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Used car lot hearing may be delayed

VALRICO - Plans for an Ernie Haire used car dealership are likely to take a detour next week.

A zoning hearing master was scheduled to hear a request to rezone 9 acres at the corner of State Road 60 and Mount Carmel Road on Tuesday.

But Keith Bricklemyer, the attorney for the property owner, a St. Paul-based company, will be out of the country Tuesday and has asked to postpone the hearing until July 15.

The hearing master will decide Tuesday night whether to grant the postponement or proceed with the hearing.

Zoning hearing coordinator Geri Shofstall said that postponements often are granted, but not always.

"If anyone is interested in (the petition) I would be there," Shofstall said.

Residents of Brentwood Hills, which is adjacent to the property, are very interested.

They object to the arrival of a used car lot on the property, which is approved for a financial institution.

"We feel that a financial institution will better serve our community and have a less negative impact on our quality of life," said Brentwood Hills resident Kevin Ratliff.

Ratliff and his neighbors say they don't want people test-driving cars on Mount Carmel Road, which runs through the center of their community.

The road has no crosswalks or sidewalks, and half of the people in the 950-home Brentwood Hills neighborhood have to cross Mount Carmel to get to the community swimming pool, soccer field and other recreational facilities.

"Many of these pedestrians are children," Ratliff said.

In addition, the rear of the sales and service lot will be adjacent to several homes in Brentwood Hills.

Residents worry about the noise from vehicle servicing, lighting and the potential for increased crime.

Ernie Haire has agreed to some concessions to minimize the impact of the dealership, said Mark Braverman, chairman of a Brentwood Hills Homeowners Association subcommittee formed to fight the zoning request.

The dealership will limit the hours of the service station, forgo loudspeakers and install 22-foot lights instead of the usual 50-foot ones and direct them away from the houses. Ernie Haire has also said it will include a requirement in its permit specifying that test driving be done on State Road 60 rather than Mount Carmel.

"But what if people violate that?" Braverman said during a community meeting May 29. "This community doesn't want to get involved in code enforcement." (Petition 03-0411)

LITHIA: At their land use meeting Tuesday, Hillsborough County commissioners rejected a request from Richard and Miko Longanecker to rezone 39 acres at the northeast corner of Dorman and Browning roads from agricultural rural, which allows one home per 5 acres, to agricultural, single-family conventional, which allows one home per acre. (Petition 03-0583)

In other action Tuesday:

RIVERVIEW: Commissioners approved a request from Beazer Homes to rezone 48 acres on Balm-Riverview Road south of Tucker Road from agricultural rural to planned development. Beazer plans to build Creek View, a subdivision of 130 homes. (Petition 03-0410)

RIVERVIEW: Commissioners approved a request from Westshore Development Group to rezone 46 acres on U.S. 301 at Gibsonton Drive from agricultural rural to planned development. Westshore will build 350,0000 square feet of retail and office space on the site, including a "big box" retail outlet. (Petition 03-0424)

SUMMERFIELD: Cornerstone Communities got approval to rezone 43 acres on the west side of Cowley Road, 150 feet south of Cowley Cove, from agricultural to planned development. The developer plans to build 166 homes on the site. (Petition 03-0433)

SEFFNER: A heavily wooded property on Castlewood Drive, three-eighths of a mile south of U.S. 92, was approved for development. Commissioners okayed a request from Lee Pallardy and Dennis Carlton to rezone the 30-acre parcel from agricultural residential to agricultural, single-family conventional, which allows one home per acre. (Petition 03-504)

SUMMERFIELD: Summerfield Farms has filed papers with the county asking to rezone 69 acres southwest of its existing property on U.S. 301 just south of Big Bend Road from agricultural rural, which allows one home per 5 acres, and RSC-9, which allows nine homes per acre, to planned development. The developer is seeking approval to build 180 single-family homes there. The parcel is considered a significant wetlands habitat, and the developer proposes off-setting the impact of the homes by restoring parts of the Bullfrog Creek system. A zoning hearing master is scheduled to consider the request Aug. 25. (Petition 03-0978)

BRANDON: Khan Enterprises is asking to rezone 5 acres on Boyette Road just west of Bell Shoals Road from agricultural rural to planned development. Khan wants to build a 48,000-square-foot office building with a small restaurant and 4,000 square feet of specialty retail space. A zoning hearing master is scheduled to consider the request Aug. 25. (Petition 03-0976)

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.