Council opens door to new Midtown 'TOD' rules, parking changes and Central Midtown overlay after wide public comment

The City Council voted on first reading to move forward with a sweeping set of revisions to Plantation's land-development code intended to guide redevelopment in Midtown, the Broward Mall area and other priority corridors.

The package includes: a proposed Central Midtown Village overlay with pedestrian-oriented rules and limits on stand-alone outparcels; a proposed new Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) zoning approach (including no minimum parking in TOD areas subject to parking studies); incentives for affordable and workforce housing (reduced setbacks and reduced minimum parking for committed affordable units); changes to permitted and conditional uses in certain districts; and updated parking and loading tables for redevelopment areas. Some gateway districts were proposed for height increases (measured in feet) as part of an effort to encourage compact, mixed use development in identified redevelopment areas.

Council and staff emphasized the intent to promote walkable streets, shared parking, plazas and a mix of uses near current and future transit corridors. City staff noted the amendments are tailored to a set of priority redevelopment areas (Midtown, Gateway and several transit corridors) and that the remainder of the city's single- and multi-family neighborhoods would be largely unaffected.

Developers and property owners at the hearing urged several clarifications and changes. Macy's Holdings representative Dolores St. George asked for more time to reconcile how some existing permitted uses would become conditional or prohibited in the new overlay; she warned that department-store-scale buildings and large surface parking now existing at Broward Mall could become nonconforming. A representative for the Sears/Midtown parcel and other developers urged the council to preserve optionality for drive-throughs and allow conditional use review rather than an outright prohibition in all Midtown locations. Community members asked for clarity on building heights adjacent to single-family neighborhoods, and asked how notices were distributed to affected property owners.

Council members discussed removing some items from the draft or tailoring the geographic extent of the TOD overlay; council voiced support for preserving small-format, boutique fitness uses as permitted where appropriate and for not making the code unnecessarily punitive to existing tenants. Several members asked staff to return with more precise maps and to consider excluding some areas (Council Member Horland specifically suggested excluding "Area 2" from TOD). Staff committed to refine the map and to return with further edits and clarifications before second reading.

Ending: Council voted to advance the ordinance for further refinement and to return for second reading; staff will collect written comments from property owners who raised issues and will return with revised language and maps.