LITHIA - Lithia residents are fighting a request from Transcend Development Corp. to rezone 82 acres at the northeast corner of Dorman and Browning roads to planned development. The property currently is zoned for one home per 5 acres.
"It doesn't fit in with the character of the area," said Gail Scott, who lives on Dorman Road.
A request to rezone a 39-acre portion of the parcel to one home per acre was denied in June. Although a zoning official recommended approval of the first request from property owners Richard and Miko Longanecker, the County Commission denied it. The Longaneckers' plan called for 39 homes on the site. Residents in the surrounding area expressed concern that the 1-acre lots would not be compatible with the neighborhood. They also worried that the new homes would exacerbate traffic and drainage problems, and put a strain on local schools and police and fire rescue service.
In their report, county staffers said that affected roads, schools and other services would continue to operate acceptably if only 24 homes were built.
According to county law, developers can't seek rezoning on a property where a request has been denied unless the new proposal is substantially different.
Four months after the June denial, Transcend proposed putting 26 homes on the 39-acre parcel, then revised its site plan in January. The new proposal includes an adjacent piece of land and shows 43 homes on 81 acres. Of those homes, 39 would have minimum lot sizes of 1 acre; four would be a minimum of 4 acres.
Still, the residents object.
Scott said they don't want a cookie-cutter subdivision nearby.
"Each of our lots are different sizes, shapes, house sizes. We don't have sidewalks," she said.
She noted that in the past few years, three other large parcels in the area have been developed with 5-acre tracts and no one complained.
"We didn't fight any of those. As much as we'd rather see the farms, we have to be realistic," she said. "There is a lot of development going on, but it's maintaining its rural characteristics."
A zoning official is scheduled to consider Transcend's rezoning request March 15. (Petition 03-1630)
RUSKIN: On Tuesday, a zoning official approved a request from Kirk Files to rezone 28 acres on the north side of Shell Point Road just east of 15th Street NE. The developer wants to build 125 single-family homes on the site, which currently is approved for 102 mobile homes. The County Commission is scheduled to make a final decision on the request March 23. (Petition 04-0180)
RUSKIN: M/I Homes has asked to rezone 158 acres on the north side of Shell Point Road between Fourth Street NW and 14th Street NW to planned development. The company wants to build 740 single-family homes and 375 townhomes on the property. The land currently is in several zoning categories. Some is already planned development, but other parts are approved for either one home per acre or six homes per acre. A zoning official is scheduled to consider the request April 26. (Petition 04-0568)
When and where
Hearings of county zoning hearing masters and land use hearing officers, and land use meetings of the County Commission are held on the second floor of the County Center, 601 E Kennedy Blvd. All hearings before a zoning hearing master begin at 6 p.m. on Mondays or Tuesdays; commission meetings begin at 9 a.m. on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month. Both are televised on government access channels. Land use hearing officer hearings, which are not televised, begin at 9 a.m. every third Friday. Basic information about each petition is available online at http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/pgm/zoning/hearings.html hearing date. For information, call 276-2058.
