SOUTHWEST RANCHES, Fla. – A battle is brewing in Southwest Ranches over a proposal to put a truck stop, among other things, on a stretch of U.S. Route 27.
There's a meeting to discuss the idea Thursday night, and the plan is already getting some pushback.
“It’s a corridor transportation route, and we’re looking at a commercial light industry, employment center primarily,” real estate tycoon Ron Bergeron said.
Bergeron owns the 55 acres in question, which sit across from the entrance to Holiday Park.
“It could be a Cracker Barrel, a Wawa. It could be a distribution center, some outdoor storage, office warehouse -- different things like that,” he said.
But re-development options are limited because of rules adopted several years ago by a comprehensive planning committee.
It prohibits gas stations and fuel sales on the land, motor vehicle repair shops and a truck stop, which Bergeron is asking the town council to repeal at Thursday night’s meeting.
“We’re at the stage where we’re trying to work with the town,” Bergeron said.
“I am worried about it because all these homes here are on wells,” Steve Breitkreuz, who lives nearby, said.
Breitkreuz is the president of the Country Estates Homeowners Association and said he’s against the idea currently being proposed.
“Specifically, we looked at water pollution was highest on the list, but we were also concerned about sound, air pollution -- anything that would impede or get in the way of our rural lifestyle,” Breitkreuz said.
Instead, Breitkreuz points to the nearly 100 other acceptable development ideas permitted, like hotels, furniture and appliance sales and repair, daycare centers and animal hospitals.
“There are a lot of other uses,” he said. “Let’s not pick one that puts our community in jeopardy.”