August 2021 – The Wimauma Village Residential-2 (WVR-2) Future Land Use Study and Community Plan Update and the Residential Planned-2 (RP-2) Future Land Use Study have progressed to the public hearing phase. The Planning Commission heard items for both studies on July 19 and the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) held transmittal public hearings on August 5 for RP-2 and August 12 for WVR-2. Adoption hearings are scheduled for October 2021.
The latest draft language for both studies was released in early July through the project pages at bit.ly/wimaumavillage and bit.ly/residentialplanned.
RP-2 public hearings summary:
The Planning Commission, in a 9-1 vote, found the HC/CPA 20-11 Future Land Use Element (Residential Planned-2 Future Land Use Category) and Hillsborough County Land Development Code Amendment 21-0288 (RP-2) consistent with the Future Hillsborough Comprehensive Plan for Unincorporated Hillsborough County and forwarded the items to the BOCC. The BOCC voted unanimously to transmit item HC/CPA 20-11 to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.
The BOCC also instructed staff to conduct one additional meeting in the community between now and the adoption hearing. The community meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 15 from 5–7 pm with the option to participate in person or virtually. The in person meeting is limited to 15 people due to capacity limits. Those who would like to attend in person must register in advance (link below).
The following are additional motions the BOCC passed to make modifications to the proposed language:
- Motion to remove Community Benefit Option #6 (Passed 7-0)
- Motion to remove Community Benefit Option #13 (Passed 7-0)
- Motion to add language on architectural columns (Passed 7-0)
- Motion to remove language from Goal 33.a.7 (Passed 7-0)
Wimauma/WVR-2 public hearings summary:
In a 9-1 vote, the Planning Commission found the HC/CPA 20-12 Livable Communities Element (Wimauma Community Plan Update), HC/CPA 20-13 Future Land Use Element (Wimauma Village Residential-2 Future Land Use Study), and the Hillsborough County Land Development Code Amendment 21-0289 (WVR-2) consistent with the Future Hillsborough Comprehensive Plan for Unincorporated Hillsborough County and forwarded the items to the BOCC. The Planning Commission also passed a motion (10-0) to prepare a letter of support to form a task force for implementation of the Wimauma Plan.
The BOCC voted unanimously to transmit the Wimauma Community Plan Update and the Wimauma Village Residential-2 Future Land Use Study to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. The County Commissioners also instructed staff to reassess the proposed residential unit threshold and number of public meetings required for the utilization of the Community Benefits Options between now and the adoption hearing. The following are additional motions the BOCC passed to make modifications to the proposed language:
- Motion to add language to Goal 48.1.14 (Passed 7-0)
- Motion to remove Community Benefit Options (CBOs) #5 & #9 and to remove language from Goal 48.a.7 (Passed 7-0)
- Motion to remove Community Benefit Option #13 in FLUE due to error (Passed 7-0).
- Motion to create the Wimauma Community Plan Action Task Force (Passed 7-0)
- Motion to add language to Community Benefit Option #7 (Passed 7-0)
- Motion to remove Community Benefit Option #1 and add language from CBO #1 as required language to WVR-2 Land Development Code (LDC) (Passed 7-0)
- Motion to remove Community Benefit Option #3 (Passed 6-1)
- Motion to relocate Community Benefit Option #6 from Tier 1 to Tier 2 and to remove Community Benefit Option #12 (Passed 7-0)
- Motion to relocate Community Benefit Option #14 from Tier 2 to Tier 1 (Passed 7-0)
- Motion to relocate Community Benefit Option #10 from Tier 2 to Tier 1 (Passed 7-0)
- Substituted motion to add language to Community Benefit Option #11 (Passed 4-3)
The BOCC requested these studies when they initiated a moratorium on new rezoning applications in the WVR-2 and RP-2 Land Use Categories over a year and a half ago. The moratorium provided 270 days for staff to gather community input, prepare an analysis, and make recommendations on needed changes. During the June 17, 2020 BOCC public hearing, the moratorium was extended to May 31, 2021, providing more time for the study to be completed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the March 3, 2021 BOCC public hearing the moratorium was extended again to December 31, 2021 to provide staff more time to meet with the community. The adoption of new policy guidance is anticipated to occur before the moratorium expires at the end of the year on December 31, 2021.
