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Commission Denies Rezoning For Apartment Complex

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By TONY MARRERO Hernando Today

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 11, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - Too much, too soon.

Agreeing with that assessment by its staff and the planning and zoning board, county commissioners on Wednesday denied a rezoning request that would have allowed for an 87-unit apartment complex on Cortez Boulevard east of Brooksville and just west of La Pine Road.

Brooke Hill LLC sought to reclassify a majority of a 5.4-acre parcel from agricultural to residential zoning to build the apartments along with an onsite daycare facility. At least 25 percent of the complex would have been reserved for subsidized housing.

Planning staffers had recommended denial because a drastic change in elevation from Cortez would preclude an access point onto the property. That leaves La Pine, a 15-foot wide, unimproved road.

The plan also is well ahead of its time, with a density far too intense for the rural nature of the area, staffers said. The planning and zoning board agreed and voted unanimously to recommend denial.

The access issue could probably be solved with a frontage road, Brian Stayton, an attorney for Brooke Hill, assured commissioners Wednesday.

Stayton also tried to refute the assertion that an apartment complex is not consistent with development trends in the area. The property, about a mile west of Lockhart Road, also is close enough to the State Road 50/I-75 junction, around which the county's comprehensive land use plan envisions dense growth, Stayton said.

"That's what we're trying to do, start a trend," Stayton said.

But timing is key, Chief Planner Jerry Greif told commissioners.

The comprehensive plan does not give justification "to go in the middle of a rural area and slap in the highest density you can," Greif said.

A handful of neighbors made impassioned pleas for the board to reject the plan.

"I moved here for a quiet, peaceful community," said La Pine Road resident Teresa Voiles.

Commissioner Dave Russell told Stayton he'd made some compelling arguments, but it wasn't enough to sway him or the rest of the board.

In other action, commissioners:

•Unanimously approved a rezoning request from T-Mobile South to allow a 155-foot-tall cell phone "unipole" on the west side of Linden Avenue about 1,000 feet south of Spring Hill Drive. The unipole design features the antennae on the inside and will replace an existing tower on the site.

•Voted 4 to 1 to approve a rezoning request by Richard Smith to allow for a commercial marina on the east and west side of Calienta Street just south of Maplewood Drive in Hernando Beach. The zoning provides for boat storage on the site near the Hernando Beach public boat ramp, but the applicant will have to come back to the county to get a variance to allow for two 60-foot-tall storage buildings.

•Unanimously approved a request from Lingappa Amarchand to allow for commercial and office space on a nearly 3-acre lot on the south side of Cortez Boulevard, about 1,200 feet west of Lykes Dublin Road.

•Unanimously approved a variance request to allow the construction of a new floating dock at Rogers Park in Weeki Wachee. The 50-foot-long, 8-foot-wide dock will replace an existing stationary dock that staffers said is tough to use at low tide.

Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.

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