The planning commission voted unanimously on June 9, 2025, to find PCCPA 25‑03 — a privately initiated comprehensive plan amendment proposing to designate a 15.7‑acre annexed parcel on the west side of North Alexander Street as Commercial — consistent with the Plant City comprehensive plan and to forward it to the Plant City Commission for its review.

Krista Kelly, planning commission staff, presented the amendment and recommended a finding of inconsistency. Kelly told commissioners that the site, annexed into Plant City in November 2024, currently carries a Hillsborough County Residential‑1 designation and contains roughly 4.9 acres of wetland according to Environmental Protection Commission records. Staff said the change to Commercial would permit substantially increased nonresidential intensity, allowing an additional 237 dwelling units in theoretical residential potential and an increase of about 68,694 square feet of nonresidential uses compared with the current designation, and concluded the change would be intrusive and premature in an otherwise rural and agricultural context. Staff cited multiple Plant City future‑land‑use and environmental policies in recommending inconsistency.

The applicant’s representative, Susan Swift, director of planning for Bob Boggs Engineering, and property owners Mark and Lori Yarbrough argued the updated Northeast Master Plan (adopted April 14, 2025) and associated “economic opportunity” overlay create flexibility for transition in this corridor. Swift said the updated preferred land‑use scenario designates the subject site and surrounding parcels as Light Commercial Office and that the overlay and master‑plan language were designed to enable context‑sensitive transitions along major corridors. She told commissioners the wetlands are centrally located, already subject to preservation and permitting controls, and the proposed plan change is compatible with adjacent government‑owned parcels, a nearby city retention/competency site and the I‑4/County Line Road interchange industrial cluster.

Robin Baker, Plant City’s director of planning and zoning, spoke in support of the applicant and said the city supported the request because the master‑plan update intended to give flexibility along Alexander Street between Sam Allen Road and I‑4; Baker noted the Light Commercial Office category was selected to provide flexibility where no single category could cover both commercial and potential residential uses. Owners Mark and Lori Yarbrough told the commission they are Plant City residents and asked for support to relocate their business headquarters.

After discussion, Commissioner Buza moved to find PCCPA 25‑03 consistent with the Plant City comprehensive plan, citing land‑use policies included in the motion record; the motion carried unanimously. The commission’s consistency finding forwards the amendment to Plant City for formal municipal consideration. The planning commission’s action is an advisory consistency determination and does not itself change zoning, implement preservation restrictions, or grant permits.