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Religion

Save a small church, build an office park?

Neighbors worry about flooding, crime and traffic if the plan goes through in Heather Lakes.

By ANDREW MEACHAM
Published June 24, 2005

The hand of Providence could save a Brandon church from bankruptcy, or it could cause a neighborhood to flood.

McCullagh & Scott would like to put up to 12 office buildings in Heather Lakes and call it Providence Executive Park. The 5-acre, 500-foot-wide property at 1317 Providence Road is now home to Good Samaritan Church of the Brethren, a slim church building that the developer would raze in order to build the office park. In return, the developer would pay for a new church on a smaller lot south of the complex. The project requires a zoning change from church use to church office.

The plan would leave some of the lawn open while building some office suites to Providence Road. One central cluster of offices would take up 8,000 of the 42,000 square feet allotted for the project.

Neighbors and church members were divided over whether the developer should prevail during a hearing in front of a zoning hearing master.

Richard Platt, who has lived on Coolidge Drive, next to the church property for 18 years, warned of flooding should the proposal go forward. Platt said 18 inches of rainwater washed over his street in 1988.

"I've had water come within 6 feet of my house," Platt told hearing master Andrew Baker on Monday. "It's a very scary situation."

Residents have raised other objections.

They complained of an increased risk of crime, the annoyance of nighttime security lights and more traffic. But a traffic consultant hired by the county found that the project would generate an additional 486 trips to the area a day, below the threshold for a developer's traffic analysis.

Judith James, an attorney for the developer, said the complex will not bring a greater risk of flooding. The developer must get approval for drainage plans from the county's Environmental Protection Commission and the Southwest Florida Water Management District. Both tend to reject projects that increase water runoff.

The Planning Commission reviewed the proposal and found it consistent with the county's comprehensive plan, offering a "reasonable alternative" and a logical transition between the single-family homes east of Providence Road and multifamily complexes west of Providence.

Church members call the project a life raft. Founded in Tampa in 1965, the church bought the Providence Road property in 1989 for $100. That property is now valued at $350,000, but the church has no permanent pastor and only about 20 members.

Richard Mike, 60, said the deal would give the church a new building and enough money to at least get a pastor started.

"Something has to happen," Mike said, "or we will close our doors."

The hearing master is expected to issue a recommendation on the proposed office development July 12. County commissioners will consider the request Aug. 9.

[Last modified June 23, 2005, 01:01:07]