DREW PARK - With its auto body shops, mechanics, industries and adult businesses, this neighborhood conveys a rugged, blue-collar demeanor.

It's a longtime image the city wants to shed.

This month, city council members will discuss a plan that would change zoning and land use in Drew Park to create a pedestrian-friendly community east of Lois Avenue in hopes of attracting housing, offices and stores. West of Lois, the neighborhood would retain its industrial zoning.

The plan also calls for up to $30 million in stormwater improvements and 5 acres of parks. From Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to Crest Avenue, Lois would become a commercial corridor and Grady Avenue a residential corridor.

"This is a plan for change in Drew Park," said Jeanette LaRussa Fenton, the city's manager for West Tampa and Drew Park. "It is not a plan to retain the status quo."

Roberto Abreu said he welcomes change.

"I have seen everything in Tampa get better and grow, and this place has always been the same," said Abreu, 33, who has lived in Drew Park for 16 years.

Three years ago, he bought a home on Lois, where he lives with his wife, Tanya, and 8-year-old son, Raymond.

"You could take a picture 16 years ago and take a picture today and you wouldn't know the difference," Abreu said.

Joshua Santiago said his neighborhood is perfect for redevelopment because it's surrounded by major roads and near Raymond James Stadium, Legends Field and Hillsborough Community College Dale Mabry Campus.

Santiago, 30, has lived in Drew Park for 12 years and rents a home on North Hubert Avenue. He's a truck driver for a business in the neighborhood.

"This area is so gray," he said.

In a nearly 50-year relationship with Drew Park, homeowner Jill Willard said she has seen few changes. She's skeptical about the redevelopment plan and doesn't expect property owners to sell and move out.

"I won't see [change] while I'm alive," said Willard, 64, a waitress who lives on North Hubert.

Two years ago, the city created a community redevelopment area for Drew Park, allowing some property taxes generated there to be used for sidewalk, lighting and road improvements in the neighborhood.

The redevelopment area's budget is about $1.1 million for this fiscal year, Fenton said.

In 2006, the city hired URS Corp. to help create the Drew Park plan. The company held community meetings and studied the neighborhood's zoning, infrastructure and housing before releasing its plan in February.

The city council, in its role as the Community Redevelopment Agency board, will discuss the plan March 15.

Proponents say the plan would create a balance in the community, where 49 percent of the land use permits industrial uses.

If the plan is approved, property owners would be able to maintain current zoning and land use, said Keith Greminger, a URS vice president. However, they also would get new options for redeveloping their land, such as creating a combination of housing, retail and offices.

"It is very ambitious," Greminger said. "But it is very plausible and doable."

Fenton said much of the redevelopment would be market-driven.

"What is the market wanting?" she said. "A developer is not going to put something up if there is no demand for it."

Reporter Jose Patino Girona can be reached at (8130 835-2110 or jpatino@tampatrib.com.