FLORIDA CITY — Winstanley Enterprises has proposed a new business park on approximately 500 acres along Route 30 in Florida City.
The developer seeks to establish a planned unit development that would require a rezoning of the land to accommodate the proposed use. The Planning Board will hold a public hearing on the proposal at 6:40 p.m. on Monday at the “Old” City Hall at 167 Fort Hunter Road.
The development is intended to create a business park south of the state Thruway exit 27 along Route 30 based on demand for large logistics facilities to complement the Montgomery County Business Park on Route 5S, according to concept plans prepared by Bohler Engineering posted on the city’s website.
The business park would span Route 30 with a 2 million-square-foot building on the west side accessible from Thruview Drive and a pair of 300,000- and 400,000-square-foot buildings on the east side accessible from Belldons Road.
The facilities would be built to suit tenants for commercial and light industrial purposes. Tenants are not listed in the project documentation. Full site development would result in approximately several hundred new vehicle trips to the site during the morning peak hours.
The proposed project area of approximately 500 hectares comprises five separate parcels in the city’s agricultural district. Most of the land is owned by Nadler Brothers Inc. of Ballston Spa with about 168 acres owned by Karen and Larry Francisco.
The place mainly consists of vacant fields, some of which are cultivated. A couple of houses and another vacant building within the PUD would collapse. Two large solar arrays are located south of the project area on opposite sides of Highway 30. A mix of homes, small businesses and active farms are located further south.
The travel companies surrounding the Thruway exit are located north of the city of Amsterdam. Six houses on the west side of Route 30 are located near the proposed project area.
The developer would seek to extend the existing nearby water and sewer lines that run from Venner Road in Amsterdam to the project site working in conjunction with the City of Florida to service the proposed commercial buildings.
Amsterdam and Montgomery County have already commissioned engineering studies to evaluate utility expansion for the area south of the Thruway 27 exit, according to plan documents.
Development of the site would avoid wetlands within the boundaries of the PUD. Stormwater management plans will be developed to address the impact of the construction of the new building and the installation of parking areas that would cover approximately 120 hectares in total covering approximately 30% of the available space. About 400 hectares would be maintained as open or green space.
Winstanley’s proposed PUD is similar to another of the developer’s plans in the city to build a million-square-foot warehouse on roughly 143 acres of vacant land on Route 5S across from the Target Distribution Center.
The Florida Planning Commission previously approved a site plan for a custom warehouse project that Winstanley began marketing to potential tenants in early 2020. There is still no progress on that project.
Local residents will have the opportunity to comment on the proposed PUD during a public hearing scheduled for Monday. Written comments may also be submitted to the Planning Board by email at [email protected]
Representatives for Winstanley did not return a call seeking comment for this story Friday.
Contact Ashley Onyon at [email protected] or @AshleyOnyon on Twitter.
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