Tree Line Approved

At the most recent HOA meeting, the board approved planting a hedge along two roads to increase the community's privacy, and to prepare for the day that developers destroy the trees and green space on the property between US-301 and Dartmouth Hill Road.

The first will be on the eastern side of Dartmouth Hill. When mature, the plants will provide a solid hedge line that will help block light — and some of the noise — from businesses and US-301.

We don't know when that property between Dartmouth Hill and US-301 will be developed, and when those trees that buffer us from US-301 will come down. But the land is zoned commercial and plans are already on file with Hillsborough County for a bank and a gas station to go in there.

It's going to happen; it's a matter of when.

By planting a hedge line now, when development appears to be years away, we buy plants when they're small and easy to install, and give them time to grow into a green privacy wall.

The other location is behind the units on Dartmouth Hill north of Johanna that back up directly onto US-301. Their homes are exposed to anyone driving by as well as noise and light from both the highway and the shopping center across the street.

As with the other hedge line, its benefits will not come immediately. But the board believed that making an investment now would pay much bigger dividends in the future.