RUSKIN: Ruskin residents who have opposed rapid growth in their community scored a small victory Tuesday when the Hillsborough County Commission delayed making a decision on a rezoning request that would allow 617 single-family homes and 300 townhomes.
M/I Homes wants the county to rezone 186 acres on the north side of Shell Point Road between Fourth Street NW and 14th Street NW to planned development for the project. The land currently is in several zoning categories. Some parts are already planned development, but others are approved for either one home per acre or six homes per acre.
The request has been recommended for approval by a county zoning official. But after hearing testimony from Ruskin residents, commissioners voted 5-2 to have the developer and its future neighbors try to come up with a plan that will accommodate both groups.
"We don't want townhouses in this area," said Mariella Smith, a leader in the Ruskin effort to control development, adding that the group also wants larger lot sizes for the single-family homes.
M/I Homes has proposed 5,000- to 7,000-square-foot lots. Community members want 7,000-square-foot minimums.
The County Commission is scheduled to reconsider the request July 27. (Petition 04-0568)
VALRICO/BRANDON: County commissioners on Tuesday approved two rezoning requests from Southern Heritage Neighborhoods.
The commission rezoned 41 acres on the southwest corner of Valrico Lake and Mount Carmel roads in Valrico to planned development so Southern Heritage can build 136 single-family homes. The parcel currently is pastureland. (Petition 04-0400)
Commissioners also rezoned 22 acres in Brandon on the northeast corner of Guiles and Brucken roads to planned development. Southern Heritage plans to build 30 single-family homes on the site. The company originally wanted to build 40 homes there but reduced the number in a compromise with residents who were concerned about small lot sizes. The parcel previously had an agricultural zoning that allows one home per acre. (Petition 04-0461)
APOLLO BEACH: Kevin Sullivan has asked county officials to rezone 2.2 acres on the west side of U.S. 301, one-half mile north of Big Bend Road from agricultural and commercial zoning to strictly commercial zoning. Sullivan wants to build a 7,000-square-foot Advance Auto Parts store on the site. The intersection of U.S. 301 and Big Bend Road has been approved for multiple residential and commercial projects in the past year. A zoning hearing official is scheduled to consider Sullivan's request June 14. (Petition 04-0981)
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://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/pgm/zoning/hearings.html For information, call 276-2058.
