OKEECHOBEE – Should Okeechobee County open up more options for industrial development?

At their Aug. 8 meeting, the Okeechobee County Board of County Commissioners discussed updates to the future land use map in the Okeechobee County Comprehensive Plan.

According to the county staff report, “one of the classifications on the Okeechobee County Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map is Industrial Overlay District. This classification was created to provide options for economic growth and diversification at multiple locations throughout the county.”

Most industrial development in Okeechobee County has been in the vicinity of the airport off US Highway 98 N, the staff report continues. A site near the main entrance to the regional landfill on NE 128th Avenue is designated as Industrial but has not yet developed. As officially designated with the Industrial future land use classification on the future land use map, there are about 610 acres total near the airport, including the airport industrial park itself and privately held industrial properties on both sides of US Highway 98. The other industrial site currently designated on the future land use map consists of two adjoining privately owned locations with a total of about 650 acres. The location is on NE 128th Avenue, about half a mile south of the main entrance to the regional landfill.

The Industrial Overlay Districts were established in 2005, the staff report explains. They were intended to complement the more traditional industrial sites by providing alternative locations but meeting some relevant criteria.

The current Overlay Districts provide for a limit of 10% of the area of an Industrial Overlay District that may be developed with industrial uses. That limit applies to actual development, not just zoning.

There are 4 Industrial Overlay District locations in the county with a total of about 9,395 acres. The four overlay districts cover both the east and west sides of the county, are located on both sides of SR 70, are on or near arterial highways, and all but one have frontage on the CSX railroad.

• The West site (between U.S. 98 N. and SR 70 E) is about 2,010 acres.

• The SR 70 West site is about 2,860 acres. The SR 70 West site is between SR 70 West and the CSX railroad and has about 2.5 miles of frontage on SR 70.

• The SR 710 East site is about 1,125 acres. The SR 710 East site is along State Road 710 with about half of the overlay area between the highway and the CSX railroad.

• The SR 70 East site is about 3,400 acres. The CSX railroad runs through the middle of the site. Although this area is not directly on a highway, it can be accessed from SR 70 via NW 128th Avenue, and from US Highway 98 via the unpaved NW 120th Avenue. The SR 70 East site is at the intersection of SR 70 E and NE 128th Avenue, with about a mile of frontage on SR 70 and over 2.5 miles of frontage on NE 128th Avenue.

While no action was taken at the meeting, commissioners appeared to agree they would like to change the 10% limit.

“Right now you can only use 10%,” said Commission Chair David Hazellief. He said in a site plan, a large portion of a property is set aside with things like water retention areas, buffer zones and setbacks.

Commissioner Brad Goodbread said “SR 710 will be four-laned in the near or distant future which will make more people look at it for industrial development,” he added, noting that area also has rail access. “We’re going to do the best we can. I don’t want to lock us in for something that we didn’t think about,” he said.

“We need to protect the people who are already there, the residential development,” he added.

“Okeechobee as a whole areas where the property is best situation for road usage or rail, if you are a big distribution center you need to get your trucks in and out. It needs to be in an area where you aren’t going to affect a community,” said Commissioner Frank DeCarlo. He suggested the area near the landfill would be a good place to set aside for industrial use, as it is unlikely to be developed for residential housing.

“I think we’re a little ways off before we run out of industrial property,” he added.

Goodbread said changing the percentage of the four sites that can be used for industrial zoning “is not going to bring a lot more industrial development, but it gives more options.”

“I was thinking 40%, but I would be willing to go 50%,” said Commissioner Kelly Owens,

County Attorney Wade Vose said any changes to the Future Land Use Map will have to go back through the planning process.