TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Water Company Thirsts For More Land

ADVERTISEMENT

By NICOLA M. WHITE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 11, 2007

ZEPHYRHILLS - The city's most famous business continues to gobble up land near its 20th Street plant with an eye toward expanding operations.

Nestle Waters North America, which owns the Zephyrhills Natural Spring Water brand, has submitted requests to Zephyrhills City Hall for the city to annex two small pieces of vacant property near the bottling plant.

That land - 8.4 acres north of Tucker Road, west of the Meadowood subdivision, and 6.8 acres east of Leaf Lane - would buffer the plant from neighbors. The Tucker Road property would be used as a retention pond, Nestle spokesman Jim McLellan said.

The city's planning commission discussed the requests Tuesday but put off a decision because of opposition from neighbors and concerns about industrial development encroaching in residential areas.

Nestle representatives told commission members the land near Meadowood would be used only as a retention pond, but the commission wanted Nestle to come back with a specific plan, said Todd Vande Berg, the city's director of development services.

'We have to look at the best interest of the whole city and make land use decisions that are best not only short-term but long-term, while taking into consideration the folks that live out there as future expansion occurs,' he said.

The annexation requests come on the heels of the company's purchase last month of a home in the Woodland Acres subdivision, south of the bottled water plant. The company this year also purchased three houses there with plans of knocking them down. The purchase of another house is pending, McLellan said.

Reporter Nicola M. White can be reached at (813) 779-4613 or nwhite1@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT