AGENDA REPORT
DATE: March 10, 2025
TO: City Commission
FROM: Bill McDaniel, City Manager
SUBJECT: Quasi-judicial public hearing on an ordinance to modify the Midway Lake Community Unit District located North of North Frontage Road, East of North Wilder Road, South of East Sam Allen Road and West of Charlie Taylor Road (PB-2023-51).
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The applicant proposes modifications to the Midway Lake Community Unit District. The site is located North of North Frontage Road, East of North Wilder Road, South of East Sam Allen Road and West of Charlie Taylor Road.
The applicant originally requested the following changes:
• Change the name to the Midway Lake Planned Development District.
• Change the conditions/notes on the site plan to the following:
o Increases users of the airstrip from one to twenty.
o Allows users of the airstrip to have visitor aircraft subject to approval of the Airport Manager.
o Eliminates the limitation on the number of permanently based aircraft.
o Eliminates the requirements for aircraft flight logs of landings and departures which also eliminates the ability for these logs to be requested for review.
o Adds a requirement to maintain a list of permanently based aircraft which are approved by the airport manager.
o Prohibits the airstrip from being open to the public.
o Allows future homeowners of an undetermined number of contiguous parcels to use the airstrip.
On June 26, 2024, staff presented a recommendation of denial to the Planning Board, based on the positives, negatives and mitigating factors presented in the staff report and based on the determination that until the contiguous parcels which would access the air strip are able to be added to the Planned Development, the request is premature. Without the inclusion of all areas that will utilize the air strip to show the travel path and storage locations of the planes, staff cannot determine if the proposed increase in use of the airstrip can meet the requirements of the Planned Development District of the Plant City Code of Ordinances including, but not limited to, relation to public facilities and transportation facilities, compatibility, transitions, design quality, access and relationship to adjacent properties.
However, The Planning Board voted (5-1) finding the modification consistent with Chapter 102, Plant City Code of Ordinances and the Imagine 2040: Plant City Comprehensive Plan and voted to forward the request to the City Commission with a recommendation of approval, subject to the following conditions provided by the applicant at the public hearing:
1. The following condition, previously deleted be added back to the site plan: On Monday through Friday the daily flight count shall not exceed three (3) flights per Airport Manager Authorized Aircraft. On Saturday and Sunday, the number of daily flights shall not exceed six (6) per Airport Authorized Aircraft. Up to six (6) times a year there may be up to a maximum of 18 flights per Airport Authorized Aircraft within any 24-hour period for special family events, such as birthdays and family reunions. A “flight” is defined here as one departure and one landing to or from the private landing strip.
2. When “parcels which have contiguous private aircraft access” (as defined on the proposed PD Site Plan) are developed, the aircraft access and any aircraft storage facility will be subject to review and approval by the City of Plant City for compliance with these PD conditions and the City’s aircraft access and building code regulations, in addition to any applicable Hillsborough County regulations.
The conditions recommended by the Planning Board have been added to the proposed site plan and though staff’s recommendation remains the same, staff has created a new staff report speaking specifically to the current request.
On August 12, 2024 the request was heard by the Commission and was continued to the February 10, 2025 City Commission meeting and continued again to the March 10, 2025 City Commission meeting.
Since the original meeting before the City Commission, the applicant has submitted changes and the current request is as follows:
The applicant is requesting the following major revisions:
• Update the name to the Midway Lake Planned Development District.
• Modify the conditions/notes on the site plan as summarized below:
o Prohibits the airstrip from being open to the general public (Note #2).
o Increases the potential users of the airstrip from 1 to 12. Also, delineates parcels that in the future, once developed, will be allowed to utilize the airstrip, as referenced on Attachment A. (Note #3).
o Allows future aircraft access and storage facilities be reviewed and approved by the municipality for consistency with the conditions noted herein and the Plant City Code of Ordinances (Note #4).
o Allows users of the airstrip to have visitor aircraft on site subject to approval of the Airport Manager (Note #5).
o Eliminates the limitation on the number of permanently based aircraft at the Midway Lake Airstrip.
o Adds a requirement to maintain a list of permanently based and visitor aircraft which are approved by the Airport Manager. The list would be made available to Plant City (Note #9).
o Sets the maximum flight count to 12 per day and 24 per week (a week starts on Sunday and ends on Saturday). A “flight” is defined here as one departure and one landing to or from the private landing strip. In addition to the daily and weekly flight counts, up to 6 times a year in total, there may be a maximum of 18 flights within a 24-hour period for special events, approved by the Airport Manager (Note #10).
Along with the updated planned development district, the applicant provided a report (attached) entitled the Midway Lake Airport Noise Analysis, dated November 26, 2024. Staff would encourage the City Commission to review this report, in particular the graphics on pages 9,12 and 13, and the section stating the conclusions of the report on page 14.
Staff has reviewed the updated submittal, particularly as it relates to new and revised development conditions, and the inclusion of Attachment A, which identifies the future residential lots that once developed will be allowed to make use of the Midway Lake Airstrip. Staff recognizes that the applicant has made a significant effort to address our documented concerns, however in our judgement the application continues to lack detail and does not fully comply with the requirements outlined in Division 8. - PD Planned Development District of the Plant City Zoning Code. Of particular note and concern, although all of the lots identified on Attachment A reside within the municipality, the eight lots labeled on Attachment A as Type A Lots Northshore still have County zoning and land use designations. The three lots labeled on Attachment A as Type A Lots Westshore were previously thought to be in the same situation, but currently do have a City Land Use designation of R-4, but not a City Zoning.
In addition, staff reviewed the noise analysis conducted for the project by Harris Miller Miller & Hanson Inc. The analysis and conclusions offered in this report were accepted on their face, as our expertise in this particular field is limited within the Planning and Zoning Division. In general, it appears that based on federal and state criteria, the proposed project would prove to be compatible with surrounding lands, as offsite noise impacts are less than 65 dB DNL. However, staff has taken some pause, as speech interference (both indoors and outdoors) would occur at several existing and proposed neighborhoods, and these noise impacts may extend as far as the new location of the South Florida Baptist Hospital. However, it should be noted that based on proposed Condition #10, the typical weekly flight counts (except for special events), for now, would change little from today, set at a maximum of 24.
Though staff supports many of the proposed revisions we continue to believe this application is premature, as it does not include the detail needed to fully review and guide the ultimate buildout of the residential parcels that will become an aviation focused neighborhood centered around and have use of the Midway Lake Airstrip. Staff would further note; the denial of this application will not impact the continued use of the airstrip under the conditions set forth for its operation in 2006.
RECOMMENDATION
That the City Commission deny the request to modify the Midway Lake Airstrip Planned Development District. Should the City Commission decide to support the proposed request, staff recommends a condition of approval that would require the applicant to modify the planned development once plans for the residential development are designed and before any increase in use of the airstrip.
FISCAL IMPACT
No fiscal impact.
Prepared by: Robyn Baker, AICP, Director of Planning and Zoning