Planning board recommends 50-acre commercial amendment, rezoning; forwards to City Commission

The City of Newberry Planning & Zoning Board on June 2 voted unanimously to recommend two companion actions for a 50-acre parcel owned by HCNB SAP LLC and proposed by NV5 Global Inc.: a small-scale future land use amendment to change the property from Agriculture to Commercial (Ordinance 2025-11, CPA25-01) and a rezoning from Agricultural to Commercial Intensive (Ordinance 2025-12, LDR25-03). Both items were forwarded to the City Commission for first reading June 9.

Community Development Planner John Paul Perez explained the property’s background, noting prior consideration during development of corridor (gateway) overlay standards and that the parcel lies within the city’s urban service area with potable water and sewer available along part of the frontage. "The application is consistent with the comprehensive plan," staff said, adding the parcel sits near existing commercial activity, Tanglewood plan development to the south, AgriTek Business Park to the west, and Highland Park development to the southwest.

Ryan Thompson, agent for the applicant, said the owner intends to pursue commercial uses and highlighted prior coordination with the city on gateway overlay and corridor design standards. He said the requested Commercial Intensive (CI) zoning would permit a broader range of uses than Commercial General, including wholesale/warehouse, outdoor retail and other higher-intensity uses. Thompson and staff emphasized that any future site and development plans would be reviewed for conformance with the land development regulations and would require traffic impact analyses and concurrency review at that later stage.

Board members asked about concurrency, infrastructure capacity, and timing. Staff said concurrency and specific roadway or utility improvements would be evaluated during site plan review; the city previously installed water along a portion of the site frontage and the prior owner executed a reimbursement agreement that runs with the land. In response to a board question about likely buildout timing, the applicant said speculative estimates indicated possible activity within three to five years but declined to promise exact schedules.

No intervening public opposition emerged at the hearing. A resident raised a separate concern about an older home and life-estate on an adjacent parcel; the board and applicant said they would meet with that landowner and noted that the particular homestead parcel is not part of the 50-acre application and would be addressed if and when a separate petition arises.

Both motions — to recommend the small-scale comprehensive plan amendment and to recommend the rezoning to Commercial Intensive — passed unanimously, 3–0, with the items advancing to City Commission consideration. Staff reminded the board that the 50-acre limit qualifies the application as a small-scale amendment under Florida law (Fla. Stat. §163.3187) and that any future development will require a more detailed concurrency analysis at the site plan stage.