VALRICO: Another big-box store is on the way for Valrico.
Lowe's Home Centers is seeking to open across from Home Depot on State Road 60 and Mount Carmel Road. The store would have 176,000 square feet of floor space and a garden center.
Lowe's attorneys want to tweak requirements for buffering and parking on a 24-acre site that currently is zoned for planned development. The parcel's permitted uses include big-box retail, a financial institution with a drive-through, and an automobile dealership. A Wal-Mart Supercenter sits alongside the Home Depot across SR 60.
County commissioners will consider the zoning request Dec. 14. (Petition 05-0043)
GIBSONTON: A big box could be a novelty in Gibsonton. Wal-Mart recently submitted site plans for a parcel approved for development. In 1988, Wal-Mart received approval to develop at Gibsonton and East Bay roads.
"I would imagine that they're going to try to go in as quickly as possible," said county planner Daniel Santos, noting that residents have wanted a grocery for some time.
Calls to a Wal-Mart spokesman were not returned. The supercenter would be the second planned for south Hillsborough. Construction began this summer on a 208,000-square-foot store at the northeast corner of U.S. 301 and State Road 674 in Sun City Center.
The Hillsborough County commission took action Tuesday on the following zoning requests:
VALRICO: Commissioners lowered the density limits for an undeveloped tract next to the Goodwill outlet on State Road 60. The 10-acre site is part of a parcel where a Wal-Mart Supercenter also sits.
In exchange for cutting residential units from 234 to 100 and warehouse space from 250,000 to 75,000 square feet, developers received approval to place a commercial or trade school on the site. They also were permitted to build a two-story mixed-use building with residential on the top.
Commissioner Pat Frank supported the changes to reduce density, but she cautioned that the commercial construction on this segment of State Road 60 could spiral out of control.
"I have consistently opposed development in this area because the original Home Depot was not consistent wit the comprehensive plan when it was approved," Frank said. "Now it's become something that's just been like a snowball, continuously growing bigger and bigger." Petition (04-0809)
APOLLO BEACH: Cornerstone Communities will get 918 residential units and 175,000 square feet of commercial space on the south side of U.S. 41, near Elsberry Road. But commissioners approved changes to the design plan to address commercial uses and wetlands placement.
Commercial use was approved for the south side of Apollo Beach Boulevard; it had also been slated for the north side of the street. The revised plans also move retention ponds that had not been properly sited. A north-south road was moved to the central portion of the property to conform with county transportation plans for the South Shore corridor. The original development, approved in January, called for multifamily homes, and developers wanted the option of building single-family homes without an increase in the overall density.
County commissioners approved the changes unanimously. (Petition 04-1723)
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 at www.hillsboroughcounty.org/pgm/zoning/hearings.html For information, call 276-2058.
Staff writer Jay Cridlin contributed to this report.[Last modified October 28, 2004, 14:58:12]
