Hearing in Tampa examines whether offices at 150 E. Davis Blvd. qualify as a legal nonconforming use

At a quasi‑judicial hearing on case FDN 2536 held under Tampa Code section 27‑61(j), petitioners Emilio and Blanche Libero asked a hearing officer to rule that "office" is a legal nonconforming use at 150 East Davis Boulevard on Davis Islands. City staff told the hearing the department’s review of business tax receipts, surveys and floor plans showed the property's primary use is a dance studio and that offices on site are accessory to that studio.

The question matters because a formal finding of a legal nonconforming use would allow certain existing uses to continue despite current zoning (RM‑24) and would constrain how a new owner may be limited in future site uses, parking and occupancy. The property was originally developed under earlier zoning (R‑4 / Chapter 43) and the dispute centers on whether office spaces on the site were "manifestly arranged or intended" for office use when the nonconforming status was established.

City witness Eric Cotton, Development Coordination for the city of Tampa, reviewed the materials the city relied on for its formal decision. Cotton said the record the city used included business tax receipts, a property survey and floor plans. "The primary use of the property from the evidence submitted was…