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Planning commission backs rezoning and PUD with 150‑foot buffer and wastewater limits
Summary
The commission voted 5–0 to recommend rezoning roughly 4.57 acres of Lot 0A to industrial and to establish a 14.7-acre PUD allowing small warehouse units and a future 250‑foot communications tower, adding a condition requiring a 150‑foot buffer with Type D plantings along the west property line and limits on industrial wastewater entering public flows.
The Citrus County Planning and Development Commission on Dec. 4 recommended that the Board of County Commissioners approve CPA/AA/PUD2025‑00003, a rezoning and planned-unit development proposed by Local Engineering on behalf of Garrett family interests that would convert about 4.57 acres of Lot 0A from rural residential (RURMH) to industrial and overlay a 14.7‑acre PUD for multiunit commercial/industrial warehouses and a future telecommunications tower.
Applicant Michael D. Wilburn told the commission the request aligns the industrial boundary roughly 300 feet west to match previously approved industrial zoning on adjacent property owned by the same family. Wilburn presented a master plan showing 15 small warehouse/lease buildings, a retention pond already permitted for the larger site, and a proposed maximum of 100,800 square feet of building area on the master plan; he asked staff and the commission to correct a staff condition that cited 36,000 square feet.
Staff planner Kelly Caudill and later staff discussion confirmed the application would rezone approximately 4.57 acres to industrial while leaving the remainder of Lot 0A as RURMH, and identified proposed locations for aerobic wastewater treatment systems and stormwater retention. Staff noted there is no central water or sewer at the site; the applicant proposed a public consumption well and multisystem aerobic treatment as an on‑site solution. The record referenced FEMA maps and said parts of the site are agricultural timber and that the retention pond was designed for a 100‑year storm event.
Neighbors at the hearing raised concerns about loss of trees, noise, stormwater and wastewater impacts and county road capacity. Rhonda Distel and Rob Stapleton, local residents, said the changes and recent clearing feel abrupt and could affect nearby yards and infrastructure. Wilburn replied that the tree removal cited by neighbors had occurred under an existing construction permit on an adjacent parcel owned by a different party and that the portion under consideration in the PUD would include a 150‑foot buffer in lieu of a wall.
Commissioners focused on three technical issues: (1) control of industrial waste and the requirement that no industrial waste enter the wastewater flow (Policy 17.7.0.3 was cited), (2) how a 150‑foot "undisturbed" buffer would be defined and enforced if timber were later harvested, and (3) whether permitted building footprints and parking constrained larger manufacturing uses. Staff and the applicant agreed to revised conditions that (a) correct the permitted warehouse square footage to 100,800, (b) clarify a future 250‑foot communications tower, and (c) "establish and maintain a 150‑foot development buffer with Type D plantings without a wall at the west‑side property line." Staff explained that enforcement of planting requirements is permit‑and complaint‑driven and would be verified at plan review and inspections.
Commissioner David Bramblett moved and the commission voted 5–0 to find the application consistent with the Citrus County comprehensive plan and LDC and to recommend approval to the Board of County Commissioners with the modified conditions; the item was scheduled for the BOCC on Jan. 6, 2026, at 5:05 p.m.
The commission's recommendation establishes policy direction and conditions; final permits for buildings, septic/aerobic systems and other onsite infrastructure will be reviewed separately in the permitting process.
