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Developers outline Lake Alfred Square; resident warns Green Swamp variance precedent
Summary
City staff and the applicant presented a 37.59-acre Lake Alfred Square commercial center proposal — anchored by a 54,964-square-foot grocery and several outparcels — while a nearby resident urged the board not to set a precedent for variances in the Green Swamp Area of Critical State Concern.
City of Lake Alfred planning staff presented details Thursday on Lake Alfred Square, a proposed 37.59-acre commercial center that would include a 54,964-square-foot grocery store with a pharmacy, a 2,100-square-foot liquor store, about 9,800 square feet of additional retail, and seven outparcels including a self-storage warehouse. Interim Community Development Director and City Manager Ryan Leavengood introduced the item and City Planner Erika Tulloch described the site as annexed from unincorporated Polk County in 2004 with Mixed Use and Residential future land-use designations and C-2 and VRN zoning inside the Green Swamp Overlay District.
The applicant — identified in the record as Memos LLC (with parties listed as Memos Florida LLC and 29:11 Lake Alfred LLC Inc.) — is seeking Site Development Plan approval along with Conditional Use and Joint Review consideration. Staff and the applicant said the request includes approvals for pharmacy use and shopping-center signage and asks for several special considerations or variances: building-placement standards, façade transparency and blank-wall limits, reductions in required bicycle parking, increases in allowable vehicle parking, alternative parking aisle configurations, and lighting adjustments for the Green Swamp lighting zone.
During public comment, applicant counsel Bart Allen asked that time for rebuttal be reserved if needed, and resident Nellie Crumley of Polk City raised concerns about precedent. Crumley told the board the city "has spent time developing a Land Development Code that addresses guidelines for the Green Swamp Area of Critical State Concern" and warned against approvals that might encourage future variance requests. Allen responded to a board question by clarifying the applicant is not seeking narrower parking spaces but rather a shorter stall depth with a wider drive aisle.
City Planner Erika Tulloch restated that the applicant seeks a special consideration or variance from ULDC Figure 4.4.4.E (Vehicle Parking Space and Aisle Standards), which the staff cites as prescribing 60-degree parking spaces with a 21-foot stall depth and an 18.5-foot drive aisle. The transcript does not record a board vote or final disposition on the site-development plan; board members excused absent colleagues and approved the previous meeting minutes earlier in the session. "All were in favor. The motion carried unanimously," the record states regarding the minutes approval.
The matter remains under review by city staff; the transcript does not specify a date for further hearings or action on the Lake Alfred Square application.
