There Must Be A Better Way To Keep Track Of Developers
Oct. 19 I ran a column titled, “In Search of the Responsible Parties.” Today’s column is an update to that.
The person – persons or companies – I’ve been searching for are the ones responsible for building the north-south roads within the new developments that front the east side of U.S. 301 in Riverview.
All the developers were required to leave room and right of way for these roadways. And if you drive through each development, from South Fork north almost to Rhodine Road, you can see that they line up in a such a way that they could be easily connected.
That would certainly relieve U.S. 301.
The problem is that nobody seems to be able to say exactly who must build what, where or when.
My quest began when I noticed that the address of my granddaughter’s school, the new Leroy Collins Elementary in Panther Trace, is 12424 Summerfield Blvd. But the school isn’t in Summerfield, or anywhere near Summerfield Boulevard, which ends at a wide field by Smokethorn Drive.
After at least 10 telephone calls to my regular sources for my Oct. 19 column, I got word from Kevin Howe, a senior manager with the county’s 911-Streets and Addresses, that his department had assigned the address because of a map sent to him by Hillsborough County’s Planning and Growth Management office.
He e-mailed me a copy and it clearly shows an extension of Summerfield Boulevard north-south in the exact area I’d been asking about – South Fork to Rhodine Road.
I soon found, however, that the road existing on Kevin’s map did not exist on the county’s 2025 Transportation Plan.
Did that mean private interests were building it? And had they been told to do this in connection with their permits?
This sounds like an easy question for county officials to answer, but so far, it hasn’t worked that way.
Calls to County Commissioner Ronda Storms’ office created a blitz of e-mail asking county officials to find an answer for me. And finally I interviewed Jo Ann Heron, a professional engineer in the department of planning and growth management, who said she has only been on the job a few months but seemed to do her best to find answers for me.
“U.S. Home donated the right of way for the section through Summerfield north of Collins elementary,” she said. “All the way to the Martinez tract. Then, when that tract is developed, there will be a park just north of the school that will also be on Summerfield Boulevard.”
She went on to say that when the site plan was approved for Summerfield, the developer was required to “build roads within the development as they are needed.” Neither county commissioners nor the zoning hearing master attached any timetable so this could be when the last permit for the development is pulled, or perhaps – well, never, unless a “need” is proven, she said.
I soon found a second problem with this answer: Summerfield is south of Collins elementary, not north, so this meant we were talking about two completely different plots of land.
At this point, JoAnn advised that I ask Dennis Kline, the county’s principal planner, who was, she said, very knowledgeable about the U.S. 301 developments.
But not on this subject.
Dennis suggested (almost immediately) that I go to Tim Plate of Heidt & Associates, an engineering firm based in Tampa, because they were more familiar with the specifics and conditions than he was.
Now I don’t know why private industry should be more familiar with zoning conditions than our own county government, but Tim told me the only tract (in the area I was inquiring about) where zoning conditions have not already been set in stone is the Martinez tract, a 344-acre former dairy farm that extends north from Panther Trace to Rhodine Road.
Public records show that Transcend Development Corp. is requesting a rezoning of the Martinez tract to create a new development called Villages at Heron Lake. Transcend plans to build 1,134 single family homes and townhouses surrounding a 90-acre lake.
There’s still time to ask that the zoning hearing master make that section of north-south road a condition of its permit.
As for the section of land that contains the dedicated right of way in Panther Trace, building a road there is up to the “whim of its developer, RRG Big Bend based in Fort Pierce,” Tim said. 
He said that he was certain that even though the right of way was dedicated, there was no requirement for RRG to build any road.
I want to know why these conditions aren’t being put on as a requirement of their permits, or perhaps when site plans are presented.
It’s true that a lot of South Shore’s zoning was established nearly 20 years ago. We may not be able to downgrade the number of homes that have already been allowed by previous county officials, but we can certainly ask our county commissioners to make planners put conditions on everything new that comes across their desks.
u I’d like to hear your comments on this, and other, issues. I realized I’ve done all the raving this week, which has left me no space for your letters. So next week we’re going to have a different kind of Road Raves, filled with comments from letters and e-mails I’ve received these past two weeks. And there’s still time to get your questions and comments in. Send them to 3036 College Ave., Ruskin, FL 33570 or e-mail them to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) with “Road Raves” in the subject line.
Penny Fletcher is the editor of The Sun and the South Shore News.