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Boundaries In Question Regarding Growth Plan

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By TOM BRENNAN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 29, 2007

BRANDON - Don't hem us in.

That was the refrain from more than two dozen residents to county planners overseeing an effort to define how Brandon should grow.

The Brandon Community Plan is to be a syllabus for development in the area.

Members of the plan's working committee said at a meeting this week they believe county planners have been myopic in defining Brandon's boundaries.

'It seems like you've condensed us down,' said Sandra Murman, former state representative and chairwoman of the board of directors of the Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce. 'We're boxed in now.'

She and others said county officials have created similar plans for surrounding communities but waited to begin one for Brandon.

'We were the first ones out here ... everything else has been a spin-off of the growth of Brandon,' Murman said.

The county's initial boundaries for the Brandon plan were Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to the north, Bloomingdale Avenue to the south, U.S. 301 to the west and Valrico Road to the east.

Officials adjusted the northern boundary slightly south, to the CSX railroad tracks running south of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, to accommodate the Seffner Community Plan. Work on that plan kicked off this week.

The county plans to create a separate plan for Valrico next year and another for Bloomingdale in 2011. Planners and residents are putting the finishing touches on similar plans for Riverview and Palm River.

Members of the Brandon committee said people from the various communities interact with one another.

'What happens in one area impacts another,' said Gladys Will, who lives off Bell Shoals Road. 'You have people who live in the various communities that still consider themselves part of Brandon.'

Members of the Bloomingdale Homeowners Association have told county planners they want to be part of the Brandon plan.

Joe Incorvia, the county's chief of community planning, said county commissioners would have to approve Bloomingdale's inclusion.

'Seffner and Valrico have made it clear they want to do something on their own,' he said.

But he said he and his staff would explore expanding the Brandon boundaries and report back to residents at the committee's next meeting Oct. 22.

Reporter Tom Brennan can be reached at (813) 657-4528 or tbrennan@tampatrib.com.

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