Final hearing on Ruskin Community Plan’s guidelines

UPDATE • posted June 4: This Public Hearing has been RESCHEDULED. The new date is:

FINAL Public Hearing: Land Development Code Amendments
— Ruskin Plan Guidelines amendment: #14-0474

Thursday, June 12, 6:00 pm.
2nd floor boardroom, County Center (the pink glass tower)
610 E. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa, FL 33602 (view map)

The Public Hearing on the Ruskin Community Plan code amendment had to be RESCHEDULED when the county realized — at the very last minute — that they couldn’t muster a quorum because most of our County Commissioners weren’t coming in to work on the day the hearing was originally scheduled!

The post below has been updated with the new hearing date.

The Final Public Hearing on the Ruskin Community Plan’s Guidelines is Thursday, June 12, 6:00 pm. Our attendance at this hearing will show the county commissioners that our Community Plans are important to us—the Ruskin Community Plan specifically, and the implementation of ALL Community Plans in general.

Citizen participation at the previous public meeting, along with emails, has been effective so far.

At this point it looks like we have a good code amendment drafted which will firmly codify the Ruskin Community Plan’s Guidelines within the Land Development Code (LDC), thanks to your emails and participation all along the way. All we need to do now is show up to support this final draft at the final hearing.

Remember that this all started with an integral piece of the Ruskin Community Plan (the Guidelines) tossed into the shredder because one developer challenged that one part of the Ruskin Community Plan specifically, AND because developers have been complaining about Community Plans in general. If citizens do not show up at this hearing, but developers do, those developers may ask for delays or last-minute changes in this specific code amendment. AND if commissioners see no citizens in attendance, they may think our Community Plans don’t matter to us in general.

Commissioners and county planning staff hear from developers constantly. It is important for them to also hear from people who support citizen-driven Community Plans in general. This Thursday, it is particularly important that they also hear from Ruskin citizens who support the Ruskin Community Plan, specifically.

I hope to see some of you at this last hearing:

FINAL Public Hearing: Land Development Code Amendments
— Ruskin Plan Guidelines amendment: #14-0474

NEW DATE: Thursday, June 12, 6:00 pm.
2nd floor boardroom, County Center (the pink glass tower)
610 E. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa, FL 33602 (view map)

This is EASY activism:

• This will not take long. The Land Development Code amendments will be the first thing on the agenda, and there are only 3 of them, with ours being the only one likely to draw any discussion. You do not need to stay for the rest of the agenda items (Comprehensive Plan amendments) unless you are also interested in those.
• You do not have to speak to show your support— just stand as a group when asked, to show the commissioners how many people showed up. Your presence alone speaks volumes.
•  If you do want to speak, you are welcome to do so. (Speakers will be limited to 2-3 minutes each.)
• We have a lot on our side: County staff as well as the Planning Commission all support this amendment now. Several County Commissioners have indicated their support. The only opposition has been from a few developers.

Parking is EASY:

Park in the garage across Pierce St. from County Center, before it closes at 6 pm, and you can usually (not always!) exit for free after the garage closes at 6 pm. On-street parking is free after 6 in some places—look north of Kennedy. The hearing will be over well before dark.

If you can’t make the hearing, please use this form to contact the County Commissioners.

This is all you need to write:

“Please approve the Ruskin Plan Guidelines amendment to the Land Development Code (LDC amendment #14-0474) at the public hearing on Thursday, June 12.”

References:

• For information, with links to more info, see this previous article.
• For the actual amendment text and county contacts, see the county’s main info page for all LDC amendments—the Ruskin Guidelines amendment is #14-0474.