TAMPA, Fla. — The owners of another Bay Area cemetery are asking county leaders to change the designation of part of the land for potential development.
The Showmen’s Rest Cemetery is located off North Boulevard in Tampa. The owners are requesting to change the designation of 1.2 acres of the property. The land in question is surrounded by Beth Isreal Cemetery and Woodlawn Cemetery.
The owners of Showman’s Rest submitted a request to the Hillsborough County Planning Commission to change the land designation to residential to develop on the land.
Cemetery society president Aileen Henderson said this is the second time this request has been made, and she’s not convinced there are no burials on the one and a half acres requested.
“Sometimes when people don’t see marked graves, they assume that there’s nothing underneath. That’s the first thing. The second thing is, Showman’s Rest purchased this property in 1971, this particular parcel, and prior to that, the parcel was part of a potter’s field,” she said.
The Showmens Rest Cemetery previously submitted documents of a ground penetrating radar survey showing burials in the areas surrounding the proposed property but none on the actual land in question.
The Hillsborough County Planning Commission is set to review the request and make a decision soon.