Zoning

County paves way for up to 1,625 homes

By JANET ZINK
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 28, 2003

Editor's note: This column follows zoning petition requests for new commercial, retail and residential developments to provide specific information about what's being planned in your community. We'll also alert you about 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.

RUSKIN -- The Hillsborough County Commission on Tuesday approved two zoning applications that will pave the way for the construction of up to 1,625 residences in the Ruskin/Apollo Beach area.

The Commission okayed a request from Tew, Barnes and Atkinson to rezone 258.85 acres to planned development. The land is currently zoned agricultural rural and residential single-family conventional. A portion of it was also zoned planned development in 1997 and approved for 276 recreational vehicles on 2,000-square-foot lots. The change will allow for construction of 625 single-family homes. The developer will call the community Mira Lago, and homes there will range in size from 1,700 to 3,000 square feet.

The property, on Shell Point Road west of 14th Street, currently contains citrus groves. It contains a large man-made pond, and it is adjacent to 40 acres that the county acquired as part of the Environmental Lands Acquisition and Protection program.

The developer originally requested approval of 4,400- to 6,600-square-foot lots for the homes. But because the site is in a flood hazard area and adjacent to protected land, the county approved 5,000-square-foot minimum lot sizes and is requiring 7,000-square-foot lots on the eastern and southern property boundaries. The county also is requiring 25-foot rear yard setbacks on the western boundary.

The developer will be required to build bike paths along Shell Point Road and 19th Avenue. (RZ 02-1290)

Commissioners also approved a petition from Centex Real Estate Corp., to rezone 233 acres from agricultural to planned development. Centex will build a 1,000-unit retirement village on the property located on U.S. 41 south of Miller Mac Road.

The age-restricted community will be comprised of single-family homes, two-unit villas and quadraplexes. Homes will range from 1,300 to 2,200 square feet and sell from the $130,000 to low $200,000. Centex also plans to build a heated pool, jogging trails and 12,000-square foot recreation center to be staffed by a full-time activities director. (RZ 03-0052)

BRANDON -- A county land use hearing officer on Jan. 31 approved a request for an alcohol special use permit from the owners of a Cherry's Restaurant that will be located on E Brandon Boulevard near Valrico Road. Land development code requires a 250-foot separation between residential areas and businesses selling alcoholic beverages for on-site consumption. The Cherry's, located in a Publix shopping center, is located 180 feet from residential property.

Cherry's restaurants are located in Tampa, Plant City and Riverview. The casual restaurant specializes in burgers and fries.

When and where

Hearings of county zoning hearing masters, 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.

Brandon Times: The rest of the stories