Hillsborough County, Florida, is moving forward

Hillsborough County, Florida, is moving forward with a plan that could create sites for as many as 17 new urbanist neighborhoods in the county’s northwest sector. The plan by Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company (DPZ) identifies sites for 11 possible traditional neighborhood developments (TNDs) and 6 transit-oriented developments (TODs). The TODs would feature a higher density and more intense mix of uses than the TNDs. The plan is currently being reviewed by the state, and will be up for final adoption by the county commissioners in the fall of 2000. Meanwhile, the county has hired the Kansas City firm Freilich, Leitner & Carlisle to revise the land development regulations and include a provision for TND. Currently, any developer proposing TND needs to apply for extensive variances. The new TND code will still require a rezoning. However, county planners are pursuing the possible rezoning of parcels identified in the Northwest sector plan. If the rezoning is approved, property owners on these sites would have the right to do TND as an overlay alternative to existing zoning. Furthermore, the county is in the process of hiring a firm to do a regulating plan for Citrus Park Village — one of the TODs envisioned in the Northwest sector plan — according to Lisa Kramer, Hillsborough County planner.