DREW PARK - The city has asked a consultant to come up with new land use and zoning recommendations for the industrial area adjacent to Tampa International Airport.

City staff will present an updated plan to the city council, in its role as the Community Redevelopment Agency, in two months, after meeting with Drew Park residents and property owners.

Last year, URS Corp. and city staff proposed a plan to attract housing, stores and offices to the area east of Lois Avenue between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Crest Avenue.

But the proposed land use and zoning changes were opposed by industrial property owners, who worried about being pushed out of the changed landscape.

The proposed plan also said no new industrial zoning would be permitted east of Lois and existing industrial businesses could expand by only 5 percent. The new land use and zoning would take effect if a property remained vacant for more than six months.

The plan was approved by the Community Redevelopment Agency, but the land use and zoning proposals were put on hold, and city staff was asked to meet with the community.

At a meeting Thursday, Jeanette LaRussa Fenton, the city's Drew Park and West Tampa manager, said city staff members had met with small groups of business owners and property owners. They also met with real estate brokers, developers, property appraisers and lawyers.

"They business and property owners are not necessarily focused on adding value or the big picture of redevelopment of Drew Park," Fenton told the council members. "Bottom line is their feeling is make Drew Park better for us - for the people that are already here and have been here."

In 2004, the city designated Drew Park as blighted, allowing the city to create a community redevelopment area and earmark a portion of local property taxes for neighborhood infrastructure such as sidewalks, lighting and roads.

Reporter Jose Patino Girona can be reached at (813) 835-2110 or jpatino@tampatrib.com.