Hillsborough County BOCC Comprehensive Plan Public Hearing - May 14, 2026
Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners Comprehensive Plan Amendment Public Hearing - May 14, 2026
The Board of County Commissioners held a public hearing on May 14, 2026, to consider adoption and transmittal of comprehensive plan amendments and concurrent rezonings. Items included text amendments, map amendments, and a corridor preservation plan update. Two large-scale map amendments (HC/CPA 26-05 and 26-06) were continued to June 11, 2026. A motion to deny a controversial density increase at Dover Road failed on a 3-3 tie, and a motion to continue it also failed, leaving the item unadopted.
Continuance
- Items C.1 and C.2 (HC/CPA 26-05 and 26-06, Dorman Road) – Applicant requested continuance to June 11, 2026. Motion carried 6-0.
Discussion Items
Item A.1: Renaming SouthShore Areawide Systems Plan
- Text amendment (HC/CPA 25-26) to rename the plan to "South Hillsborough County Plan." Staff presentation noted no agency objections. No public comment. Approved 6-0.
Item A.2: New Rural Light Industrial Future Land Use Category
- Text amendment (HC/CPA 25-29) to add a Rural Light Industrial category and define "Limited Light Industrial Uses." Staff presented research and protections (0.25 FAR, PD required, no residential). Public comment: Melissa Nordbeck opposed, arguing it conflicts with the county's lawsuit against the Live Local Act and risks exploitation by developers. Commissioner Willstrom discussed the PD requirement. Approved 6-0.
Item B.1: Dover Road Map Amendment (RES-4 to RES-20)
- Privately initiated map amendment on 21.76 acres at 117 North Dover Road. Staff initially found inconsistency; Planning Commission voted 4-3 for consistency. Applicant proposed future mixed-use development, claiming trip neutrality. Public comment: Deborah Holiday, Margaret McDeed, and Penny Martin (virtual) opposed, citing incompatibility with rural character, traffic, infrastructure strain, and wildlife habitat loss. Commissioner Wilson voted no, citing violation of transition policies and calling the trip neutrality claim misleading. A motion to deny failed 3-3 (Commissioners Miller, Cameron, Wolstall in favor; Cohen, Hagen, Bowles against). A motion to continue to hear with a concurrent rezoning also failed 3-3 (same split). Item not adopted.
Item B.2: West Lake Drive Map Amendment (WVR2 to RES-4)
- Publicly initiated map amendment on 15.04 acres to reclassify the last Wimauma Village Residential-2 parcels to Residential-4. Staff noted consistency with prior board direction. No public comment. Approved 6-0.
Items B.3 & B.4: Highway 301 & Williams Road – Map Amendment and Rezoning
- Map amendment (HC/CPA 25-25) on 15.23 acres from RES-4 to Light Industrial Planned, and concurrent rezoning (RZ PD 26-0070) for up to 80,000 sq ft of warehousing/light manufacturing. Staff presentation noted Planning Commission found it consistent despite initial staff inconsistency. Applicant Jake Kramer highlighted community support and area transition. No public testimony. Approved: CPA 25-25 (6-0) and rezoning (6-0).
Items B.5 & B.6: East 92 Highway – Map Amendment and Rezoning
- Map amendment (HC/CPA 25-38) on 4.36 acres from RES-9 to Suburban Mixed-Use-6, and concurrent rezoning (RZ PD 25-0939) for up to 100,000 sq ft of manufacturing uses. Staff noted consistency with community plan goals, decreased density, and buffering. Applicant Celia Carruthers spoke. No other public comment. Approved: CPA 25-38 (7-0) and rezoning (7-0).
Item C.3: Corridor Preservation Plan Map Update – Fort Hamer Interchange
- Text amendment (HC/CPA 26-11) to add the proposed Fort Hamer interchange to the Corridor Preservation Plan Map. Staff presentation noted alignment with long-range transportation plan and no policy changes. Public comment: Amanda Brown opposed, citing lack of public engagement; Deborah Slow Ruguzo opposed, citing environmental harm and misleading lakefront claims. Commissioner Lynch supported as proactive planning. Approved 7-0.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Item A.2: Melissa Nordbeck (opposed new industrial category due to Live Local Act concerns).
