Advocates for the Moseley Homestead continue initiative to preserve the historic site
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. - Historic preservationists advocating for the Moseley Homestead are now asking the Hillsborough County Historic Resources Review Board for an appeal to their decision last month when they approved plans for a new Mitsubishi dealership to be built next door to the homestead.
The Timberly Trust, which owns the homestead, says the way the HRRB made the decision doesn't follow county code. They are now asking the county for an emergency hearing.
According to the trust, they weren't allowed due process because the way the historic resources review board is made up isn't in line with county code.
They're now asking the county commission to pause construction plans until their appeal can be heard. If not, their attorney says they're prepared to take the issue up in court.
"She never gave up on trying to preserve this property," Timberly Trust Chairman Mark Proctor said.
Proctor says Julia Moseley's dying wish at 102 was always to keep her family's home, the Moseley Homestead, preserved for generations to enjoy.
It was built in 1886, but plans for a Mitsubishi dealership next door have made her wishes challenging; especially after the HRRB approved the dealership's plans last month, despite the trust's concerns.
"There's several concerns," Proctor said. "One is the traffic. They'll have deliveries going right along our fence line. The stormwater it would drain down into our property and into this property and it could affect the topographic elements of the property."
However, attorneys for the dealership told FOX 13 last month the metrics of the land development code that are being met are exceeded in many of the elements of the site plan.
This week, Timberly Trust sent an appeal to the county asking for an emergency hearing arguing the HRRB didn't have enough required members present when it made the decision.
According to county code, the 7-member board must include an anthropologist or archaeologist, as well as a historian, but the current board only has four members, three of whom are architects.
"If you don't get due process, whether or not it's in county court for a traffic ticket or in this type of thing with a historic resource board, then they should go back to the drawing board and start over and rehear the evidence when they have a full board that includes the archeologist and the historian," John Dingfelder, the attorney representing Timberly Trust, said.
Dingfelder believes the county should wait to issue building permits to the dealership while their appeal is still pending. If not, he says he's prepared to take the issue to Circuit Court to do whatever it takes to fulfill Julia Moseley's dying wish.
"We always want to see things preserved and give something for our children, grandchildren that they can enjoy and see what life used to be like," Proctor said.
Dingfelder says they are asking the county to allow them to appeal the decision to a land use hearing officer within the next couple of weeks.