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Landowner Wants Out Of Plan

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By B.C. MANION, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 28, 2007

Updated: 11/26/2007 08:13 pm

KEYSTONE - A property owner on Lutz-Lake Fern Road wants to secede from the Keystone-Odessa Community Plan.

Stephen J. Dibbs wants to remove about 305 acres - including the site of a proposed borrow pit - from the community plan's regulations.

"We find the current plan's inclusion of the property in the Keystone-Odessa Community boundary to be void of any objective basis," lawyer Vin Marchetti said in a request he filed on Dibbs' behalf with the Hillsborough Planning Commission.

By state law, the planning commission advises the Hillsborough County Commission on changes to its long-range plan.

The planning commission has scheduled a workshop for Dec. 10 to discuss proposed changes to the county's land-use plan, and a public hearing on the requests is scheduled for Jan. 14.

The long-range plan sets parameters for potential land uses, while zoning dictates what can be done on a particular parcel. Changes to both are sometimes needed to accommodate a property owner's desired use.
Dibbs has filed two requests to amend the long-range plan. One request covers 269 acres and the other, 36.5 acres.

The parcels are on the north side of Lutz-Lake Fern Road, just west of the Suncoast Parkway.

In both cases, Dibbs wants out of the Keystone-Odessa plan.

But he also wants to increase development potential on the 36.5-acre tract. Most of that land is designated for up to one house per five acres, with a sliver allowing up to one house per acre.
Dibbs wants the designation changed to a suburban mixed-use category that would allow up to six houses per acre, and some commercial, office and light industrial uses.

In a pre-application conference, the planning commission staff voiced misgivings about the request.

"Modifications to the community plan best would be addressed through a community-based process such as the future revisiting of the Keystone-Odessa community plan," noted Melissa Zornitta, a planning commissioner planner.

The planning commission also has received an application from Tommy Shannon, who wants to amend the long-range plan designation on 58 acres on the north and south side of Van Dyke Road, just west of Gunn Highway,

The land is designated for one residence per acre, with consideration possible for limited commercial uses.

Shannon is seeking a neighborhood mixed-use designation that would allow up to three houses per acre, neighborhood commercial and office uses.

His petition says the current land-use category, which allows one house per acre, is inappropriate because the parcels are next to higher intensity uses.

The applicant also notes the availability of public water and sewer in the Gunn Highway right of way.

In a companion text amendment, the applicant seeks changes to the comprehensive plan that would allow connection to, and extension of, existing water and sewer lines to properties classified as a rural mixed-use development.

The planning commission staff hasn't taken a position on the text amendment, Zornitta said.

"We're still in the process of analyzing where the impacts would be," Zornitta said, noting text amendments affect the entire county.

Allowing the extension of public water and sewer increases development potential of an area, Zornitta said. "When you don't have water and sewer, you're limited to what you can do on a septic tank.

"You have to have a half-acre lot for residential, and you're limited on commercial development."

Although extension of public water and sewer is permitted under certain circumstances in the existing plan, it doesn't automatically increase the intensity of development. Even when such extensions are granted, the land-use category remains the same, Zornitta said.

The Keystone Civic Association plans to battle the proposed amendments, said Tom Aderhold, president of the civic group.

Individuals from the association will fight the changes, and the group also plans to hire an attorney, Aderhold said.

The amendments are an effort to peck away at the community plan, Aderhold said.

"As a community, we cannot sit back and let it happen."

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

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