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Planning board approves manufactured‑home sales lot with conditions to limit traffic and visual impacts
Summary
The board approved a special exception for a manufactured‑home sales lot on Highway 98 but attached conditions including temporary skirting of displayed homes, removal of units if use lapses, trailer delivery only from Highway 98 with DOT permit, and prohibition on used‑home sales.
The Okeechobee County Planning Board on Dec. 9 granted a special exception for a manufactured‑home sales lot (petition S20250837) on Highway 98, adding conditions intended to limit traffic impacts, preserve neighborhood character and prevent long‑term storage of unsold units.
Staff characterized the site — a vacant parcel just north of the intersection with State Road 70 and south of the county administration building — as appropriate for a display/retail sales lot in the county’s commercial district. The applicant, James Raesbrook, described a layout with up to eight display homes and said deliveries would be coordinated with transport rigs and move directly onto the property.
Neighbors and nearby landowners voiced multiple concerns: narrow residential streets (NW 3rd and 4th) that are not structurally suited for repeated heavy deliveries; limited turning radius for semi‑trailers; constrained drainage and culvert capacity; proximity to apartment and retirement housing; and the risk of homes sitting unsold for long periods. Jeff Davis, representing adjacent landowners, said traffic delays on NW 3rd/4th already occur and warned that repeated deliveries could cause safety problems.
In response, the applicant said the property has an existing central access point off Highway 98 and that deliveries typically involve coordinated transport rigs that pull directly onto site. He agreed to work with staff on a site plan and said he would skirt units and avoid long‑term display of used homes.
The board approved the special exception subject to a final administrative order that added the following conditions: the special exception shall become null and void if the use ceases for six continuous months (any remaining mobile units must be removed at the applicant's expense); temporary skirting required around display units; passenger‑vehicle access only from NW 3rd/4th (no trailer deliveries); trailer delivery and receipt only from Highway 98 with DOT permitting and required improvements; and only new mobile‑home sales are permitted (no used‑unit sales). The motion carried on voice vote after members discussed bonding for potential road repairs and site‑plan review requirements.
The conditions were recorded in the administrative order; the applicant will proceed to site‑plan review and any required DOT permitting before operational deliveries may begin.
