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Hillsborough Zoning Officer: Deny Bahia Beach Hotel Plan

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By LIZ BLEAU | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 7, 2008

RUSKIN - A zoning hearing master is recommending denial of Little Harbor's request to convert 450 residential units at its Bahia Beach resort into hotel units.

The proposal, which drew heavy opposition from residents at a public hearing last month, now goes to the Hillsborough County Commission for a final hearing and vote Feb. 26.

Little Harbor's parent company, Earthmark, is seeking the additional hotel units because of the current housing market. Under existing county land codes, owners of residential units are not allowed to rent them out for periods of a week or less. Under the proposal, owners of the condominiums and townhomes would be allowed daily rentals of their units.

At the public hearing, Little Harbor respresentative Michael Brooks said traffic would not be increased because of the additional hotel units. Hearing officer Laura Belflower said in her recommendation to the county commission that "an argument that traffic generation will be less is not sufficient."

She also said the daily rental of residential units could negatively affect the exsiting residents and property owners.

Also, even though the project was approved under vested rights - meaning it was approved before the land development code - there was no documentation from Little Harbor as to how that vesting would be affected by the conversion of residential units to hotel units, the officer said.

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