Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Zoning

Group opposes feed store

By LETITIA STEIN
Published September 2, 2005

DOVER: Neighbors are steaming over a plan to put a feed store on 3 acres on McIntosh Road, just north of Interstate 4.

Diaz, Pearson & Associates wants approval for a 10,000 square-foot agriculture specialty store. The business would sell supplies for lawns, gardens and pets, along with other farm products. Initially, it would start with a 7,500-square-foot building.

Diaz is requesting to rezone the property from agricultural uses to planned development. The developer would design the feed store with a pitched roof, in keeping with the surrounding neighborhood's rural character. A six-foot fence covered with creeping fig would screen an outside storage area for fence posts, wire, farm gates, and water troughs for cows.

But neighbors don't see how the business would fit in with their quiet community. Several spoke against the proposal at a zoning hearing on Aug. 15.

Among their concerns: Additional traffic on an already dangerously curvy pass of McIntosh Road and potential flooding problems. Plus, a neighbor worried that run-off from the products stored outside the farm depot could spread pollutants. Although the proposed business lies in Dover, it's close enough to Seffner that the Seffner Community Alliance is opposing the store.

Farm land and houses sit around the proposed business. A home currently on the property would be used as office space and a caretaker's residence. Suppliers would unload on the west side of the property, where some trailers filled with hay would also park.

County planners are supporting the rezoning. They noted the businesses' hours of operation would also be limited. Still, the store could stay open seven days a week.

The zoning hearing master is expected to make a recommendation on Sept. 6. County commissioners would vote on the proposal on Sept. 27. (PETITION 05-0964)

VALRICO: Another citrus grove could bite the dust.

Farkas Citrus Nursery is asking to build a subdivision with 154 houses on South Dover Road. The property is currently home to an abandoned orange grove, according to development plans.

Farkas is requesting to rezone about 39 acres - mostly farm land - to residential with six homes per acre.

The southern boundary abuts homes on Mohican Trail. More homes sit to the west. On the east side of South Dover Road, additional residences sit on half-acre lots. The property to the north remains farm land, but houses have been developed along it northern edge.

Plans for the subdivision call for 7,000-square-foot lots. A dry pond area would occupy about 5 acres at the northwestern edge, facing Dover.

A zoning hearing is scheduled for Sept. 6. County commissioners would vote on Oct. 25. (PETITION 05-1725)

WIMAUMA: Lennar wants to retool plans for Sunshine Village, a nearly 800-acre development south of State Road 674 and east of U.S. 301.

The developer is requesting a major modification to reduce the amount of land for commercial uses from about 60 acres to 27 acres. Lennar also wants to expand the recreation center from nearly 5 acres to 13 acres.

Residents would access the community from its northern edge, where a median is going in across from a planned Wal-Mart. The developer wants to eliminate a planned eastern exit onto West Lake Road. This would reduce the number of gates needed. The subdivision will feature private roads.

The proposed changes would not alter the number of residences. Lennar plans to build 3,800 homes. This could include a mix of houses, condos and townhomes.

A zoning hearing is scheduled for Sept. 6. County commissioners would vote on the proposed changes on Oct. 25. (PETITION 05-1404)

Hearings of county zoning hearing masters and land use hearing officers, and land use meetings of the County Commission are held on the second floor of the County Center, 601 E Kennedy Blvd. All hearings before a zoning hearing master begin at 6 p.m. on Mondays or Tuesdays; commission meetings begin at 9 a.m. on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month. Both are televised on government access channels. Land use hearing officer hearings, which are not televised, begin at 9 a.m. every third Friday. Basic information about each petition is available online at http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/pgm/zoning For information, call 276-5920.

[Last modified September 2, 2005, 02:15:35]