What Does a Baby Alpaca have to do with Community Planning?
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| Tommy the 3-day old Alpaca conferring with Tom Aderhold about the fine points of ranching in Keystone. |
Everything... if you're from the Keystone-Odessa community. On December 12th, the Planning Commission held a Public Hearing on the Update of the Keystone-Odessa Community Plan. The Keystone-Odessa Community worked together on their Plan at more than 20 meetings and two Open Houses. As a group representing diverse community interests, the citizens took great pride in a very productive process and how far they've come. Building a consensus in many areas and recognizing differences in others, as they listened to each other and learned from one another.
But what united the group was the passion for the 'brand' or rural lifestyle in the Keystone-Odessa community. Pictured on the left is Tommy, the newest member of the large Golden Spirit Alpaca Ranch herd, located on Tarpon Springs Road. Beyond the alpaca ranch are stunning lakes and wellfields that serve the Tampa Bay region. This diverse community boasts many other natural uses, including a wide variety of nurseries, tree farms, equestrian stables and large tracks of ELAPP properties.
Preserving the natural assets and the character of their community was paramount to the wide variety of citizens that came to the Public Hearing... from young scouts to community elders. A young college student home for the holidays from Gainesville was among the speakers before the Planning Commission describing how much he treasured life growing up in this community, and how his friends always wanted to come to his home to hang out.
The Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of the Update to the Keystone-Odessa Community Plan to the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC). The next step will be to adopt the proposed changes as part of the Hillsborough County 1st Cycle of 2012 Comprehensive Plan Amendments. In 2012, the BOCC will hold a workshop on January 11th at 1:30 p.m. A Public Hearing will be held on February 9th at 6:00 p.m.
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In accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other nondiscrimination laws, public participation is solicited without regard to race, color, national origin, age, sex, religion, disability or family status. |