DOVER, Fla. — Developers of part of the Energy Industrial Park in eastern Hillsborough County want to build up to two thousand homes on the site. The plot was an old dumping ground for the now-shuttered Sydney phosphate mine and sludge ponds. It’s bordered by SR-60, South Dover Road, Turkey Creek Road and Durant Road.
But neighbors continue rallying fellow neighbors to say, “Not so fast.”
On Wednesday night, organizers held a meeting just for residents, where some learned about the proposal for the first time. Close to a hundred people filled the room at a library a stone's throw away from where developers want to build, only a few hundred yards from an active EPA Superfund site.
The neighborhood meeting was organized by Fix Hillsborough and promoted via social media and going door-to-door with flyers.
“We went out several weekends in a row, I went out just the other day,” Penny Martin, who volunteers with Fix Hillsborough, said.
Jay Pommet got one of those flyers; he hadn't heard much about the plan and showed up out of concern for native wildlife and extra traffic.
“I want to check out this meeting, see what's going on,” he said. That's a lot of cars coming in and out of one road. I know my wife has a hard enough time getting onto Dover Road in the mornings.”
Neither the county nor the developers were invited but the county has assured that the planning commission would closely evaluate the request to amend the county land-use plan that currently bars building homes on the plot.
The developers say the homes will be affordable and help combat the housing crunch in Hillsborough.
Critics say construction could release toxic forever chemicals buried decades earlier, like 1,4 dioxane.
“Sounds like an area you don't want to build houses on,” Pommet said.
The lingering question for them is, will their outreach make a difference? They'll only get their answer when votes on the plan amendment happen later this fall.
“I feel like it's my duty to educate the rest of the community,” Martin said. “The momentum is rolling and I feel really good about it.”
They are planning to show up to commission meetings now until votes occur to try to persuade commissioners to deny the plan amendment.
There is another plan amendment under review by the county which would allow the other owner of the site to not build a promised energy generation plant first before any industrial construction.
That amendment will be taken up first at planning and county commission meetings this summer.