Re-zoning and re-election signage shared space last year in Lutz.

By Kelly Cornelius, PoHo contributor and activist

Rural residents against sprawl (or as opponents negatively call us, diehards) successfully defended the rural area against another assault last Thursday.  Not without first having to battle arguably one of the most influential developers in the county, Stephen Dibbs, who was asking the BOCC for a change in zoning from ag-rural and residential to suburban mixed use on property he owns in Keystone.

What Dibbs was asking for would have violated the Comprehensive Plan, expanded the Urban Service Area and violated a Community Plan — all equaling more sprawl. Dibbs has financially backed 5 of our current 7 County Commissioners (Sharpe, White, Hagan, Norman and Al the New Blair Higginbotham).  In fact, according to this article he hosted a fundraiser for the current Chairman Ken Hagan and Ex Commissioner Brian Blair.  During public comment I asked Hagan to recuse himself due to his ties with Dibbs and cited the article.  He told me not to believe everything I read in the paper (or in blogs, he made sure to add) and did not recuse himself.

Even Hung Mai, the engineer on the Planning Commission closely associated with Dibbs and the consistent sprawl vote, recused himself from these two amendments when they came through the Planning Commission!  I suggested maybe we could ask somebody about the conflict of interest and thought maybe the Internal Performance auditor might do so, since he seemed like a jack of all trades, but quickly remembered the guy was in Vegas.

During public comment I also congratulated Commissioner Ferlita for her recent awards including the Josephine Howard Stafford Memorial Award and the Women of Distinction Award .  In addition, I gave kudos to newly elected Commissioner Kevin Beckner for being named Legislator of the Year by the local chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.  I reminded the rest of them that they can either follow the fine examples set by Ferlita and Beckner or they could follow the example of Ex-Commissioner Blair.

The “citizens” in support of the sprawl showed up from ritzy subdivisions like Cheval Golf and Country Club and begged for a commercial center for “common folks” to get a cup of coffee. One lady even started her sprawl plea with being a single Mom…………that is the first time I have heard that excuse to justify sprawl……….being a single MOM?  Come on people, you can do better!

As for the vote, I was pretty sure that nobody wanted to tag their name on such sprawl (especially when we have no water) but considering they circumvented the rules last time I didn’t know what to expect.

Of all people, Commissioner Al the New Blair Higginbotham made the motion to go with staff to find the amendment inconsistent.  Not sure who seemed more surprised, us diehards or Commissioner Ferlita who looked over at him with obvious surprise and said she didn’t understand (he started out saying something in support but then quickly made the motion to deny).  Recall Ferlita was the citizen’s hero at the last round of amendments when she threw the sprawlmeisters under the bus and then made the motion to deny the sprawl to the absolute delight of the large crowd.  Looks like the New Blair Higginbotham either tried to steal her thunder by making the motion first this time (nobody cheered) or maybe he is finally catching on? Don’t hold your breath.  I have suffered through enough BOCC meetings to see that Higginbotham and Ferlita make oil and water look compatible so my bet is he was just trying to upstage Ferlita.   While seeing the New Blair make the motion wasn’t nearly as much fun as watching Ferlita throw the bad guys under the bus the last time, the outcome was still the same as the last round (7-0). Like I always say we take help from the willing as well as the unwilling soooo THANKS New Blair Higginbotham!

The billboard on Ehrlich Road in north Tampa touting the re-election of Hillsborough County Commissioner Brian Blair reads, in fine print at the bottom, “Political advertisement paid for and approved by Brian Blair, Republican for Hillsborough County Commission, District 6.”

It appears, however, that his campaign did not pay for the billboard advertisement. Blair’s campaign finance reports show no such expenditure. And according to an invoice obtained by Creative Loafing, the bill for the $2,500-a-month roadway sign was sent to North Dale Development, which is owned by Stephen Dibbs, a controversial and prominent developer who has supported Blair in the past.

If Dibbs did pay for the billboard, it would appear to exceed the limits in the state campaign finance law, which caps direct or in-kind contributions to candidate campaigns at $500 and requires disclosure of any contributions.

Among Dibbs’ various holdings is the Bourbon Street Plaza shopping strip center where the billboard is located. It is not clear from the invoice whether Dibbs paid for the board. The invoice was provided to CL by a source who requested anonymity because the source was not authorized to release the document.

The invoice, from CBS Outdoor, which sells the billboard’s advertising space, was dated Aug. 20, 2008, for use of the billboard in the month of August. The 10-foot-by-36-foot sign is highly visible to anyone driving west on Ehrlich from North Dale Mabry Highway. It was still in place last week when CL visited the site.

