Higginbotham to Bloomingdale: Let's Meet on Big Box

Hillsborough County Commissioner Al Higginbotham said in an interview May 21 that he plans to meet with Bloomingdale residents concerned and opposed to big-box retail and apartment development on Bloomingdale Avenue because "they need somebody to come and listen."

If concerned residents attend the June 10 meeting hoping to learn "how to kill the deal," they won't be in luck, he added.

"Nothing has changed as far as comments we can make, there's no change in the legal position of the county attorney," Higginbotham said. "Because of the situation we have to be very careful of what we say and we don't say so we don't end up in court."

• Hillsborough County government has an online page dedicated to the Proposed Develoment on Bloomingdale Avenue, including the county attorney's statement and information about road impacts, zoning and the preliminary site plan.

With those parameters in mind, Higginbotham said he will be at the June 10 meeting, at the Brandon Recreation Center on Sadie Street, "primarily to listen and to take the message back to my colleagues at the county commission."

Hope For Opposition

Apparently, though, there is a glimmer of hope for those opposed to the expected development, made possible with zoning that permits Redstone Properties to develop a 158,800-square-foot big-box retail store, five commercial outparcels and 260 apartments on a 43.5-acre parcel off Bloomingdale Avenue.

"At this stage in the game, nothing has been filed for any type of [building] plan," Higginbotham said. "As far as we know, there might be nothing."

Higginbotham said there is an August 18 deadline for Redstone Properties to file its building plans. Should that deadline pass without building plans, he added, the developer "would have to go through a site-plan approval [process] again."

Moreover, while the zoning is set, "they still have to deal with wetlands issues," Higginbotham said. "There's one in the front and one in the back. It could be the wetlands impacts are so big they can't put a big box in."

"We won't know until we get to that point, and we can't get to that point without having plans submitted for a review," Higginbotham said.

Again, the county is awaiting word from Redstone Properties.

"They're not communicating with us and neither is their attorney," Higginbotham said. "We reached out several times. They're unresponsive to us."

Higginbotham at the commissioners' May 15 meeting suggested and encouraged community members to contact David Singer, attorney for Redstone Properties, to "get some more information from him on what the intention is."

"At this point we don’t even know that the developer will file plans to build, and that time will expire, I believe, in August," Higginbotham said at the meeting. He added that he hopes "the board will hear from the developer or Mr. Singer and they’ll reach out to the community and do what’s right."

Bloomingdale Residents Continue Fight

Residents opposed to big-box retail and apartment construction have been meeting under the auspices of the Coordinated Active Neighborhoods Development Organization (CAN-DO), also known as, "Say No to Bloomingdale Big Box." The group is active on Facebook and on change.org, with a petition against the development that as of May 22 had realized 1,118 supporters. 

Group events have included the May 14 meeting at The Palms Community Church in Valrico and the May 7 sign-carrying protest on Bloomingdale Avenue.

Concern such as this has attracted the attention of commissioners.

Residents want to know, Higginbotham said, "Would somebody just come out and listen to us?"

Higginbotham said he will do just that on June 10, at the Brandon Recreation Center, at 502 East Sadie Street, which he said seats about 500 people.

The commissioner said his staff had been looking for a space large enough to accommodate the expected crowd. Bloomingdale High School, which is next to the Bloomingdale Regional Library, which itself sits adjacent to the planned development area, was not available for the meeting dates proposed, he said.

"We wanted a large facility," Higginbotham said. "It took about a couple weeks to find a location that was suitable."

He said he didn't know if his staff has made inquiries about The Regent, which sits in the southeast corner of the Winthrop development off Bloomingdale Avenue. The Regent was built as the Brandon Community Advantage Center, in part to accommodate large civic gatherings.

If You Plan To Go:

When: June 10 from 6-8 p.m.

Where: Brandon Recreation Center on Sadie Street (Map)

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RELATED COVERAGE:

• Residents React to Commissioners' Bloomingdale Big-Box Stance

• Commissioners Say Plans for Bloomingdale Big Box Out of Their Hands

• Residents Flock to Big-Box Meeting at Bloomingdale Church

• Neighbors Rally Against Bloomingdale Big-Box Development

• 'No Bloomingdale Big Box' Event Set for Rush-Hour Traffic (includes reader comments)

• Opposition Preps for Big-Box Development Protest

• Bloomingdale Residents Continue To Fight Big-Box Development(includes link to a petition that as of May 14 has garnered more than 1,050 signatures)
  

• Higginbotham Fields Big-Box Development Question (video and reader comments posted at Brandon Patch)

• Commissioner Answers Big-Box Development Question (video and comments posted at Bloomingdale-Riverview Patch)