After delaying a decision last month, the City of Plant City's Planning Board postponed a decision again Thursday, July 14, regarding the proposed rezone of 127 acres in the Walden Lake community. A date for the next Planning Board meeting regarding the proposal has yet to be scheduled.
On June 10, the City of Plant City's planning and zoning staff recommended approval of the rezone of the closed Hills golf course. Initially, the proposed rezone included the development of up to 146 single-family units, up to 216 multi-family dwelling units and a proposed park along Timberlane Drive. Prior to approval, the proposed rezone must go through both the Planning Board and the City Commission.
The initial Planning Board hearing was Thursday, June 16, when board members heard public comments from residents who both support and oppose the rezoning. A decision was delayed.
At the July 14 meeting, the board broke down the discussion into the three sections of the proposed rezone. Board members including Chair Bonnie Carr and Art Wood expressed concern over the proposal of multi-family units in the development.
"I guess what I struggled with most was the proposal for multi-family housing," Carr said. "That's something that comes to this board often. I really have a problem with this proposal as it proposes to add multiple multi-family dwelling units. I think the openness of the area would change significantly."
Carr added that when making a decision on a proposed rezone, she takes into consideration the existing state of the surrounding area.
Board member Art Wood agreed, and expressed concern with the single-family units proposed for the area, specifically citing that he would have concerns with each of the individual, single-family units being two stories tall. Though the maximum height proposed for part of the single-family homes would be two stories, there are no limitations to how many homes for the proposed area could be developed at the maximum height.
When asked, Mark Hudson, the director of the City's planning and zoning division, said that, to his knowledge, there were no predominantly two-story subdivisions in the Walden Lake community. Many subdivisions include two-story homes, but do not outnumber single-story homes.
After more discussion, Visions Golf agreed that modifications to the proposal could be made. In one area, originally proposed for 60 multi-family units, Visions proposed a limitation of 45 units. Additionally, Visions proposed 70 single-family units instead of the original planned 156 units.
Visions also suggested that 146 single-family units, originally proposed for a new road that would connect Griffin Boulevard to Clubhouse Drive, would be exclusively one-story instead of two-story homes.
Due to the significant changes, the Planning Board agreed for the adjusted proposal to go back to the City of Plant City's planning staff for review. If approved, the adjusted proposal will again return to the Planning Board. The Planning Board will then host another public hearing for the amended proposal. A date has not yet been set.
Contact Emily Topper at etopper@plantcityobserver.com.