Resistance halts school's plans for a new building

By MELANIE AVE, BILL COATS, TIM GRANT and EVE LEBERSON

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 18, 2001

CARROLLWOOD -- In light of community opposition and an unfavorable recommendation from a zoning hearing master, Independent Day School has dropped its bid to develop an administration building on a 1.47-acre tract near the school's main building at 12015 Orange Grove Drive.

Neighbors had organized against the private school's efforts to rezone residential land on Orange Grove Drive while the private school officials argued that they needed more space for growing enrollment. After 30 years in the heart of Carrollwood's oldest community, the school has outgrown its original site, and the neighbors fear IDS will buy more residential land and seek more rezonings.

IDS recently built a middle school on 6 acres west of its main campus.

The school originally asked for a special-use permit to build a 5,000-square-foot day-care center and playground on the 1.47-acre site. It withdrew that request and asked instead to rezone all three of its parcels -- the main campus, the middle school and the smaller tract -- a total of about 15 acres, to planned development.

Planning and Growth Management staff supported the request with special conditions such as the residential architecture and extra buffering. The City-County Planning Commission, however, was against the plan. (Petition 00-1370)

LUTZ: A proposal to triple the size of health care facilities that can be built next to Calusa Trace isn't likely to reach a zoning judge until April 3. The rezoning application by St. Joseph's-Baptist Health Care was scheduled to be heard Monday, but the hospital requested the postponement. (Petition 00-1410)

HUNTER'S GREEN: Winn-Dixie's request for a bank sign on its New Tampa store will have to wait a little longer.

The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce branch, known as Marketplace Bank, wants to erect a 21.37-square-foot sign on the grocery store at 8702 Hunters Lake Drive. The bank needs special permission before the sign can be posted.

At 18-inches-tall, the lighted sign reading "Marketplace Bank" would be larger than what is typically allowed in New Tampa because of design guidelines that restrict signs, curb cuts and fencing.

The new insignia would be to the left of the store's main "Marketplace" sign. A hearing before the city's Variance Review Board has been delayed from Feb. 13 until 6:30 p.m. March 13 at City Hall, 315 E Kennedy Blvd.

LUTZ: The Lawrence Group Architects wants permission to develop a head trauma and injury rehabilitation center on 1.8 acres on the south side of Clement Road, west of Livingston Road.

According to the petition, the Center For Comprehensive Services would operate the 6,500-square-foot living facility. Plans indicate the one-story building would accommodate up to nine patients.

A land use hearing officer will hear the petition April 6. (Petition 01-0476)

CARROLLWOOD: Messiah Lutheran Church wants county permission to triple the size of its main entrance ground sign.

The 14-year-old church on Hutchison Road is asking for a variance that would permit a 9-foot-tall, double-faced, 72-square-foot metal sign. It would replace the existing 32-square-foot, single-faced wooden sign.

A land-use hearing officer will hear the petition April 6. (Petition 01-0468)

A zoning hearing master is scheduled to hear the following petitions next week:

CARROLLWOOD: Verizon Wireless wants American Tower Corp. to build a 150-foot-tall communication tower on 3.7 acres at 11921 N Dale Mabry Highway, south of Stall Road. It would serve three carriers, including Verizon. The property is now zoned for planned development and was approved in 1996 for a 41,012-square-foot expansion to the former Stingers night club, now the Joy night club. County staff and the Planning Commission approved of the project. (Petition 01-0205)

LUTZ: Howard Albritton wants to add 25,000 square feet of commercial and office space to a 176-acre mixed-use planned development project at U.S. Highway 41 and Crystal Grove Boulevard. County staff and the Planning Commission endorsed the plan. (Petition 00-0942)

UPPER TAMPA BAY: Floyd Randall wants a rezoning of 1.71 acres on Hillsborough Avenue, southeast of Race Track Road, that would permit light industrial uses. The property is now vacant and used for open storage of construction materials. County staffers and the Planning Commission recommended approval of the petition. (Petition 01-0079).

Where and when

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. The zoning hearings begin at 6 p.m., and the commission meetings begin at 9 a.m. Both are televised on government access channels. The land-use hearing officer hearings, which are not televised, begin at 9 a.m. Call 272-5920.

-- Staff writers Melanie Ave, Bill Coats, Tim Grant and Eve Leberson contributed to this report.

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