2 Threats to Mill Bayou, Bullfrog Creek, ELAPP Preserve, Traffic — and how you can help
There are TWO proposed developments threatening our environment & communities. YOU can help by attending the hearings:
May 11, 9:00 a.m., is the critical FINAL hearing for the first half of the Wimauma Sprawl project. Please come! If we lose this first half, it will be hard to save the second half! (see 2, below)
May 17, 6:00 p.m., is the PRELIMINARY hearing for Mill Bayou (see 1, below)
1.) Mill Bayou – skinny spit in the Little Manatee River (RZ 09-0176)
The skinny, 300-foot-wide spit sticking out in the middle of the Little Manatee River, home to 20 gopher tortoises and pristine sand pine scrub, is under attack again. A few years ago, they managed to rezone only the landward neck of the spit — the part inside the Urban Service Area. (Citizen opposition first persuaded the county commission to deny that rezoning, but they overturned their denial later in a “Relief Hearing.”)
This time, the developers want to bulldoze the rest of the spit — the part sticking farther out into the river, outside the Urban Service Area. (See aerial map.) We won a denial from the county commission a year ago, but the developer appealed in court, where that denial was “quashed,” so now they get a do-over (“remand”).
The site is mainly wetlands, but also includes some BEAUTIFUL sand pine and cedar uplands chock full of gopher tortoises and other wildlife, including protected species. (See photos.)
This little sand-spit floods frequently. It lies in the Coastal High Hazard Area which carries substantial risks to homeowners during hurricanes. Building in tidal flood plains like this puts families in danger and raises insurance costs for all of us.
We need to fight once more, to protect the Little Manatee River and her wildlife. You can help by joining us at these hearings:
A. Preliminary Zoning Hearing Master hearing
We’ll only have a total of 15 minutes to speak, so please keep your remarks very brief to allow everyone to speak. If you don’t want to speak, you can support us by simply standing with us. We have a couple of speakers at this point, but we do need somebody to address flooding and insurance issues.
B. FINAL County Commission hearing (date may change)
UPDATE: new date:
The final hearing is when we’ll really need a big crowd to convince the county commission to stick with their previous decision. They could easily side with the developer, using the excuse of the court judgement, if citizens don’t show up.
2.) 2,510 houses (!) on environmentally sensitive land in rural Wimauma, with serious traffic impacts on South County roads (especially 301, 674, & 19th)
A developer wants to build 2,510 houses on 1,190 acres next to Balm Scrub Nature Preserve (ELAPP land), east of 301, north of 674. The site includes substantial wetlands and tributaries of the Bullfrog Creek system, along with land designated by the county as “Significant & Essential Wildlife Habitat.”
This huge development will have horrible traffic implications for Wimauma, Balm, and Sun City Center. Hwy 674 is operating below standard now. By the time this project gets built, other, previously approved developments will be overloading this highway even worse, and there is no plan, and no money, to improve it. We don’t need another giant subdivision full of commuters, far out in the Rural Area, in the midst of a housing glut; and we can’t afford to provide the infrastructure for unnecessary development outside the Urban Service Area at this time. (See aerial map.)
A similar proposal for less than half as many houses was denied by the zoning hearing master about 18 months ago — 1,089 houses at the “Westlake Reserve,” on a different parcel to the north of this project (in yellow on this map). That was withdrawn, but if these 2,510 houses are approved it will set a terrible precedent, opening the floodgates for more huge subdivisions in the rural area.
The developer has split this project into 2 parts (in red & orange on this map) with different hearing dates:
1. Creek Preserve – southern half, 1,010 houses (RZ 10-0147)
A. Preliminary Zoning Hearing was already held March 15. The hearing master recommended approval.
B. FINAL County Commission Hearing
Tuesday, May 11, 9:00 a.m.
County Center, 2nd floor, 601 E. Kennedy Blvd.
Please come to this hearing on May 11! If we lose this first half, it will be hard to save the second half!
Update: The county commission approved this on May 11. It’s what they do. Details here.
2. Spenser Farms – northern half, 1,500 houses (RZ 10-0231)
A. Preliminary Zoning Master Hearing same night as the Mill Bayou rezoning
Monday, June 14, 6:00 p.m.
County Center, 2nd floor, 601 E. Kennedy Blvd.
B. FINAL County Commission hearing
Tuesday, August 10, 9:00 a.m.
County Center, 2nd floor, 601 E. Kennedy Blvd.
Your presence at the hearings – especially the FINAL hearings – is MUCH more important than letters.
To send letters by e-mail:
To: Isabelle Albert <alberti@hillsboroughcounty.org>
CC: Brian Grady <gradyb@hillsboroughcounty.org>
Be sure to reference the case number in the subject and at the top of your message.
• Mill Bayou = RZ 09-0176 – See sample letter. (No need to write again, if you wrote in to the first hearing, before this remand. If you received a mailed notice of the next hearing, then your original letter is still on file.)
• “Spenser Farms” in Wimauma = RZ 10-0231 – See sample letter.
All letters must be in the case file by 2 business days before the PRELIMINARY zoning hearing, or hand-delivered at the PRELIMINARY zoning hearing.
If you want to speak at the FINAL hearing, you must be a party of record by having entered spoken or written testimony into the record prior to, or at, the PRELIMINARY zoning hearing; AND you must file a Request for Oral Argument form (download form and instructions). No evidence can be presented at the FINAL hearing that was not included in the PRELIMINARY hearing.
Get more info online: pgm.hillsboroughcounty.org
Login is “public” and the password is also “public.” See site plans, agency comments, letters, and everything in the case file. Click on “query” and enter the case number (without the “RZ”) where it says “tracking #.”
Please forward this message to like-minded people, and bring a friend to the hearings. Thanks for your help!
