MPC voted to postpone indefinitely a recommendation on Lakeland Commons at the February MPC meeting.
City of Lakeland Staff to recommend APPROVAL to the MPC!
The entire report is available in the
documents section below. This is the excerpt (emphasis added):
"Staff recommends approval of the request. The request complies with the Comprehensive Plan as to the proposed retail land and office land uses. The plan has evolved somewhat from past submittals to MPC, decreasing the intensity, decreasing or deferring improvements along roadways, adding open space and improvements to open spaces, committing to "greening" by not maximizing lot coverage on the site, adding further design commitments, and agreeing to continue refinements thru the future SDDP process for each phase or lot, if this request is approved. Staff would be remiss not to point out that several outstanding projects that may be completed in 2008 could have benefited the analysis for this recommendation, and possibly could have changed it. These issues are mentioned in this report, or its two addendums."
Note: The recommendation by city staff for approval is based on applying the principles of their profession (planning, engineering, etc.) in the analysis of the proposal and whether it conforms to regulations. It also takes into consideration the revisions made by the developer to the proposal. The approval is, therefore, not necessarily an endorsement of the plan. It is the vote of the Municipal Planning Commission and ultimately the Board of Commissioners that will determine whether this development is approved.
Please mark your calendar for the next MPC meeting on Tuesday, January 22 at 6:30 pm where this latest Lakeland Commons proposal will be presented to the MPC.
And be sure to sign the petition if you agree with
hundreds of other Lakeland residents who do not want this type of development at this location!
See the 'Lakeland Commons - History' section to the left for links to additional information on the Lakeland Commons issue, including the first proposal submitted to the MPC.
This is a
proposed commercial development to include the following:
| Square Footage |
| Anchor grocery store (with option to include fuel station) | 75,000 |
| In-Line retail (3 retail units attached to the anchor) | 43,000 |
| Out-Lot Retail (7 retail buildings) | 14,400 |
| Office (5 buildings, up to 3 stories) | 40,000 |
| Restaurants | 15,400 |
| Bank | 3,500 |
| TOTAL: | 191,300 sq ft |
| Unknown number of parking spaces |
| Exact square footage of individual buildings is unknown. These sq. ft. values were taken from the traffic study. The document seems incomplete as to this important detail. |
The approval of this development will, in effect, re-zone this land to C-1 - Neighborhood Business and/or C-2 General Business. These categories will allow service or retail uses as described in
Chart 1 of Article IV of the Lakeland Zoning Ordinance which can include drive-thru dining services.
The property is currently zoned "AG - Agricultural District" with the Land Use Plan
recommending Residential Support Center use. The Land Use Plan defines Residential Support Center as: Primarily planned developments containing neighborhood commercial uses with no one user having greater than 75,000 square feet, limited office, religious facilities, schools, public buildings, and institutional uses. Development requires public water and sanitary sewer service. Streets are designed with an urban cross-section.
The applicant (Lakeland Commons LP) has submitted the Preliminary Development Plan (PDP), and it is currently under review by the staff at City Hall (city engineer, growth director, natural resources director, et. al.) The plan is scheduled to come before the Municipal
Planning Commission (MPC) for a vote on Tuesday, January 22 at 6:30 pm. The MPC will vote on
the recommendation to give to the Board of Commissioners (BOC) (approve or deny). Regardless of the recommendation from the MPC, the BOC
will cast the deciding votes that will determine whether this development can become a reality.
Please help ensure that commercial development at this intersection will never be a reality for this or any other other developer! Please sign the
petition if you agree with the concerns stated here.
The overall plan has a few differences from the first plan submitted last fall. The most notable are the removal of the 'work-live' units that would have allowed for residential living; change in location of the proposed collector road (the new street that runs roughly parallel to Scott's Creek between Hwy 70 and Memphis-Arlington).
However, it is substantially the same scale of commercial development, with excessive traffic, and potential for crime. It allows for an anchor tenant (presumably grocery) with a fuel center.
From the Preliminary Development Plan:
"Lakeland Commons Planned Development is planned as an upscale mixed-use development incorporating neighborhood commercial retail and service uses, public facilities, and residential scale professional office units with the largest user not exceeding 75,000 SF"
"Private Recreational Facilities A 10' wide asphalt trail shall be installed within the Streamside Management Buffer, COS A and COS B as generally shown on the General Development Plan. The proposed asphalt walking trail shall be constructed within a permanent 18' pedestrian easement and shall be installed at the developer's expense...The proposed trail shall be owned by the City of Lakeland and maintained by the Property Owners Association.
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This project alone will increase traffic along the affected roads. Add to that the additional 4 developments proposed or already approved to be built on Memphis Arlington Road, East of Seed Tick.
Their traffic impact study suggests that this is not a problem because the roads won't be at capacity. Well, we do not
want the roads to be
at capacity. Just because they
can handle additional traffic flow, does not mean that they should. Are we going to turn our scenic corridors into congested roadways just for the sake of 'convenient' retail?