Neither Dibbs nor Blair responded to numerous telephone and e-mailed requests for comment for this story.

Who paid for this campaign billboard on Ehrlich Road in Tampa?

Read the entire story, which is already on our website.

UPDATE: Neither Blair nor Beckner has spoken to Creative Loafing about this story, but a Tampa Tribune reporter told me Tuesday that Blair has now produced a campaign check cut to CBS Outdoor on Sept. 19 and insists he paid for all his campaign advertising himself. Blair spoke to reporters with the Trib and Times after he was criticized during Tuesday’s county commission meeting about the subject of the story.

[Hillsborough County] Commissioners allowed a last-minute continuance of another bid to breach the county’s growth boundary, a move that angered 50 or more citizen activists who traveled from far-flung areas of the county to oppose the development on Lutz-Lake Fern Road near the Suncoast Parkway.

Developer Stephen Dibbs, who was not at the meeting, sent a letter this week to the commission asking for a delay on his proposal for a 36.6-acre development on Lutz-Lake Fern Road and Suncoast Parkway.

Dibbs wants to increase the density on his property tenfold, from one house per 5 acres to two houses per acre, and build a shopping center.

The continuance was the second granted by the commissioners this month after dozens of residents turned out to fight growth plan amendments that would push high-density development into rural areas.

“They’re making a mockery of this process,” said Kelly Cornelius, who then turned to the audience and asked, “Who else is tired of these continuations?” The crowd answered with a roar.

That’s the Trib’s account. The Times downplayed the vote and didn’t mention the dissension:

Commissioners were scheduled to vote on two other controversial amendments, but hours earlier, developer Stephen J. Dibbs withdrew his request to remove 305 acres from the Keystone-Odessa Community Plan, which governs growth in the northwest Hillsborough community, and asked commissioners to postpone until 2009 considering a proposed denser development near Lutz-Lake Fern Road and the Suncoast Parkway.

Dibbs is particularly well connected to the commissioners, raising thousands of dollars in commission races and serving on host committees for high-powered fund-raising events. He just missed making my list of 10 “Money Men” in 2006, raising a litle more than $10,000 for county candidates (including 6 of the 7 current county commissioners — Ken Hagan, Mark Sharpe, Jim Norman, Al Higginbotham, Kevin White and Brian Blair) since 2002.

The only person he didn’t give to was Commissioner Rose Ferlita:

Commissioner Rose Ferlita, who didn’t arrive at the meeting until after the vote to give Dibbs the continuance, asked chairman Ken Hagan to hold the vote again so she could record her disapproval.

The vote was held again, with Ferlita and Mark Sharpe voting no.

“I think this has been done before, and it … beats down our citizens,” Ferlita said.

Dibbs was also the driving force behind a move to gut the county’s environmental protections for wetlands.

So let’s face it; it’s hard to say no to a guy who has raised thousands of dollars for you. And that’s why our urban services boundary is susceptible to change and further sprawl.

On the upside, commissioners did vote 6-0 against extending the growth boundary out east of Tampa, along I-4, when they turned down a request by an Orlando company that wants to build an industrial park:

Orlando’s M.L. Carter development wanted a land use change on 94 acres near I-4 and McIntosh Road. Representatives of the developer said that was the perfect spot for an industrial park and could draw high-paying jobs to Hillsborough.

“The county’s missing many opportunities,” attorney Vincent Marchetti said.

But commissioners said they wanted to wait for the county staff to complete its study of the I-4 corridor.

About 20 people spoke against M.L. Carter’s proposal, which they said would jeopardize the county’s rural communities.

“This is absolutely outrageous that you would even consider this,” said Terry Flott, president of the Seffner Community Alliance.

The commission voted 6-0 against the land-use change. Commissioner Kevin White left before the vote.

I don’t find any record of the Orlando firm contributing to county commission races, but its attorney, Vin Marchetti, is a major local donor, contributing more than $12,000 in city and county elections. He has donated $7,000 total to all seven current county commissioners.

So is the lesson the Hillsborough County Commission can’t be bought with campaign contributions? Or that contributions from a developer carry more weight than those from a land-use lawyer?

(I’m going to post a spreadsheet of Dibbs’ and Marchetti’s campaign contributions and other documents about Dibbs’ request to push beyond the growth boundary over at Fix It Now Tampa Bay, our civic journalism website.)