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Zoning

Property owner seeks shops, homes, offices

By ANDREW MEACHAM
Published December 2, 2005

APOLLO BEACH: Property owner Betty Jo Council is nearing the launching pad for a 58-acre complex on the northeast corner of U.S. 41 and Leisey Road.

The development, which would be named South Shore Falls, would include retail, office and residential units including houses, condominiums and apartments. The developer wants to build six residential units per acre, as the county's comprehensive plan allows for the area. Without that permission, Council's consultants say they are prepared to build a complex without living spaces.

A cluster of shops, offices and homes would resemble South Shore Park and Mirabay, similar developments to the south and southwest. South Shore Falls could build as many as 347 housing units. Planners have earmarked 16 acres as wetlands. The project heads to the zoning hearing master Jan. 17 for a recommendation, and to the County Commission Feb. 28. (PETITION 06-0120)

GIBSONTON: Dixie Tool and Die seeks to rezone 9 acres for a townhome development. Its consultant, Michael Horner, said market studies show high demand in the area for affordable townhomes and condominiums. The property would abut Gibsonton Drive and Nundy Avenue between Alafia and Gloria streets.

Older houses and mobile home parks show up in the surrounding area, as do amusement rides and the heavy equipment to move them for traveling carnival workers. The proposed complex would also be near Gibsonton Elementary School on Gibsonton Drive.

Dixie Tool and Die will make its case to the zoning hearing master on Jan. 17. It heads to the County Commission on March 7. (PETITION 06-0121.)

BRANDON: The Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce expected to move into a new building this week on Pauls Drive. President Tammy Bracewell said that the group has already connected water and sewer lines from the new building to the county's system.

The Planning and Growth Management Department has received from the chamber a $6,221 warranty check, which the county will hold in escrow for two years. Warranty checks serve as a kind of insurance, a deposit in case something goes wrong and the builder does not make repairs.

The Planning and Growth Management department will ask the County Commission on Dec. 13 to accept the Brandon chamber's check. At the same meeting, the department will move to return warranty funds to three southern Hillsborough developers whose two-year holding periods have expired: $32,068 to WCI Communities for a part of Sun City Center; $36,606 to Southern Heritage Neighborhoods for Valrico Lake; and $28,877 to FishHawk Communities Limited Partnership for a phase of FishHawk Ranch.

Hearings of county zoning hearing masters, 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 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 For information, call 276-5920.

- Andrew Meacham is a staff writer in the Brandon bureau of the St. Petersburg Times. He can be reached at 661-2431 or ameacham@sptimes.com

[Last modified December 1, 2005, 09:34:11]