Mayor Nick Sortal wants the new comprehensive plan to cap housing at 25 units an acre, not the 50 proposed for Midtown and Gateway. The council votes Nov. 18.

Mayor Nick Sortal wants Plantation’s new comprehensive plan to keep the city’s limit on housing density at 25 units an acre. The draft before the City Council would double it to 50 in two parts of the city.

Sortal set out his position in a letter to residents dated Oct. 13. “The existing plan on the table is for a maximum residential density of 50 units per acre, but to limit growth I suggest we keep it at 25,” he wrote.

The letter also confirms the council’s final vote on the plan has moved to Wednesday, Nov. 18. It had been set for this Wednesday, Oct. 21.

Where the 50 units would apply

The proposed 2025-2045 comprehensive plan would replace the city’s current plan in full. It sets the long-term rules for land use, housing, roads, drainage and parks.

At the Aug. 26 council meeting, Interim Planning, Zoning and Economic Development Director Michael Alpert said the rise from 25 to 50 units an acre was limited to two priority redevelopment areas, according to the meeting minutes:

  • Midtown, the district around Westfield Broward, between Pine Island Road and University Drive
  • the Gateway district, along State Road 7 in eastern Plantation

Staff told the council the 50-unit figure had been part of the city’s Midtown plan since 2016. They said any project would still need its own full public hearing before approval. See our Midtown neighborhood guide for what is there now.

What else the mayor’s letter says

  • Nov. 18 “at least.” Sortal wrote that he is moving the vote back “to Nov. 18 at least.” If the council is not happy with the plan then, it can ask for another deferral, he wrote.
  • No 180-day delay. He said he recognized “the continued requests for a 180-day extension” but called Nov. 18 a compromise.
  • A Midtown Activity Center. He supports seeking an Activity Center designation for Midtown. That would be a separate planning process on density, housing, traffic and open space there.
  • Live music. “We are starving for live music,” he wrote, and said the city needs more entertainment.

He said seeing “extra-high buildings in Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale and even Davie” had raised residents’ anxiety. Davie borders Plantation about four miles south.

How the plan got here

The vote has now been put off three times.

Date What happened
Aug. 26 Council voted 4-1 to table the plan to Sept. 9 so residents could read it. Council President Denise Horland voted no.
Sept. 9 The plan was deferred again, the Sept. 9 minutes show.
Oct. 7 Several speakers asked the council for a 180-day extension.
Oct. 13 Sortal’s letter moves the vote to Nov. 18 and proposes the 25-unit cap.
Nov. 10 Planning and Zoning Board discussion with public comment. No vote.
Nov. 18 Scheduled City Council vote.

The plan runs to two volumes. At the Oct. 7 meeting, speakers raised traffic on Broward Boulevard and Nob Hill Road and drainage in older neighborhoods. One said she had found at least 29 errors in the document. Among them, she said, the two volumes disagree on whether 50 units an acre is a maximum or a minimum. Another speaker said the plan had been in public development for more than five years. He suggested a delay of 30 days at most.

Horland opposed the August delay. She said the process had started in 2022 and included workshops and several public hearings, according to the Aug. 26 minutes. On Sept. 9 she said she was concerned about “a little bit of a disinformation campaign” over the plan, the minutes show.

A city planning department deferral memo on the Oct. 21 agenda says the plan stays on that agenda only because it was already advertised. The council will not vote on it Wednesday.

The Nov. 18 vote comes after the Nov. 3 election. Sortal and council member Timothy J. Fadgen are the two candidates for mayor, according to the Broward County Supervisor of Elections. Our voting guide has the full ballot and early voting hours.

What it means for you

  • Nothing changes yet. The city’s current comprehensive plan stays in force until the council adopts a new one.
  • To speak before the vote, go to the Planning and Zoning Board meeting Tuesday, Nov. 10. The board will take public comment.
  • To comment in writing, email the mayor and council through the city’s council contact page, or use the e-comment link on the agenda once the Nov. 18 meeting is posted on the city’s meetings portal.
  • To watch, council meetings stream live on the city’s meetings page.

For the projects already in the pipeline, see our building permits and zoning guide. For this week’s council agenda, see our Oct. 21 meeting preview.