Planning Commission Deems Lithia Development Plan Misaligned...

In a significant move, the Hillsborough County Planning Commission recently opposed a plan favored by county staff to develop a piece of land in Lithia, along Dorman Road.

This decision was met with enthusiasm by numerous local residents who gathered Monday night at the County Center in downtown Tampa. Sporting red attire and holding signs with slogans like “Preserve Rural Lithia,” they made their stance clear.

Indian Rocks Beach has announced plans to intensify its enforcement of short-term rental regulations, according to the city manager.

During the public comment period, one resident shared an image depicting their local road flanked by farmland and teeming with wildlife.

“Subdivisions are appearing faster than our roads, schools, and infrastructure can support,” expressed another woman, addressing the commission. “The traffic situation is spiraling out of control.”

“While there may be rural areas transitioning to the east, the subject property is actually located in quite a business suburban area of the county,” said Kami Corbett, an attorney. “Generally speaking, between the roadway improvement infrastructure plans and the water infrastructures plans, this is where you generally want to see expansion.”

County staff gave a green light to this plan. But the plan made county planning commissioners pause during the meeting.

“Just because the USA [Urban Service Area] is expanding doesn’t mean that there is money to put in infrastructure in place right now,” said Michelle Orton, a planning commissioner.

Commissioners voted 4-3, finding the proposal inconsistent with criteria needed to expand the Urban Service Area. It’s an area that could be used for development while protecting rural land.

Corbett argued how the county has to prepare for growth, and that using Urban Services Areas is a way to do it.

But residents living there argued emergency response times may grow worse; improvements in infrastructure need to be made before anything else is built; traffic patterns aren’t helpful to the inevitable growth; and they say flooding could become a problem as well.

“One extension becomes another and, over time, rural Hillsborough disappears,” said one woman during public comment.

Planning commissioners expressed concerns with Urban Service Area criteria, and being transparent for both residents and developers. They hope to speak with county commissioners about ways to implement this, knowing the county is growing.

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Planning Commission Deems Lithia Development Plan Misaligned with Urban Service Area Standards

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