Flood Risk to Resilience
Hold the Dates for June 11, 18, & 24th
Community Listening Sessions
The Tampa Bay region is a flood-vulnerable area, facing extreme risk from storm surge, sea-level rise, and heavy rainfall due to its low-lying geography, extensive coastline, shallow continental shelf, and dense development. Both coastal and inland flooding threatens the safety, property, and livelihoods of Tampa Bay’s communities.
The Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council is developing the Tampa Bay Coastal Master Plan (TBCMP)—a comprehensive, four-year, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant-funded initiative in Citrus, Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, and Sarasota counties. It spans more than 2,200 square miles of coastal and inland communities, estuaries, rivers, wetlands, and barrier islands.
The Coastal Master Plan aims to strengthen regional flood resilience by addressing the impacts of sea-level rise, storm surge, extreme rainfall, and high-tide flooding through a coordinated, data-driven, and community-based process. The 2026 focus includes hosting public listening sessions to identify flood-vulnerable communities, prioritize restoration and flood-reduction projects, and guide long-term adaptation strategies with a strong emphasis on equity, innovation, and collaboration.
As partner/collaborators in this effort, Sierra Club Adventure Coast Group, Hernando Audubon and other community organizations will host three listening sessions as follows:
Thursday, June 11th 5pm—6:30 pm at the George Washington Carver Community Center, 95 Three Sisters Springs Trail, Crystal River. The facilitators will be Sierra Club’s Robin Orlandi and Maxine Connor in cooperation with Hernando Audubon and other community-based organizations. Refreshments will be available.
Thursday, June 18th 5pm-6:30pm at the Weeki Wachee Area Club, 7442 Shoal Line Boulevard, Hernando Beach. The facilitator will be Sierra Club’s Taylor Masnjak in cooperation with the Weeki Wachee Area Club and local long term recovery management efforts.
Wednesday, June 24th, 5pm-6:30pm at the Ridge Manor Community Center, 34240 Cortez Boulevard, Ridge Manor. The facilitator will be Lynn Gruber-White, President of the Ridge Manor Property Owners Association in cooperation with Joe Murphy of Sierra Club and Hernando Audubon along with other stakeholders. Refreshments will be available.
These efforts ensure that local governments, community organizations, residents, and technical experts all contribute to shaping the plan. This year, the Coastal Master Plan will develop a Regional Flood Risk Assessment that will provide a scientific and analytical foundation for all future project recommendations. By 2027, the focus will be to design, screen, and evaluate projects in priority areas based on community feedback. In 2028, the plan will be released.
What you can do now: Save the date and plan to attend a workshop in your area. Sierra Club Adventure Coast Group and Hernando Audubon participated in the recent Flood Listening Session Facilitation Training and will engage as non-profit stakeholders in the process for Citrus and Hernando Counties. Contact us at sierraclubadventurecoastcc@
Citrus Hearing on Proposed Asphalt Plant
Postponed to November 19th
A 22-acre Asphalt Plant on Citrus Ave /Co Rd 495 has been proposed in a rural area of Citrus that requires a zoning change to industrial. The site is near hundreds of residences just north of the Suncoast Parkway's final extension that will cross Citrus Avenue and terminate to the West at Hwy 19/98, around 5 miles south of the proposed Barge Canal /Port Citrus site.
Please plan to attend and speak out! The application PDC hearing has been postponed from April 2nd to April 16th at 9am at the Lecanto Government Building, 3600 W. Sovereign Path, Room #166 Lecanto, FL 34461. There are 1700 signatures on a petition to oppose this application already.
Learn more at Channel 10 Tampa Bay article: https://www.wtsp.com/article/
Curtiss Bryant's Citrus Insider blog summarizes the application here: https://www.thecitrusinsider.
Hernando Re-Zoning for 907 Unit
Housing Development Postponed
At the request of applicant Jack Melton Family, Inc., the Hernando County Commissioners voted unanimously on April 20th to postpone two zoning items that would allow a 226-acre unimproved property to become a single-family planned development project with 907 densely packed units. The land is between Lockhart Road and I-75 and is currently zoned agricultural.
It had been approved by the Hernando Planning and Development Commission after hours of discussion, including many nearby residents opposed to the project. The applicant offered to address concerns ranging from roads, emergency medical services, and other transportation issues.
The area is not far from the Florida Wildlife Corridor, but follows a trend of development of rural lands adjacent to interstate highways. We are losing rural America and habitat for endangered black bears and other wildlife. Commissioners are strapped by rules that allow such changes, but argue that design improvements and modifications can reduce the density.
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