Zoning

Zoning request focuses on Bloomingdale traffic

Editor's note: This column follows zoning petition requests for new commercial, retail and residential developments to provide you with 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.

BRANDON: A hotly contested request to rezone 42.5 acres on the west side of John Moore Road, about 500 feet south of Bloomingdale Avenue, from agricultural to planned development received approval from a zoning hearing master on March 13.

The developer, Keith W. Bricklemyer, wants to build 125 single-family homes with lot sizes ranging from 5,750-square feet to 8,050 square feet.

The original hearing date of Nov. 19, 2002, resulted in a Dec. 9, 2002, recommendation for approval by the land-use hearing officer. But in response to protests from residents in the surrounding neighborhood, the County Commission on Jan. 14 sent it back to the land-use officer after further study of transportation issues. At a hearing Feb. 25, Bricklemyer's transportation engineer presented a study that projected the amount of increased traffic and proposed the addition of an eastbound right turn lane on Bloomingdale Road. The study also suggested that improvements to the northbound left lane of John Moore Road will upgrade the level of service at the intersection.

Area resident Ryan Rodems presented opposition testimony indicating that Bloomingdale Avenue is already overtaxed according to a Dec. 2001 Roadway Level of Service Report. He said that he doesn't believe the developer's suggestions will solve the problems.

The County Commission is scheduled to review the petition April 8. (Petition RZ 02-1150)

LITHIA: The County Commission on Tuesday will consider a request from the FishHawk Communities Limited Partnership to build apartments instead of townhomes on a 25-acre parcel on FishHawk Crossing Boulevard. (Petition PRS 03-0397)

RIVERVIEW: Juanita West has filed a petition to rezone three-quarters of an acre at the southwest corner of U.S. 301 and Tucker Jones Road from residential to commercial. West wants to open a dance school and fitness center on the site. A zoning hearing master will review the petition on April 28. (Petition RZ 03-0584)

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.