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Limona Residents Oppose Home

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By D'ANN LAWRENCE WHITE

dlwhite@tampatrib.com

Published: December 31, 2008

TAMPA - Limona residents aren't enamored with the idea of having an assisted living facility constructed in the midst of their residential community.

Oakcrest Drive resident Dennis Menendez appeared before zoning hearing master Steve Luce on Dec. 16 with a petition bearing the names of 103 residents opposing a request by property owner Rick Bailey of Brandon. Bailey wants to rezone a 10-acre orange grove east of Limona Elementary School on the south side of Windhorst Road to permit a commercial residential home. The property is currently zoned to allow 32 homes.

Bailey said he's simply trying to fill a need in the community.

"Brandon has a very large shortfall of over 800 beds needed at this time just to meet their assisted living and memory care folks that are there," he said.

"And so what we're looking to do is to build a building that will both blend in with the community and also be in the country as the setting for the folks that are going to be occupying this thing. We have no intentions of ever trying to build a three-story building or something of that nature," he said.

"This will be a brand-new $7 million building with landscaping, an entryway with sidewalks from both sides of the property where the people can actually walk through the property, so it should not decrease the home values in that area at all."

Menendez, however, said the facility would be incompatible in an area of single-family homes and worried about the additional traffic on Windhorst Road.

"Windhorst Road can't handle much more," he said. "It's already bad."

Forty-year resident Norma Caum of Blake Tree Lane agreed.

"I'm part of a homebound ministry with my church, and I visit nursing homes and assisted living facilities," she said. "My experience with these assisted living homes is the parking lots are always full. Cars are coming in and out. Ambulances are coming in and out. Deliveries are coming in and out. They have different shifts for their workers ... In the morning and in the evening, Windhorst Road is very, very busy."

The request has the approval of both the planning commission and zoning staff. The zoning hearing master will make a recommendation within 15 working days. The request then goes before the Hillsborough County Commission at its Feb. 10 land use meeting for a final vote.

County zoning hearing masters also are considering other rezonings scheduled to be voted on at the Feb. 10 land use meeting.

T-Mobile South wants to construct a 153-foot cell phone tower and an 80-by-40-foot building on a 15-acre property owned by Horizon Christian Church of Brandon on St. Cloud Avenue between Laurel Leaf Drive and Windcrest Oaks Court.

Although T-Mobile South representatives agreed to locate the tower on the back of the property and camouflage it, nearby residents aren't thrilled with the idea of a communications tower obscuring their view.

Frank Ferlita, a resident of the Westminster subdivision, said he researched the issue and discovered that cell phone towers diminish area property values and that long-term exposure may be a health hazard.

Bucknell Drive resident Lisa Ledbetter was especially concerned about the children attending nearby Buckhorn Elementary School.

"I think the school should have been notified," she said. "I think there might be parents who might be concerned, might want to voice their opinions, sign a petition or have some voice whether they would like to have these harmful emissions in their backyard, because it is 50 feet from Buckhorn Elementary, and I know that radiation can be emitted for one to two and a half miles."

T-Mobile South representative Laura Lee West said there is no evidence of health hazards. In fact, Hillsborough County has 14 towers on school property.

Horizon Christian Church elder Daniel Hepner said the reason for locating the tower on the back of the property is the church has plans to build soccer and softball fields and add other buildings closer to the church. So this was the only location available, he said.

In addition, the owner of a popular Brandon nightspot is seeking a wet zoning to serve alcohol in his newly expanded patio area.

Sean Rice, owner of O'Brien's Irish Pub at 701 W. Lumsden Road, is expanding the patio of his 7,000-square-foot facility by 3,000 square feet and needs permission to serve Irish beer and other alcohol in the new facility in Oak Park Plaza, which backs up to a town home subdivision. There was no opposition to Rice's request.

A resident who wants to open a private school for special-needs students just down the street on Lumsden Road did face opposition, however.

Dawn Carlson of Valrico, owner of the Brandon Reading Clinic, which works with children with dyslexia, reading problems and other learning disabilities, would like to move her school to a larger facility on two acres on the north side of Lumsden Road across from Giggleswick Lane. The building would accommodate 45 students.

"The increased size and visibility of this location will allow us to provide services to more of these children in the Brandon community," Carlson said.

"This building is the perfect size and location for us. It's right in the heart of Brandon, so our kids from around the area can get to us more easily," she said. "The property is on a busy highway, so we will have increased visibility. A small school is very compatible with the area. There's a large day care-preschool existing on the property directly to the west of this building. A church owns the property behind us and an easement on the east side of the property, so we're surrounded by nonresidential uses."

Lee Baird, speaking on behalf of neighboring Westminster Presbyterian Church, said the congregation would prefer not to have its picturesque setting become a commercial activity center.

"About 40 years ago, Westminster chose this location to pursue a ministry in a peaceful and reverent residential setting," he said. "This was our idea at the time and, although Lumsden has become a broad boulevard, this particular section of Lumsden retains a lot of its original sedate atmosphere. We feel that this would noticeably erode the ambience that we have now. We see this as the first step in a slippery slope toward commercialization."

Reporter D'Ann Lawrence White can be reached at (813) 657-4524 or dlwhite@tampatrib.com.

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