Lutz residents told the Hillsborough County Planning Commission June 11 that a privately initiated request to expand the urban service area along Dale Mabry Highway and Holly Lane and to allow higher residential density does not fit their neighborhood and raises traffic, safety and environmental concerns.

"My name is Lindsay Sakellarides, and I live on Holly Lane in Lutz," said Lindsay Sakellarides, who asked the commission to protect neighborhood safety and character. "Our streets right now can't even handle the current through traffic ... Adding hundreds of new residents and construction vehicles will only make it worse." Lewis Gill, who identified himself as a Holly Lane neighbor, echoed those concerns about traffic, ecological impacts and well‑water effects. A third resident identified only as Michael said he previously worked for developers and asked commissioners to visit the site before any approvals.

Planning Commission staff briefed commissioners on associated agenda items HCCPA 25‑13 (urban service area expansion) and HCCPA 25‑14 (future land use change from RES‑1 to RES‑9). Alexis Myers, Planning Commission staff, described HCCPA 25‑13 as a privately initiated small‑scale map amendment of approximately 24.36 acres requesting inclusion in the urban service area; inclusion would require connections to public water and sewer. Lily Linehan, Planning Commission staff, described HCCPA 25‑14 and said changing the land‑use category from RES‑1 to RES‑9 would increase potential residential density from an estimated 24 dwelling units under RES‑1 to about 219 dwelling units and increase nonresidential floor‑area potential from about 265,269 square feet to about 530,539 square feet, with nonresidential development above 0.35 FAR limited to office or residential‑support uses.

Staff characterized the amendments as part of the July public‑hearing cycle; no final votes were taken at this briefing meeting. The Planning Commission did not receive any public comment speakers registered specifically for the Dale Mabry/Holly Lane item, but commissioners heard the unscheduled public input comments during the meeting's public‑input period. The record shows community members emphasized existing narrow roads, lack of sidewalks, high water tables after storms and concern about local emergency response capacity.

The briefing materials noted the sites lie in the Lutz community plan area and that urban service area expansion would require at minimum public utilities connection. No developer representatives made a presentation at the Planning Commission meeting, and staff did not recommend final action at this briefing stage. Commissioners asked no follow‑up questions during the briefing and the items were scheduled for the July public hearing.