The traffic study does not address the impact of traffic from the perspective of the existing residential property owners whose homes face these streets. To these homeowners, Memphis Arlington Road
is their 'subdivision'. There isn't an entrance sign to this subdivision, but the homeowners are passionate about their homes and property. Their choices to buy or build in this area were no doubt based on the rural appeal. It was not based on the hopes that it would only take 1 mintue to get to a grocery store. A commercial development at this location is not in any way consistent with this area.
One of the stated goals in the "Goals and Objectives" of the City of Lakeland Land Use plan is to "Make Transportation Plans Compatible with Comprehensive Plan" with the following objectives:
- 1. Encourage alternatives to automobile dominated community that are fully compatible with all types of development...
- 2. Balance the requirement for road connectivity with preserving the natural environment.
- 3. Preserve Scenic Corridors
This development encourages access only by automobile. It increases traffic in the area, thereby making the entire area unsuitable for non-motorized traffic. How much use will a paved walking trail get in a commercial center? Do we really want to
drive to a busy commercial center and go for a walk in the fumes of all the cars? It certainly will not be safe to walk to this commercial center!
Why isn't this same section of Memphis Arlington designated a scenic corridor in the Land Use Plan? What changes when you cross Seed Tick? We asked this question with the first plan, and it is apparently under review as to why this is no longer a scenic corridor.
From the Preliminary Development Plan, Lakeland Commons Preliminary Traffic Study:
Regarding Existing Conditions
- Seed Tick Road is a two lane scenic corridor running from Huff n' Puff/Beverle Rivera...It directly serves several residential subdivisions and Lakeland Elementary School. It currently carries less than 2000 trips per day.
- Memphis Arlington Road is a two lane east/west collector running parallel to US Hwy 70. The volume of traffic on the leg immediately east of Seed Tick is presently less than 1000 trips per day, but west of Seed Tick the volume is over 3000 trips per day. The projected
traffic follows this same pattern, with the anticipated traffic east of Seed Tick at 2000 trips per day and the volume west of Seed Tick
to be ultimately over 16,000 trips per day, obviously requiring an enlarged roadway.
- US Hwy 70 is a four lane undivided highway connecting Memphis, Bartlett, Lakeland and Arlington. Current volumes in the vicinity
of the project are 6,150 trips per day.
Table of values reflecting the increased traffic brought by the elements of the project
|
Area |
Daily |
AM Peak* |
PM Peak* |
| Grocery |
75,000 sq ft |
8,364 |
366 |
780 |
| In-Line Retail |
43,000 sq ft |
4,172 |
100 |
384 |
| Out-Lot Retail |
14,400 sq ft |
2,106 |
52 |
192 |
| Restaurants |
15,400 sq ft |
1,388 |
88 |
142 |
| Bank |
3,500 sq ft |
998 |
84 |
222 |
| Office |
40,000 sq ft |
658 |
90 |
126 |
| TOTAL
| |
17,686 |
780 |
1,846 |
| *Peak Hour of adjacent street traffic 7:30-8:30 am - 4:30-5:30 pm |
CONCLUSIONS The proposed project will generate a signifcant increase in the volume of traffic, but the
adjacent streets have the capacity to handle the additional traffic. The main entries to Lakeland Commons are from the new collector road, and the intersection at Seed Tick and US 70. The Seed Tick intersection will probably warrant a signal when the Harding Academy project is constructed. The developer agress to pay his or her percentage share for any future traffic signal warranted as a result of the proposed Lakeland Commons Planned Commercial Development.
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Although the design image has changed and no longer shows a fuel center, language throughout the document allows for the anchor tenant to have an 'accessory' fuel center. And drive-thrus are still not particularly up-scale! Drive thru services are within zoning district(s) cited and not otherwise prohibited per the language of the proposal.
From the Preliminary Development Plan:
Permitted land uses include all uses as described under the C-1 and C-2 Zoning District provided in Chart 1 of Article IV, Schedule of District Regulations, City of Lakeland Zoning Ordinance, and INCLUDING Automobile Service Station only as an accessory use to the anchor tenant.
"PROHIBITED uses: Automobile Sales and Service or Repair, Golf Course, Greenhouse or Nursery-Commercial, Independent Automobile Service Station as a stand alone outlot tenant; Wireless Transmission Facilities, Radio/TV Stations"
"Professional Office Units: PERMITTED land uses include: Offices-General, Medical and Professional
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Sections from the Preliminary Development Plan:
- Preliminary Development Plan: Click here
- Revision List (01/15/2008): Click here
- Traffic Study: Click here
- Additional Traffic/Market Study: Click here
- Misc: Click here
Staff Report to the MPC:
- City of Lakeland Report to MPC: Click here
- City of Lakeland Report to MPC Addendum #1: Click here
- City of Lakeland Report to MPC Addendum #2: Click here
Misc:
- Notification mailed to adjacent property owners within 1,000 feet: Click here
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