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Parkland commission advances Somerset Academy master‑plan amendment amid traffic and neighborhood concerns
Summary
The commission voted 4–1 on May 6 to move to second reading a first-reading ordinance that would increase the Mar A Lago master‑plan allowance for Somerset Academy from 110,000 to 135,000 square feet and permit phased expansion toward a K–12 campus and a student cap up to 2,100. Commissioners and residents expressed concerns about traffic, parking and construction staging.
The City Commission on Wednesday moved a first‑reading ordinance forward that would amend the Mar A Lago master plan to allow Somerset Academy Parkland to expand its campus and increase allowable building area and enrollment.
The ordinance approved for second reading would amend the master plan to raise the maximum permitted square footage on Parcel C from 110,000 square feet to 135,000 square feet, an applicant representative said. The proposal would allow Somerset to add high‑school grades over several years and ultimately seek an enrollment cap of up to about 2,100 students.
Why it matters: The applicant and city staff said the site was originally approved with a substantial set of off‑site traffic improvements and operational conditions that the school has been operating under. Commissioners and residents, however, pressed the applicant on how the additional students and extracurricular events would affect traffic on Hillsborough Boulevard and University Drive, where the applicant proposes a roundabout as…
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