BRANDON: Sometimes it's not about traffic and flooding.
Zoning hearing officer Martin Smith on Tuesday recommended denial of a rezoning request for a parcel on the northeast corner of Parsons Avenue and Morgan Street, but not because people in the surrounding area expressed concern about the impact of the development on their neighborhood.
The real issue, Smith wrote in his decision, is that the new site plan requires an entire rezoning rather than just a modification.
F. Wayne and Charlotte Lynch asked the county fo modify the regulations of the 1-acre site to allow access to the property from James Street and eliminate access from Parsons Avenue; permit a medical equipment sales and service business; and alter a screening requirement.
The site is currently approved for three separate buildings oriented toward Morgan Street and Parsons Avenue. That would require tearing down the three single-family homes that exist on the land. Instead, the Lynches want to use the existing buildings as office space, and provide limited access to one of the buildings from James Street.
At a zoning hearing Sept. 15, seven community members opposed the plan. They voiced concern about increased flooding caused by development of a parking area and traffic generated by office space on James and Morgan streets, which are residential.
In his report, Smith wrote that the request does not hinge on "the degree of impact that a small office might have upon adjacent residences."
The issue, he wrote, is abandoning the parcel's planned development zoning and taking a "piecemeal" approach instead. The Lynches, he wrote, need to petition to rezone each of the three properties.
The County Commission is scheduled to consider the request Oct. 21. (Petition 03-0765)
BALM: Hillsborough County commissioners at their land use meeting Tuesday approved the creation of the Highlands Community Development District.
The district will help pay for infrastructure that will support Highland Estates, a 487-acre planned development set to go in at the southeast corner of U.S. 301 and County Road 672.
In April, the commission approved a request from developer Highland Cassidy to make changes to the zoning of the property. It had been approved in 1980 for 1,861 single-family homes, townhouses, apartments, a golf course, motel and commercial areas. Highland Cassidy plans to build 1,583 single-family homes, 87,120 square feet of office space and a 5-acre recreation area. (Petition 03-1295)
In other action Tuesday:
VALRICO: Hillsborough County commissioners approved a request from Grover Sewell to rezone 26.48 acres on Crosby Road about 400 feet west of Miller Road. The parcel previously was zoned for one home per acre. With its new planned development zoning, Sewell can go forward with his plans to build 72 single-family homes on the land.
To get approval from the county, Sewell amended his site plan in response to concerns from people living in the surrounding neighborhoods. He increased the lot sizes and building setbacks on the perimeter of the property and agreed to build a 6-foot stucco wall on the western property line that separates his project from Valrico Oaks. (Petition 03-0872)
BRANDON: Commissioners approved a request from Robert Valdez, owner of the Manhattan Hairstyling Academy, to modify the zoning on 2 acres on the east side of Lakewood Drive south of Oakfield Drive. Valdez, who has schools in Tampa and Valrico, plans to build a mixed-use development with room for a third school on the site.
The 27,156-square-foot project, part of the Brandon Main Street plan, will feature four buildings, each 6,769 square feet, with one of them set aside as a beauty school. Manhattan Hairstyling wants to lease the other three buildings as retail or office space. (Petition 03-0974)
New applications:
BRANDON: James Antunano has applied for a modification to the zoning of 9.78 acres on Bloomingdale Avenue east of Bell Shoals to allow the expansion of a veterinary clinic, animal hospital, commercial and office space. A zoning hearing master is scheduled to consider the request Dec. 15. (Petition 03-1616)
RIVERVIEW: Frank Sirchia has applied for a permit to serve beer and wine at his restaurant, the Italian Kitchen, in the Lake St. Charles Shopping Center at 6915 U.S. 301. A land use hearing officer will consider the request Nov. 21. (Petition 03-1696)
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. 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.
