City of Tampa

Some of the current projects on which the Tampa Planning Team is currently working include:

Tampa Comprehensive Plan:  Updating the long-range plan that guides the future in Tampa is a complex and involved undertaking.  The entire update process will take approximately 5 years to complete (2003-2008), and the plan will be for the next 20 years.  There are two steps to updating the comprehensive plan.  The first is a thorough evaluation and appraisal of the existing plan.  An Evaluation and Appraisal Report (EAR) is then prepared and submitted to the State.  The State reviewed that in 2006 and made a determination this it was sufficient.  That report may be found on our website.  The next step in process is to update the plan based on the recommendations outlined in that evaluation. 

The Planning Commission’s goal is to create a plan that is much more relevant and understandable to the average person.  It focuses on creating a more livable city and relating our future to those things that citizens identified are most important to them.   There are eight themes guiding the Tampa Comprehensive Plan update – interconnectedness, timeless assets, neighborhoods, children, people growing and shaping our environment, arts and culture, systems and the central city.  These themes were identified through a public involvement process as being important to the people of Tampa. 

Tampa Comprehensive Plan Amendments: The State only allows local government to change their long-range comprehensive plan a few times per year (plan amendments).  Changes, or amendments as they are called, are batched into cycles that have specific start dates and legal processed they must follow.

 At any given time during the year, there are several plan amendment cycles in the ‘pipeline’.  Some of the more notable requests to change the plan which are in process right now include: i) a proposed change to a portion of the Virginia Park neighborhood (South Tampa) to change the long term development direction from a Residential-10 plan category to a Residential-6 one; ii) a proposed change to the Bayshore Blvd corridor to give it a ‘scenic corridor’ designation and a ‘regional attractor’ designation too; iii) a proposed change to include a new topical element in the plan that describes how public schools will be funded and built to meet growing needs; and iv) state-mandated creation of a new comprehensive plan element entitled, “Public School Facilities Element”.

 Land Development Reviews: 

Rezoning/Special Use & Development of Regional Impact Reviews – Staff reviews rezoning, special use variance and developments of regional impact (including notices of proposed changes) petitions for consistency with the Tampa Comprehensive Plan.  Staff makes recommendations directly to Tampa City Council.  Council holds 2 evening public hearings most months to consider those cases.  The City has been growing rapidly, and the number of rezoning/special use variance cases has grown too. 

City Code Amendments – Staff reviews proposed changes to those chapters of the city code that constitute the city’s land development regulations. (Example – Chapter 27 (Zoning); Chapter 13 (Tree & Landscape)) 

Plan Information:  Staff counsels the public on a variety of planning related topics.  In fiscal year 2006 (October 1, 2005 through September 30, 2006), staff counseled over 4600 people on Tampa related planning matters.

Neighborhood Planning:

Davis Islands Neighborhood Plan – Staff worked with the Davis Islands Neighborhood Planning Task Force to develop a citizen built neighborhood plan for the community.  The community adopted that plan in June, 2007.

This portion of the website was updated 7/24/07.  For questions, comments or further information please contact the Cities Planning Team.