A group of Lutz residents is preparing to challenge a proposal to build a large private school in their community, arguing the project conflicts with the area’s semi-rural character.
The Naidip Foundation has submitted a special-use application to Hillsborough County to construct Apex Academy, a K-8 private school with capacity for up to 1,000 students, near the intersection of North Dale Mabry Highway and Holly Lane.
Resident Demelza Hays, who has been among the most vocal opponents, said she and her husband chose the area specifically for its rural feel. She said the prospect of a school that size has her family reconsidering their future in the neighborhood.
“I have a daughter and a child on the way, and if this school is built here, my family’s already discussed potentially having to sell because our children could no longer roam freely,” Hays said.
A spokesperson for the Naidip Foundation declined to comment.
The proposed site sits outside Hillsborough County’s designated urban service area, a detail that University of South Florida School of Public Affairs associate professor Elizabeth Strom said lends weight to residents’ concerns. She noted that a special-use application for a private school would typically require the applicant to address issues such as traffic, parking, and site access.
“If it was inside the urban service area, I would be less sympathetic because we need schools, we need housing,” Strom said. “But the county has decided that that development will largely take place within the urban service area.”
A Land Use Hearing Officer will take up the application on June 15.
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