Hillsborough County commissioners voted unanimously June 10 to ask staff to prepare ordinance language and schedule public hearings to address hardships caused by current land development code requirements that require connection to public wastewater in the urban service area.

Development Services staff reported that a 2020 code amendment removed prior exceptions that had allowed small subdivisions or certain nonresidential conversions to avoid connection when a gravity sewer line was not adjacent to the parcel. Staff said the result is applicants seeking to split existing lots often face the cost of long sewer line extensions — sometimes on the order of 2,000 feet — that make otherwise modest housing projects economically infeasible.

Mister Gormley of Development Services explained the code now leaves limited alternatives: property owners either forgo subdivision or pay potentially prohibitive line-extension costs. He noted the code still allows geographic limits on septic (a minimum lot size of a half-acre, or 1 acre in wellhead protection areas), so permitting more subdivisions without sewer remains constrained by public-health standards.

Commissioner Willstell (moved) and Commissioner Miller (second) presented options raised in public outreach: revert the code to its pre-2020 language or amend the current rule to allow up to three lots without requiring a variance. Commissioners asked staff to draft amendments and return for two public hearings in July and August to consider the revisions; the board approved the motion 7-0.

Supporters of relaxing the rule told commissioners the code change has struck long-time property owners who sought to split a parcel to permit one additional home. Commissioners said they supported re-examining the policy so the county could continue encouraging sewer connections where feasible but not impose an absolute bar that makes reasonable subdivision impossible.

Staff will prepare draft amendments for the public hearing process and report back with recommended language and analyses, including any implications for wellhead protection and required minimum lot sizes.