More than 70 vacant acres south of Bartow could open to manufacturing, processing and other heavy industrial operations under a proposal moving through Polk County.
Organic Matters Inc. owns the 71.26-acre property between Old Homeland Road and U.S. 17/98, where county commissioners on Aug. 18 advanced the company’s request to broaden what can be built on the site. No specific project has been disclosed.
The property can already accommodate warehouses, distribution centers, offices and some light industrial operations. The change would allow considerably heavier uses, including general manufacturing, processing, fabrication and recycling, as well as operations conducted outdoors.
County planners calculated that the property could theoretically accommodate nearly 1.5 million square feet of industrial or warehouse space after accounting for wetlands. Organic Matters has not proposed a development of that size, and county records do not identify what the company intends to build.
The land sits within the Homeland Industrial Complex, where industrial operations already surround much of the property. Metromont, which manufactures precast concrete products, operates immediately to the north, while warehouses, equipment operations and outdoor storage are located to the south along Austin Phillip Lane.
County planners found that allowing more intensive industrial uses would be consistent with surrounding development and recommended approval.
The Polk County Planning Commission recommended approval 7-0 in June, and county commissioners are scheduled to consider final approval Oct. 6. The application does not identify what Organic Matters intends to build, how much it expects to invest or when development could begin.