Thirty-two local residents paid a visit to District 4 Commissioner Stacy White as he and staff members hosted community hours at the Bloomingdale Regional Library on April 18. White met one-on-one with those wishing to express concerns about traffic, stormwater, code enforcement, transportation issues and other various projects and issues.
With Lennar Homes set to begin construction on 66 townhomes near the Walmart on Bloomingdale Ave., questions about traffic flow concerns were one the priorities asked by residents as well as the other traffic concerns on Bloomingdale just east of Bell Shoals Rd.
One resident was concerned about the new fire station’s trucks entering the road as speeders are prevalent running lights. It is not uncommon for there to be multiple accidents daily. With Navigator, the new charter school scheduled to open this fall and The District, a new subdivision being built across the road, Commissioner White agrees that these traffic concerns need to be addressed.
He noted that both the townhomes and charter school approvals fell under old zoning land development codes and regulations that are no longer used.
Ruth Brown is an ambassador for FishHawk Ranch. “We have been working with Commissioner White’s office to get the right turn lane from FishHawk Blvd. into our main entrance of Osprey Ridge lengthened and the initial study that the county has done has recommended 200 ft. We believe it should probably be about half a mile and we are trying to get the Commissioner’s support to get it on the funded requirements list because the county owns the right-of-way and it is a project that would help all of the Lithia area people who are going through the CR 39 and 37—that whole entire area of Plant City—so it would be a good investment for the county.”
Commissioner White agreed with Brown and he plans to have the county do a more in-depth engineering study.
Some of the questions were simple. Bloomingdale resident Joe Liguori asked about the removal of the tree stumps on Bell Shoals Rd. and was assured by the Commissioner that the county has the funding.
The Commissioner promised to look into sidewalk repairs needed at a home in Fox Run, which was reported to the county two years ago with no results.
All in all, the meet-up with residents was successful for both sides. Community members will probably get another opportunity to meet with the Commission in the next quarter.
For information, visit www.hillsboroughcounty.org/en/government/board-of-county-commissioners/stacy-white.
