What’s Happening With Morris Bridge Rd? 

 Tampa City Council Denies Proposal To Allow New Development On The East Side Of Morris Bridge Rd. 

Research by Joel Provenzano 

The blue outline above represents the city limits of the City of Tampa. The portion outlined in purple is the property that was proposed for new development that was unanimously voted down by the Tampa City Council on Nov. 30. (Map Source: City of Tampa; modified by Neighborhood News) 

 When Cory Lake Isles first began developing in the late 1980s, the only entrance to that now-built-out community was off Morris Bridge Rd. — at that time a little-known, little-used, two-lane arterial roadway that connected to Fletcher Ave. and I-75, four miles south of the Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. exit off I-75, which turned north towards (and continuing past) the Pasco County line. 

It wasn’t until several years later, when Cory Lake Isles developer Gene Thomason was able to get a new entrance to his fledgling community off Cross Creek Blvd., that home sales in Cory Lake Isles really began in earnest. Until then, Morris Bridge Rd. was — pun intended — a bridge too far for most of the people who wanted to move into the suddenly burgeoning community that first began being called “New Tampa” in the mid-1990s. 

But, while it took about another decade for any significant new development along Morris Bridge Rd. to take hold, the huge K-Bar Ranch development started with the Easton Park subdivision just north of Pride Elementary. Today, K-Bar/Easton Park is the only community in the entire City of Tampa experiencing significant growth. 

To that end, on Nov. 30, District 7 Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera and his fellow City Council members unanimously voted down a proposed comprehensive plan amendment for 28.36 total acres in two parcels (see map) on the east side of Morris Bridge Rd. (property that was annexed into the city in 2007), that would have allowed for up to 43 new single-family homes (and more) to be built across Morris Bridge Rd. from an undeveloped portion of the Easton Park subdivision. 

“My constituents who live in K-Bar Ranch, Easton Park and Cory Lake Isles all tell me that Tampa shouldn’t allow any additional development along Morris Bridge Road,” Viera told me after the Nov. 30 public hearing. “They all say, ‘Morris Bridge is full,’ and I definitely agree with that.” 

Since the City of Tampa annexed (in 2007), for the first time ever, property previously located in unincorporated Hillsborough County, east of Morris Bridge Rd., no property owners in that area had ever requested to build new residential units or commercial buildings in that area. 

That changed on Nov. 30, when representatives for Ike and Yvonne Okeke, who own two parcels totalling 28.36 acres on the east side of Morris Bridge Rd. (across from a currently undeveloped portion of the Easton Park subdivision of K-Bar Ranch), requested Amendment #TA/CPA 23-19) to the City of Tampa’s Comprehensive Plan that, if approved, would have allowed the property to change from its Rural Estate-10 & Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESA) Adopted Future Land Use designation to Suburban Mixed Use-3 (which allows for up to three dwelling units per acre) and ESA. 

Considering that there are only about 14.36 acres of developable land on the site, without the Plan Amendment, the property owners can only build one dwelling unit — or 40,000 sq. ft. of non-residential uses — on the site. 

If the change had been approved, however, the property owners could have built up to 43 single-family detached and multi-family dwelling units or 156,380 total sq. ft. of both residential and non-residential uses. 

All of the property on the east side of Morris Bridge Rd. included in the 2007 annexation was originally designated as Rural Estate-5, meaning that only one dwelling unit per acre would be allowed. 

However, in 2008, according to staff planner Jennifer Malone of the Hillsborough County City-County Planning Commission staff, who appeared at the Nov. 30 public hearing, the Comprehensive Plan was amended to further reduce the number of possible dwelling units per acre on the east side of Morris Bridge Rd. from 1 dwelling unit per 5 acres to just 1 unit per 10 acres. 

This is the property on Morris Bridge Rd. that was requested to receive a Comprehensive Land Use Plan amendment that was rejected by the Tampa City Council on Nov. 30. 

Malone confirmed that this Comprehensive Plan land use designation is the lowest future land use category in the entire City of Tampa and, in fact, the Rural Estate-10 designation was actually created by the City for these annexed properties. 

According to Malone, the land, which, to the east, is near Hillsborough River State Park and the Lower Hillsborough Wildlife Management area, is uniquely environmentally sensitive. 

In fact, Malone said, “The State Department of Community Affairs (DCA) commented that the annexed property is so unique that RE-5 wasn’t rural enough for this area,” which helped the city decide to create the RE-10 designation specifically for this area. The DCA also wanted the land use for the city property to match the one dwelling unit per 10 acres designation of the adjacent Hillsborough County property. 

