Zoning

5,380-home subdivision okayed

Editor's note: This column will follow zoning petition requests for new commercial, retail and residential developments. Our goal is to provide you with specific information about what's being planned for the orchard across the street or the empty lot around the corner. We'll also keep you up to speed on public hearings so that you can make your voice heard. Petition numbers are provided in bold to help you get more information from the county.

On Tuesday, the Board of County Commissioners approved modifications to plans for a 1,385-acre development on the northeast corner of State Road 674 at U.S. 301, just east of Sun City Center. Developers of the property, known as the DG Farms tract, will build 5,380 residential units and 469,999 square feet of office and commercial space. (MM 02-1062)

The County Commission approved several other requests:

GIBSONTON: Burcaw and Associates got the go-head to rezone 295.86 acres on the south side of Symmes Road, east of North Street, to build 798 single-family homes and 178 townhomes. The northern half of the property is currently a fish farm, the southern half is undeveloped. (RZ 02-1310)

GIBSONTON: Robert E. Wooley won approval to develop 25 single-family homes on 15.5 acres on the south side of Riverview Drive, east of 78th Street. (RZ 02-1355)

LIMONA: F. Wayne Lynch will be allowed to develop 2,500 square feet of office/warehouse space on 1 acre on the east side of Falkenburg Road, just north of Windhorst Road. The southern portion of the site will be used as a parking area for a planned development to the south. (RZ02-1460)

BRANDON: Pulte Home Corp., got the okay to develop 132 townhomes instead of a 136-unit assisted living facility on a 36.38-acre property on Providence Lakes Boulevard. Pulte will also be permitted to build a child care center for 70 children on the site. (MM 02-1380)

PALM RIVER: Bristol Bay Associates got permission to convert 100,000 square feet of commercial space to 224 multifamily residences on the southwest corner of 12th Avenue at U.S. 41. The property was originally approved for 300 multifamily units and 100,000 square feet of commercial development. (RZ 02-0796)

VALRICO: Florida Southeast Development received approval to build 278 townhomes and 125,235 square feet of commercial space on 176.56 acres on the northeast corner of N Mulrennan Road at State Road 60. The bulk of the property is being developed for 603 single-family homes. The 29.7-acre tract where the townhomes will be built was previously approved for commercial uses only. (MM 02-1385)

The zoning hearing master is scheduled to hear the following requests on Monday.

VALRICO: Richard R. Kosan wants to rezone 9.85 acres on the west side of S St. Cloud Avenue, north of Durant Road. The property is currently designated for residential and agricultural uses with four homes per acre allowable. The applicants would like to develop the property with 30 single-family residential lots. Access to the community would be provided from St. Cloud Avenue. (RZ 03-0102)

BRANDON: Sembler Corp. will seek approval to remove a convenience store and gas station in the Clayton Plaza shopping center on Brandon Boulevard at S Kings Avenue and construct an Eckerd drug store in its place. The convenience store is 2,556 square feet. The proposed drug store would be 14,287 square feet. (RZ 03-0109)

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://was.hillsboroughcounty.org/pgm_zoning/home.cfm by petition date. For information, call 276-2058.