Commission to vote on hospital expansion

By BILL COATS and EVE LEBERSON

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 9, 2001

County Commissioners are scheduled to hear the following petitions Tuesday:

LUTZ -- It has been a year since St. Joseph's Baptist Health Care applied to triple the scale of the medical complex it is planning at Van Dyke Road and Calusa Trace Boulevard. This week, a decision finally may be made.

The often-delayed issue goes before Hillsborough County commissioners Tuesday morning, with likely opposition from dozens of Calusa Trace residents worried about the development luring new traffic past Schwarzkopf Elementary School.

"This is for 'all the marbles,' " Gerry Reno, president of the homeowners association, wrote on the community Web site.

Regardless of the outcome, St. Joseph's is positioned to build a 100,000-square-foot complex at the corner, thanks to a rezoning in effect for 15 years. On Tuesday, the hospital hopes for approval to expand that to 240,000 square feet, and add a 120,000-square-foot nursing home. (Petition 00-1410)

UPPER TAMPA BAY: Roger and Lila Kumar seek a rezoning of nearly 30 acres on Race Track Road, south of Hillsborough Avenue. The Kumars are proposing 26 homes with lot sizes of no less than one-third of an acre. County staff, the Planning Commission and a zoning hearing master have endorsed the project.(Petition 01-0351)

NORTHDALE: Marriott Senior Living Services will present to commissioners its construction plans for an approved 67,000-square-foot office complex at the northwest corner of N Dale Mabry Highway and Carrollwood Place Circle. The applicant also wants to clarify previous conditions placed on the project. Planning and Growth Management staffers are recommending approval of the petition. (Petition 01-1263)

OLDSMAR: Oldsmar City Council members approved conceptual site plans for Nielsen Media Research's new corporate campus Tuesday night. The 541,724-square-foot complex would be on 35.5 acres in the Tampa Bay Park of Commerce, off Douglas Road between Race Track and Gim Gong roads. Plans call for three connected buildings. The tallest would be four stories and 100-feet tall, nearly three times the city code's 35-foot height limit. Council members voted to waive the height limit for that building and to reduce the required number of regular and handicapped parking spaces. Nielsen still must negotiate the purchase of the property with owner Harrod Properties, said Jack Loftus, Nielsen vice president of communications. Once one of the three buildings is up, Nielsen plans to move 400 employees currently scattered at three satellite complexes into it.

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. Zoning hearings begin at 6 p.m., and commission meetings begin at 9 a.m. Both are televised on government access channels. Land use hearing officer hearings, which are not televised, begin at 9 a.m. For information, call (813) 272-5920.

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