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Official Wants Another Hearing

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By B.C. MANION, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 15, 2007

LUTZ - Another hearing will have to be held before a ruling can be made on a proposed borrow pit on the north side of Lutz-Lake Fern Road, just west of the Suncoast Parkway.

Stephen J. Dibbs wants to dig 2.5 million cubic yards of dirt over 10 years from about 50 acres on a 312-acre tract. He wants to mine the dirt from four holes, ranging from 20 to 35 feet deep, for roadway and construction projects.

About 56 trucks would enter and leave the site each day, based on county transportation figures.

The merits of the request were debated during a four-hour hearing on Nov. 16 before Land Use Hearing Officer Harold Youmans. Instead of issuing a ruling, Youmans on Tuesday sent the matter back to county staff, asking for another hearing.

Youmans determined there were due process problems during the public hearing. He said participants didn't have a fair chance to react to county staff's revised conditions of approval for the permit.

"It would be fundamentally unfair to bring a host of recommended conditions to the table at the last minute without allowing participants who have been in the process more than a year to review them, especially when they came prepared to discuss the conditions previously recommended," Youmans wrote. "This lack of effective opportunity to be heard is a denial of procedural due process" under the county's land development code.

Denise Layne, land-use liaison for the Lutz Civic Association, said the hearing officer made the right call.

"That was not a fair hearing. Staff violated the conditions of the land development code," Layne said.

"This report is going to set a precedent from here on out on how citizens are treated at meetings," she predicted.

"You can't slap stuff on the record at the last minute," she said. "He's saying we have rights, too. Boy, does that send a message."

Youmans has asked the planning and growth management staff to set another hearing date.

He also said the staff report with recommended conditions should be available at least six days before that hearing for review by all participants.

The hearing should be at a time and location that will allow all participants adequate time to make their presentations, the land use hearing officer said.

Reporter B.C Manion can be reached at (813) 865-1507 or bmanion @tampatrib.com.

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