There is a rumor out there that for many years Plant City leaders have been resistant to, and have fought, growth.
There is a rumor out there that for many years Plant City leaders have been resistant to, and have fought, growth. But in the last handful of years they have reversed course and that is why new developments are springing up.
This rumor is, “Not true,” according to City Manager Bill McDaniel. For many years, the Plant City Commission has operated with a focus on strategic long-term plans for healthy growth.
Harking back to the recession of 2008-2010, the city’s focus was primarily on residential development. Land entitlements (the legal process by which a developer gains all necessary approvals for a real estate development plan) were in place that long ago. But no companies wanted to take on the development projects in the economic climate that existed during the downturn, so the entitlements sat dormant since that time.
After the economic downturn, Plant City leaders changed the focus of development to industrial logistics such as the large facilities that have been built along County Line Road. Plant City prospectively ran utilities on County Line to encourage exactly the type of development that has been established there. “When you’re creating jobs like that, then naturally some housing would follow,” said McDaniel.
However, then came Florida’s population boom. According to the Tampa Bay Economic Development Council, 630,000 people moved to Florida during 2020 and 2021. An additional 300,000 moved in 2023. “They’ve got to live somewhere, said McDaniel. “Every community that I go through in Florida is growing, and some of them have had explosive growth.”
The City has changed several codes and ordinances to try to better manage its growth. “I think we have done a really good job at managing it in what is an absolute boom time of development,” McDaniel opined. “I think that if you study it a little bit, the Commission vision has been realized in that we created a job base and we created a foundation to our tax base that would allow this community to grow and thrive. Then we’ve allowed the residential to follow along as a natural result. You’ve got to give your people a place to work, and create good jobs… well-paying jobs, and I think we have been successful in attracting businesses that provide for that.” To enhance this healthy growth, the Plant City Commission supported the formation of the Plant City Economic Development Corporation. This entity is a public-private partnership between Plant City and local private sector investors to expand businesses to create jobs and strengthen the tax base. “They do a lot of the heavy lifting in recruiting these firms to the area, so it has been a very valuable partnership for the city,” said McDaniel.
The current residential construction at Northpark Isle and The Farm at Varrea is the realization of the old land entitlements. In addition to these current large projects other developments are on the way.
McDaniel pointed out that, in terms of effects on a city and its finances, housing development is high demand/low return while logistics and distribution development is low demand/high return. What this means is, residential development creates a higher need for city services like police, fire, and emergency medical services (EMS), more parks, and more of everything. So for a city to bloom and grow in a healthy way it has to have a balance of both residential and various kinds of businesses—just as has been planned in Plant City.