Prior to the Nov. 30 hearing, the proposal to change the land use designation was first rejected by the Planning Commission staff for being “inconsistent with the Tampa Comprehensive Plan,” a conclusion shared by the City of Tampa’s own staff — due to the lack of utilities and city services within the area and lack of similar land uses on the east side of Morris Bridge Rd. — even though the property in the undeveloped portion of Easton Park directly across Morris Bridge Rd. already has the Suburban Mixed Use-3 designation that these property owners were seeking for their land. 

Malone pointed out, however, that there are “no Suburban Mixed Use-3 land uses on the east side of Morris Bridge, which has a significantly different development pattern than the west side.” 

Tampa’s Transportation Planning Organization also noted that there are no roadway capacity improvements, transportation projects or transit services planned for the area (more on this below). 

Evan Johnson with the City’s planning department, corroborated Malone’s claims: 

1) He said Morris Bridge Rd. can’t handle any additional capacity and isn’t programmed to get any larger or to offer any type of mass transit. 

2) He said the property is too environmentally sensitive and too close to Hillsborough’s rural service area to allow the change. 

3) And, “The property owners are not required to connect to city utilities but, depending upon what they end up wanting to build, they could be required to do so.” 

Also, Johnson said, “The closest possible hook-up for water would be 1,700- 2,000 feet away, in the new portion of K-Bar Ranch. And, the nearest wastewater hookup is a manhole in Easton Park that would be about a 1/4-mile from this site, and those are significant distances and could cost from several hundred thousand to a million dollars or more to build these facilities.” 

Because of all of these factors, and the significant increase in proposed density of the site, Johnson said, “We object to the change in the character (of the property) because the jump is so large.” 

David Wright, who spoke on behalf of the property owners, said that the density request was reduced from their original proposal, adding that, “We know where the wetlands are” and that the proposal took those into account. Wright claimed that the 14-1/2 acres fronting Morris Bridge Rd. “is ready for development, so all we’re really asking for is a continuation and expansion of the same Morris Bridge land use (on the west side).” Wright also acknowledged that the property owner would be responsible for making the utility connection to the site. 

Turning It Down 

District 7 City Councilman Luis Viera, whose district includes all of the city portions of New Tampa, made the motion to deny the plan amendment. The proposed change was unanimously (7-0) voted down by the Council members, after Viera said he had, “A lot of high hurdles with this proposal, including across-the-board negative comments from both the Planning Commission and City staff.” 

Viera also noted that even though the property on both sides of Morris Bridge Rd. in this area is city property, the roadway itself is a county road, “and my understanding is that it can’t be expanded, because of its environmental designation…and it is just packed at the seams right now, which is one of the top things I hear from my constituents.” 

He added that another big issue he has are the emergency response times by Tampa Fire Rescue in K-Bar Ranch, as well as, “the mosque, the church and the Sikh house of worship, all on Morris Bridge Rd. I see this as a size-36 waist trying on size-32 pants and I can’t see supporting this proposal.” 

But, What About Two Rivers? 

Even though the east side of Morris Bridge Rd. is clearly environmentally sensitive, a little to the north of the Pasco County line, the road is currently being widened to accommodate the new 3,405-acre Two Rivers development, which is planned to include 6,400 new residential units, 1.3-million-sq.-ft. of office and industrial space and 630,000 sq.- ft. of retail space, plus three new schools, a golf course and numerous other amenities. 

The second phase of Two Rivers actually extends south of the Pasco County line and the development is certain to bring much more traffic to Morris Bridge Rd., so the hope here is that something can be done to widen Morris Bridge Rd. south of the county line, too. 

 

2023 Dining Contest Results — Individual Category Winners 

YOUR FAVORITE ASIAN RESTAURANTS IN NT/WC  

1. Liang’s Bistro 

2. Sushi CafĂ© 

3. Asian Buffet 

4. Zukku-San 

5. Yamato 

YOUR FAVORITE BURGER PLACES IN NT/WC   

1. Burger Monger 

2. Burger 21 

3. Five Guys 

4. Bubba’s 33 

5. Red Robin 

YOUR FAVORITE PIZZA PLACES IN NT/WC   

1. PizzaMania 

2. Via Italia 

3. NY NY 

4. Marco’s 

5. 900Âș Woodfired 

& NY Pizza* 

6. Bosco’s 

7. Amici 

8. Capri Pizza 

9. Taste of NY 

10. Fratelli’s 

* Since not everyone who voted for 900Âș Woodfired Pizza & 900Âș NY Pizza specified which place they were voting for, we combined all of their votes for this category. 

