Developments in Development

Our next HOA meeting is next Tuesday, September 25. A representative from the developer that wants the county to waive its planning rules for the parcel next to us (between US-301 and Dartmouth Hill Road) wants to speak to the board.

It is not set in stone that he will attend, but if he does, you might want to hear it, with the understanding that nothing he tells us is legally binding, and that any plans he might share with us will likely bear little resemblance to what actually gets built there.

A board member has unearthed a signed agreement between our home builder, KB Home, and the owner of the parcel that appears to grant easement rights to our roads. This would grant the developer the right to build entrances into the commercial development from Lake St. Charles Blvd. and Johanna Ave.

This adds urgency to our campaign to press Hillsborough County commissioners not to grant a waiver to its planning rules for the Riverview Uptown Overlay District.

You can help. As I wrote back in June, you can write a letter to the Board of County Commissioners asking it to reject the application. Send it to the planner with Hillsborough County Development Services that is leading the review of this application. Her name is Isabelle Albert. And her email is AlbertI@hillsboroughcounty.org. The application number is PRS 12-0600.

You can also send comments or testimony to either Hearings@HillsboroughCounty.org or by regular mail to:

    PGM - ZONING HEARING SECTION
    PO BOX 1110
    TAMPA, FL 33601

You do not need to be a homeowner to do this. If you live here, this is your community, too.

Here is the letter I'm going to send. You're welcome to use that as a template for what you write. It will mean more if you use your own words, rather than simply copying and pasting this.

Board of County Commissioners

c/o Ms. Isabelle Albert
Hillsborough County
Development Services Department
20th Floor
601 East Kennedy Blvd
Tampa, FL 33601

RE: PRS 12-0600

Dear Commissioners:

I own a home in the St. Charles Place townhome community in Riverview, and I ask that you reject the application PRS 12-0600 to waive the development standards within Section 03.20.00 (the Riverview Downtown - Uptown Overlay District) of the Land Development Code. Our tightly-packed community of 268 homes sits next to the planned development site and I fear that approving the developer's request will damage the quality of life and community, as well as home values, of my neighbors and me.

When I bought my home, it was explained that development would happen in that spot, so I understand that. But I also understand that county planners worked with citizens for more than a year to create a long-term development plan to help distinguish the Riverview Community from the miles of suburban development that line US-301 to its north and south. County Commissioners approved the rules. If we couldn't keep the green space in that parcel, being part of a downtown offered the next best thing.

Now someone, probably for the sake of another gas station, wants to erase not only the hard work of county planners and Riverview residents, but the unspoken agreement all of us in St. Charles Place made when we bought our homes. If you approve this waiver, we could lose the chance to make Riverview a distinctive community, built with thoughtful plans and original charm, that will bring higher quality development, and ultimately more tax revenue for the county.

I urge you to stand for the county's long-term plan for the Overlay District, and reject PRS 12-0600.

Sincerely,

John McQuiston

At the last HOA meeting, someone mentioned that one of the e-mail addresses above did not work. I sent my letter to both of them and neither of them bounced. If I can verify that either one does not work, I'll update this page to include only the one that does.