Alcohol ordinance
The Plant City City Commission approved a proposed ordinance that will allow the sale of beer and wine only at an event by a sponsoring entity at a public park in downtown or midtown, including McCall Park, Village Green, the Depot, and any streets or rights-of-way closed for the event.
The ordinance also defines the sponsoring entities to be the Greater Plant City Chamber of Commerce, Plant City Main Street, United Food Bank & Services of Plant City, and the Improvement League of Plant City.
“These are organizations that currently provide a bulk of our downtown events,” Plant City City Manager Bill McDaniel said. “They’ve been successful with a wide variety of events.”
It also grants exceptions to other religious, charitable, or non-profit organizations approved by the city commission.
The sponsoring entity is required to hold an appropriate state alcoholic beverage license; not hold the city accountable for any liability related to the event; provide the city with a certificate of insurance in the sum of $1 million for general liability coverage; and must comply with all federal, state, county, and municipal laws, rules, and ordinances.
A sponsoring entity also has to submit an application to the city manager, who will review the application to make sure that the event doesn’t conflict with other scheduled events.
However, the ordinance doesn’t allow the use of glass containers, bottles, or cups. It goes on to state that the event has to end on or before 11 p.m.
It also changes the Sunday starting time restriction for the sale, consumption, or service of alcoholic beverages from 1 p.m. to 11 a.m.
Vacating right-of-way
The city commission approved the request of an applicant to vacate a 25.3 foot-wide by 139-foot-long portion of an unnamed and unimproved right-of-way located just east of South Davis Street, south of the CSX railroad, and north of West Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard within the Wordehoff’s subdivision.
Various departments and agencies did not have any objections to the request when reviewed.
Some of these entities include Florida Public Utilities, Tampa Electric Company, the Hillsborough County 911 agency, the City Parks and Recreation Division, City Streets and Stormwater Division, Hillsborough County Planning Commission, the Florida Department of Transportation, the Environmental Protection Commission, and Charter/Spectrum.
The right-of-way was initially platted within the Wordehoff’s subdivision recorded in 1924.
In 2009, there was a previous vacation request within the same area. The request was to vacate approximately 300 feet of the same right-of-way located further east of the approved vacation. The first request was also approved.
On May 25, the Planning Board approved and recommended to bring the vacate request to the city commission.
North Park Isle
The City Commission also approved a request from the developer of the North Park Isle development to add a potential school to the area.
It is located north of East Sam Allen Road at North Park Road.
The developer does need to adhere to the requirement that a school site be located either as part of the project or off of site. The development site is approximately 729 acres.
The proposal designates approximately 60 acres within the site plan as a potential school site that could house any type of school from Pre-K through grade 12 or vocational.
The North Park Isle Planned Development district was initially approved by the city commission in 2006 and then modified in 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2022. The planned development district is already approved as a residential development allowing, at the most, 2,250 single-family lots and 250 townhome lots.
Construction plans for Phase 1, Phase 2, and Park East Phases of the project have already been approved and are under civil construction.
Based on comments received from the requirements of the school board, the main access is proposed to be off Park Road with a secondary access to North Wilder Road.
Any development that impacts wetlands and floodplain designated areas within the area designated for the school site, will be subject to all requirements of Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission (EPC) and the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD).
The developer will also be accountable for extending water, sanitary sewer, and reclaimed water lines to the site.
In August 2019, an updated transportation analysis was conducted by Landis Evans and Partners. It was based on 3,058 single-family units and 250 multi-family units. The daily average trips for the project at that time was 25,546. In accordance with submitted and approved construction plans, the single-family unit count will not go beyond 1,800 units.
Combined with 250 multi-family units and a 2,500-student school, daily trips are reduced to 22,943 average daily trips
It was determined that the addition of a school along with the reduction of residential units, would not require an updated traffic study.
On May 25, the planning board found the modification to align with Article IV of the Plant City Code of Ordinances and the Imagine 2040: Plant City Comprehensive Plan.
It was approved with a vote of 7-0.