…SCC Security Patrol
For the first time in its 30-plus years as Sun City Center’s all volunteer internal security force, the SCC Security Patrol is operating within a defined vertical organizational structure.
The patrol’s newly constituted board of directors, following its annual meeting last month, now consists of Karen Ryan, president; Kurt Nolden, vice president; Eileen Courter, secretary, and Russ Merritt, treasurer, along with Directors Marilyn Balkany, Larry Henbest and Nancy Lacrosse. The seven board members serve in three-year terms on a rotated basis, Ryan said.
Newly installed Chief Mike Albanez also is slated for a three-year term and oversees two deputy chiefs – presently Martha Finley and Kurt Nolden – along with five assistant chiefs, the latter appointed for indefinite periods of time. Assistant chiefs each are responsible for the functioning of about six teams, each team including a day captain as well as shifts of drivers and dispatchers staffing that day’s daylight and after-dark schedule, the board president added. A few vacancies currently exist in the captain ranks and on teams, she noted.
Fully staffed, the community security patrol actively involves about 700 residents during a given month.
…AB Rezoning
Final consideration of a landowner’s petition to rezone a small acreage on Miller Mac Road between Apollo Beach and SouthShore Falls to allow development of a business or professional office complex has been postponed once again – now to May 16.
Owner Leroy Gonzalez, through his consultant, Todd Pressman, wants the rezoning on parcels surrounding the Tampa Electric Company substation, including former site of the Apollo Beach Rescue Squad. SouthShore Falls residents have vigorously opposed the development plan for multiple reasons and point to environmentally sensitive wetlands and uplands in the area, although zoning hearing masters have overruled their objections.
County commissioners, however, remanded the matter for additional environmental investigation when it came to them for final approval in January, noted Bruce Davis, an opposition leader. It was rescheduled for March 14 and then postponed this week, at Pressman’s request, to the May date.
…Balm Planning
Creating development guidelines for the last of the South County communities to undergo the process gets underway in earnest when the next planning meeting is held on Tuesday, March 22, at the Balm Civic Center.
The agenda for this second formal planning session includes consideration of the community study area to be within the plan boundaries as well as long range transportation plan matters, said Lisa Silva, professional planner facilitating the community discussions. The Balm plan is being coordinated by The Planning Commission.
All Balm area residents are invited to take part in the process designed to create a guideline for future development involving such issues as building density, commercial activity, preservation priorities and community appearances. When created and approved at local and state levels, aspects of the plan take on the force of law as part of the county’s land use code.
…LWV unit
A South Hillsborough unit of the League of Women Voters currently is being formed.
A small group of interested South County citizens met in February to discuss the possibility and set an organizational meeting, according to Mickey Castor, president of the Hillsborough County League. The organizational session is scheduled for 2 PM, Saturday, April 2, at the SouthShore Regional Library.
The League, a 90-year-old organization, is non-partisan and does not support any particular candidate nor any particular political party. Its functions are educational and informational, often focused on conducting impartial candidate forums during election cycles in order to aide citizens in casting informed votes.
The meeting is open to all South County residents interested in learning more about the League, the new unit and its civic objectives, including past or current members now living in the region.