Bloomingdale Big-Box Protesters Upset, But Determined

Bloomingdale residents opposed to a big-box development in their community met last night, June 4, to hammer home the details of the questions they plan to ask Hillsborough County Commissioner Al Higginbotham at a meeting he scheduled June 10 for the Brandon Recreation Center on Sadie Street.

They're looking past their concerns that the meeting had not been moved to Bloomingdale High School, which reportedly had been reserved by the activists meeting under the auspices of the Coordinated Active Neighborhoods Development Organization (CAN-DO), also known as, "Say No to Bloomingdale Big Box."

In a "clarification" email dated 5:03 p.m. June 4, Hillsborough County spokesperson Willie Puz noted that the county had "received calls expressing confusion as to the location of this meeting." The email confirmed the two-hour June 10 meeting would start 6 p.m. at the Brandon Recreation Center, at 502 East Sadie St.

As noted in the original email for the meeting, dated May 21, the format for the meeting involves an "opening presentation followed by public comment."

Meeting in Valrico, at The Palms Community Church on Bloomingdale Avenue, last night, June 4, residents had a lot to say about the issue on both counts. They questioned both why the meeting could not be moved to the high school — just west of the proposed development on Bloomingdale Avenue — and whether they would have enough time to air their concerns in the format proposed.

"It's very disappointing," said resident and CAN-DO organizer Fred Brown. "The reason we wanted the meeting at Bloomingdale High School is because it's in our community and this is where the project is. It's not over there [on Sadie Street], it's over here."

Project opponent Jereme Monette agreed.

"We were just trying to change the location, not the date and time," he said.

Moreover, he added, the meeting format leaves a lot to be desired.

"We were hoping [Commissioner Higginbotham] would be introduced, and that after he gave a five- to 10-minute speech he would open the meeting up to questions, rather than have a presentation that will waste time and focus on things that we already know about," Monette said.

Higginbotham said in an interview May 21 that he planned to meet with the residents 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."

With those parameters in mind, Higginbotham said he would be at the June 10 meeting "primarily to listen and to take the message back to my colleagues at the county commission."

• 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.

• CAN-DO is active on Facebook and on change.org, with a petition against the development that as of June 5 had realized 1,178 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.

The expected development is 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.

With no official confirmation, residents nevertheless say they are fighting a proposed Walmart, which Brown said is based on three things: speaking with an employee at a nearby Walmart, speaking with a county aid and seeing the word "Walmart" on a site plan carried by a county representative to a community meeting.

Higginbotham said in his May 21 interview that 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."

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."

According to Monette, contact on behalf of commissioners Kevin Beckner, Ken Hagan and Mark Sharpe has been made. Also, that Sharpe drove out to the community, "in rush-hour traffic, to have a face-to-face meeting with about six of us around a dinner table."

Monette said he, too, has been in contact with Rice, the developer's attorney.

"We spoke on the phone for 45 minutes," Monette said. "I expressed our concerns and he said he'll pass the message along."

The message, according to Monette, is this: "We're not anti-development, we're not anti-Walmart. We want safe and sane development that's going to improve our community."

______________

RELATED COVERAGE:

• Higginbotham to Bloomingdale: Let's Meet on Big Box

• 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)