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Next year is the earliest the master plan can again be considered.
By JOSH ZIMMER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 23, 2002
CITRUS PARK -- Adding further controversy to the proposed Citrus Park Village Master Plan, a sharply divided Hillsborough County Commission on Tuesday night voted to delay considering the plan until next year.
The board was scheduled to approve or reject an amendment to the county's comprehensive land use plan allowing for the 800-acre village. But following talks this week with plan opponents, top managers with the county's Department of Planning and Growth Management surprised commissioners and residents by asking for more time to address continuing issues.
After heated discussion, Commissioners Jan Platt, Stacey Easterling, Chris Hart and Chairwoman Pat Frank voted to refer the plan back to the staff. Commissioners Jim Norman, Tom Scott and Ronda Storms wanted the plan to move ahead. The vote effectively sends planners and the community back to the drawing board.
Platt tried to placate between 20 and 25 frustrated supporters.
"I think it's in everybody's interest," she said. "You want it done right."
But Norman and supporters were furious. Angered by the last-minute request from County Administrator Dan Kleman, Norman said it was unfair, especially after two years of planning, to raise residents' expectations.
"We continue to lead them to meeting after meeting after meeting," he said. "We, in my opinion, let them down."
The vote means the earliest the board and the City-County Planning Commission can address the plan again is next year. Comprehensive plan amendments can be approved only twice a year. In addition, both boards must approve the necessary zoning changes and revisions to the county's land development code to implement any plan.
"Nothing's going to change by going back to the community," said Richard Wolfe, a plan advocate who urged the commissioners to approve the amendment. "If we postpone it another six months or a year, there will be nothing left to save."
Controversy over the plan has mounted in recent months.
Supporters, some of them eager to sell their land to developers, say the plan would create an exciting, tree-lined downtown with mixed commercial and residential uses. Detractors argue the plan will encourage too much development.
The schism came to the county commissioners' attention two weeks ago. Instead of a simple staff review -- they heard from a divided community. Since then, Planning and Growth's staff has talked with plan opponents. During those discussions, interim director Bernardo Garcia said it became clear the problems were too great to resolve in time.
In addition, Zoning Division director Paula Harvey told commissioners she needed more information from residents and other departments before she could write the necessary regulations to implement the plan.
The plan didn't take into account the wishes of mobile home owners. Nor did it fully address questions about the reconfiguration of Ehrlich Road, Harvey said. She also believes opponents need a better understanding of building densities because they wrongly portray the plan as encouraging large-scale development.
Leslie Horton, who joined other neighbors in successfully seceding from the plan area, says the next proposal should be more specific about what businesses can open, while requiring that more trees be replaced if developers tear them down.
"We're happy about the continuance," she said Wednesday. But "We're very sad it further divides the community."
-- Josh Zimmer covers Keystone, Citrus Park and the environment. He can be reached at 269-5314.