SEMINOLE HEIGHTS - Residents and business and property owners soon will share their dreams for a renewed Seminole Heights.

They will be joined at the design table by city planners and representatives of the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority, Florida Department of Transportation and several city departments, including zoning, stormwater and parks and recreation.

On Feb. 5, the city will launch a pilot project in a nearly 5-square-mile area covering mostly the three neighborhoods of Old Seminole, Southeast Seminole and South Seminole Heights.

The process could take two years. If it works in Seminole Heights, the city might consider similar projects in 15 or so other areas.

Zoning administrator Cathy Coyle presented the plan to about 100 people at the Old Seminole Heights Neighborhood Association meeting Tuesday.

"It's going to be challenging," Coyle said, adding that such redevelopment planning has not been tested often in urban, built-out neighborhoods.

The intent is to create a vision plan "of who are we, where are we and where are we going," she said.

The goal is to take the community's vision and create city codes to make it happen. With more than 30 chapters in the city's code regulating development, Coyle said there often are contradictory regulations with multiple departments making recommendations and decisions.

The new method, known as form-based zoning, should streamline the process, reduce the number of zoning categories to about five and put regulations into "plain, simple language," Coyle said.

That's good news to South Seminole Heights resident Randy Stribling.

"It won't be like you have to have a law degree to understand it," said Stribling, who wants more details on how property values and land uses might be affected.

Southeast Seminole residents Renee and Felix Cocroft were dismayed by code restrictions when they tried to build a garage.

"I think this will work very well," Renee Cocroft said.

Many at the meeting were excited about the potential for creating a more mixed-use, and pedestrian- and business-friendly community. They liked that the planning will include discussion of what types of businesses the community wants to attract.

"We have made it impossible for businesses to open because of the regulations," said Jocelyn Myers of Myers Printing Co.

Sherry King, former president of the Business Guild of Seminole Heights, said it's a step in the right direction.

"We have great ideas," she said.

She hopes there will be a new look at Florida Avenue, which many want converted from one way to two way.

State highway officials have opposed that, but King said other solutions might be possible, such as re-striping the road so parking is allowed on Florida during nonrush hours.

Traditional zoning generally separates areas largely based on use and decisions of public safety and health. Shops, homes and factories are in different districts. Form-based zoning focuses on the future layout of buildings, residences, streets and public spaces. A building's use, while not ignored, is less important.

"We have to let go of the way we do things, to think outside the box," Coyle said.

That's one reason it was important to bring state, county and city staff members to the table, she said.

"I don't want to hear from them just no, no, no, no, no," she said. "Is it because of money or it just cannot be physically done? What are the levels of no?"

The community's vision will be put together at workshops April 21-25. The city will mail more than 8,700 invitations within the project's boundaries, which follow the Hillsborough River on the north and west, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard on the south, North 15th Street on the southeast and as far as North 22nd Street on the northeast.

Initially, about 16 people representing neighborhood associations and businesses will be named to a stakeholders committee. They will kick off the initial phase of gathering information at a Feb. 5 meeting at the Seminole Garden Center.

"It's going to be very hands-on," Coyle said. "We're going to get right into the street. We're going to do a full inventory of what's out there and map it."

That means details such as measuring street widths and block lengths, and identifying commercial intersections that need redesigns, she said.

Reporter Kathy Steele can be reached at (813) 835-2103 or ksteele@tampatrib.com.