Council upholds special‑use approval for townhomes at 4465 West Gandy after weeks of debate, adds garage‑size condition

Tampa City Council on Thursday voted to uphold the zoning administrator's approval of a special‑use permit (SU12498) for single‑family attached townhomes at 4465 West Gandy Boulevard, rejecting a petition for review by neighborhood representatives and adding a condition that each garage parking space measure 19 feet 10 inches by 10 feet (two‑car garage of 19'10" x 20').

The appeal argued the petitioner failed to serve one of two recorded property owners within five days of filing, a requirement cited in Tampa City Code section 27‑61(e). Ben Dachapalli, attorney for one property owner, told council the service omission "violates the owner's due process rights and warrants a dismissal with prejudice of the petition for review." Kamaria Pettisnakal of the city's legal department told council she had included section 27‑61 in the packet and said the subsection requires notice but does not prescribe a statutory penalty or an explicit remedy of dismissal; the legal department advised the council it had discretion to proceed.

Staff and the applicant focused the hearing on the two objective criteria that govern SU‑1 reviews under city code: that the site have direct access to an arterial or collector as shown on the…