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Guide To Growth Reviewed

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By RAY REYES, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 27, 2007

PLANT CITY - After two months of refinement, commissioners on Monday were presented with the latest version of a plan designed to guide growth in a 12,000-acre sector northeast of the city.

The newest tweaks feature a building trend that has recently enamored officials, one that will be implemented in future projects throughout the city: high-density, mixed-used communities.

In 20 years, acres may be giving way to a combination of town homes and open-air shopping centers in the area mostly north of Interstate 4, according to a presentation by Jill Quigley, consultant for Fort Lauderdale-based company Carter Burgess.

About 34,000 residential units would be clustered on 7,200 acres in the sector bordered to the north by Knights-Griffin Road, to the east by County Line Road, to the west by Paul Buchman Highway and a few properties south of the interstate and east of Park Road, Quigley told commissioners at a workshop Monday.

That scenario would preserve more agricultural land and encourage greenway connections between preserve areas, Assistant City Manager Greg Horwedel said.

'By clustering development, you're making more efficient use of the land,' Horwedel said.

The alternative would be a mishmash of subdivisions, about 13,000 residential units haphazardly spaced throughout the 12,000 acres, Quigley said.

Mayor Rick Lott called that option 'suburban sprawl,' with no clear-cut development plan.

The concepts for the northeast are similarly applied to the 85-acre midtown area, south of the historical downtown district. Within a decade, officials plan to redevelop midtown from a light industrial district into a mixed-use community of town homes, outdoor cafes and boutiques.

Commissioners approved the conceptual plans for midtown July 9.

Mixed-use planning is more attractive than 'piecemeal development,' said Ed Verner, vice president of City Properties, which had a hand in revitalizing downtown.
Verner said the outlying areas such as the northeast sector will become an integral part of the city, and planning ensures infrastructure will be in place before developments are built and residents move in.

'If we don't do it, what will happen is another Brandon,' said Verner, who owns a 200-acre tree farm in the heart of the rural northeast sector. 'Short-term planning can create havoc.'

Monday's presentation also included scenarios by Carter Burgess consultant Scott Pringle to improve the roads that run through the northeast. His suggestions were to extend Alexander Street to State Road 39, widen Sam Allen and Park roads to four lanes and extend Midway Road to serve as an alternative, and parallel, route to I-4.

The road expansions would remove about 17,000 vehicles daily from I-4 and S.R. 39, Pringle said.

Horwedel reminded commissioners at the workshop that the northeast plan was not a comprehensive plan amendment and that it was a work in progress.

'This is a vision plan,' Horwedel said.

The final version is months away, the consultants said. The plan will be presented to the county commission, the county planning commission and the Tampa Bay Metropolitan Planning Organization.

Because sections of unincorporated Hillsborough lie within the northeast study area, the city will begin work with the county to develop a joint planning agreement before final approval, Horwedel said.

Historically, most of the city's growth has been south of I-4, but the Northeast Master Plan was created to help officials manage development in an area they said will undergo tremendous growth within 20 years.

Reporter Ray Reyes can be reached at (813) 865-4433 or rreyes@tampatrib.com.

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