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Interbay

City will use grant to buy buffer land near base

The $450,000 from the state will be used to buy 6.3 acres to keep developments away from MacDill.

By SHERRI DAY
Published August 26, 2005

With a $450,000 state grant, the city of Tampa is buying land to create a buffer between MacDill Air Force Base and the surrounding neighborhood.

State officials tapped Tampa for the Enterprise Florida grant earlier this month. The city plans to use the money to buy 6.3 acres near MacDill's Runway 22. The land is west of Dale Mabry Highway between W Marcum and Pinewood streets.

City officials and base representatives have long been working to create a buffer zone around MacDill. Keeping large developments to a minimum would lessen the impact to residents should a disaster, such as a plane crash, happen in the area, officials have said.

Earlier this year, the City Council passed a temporary ban on all new higher-density rezoning requests in the area. That ban will stand until the city completes a land-use study for communities south of Gandy Boulevard. The study will look at the area's potential for development and determine its impact on the base.

"It's to try to safeguard the area from potential hazard," said John Fernandez, a supervisor in the city's real estate division. "By utilizing the grant dollars, hopefully we'll be able to buy land and continue to leave it in its natural state or maybe make improvements for recreational purposes."

Gov. Jeb Bush on Aug. 15 announced the winners of a combined $3.4-million in grants designed to help communities improve infrastructure around military bases. Tampa was one of 12 Florida communities chosen for the award.

While Tampa plans to use its money to buy real estate, other communities will use the grants for infrastructure improvements such as upgrading pump stations, installing new fiber optic communications networks and replacing sewer line valves.

Tampa's application stood out because city officials expressed a desire to halt encroachment near the base, state officials said.

"With MacDill being in an urban setting, it is always an issue; so it's certainly a great candidate for the grants," said Bush's spokesman Russell Schweiss.

This is the second time Tampa has won one of the grants, which were first issued in 1999. Last year, the city won a $400,000 grant, said LeRoy Collins, who works in economic development for the city and wrote the grant applications.

The city used the money to help fund the $520,000 purchase of 2.3 acres in the path of MacDill's runways. Developers had planned to build townhomes on the site, Fernandez said.

The city hopes to use the latest grant to buy land to help expand the Greenways and Trails system, Fernandez said. The MacDill Credit Union owns the land but is negotiating to sell it to the city.

Officials at MacDill applauded the city's efforts.

"We basically see it as a win-win situation," said Lt. Erin Dorrance of MacDill. "It helps the base with encroachment issues, and at the same time it lets Tampa have that area for their trailways and parks program."

Sherri Day can be reached at 226-3405 or sday@sptimes.com

[Last modified August 25, 2005, 09:37:06]