School concurrency funds sought for two south county developments

By LINDA CHION KENNEY

Hillsborough County commissioners this month held school impact fee hearings for new housing developments in Wimauma and Balm.

Hillsborough County Commissioner Mariella Smith

The first hearing, held Dec. 2 at the commissioners meeting, was for the Berry Bay Subdivision and its plans for 663 single-family detached homes at the northeast quadrant of U.S. 301 and Saffold Road. School officials estimate the projected need for 128 elementary student seats and 58 and 90, respectively, for middle and high school students.

The second hearing was for the Balm Grove East subdivision in Balm, with plans for 356 single-family detached homes. Officials estimate the need for 69 elementary student seats and 31 middle and 49 high school seats, respectively.

Collectively, the developments add 1,019 single-family detached homes to the south county housing footprint, generating the need for 197 elementary, 89 middle and 139 high school student stations. According to school officials, capacity falls short for 128 elementary and 89 middle school seats.

To mitigate construction costs for the student stations shortfall, school officials seek $5.88 million in school concurrency proportionate share funding, which breaks down to $5.02 million for Berry Bay and $864,514 for Balm Grove East. School board members seek impact fees in collaboration with county commissioners.

The next public hearing for both proposed agreements is set for the commissioners Dec. 16 meeting.

There was no school district representation at the Dec. 2 public hearings. Attorney Kevin Reali was online to answer questions on behalf of the developers, Balm Grove Development and for Berry Bay, EPG1.

School officials say the impact fees collected would go toward elementary and middle school seats at the upcoming “UU” school in the Waterset development in Apollo Beach, south of Paseo Al Mar Boulevard and west of I-75. The upcoming school is planned to house students in pre-kindergarten through grade 8.

School officials say there is no guarantee that the students living in either of the subdivisions affected by the school concurrency agreements — Berry Bay in Wimauma and Balm Grove East in Balm — would be assigned to PK-8 UU.

Factors affecting this assignment include additional seats becoming available in adjacent concurrency service areas and changing attendance boundaries prior to the school’s construction and opening. Also noted is that PK-8 UU could become a magnet school, which students can attend only by application.

Hillsborough County Commissioner Mariella Smith, at the Dec. 2 BOCC meeting, expressed her concern about the ongoing “crisis” for school construction to meet developing need in high-growth south Hillsborough County.

“We had the school district back here in September warning us that we are in crisis with school siting in south county,” Smith said. “What they said is the county has approved too much development in south county, and they were threatening that we would go into double sessions and portables in south county if we didn’t address this.”

In September, Hillsborough schools superintendent Addison Davis reviewed with commissioners the school district’s five-year building plan and the need for a public school siting task force to address the “imminent school capacity crisis” without a concerted effort to secure buildable sites for new schools in high-growth areas. School officials say the need in south Hillsborough County amounts to 31 schools over the next 15 years to keep pace with residential growth.

Davis reviewed issues with six potential school sites, including the 15-acre Berry Bay Farms site (where the challenge was described “no access, lack of roadway to site”), a 30-acre site off Rhodine Road (“limited access, substandard road”), a 25-acre Cypress Ridge Road site (“access to substandard road”) and the 25-acre site in Waterset (“no access, lack of roadway to site”).

Also noted was the 100-acre “Wes” property (“with access to substandard rods”) and the 54-acre Bishop Road school site in Wimauma off U.S. 301, which school officials bought this year but for which County officials had issued a no consistency ruling due to substandard roads. School officials appealed the ruling.

The $4.23 million Bishop Road site has been slated for both an elementary and middle school.

Back at the Dec. 2 hearing, Smith said “Waterset is much closer” to U.S. 41 and “this Berry Bay development is east of U.S. 301.”

“As I recall part of their rezoning was offering an internal school site on U.S. 301, which some of us commissioners had issues with at the time but it got approved anyway because that school site seemed very poorly planned.”

Meanwhile, Smith, at a board meeting in September, said the proportionate share agreement process “seems overly complicated” and that it would be a good idea “to look at streamlining this process, at least at our end, since the agreements are really hammered out between the school district and the developers.”

Commissioner Pat Kemp agreed, saying commissioners “need to take some time in the new year and have a forward-looking conversation on how we move forward.”

To view the commissioners Dec. 2 board meeting, go to “Hillsborough County Meetings” on YouTube.