Developer revising Valrico plans

Sydney Mines Development Co. has withdrawn a request to change the county’s comprehensive plan for a 1,700-acre mixed-use development southeast of State Road 60 and Sydney Washer Road.

The County Commission unanimously accepted the withdrawal. A revised plan for the property is about a year away, said Carter McCain, an attorney representing the developer.

The company had requested a change to the county’s Future Land Use Map to go from one home per 5 acres to four per acre. The Planning Commission in June heard from a parade of neighbors opposed to the development, which includes a former phosphate mine and county fueling station.

Nine acres became contaminated in the early 1980s and was cleaned up through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

After postponing a County Commission appearance earlier in August, Sydney Mines changed its request to two homes per acre. But county transportation, planning and natural resources staffers had not studied the proposal at that density, so commissioners urged the developer to withdraw the request.

The request can be resubmitted in a year.

Opposition from the Dover Woods and Copper Ridge neighborhood associations centered on its inclusion of up to 7,000 housing units, plus 110,000 square feet of commercial and office space.

A project that size would have mandated classification as a Development of Regional Impact, which requires a review by more than 15 state agencies. The company wanted to avoid DRI requirements and never planned to build more than 3,000 units, McCain said. (PETITION CPA 06-21)