Amazon starts building delivery station on Anderson Snow Road

Amazon has begun construction on a new delivery station at 2318 Anderson Snow Road in Spring Hill. The 70.6-acre parcel sits at the southeast corner of Anderson Snow Road and Corporate Boulevard, near Radiant Church. The site was recently clear-cut, leaving only small patches of vegetation along the edges.

The project marks the start of physical work on a facility that county commissioners approved nearly five years ago. Amazon.com Services LLC owns the property. The new station will serve as the final stop in the company's network before packages reach customers. Vehicles will load sorted parcels there for the last leg of delivery.

Austin Stowe, an Amazon spokesman, said the team has begun building the station. He noted the facility will provide local customers with faster delivery while creating jobs in the community. Amazon operates similar facilities in Tampa and Groveland. The company states it has invested more than $55 billion in Florida since 2010 and employs more than 57,000 people statewide.

The path to construction started in late 2021 when a petitioner asked the county to revise the site's master plan. The request sought permission for a 250,000-square-foot delivery and distribution center operating around the clock. The proposal also asked to allow buildings up to 50 feet tall, which is five feet above the standard limit.

The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval on December 13, 2021. The vote was unanimous, and the hearing lasted only three minutes with no public comment. The County Commission took up the request on January 11, 2022. After about 20 minutes of debate, the commission voted 4-1 to approve the project.

Commissioners Steve Champion, Elizabeth Narverud, Wayne Dukes, and Jeff Holcomb voted yes. Commissioner John Allocco voted no. Allocco expressed concern about truck traffic overwhelming already congested roads. He specifically pointed to County Line Road and Spring Hill Drive as potential bottlenecks for exiting vehicles.

Ronald Pianta, then the county's planning and zoning director, explained that the property had long been designated for industrial use. He noted the new request was considerably smaller than previous plans for the site, which once called for buildings of 750,000 and 650,000 square feet. The developer expected to conduct a traffic study and make road improvements, including dedicating right of way.

Kami Corbett, an attorney representing the petitioner, said the site would see delivery vans in addition to larger trucks. She argued that the unified development would help improve the roadway. Champion called the project perfect but noted that Anderson Snow Road was a disaster for tractor-trailers. He said the intersection would need a traffic light, which county officials agreed was necessary.

Allocco remained skeptical of the road improvements. He said widening Anderson Snow Road to 10 lanes would not solve the problems drivers face on Spring Hill Drive or County Line Road. He also worried about wear and tear on county-maintained roads from heavy trucks. Gary Stroud, the only member of the public to speak, urged approval. He said residents could not wait decades more for the jobs the facility would bring.

Amazon has not announced when the station will open or how many people it will employ. The company also has not confirmed whether the building will match the size approved in 2022. Stowe said the company will continue working with local officials and share more details as plans progress. Meanwhile, crews are currently installing the traffic light that commissioners said the road would need.