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City Council reverses apartment rezoning
By MICHAEL SANDLER
© St. Petersburg Times, TAMPA -- In June, the Tampa City Council debated the impact of 300 more apartments in New Tampa. Though they acknowledged the poor roads and unbearable traffic, five of the seven council members ultimately sided with the developer and approved the requested zoning. All that remained was a second hearing and vote, a legal requirement and, historically, a formality. But Thursday, two City Council members broke tradition by changing their original votes at the second reading, an unusual act that shifted the tide and defeated the proposal, 4-3. Charlie Miranda and Mary Alvarez both flipped from their June 14 vote and joined Shawn Harrison and Linda Saul-Sena in denying the rezoning of 213 acres at Bruce B. Downs Boulevard and County Line Road. Bob Buckhorn, Gwen Miller and Rose Ferlita maintained their original votes. "It's very rare," said Harrison, who said he may have seen it one other time in his two years on the City Council. "I have no explanation from either of them for why they reversed their vote," said Joel Tew, the Clearwater attorney representing the Scala 683 Group, a group of individuals petitioning to change the zoning. "I think a judge will want to know why." Council members debated the Scala project for nearly 90 minutes at the June hearing before granting preliminary approval, 5-2. They took another hour Thursday before reversing that decision. The core issue was whether the proposed apartments would be built before needed transportation improvements would be completed to alleviate the traffic on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard. "It's a beautiful area and I think it will develop into an even nicer area than what it is today," said Miranda, who changed his mind after hearing testimony from residents. "(But) it needs a couple of years catch-up time." Several residents, including the president of the area's largest community association, attended the meeting Thursday to object to the apartments, saying the area already has nearly 7,000 apartments built or approved for construction. Scala also proposed 261 townhomes, 250,000 square feet of retail space and 100,000 square feet of commercial development. The developer agreed to build in three phases and to contribute about $1.7-million toward a transportation project, the largest contribution for a project that size, according to city transportation officials. But some City Council members were concerned the development would be built before the road improvements could be completed. The apartments and townhomes could not be built until millions of dollars in public money was set aside in a five-year improvement plan. But Elton Smith, the city's transportation director, said road improvements need only be earmarked, not completed, before construction could begin. Realistically, he said, it could be years after the development was completed before the road were improved. The property was annexed into Tampa in 1998. After Thursday's hearing, Tew inquired about returning the land to Hillsborough County and said he will likely recommend his client sue. "We would prefer they stay in the city," said Buckhorn. "I think there is still middle ground we can find."
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