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, representing owner MMG Plantation Square LLC, told the board the developer will incorporate recommended material changes on the building’s facades prior to the city council hearing and described the project as supporting workforce housing and transit investment. “This is a huge public benefit and why we increased to the 8 stories so we can provide this,” Puente said, arguing the site is appropriate for increased height because of its location at a high‑traffic Sunrise/University intersection and planned Broward County transit investments.

Traffic, parking and mitigation The applicant submitted a traffic study that staff summarized as projecting 112 net new weekday AM peak‑hour trips, 65 net new PM peak‑hour trips and 606 net new weekday daily trips compared with existing conditions. The study — and the applicant’s engineer — said cross‑access to the adjacent shopping center will increase internal trip capture and reduce some external peak impacts compared with a previously approved plan.

Staff and the applicant said the developer agreed to cost‑share some corridor improvements and a traffic‑management plan for the Lauderdale West / Northwest 17th Court area that includes speed radar signs, illuminated stop signs and speed tables. Assistant City Engineer Leonard Donneville told the board the city is already implementing several of the traffic‑calming items in Lauderdale West “regardless if this project is coming or not.” The applicant stated it will contribute $119,143 toward those neighborhood improvements at building permit and will obtain any required Broward County transportation concurrency certificate.

Parking and unit mix Staff reported the code‑required parking for the combined residential and commercial uses is 679 spaces; the applicant proposes 540 spaces (a reduction of 139 spaces, or 20.5%). Staff materials listed 433 garage spaces, 95 surface spaces and seven off‑site spaces; the staff report noted 12 EV charging stalls and 16 Americans with Disabilities Act spaces. During the hearing the applicant also described the garage as being designed to be EV‑capable and later said 90 garage stalls could be EV‑capable as the project builds out; that discrepancy was discussed during the hearing and remains part of the record.

The applicant described a unit program of about 307 dwelling units with a mix the team summarized as roughly 29% studios, 33% one‑bedrooms, 33% two‑bedrooms and 5% three‑bedrooms (applicant’s percentage‑based descriptions translate to roughly 89 studios, 101 one‑bedrooms, 101 two‑bedrooms and 14 three‑bedrooms by simple rounding). Puente said the applicant will restrict 25% of the units — 77 of 307 — to households at or below 80% of area median income and that those rent restrictions would last 30 years.

Design, landscape and materials waivers The applicant requested six zoning waivers and four landscape waivers (staff identified two additional zoning waivers during review). Waivers include increasing maximum residential building height to eight stories, reducing setbacks on the south/east/west, reducing minimum net floor area per dwelling unit, reducing required parking, reducing the number of off‑street loading zones, relaxing façade material requirements for “class 1” materials, reducing northern buffer width and reductions in required street trees and pedestrian‑zone planting widths. Staff indicated the applicant had worked with staff to increase class‑1 material area on the west and south facades but had not submitted final revised elevations for the north façade at the time of the hearing.

Public comment and board concerns Three residents spoke at the public‑comment portion and several board members expressed concern at the dais. Speakers from Lauderdale West said the development will increase traffic through neighborhood streets, questioned the reduced parking count and expressed concern about fewer street trees and smaller landscape buffers. “Residents are not going to give up their cars,” resident Carol Seward told the board, criticizing the requested parking and tree waivers.

Board action and next steps A motion to approve the site plan, conditional use and waivers subject to staff conditions passed 5–2 on a roll call vote (Yes: McIntosh, Gorman, Freeman, Goldstein, Delagrange. No: Spear, Stall). The board’s approval is a recommendation; staff reminded the applicant and public that the item still requires Plantation City Council consideration before final local approval.

The board and applicant outlined several follow‑up items: finalize façade materials to address staff’s class‑1 material requirements, confirm final EV‑charging/stall counts, finalize landscape and structural‑soil/root‑vault details to preserve large canopy trees where feasible, complete a supplemental trip‑generation comparison the applicant offered to provide, obtain the Broward County transportation concurrency satisfaction certificate and incorporate the agreed traffic‑management contributions into permit documents. The applicant estimated construction of the apartment building would not begin before 2027 and would be complete about 2030 if the project proceeds.

Votes at a glance - Motion: Approve site plan, conditional use and waiver requests for PP24‑0003 / PP24‑0004 (Plantation Square) subject to staff conditions. - Outcome: Approved (board recommendation to city council). - Vote: Yes — McIntosh; Gorman; Freeman; Goldstein; Delagrange (5). No — Spear; Stall (2).

Staff and applicant contact information, report materials and the full staff conditions are on the official project file; the board packet noted the owner as MMG Plantation Square LLC and the applicant team included MMG, Kimley Horn (traffic), MSA Architects and Craven Thompson (landscape).