Tell Hillsborough County: Growth Must Respect Existing Communities

East Hillsborough County residents are not opposed to growth.

We understand that our county is growing. We support responsible development, private property rights, economic opportunity, and thoughtful planning.

What we oppose is the introduction of urban-scale residential development into rural and agricultural communities that were never intended to absorb that level of growth.

The ongoing I-4 Corridor Urban Expansion Area Study is evaluating potential future growth patterns in eastern Hillsborough County. While the Planning Commission has stated that the current scenarios are not final recommendations, the concepts being tested deserve serious public attention.

Throughout the study process, residents have consistently expressed the same priorities:

• Preserve rural and agricultural character.
• Fix transportation infrastructure before growth.
• Address flooding and drainage concerns.
• Protect natural systems and wildlife corridors.
• Respect residents who rely on private wells and septic systems.
• These priorities are summarized in the study's own community feedback findings.

The Wrong Kind of Growth
Many residents are concerned about development patterns that would introduce suburban-style residential densities of up to four homes per acre into areas that have historically been agricultural, rural-residential, and open countryside.

This is not simply a question of whether growth occurs.

It is a question of where growth occurs and what kind of growth occurs.

Rural communities should not be transformed into suburban subdivisions simply because land remains undeveloped.

Families purchased and built homes in these areas with the expectation that the county's long-standing rural planning framework would be respected.

Growth Should Be Directed to Appropriate Locations
If additional development is necessary, it should be concentrated in areas best suited to accommodate it.

Future employment, commercial activity, and higher-intensity development should be directed toward the Interstate 4 corridor and areas north of US Highway 92 where transportation access and existing development patterns can better support growth.

Growth should not be pushed deeper into established rural neighborhoods or immediately adjacent to existing homes, farms, and agricultural properties.

Development belongs along transportation corridors and employment centers, not in the backyards of long-established rural communities.

Infrastructure Must Come First
The study itself acknowledges that major transportation corridors in the area are already under significant strain and that many future transportation improvements remain unfunded.

Residents should not be asked to accept large-scale urbanization before:

• Roads are improved.
• Flooding and drainage issues are addressed.
• School capacity is secured.
• Utility impacts are fully understood.
• Natural systems are protected.
• Growth should follow infrastructure, not the other way around.

Preserve the Rural Interior

We support a future vision that:

• Keeps the rural interior rural.
• Protects working farmland.
• Preserves agricultural land as an economic asset.
• Maintains wildlife and greenway corridors.
• Focuses development near existing interstate infrastructure.
• Avoids suburban encroachment into established rural communities.
• Honors the intent of existing community plans.

Once rural land is urbanized, it is gone forever.  The decisions being made today will shape East Hillsborough County for generations.

We Call on Hillsborough County and the Planning Commission To:

• Prioritize preservation of agricultural and rural lands.
• Keep higher-density residential development out of established rural communities.
• Focus future growth near established infrastructure.
• Require infrastructure improvements before any significant expansion of urban development.
• Protect the rural character repeatedly identified by residents as a top community priority.
• Ensure the final recommendation reflects the community's desire for responsible, limited, and appropriately located growth.

Sign this petition if you believe:

• Rural communities deserve protection.
• Farms and agricultural lands matter.
• Infrastructure should come before growth.
• Growth should be concentrated near major transportation corridors.
• Higher-density suburban development does not belong in the heart of East Hillsborough's rural communities.
• The future of East Hillsborough County should respect the people who already call it home.