With exactly one week before the Planning Board hearing on Thursday, June 16, the City of Plant City's planning and zoning division has recommended approval on the request to rezone part of a closed-off golf course in the Walden Lake community.
The proposal, submitted by Visions Golf, requests the rezoning of about 127.1 acres of the Hills course. The rezoning was requested to allow for development of up to 146 single-family dwelling units, up to 216 multi-family dwelling units and a proposed park along Timberlane Drive.
Walden Lake residents who live on and off of the golf course have expressed both their support and opposition to the proposed rezoning.
The single-family detached homes that have been proposed would be along a new road that would connect Griffin Boulevard to Clubhouse Drive. The new road would run, generally, north and south between Clubhouse Drive and Barrett Avenue and Pine Club and Forrest Club Drives.
The proposed multi-family units would be developed southwest of the intersection of Clubhouse Drive and Timberlane Drive.
Sixty additional multi-family units have been proposed for a space across from the Walden Lake Country Club.
Reviewing agencies for the proposed development included the Hillsborough County City-County Planning Commission, the Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission, the Hillsborough County School District and the Florida Department of Transportation.
The City Commission will make the ultimate decision on the proposal, which will first be presented to the Plant City Planning Board next week in a public hearing.
The proposed new developments will include:
- Setbacks of 25 feet (front), 30 feet (rear) and 10 feet (side) for single-family units
- Two-story maximum height for single-family units, with a maximum height of 28 feet
- Townhouses that are limited to groupings of four (for 60 units)
- Townhouses that are limited to groupings of three (for 156 units)
- 35-foot maximum height for multi-family dwelling units
- Two-story maximum limit for multi-family dwelling units
Should the development be eventually approved by the City Commission, a conservation easement would be awarded to the Hillsborough County EPC regarding the wetlands remaining in the area.
The City of Plant City staff recommended the project for approval based on consistency with the City's Comprehensive Plan, Imagine 2040 and the Plant City Code of Ordinances.
The Planning Board meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 16, at the Trinkle Center on the Hillsborough Community College campus, 1206 N. Park Road.
The Planning Board can recommend approval of the project or oppose it. If the Planning Board does not approve the project, applicant Visions Golf can review the proposed zoning and make adjustments, or continue to send the application forward to the City Commission. If approved by the Planning Board, the application will go straight to the City Commission.
Contact Emily Topper at etopper@plantcityobserver.com.