YOUR FAVORITE PLACES FOR SUSHI IN NT/WC  

1. Zukku-San 

2. Sushi CafĂ© 

3. Bonsai 

4. Crazy Sushi 

5. Umu 

YOUR FAVORITE BARS IN NT/WC  

1. Fat Rabbit 

2. Brass Tap 

3. Florida Ave. 

Brewing Co. 

4. Glory Days Grill 

5. Peabody’s 

YOUR FAVORITE LATIN RESTAURANTS IN NT/WC  

1. Rice N Beans 

2. Lima 

3. Latin Twist 

4. Las Palmas 

5. Mojo Grill 

YOUR FAVORITE BREAKFAST PLACES IN NT/WC  

1. First Watch 

2. Brunchies 

3. EggTown 

4. Keke’s 

5. Happy Hangar 

YOUR FAVORITE MEXICAN/SW  RESTAURANTS IN NT/WC   

1. Azteca D’Oro 

2. Cantina 

3. Vallarta’s 

4. Señor Tequila 

5. Chuy’s Tex-Mex 

Unfortunately, the categories that we didn’t include until October got a lot less votes than those we started in September. 

For example, we had fewer than 100 votes in the “Favorite Bar” category, but more than 200 votes in the “Favorite Pizza” category — and every pizza place in the top-10 (left) received at least 20 votes. 

We congratulate all of this year’s winning restaurants, but will likely change up the categories again next year, as we ran out of time to include all of the categories we intended to have this year. — GN 

‘Holiday Baking Championship’ Finalist Opens Flamingo Donuts In The Chap 

Sarah Walker’s Flamingo Donuts are huge & come in a variety of unique flavors. (photo by Andrea Radford Photography [@andrearadfordphotography]) 

On Thursdays, when Sarah Wallace is pulling an all-nighter making donuts so they will be fresh for her customers the next morning, she sometimes hears the Food Network judges’ voices in her head. 

“The biggest thing is you have to deliver flavor,” she says. “If it’s honey lavender crĂšme brĂ»lĂ©e, for example, the judges better taste the honey and the lavender.” 

So, when she comes up with ideas for her Flamingo Donuts — a business she launched in Wesley Chapel just a couple of months ago — she’s always thinking about how to be sure the flavor is strong enough to come through on the donut itself. 

That’s just one of the lessons she has learned from her time on “Holiday Baking Championship” and other Food Network shows. 

After making it all the way to the finals of the “Holiday Baking Championship” (Season 6), which aired in 2019, she has participated in other Food Network shows, too. She served as a judge on “Buddy vs. Duff” (Season 3) and most recently was a contestant on “Guy’s Grocery Games” (Season 31). 

As a contestant on “Holiday Baking Championship,” Sarah jumped at the chance to test her skills on the show just two weeks after her wedding. At the time, she was the general manager of the Magnolia Bakery in Boston. 

She told her job she didn’t know how long she’d be gone. 

She also told her new husband she was sorry they had to postpone their honeymoon. It didn’t faze him, though. 

“It’s the Food Network,” she says Daniel told her. “If the Food Network calls, you go.” 

Sarah was a finalist on the Holiday Baking Championship in 2019. (photo courtesy of Food Network) 

So she did, and made it all the way to the final round, where she competed with two other bakers. Her plaid cake ultimately came up just shy of the big win. 

Four years later, Sarah and her husband, Daniel Belisle, have moved to Wesley Chapel to be closer to her parents and other family members. 

The couple now lives in Union Park and are parents to Jonah, age two, and four-month-old Jude. Sarah sometimes uses Belisle as her last name. 

She calls donuts “the love of her life,” even though her early career revolved around cakes. She says if she ever had a hard day at Magnolia Bakery, like if she had to fire someone, she would walk down to nearby Union Square Donuts and cheer herself up with a donut. 

“They had this brown butter hazelnut donut that was the best donut I’ve ever had in my entire life,” Sarah says. 

When Magnolia had to shut its doors during the pandemic and didn’t know if it would reopen, Sarah was thrilled to land a new job as the executive pastry chef for Union Square Donuts. 

“I made 238 different donuts during my time with them,” says Sarah. 

She calls donuts a fun challenge, where she tries to reimagine any and every kind of dessert. 

Sarah says donuts are just as versatile as a cake in that she can flavor the batter, flavor the glaze, and garnish with any topping or decoration she can imagine. 

“There are so many different ways to pack flavor into a donut,” she says. “And it’s better than a cake because it’s deep fried.” 

