TAMPA, Fla. — Hillsborough County Commissioners will vote Wednesday on a new site plan for the Sydney Ponds Superfund Site in Dover.

A development plan for the entire 3,000 acres was approved in 2010, but now a cattle rancher who owns half the property, and the developer who owns the other half, want the site plan split.

The developer is asking the county to allow it to build a solar energy plant at the same time it builds commercial, warehouse and residential space.

Originally, the developer was required to build out the solar plant first, generating enough energy to support the entire property.

Residents living near the site in Dover say leftover pollution from phosphate mining activity on a small portion of the property back in the 1960s poses significant health risks.

Third party testing paid for by Hillsborough County at Medard Park, on the north side of the property, did not reveal radiation levels that were dangerous to the public.

Residents, though, maintain any digging at the site could cause groundwater and run-off contamination.

The Sydney Ponds Superfund site is managed by the EPA, and on that small pocket of land within the 1,500 acres, no development will be allowed. (Spectrum News)

County Commissioner Joshua Wostal says because the developer has asked for changes to the 15-year-old site plan, it gives the opportunity to add requirements before the developer can start digging.

“We put the requirement for the soil test in the comp plan rather than post facto into the rezoning and permit process,” said Wostal. “This puts it up front in everyone’s face that until they prove and do limited ion-radiation tests, that they are not allowed to touch any tree or piece of soil on that property, and I think this is just another opportunity to protect the residents of Hillsborough County.”

The Sydney Ponds Superfund site is managed by the EPA, and on that small pocket of land within the 1,500 acres, no development will be allowed.

In a statement to Spectrum Bay News 9 earlier this year, an attorney for the developer said there were no immediate plans to start digging.

Even if commissioners approved site plan changes on Wednesday, the developer would still need to go through the rezoning and permitting process, which could be a multi-year process.