Planning commission approves downtown banquet hall at 260 Avenue Southwest

The Winter Haven Planning Commission voted to approve a special-use permit for a banquet hall at 260 Avenue Southwest, a 3,200-square-foot building on about 0.15 acres, during a regularly scheduled meeting.

Heather Reutder, the senior planner presenting the case, said the property sits in the downtown C1 zoning district and is surrounded by C1 zoning. She told commissioners the application included an approved security plan: "Therefore, staff does recommend that the planning commission approve this request subject to the conditions in your agenda packet." Reutder also noted the project aligns with long-term goals to grow the city's social and cultural core.

Reutder said a banquet hall of this size would typically require 46 parking spaces, but because the property is in the downtown C1 district no on-site parking is required; she added that the downtown corridor has roughly 700 public parking spaces on-street, in surface lots and in the downtown garage. The applicant's proposed layout includes an indoor open event space with an outside patio area to be set up for individual events, and hours would vary by booking.

Commissioners moved, seconded and approved the request by voice vote; no members of the public spoke during the public-comment period on this case. Approval was made subject to the conditions listed in staff’s packet, which include the standard site-plan and code-compliance requirements.

The approval allows the applicant to proceed with final site-plan review and any required construction or administrative steps identified in the conditions. The staff packet remains the controlling list of conditions and next steps for compliance.