Among the business on the City Commission’s agenda for its Nov. 27 meeting is a public hearing for future land use map amendment PC/CPA 22-15 located on Swindell Road.
The applicant, Blue Steel Development, is requesting a future land use designation of Plant City Industrial for a 243 acre site north of Swindell Road abutting the Polk County line. The site, within the boundary of the Northeast Plant City Master Plan, consists of properties designated Hillsborough County Residential-1 and Agricultural/Rural-1/5. The requested change is to a proposed Future Land Use of Plant City Industrial to allow approximately 1.5 million square-feet of industrial uses.
As the application has made its way through the Hillsborough County City-County Planning Commission and Plant City Planning Board, who both found the map amendment inconsistent with the Plant City Comprehensive Plan on June 12 and Oct. 25, respectively, has found opposition by some residents along the way. One of the most vocal opponents to the project is Travis Luttrell, who owns a small business, Shiloh Equestrian Center, on an 18-acre property on Charlie Taylor Road, a mile and a half from the site. His land is in a designated floodway because of its close proximity to the Itchepackesassa Creek that runs behind his property.
He said his concerns are twofold: the land in its current state (agricultural land) allows for more watershed than industrial land (with its impervious surfaces) which will exacerbate flooding on his property and the precedent that will be set if a large industrial property is allowed north of Interstate 4 from County Line Road to Park Road.
When Hurricane Irma brought nine inches of rain to the area, his entire property flooded. “It was one finger away from my home,” said Luttrell.
He wants the city commission to vote against the proposal. “I’m hoping the city commission denies any industrial use north of I-4 and west of Park Road,” said Luttrell. “That area is meant to be a transition area from the core residential areas to the rural and environmentally sensitive areas like the Wiggins Prairie Mitigation Bank. I don’t have a problem with development, cities need to grow and mature, but we have to make ourselves uniquely different and not FishHawk and Brandon.”
Luttrell has hired attorney Jane Graham, founder of Sunshine City Law, a firm with expertise in land use and environmental law, to represent his position. “This should be an easy decision for the city commission because the Hillsborough Planning Commission and Plant City Planning Board found it’s completely inconsistent with the Plant City Comprehensive Plan,” said Graham.
There’s no way to tell if this will be an easy decision. The city commission unanimously approved the extension of water and sewer utilities to County Line Road in 2015, a move that attracted distribution, logistics and light manufacturing operations- and the accompanying jobs and capital investment- to the area.
The developer, Blue Steel Development, a Lakeland company, is no stranger to industrial projects. The company has expertise in constructing build-to-suit and speculative industrial projects along Central Florida’s I-4 manufacturing and distribution corridor. In its portfolio of projects under construction or recently completed are the 2.8 million square foot County Line Distribution Park and a 205,000 square foot industrial facility on Drane Field Road in Lakeland.
Throughout the application process they have met with residents and tried to address their concerns. Their plans include constructing an access road off County Line Road north to the entrance of the park that would be built to Hillsborough County specifications and then deeded to the county. Their plans will also address stormwater runoff by exceeding city requirements.
Austin Jones, a principal at Blue Steel Development, said while they’re under a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) he said several companies have shown signifiant interest in the property.
“All we can do is present the facts and explain our engineering measures, the extension of County Line Road and our buffers which are unprecedented and that’s all we can do,” said Jones.