By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
Published May 2, 2003
SUN CITY CENTER - Leaders of this retirement community have spent several months working with county staff, drafting a policy that would prevent under-55 couples and children from calling Sun City Center home.
Sun City Center leaders say they simply want to uphold the retiree lifestyle upon which their community was founded 40 years ago.
"We dearly love our grandchildren," said Community Association President Walt Cawein. "But this was born as a senior citizens' retirement community, and we want it to stay that way."
The county's proposed age restriction would affect only about four dozen homes in the community that currently lack deed restrictions. If approved, Hillsborough would become the first county on the East Coast to adopt a zoning code based on age limits.
At least one resident of the households in question would have to be 55 or older, under the proposal. Anyone 18 or younger could visit for no more than 30 days in a calendar year. Existing residents would be grandfathered in, but as ownership or occupancy of the home changes, the home would be subject to the county zoning.
Now that the zoning proposal is awaiting consideration by the Hillsborough County Commission, some commissioners have deep reservations about how to enforce such a policy.
Even code enforcement officials admit the policy would be tough to police.
"We don't have a plan on paper that will state exactly how we go in and enforce this," code enforcement director Dexter Barge told commissioners last week.
Commissioners Kathy Castor and Jan Platt expressed dismay at the lack of a plan, and questioned whether county taxpayers should foot the bill to enforce a policy that benefits such a narrow population.
Commissioner Pat Frank asked staff to investigate whether residents in the affected area could be forced to pay enforcement costs.
While code enforcement officers currently working in the Sun City Center area could be assigned to enforce the age restriction, Barge said it would be "up to residents to alert us to a problem."
Platt said she doesn't want enforcement to depend on Sun City Center residents tattling on each other. "This will open the door to a government regulation that I don't think we have really thought through," she said.
Under the proposal, the county could make exceptions for special circumstances, such as a family death or health emergency.
"If a mother of a grandchild gets deployed, or there's a divorce, or there's money issues, we can deal with that," Cawein said. "We are not antichildren."
The affected homes were bought without a deed restriction, which specifies Sun City Center's 55-and-older age limit, or had a deed restriction that has expired.
The Community Association is working with each of the affected homeowners, trying to bring the properties into an over-55 deed restriction. In the meantime, they want the county to protect them from Realtors who might try to sell the homes to young families.
Commissioners will hold a public hearing May 15, and take a final vote on the proposal June 5
