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School, neighbors renew lot fight
By TIM GRANT © St. Petersburg Times, published April 8, 2001 CARROLLWOOD -- Like a broken record, the scenario between Independent Day School and the neighbors in Original Carrollwood keeps repeating itself. It goes like this: School parents and employees park their cars on a vacant lot the school owns. Neighbors complain that the residential property is being used for a commercial purpose. Right after the school is cited by Code Enforcement, the school files a rezoning petition that halts any enforcement action. This has happened before and is happening again. The school recently filed an application with Hillsborough County Planning & Growth Management asking to rezone a narrow 1.47-acre residential lot on Orange Grove Drive for use as a school parking lot. Again, neighbors have promised to mount a vigorous opposition, said Betsey Hapner, president of the Carrollwood Civic Association. This is the third time the school has asked for a rezoning. Twice before, after Code Enforcement matters, petitions were filed and withdrawn before the County Commission could vote on them. The school dropped its last petition just before it would have been heard by commissioners on Feb. 13. On Feb. 20, a neighbor complained to Code Enforcement about the school parking cars illegally. The rezoning application was filed on March 29, right after Code Enforcement officers cited the school for violating the county code. Code Enforcement officers cannot take enforcement action while a rezoning petition is pending. School attorney Susan Johnson-Valez said the rezoning petition is "an effort to seek the appropriate approval so they will no longer be in violation." According to the proposal, the parcel will not be lighted and the school would provide landscaping to blend the parking lot into the character of the residential area. "This additional parking area, coupled with the additional parking now available . . . is intended to reduce or eliminate the traffic on Orange Grove and surrounding streets during drop-off and pickup times and special events," according to the petition. The school bought the property in February 2000 as an investment. It is one of three parcels the school owns on Orange Grove Drive. The main campus and a middle-school campus are on the other lots. Residents are opposed to the rezoning because they think that the school's expansion will change the residential character of the community. What's more, the parcel is located between two residential properties. Unlike the previous rezoning requests, which asked permission to build a day care or an administration building on the residential lot, this petition simply asks for permission to use the property for parking. Hapner said she will argue that the request is in violation of the county's land development code. "You cannot have a parking lot that is not contiguous to the facility for which it serves as parking," she said, "and in this case, there is a residential property in between the main campus and the vacant lot. "Secondly, you can't have a parking lot between two residential pieces of property according to the county code. That's the reason the original petition for special use contained a request for a a child-care facility." - To reach Tim Grant, call 226-3471, or e-mail him at grant@sptimes.com.
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