WORKSHOP YIELDS SURPRISE

[STATE Edition]

St. Petersburg Times - St. Petersburg, Fla.

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Residents are upset that a panel gutted guidelines limiting growth.

County commissioners bolstered developers and angered residents this month by suddenly striking down guidelines meant to control growth.

By a 5-2 vote, the commission gutted changes to its comprehensive plan that would have strengthened requirements for more pedestrian- friendly, environmentally sound neighborhoods.

The Planning Commission proposed the changes at a March 14 workshop, one of several scheduled before the commission's August vote on a comprehensive development plan for unincorporated Hillsborough County.

For a few surprised residents, taking out provisions to strengthen so-called "livable communities" was bad enough. Doing it in a workshop, a venue where votes are seldom taken, was unforgivable.

"I might not be totally down with all of the things that were suggested," said Marcella O'Steen of the Balm Civic Association, who attended the meeting. "But it's a workshop. There has been no public input."

The comprehensive plan, the county's road map for future development, already contained a section with provisions for things such as bicycle lanes and shaded streets with sidewalks. But in a lengthy revision, the Planning Commission proposed three categories - urban, suburban and rural - for classifying land. Planners would try to limit developments to the parameters of each new category.

Developers objected to the report's recommendations.

"They have added a whole new head to the monster," said Clearwater consultant Todd Pressman. As it is, Pressman said, developers often walk away reeling from county planning offices due to an expanding number of regulations and financial obligations.

"The uncertainties are escalating exponentially," Pressman said.

Commissioners began to fidget following a Planning Commission report presented by Melissa Zornitta, describing three urban service "tiers" as a guide for channeling new development.

The report recommended that new growth align with the categories: one tier for densely populated areas near major highways; another for the suburbs, including much of Brandon; and a third for rural areas, including protected wetlands and areas identified as flood risks.

Commissioner Al Higgenbotham wanted to make sure someone else - especially the county administrator or Planning and Growth Management officials - looks at the plan before it came back to the commission in August.

But before that vote could be taken, Commissioner Ken Hagen, acting with Higgenbotham's blessing, acted to remove the livable communities revisions and the tier system altogether.

Commissioners Mark Sharpe and Rose Ferlita voted against removing those parts of the Planning Commission's report.

Brian Blair, who seconded Hagan's motion, said he did so partly because the report came without a price tag for implementing its recommendations, including the costs of numerous likely studies.

"Who is going to pay for it?" Blair said. "They should have given us a ballpark figure."

Some residents saw the workshop vote as a dirty trick.

"We were all going, 'Huh?' " said Mariella Smith, co-chairwoman of Hillsborough County's Sierra Club. "They are just ripping up whole chapters of the Future Land Use Element and throwing them away before the citizens have a chance to speak at a public hearing."

Higgenbotham said that the public had already had several opportunities to air their views in public hearings.

Higgenbotham acknowledged gutting the report's recommendations at a workshop was unusual but said, "At some point, we have to send a directive."

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

Credit: Times Staff Writer