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BILL COATSCritics object to including a gas station or fast food restaurant to the project at U.S. 41 and Cypress Lane. Supporters say it would be good for Lutz.
LUTZ - More than 50 Lutz residents - including a mysterious busload of 30 - descended on the County Center this week to take sides in a rezoning along U.S. 41.
Representatives of the owners of 12 acres at U.S. 41 and Cypress Lane argued that their plans for cracker-style office buildings, plus three stores, would easily be the nicest development along Lutz's main drag.
Critics said it would spill pollution into one of Lutz's most cherished lakes and would crowd too much development on a strip of highway frontage.
The two groups won't learn who prevails until Aug. 26, when the County Commission is scheduled to vote on the issue. Monday night's debate was held before a zoning judge, who must write a recommendation for commissioners by early August.
Already, the county's planners have endorsed the rezoning. They said the development would fit with the businesses lining U.S. 41 now and with the government's country-crossroads vision for U.S. 41.
"They've embodied the rural residential styles throughout the whole project," said Melissa Zornita of the county's Planning Commission.
The largest group against the project, homeowners surrounding Lake Brandt, turned in 70 letters of opposition. Ten years ago, they formed Hillsborough County's first taxing district devoted to protecting a lake.
Their spokesman, Chris Capkovic, said they weren't against the development overall, but they wanted to eliminate the possibility of a gasoline station or a fast-food restaurant there. Capkovic cited a study that found gasoline additives in hundreds of wells in the region.
"The reality is that contamination continues," he said.
But experts representing the land owner said modern gasoline tanks are safe and the detention pond would capture at least 85 percent of any pollutants that did escape.
Both opponents and supporters were more visible than vocal.
The Lake Brandt group wore red shirts but left most of the talking to Capkovic.
Only hired experts spoke for the project, while more than 30 supporters listened. Many turned in brief letters saying simply that the development would be good for Lutz. They brandished bright yellow-green signs of support.
Several members of the group said they were simply friends who liked the development. They denied they were from First Baptist Church of Lutz, whose pastor urged his members to support the development.
First Baptist is planning a new campus on 32 acres abutting the northern boundary of the rezoning property, and the Cypress Lane plans include a road connection to the future church.
An opponent, Denise Layne, president of the Lutz Civic Association, said most of the supporters were from the church. She predicted they would someday regret the road, which would bring shoppers and office workers past church functions.
"They're going to go through the church property to Crystal Lake Road because there's a traffic light there, and they can turn left," she said.
- Bill Coats can be reached at 813 269-5309 or coats@sptimes.com