Council delays vote on project

The proposed Grand Hampton community takes heat from environmentalists, and the City Council postpones a decision until all members are present.

By MICHAEL SANDLER

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 16, 2000

NEW TAMPA -- Facing criticism from environmental advocates and possibly a divided City Council, a Pennsylvania developer offered several concessions in an attempt to win approval for another golf course community in New Tampa.

But after two hours of debate at a public hearing that generated emotional arguments for and against the project, a group of five City Council members agreed to hold off on a decision until all seven members are present.

"We may not come up with a consensus," said Chairman Charles Miranda before taking the vote to continue the hearing until July 27. "Maybe we should postpone this to a full council."

The decision came after Toll Brothers Inc. requested a zoning change on 645 acres in the northernmost section of the city. The change would allow Toll Brothers to build Grand Hampton, a suburban community of 829 single-family homes, up to 1,000 apartments, a private park for residents, 80,000 square feet of shopping and an 18-hole golf course.

The land sits just south of County Line Road between Interstate 75 and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.

Annexed into the city in November 1998, it includes more than 463 acres of upland habitats and abuts the Cypress Creek Preserve, a watershed that feeds into the Hillsborough River, the city's main source of drinking water.

The city's department of Land Development Coordination endorsed the plan after the developer agreed to meet Tampa's Upland Habitat Protection ordinance by paying to protect 106.4 acres of upland habitats outside the property. The developer originally proposed setting aside 97.4 acres on site and 9 off site. The city said the protected land was too fragmented and rejected the initial plan.

But the Hillsborough City-County Planning Commission objected to the rezoning proposal. Michele Ogilvie, a planner, said the commission questioned the developer's request to include the golf course as open space. The developer said the golf course, which increases the open space on the property to 70 percent, meets the city's requirements for 50 percent open space.

Ogilvie also said the commission wants a 50-foot buffer on the east side of the Cypress Creek Preserve instead of the 25-foot buffer proposed. Ogilvie expressed concerns about increased traffic and suggested moving the commercial space to the center of the property, where it could serve as a town center and actually lower traffic in the region.

"This is a very unique piece of property," Ogilvie told the council. "Many things we feel are missing from the (developer's proposal) supplied to you this evening."

Joel Tew, a Clearwater attorney representing Toll Brothers, said the developer would contribute $1.5 million to help meet transportation needs, $673,299.20 to protect upland habitats off site, and land for an elementary school and a fire station.

After a City Council member expressed concern about the growing number of apartments in New Tampa, Tew stepped outside the meeting and spoke with his client. When he returned, he said the developer would reduce the number of multifamily units from 1,000 to 750, with no more than 300 available as rental units.

"Anything they asked for, my client conceded and gave," Tew said in his presentation to council. "We can't do any more. We've done all we can do."

But environmentalists say the land is too valuable.

Members of Sierra Club, Endangered Species Coalition, Friends of the River and the Green Ways Task force took the podium and argued that the land is too close to the Cypress Creek Preserve. They implored the developer to reconsider the project as an environmental community, not a golf community, and asked the council to reject the current plan.

"Ask your staff," Denise Layne, a Sierra Club representative who lives in Lutz, told the council. "Without this golf course, you can have all this mitigation on site."

Judging by the discussion, the debate is likely to move from the podium to the council. With Gwen Miller and Bob Buckhorn absent, the other five members briefly opened the discussion before deciding to postpone a vote.

Shawn Harrison, who represents New Tampa, initially opposed the project, citing several problems including a glut of apartments in the area. But on Thursday night he changed his mind after the developer agreed to reduce the number of potential apartments. He also was swayed by the developer's offers to support roads, the school and off-site environmental mitigation.

"Up until yesterday, I did not like this project," he said. "This is reminiscent of the way New tampa originally developed. If we start holding every other developer to that standard, we will take care of the transportation problem."

Others are not convinced. Members Linda Saul-Sena and Mary Alvarez both expressed concerns about the project. Saul-Sena agreed with Sierra Club members, saying that if the developers dropped plans for the golf course, they could set aside the upland habitats on site.

"What used to be perhaps commonplace in terms of pristine land has become much more rare and valuable," Saul-Sena said. "I just don't see this as the optimal way to develop. Given the momentum for growth, if the petitioner were to have to go back and redesign, they could come up with something better."

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