Planning board approves Plantation Square site plan, sends 8‑story, 307‑unit project to city council

The Plantation Planning and Zoning Board on June 10 voted 5–2 to approve site plan, conditional‑use and waiver requests for Plantation Square, a mixed‑use redevelopment at 8190 West Sunrise Boulevard that would replace the existing Bank of America branch and add an eight‑story, 307‑unit apartment building, a roughly 6,303‑square‑foot bank/tenant building with covered ATM lanes and associated parking. The board’s approval is subject to written staff conditions and must still be considered by Plantation City Council.

The project, identified in staff materials as applications PP24‑0003 and PP24‑0004, requests multiple zoning waivers and landscape waivers from Chapter 27 of the Plantation City Code, including increases to building height (from a code limit of five stories to eight), reduced setbacks, reduced minimum unit floor areas, reduced required parking and smaller landscape buffers. Staff recommended approval subject to the conditions listed in the staff report.

Why it matters: the plan would add significant residential density to a major Sunrise Boulevard intersection and includes an affordability commitment that the applicant and staff presented as a public benefit. Neighbors raised traffic, parking and tree‑loss concerns during public comment; staff and the applicant said they will coordinate traffic mitigation and façade changes before final action by city council.

What the board approved and why Board packet materials and staff testimony described the property as about 5.53 acres in the B7Q (planned commercial development) zoning district at the south side of Sunrise Boulevard about 500 feet west of University Drive. Staff said the proposal meets several PCD review criteria but also identified aesthetic and landscape items that depart from the code and therefore require waivers. Staff recommended approval subject to the conditions in the staff report.

Marcos Puente, representin…