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Boundaries For Valrico Unclear

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By LAURA FRAZIER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 13, 2008

VALRICO - As far as county planners are concerned, there is no doubt Valrico will have a community plan, a guideline for development and growth.

The geographical boundaries of the plan, however, are in question and up for discussion Tuesday.

County planner Bill Lamboy said the Hillsborough County Commission six or seven years ago approved a long-range schedule to formulate community plans for geographical areas throughout the county, including Valrico.

The community-based planning program was adopted by the commission in 1998 to develop a consensus of residents' priorities on matters such as growth, transportation, development and county services.

Community plans are under way for Brandon and Seffner. Plans are completed and in effect for Thonotosassa, the University of South Florida area, Brandon Main Street, Northwest Tampa/Citrus Park and several communities in south Hillsborough County.

Committee meetings to shape the Valrico plan are set to begin in October, Lamboy said, but preliminary discussions are under way.

He will meet with residents at Center Place Fine Arts and Civic Association on Tuesday to talk about boundaries and clear confusion expressed by some residents at an initial meeting in December.

At Bloomingdale Regional Library on Dec. 19, Lamboy told residents that some residents involved in the Brandon Community Plan suggested Valrico should be included in a Greater Brandon plan. That led some to worry that an individual plan for Valrico was in jeopardy.

Not so, Lamboy said.

"The county's position all along since it was approved is that each of these geographical areas should have their own plan to serve their individual visions, and that's what we're going forward with."

Some residents involved in plans for Brandon and Seffner have argued about boundaries proposed for their area. Both groups are hashing out territory lines, Lamboy said, and soon Valrico residents might be brought into the mix.

"If you ask 10 people where the limits of Valrico and Brandon are, you'll get 10 different answers," he said.

Kevin Dorsey, spokesman for residents' group VOICE - Valrico Organizations Interested In Controlled Expansion - said the boundary issue will require coordination among planning groups.

"The Brandon plan as it is now, they want to go all the way to Valrico Road and pull parts of Valrico into the plan, and that's probably what they'll have to do. But right now it's kind of up in the air," said Dorsey, who is also president of the Buckhorn Homeowners Association.

Some people, he said, disagree with U.S. Postal Service ZIP codes that identify certain areas as Valrico.

"Even though the ZIP code area is called Valrico, is that really Valrico? We've all got to get together and figure it out," Dorsey said.

Regardless of the final boundaries, Dorsey said, the core of Valrico is distinct enough to benefit from a plan separate from Brandon's.

"I've gone to two Brandon Community Plan meetings, and it just seems like the areas are just different enough to have our own plan," he said. "Valrico is more rural, more urban and less commercial than Brandon. We've got to protect what we've got here, or at least try to."

In addition to discussing boundaries, Lamboy intends to clarify the purpose and scope of community plans at the meeting Tuesday. Issues like transportation must be resolved at a regional level, he said.

"I want to make sure the residents understand that there are limits to what community plans can do," he said.

Dorsey said residents are busy gaining a clear working knowledge of what the community plan can and cannot do for Valrico. A group of residents met with Commissioner Al Higginbotham in January to discuss the differences between community plans and the county's comprehensive plan.

Dorsey said, "We talked about how the comprehensive plan is still the long-term plan, and the community plans are a little different approach, with more of a 5- or 10-year time frame."

Community plans might not have as much teeth as the comprehensive plan, but Dorsey said he believes it is worth residents' efforts to get involved.

"When issues like zoning and density come up, the community plan could help us there. County officials could just reach and pull it off the shelf and say, 'In 2008 the Valrico community came together, and this is what they want their area to look like,'" he said. "It's got to at least be an advantage."

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Public meeting to discuss future Valrico Community Plan

WHERE: Center Place Fine Arts and Civic Association, 619 Vonderburg Drive, Brandon

WHEN: 6 p.m. Feb. 19

INFO: Bill Lamboy, (813) 276-8337, or visit www.hc communityplanning.com

Reporter Laura Frazier can be reached at (813) 657-4523 or lfrazier@tampatrib.com.

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