Keystone developer withdraws one proposal, continues another

KEYSTONE -- A developer who wanted to amend the county's long-term growth plan and alter the rural face of this northwest Hillsborough community withdrew one proposal and continued another.

Just hours before county commissioners were to vote on the amendments, Northdale developer Stephen J. Dibbs withdrew a request to remove 305 acres from the jurisdiction of the Keystone-Odessa Community Plan, which governs growth and design. He also asked that the county not hear another of his requests until 2009. That second request would have changed the land use designation of a piece of land along Lutz-Lake Fern Road and the Suncoast Parkway from agricultural rural to suburban mixed use.

According to Planning Commission records, the current designation allows up to 30,000 square feet of commercial space. The change would have allowed Dibbs to more than triple that.

Last month, county planners recommended commissioners reject both proposals. Since then, Dibbs has initiated discussions with members of the Keystone Civic Association, and others who opposed his plan, said his lawyer, Vin Marchetti.

Marchetti said he hopes to refile the withdrawn request "by the summer, but it may be for less acreage than what we originally filed."

- Rodney Thrash, Times staff writer