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Hillsborough commissioners transmit Energy Industrial Park text changes after adding testing and mitigation conditions
Summary
After hours of public comment warning of contamination and traffic, the Board of County Commissioners voted to transmit two Energy Industrial Park plan amendments — one that updates EIP policy and a separate proposal to allow residential uses south of the railroad — after adding conditions requiring expanded testing, no new supply wells/septic, and pre‑construction radiation sampling before any residential occupancy.
The Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners voted to transmit two privately initiated amendments to the Energy Industrial Park (EIP) plan language on a 6–1 record of votes on motions the board considered the evening. Planning staff said the changes would modernize policy language, allow co‑located renewable energy (for example rooftop solar), and — in one of the petitions — permit residential development at up to three dwelling units per gross acre in a roughly 476‑acre area south of the CSX railroad tracks with a maximum of 1,200 units specified.
Why it matters: Residents and environmental experts said the site is a former phosphate mine that includes a 9.5‑acre Superfund sludge pond and has never been fully sampled across the full 3,000 acres. Opponents warned of radon, a possible 1,4‑dioxane groundwater plume and historic dumping, and pressed the board to pause any plan changes until a comprehensive testing and remedial strategy is complete. Developers said the amendments modernize the rules, strengthen…
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