Planning board recommends denial of Price Creek 111.6-acre comprehensive plan amendment and rezoning

The Lake City Planning and Zoning Board recommended that the City Council deny a large-scale comprehensive plan amendment (CPA 25-10) and the companion rezoning (Z 25-12) to change 111.6 acres north of Southeast State Road 100 and adjacent to Southeast County Road 245/245A from Columbia County residential/rural designations to a City industrial designation.

Richard Benderson, principal planner for growth management, told the board staff had concluded the proposed large-scale amendment was "inconsistent with policy I 1.4 of the city's comprehensive plan" because the city currently lacks access to the public utilities needed to serve the site even though the treatment plants have capacity. "We have capacity. We just don't have access to get to it," Benderson said.

The applicant's representative, Brandon Stubbs, planning and grants manager for North Florida Professional Services, and other applicant materials argued the property is contiguous to existing industrial land to the north and east, that roughly 60% of the property is suitable for development, and that utility extension is the developer's responsibility. "The burden of being able to extend water and sewer to make it available to the site is on the developer," Stubbs said in his presentation.

The hearing drew sustained public comment. Residents and landowners raised concerns about wetlands, water quality, traffic safety on narrow county roads, impacts to farms and property values, and the project's proximity to homes and a 75-unit mobile home park. Among the statements entered into the record:

- Julie Bassett, a Price Creek-area homeowner, said the county has denied rezoning of the parcel three times and argued the change would "constitute a grant of special privilege to an individual owner as contrasted with the public welfare." She asked the board to vote against the rezoning.

- Laurie Akins, who lives across the fence from the subject parcel, described multi-generation family farmland on the site and cited potential contamination risks; she said Suwannee River Water Management District staff had calculated about "42.2 acres of wetlands on this property."

- Greg Boyette and other residents raised traffic-safety concerns on local roads with blind curves and school bus stops.

After applicant and staff presentations and nearly 40 minutes of public comment, the board discussed the standard criteria in section 15.2 of the land development regulations. Board members expressed differing views: some said the parcel fits an existing industrial pattern to the north and east, while others emphasized the staff finding about lack of access to utilities and potential impacts on living conditions.

On CPA 25-10 (the future land use map amendment), the board moved to recommend denial "in its present state," citing incompatibility with the comprehensive plan in light of infrastructure access and potential impacts on living conditions. The roll call showed McCallum, Wilson and Douglas voting to recommend denial and Carlucci and Lydic voting against that recommendation (motion passed by majority). On Z 25-12 (the rezoning request), the board again recommended denial; the motion cited concerns about living conditions and the mixed agricultural/industrial character of the area.

The board chair and staff reminded the public that these board votes are recommendations to the City Council. Benderson and board members noted the request would go to the City Council for two readings and that a state review is required between readings for a large-scale comprehensive plan amendment; Benderson estimated a fast-track timeline of "no less than probably 90 days" before final action could occur.

Next steps: the board said staff will draft a resolution stating the facts and evidence supporting the board's recommendation; that draft will return to the board at a future meeting as the formal basis for the record and any potential appeals.