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Developers Facing Strong Resistance

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By STEPHEN HAMMILL and B.C. MANION, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 19, 2008

KEYSTONE - About 80 people attended an impromptu meeting of the Keystone Civic Association last week to discuss upcoming amendments to its community plan.

The proposed changes will be heard by the county's Planning Commission at a public hearing Jan. 28. The hearing, originally scheduled for Jan. 14, was delayed by time constraints.

Four Keystone-related amendments are on the docket.

One proposal concerns land owned by developer Stephen Dibbs on the north side of Lutz-Lake Fern Road, west of the Suncoast Parkway. He wants a change in the zoning regulations to allow for the construction of up to 596 homes and 175,000 square feet of commercial retail space.

Planning and Growth Management authorities have said the proposed change is not in accordance with the Keystone-Odessa Community Plan, adopted in 2001 to ensure "a rural community, embracing its agricultural past, its continuing desire is to be an open area that values nature above commercialism."

Concurrently, Dibbs wants to carve out a borrow pit from 305 acres north of Lutz-Lake Fern Road and is seeking permission to have that land removed from the community plan.

"It's a novel approach," said association President Tom Aderhold, "creative, if you want to give him that much credit. I don't know if we've ever heard of anybody wanting to do that before."

Opponents of Dibbs' proposals to secede from the Keystone-Odessa Community Plan and to boost development potential on a portion of the site, applauded the Planning Commission's delay.

The issues are too important to be rushed through, said Steve Morris, one of several association members who attended the meeting Monday night.

The tract Dibbs wants to remove from the community plan also contains 50 acres he wants to use for a borrow pit.
Dibbs wants to mine dirt from four holes, ranging from 20 to 35 feet deep. He wants to remove 2.5 million cubic yards of dirt within 10 years for roadway and construction projects. An estimated 56 trucks a day would enter and leave the site.

That request - which has sparked opposition from nearby neighbors, the Lutz Civic Association, the Keystone Civic Association and homeowners groups - is being considered in a separate county process.

A hearing on the borrow pit was held Nov. 16 before Special Hearing Officer Harold Youmans. Instead of ruling on the request, Youmans cited due process and sent it back for another hearing. That has been set for 9 a.m. Friday in the county commission's board room on the second floor of the Fred B. Karl County Center.

In another amendment that was to be considered Monday before it was postponed, developer Tommy Shannon wants zoning changes that would allow him to build up to 174 homes and 110,000 square feet of retail space on his 58-acre property on Van Dyke Road, west of Gunn Highway.

In a companion amendment, he is seeking permission to bring water and sewer service into rural areas, something not currently allowed in Keystone.

The Keystone association met with Shannon and his representatives this week to discuss the proposals. "I can tell you we did not agree with anything they wanted to do," Aderhold said.

At Thursday's meeting Aderhold presented brightly colored T-shirts featuring the civic association's name for residents to wear to the upcoming hearing.

The unusually high turnout at the meeting underscored a palpable concern among residents.

"We've shown up in mass many times, and we've won the day. We've also lost the day," Aderhold said.

"Emotions do not rule the day," he warned the residents. "We must present a clear case that this is not in our best interest."

Following the Planning Commission hearing, the plan amendments go before the Board of County Commissioners in a public hearing Feb. 7. The Keystone Civic Association is entreating residents to attend both meetings in force.

"We've got to go down there twice," member Barbara Dowling said.

The Planning Commission hearing begins at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 28 on the 18th floor of the county center, 601 E. Kennedy Blvd.

Reporter Stephen Hammill can be reached at (813) 865-1523 or at shammill@tampatrib.com. Reporter B.C. Manion can be reached at (813) 865-1507 or bmanion@tampatrib.com.

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