She says it was “excruciating” to leave what she calls her dream job with Union Square to move to Florida. 

“I loved my team,” she says, “and we made the best donuts in Boston.” 

But, Sarah and Daniel made the decision to move to Wesley Chapel to raise their family. When they arrived, they embarked on something of a donut tour, finding all the places they could, evaluating Tampa’s “donut game.” 

“We tried a lot of mini donuts, cake donuts, donuts made using a depositor, but there were no giant, yeasted artisan donuts,” she says. 

She figured, “If anyone’s going to bring those donuts here, it’s got to be me.” 

Sarah says she named her business Flamingo Donuts because she wanted a symbol that reminds people of Tampa without using the name. Her mom is something of a flamingo collector (“her whole house is bejeweled flamingoes,” she says) and when Sarah saw Phoebe, the giant flamingo at Tampa International Airport, she knew it was the perfect symbol for her new business. 

With the name chosen, Sarah says she set out to bring “the biggest, most beautiful donuts people are ever going to see” to Wesley Chapel. 

“Every donut is an experience,” she says. “I’m taking a donut and elevating it.” 

She says everything is made from scratch, every dough and every topping, and nothing is made ahead of time. 

For now, Sarah rents a commercial kitchen and works overnight to ensure her donuts are fresh. 

Sarah sells her Flamingo Donuts at the Market Elaine at The Grove. (Photo by Andrea Radford Photography) 

Flamingo Donuts are delivered every Friday morning to The Bean Bar Co. in Tampa Palms (17018 Palm Pointe Dr., near Cali restaurant). Sarah also sells them at the Market Elaine at the Grove the first Friday of every month (the next one is Jan. 5) and at the Ybor City Saturday Market (1901 N 19th St.) every Saturday. She also recently added the Tampa Bay Markets’ Fresh Market at the Shops at Wiregrass the first Saturday of every month and the Second Sunday Harvest Market at The Grove. 

“When I show up at the market with 200 donuts, it’s kind of like putting on a show,” she says. “I want to tell people, ‘I hand made every donut here for you.’” 

She says her favorite thing is when someone takes a donut and she can see the look on their face when they realize it’s unlike any donut they’ve ever had before. 

“I had a guy recently who took a bite and his eyebrows just shot up,” she says. 

“I hadn’t slept in two days but it was totally worth it to see his face when he bit into that donut.” 

And she is constantly trying to outdo herself. “I need to step it up a notch,” she says, “just like when I was trying to beat out nine other bakers.” 

For example, everyone has to have a glazed donut, she says, but why would someone choose hers? Sarah explains that most glazed donuts are honey-based. 

“I found wildflower honey and decided to add a fondant black-eyed Susan,” she says. “Now I’m giving this big, giant brioche-y donut, covered in wildflower honey glaze, a handmade wildflower made of sugar. So, I still have the classics that people look for, but elevated in a different way.” 

Another example is her “South of Boston CrĂšme” donut, which has more of a pudding filling than just pastry crĂšme, topped with a dark chocolate glaze. 

Her holiday flavors — available at the markets in December — include chocolate peppermint brownie batter (peppermint brownie batter filling, chocolate glaze, topped with candy cane bits), brown butter pecan praline (nutty brown butter glaze covered with brown sugar pecan praline crumbles), eggnog float (a little gingerbread man in the middle with his arms behind his head who looks like he’s floating on a donut inner tube), and traditional strawberry sufganiyot for Hanukkah. 

As the holidays approach, Sarah and her family have developed a somewhat unusual twist on a Christmas tradition. 

“We watch ‘Home Alone,’ ‘Die Hard,’ and my season of ‘Holiday Baking Championship,’” she laughs. 

You can find Flamingo Donuts at the markets mentioned above or by visiting her Flamingo-Donuts.com website or on Instagram @eatflamingodonuts and Facebook @flamingodonuts. 

Metropolitan Ministries Tent At St. James Church Is A 20-Year Holiday Tradition 

The Metropolitan Ministries Donation Tent at St. James United Methodist Church on Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in Tampa Palms will accept food, gift, cash and other donations to help people in need between 10 a.m.-3 p.m. every day until Tuesday, December 21. 

For 20 years, St. James United Methodist Church in Tampa Palms has opened a satellite tent of Metropolitan Ministries to collect donations of food and toys for families whose struggles are magnified at this time of year. 

The tent provides a convenient way for New Tampa residents to provide donations that directly impact people in the Tampa Bay area who would otherwise not have a holiday meal or gifts. 

