CLEARWATER - Four years ago, political consultant Todd Pressman helped the owners of the old Coca-Cola plant in Palm Harbor secure a rezoning from Pinellas County to build a shopping center anchored by a grocery store.

The commercial project never materialized, and now the property's new owner envisions something else for the languishing 8-acre eyesore at Klosterman Road and Alternate U.S. 19: a residential community of up to 100 town houses.

That land-use case, along with a spate of others in various stages of the approval process, underscores the recent interest among property owners and developers in turning commercially or industrially zoned land throughout Pinellas County into housing.

"We've had several requests to change from commercial or industrial to residential," said Paul Cassel, the county's Development Review Services director.

"We're seeing little travel trailer parks converting to residential," he said. "I think it's just a function of the housing market being so hot right now, and Pinellas is such a popular place for folks to live."

With vacant residential land in short supply, the demand for housing in Florida's most densely developed county, at least at this time, appears greater than for either commercial or industrial space, said county officials, development representatives and others.

"The demand out there for industrial use just isn't there, as compared to the residential use," Pressman said. "Developers are scampering around, trying to find land that's suitable for residential."

Pinellas Planning Director Brian Smith agreed that "there's more demand for residential now, because we've got so much built-out."

Multifamily housing, such as town houses or condominiums, are usually what the county is asked to allow on land zoned for industry or business, Cassel said.

Some of the high-end housing, though, is being built in places you might not expect: near a toxic waste site or the county's landfill.

In the Tarpon Springs area, the county commission recently approved allowing a town house development of five units an acre on industrial land along the Anclote River, adjacent to the former Stauffer Chemical Co. plant, a Superfund hazardous waste site since 1994.

Environmental tests have found no contamination on the land slated for housing, said Cyndi Tarapani, vice president of planning for Florida Design Consultants.

The parcel is one of two tracts totaling about 25 acres. About 120 multifamily units, including condominiums as well as town houses, are planned, Tarapani said.

"It's clearly an emerging residential area, rather than an industrial area," Tarapani said.

Rezoning industrial sites for housing, though, raises issues for a county trying to retain and expand its industrial base.

In April, the commission passed a policy aimed at preserving industrial areas under the presumption that they should not be changed for some other use, Smith said.

Smith said the policy's impetus was the county's controversial action in 2004 to allow developer Grady Pridgen to build homes on industrial land next to the county landfill in the Gateway area of St. Petersburg.

The county later passed a measure requiring a 2,000-foot separation between the landfill and any future apartments or homes. Pridgen, who had sought a buffer of less than 1,000 feet, will be required to seek a variance to reduce the buffer zone.

Another unlikely site for housing is the former Coca Cola distribution plant in Palm Harbor.

The property's owner, Soda Works LLC, is seeking a zoning and land-use change to allow 12.5 units per acre. Cassel's department has recommended approval.

Commissioners were scheduled to hear the case Tuesday, but the property owner has asked to continue it until July 25, Cassel said Friday.

Contact Carlos Moncada at cmoncada@tampatrib.com or (727) 823-3412.