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Brandon Residents Like John Moore Road As Is

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By D'ANN LAWRENCE WHITE dlwhite@tampatrib.com

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 30, 2009

BRANDON - Preserving the area's character was foremost on the minds of residents who gathered to discuss their community's future.

More than 100 people were at the Brandon Regional Service Center on Thursday evening for a glimpse of what the "Brandon Community Plan" steering committee developed during the past 18 months. The plan is intended to be a guide to how Brandon residents envision their community.

Many residents were interested in the steering committee's suggestion to widen Parsons Avenue/John Moore Road from Bloomingdale Avenue north to Interstate 4 to create another north-south transportation corridor through Brandon.

Elena Lemar, a resident of the Gallery Gardens community off two-lane John Moore Road, said widening the road would destroy much of the community's character.

Lemar lives in a neighborhood of 1- to 3-acre lots where many residents have horses. Lemar has two of them.

"The other day I was cleaning my horse stalls and a fox trotted in front of me," she said. "There is a lot of woods and natural habitat in that area. Widening the road would ruin it."

Residents did, however, approve of the steering committee's suggestion that the county buy parcels between parks and conservation areas to create a wildlife corridor. They commented on the number of foxes, sandhill cranes, gopher tortoises, otters and other creatures living in the area.

The meeting also attracted residents from Riverview and FishHawk Ranch who were alarmed at the committee's suggestion the county remove Bloomingdale Avenue from the county's truck route plan and put the designation on Boyette Road and FishHawk Boulevard when those roads are widened.

"Don't try to take your truck traffic and shove it off on Riverview," Boyette Spring resident Dave Kulow told committee members. He noted there are 12 schools and preschools located or planned along Boyette and FishHawk.

Lifelong Brandon residents Julia Moseley and Dick Stowers stopped by to see what's in store for the community they've lived in since most roads were dirt trails.

"I think it's 50 years too late," Stowers said.

Once completed and approved by the Hillsborough County Commission, the Brandon Community Plan will be incorporated into the county's land-use plan used to make land-use and zoning decisions. An overview of the plan is available at www. hccommunityplanning.com/brandoncommunity/.

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