Hundreds of Lithia residents dressed in red filled a Hillsborough County meeting room to oppose a 280-home development planned near Dorman Road and Lithia Pinecrest Road, pressing commissioners with questions as the controversial project keeps moving forward despite the pushback. The proposal from Tampa-based developer Homes by WestBay would bring the single-family community to roughly 190 acres in a stretch of rural Lithia that has long been dominated by agriculture.
The scene was captured by FOX 13 Tampa Bay, whose reporter Blake Devine covered the dispute as nearby neighbors voiced opposition to the plan and county commissioners fielded a barrage of questions about its scope. According to the station’s earlier reporting, Homes by WestBay submitted its application in June for the project, which sits north of Dorman Road and west of Browning Road in what has historically been farmland.
What the Land-Use Change Would Actually Allow
At the heart of the fight are land-use amendments known as HC/CPA 26-05 and 26-06, which would shift the 190-acre property out of the county’s Rural Service Area and into its Urban Service Area, according to Citizen Portal. That reclassification would raise allowable density from one home per five acres, or about 37 total homes, up to two homes per acre — an eightfold jump that Tampa Bay Business News notes has become the central point of contention in the case.
The change has also exposed a rift inside county government itself. In April, the Hillsborough County Planning Commission voted to find the Urban Service Area expansion inconsistent with the county’s Comprehensive Plan, yet county Development Services staff later recommended approval with conditions, per Tampa Bay Business News. That disagreement between the county’s own advisory board and its administrative staff has become a talking point for residents who argue the project runs counter to long-term growth guidelines.
Organized Opposition With a Track Record
The resistance is being organized by Preserve Rural Lithia, a grassroots group that packed hearings in red shirts and has noted it previously helped stop two other local development proposals, according to FOX 13 Tampa Bay’s earlier coverage. The group’s objections center on cumulative strain on infrastructure, particularly high school overcrowding and traffic congestion along Lithia Pinecrest Road, as reported by Tampa Bay Business News…