KEYSTONE, Fla. — Just outside downtown Tampa and its sprawling urban neighborhood, horses graze in wide open farmland, and morning mist hangs over dewy grass as the day gets started.
Keystone and Odessa are known for wide-open spaces. In fact, the area has its own community plan, which helps keep it rural and less developed than other parts of Hillsborough County.
But, neighbors continue to fight the county over a new subdivision. They say the development would not only break that plan but also cause infrastructure problems.
"We have the largest tracks of undeveloped land in this part of the county," said Missy Nordbeck. "We have a target on our back."
Nordbeck lives in the area, and she and other neighbors fear their way of life is being threatened. We've covered this story since last August.
An existing site plan approved in 1991 at Racetrack and Patterson Road has always been a 209-acre field of tall grass and trees. Now, developers want to turn it into a subdivision of nearly 200 homes.
"We have different environmental codes, we have different building codes," Nordbeck said. "But, for some reason, the county said, yeah, it’s not a problem at all."
The community plan in Keystone and Odessa was put in place in 2001, and it outlines building and development specifics. One parameter equals one house per every five acres. The goal is to keep things simple and avoid overdevelopment.
"We obviously know it’s not compatible with today’s rules, the county admits that. This could never be built legally today," Nordbeck said. "But because of this technical loophole, they say that it can, and that’s what we’re fighting in court."
A grassroots fight comprised of about a dozen neighbors.
They started a website ProtectKeystone.com and post updates there. One of their biggest concerns when it comes to overdevelopment is traffic and infrastructure.
"One of the comprehensive plan rules is two-lane roads to keep it rural. We’ll be stuck with the traffic, we’ll be stuck with overcrowded schools, and they'll just leave the community, and that’s not acceptable to us," she said.
The 36 miles protected under the community plan are supposed to be on rural, well and septic systems only, according to Nordbeck. She thinks that could change if this development moves forward.
"Once the county utilities go in, they're going to require you to hook up to those utilities. Try being a farmer with a water bill," Nordbeck said.
Taylor Morrison Florida Operations sent us a statement after we reached out for comment.
Thank you – we appreciate that you have allowed us to share our point of view. As we have maintained all along, the development plans for this community were lawfully approved by Hillsborough County. Accordingly, Taylor Morrison is continuing to develop the property and we are working to ensure that it will complement the natural elements and beauty of the surrounding properties.
Nordbeck and neighbors are suing Hillsborough County and hope to put a stop to the development.
"They say there’s nothing they can do, it's old zoning, and it's is an old site plan. As far as they’re concerned, it is legal," Nordbeck said.
And at the end of January, already a small win: a judge ordered that the developers, Taylor-Morrison, must not sell, convey or transfer interest in the property until further order from the court.
They were also put on notice by the court that they may be instructed to remove any future or past development on the property if the plaintiffs win the case.
We reached out to Hillsborough County commissioners about this development — none of the commissioners got back. The next court hearing is in April.
