Hundreds showed up to express their concerns about the project.
While most Plant Citians were comfortably tucked in their beds Monday night, a good night’s rest eluded city commissioners, city staff, developers, attorneys and residents, most of them disgruntled, who showed up in opposition to a hotly contested project that would pave the way for 243.4 acres on Swindell Road, west of County Line Road, to become an industrial park.
Commissioners heard three public hearings about the project: a legislative public hearing on an ordinance to annex six parcels totaling 89.35 acres into Plant City, a legislative public hearing for a map amendment of the entire 243.4 acre site requesting a future land use designation of Plant City Industrial and a quasi-judicial public hearing on an ordinance rezoning the property from Hillsborough County Planned Development, Agriculture Single Family-1 and Agriculture Rural to the Oakfield Business Park Planned Development District to allow industrial uses, excluding auto-body repair and recycling operations, on the property.
As Monday night turned into Tuesday morning, the crowds may have thinned but by the time the meeting concluded at 1:40 a.m., there were still a surprising number of exhausted people who were anxiously waiting to hear the commission’s decision.
Most left disappointed because, after hours of testimony and public comments, commissioners, by unanimous votes on the annexation and map amendment and a vote of four to one on the future land use designation of industrial, approved the project.
It wasn’t before hearing hours of testimony of county and city zoning officials, the applicants and their representatives and dozens of residents, who vocalized several objections to the project, including increased heavy-truck traffic on Swindell Road as drivers try to avoid the heavily congested I-4, increased light pollution, the destruction of wildlife habitat, the potential for noise pollution and just a general incompatibility to the rural nature of area.
One resident built a model of how the project’s five multi-story buildings will look next to neighboring homes. “There are so many homes here and I don’t understand how they looked at this and said go ahead,” said one resident.
The most prevailing objection was the impact to wetlands and possible effects the development will have on neighboring residents whose homes abut the Itchepackesassa Creek and Wiggins Prairie Mitigation Bank, a conservation area established to provide mitigation for wetland impacts. Many residents are already experiencing flooding concerns and worry the project, which will be built up because of current building standards, will exacerbate the issue.
Mayor Nate Kilton addressed the audience after the public comment period closed. “I don’t think it’s a realistic expectation to think that this property would never be developed and would stay agricultural, I’m very concerned about the water issues,” he said. “I wish it could stay like it is but I do think that the proximity of this project to the interstate is a core factor along with access being limited to County Line Road and the natural wetland buffers. I think there are times when reasonable people can reach different conclusions and tonight I agree with staff and the conclusions Ms. Baker has reached on this project.”
Before the vote, Commissioner Mathis questioned Planning and Zoning Coordinator Robyn Baker about the next steps in the process and how quickly before dirt could be turned on the property. “The next step would be several rounds of site plan review, staff will issue comments, it will go around as many times as we need until all agencies are satisfied,” she said. “Since it does have wetlands on site we will involve the EPC in the conversation as well as the Southwest Florida Water Management District and other agencies. I’ve seen site plan reviews done as quickly as a couple months but we’ve had others that take a year.”
Blue Steel Development Principal Howard Bayless said it would probably be closer to 15 months before construction will begin. “We have to work with FDOT, Hillsborough County, Southwest Florida Water Management District and the City, it’s not like we show up tomorrow and get started, it’s a long-term project.”
When completed, he said the project will benefit the community. “I think this project will bring more opportunities for jobs,” he said.
Travis Luttrell, arguably one of the most outspoken opponents of the project, was grateful that his and others’ voices were heard. “Hopefully they got the message loud and clear that flooding is a problem and it’s always going to be a problem. Rural residents live in a 100-year floodplain and commissioners have justified their decisions by stating the ‘floodplains were meant to flood’,” he said. “Until the Itchepackesassa Creek problem is fixed residents are always going to turn out like this. The Creek is going to be their problem at the end of the day.”
