Rezoning rejected for subdivision

St. Petersburg Times - St. Petersburg, Fla.

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A divided County Commission on Tuesday rejected a developer's zoning request, sending plans for a Ruskin subdivision back to the drawing board.

After the 4-3 vote, Manatee Bay Associates left without the approvals needed to create its "traditional neighborhood" south of Shell Point Road.

During the four-hour hearing, attorney Keith Bricklemeyer said a proposed subdivision would give Ruskin a planned community with Old Florida architecture, lots of parks and keep most of the oak trees intact.

The developer wanted to rezone agricultural and residential land for a 360-unit planned development called Riverton.

Commissioners who voted that plan down expressed concerns about dumping hundreds more people into a coastal hazard zone, with only a two-lane Shell Point Road for an evacuation route.

Commissioner Kathy Castor said she voted against the development in part to protect the Little Manatee River, which would run along the back yards of some Riverton residents.

Commissioners Brian Blair, Ken Hagan and Jim Norman voted to support the rezoning.

Tuesday's decision negates a land swap the commission agreed to in June. That deal allowed the county to trade 13 acres where a sewage lift station sits. Manatee Bay Associates would surrender 78 acres north of Shell Point Road, much of it environmentally sensitive.

Earlier in the day, commissioners seemed on their way to pushing the land swap through. They okayed zoning for 40 units on 13 acres of county-owned land, then approved the 78 acres as a nature preserve.

All of that is off the table now. The land swap was contingent on Manatee Bay Associates getting the zoning changes it sought.

Mary Ann Wilhelm was the lone resident speaking for the project. At her home, Wilhelm said residents have complained for years about cookie-cutter houses. "Now here comes somebody who is not cookie- cutter," she said. "They have a plan, and they are willing to work with us."

Richard McGinniss, general manager for Manatee Bay Associates, said developers will review their options.

"We'll take what happened today and think about it, and come back with something else," McGinniss said.

Opponents expressed elation.

"I was prepared to go home knowing I had done a good job, but in the end, power wins," said Melanie Hubbard, an English professor at the University of Tampa and a Ruskin resident. "But sometimes the little guy wins."

Andrew Meacham can be reached at 661-2431 or ameacham@sptimes.com.