Orange County — Board of Zoning Adjustment

SE-21-01-127 — Cowart Mulch (William Burkett)

Request: Amendment to an existing site plan associated with an approved Special Exception in the I-2/I-3 zoning district to allow a reduction of the south and west buffer requirements from 150 ft. to 50 ft. for an existing Yard Trash Processing Facility.

Decision: Approved

Hearing: Staff explained the history of he property, noting that the first two (2) rezonings each placed condition on the sue of the property. Finally, in 2003 a final rezoning was approved which removed all use restrictions. In 2017, the applicant obtained approval of a Special Exception to operate a yard trash processing facility with conditions. Because the property to the west and south was zoned A-1, which allows for residential development, the setbacks for storage of materials was required to be 150 ft. from the west and south property line. In 2020, the City of Apopka annexed the 349+ acres abutting the west and south of he subject property, and placed an industrial Future Land Use Designation on the property with industrial planned development zoning. This eliminated all possibility for residential development. The applicant is now requesting to reduce the setbacks from 150 ft. to 50 ft. Staff advised the BZA that the City of Apopka had provided commentary regarding their concern. They are anticipating 2.5 million sq. ft. of warehousing to be constructed to the south of the subject property, and they would like some type of visual buffer, such as a wall or a berm. Staff noted that the applicant is constructing a berm in that location.The applicant's engineer concurred with the staff recommendation and indicated that he had met with Apopka officials on the matter. The applicant is providing a berm, and once the berm has settled, it will be planted with materials which will exceed six (6) ft. in height providing a better buffer than a wall. There being no one present to speak in favor or opposition to the request, the public hearing was closed. The BZA concluded that since there is no longer a potential for adjacent residential development, and that the City of Apopka has made the adjacent properties industrial, the revision to the Special Exception was warranted. A motion to recommend approval was unanimously passed.