Union County will soon have a new industrial park

Union County will soon have a new industrial park

County commissioners voted unanimously to give Plum Creek Land Company the go-ahead to proceed with plans on developing the Union County Industrial Park.

A 1,000 acre parcel of land located just east of Lake Butler on S.R. 100 has been chosen as the location of the proposed park and last week the board approved a comprehensive plan amendment to change the classification of the property from agriculture to industrial.

The park will include the total 1,000 acres with 795 acres set aside for industry. Additional acreage will provide a buffer zone between the highway and an already planned 50 acre bio-electricity plant. The bio-electricity plant will use waste from the adjacent Gilman Building Products to produce an alternative power source.

The park is being developed for such businesses as warehousing, distribution centers and light manufacturing. With an influx of new business, the county will see a larger ad valorem tax base with more tax dollars available to help the county.

The project still has to complete the approval process through varius agencies including the Florida department of Community Affairs before Plum Creek can begin marketing the site.

Plum Creek is the second largest private landowner in Florida with 601,000 acres and is the largest and most geographically diverse private landowner in the United States. They currently own more than 53 percent of the land in Union County.