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The Latest Dirt On Truck Issue

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By B.C. MANION

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 10, 2008

LUTZ - A hearing officer is expected to decide by Tuesday whether dirt trucks from a planned borrow pit on Lutz-Lake Fern Road should be allowed to roll past nearby public schools during school hours.

Land Use Hearing Officer Harold Youmans is deciding whether he will stick by a condition he imposed on Feb. 11, which prevents the trucks from passing McKitrick Elementary, Martinez Middle and the future Steinbrenner High from 6:15 a.m. until 4:45 p.m., when classes are in session.

Stephen J. Dibbs, the owner of the planned borrow pit, has challenged the fairness of the restriction.

The special-use permit for the borrow pit allows up to 2.5 million cubic yards of fill dirt to be excavated from a site on the north side of Lutz-Lake Fern Road, west of Suncoast Parkway. The permit covers 10 years.

At a hearing Tuesday morning, Vin Marchetti, an attorney for Dibbs, claimed the hauling restriction past the schools poses a "practical impossibility" for his client to compete for a contract to haul dirt for the Lutz-Lake Fern Road widening project.

Marchetti asked Youmans to lift the restriction and to instead allow the county to decide whatever limits should be imposed on trucks hauling dirt for the widening.

"Why should I have restrictions that no one else has?" Dibbs asked Youmans. "If they other dirt haulers can supply dirt unrestricted, I should be able to supply dirt unrestricted.

"We just want the same treatment as everybody else."

The condition is "arbitrary and capricious and illegal," Marchetti said.

Experts on Dibbs' behalf showed videotape of trucks rolling down Lutz-Lake Fern Road past the schools. They talked about the additional expense of hauling dirt for longer distances if the nearby borrow pit can't compete. They questioned the logic of keeping trucks from one borrow pit from rolling past the schools, while trucks delivering dirt from other pits have no such restriction.

Glen Lathers and Lorraine Duffy Suarez of the Hillsborough County school district repeated concerns about potential dangers from heavy trucks rolling past the schools.
Lathers said the situation is unique because it's the only campus in the district where three schools will use a single access road.

"The addition of a high school, once it opens, is when the problem begins," Lathers said. Traffic will increase substantially once Steinbrenner High opens, he said.

Suarez and Lathers also acknowledged that conditions they want Youmans to impose are stricter than the conditions the school district imposes on itself.

When the district allows contractors to haul past schools, it simply prevents them from doing so during the school's opening and closing hours.

Barbara Dowling of the Keystone Civic Association spoke in favor of retaining the restriction.

"I don't think we can sacrifice the safety of the kids for the economics of this," Dowling said.

"There is not a 'practical impossibility' if the applicant can use the Suncoast Parkway interchange once it opens," Dowling added.

Although his decision isn't due until next week, Youmans did challenge some of Marchetti's arguments.

"If I look at the 10-year permit, a lot of the argument begins to weaken," Youmans said. "You've got 10 years to accomplish this. Not one. Not two. I don't think the threshold of arbitrary and capricious has been met here today."

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

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