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County considers upgrade for Newberger Road growth
By BILL COATS, Times Staff Writer LUTZ -- Rather than stop a development, Hillsborough County commissioners voted this week to explore how Newberger Road can be improved to accommodate it. The decision came after county staffers told commissioners that the 126 houses planned off Newberger are likely to be approved for construction, and any commission action to block them would be vulnerable to a lawsuit. "I would anticipate being sued," said Jim Porter, the county's chief land-use attorney, as the developer's attorney listened from the front row. "I think that would be a challenging one to defend." Tuesday's decision capped a controversy over an upscale development that commissioners unanimously defeated in a rezoning vote in July. Two months later, the county's permitting staff gave a preliminary green light to virtually the same project. In between, developer Bob Gagne had invoked an obscure section of a county zoning law that allowed him to carve his 186 acres into smaller, more numerous lots in exchange for providing special protection to 80 acres of wetlands. The county requires protection of all wetlands. But in Gagne's development, Wellington Manors, the wetlands are being placed into conservation easements instead of being platted into the back yards of individual lots. While wetlands revived the development, a ragged road threatened this week to stall it. Newberger, which winds around four lakes, is 17 feet wide, compared with the county's standard 24-foot width for two-lane roads. Newberger's edges crumble at the curves, and its low spots flooded seriously during the rainy El Nino winter of 1997 and 1998. Vehicles, including large construction trucks, often straddle Newberger's center line. Those conditions prompted commissioners to reject Gagne's July rezoning request for 129 houses, and they fueled the objections of neighbors who spoke on Tuesday. "It is currently maybe one of the worst pieces of asphalt strip in my district," complained Maj. Al Perotti, who lives off Newberger and commands the sheriff's district for the Lutz and University of South Florida areas. "The health and well-being of my wife and child are at risk," complained Bill Lyon, who turned in 160 petition signatures against the development. The president of the Lutz Civic Association and the vice president of the Citrus Park Area Civic Association described a wider problem. Rules imposed in one section of government are forgotten in another, they said. "In the review process, they don't stick to what was agreed to by the commissioners or by the citizens," said Janet Hiltz, of the Citrus Park association. Commissioner Jim Norman asked for some action on Newberger. Afterward, he told Lyon the legal position seemed hopeless. "We're trying to do something that will give you a positive effect," Norman said. Lyon said later that the commission should have stopped the development and at least tried to win any lawsuit. "Even though it's in the best interests of the community," Lyon said, "they were afraid to step out and do something like this." - Bill Coats can be reached at (813) 269-5309 or coats@sptimes.com.
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From the Times |
