Polk County Land Use Hearing Officer · May 28, 2026
Meeting date: May 28, 2026Summarized 2026-09-01 17:27
## Summary — Polk County Land Use Hearing Officer, May 28, 2026
**Format:** Quasi-judicial hearing before a single Land Use Hearing Officer (LUHO), not a voting board. No motions, seconds, or recorded votes appear anywhere in the record. Called to order 1:30 p.m., adjourned 2:15 p.m.
**No dollar amounts, contracts, or expenditures appear in the agenda or minutes.**
### Case dispositions
| Case | Subject | Status per minutes |
|---|---|---|
| LDLSE-2025-14 (Bass Lane SE) | — | **Withdrawn** |
| LDLVAR-2026-2 (Public Storage Davenport) | — | **Continued** (was already carried over as Old Business) |
| LDLVAR-2026-14 | Thompson Veterinary Center — right-of-way setback reduction for clinic addition, 3631 E Hwy 60 | Staff recommended approval; hearing opened and closed |
| LDLVAR-2026-15 | Hegedus, Solivita Phase 7D — rear setback 10 ft → 5 ft for solid roof over screened enclosure, 843 Pelican Hill Way | Staff recommended approval; hearing opened and closed |
| LDLVAR-2026-17 | 1946 Manatee Ct — ROW setback 25 ft → 20 ft and rear setback 20 ft → 15 ft, single-family home | Staff recommended approval; hearing opened and closed |
| LDLVAR-2025/2026-20 | Samus — side yard accessory setback 5 ft → 0 ft, 0.71 acres, 1508 Lake Rochelle Dr | Staff recommended approval; hearing opened and closed |
| LDLVAR-2026-23 | Shepherd Road — ROW setback 35 ft → 15 ft for a new office, RL-1 district near Mulberry | Staff recommended approval; hearing opened and closed |
| LDLVAR-2025/2026-27 | 84 Lumber — impervious surface ratio increase from 0.60 to 0.70 on ~2.74 acres, BPC-2 district off Industrial Blvd | Staff recommended approval; hearing opened and closed |
### Notable points
- **The minutes do not record a final ruling on any of the six new-business variances.** Each entry ends with "The LUHO closed the public portion of the hearing" — no approval, denial, or conditions are documented.
- **Zero public participation.** For all six cases, notice was sent (19–33 mailers each, all mailed 5/11/26), one sign posted 5/8/26, and legal ad published 5/13/26; staff reported **no responses** to any mailing, and the minutes state for every case: "There was neither support nor opposition in the audience."
- **Record-keeping inconsistencies in the source document:**
- The agenda lists items as LDLVAR-2025-20 and LDLVAR-2025-27; the minutes caption them LDLV-2026-20 and LDLV-2026-27.
- Under item 7 (Shepherd Road, applicant Ricardo Jimenez), the minutes state "Adam Smith, applicant, was available to answer questions" — Adam Smith is the applicant listed for item 5, not item 7.
- Item 8 (84 Lumber, off Industrial Boulevard near Auburndale) lists the property owner as "0 Shepherd Road Land Trust," the same owner named in item 7 for a Mulberry-area parcel.
- The minutes place the "MINUTES APPROVAL" heading and the withdrawn Bass Lane item under New Business, reversing the agenda's ordering; no prior-meeting minutes are recorded as approved.
Apart from the withdrawal and the continuance, the docket is routine setback and impervious-surface variance requests, all with staff recommendations of approval and no opposition.