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Central Hub Proposed For Brandon Blueprint

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By TOM BRENNAN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 4, 2008

BRANDON - Residents and business leaders drafting a blueprint of Brandon's future agree that a hub of activity, where people can live, work and shop within walking distance, should be in central Brandon instead of encroaching on areas not heavily developed.

Members of the Brandon Community Plan steering committee reached that conclusion at their monthly meeting May 27.

A county planner asked members to map out areas of Brandon that could become activity centers and community focal points.

Most of the dozen or so committee members opted for the area south of State Road 60, north of Lumsden Road, east of Interstate 75 and west of Parsons Avenue.

Richard Rios, a committee member and Valrico resident, said that area is home to Brandon Regional Hospital, the Brandon Regional Library, Clayton Park, the Westfield Brandon mall and the future Brandon Main Street project, a mixed-use downtown center that will have a neotraditional mix of homes, shops, parks and plazas.

"Besides sleeping, most of the activity happens in central Brandon," Rios said. "It includes the assets we already have."

Not all were convinced.

Fearing drainage problems in central Brandon, some committee members wanted to shift the focus to Brandon's northwest fringe in Sable Park west of I-75, away from development around the mall.

"We were concerned about putting too much into that area," said member Viv Bacca.

Activity centers are the latest tool planners have added to the county's comprehensive plan to focus growth inside Hillsborough County's urban service area, - where businesses and residences have access to public water and sewer service and get quicker response to fire, medical and law enforcement emergencies.

Melissa Zornitta, an executive planner with the Hillsborough Planning Commission, led the mapping exercise after giving committee members a presentation on the activity center concept.

She said in concept such centers will give developers incentives to build where the county has infrastructure instead of creeping into undeveloped areas. The key, she said, is to cut down on driving by creating areas where people can work, shop and live within walking or bicycling distance.

Incentives for developers could include permitting higher-density construction; pre-zoning areas that would streamline the building process; and allowing landowners to share responsibilities for meeting parking and stormwater retention requirements.

One of the key elements of the activity center concept is the Transportation Analysis Zone, a designation that would allow a different way for developers to calculate their projects' effects on local roads. By encouraging pedestrian traffic and use of buses, commuter rails and bicycles, developers could make fewer infrastructure improvements and offset project costs.

Members of the steering committee unanimously agreed mass transit must be part of any new activity center.

"We have tremendous growth, and we have to have the infrastructure for good mass transit," said committee member Fran Durrance of Brandon. "Now that everyone is feeling the economic pinch, it must be a top priority."

The group couldn't reach consensus on the type of mass transit to encourage in Brandon. Some preferred commuter or light rail, and others wanted a better bus system.

Zornitta said activity centers are still conceptual. She said the first step toward creating one would be choosing target areas and having planners do environmental and other analyses.

"We would want to know what it will look like, feel like and what kind of experience you should want when you are there," she said.

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

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