Activists Rally Against Gas Station in Wetlands

At the corner of Lumsden Road and South Kings Avenue, a committed group of community activists has been periodically protesting the proposed development of a RaceTrac gas station and convenince store on land designated as wetlands.

Sporting signs that read, "Deny 12-0263," in reference to RaceTrac's application number, the protestors were greeted April 5 with honks by passing motorists at what is one of the Greater Brandon area's busiest intersections.

Their protest is in advance of the April 9 meeting of the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners, who are scheduled to discuss the issue in a land-use meeting.

Zoning hearing officer Steven Luce recommended against approving the plan in November, according to a Tampa Bay Times report. So did the Environmental Protection Commission, as the 2.5 acres of land RaceTrac wants to build on includes wetlands. The Hillsborough County commissioners decided in December to have the hearing officer reconsider the zoning application without considering the impact on the wetlands, which was already being weighed by the EPC, according to the report.

At the corner April 5 were Deny 12-0263 representatives Vivian Bacca, Sophia Coleman, Irene Rodriguez, Manny and Joni Colver and Edith Stewart, a former Hillsborough County lobbyist and public affairs officer.

Surrounding the corner are office park developments that took shape without permission to encroach on the wetlands in question. Attorney Vince Marchetti, they said, successfully moved to have the current issue reviewed in terms of zoning as distinguished from the wetlands, which he noted, is a concern of the EPC.

The activists are concerned that the the splintering effect will lead to a back-door acceptance of a RaceTrac development on historic wetlands. They said their overriding aim is to protect the county's wetlands rule.

"This is bigger than this piece of property," Stewart said. "I see it as a litmus test of the wetlands rule. If this corner goes, the next corner goes and all the wetlands will follow."

She noted that residents and activists put up a "long, drawn-out fight" when the office park developments were first proposed, to include the corner wetlands. "Citizens stood up for perserving these wetlands and didn't think they'd have to come out and do it again," Stewart said. "They probably thought no one was watching, but we are."

"A deal is a deal," Bacca said. "We already have a problem in Brandon with so many wetlands developed."

"They're compromising the future of our water source to make money today," added Rodriguez, who lives nearby in Oak Park, who laments as well the added traffic flow the proposed development represents. "Why would anybody compromise their future water source to make money today?"

Manny Colver noted the gas station across the street, and the one down the street, adjacent to O'Brien's Irish Pub and Family Restaurant.

"The way this [RaceTrac] deal was put together smells bad," he said.

His wife agreed.

"They changed the rules of the game in the middle," Joni Colver said. "We need some wetlands and some trees and some green around. We don't need pavement everywhere. We already have several gas stations. We don't need more."

Indeed, Stewart said Bloomingdale Avenue is also known as "Gas Pan Alley," with Throntons newly opened at U.S. Highway 301 and Progress Boulevard and Wawa under construction just east on Bloomingdale Avenue.

• See How Many Gas Stations Are Enough?

As for the matter at hand at Lumsden and Kings, Bacca takes an ominous tone.

"It's more than this gas station," she said. "If this gas station get approved it's going to set a precedent that could lead to the demise of our EPC wetlands division. If we're going to mitigate instead of awarding impacts than we're going to have more flooding."