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Neighbors try to block 126-home development
By BILL COATS LUTZ -- Neighbors of a 126-home subdivision planned on Newberger Road hope to persuade Hillsborough County commissioners next week to block it because of concerns about the safety of the road. "This is a very emotional issue to a lot of people," said Bill Lyon, whose house on Courtney Jo Lane would be nearly surrounded by the development. Lyon said he expected to submit about 200 petition signatures to commissioners this week, plus photos showing vehicles straddling the center line of the narrow road. In July, safety concerns prompted commissioners to unanimously reject the project. But it was proposed then in a rezoning for 129 houses. After commissioners voted down the zoning change, developer Bob Gagne applied to develop the property under the existing zoning, which requires minimum lot sizes of an acre. Gagne's property consists of 186 acres, of which 80 are unbuildable wetlands. That much wetlands allowed Gagne to obtain the special designation of "resource-sensitive development," which allows lots as small as a half-acre. Consequently, he has received the county staff's preliminary approval for 126 houses, nearly the same development that commissioners rejected. Commissioners asked for an explanation and are scheduled to receive a report Tuesday. Planners have said they objectively followed the county's land-use laws, although more detailed studies of the project will take place as plans are submitted. Jim Porter, the county's chief land-use attorney, said commissioners are free to intervene. "The board has the power to take some sort of action on this if they find issues that they're not satisfied with," he said. Meanwhile, an advisory committee is reconsidering the environmental provision that allowed Gagne to shrink lot sizes. The law applies to any development where at least 20 percent of the property is set aside as wetlands or conservation/preservation areas. Yet all such areas already are protected by other provisions of county law. The only distinction is that the areas in a "resource-sensitive development" are protected under county-controlled easements. Otherwise, the sensitive areas would be part of homeowners' lots, with the homeowners governed by county environmental protection regulations. "You're giving the guy smaller lots for doing something they've got to do anyway," said Steve Gouldman, a county planner who leads the staff supporting the Land Development Code Steering Committee. Denise Layne, a member of the steering committee and president of the Lutz Civic Association, said members last week discussed requiring that a percentage of the buildable land also be set aside. The committee has been evaluating a variety of changes proposed for the county's zoning laws. Those are to be submitted to county commissioners next summer. Gouldman said the "resource-sensitive development" section had been targeted for discussion before it was invoked on the Newberger rezoning. Lyon has argued in the past that the Newberger property is simply unsuitable for development. But Tuesday, he hopes to persuade commissioners that Newberger Road is unsuitable for the project's traffic. Newberger, which curves around several lakes, is about 7 feet narrower than Hillsborough's typical two-lane, 24-foot-wide road. The county's public works department has said that doesn't make it unsafe. But a county zoning judge and at least two county commissioners disagreed. "The public safety is the key issue," Lyon said. - Bill Coats can be reached at (813) 226-3469 or coats@sptimes.com.
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From the Times |
