Plant City is in the process of updating its Preferred Land Use Scenario Map, adopted as part of the Northeast Master Plan (NEMP) and is inviting the community to attend an open house on Thurs., Feb. 29 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at City Hall to learn about the proposed updates, which are essential to reflect the current economic and environmental factors and keep pace with the emergence of new development trends and shifts in market demand.
Interactive stations will be set up to engage citizens, answer their questions and gather public input about their opinions on the future of the Northeast Master Plan area.
Plant City first developed and adopted the Northeast Plant City Master Plan, which is delineated as northeast Plant City, in 2008. The plan included a “village” style residential growth and development pattern. According to Plan Hillsborough’s website, the reassessment “is designed to target specific locations which have
been noted over the planning horizon to be experiencing growth and development incongruent with the Master Plan.”
Over the last several months, city officials have conducted several meetings with its Technical Working Group (stakeholders), ultimately getting their opinion on where more intense development might be located throughout the northeast area.
It’s now time for public input, after which time staff will take the information received, combined with planning practices and possible fiscal analysis, and propose options to the city commission in a public workshop to be scheduled in late March or April.
“Part of that proposal will include some basic administrative updates to ensure that all of the land uses shown on the plan are land uses that exist within our comprehensive plan as well as updating any land use changes that have occurred since the adoption of the NEMP,” said Robyn Baker, Planning and Zoning Coordinator.
Baker said the updates are an exercise in long-range planning. “Long range planning is crucial to the city and its residents because it allows us to shape the future of our communities and will help guide our decision making to ensure that the needs of our citizens are met in areas such as ensuring a variety of housing types, jobs and that daily services and shopping needs are met,” she said. “It also helps guide the creation of future infrastructure needs including but not limited to water, sewer, roadways, police and fire stations, libraries and parks. This update is an opportunity to engage the public as well as decision makers to establish a shared vision, identify past challenges and accomplishments as well as ensure we are implementing current development trends. All of these things together contribute to the goal of making Plant City a great place to live, work and play.”
By 2040, the Planning Commission projects Plant City to have a population of more than 65,000, with much of this residential growth occurring in northeast Plant City.
For more information about the meeting visit planhillsborough.org/ne-plant-city-area-master-plan/ or scan the QR code.
