Riverview modification approved to allow sit‑down restaurant with drive‑through despite neighborhood objections

The Board approved a major modification (MM26‑0346) to permit a 4,000‑square‑foot sit‑down restaurant with a single drive‑through lane on Parcel B of a Riverview planned development, subject to enhanced setbacks, screening and hours of operation.

Planner Isabelle Albert (speaker 26) told the board the site is approximately 1.73 acres in the Riverview Community Plan within the urban service area. The proposal replaces an office/bank use on the parcel and includes an increased building setback of 50 feet, an 8‑foot solid wall along the northern property line, enhanced landscaping and voluntary operational hours (10:30 a.m.–9:30 p.m.) to reflect a sit‑down restaurant rather than a fast‑food operation with extended hours.

Opponents from the Alafia Trace homeowners association (speaker 30) said the modification fundamentally changed the PD’s approved uses, would increase traffic and speaker/noise levels and further burden a small HOA that already shoulders private‑road maintenance costs. The homeowner representative asked the board to deny the modification and cited concerns about the site not meeting commercial locational criteria without a waiver.

Applicant representatives and a traffic consultant (Michael Yates) said the site meets the county’s commercial locational criteria along Gibsonton Drive, that drive‑through elements are more restricted than previously permitted, and that the intersection operates within code parameters. Planning staff and the zoning hearing master recommended approval; after debate the board voted to approve the major modification (motion carried 7–0). Staff will include the enhanced setbacks, 8‑foot wall and operational hours in the final conditions of approval.