concerns about road capacity, septic systems and access points. The applicant then requested a further continuance from the July 14 meeting to Aug. 4, according to the staff agenda item.

Millwood Ranch is a proposed two-phase development on roughly 39 acres on the south side of Garrett Mill Road, west of Old Brown Road and east of Pickens Circle. The property has a Low Density Residential future land use designation and is zoned Residential-1. The application was submitted by Tyler Paskell of Arkonic Engineering on behalf of applicant Colton Leyendecker of CJL Construction.

Growth Management Director Kristen Shell told commissioners the developer had responded to concerns raised at the May 5 hearing.

“The developer has offered to improve Garrett Mill Road for the safety of the traveling public and the community, and that would include widening that road and adding the necessary striping and safety features,” Shell said. “Of course, we cannot fully engineer the road right now at this point, but there are some options in here that just gives us some assurance that they will make that improvement as part of this development.”

Shell credited Commissioner Sherri Cox, whose district includes the property, with helping reach the agreement. Before public comment, Cox disclosed ex parte communications she had with the developer and staff between meetings.

“I have met with the developer and staff as a means to try to get the transportation infrastructure concerns addressed by the developer to give the developer an opportunity to address the concerns that were mentioned by the public previously,” Cox said. “I don’t think that will give me an undue bias especially because I was the commissioner who mentioned tabling that to a future date to address those concerns to begin with.”

Development order condition

The revised development order condition obligates CJL Construction to construct the Garrett Mill Road improvement already approved as part of the Pine Mill Subdivision construction plans on the north side of Garrett Mill Road, before recording a final plat for Pine Mill. The developer also agreed to upgrade Garrett Mill Road from the west boundary of the Pine Mill property to the western entrance of Millwood Ranch Phase 1 under one of two options.

• Option 1 would require the developer to construct at least a 6-inch lime rock base and apply at least a 1.5-inch layer of hot-mix asphalt, and would not be eligible for mobility fee credits.
• Option 2 would require improvements substantially consistent with an exhibit attached to the agenda item, with proposed shoulders and drainage swale widened to the extent feasible wherever the existing right-of-way exceeds 32.5 feet. Construction plans would have to demonstrate compliance with the applicable design storm standard in the county’s Land Development Code.

The county agreed to execute a mobility fee agreement providing the developer with mobility fee credits on a dollar-for-dollar basis equal to the cost of the Pine Mill Garrett Mill Road improvement and, if selected, the Option 2 improvement. According to the staff report, the developer is not responsible for any other off-site road improvements beyond those set forth in the condition.

Water, sewer and traffic analysis

The staff report also addressed water and sewer concerns raised earlier in the process. According to the agenda item, Okaloosa County Water and Sewer does not have sewer infrastructure west of U.S. Highway 85, with the county’s closest sewer infrastructure approximately 7 miles away at the intersection of Highway 85 and Live Oak Church Road. The City of Crestview’s sewer system is 3 to 4 miles away. The current county Land Development Code does not require sewer extensions to be provided by the developer.

The subdivision will be served by Milligan Water System with on-site septic systems. A March 26 letter from Milligan Water System General Manager Lisa Fredericksen confirmed sufficient water capacity is available to serve the project at an approximate pressure of 75 psi, according to the agenda item.

A traffic analysis prepared on Jan. 19, 2026 by Southern Traffic Services concluded that proposed project trips do not meet or exceed the minimum thresholds to warrant a turn lane on State Road 4, Garrett Mill Road, Pickens Circle or Old River Road, according to the staff report.

Applicant presentation

John Mead, representing CJL Construction, told commissioners the revised plan resulted from collaboration with the county.

“Last time we were here and there was concerns over a number of things. Commissioner Cox was agreeable to holding meetings with staff in an appropriate session, and we heard the concerns,” Mead said. “We re-engineered. The county went through the effort of going through a lot of the right-of-ways and dimensions, so that’s what’s brought about not just a plat that we’re throwing up here and running from, but something that’s been negotiated.”

Mead said the property is entitled through R-1 zoning to four units per acre and the proposed plan is about 2.65 units per acre, below the maximum density.

Project engineer Ken Metcalfe offered a 10-to-15-minute presentation but agreed to defer to questions in the interest of time. Paskell and Poole were also available to answer questions.

Public comment

Baker resident Brian Hormberg spoke in opposition, raising concerns about water pressure and fire flow, volunteer fire department capacity, the scope of road improvements and intersection safety.

• “We know the zoning is R1, but infrastructure-wise, in a rural community like Baker, it is limited. The roads, the water, and the fire are always an issue, and that’s an issue because it’s rural,” Hornberg said. “It seems that the pressure issues with the fire hydrants and things like that are always on the verge of passing or not passing, and in many developments have not passed.”

Hornberg also raised concerns about volunteer fire department capacity and questioned the scope of road improvements.

“Is the road going to be improved the whole length of the road or just in front of the development? …Because the traffic goes the whole length of the road, not just in front of the development,” Hornberg said. “And the corners at Old River Road and 90 and Highway 4 and Garrett Mill, dangerous intersections, getting more dangerous every month.”

Board discussion

Cox made the motion to approve. Commissioner Paul Mixon seconded.

“The developer’s ability to meet us in the middle on this does not go unnoticed,” Cox said. “It’s not often that we have a situation where citizens mention their concerns, and the developer is so readily able to come to the table and do everything possible to meet those concerns or, in this case, meet and exceed the concerns that were brought forward.”

Mixon told the developer he had not seen a comparable outcome before.

“I’ve never seen, so far, a developer come back with a condition like this, where it’s more so from hearing our comments and our questions, it’s your idea,” Mixon said. “Thank you for not just conforming, not just meeting compliance, but in my view exceeding that without being asked to.”

• Mixon also told Hornberg that the property is in North Okaloosa, which he said is served by a paid fire department, with the transition line north of Foxhound.

The board’s vote approves the conceptual master plan. Construction of the first phase will require a separate development order.