Form Based Zoning Plan



The Planning Commission and the City of Tampa held another Form Based Zoning meeting on Thursday, January 7th. This meeting was intended to show the draft land use plan that will support the rezoning effort that is part of form based zoning effort. A number of Seminole Heights residents attended, some for the first time, to hear about the plan and ask question. Some residents said they were unaware of the effort until receiving a letter notifying them that their property would be re-classified. 

Cathy Coyle from the city and Tony Garcia from the Planning Commission presented the land use plan to the residents. Both were careful to explain the differences between land use and zoning. The map they showed to the residents related to land use, which as Cathy Coyle described it, was the greatest use the land could be put to. Layered on top of that, she said, was zoning, which would drive permitting and other concerns. In order to get to the zoning part of Form Based Zoning, the city must first modify the land use plan.

Residents that received a notice were having their land use changed and not their zoning.  Both Cathy and Tony were careful to repeat that no properties would be down-graded in either planning or zoning. All changes would be up-grades which could potentially add value to the property.

There were two basic changes to the land use plan. Properties that fell within one of the commercial nodes identified over the past two years by Seminole Heights residents might be up-graded in order to improve the suitability of the node to redevelopment. These nodes were either a half mile in diameter and associated with the major freeway offramp areas in Seminole Heights, or a quarter mile in diameter and associated with major intersections away from the offramps.

The second type were what Tony Garcia referred to as “corrections”.  These appear to be small areas, often only a single property in size, scattered around the neighborhood. In these cases, the land use designation was not compatible with actual use or zoning. The example provided by Cathy Coyle was a small, multi-family apartment building constructed sometime in the early 20th century that was set to a single family residential use but was actually two small apartment buildings. These buildings were part of the character of Seminole Heights and the plan was changed to accurately reflect our neighborhood. Churches were also upgraded to more accurately reflect their land use.

Cathy Coyle brought up that not only would the new form based zoning set guidelines for property owners but that it would also set guidelines for the city. The city would be required to come back into the neighborhood and upgrade the public spaces, rights of way, transportation routes, and even supply much needed parking.  Cathy mentioned bike lanes and improved sidewalks as things to expect.

Tony Garcia described how form based zoning and historic districts are compatible. The “form based” part means that structures with very different uses could set side-by-side and the casual passer by would not be able to tell if one was a residence, an apartment, or a restaurant.  Tony gave Savannah, Georgia as an example.

On March 11th, the city council will meet and hear the plan. This hearing is primarily for the city to formally give permission for the plan to be sent to additional agencies for review.  Tony Garcia felt that the reviewing agencies would likely be done with the plan around May or June of this year. At that point, the city would notify the residents of a hearing to either adopt, adopt with changes, or not adopt the new land use plan. 

The meeting adjourned at this point with neighbors gathering around city and county officials and asking further questions.

For more information, check out the City of Tampa's Land Development Coordination web page.