County Selling ‘Surplus Land’ Near Live Oak

If you thought New Tampa was pretty much 100-percent developed, you’d be about 99-percent correct.

While the land to build more homes and commercial developments is certainly more scarce than, say, in Wesley Chapel, a new parcel of “surplus land” has been listed for sale since December by Hillsborough County.

The 61.89 acres for sale (see map) — about 38.25 acres of which is uplands — is located at Kinnan St. and Oak Preserve Blvd., and sits between Live Oak Preserve, which has 1,200 homes, and K-Bar Ranch, which has 1,400 homes with more on the way.

The county, which usually uses a private broker and doesn’t list or advertise property via press releases, is selling the surplus land via a sealed bid sale. The county is requiring a $3.63-million minimum bid for the property, which is already zoned for planned development and is able to accommodate up to 143 dwelling units, which could be homes or apartments.

District 2 Hillsborough County

Commissioner Ken Hagan says the property was zoned in 2006, when he began championing selling it off.

Surplus land is defined as property that serves no future use for the county.

The deadline for bids is Monday, February 27, at 9 a.m.

A smaller parcel of land immediately to the southwest of the 61.89-acre site that also is adjacent to Live Oak Preserve will be retained and could be developed by the county as part of a trails network in the area or used for connectivity purposes, according to Hagan.

Although Tampa Mayor Jane Castor earned more than 73% of the vote against runoff opponent David Straz in the City of Tampa Municipal runoff election in April 2019 (after garnering nearly 48 percent of the vote vs. six candidates on the ballot and a write-in opponent in the first vote for mayor in March 2019), long-time New Tampa resident Dr. Belinda Noah says she believes she can defeat Castor in this year’s Municipal Election on Tuesday, March 7.

Considering that her name won’t even appear on the ballot — Noah qualified only as a write-in candidate — she believes she can defeat Castor in part because she received more than 88,000 votes in August of last year, despite losing to Wesley Tibbals in the Hillsborough County-wide race for judge serving in Florida’s 13th Judicial Circuit Court.

“I still received almost 42% of that vote and I am confident that people will remember my name from that race and write my name in the write-in space on the March 7 ballot,” Dr. Noah (with mic in photo) says. “I will be the people’s choice for Mayor of Tampa.”

“I would not be the first write-in candidate to win a major race,” she says. “U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (from Alaska), (former) Washington, D.C., Mayor Anthony Williams, and (former) Camas, WA Mayor Barry McDonell all won as write-in candidates.”

‘Hagan said the county would use the proceeds from the sale and apply it to other projects, including a recreation center with indoor basketball courts at Cross Creek Park located just south of the available land.

““That money has been earmarked,” he said. “Hopefully we can get as big an amount as possible, and that will go towards the recreation center.”

The sale of the land could come close to covering the cost of the proposed rec center.

“We’re already going through the design, not waiting on that stuff, so that’s going on internally,” Hagan said.

“It would probably leave us $1 million short, but it would be enough to go to next phase, and I’d work on securing the rest in this year’s budget.” — JCC

Noah, who earned her undergraduate degree from USF, has lived in Arbor Greene for more than 20 years. She earned both her Juris Doctor and Ph.D. degrees outside of the state, but says she understands the needs of the people of Tampa and will surprise Castor come March 7.

She adds, “I will deliver positive results for all the citizens of Tampa and will be a good steward of the taxpayers’ money to ensure no increase in taxes because of waste, fraud or abuse. I will work tirelessly to stop the exploitation of children and protect health and parental rights. In addition, I will work to decrease unemployment, decrease homelessness, increase affordable housing, protect the people’s constitutional rights, and promote income-generating projects, economic development, and transportation and infrastructure enhancement.”

The Early Voting period for the Mar. 7 election is from Feb. 27-Mar. 5. For more info, visit VoteHillsborough.gov. — GN