Pinellas County commissioners voted unanimously July 22 to approve a future land-use map amendment and a companion development master-plan modification for a 1.16-acre parcel at the northeast corner of Tarpon Woods Boulevard and East Lake Road in the East Lake area.

The approvals change the parcel’s comprehensive-plan designation from Residential/Office/General to Commercial–Neighborhood and remove a master-plan restriction that currently limits the site to bank use, allowing a broader set of neighborhood-scale commercial uses. The applicant, Tarpon Development Properties LLC, told the board the change matches the existing commercial node at the intersection and would bring a long-vacant bank parcel back to productive use.

Why it matters: the corner sits at a mixed commercial node abutting established neighborhoods and brooks/parks. Residents told commissioners the change would open the site to a car wash or other commercial activity that could worsen traffic congestion, increase noise, create more trash and raise concerns about runoff and flooding. Staff and the applicant said the parcel sits in a built commercial node, proposed buffers and on-site stormwater controls would limit off-site impacts, and county standards require water reuse and containment for a car-wash operation.

Staff and applicant view
Michael Shoderbach, of Building Development Review Services, told the board the property is about 1.16 acres and part of the Tarpon Woods master plan. He said the commercial-neighborhood designation sought by the applicant is already the predominant designation at the immediate intersection and that the requested designation is compatible with surrounding uses, including commercial and office properties nearby. Shoderbach summarized traffic estimates and the applicant’s pledge of extra buffering on the east edge of the parcel.

Todd Pressman, representing Tarpon Development Properties LLC, said the change is “exactly the same as the predominant existing and abutting future land use category at this intensive intersection,” and told commissioners the site has been vacant for three years and needs reuse. Pressman said modern full-service car washes include sound suppression and water-reuse systems and argued the project would improve the lot’s stormwater and landscape conditions relative to the current vacant, deteriorated site.

Residents’ concerns
Neighbors who spoke during the public hearing described the area as a semi-rural, wildlife-rich neighborhood that already floods during storms and borders John Chestnut Park and Brooker Creek watershed lands. Speakers said the parcel’s previous bank produced far fewer trips than a commercial car wash would, that the nearby two-lane approaches on Tarpon Woods Boulevard and Tanglewood Trail are already congested, and that commercial redevelopment could compound flooding and water-quality concerns.

One resident said, “We have deer, peacocks and wild turkeys — wildlife is a refuge,” and asked the commission to preserve the area’s character. Another asked whether multiple car washes already exist in the trade area and said heavy use and vacuum noise would affect nearby homes. Several residents said they supported reuse of the site but not uses they believe would draw steady hourly traffic or operate late in the day.

How county standards and conditions address issues
Staff noted the parcel lies within the county’s Wellhead Protection Overlay and the East Lake/Tarpon Community Overlay and is also in the 100‑year floodplain; those layers carry extra technical requirements for stormwater and groundwater protection. The applicant offered a supplemental master-plan condition: a 10‑foot-wide landscape buffer with a 6‑foot masonry wall on the property’s east side, trees planted 20 feet on center and a continuous shrub hedge to reduce visual and sound intrusion toward the closest residences.

Transportation analysis presented during the hearing focused on peak‑hour impacts rather than daily totals. Transportation consultant Elizabeth Rodriguez reported the site would generate a small increase in peak‑hour trips if a car wash replaced a bank: roughly 20 additional trip ends in the peak hour, about 10 additional round trips (approximately one extra vehicle every six minutes during the peak hour), compared with a fully operating bank. Staff said the land‑use change does not itself authorize construction; future site‑plan review must demonstrate stormwater capture, stacking for any drive‑through activity, screening, lighting and compliance with wellhead protections and floodplain requirements.

The vote and next steps
The board approved both items unanimously. The future land‑use change (case FLU2503) and development master-plan modification (case DMP2501) will advance through the county’s plan‑amendment processing; site development will require subsequent permits and technical reviews, including a site plan review that must meet stormwater, floodplain and wellhead protection standards.

Closing note
Several residents said they would continue to pursue local advocacy as the project advances to site plan and permitting, and staff said technical controls in those reviews provide the county’s primary mechanisms to limit noise, runoff and lighting impacts. The applicant said the property change would remove a deteriorated vacant lot from the neighborhood and bring new investment to a long‑idle corner.

Ending: The commission’s approvals authorize the county planning process to proceed; any specific development proposed for the lot must return for technical plan review and any required permits before construction.