- Item B.1: Deborah Holiday (opposed density increase, incompatibility), Margaret McDeed (opposed traffic and infrastructure strain, loss of rural character), Penny Martin (virtual, opposed, citing staff findings and planning commission skepticism).
- Item C.3: Amanda Brown (opposed lack of public notice and engagement), Deborah Slow Ruguzo (opposed environmental destruction and misleading lakefront development).
Key Outcomes
- Continuance: Items C.1 and C.2 continued to June 11, 2026 (6-0).
- Adopted (6-0): A.1, A.2, B.2, B.3 (CPA), B.4 (rezoning).
- Adopted (7-0): B.5 (CPA), B.6 (rezoning), C.3.
- Not Adopted: B.1 (Dover Road) – motion to deny failed 3-3; motion to continue failed 3-3; item remains pending without board action.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening and welcome to the May 14, 2026, Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners Comprehensive Plan Amendment Public Hearing. The Board of County Commissioners will consider the transmital and adoption of amendments to the comprehensive plan. The board will also consider applications for rezoning, which which will be uh considered concurrently with related applications for a future land use map amendments. Before I get started, I want to read in the record from Commissioner Gwynn Myers. Uh please ensure this memo regarding my late arrivals rendered the record due to another commitment. So with that, um first item uh the applicant for CPA twenty six oh five and CPA twenty six oh six has requested a continuance to the June eleventh, two thousand twenty-six CPA public hearing at six PM. Uh can we have a motion on that? So motion commissioner bowls, second commissioner uh cohen. Please record your vote. Motion carried six to one or six to zero. Okay. Uh this time uh clerk to swear on anyone that's planning on speaking to tonight's rezoning applications, RZ twenty-six-ero zero seven zero and rz twenty-five- zero nine three nine. Please stand and raise your right hand. Do you swear our affirm the testimony you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Thank you. Okay. Uh, Planning Commission, please introduce first item. Yes, good evening. Item A one will be presented by Miss Victoria Durant. Good evening, Commissioners. Victoria Duran, Planning Commission staff. Today we'll be presenting HCCPA twenty-five-26, a text amendment to the South Hillsboro County Plan, currently known as the South Shore Area Wide Systems Plan. For some quick background, the South Shore Area Wide Systems Plan was originally adopted in September of two thousand and three and updated in September of two thousand and fifteen. As part of this text amendment, all sections and elements referencing community plans within the comprehensive plan were reviewed. Affected policy was only found within the livable communities element, and the community plan shown on this slide will be updated to reflect the new name. Also, the proposed name change will not affect the intent of policy. Before I move on, I would like to mention that no comments were received from reviewing agencies or from any state agencies. The planning commission found the proposed amendment consistent with the objectives and policies found on this slide. The amendment aligns with the future land use and intergovernmental coordination elements of the comprehensive plan by supporting community planning, coordination, and consistency across adopted plans. The planning commission recommends that the proposed text amendment be found consistent with the goals, objectives, and policies of the unincorporated Hillsborough County Comprehensive Plan. This concludes my presentation, and I am available for any questions. Thank you. All right, thank you. This is a public hearing. Anyone like to speak to this item? Seeing none, can we have a motion? Move approval. Second motion, Commissioner Cohen Send Commissioner Wolstool. Please record your vote on A1. Motion carries six to zero. A two. Thank you. Item A2 will be presented by me. For the record, Melissa Linehard Planning Commission staff. Um this is HCCPA 25-29. Um, regarding this item, which is the creation of a new future land use category. Um, a little bit of a background. There was a trend in plan amendments to suburban mixed use six and office commercial 20 future land use categories in the rural area over the last couple of years. These categories would allow for a density and sometimes an intensity that's not supported by our adopted policies in the comprehensive plan. Um, some of those policies include our rural area policies, the transition of use policies, um, compatibility issues, and also there were conflicts with some community plans.
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