APOLLO BEACH: John Holdsworth, owner of the Pelican Apartments and an office building on Apollo Beach Boulevard, has filed a petition for a variance for the placement of trash receptacles.
Holdsworth's containers have been located on Apollo Beach Boulevard for more than 30 years. But in September, the county notified him that the trash receptacles violated a county ordinance and had to be moved.
In a letter to the county, Holdsworth's attorney, Michael Peterson, wrote that "site plan reviews three decades ago did not specifically address Dumpster locations."
The current land development code requires placement of trash containers next to or behind buildings. But when the sites were designed 30 years ago, the trash containers were placed on the street and the buildings located with no available space on the side or rear of the properties. The fronts are dedicated to parking.
Holdsworth is willing to move the trash containers away from the street and screen them from view, but isn't able to meet the requirements of the code.
Several other owners of apartment and commercial buildings along Apollo Beach Boulevard have been hit with the same code violation notice in the past year, said county inspector Jack Dyke.
"The Dumpsters are considered an accessory structure, and according to county ordinance accessory structures are not allowed to be located in the front of a building. We've received several complaints and that's why we took the steps we did," Dyke said.
Some property owners have switched to curbside service using individual trash cans to dispose of waste. Others have received variances for solid waste container placement and screened them from view.
Property owners, said Dyke, have been cooperative.
"They understand the issue. The limit is there really is no place to put them," he said.
Larry Underwood, the member of the Apollo Beach Beautification Committee who brought the trash issue to light, said he's happy with the steps property owners are taking.
"They're making an effort," he said. "They're making an improvement."
A land use hearing officer will consider Holdsworth's request Sept. 5. (Petition 03-1252)
RIVERVIEW: The County Commission on Tuesday gave Premier Design Homes of Florida Inc. approval to rezone 99 acres on the south side of Bloomingdale Avenue, three-eighths of a mile west of U.S. 301. The vacant parcel was designated for agricultural uses and one single-family home per acre. The new planned development zoning will allow Premier to build 1,267 townhouses, condominiums and apartments on the site.
At a hearing in May, residents in surrounding neighborhoods voiced concerns over having a development "of this magnitude and density" near their homes. They worry about additional traffic and drainage problems if the development's retention ponds overflow. Other residents worried about what will happen to wildlife in the area. (Petition RZ 03-0439)
In other action Tuesday:
BRANDON: The County Commission approved Tom Kazbour's request for a minor modification to a planned development at the southwest corner of State Road 60 and Glendale Drive. The 4-acre Handy City retail facility was approved in 1979 for 40,875 square feet of commercial and retail space. Kazbour - owner of seven Kazbour's Grills throughout the state, several Hungry Howie's and a Brandon carwash - wants to build a 32,000-square-foot shopping center on the site; it requires a change in the previously approved building footprint. The undeveloped parcel is surrounded by commercial and office buildings and multifamily homes on the east and west and single-family homes on the south. (Petition 03-0932)
BRANDON: HFS Tampa received a minor modification to a 3-acre portion of a 61-acre property on the southern corners of Falkenburg Road and Causeway Boulevard. HFS wants to build an office, showroom and warehouse for a tile company and needs approval to put a driveway on the east side of Falkenburg Road. The County Commission is scheduled to consider the request June 24. (Petition 03-0792)
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/ by petition date. For information, call 276-2058.
