Preservationists concerned about proposal for car dealership near Brandon historical landmark

BRANDON, Fla. - The Moseley Homestead built in 1886 is still just off Brandon Boulevard down a dirt road.

The homestead was part of Limona, Florida, a little town that was swallowed up by Brandon years ago. 

The Moseley Homestead has been in Florida for centuries.

It has looked the same for decades and decades. The homestead was left by the last Moseley to a trust, to be a piece of old Florida history.

It’s a designated historical landmark, on the National Registry, but some say it’s now threatened.

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Limona was a small town in Florida.

"There’s a proposal to put a car dealership in next to the property," said Mark Proctor, who now leads the Timberly Trust. "That may hurt the environment, the water runoff from impervious surfaces, and traffic conditions are deplorable there."

Plans are on the table for a new Mitsubishi car dealership and service center adjacent to the Moseley Homestead. Preservationists said they are perhaps most concerned about the damage to the environment on the 15 acres of land that are part of the homestead.

Preservationist are concerned about the impact of a car dealership.

There’s a lake, and preservationists said, many species of animals could be affected by light, noise, and other forms of pollution that could be caused by the dealership.

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Hillsborough County’s Historic Resources Review Board met Monday and asked to hear from both sides. Plans submitted by an engineering firm hired by the dealership indicate that the business can utilize existing infrastructure and can be built to code on the land that is already zoned for such a business.

The Moseley Homestead is a historical landmark.

Preservationists said it could cause irreparable harm to the historic site.

Monday afternoon the car dealership hired an attorney who asked for more time to study the issues involved. When the Moseley family first moved here nearly 150 years ago, what is now Brandon was called New Hope.

According to preservationists, they are in a battle to keep the Moseley Homestead a protected time capsule that’s insulated from the fast-changing world around it.

The Hillsborough County Historic Resources Review Board is scheduled to take up the issue again on Nov. 21.