Planning commission recommends Energy Industrial Park text change; neighbors and environmental reviewers urge caution

The Planning Commission on Feb. 10 recommended that a privately initiated text amendment for the Energy Industrial Park area be found consistent with the unincorporated Hillsborough County Comprehensive Plan, despite extensive public concern about environmental contamination, traffic and infrastructure.

Melissa Linehard, planning commission staff, described HCCPA 24-06 as a text amendment affecting the Energy Industrial Park future land use category (about 3,000 acres south of State Road 60). Linehard said the proposal would rename the category “Energy Innovation Park,” allow consideration of residential uses at up to roughly 3 dwelling units per gross acre on approximately 476 acres south of the railroad tracks (the applicant specified a 1,200-unit maximum for that area), permit rooftop and co-located renewable energy production, and reduce the acreage-based renewable-energy requirement from 40% of gross acreage to 20%. Linehard also noted staff-requested edits that the applicant accepted: lowering a proposed floor-area-ratio cap for security/lodging housing from 0.5 to 0.25, prohibiting agricultural uses in buffer areas, and forbidding new supply wells or septic systems.

The item prompted a lengthy public comment period. Dozens of residents and neighborhood groups opposed the text change and urged delay or denial. Commenters cited the Sydney Mine Sludge Ponds Superfund area on the northern portion of the site, long-running county and federal monitoring, alleged high radiation and radon readings in nearby soils, sinkhole vulnerability on karst geology, and flooding on local roads. Multiple speakers said agency reviews and more testing are needed before any residential development is permitted. For example, Penny Martin, whose property backs onto the site, called for “soil, dirt and air testing…on the entire 3,000 acres” and said some agency findings remain unresolved. Several speakers referenced a history of mining, strip-mining topography and uncovered tailings.

Applicant counsel Jake Kramer (Stearns Weaver Miller) and project planners said the amendment modernizes a land-use category created in 2010 for technologies that did not materialize, maintains an energy commitment and would allow energy to be constructed contemporaneously with other uses. Bruce Kasek, a land planner who worked on the original EIP, described the original 2010 approvals and the intended industrial campus and renewable-energy systems. Kramer emphasized that the Superfund area is small (about 9.5 acres) and that the proposed residential area lies roughly 4,000 feet south of the Superfund boundary; he and staff said the Superfund remediation and monitoring remain under federal and county oversight.

Agency reviewers flagged issues for later technical review. Planning staff said the Hillsborough County Environmental Services Division and EPA have ongoing monitoring; Environmental Services noted the Superfund site is remediated and monitored under a record of decision but that additional groundwater delineation work (including 1,4-dioxane sampling) is underway and could expand institutional controls. County infrastructure planning estimated that full build-out of the 476-acre residential area could generate approximately 9,926 daily vehicle trips, which plus current traffic on Dover Road could push that road beyond its service standard. Staff and the applicant said development would require connection to public water and sewer since the area lies fully within the urban service area, and noted that any rezoning or site development approvals would trigger detailed environmental, traffic and stormwater reviews.

After commissioner questions and discussion, Commissioner Kona moved to find HCCPA 24-06 consistent with the unincorporated Hillsborough County Comprehensive Plan; Commissioner Lauck seconded. The motion carried 4–3. Commissioners Kona, Lauck, Seeben and Bowden voted in favor; three commissioners opposed. The commission transcript records extensive neighborhood testimony urging delay for additional testing and agency review and noting concerns about traffic, schools and flood risk.

If transmitted and later adopted by the Board of County Commissioners, the text change would permit new zoning and redevelopment proposals that would still be subject to site-level environmental remediation requirements, water/sewer connections and further agency approvals.