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Meeting To Address Development

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By ELIZABETH LEE BROWN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 10, 2007

LUTZ - Residents and landowners wondering how the northern tip of North Dale Mabry Highway will develop can get a glimpse at a community meeting next week.

Hillsborough County planners will present an overview on the progress of a committee studying how to revamp regulations governing the commercial corridor from Van Dyke to County Line roads.

The open house is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Lutz Community Center, 98 First Ave. NW.

Don't expect to hear about any formal recommended changes.
County planners won't issue a report for a couple of weeks, and any recommended changes will incorporate comments from the open house, said Eli Alvarado, the county planner overseeing the corridor study.

"We just want to show the comments from the working committee," Alvarado said. "We're going to bring it to the community to see what they think about it."
County planners have a deadline of Dec. 11 to present a report to county commissioners.

Do expect lots of displays.

The open house will be a roomful of charts, maps, graphics and handouts outlining the North Dale Mabry Overlay District regulations and the changes being debated.

The county's staff will explain what the committee has discussed, answer questions and record public comments.

No formal, sit-down presentation is planned. The meeting will be similar to the March open house that kicked-off the corridor study.

The working committee, made up of residents, landowners, land-use planners and county staff members, has been meeting monthly for seven months.

The divided group is often split between property owners who want to see more commercial zoning along the highway and residents who want to preserve the semi-rural lifestyle.

One possible change is expanding the boundaries of two of the three activity centers where commercial development is clustered. Adding parcels would be one way to increase the allowable commercial space.

Some committee members have suggested expanding the Publix shopping center at Lutz-Lake Fern Road on its southern border.

Another request is expanding the commercial node at Sunlake Boulevard and North Dale Mabry Highway to include property on the west side of Sunlake.

The overlay district, adopted in 1989, regulates development along the 3-mile stretch of the highway and directs commercial retail development at three main intersections.

The guidelines allow office uses outside the three corners if the property meets certain criteria.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Open house on the North Dale Mabry Overlay District
WHEN: 6 p.m. Tuesday

WHERE: Lutz Community Center, 98 First Ave. NW, Lutz

Reporter Elizabeth Lee Brown can be reached at (813) 865-1502 or ebrown@tampatrib.com.

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