Safety Harbor commission approves indoor batting facility with noise-mitigation conditions

The Safety Harbor City Commission on June 2 approved a conditional-use permit for a commercial indoor recreation facility at 1010 Park Court, voting 5-0 to allow a four-lane batting/practice operation with required parking improvements and specified noise mitigation measures.

Senior planner and GIS analyst Cecilia Chen said staff had to classify the proposed indoor sporting use under the cityʼs commercial recreation facilities category and that the applicant must bring parking up to code. “Staff has made a determination that the closest category in our code is commercial recreation facilities,” Chen said during the staff presentation.

Applicant Brandon Algren told the commission he had hired an engineer to design parking and that his team could fit nine spaces where eight were required. “Weʼre in the process of doing that,” Algren said, and added the business would focus on youth training and be a controlled, membership-based operation: “It is a controlled environment. It would be membership and as we most know, youth are the main focus.”

Neighbors and other residents warned that noise and overflow parking already associated with nearby businesses could worsen if the facility operates evenings and weekends. Eric Burns, who lives directly west of the site, told the commission: “At the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, the applicant indicated that he plans to operate this facility with the doors open. None of this sound attenuation makes any difference if the doors are open.” Other residents raised similar concerns about traffic and late‑night activity on the narrow local streets.

The Planning & Zoning Board had recommended approval with an explicit condition that noise mitigation measures be provided as part of conditional approval. Chen reviewed staff and board findings against the codeʼs conditional-use criteria, concluding the proposed use is less intensive than many industrial uses allowed in the SC‑2 district and that the application conforms to the comprehensive plan and concurrency requirements.

Commission discussion referenced the buildingʼs concrete construction, planned roof insulation, padded turf and wall padding and the applicantʼs commitment to install other attenuation measures before final business‑tax approval. The commission adopted conditions requiring review and approval of parking improvements through permit review and installation of noise‑mitigation measures prior to issuance of business tax approval. The motion to approve included the recommended noise mitigation measures and parking upgrades; the commission approved the resolution 5-0.

Decision details: The commission approved the conditional use for four practice lanes inside the existing warehouse building at 1010 Park Court, required the applicant to bring parking into compliance (eight spaces required; applicant proposed nine), and required noise‑attenuation measures (turf with padding, wall padding, roof insulation and other measures offered by the applicant) be demonstrated before business operation approval. The approval applies only to the use and configuration presented; any material expansion would require additional review.