The tent officially opened this year on Nov. 5, in advance of Thanksgiving, with a ceremony led by St. James’ Lead Pastor, Tony Fotsch. It closed between Thanksgiving and Dec. 3, and is now open to accept donations every day, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., through Tuesday, December 21. 

“While the tent is primarily a way to give to those in our community who benefit from the donations of food and toys,” says Pastor Fotsch, “we often hear from our volunteers that it is a blessing for them to be a part of this, and we believe that those who provide the generous gifts are positively affected, as well.” 

The tent makes it easy for locals to drive through the parking lot and simply drop off any goods they would like to donate, without ever leaving their cars. 

Unwrapped toys for any kids, ages newborn to 18, are gratefully accepted. Items for teenagers are especially needed. For gift ideas, visit metro-min.org/holiday-central. 

Food items also are needed to make a complete “Box of Hope.” A complete box includes turkey, ham or chicken, cereal, canned yams, bagged or boxed stuffing, cranberry sauce, bagged or canned beans, soup, rice, boxed or canned potatoes, boxed macaroni & cheese, gravy packet or cans, dessert mix, canned fruit and canned vegetables. 

People can drop off any or all items on the list at the tent, where volunteers sort donations into a complete box that is prepared for a family to enjoy for Christmas (since Thanksgiving is now over). 

Volunteers also are needed to accept donations, sort them and load them up to be delivered to the main Metropolitan Ministries tent in downtown Tampa, where families who have been referred from agencies who help those in need come to pick up the food and choose gifts for their children. 

Gift cards and cash donations also are graciously accepted. 

Last year alone, the New Tampa tent at St. James Church collected a total of 507 turkeys and hams, plus an additional 19,459 pounds of food, to make 989 “Boxes of Hope.” It also received 2,171 toys and $645 in gift cards. 

“It’s a testament to our community that people give so generously,” says Pastor Fotsch. 

At the church, Melissa Ewen, who serves as director of fellowship and special connections, coordinates the New Tampa tent logistics and serves as St. James’ liaison to Metropolitan Ministries. 

“We are thrilled to continue our long-standing partnership with Metro Ministries,” says Ewen, who explains that it fits with the church’s mission to serve the spiritual, emotional and social needs of its members and the greater Tampa area, including its vulnerable populations. “We’re so grateful for this opportunity to come together to make a difference in our community during this holiday season.” 

For more information about how to donate or volunteer, please contact the church by emailing info@stjamestampa.org or visit StJamesTampa.org.state. 

Regents Park Dr. & Pebble Creek Dr. Resurfacing Nears Completion 

Research by Joel Provenzano 

A portion of Regents Park Dr. that has been resurfaced. 

For many months now, the residents of New Tampa’s Pebble Creek subdivision have had to deal with the ongoing resurfacing of the community’s two main thoroughfares — Regents Park Dr. and Pebble Creek Dr. 

The portion of Regents Park Dr. near BBD Blvd. where the Roadway Resurfacing signs are located are the only portions of the roadway not yet resurfaced. 

As of the last few weeks, however, all but about 0.2 miles of the 2.3-mile stretch of the circular Regents Park Dr. — from its northern Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. terminus to its southern BBD connection — have been resurfaced, with only about 0.1 mile at each terminus of the roadway closest to BBD now completed. 

Likewise, all but a couple of hundred feet — again, the portion closest to BBD — of Pebble Creek Dr. also has been completed. 

According to Chris Wilkerson, a senior media relations strategist with Hillsborough County, the Pebble Creek Roadway Resurfacing project represents 4.78 total lane miles of the county’s 285 total lane miles and $1.995 million of the $35-million Roadway Pavement Preservation plan of county-maintained roads approved by the county commissioners in 2021. 

Although most of the actual repaving has been completed, Wilkerson says the remaining work on this project includes paving entrances, stripping and signage, tree planting and the installation of traffic beacons and that the anticipated completion of everything, minus the traffic beacons, is early December 2023. 

The cones shown above are now gone & the patches shown are now covered 

“There is a long lead time on the traffic beacons,” he adds, however, “so final completion will be early spring 2024.” 

The project also includes brand new bike lanes in the sections of the roads that are wide enough. Public works officials say that in sections where there isn’t room, there may be shared road markings for bicyclists. 

Although it has taken a while, the county has done a great job of resurfacing these two main roadways in Pebble Creek. If it’s been a while since you visited the community, it’s worth taking a drive to check out how much better the two roads are now. 

For more information about this and other county projects, visit HillsboroughCounty.org.Â