The map, adopted as part of the Northeast Plant City Area Master Plan, needs a refresh.
Residents lined up outside City Hall at last Thursday’s open house to give very specific input on the update to the Preferred Land Use Scenario Map update, a part of the Northeast Plant City Area Master Plan.
With every red, blue or orange dot placed on the map came another suggestion or idea for Plant City leaders and stakeholders, identifying where residents would like to see more intense industrial, mixed-use projects and higher density residential projects.
The open house, hosted in partnership between the City of Plant City and Hillsborough County Planning Commission, was a means for residents to get a firsthand look at the possible changes to the map that were already recommended by the Technical Working Group (TW), consisting of property owners, land use professionals, developers, technical and economic development professionals and city staff. The map is used as a strategic planning guide for future development, and to provide input to assist city leaders in setting land use and infrastructure priorities in the northeast area of Plant City.
The update is being made because over time emerging development patterns and changes in market demand have prompted the need to review and reassess the appropriateness of the land use patterns shown on the map, which was created in 2008.
Executive Planner Yeneka Mills said the map shows industrial land uses along I-4 and 92, mixed uses along Alexander Street and industrial in the northwestern corner of the map. The dots placed on the map will help decision makers know what’s important to residents. “We’re trying to get as much feedback as possible so we can take that to the city commission so they can make an informed decision,” she said.
While some residents put their dots on the map, Nancy Martin, who lives on Mdway Road, kept her dots in her hand. “I’m not putting any of my dots on the map because I don’t want any of it,” she said. She moved to her one-acre piece of heaven in 2020. “I moved to live out in the country and it’s not the country anymore,” she said.
Executive Planner Wade Reynolds attended to talk to residents about transportation projects on Plant City’s and Florida Department of Transportation’s (FDOT) capital improvement plan. He also showed a map detailing projects that are scheduled/ongoing within the next five years, from road resurfacing to safety improvements like signage, striping, lighting and crosswalks.
Attendees were also able to write comments on post-it notes. Comments included: sound buffering I4 industrial, the need for a traffic light at the intersections of S. Frontage and Charlie Taylor Roads and Park and Sam Allen Roads, incorporating a mixture of uses at different price ranges, turning county roads into city roads, having a 45 mph speed limit on E. Knights Griffin Road and expanding the city boundary north on 39 to Bruton Road. One attendee wrote: Stop! We don’t need more development.
For more information about the Northeast Plant City Area Master Plan Preferred Land Use Scenario Map Update visit planhillsborough.org/ne-plant-city-area-master-plan/.
