 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Neighborhood notebook
By BILL COATS and JOSH ZIMMER Debate is set for County Commission candidatesTAMPA PALMS -- Candidates for the Hillsborough County Commission are to debate Thursday at the cafeteria/auditorium of Freedom High School and Liberty Middle School, 17410 Commerce Park Blvd., off Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, just south of Interstate 75. The event begins at 7 p.m. with candidates for District 2, the north Hillsborough seat. Afterward, candidates for two at-large seats are to debate. For information, call 973-3298. Judge: Family can finish controversial residenceODESSA -- A family that infuriated their Lutz-Lake Fern Road neighbors by constructing a residence resembling a duplex should be allowed to finish the 9,000-square-foot project, Circuit Court Judge James Barton said last week. In a suit filed last month against Hillsborough County, Jerry and Mark Sampson claimed the county should not have stopped construction after issuing various construction permits. The county said the residence owned by Jerry Sampson -- two self-supporting units separated by a covered garage -- was an illegal duplex and wanted work halted until the Sampsons removed one of the kitchens. The ruling was a crushing blow to neighbors who spent thousands of dollars fighting the project. Since construction started last year they have argued the residence should be torn down. Duplexes are illegal in agricultural/residential zones. Sampson signed an affidavit with the Department of Planning and Growth Management saying the second kitchen would not be used for a second family unit. Three generations of the family plan to live there, he said. The department later decided the residence amounted to a duplex, but the Sampsons never removed the second kitchen or submitted revised building plans. Barton said the Sampsons were merely relying on legitimate county permits, said the family's attorney, Ron Noble of Tampa. They never lied on the affidavit because the same family will be living in both units. Noble said the building should be completed by year's end.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times Marlene Sokol |
