OKEECHOBEE -- At their Aug. 10 meeting, the Okeechobee County Commission approved a request from Frank DeCarlo to change zoning from Agriculture to Heavy Industrial on a 101-acre property at 5198 State Road 710 E, about a mile southeast of the entrance to the Okeechobee Agri-Civic Center.

At their July 27 public hearing, the Okeechobee County Planning Board unanimously recommended zoning change approval for this property.

The property currently has a barn and several agricultural accessory buildings.

According to the county staff report, the subject property has frontage on State Road 710, a major arterial highway that connects Okeechobee County with the coastal counties of Martin and Palm Beach to the east. On the rear side of the property is an active railroad line and a large drainage feature managed by the South Florida Water Management District. The general area is somewhat rural and is mainly zoned Agriculture with many tracts along State Road 710 still having agricultural uses.

According to the county staff report, to the southeast is a 99-acre parcel that was rezoned to Heavy Industrial earlier this year, followed by Hi-Lo Acres, a residential subdivision that is accessed by SE 59th Boulevard from State Road 710. Hi-Lo Acres is zoned Residential Single Family and is a fully developed single street residential subdivision. Continuing southeast along SR 710, past SE 59th Boulevard, is a 45-acre tract that includes a small area that was rezoned to Heavy Industrial (I-2), and beyond that is a 20-acre tract that was rezoned to Public Service years ago to allow for a transfer station where solid waste could be brought to the property by rail, and then offloaded to garbage trucks that would transport the solid waste to the regional landfill.

Also in this area on the other side of SR 710 are a small residential subdivision, a former truck stop site, some larger tracts in agricultural uses, and the large lot Sherman Wood Ranches subdivision.

To the north are several large tracts zoned Agriculture (A) that are developed with single family homes.

There were no public comments on the issue.

Commissioners Brad Goodbread and Kelly Owens noted the rezoning falls in place with the future land use map.

“The planning board felt it was a reasonable request,” said Owens. “You all know my concerns in this area. If there is future development, State Road 710 is a concern for traffic load and water quality continues to be a concern.

The request was approved with a 3-0 vote. Commissioner Terry Burroughs was not present at the meeting. Commissioner Frank DeCarlo recused himself from voting.

In other business at their Aug. 10 meeting. commissioners approved a rezoning request from Residential Mobile Home (RMH) and Commercial (C) to Neighborhood Commercial-2 (NC-2) for a 2 acre parcel at 30398 US Highway 441 North,  on the east side of US Highway 441 N in the Fort Drum area, at the intersection with NE 304th Street.