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Zoning

Project gains land, 8 homes

By JEREMY HAYES
Published October 30, 2005

Hillsborough County commissioners made the following decisions at Tuesday'soct 25 meeting:

KEYSTONE: There was much discussion in the commission surrounding Steven J. Dibbs' bid to add 2 1/2 acres to his already approved planned development at Lakeshore and Wilcox roads.

The plan would add eight single-family homes to the already-approved 41, on a strip of land connected to the development on the north. The planned homes would lie on a vacant lot, bordering Lake LeClare at Lakeshore and Wilcox roads.

Commissioners insisted that, because of the controversial nature of the original approval, they reapprove the entire development, rather than simply appending the new lot to the old approved development.

Commissioners discussed several issues and set restrictions before approving the request. The first concern to be addressed, an entry from the community onto Lakeshore Road, lingered from the first time around. Dibbs had to agree to remove the entry, in order to preserve the somewhat-rural nature of the area, and to keep traffic congestion to a minimum.

The project developers cited the overwhelming enthusiasm of the surrounding community as evidence that their motion be approved, but one community member (and one attendee who desperately wanted to speak but had not filed paperwork) voiced two reservations, which were duly considered by the board.

Barbara Dowling's first request was that five of the lots be forbidden to have boardwalks or docks, in order to keep lake access to a reasonable level. Both staff and commissioners agreed with this, saying the the additional eight lots would make it difficult to determine who would be granted lake access.

Secondly, she wanted to keep days for construction limited to Monday to Friday, because it would be "dusty, noisy and everything else" and would impinge on the rural nature of the area. Commissioners were sympathetic to this request but said that it would be difficult to enforce because of the available materials, and because people having homes built want to watch the work, and could only do so on weekends while away from work.

Ultimately, commissioners decided that, since so little opposition was offered, and because of community support, the addition was approvable. (Petition 05-1218)

TOWN 'N COUNTRY: Eight acres of land in Town 'N Country will soon hold half-acre homes.

Commissioners approved Frank Lindberg's request to rezone his property southwest of Troydale Road and Lagoon Street, but they had questions about the effect on nearby wetlands. Approval was given after Commissioner Kathy Castor was reassured that the properties would be connected to public waste disposal rather than private septic systems. (Petition 05-1282)

The Giunta Group wanted to build a complex for office and research corporate park uses on 22 vacant acres, which lie on either side of County Line Road and east of Interstate 75.

Water was again at issue, but after the builders agreed to a request by Tampa Bay Water that the property should be broken up into several residential-style buildings, the request to rezone the property to a planned development was approved. (Petition 05-1100)

Commissioners approved Michael D. Horner's request to to add 9,500 square feet to the existing 15,000-square-foot office complex in a 20-acre planned development. Once finished, gabled entries, landscaping and sidewalks will adorn the complex. (Petition 05-1103)

Jeremy Hayes can be reached at 813 269-5302, or via e-mail at jchayes@sptimes.com

[Last modified October 30, 2005, 01:13:18]