Newberry’s Zipline at Haile Quarry Moves Forward

NEWBERRY ‒ A zipline park in Newberry is one step closer as the Newberry Planning and Zoning Board convened a quasi-judicial public hearing on April 3 to consider a request for Site and Development Plan approval for Zipline at Haile Quarry. The property consists of 70 +/- acres and is located at 3925 N.W. County Road 235. The request included construction or installation of an approximately 1,000-square-foot building, three towers and walking trails throughout the site.

City of Newberry Principal Planner Jean-Paul Perez presented this item to the Board and mentioned that the site is subject to the approval and conditions of a special exception granted at an earlier meeting through Resolution 2022-11/SE 22-04. Perez recommended the Board recommend approval to the Board of Adjustment with the same conditions included in the special exception.

In other business, two items relating to a project known as Newberry Plaza were addressed by the Board. Although both items received approval to recommend them to the City Commission for first reading, a lengthy discussion about two issues took up a considerable amount of the Board’s time prior to the unanimous vote to approve.

The first item was a large-scale Future Land Use Map Amendment to change the map from Agriculture to Planned Development on 128 +/- acres. The property is located at the southeast corner of State Road 26/West Newberry Road and Southwest 242^nd Street. The project proposes 350 dwelling units and 150,000 square feet of commercial use at build out. If the amendment is approved and the project goes forward, the developer plans to build about 50 homes a year beginning in 2025.

Concern by the Board that the developer may choose to build single-family dwelling units prior to developing the commercial property led to the recommendation to approve including a stipulation. The caveat added to the approval is that the developer provide 100 percent of the infrastructure for commercial development by the time 50 percent, or 151 homes, are built.

In the past, said Board members, developers build out the residential and then say they are unable to attract commercial businesses. They then come before the Board asking to develop residential in place of the planned commercial. The City seeks to attract commercial businesses as plans for residential property development is outpacing commercial.

The second item of concern is a historic home located on the property. The home would need at least $300,000 to bring it up to code to use as a large gathering place. Following a lengthy discussion, the applicant will go back to the developer and see if there might be a way to carve that property out of the development or to suggest a way in which the structure could be saved and used.

The large-scale amendment will be heard on first reading by the City Commission at the April 24 meeting. If approved at that time, the ordinance will be transmitted to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity for their review and comments. The Board also unanimously recommended approval for Ordinance 2023-16/LDR 23-07, to change the zoning designation from Agricultural (A) to Planned Development (PD) for Newberry Plaza.

The final item on the agenda was a quasi-judicial public hearing on Resolution 2023-28, an application by the Florida Department of Agricultural & Consumer Services, Division of Animal Industry, agent for Alachua County Public Works, owner, for site and development plan approval to allow construction of a 3,000-square-foot 50x60 foot pre-engineered pole barn on a portion of the Alachua County Agriculture and Equestrian Center, 22712 W. Newberry Road. The barn will have no utilities and will be used to house agricultural and Search and Rescue Transponder (SART) emergency response equipment.

Planning and Economic Development Director Bryan Thomas said this is the exact same pole barn the Board and City Commission approved about a year ago. They have since outgrown it, he said. The Board voted unanimously to recommend the Board of Adjustment approve the request at their April 24 meeting.

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