Old Plans Set Back Sand Pit's New Plans
Tampa Real Estate
Orlando Homes for Sale
Old Plans Set Back Sand Pit's New Plans
By ELIZABETH LEE BROWN The Tampa Tribune
Published: Jan 18, 2007
KEYSTONE - Undeveloped public rights-of-way platted nearly a century ago are the latest issue to sideline a proposed sand mine on Lutz-Lake Fern Road.
A 52-acre borrow pit west of the Suncoast Parkway would be dug over numerous rights-of-way in the old Keystone Park Colony, a subdivision platted in 1909.
Those rights-of-way crisscross the 286-acre property in a grid pattern and traverse wetlands. They were dedicated to Hillsborough County, but its public interests were never relinquished.
Therefore, property owner and developer Stephen Dibbs needs to vacate the rights-of-way before seeking approval for the borrow pit, said Peggy Hamric, of the county's real estate department.
The process could take three to four months and needs county commission approval, real estate officials said.
Access Complicates The Issue
Last week, the excavation request was postponed to a Feb. 2 land-use hearing, but will be pushed to a later date, which will be after the vacating process is complete, said county planner Tom Hiznay.
Complicating the issue are three land-locked properties that use the rights-of-way as legal access onto Lutz-Lake Fern Road. At least one property owner has written the county to oppose the change.
"The applicant is modifying their petition to … accommodate the access," Hamric said.
The revised plans, submitted last week, show a new dirt driveway hugging Dibbs' western property.
Property owners would use Barrie Acres Trail and then the dirt road, but would still be trespassing on Dibbs' property to get to their parcels, said David Johnston, a county land agent reviewing the case.
Meanwhile, county planners continue to review the excavation request to dig 2 1/2 million cubic yards of dirt.
In late December, Dibbs filed a revised plan outlining new development conditions to address the objections raised by Keystone, Lutz and southern Pasco homeowners, schools and county reviewers.
In September, a county report sided with residents and recommended the permit be denied based on the negative impacts to the community. The report said the potential for hundreds of dump trucks carrying construction fill would tear up roads, interfere with schoolchildren and churchgoers, and disrupt the quality of life by bringing noise and dust to homeowners along the haul route.
Developer Lists New Conditions
The new proposed conditions would:
•Reduce the excavation permit from 10 to three years, with the option to extend it to 10 years if the fill dirt serves the widening of Lutz-Lake Fern Road or the construction of a high school or the Suncoast Parkway interchange.
•Add 50 feet to a buffer with Pasco County neighbors by creating a 200-foot setback from the pit and erect a 6-foot tall wood fence.
•Restrict the haul route so that dump trucks leaving the borrow pit head east on Lutz-Lake Fern Road toward North Dale Mabry Highway. Once the interchange on the Suncoast Parkway opens, trucks would use the toll road.
•Allow up to 200 dump trucks daily to run from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, except during peak school drop-off and pick-up hours, from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.
•Have a queuing area on site for up to 112 trucks.
Another major concern is the structural integrity of the two-lane Lutz-Lake Fern Road, where the additional truck loads and weight could damage the road bed.
Public works managers said the road crosses drainage culverts that may not withstand the truck traffic.
One condition requires contractors to sweep excess fill dirt from the roadway daily, between the pit entrance to North Dale Mabry Highway.
In addition, Dibbs promises to maintain and repair the road's pavement edges and shoulders damaged by the dump trucks.
The conditions haven't stemmed opposition.
"There are no conditions you could make that would make this acceptable to the community," said Denise Layne, a Lutz activist representing the neighborhood.
"It doesn't work," she said. "It doesn't fit. There's nothing in here that's going to make anything better. There's no way to protect the community with conditions on this."
Orlando Homes for Sale
Old Plans Set Back Sand Pit's New Plans
By ELIZABETH LEE BROWN The Tampa Tribune
Published: Jan 18, 2007
KEYSTONE - Undeveloped public rights-of-way platted nearly a century ago are the latest issue to sideline a proposed sand mine on Lutz-Lake Fern Road.
A 52-acre borrow pit west of the Suncoast Parkway would be dug over numerous rights-of-way in the old Keystone Park Colony, a subdivision platted in 1909.
Those rights-of-way crisscross the 286-acre property in a grid pattern and traverse wetlands. They were dedicated to Hillsborough County, but its public interests were never relinquished.
Therefore, property owner and developer Stephen Dibbs needs to vacate the rights-of-way before seeking approval for the borrow pit, said Peggy Hamric, of the county's real estate department.
The process could take three to four months and needs county commission approval, real estate officials said.
Access Complicates The Issue
Last week, the excavation request was postponed to a Feb. 2 land-use hearing, but will be pushed to a later date, which will be after the vacating process is complete, said county planner Tom Hiznay.
Complicating the issue are three land-locked properties that use the rights-of-way as legal access onto Lutz-Lake Fern Road. At least one property owner has written the county to oppose the change.
"The applicant is modifying their petition to … accommodate the access," Hamric said.
The revised plans, submitted last week, show a new dirt driveway hugging Dibbs' western property.
Property owners would use Barrie Acres Trail and then the dirt road, but would still be trespassing on Dibbs' property to get to their parcels, said David Johnston, a county land agent reviewing the case.
Meanwhile, county planners continue to review the excavation request to dig 2 1/2 million cubic yards of dirt.
In late December, Dibbs filed a revised plan outlining new development conditions to address the objections raised by Keystone, Lutz and southern Pasco homeowners, schools and county reviewers.
In September, a county report sided with residents and recommended the permit be denied based on the negative impacts to the community. The report said the potential for hundreds of dump trucks carrying construction fill would tear up roads, interfere with schoolchildren and churchgoers, and disrupt the quality of life by bringing noise and dust to homeowners along the haul route.
Developer Lists New Conditions
The new proposed conditions would:
•Reduce the excavation permit from 10 to three years, with the option to extend it to 10 years if the fill dirt serves the widening of Lutz-Lake Fern Road or the construction of a high school or the Suncoast Parkway interchange.
•Add 50 feet to a buffer with Pasco County neighbors by creating a 200-foot setback from the pit and erect a 6-foot tall wood fence.
•Restrict the haul route so that dump trucks leaving the borrow pit head east on Lutz-Lake Fern Road toward North Dale Mabry Highway. Once the interchange on the Suncoast Parkway opens, trucks would use the toll road.
•Allow up to 200 dump trucks daily to run from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, except during peak school drop-off and pick-up hours, from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.
•Have a queuing area on site for up to 112 trucks.
Another major concern is the structural integrity of the two-lane Lutz-Lake Fern Road, where the additional truck loads and weight could damage the road bed.
Public works managers said the road crosses drainage culverts that may not withstand the truck traffic.
One condition requires contractors to sweep excess fill dirt from the roadway daily, between the pit entrance to North Dale Mabry Highway.
In addition, Dibbs promises to maintain and repair the road's pavement edges and shoulders damaged by the dump trucks.
The conditions haven't stemmed opposition.
"There are no conditions you could make that would make this acceptable to the community," said Denise Layne, a Lutz activist representing the neighborhood.
"It doesn't work," she said. "It doesn't fit. There's nothing in here that's going to make anything better. There's no way to protect the community with conditions on this."
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