Residents who oppose a proposed Dollar General store in north Plant City gave city leaders plenty to think about during the Plant City Commission’s Oct. 28 meeting.
Armed with a presentation City Commissioner Billy Keel said was one of the most impressive he had seen from a resident, Steve Jones cited several reasons the rezone request of a parcel west of Paul Buchman Highway just north of Terrace Drive would impact negatively the residents who live nearby.
At the heart of the residents’ concern is the proposed access point to the 9,100-square-foot Dollar General store. Although the parcel’s eastern border is on Paul Buchman Highway, because of the Florida Department of Transportation requires at least 650 feet between a driveway and the nearest intersection, the proposal calls for a single driveway to be placed on Terrace Drive. Under the proposal, the store also would face Terrace Drive.
Jones and his neighbors say their community’s streets — which include the unpaved, single-lane Hancock Street — cannot handle the increased traffic the store would create. Furthermore, they say that additional traffic poses significant safety concerns for their quiet, once-secluded community.
“The streets in the area really have a difficult time sustaining the traffic that we have currently,” Jones said. “Bringing on a commercial facility there, along with the opening of the Alexander Street extension … is only going to exacerbate the problems.
“In 2004, on Aug. 13, the family dog — a labrador/golden retriever cross, about 70- to 80-pound dog — was run over and killed,” he said. “Not in the street, in my front yard — six feet off the road. To kill a dog that large, you have to be traveling at quite a rate of speed.”
Jones also noted that Hancock Street has been designated as a no-thru traffic street, and Terrace Drive, from Paul Buchman Highway to Franklin Street, as a no-truck zone.
“We think there are plenty of reasons why this change … is detrimental to the neighborhood in terms of property value and public safety, quite frankly,” Jones said.
The residents identified other locations nearby that they felt would be a more appropriate site for the store, including the former Sparky’s location at Monroe Street and Paul Buchman Highway, which has been vacant for 10 years.
Jones said the residents aren’t opposed to any development on the parcel but would rather see something that wouldn’t present such a spike in traffic.
“Right now, it is undeveloped property, and there are a lot of homeless people and vagrants who are camping out there,” he said. “There are a lot of folks who would like to see something put there that’s uplifting to the community.
“Our fear is another retail establishment there may not make it,” Jones said. “Retail north of Interstate 4 on (State Road) 39 traditionally has not done very well. … If this store … doesn’t make it, then it’s another eyesore we have to look at, that visitors to the city have to look at every time they come in from (State Road) 39 North.”
The Plant City Planning Board recommended unanimously against the rezoning request. City staff had recommended approval of the rezoning.
City commissioners will continue their discussion on the request, along with a related small-scale map amendment, at their Nov. 12 meeting.
“THE LOT”
Pat Dexter, housing manager for the Plant City Housing Authority, shared her concerns with city commissioners regarding a party that takes place monthly in the Maryland Heights district.
Dexter said as many as 200 young adults flock to what is known locally as “The Lot,” the parking lot outside the convenience store at the northeast corner of East Alabama Street and South Maryland Avenue. She said the party, which begins in the late afternoon and lasts as late as midnight, includes loud music, as well as the sale of alcohol and tobacco to minors. Dexter also said residents have reported a strong odor of marijuana during the parties.
“All of these elements combined will eventually cause us to have a volatile situation on our hands,” Dexter said. “Plant City, as a whole, will be held accountable in the end.”
Mayor Mary Thomas Mathis said any gathering of that nature would need a permit from the city, which would then require safety precautions such as off-duty police officers. Furthermore, she said organizers would need to rent a community center or other space as a host site.
Contact Michael Eng at meng@plantcityobserver.com.
IN OTHER NEWS
• Walden Lake resident Shelly Orrico presented a petition with nearly 1,000 signatures opposing the redevelopment of the community’s country club and golf course to the Plant City Commission. She also praised Code Enforcement Supervisor Dennis Sweeney for his work.
• The city spent $24,994.71 on a new sound system in the Sadie Martin Gibbs Auditorium at City Hall. The system should improve the sound quality and also give City Clerk Kerri Miller the ability to record audio from the meetings digitally.
• The city purchased 10 new police cruisers for the Plant City Police Department from Don Reid Ford, in Maitland. The total cost for the vehicles, equipment and vehicle graphics was $295,210.40.
• The City Commission voted 3-0 to condemn the building at 1207 1/2 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Vice Mayor Rick Lott and City Commissioner Mike Sparkman were both out of town and did not attend the meeting.
• Because of Veterans Day Nov. 11, the next City Commission meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12, at City Hall, 302 W. Reynolds St.