Another golf community approved for New Tampa

By MICHAEL SANDLER

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 28, 2000

TAMPA -- The city approved another new golf community with nearly 1,600 homes on endangered upland habitat in New Tampa on Thursday, despite objections from environmental groups and local activists.

After four hours of deliberation at two public hearings this month, the City Council voted 6-1 to adopt a development agreement proposed by Toll Brothers Inc. to build Grand Hampton.

The council also voted 6-1 for a zoning change necessary to begin construction. The rezoning is subject to a second reading Aug. 17 before official approval.

Linda Saul-Sena dissented in both votes.

Joel Tew, a Clearwater attorney representing Toll Brothers, said the developer hopes to begin the permitting process and construction within six months.

Grand Hampton would include 829 single-family homes, 750 multifamily units, a private park for residents, 80,000 square feet of commercial space and an 18-hole golf course on 645 acres directly south of County Line Road between Bruce B. Downs and Interstate 75.

Annexed into the city in November 1998, it includes more than 463 acres of uplands and abuts the Cypress Creek Preserve, a watershed that feeds into the Hillsborough River, the city's main source of drinking water.

The developer agreed to contribute $1.5-million for road improvements, $673,299.20 to protect upland habitats off site and land for an elementary school and a fire station.

On July 13, the developer also agreed to limit rental units to 300 of the 750 planned multifamily units, a direct request of council member Shawn Harrison, who lives in Tampa Palms.

Thursday, Harrison asked that the golf course meet certification requirements from Audubon International, a not-for-profit environmental group unrelated to the Audubon Society. He also asked that the off-site upland preservation be in New Tampa, preferably near the Cypress Creek Preserve.

"Staff has been very aggressive on some of the requirements we had been asking for," Harrison said. "What that signals is that it will no longer be business as usual for development in New Tampa. . . . We are going to try to raise the bar a little bit for future developments, and I think this is a good place to start."

In dissent, Saul-Sena cited a need to slow growth in an area already threatened by sprawl.

"This is a particularly rich parcel -- environmentally rich -- therefore a delicate and fragile parcel. I really felt they had met the requests we made of them. The question is really should we, the community, continue to allow basically residential sprawl as a prevailing development pattern."

- Michael Sandler can be reached at (813) 226-3472 or sandler@sptimes.com.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.