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Planners Consider Neighbors

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By TOM BRENNAN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 3, 2008

BRANDON - Planning for the future is important, but many of those drafting the Brandon Community Plan don't want to overlook the needs of residents who put down roots here long before growth made Brandon a bustling suburb.

Members of the steering committee overseeing efforts to create guidelines for future development at a meeting Aug. 25 supported creating strategies for preserving existing neighborhoods.

"We need to protect the people who have already bought there and who were there first," said committee member Fran Durrance.

It was a sentiment shared by Gladys Will, who lives off Bell Shoals Road.

"Residents of existing communities should have more of a say about changes that could affect their lives," she said.

But the committee stopped short of drafting specific language, postponing that task for future meetings at the suggestion of county planners.

The committee was reviewing the results of a questionnaire members took last month on suggested draft goals and strategies for the community plan.

The group was divided over whether to discourage widening roads beyond four lanes.

Members disagreed on that issue in a survey they took last month and couldn't reach a consensus at the meeting, though they agreed something needs to be done to keep local roads from being turned into major highways.

"We need something to limit how big these roads can get," said committee member Lisa Rodriguez of Brandon.

She and other members also were uncertain about the idea of creating a ring of parks and trails around Brandon.

William Lamboy, the county planner overseeing the plan, said the proposal is modeled after similar amenities in cities like Boston, Cleveland, Atlanta and Denver and the San Gabriel Valley in California.

He said such park and trail systems preserve open space and link it to create a permanent greenway.
Vivian Bacca said she worries about usurping the authority of the Hillsborough County's Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation.

"The county already has its own park system in place, and unless we can link into their systems, there is going to be a strong political backwash to creating our own," she said.

Joe Incorvia, the county's community planning chief, said the greenway would be in Brandon's outskirts, and including it in the Brandon plan would be just a first step.

NEXT MEETING

WHEN: 6 p.m., Sept. 22

WHERE: Brandon Regional Service Center, 311 Pauls Drive

WHAT: Topics of discussion to include incorporating Bloomingdale into the plan; ranking goals and strategies; and potential activity and transportation centers.

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

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