SUN CITY CENTER: Hillsborough County commissioners on Tuesday approved a request from GL Homes to modify the zoning regulations on a portion of the DG Farms property at State Road 674 and U.S. 301 to allow 2,800 single-family homes and drop plans for a golf course.
GL Homes plans to build a 1,600-home upscale retirement community and 1,200 single-family homes that are not age-restricted. Home prices will range from $150,000 to $375,000. The company also will build a multimillion-dollar clubhouse with a theater for movies and performing arts; an internet cafe; crafts center; and other amenities.
A park, elementary school and possibly a middle school are slated for the southeast corner of the property. A super Wal-Mart has been approved for the southwest corner.
The project marks the entry of GL Homes to the Tampa Bay market. The Coral Springs developer/builder opened an office on Harbour Island in March. GL Homes also has plans for 1,500 homes in Pasco County and 350 homes in New Tampa.
"It's a large market and we think there's a tremendous opportunity for high quality development," said Rick Costello, president of the company's west coast division. (Petition 04-0779)
LITHIA: Lithia residents scored a major victory Tuesday when commissioners denied a request from Transcend Development Corp. to rezone 82 acres at the northeast corner of Dorman and Browning roads to planned development. Developers wanted to build up to 43 single-family homes on the property, which is zoned for one home per 5 acres.
After 90 minutes of testimony, commissioners ruled 5-2 against the request with Ronda Storms and Ken Hagan casting the dissenting votes.
More than 30 Lithia residents attended the meeting to voice their concerns about flooding, increased housing density, traffic problems, negative impact on wildlife and an all-around threat to their rural way of life. They hollered, shook hands and slapped high-fives outside the boardroom after the vote.
"We worked really hard on this," said Lithia resident Gail Scott, acknowledging that more homes were inevitable in her rural neighborhood. "It eventually will all be developed in some fashion. Hopefully, it will be developed at the density and rate that we'd like."
Scott said she and the members of a newly formed neighborhood association prefer developments with 5-acre lots.
The denial came despite a recommendation from a zoning official and county staff to approve the request.
Commissioner Pat Frank, who made the motion to deny the request, said she didn't think the community fit in with the surrounding neighborhood, even though the county's future land use plans call more homes in the area.
"The future may be one per acre, but the future does not mean it is appropriate to be done now," Frank said.
Chris Rodems, an attorney for the residents, told commissioners the rezoning petition shouldn't even have been on the agenda because less than a year ago the County Commission rejected a request to rezone a 39-acre portion of the parcel to permit 24 houses.
According to county law, developers must wait at least a year to seek rezoning on a property where a request has been denied, unless the new proposal is substantially different.
Zoning administrator Paul Harvey said the new petition differed enough from the first request to consider. (Petition 03-1630)
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 www.hillsboroughcounty.org/pgm/zoning/hearings.html For information, call 276-2058.
