Those who pushed for stricter standards watched intently as merchants and national retailers, including the huge Wal- Mart Supercenter, sought - and were denied - significant variances for larger signs.

So, the 50-foot-high billboard erected on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard just south of the city limits has created a furor among those who lobbied for the New Tampa Commercial Overlay District and thought it was mirrored by a companion ordinance governing unincorporated stretches of Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.

Now, the New Tampa Community Council, which prompted the municipal ordinance adopted in August 1999, is preparing for a new fight.

Frank Margarella of Hunter's Green, who was NTCC president during the group's battle for strict commercial standards for signs, landscaping and other aesthetics, said last week that the fight will undoubtedly require a lawsuit.

Margarella called the issue huge. Members of the NTCC met Tuesday with Tampa City Councilman Shawn Harrison and Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan to discuss the Viacom Outdoor billboard at 14913 Bruce B. Downs at the Oak Ramble apartments entry.

A county permit for the sign was issued in April. Construction began two weeks ago.

Lynn Grinnell, a former Pebble Creek resident, headed the New Tampa Community Council subcommittee that, in 1997, drafted architectural standards upon which the municipal overlay district is based.

Grinnell, now a Pasco County resident, hasn't seen the billboard, but she's heard plenty. She said she doesn't understand how things got derailed.

Grinnell said she was told Hillsborough County's ordinance would be identical to the city's - adopted two years earlier.

``So I don't know what they've been doing, but it doesn't mirror it,'' she said. ``I know they were resisting all along, because they said theirs was better,'' she said of the county staff. ``Well, if theirs allows billboards, then I don't think it's better.''

A Sept. 26, 2000, staff report to the Hillsborough County Commission - a year before that board's overlay ordinance adoption - seems to support that.

``It is unlikely that there will be any significant difference between property developed under the city of Tampa's regulations and the county's regulations, particularly once the amendments to the Land Development Code are adopted,'' concludes the report. ``An overlay district in Hillsborough County similar to the city's would apply to a very limited number of properties that are undeveloped and do not already have approved planned- development zoning.''

The 3-year-old report also says, ``Many of the development standards identified in the city's overlay district ... are currently addressed in the Land Development Code or are proposed in the draft code amendments for community design.''

If commissioners want, the report says, ``Staff can prepare a zoning overlay district which closely resembles that in the city.'' The ordinance would be filed with the next round of Land Development Code amendments in spring 2001.

A seven-page attachment comparison of the city ordinance and the county Land Development Code says the latter ``prohibits off-site signs for advertising [directional only] and billboards.''

Adam Gormly, the assistant county attorney who advises the staff about billboard issues, said the county overlay district adoption on Sept. 12, 2001, came after settlement earlier that year of a legal challenge of Hillsborough's 1995 billboard ban.

Settlement of the 2000 lawsuit retained the ban on billboards, but allowed outdoor advertising companies to relocate existing signs from residential zones in the county to commercial or industrial areas. The New Tampa sign is such a billboard, said a county official who issues sign permits and a Viacom lawyer.

Enacting additional prohibitions after the settlement - in the form of banning billboards in overlay districts - would not set well with the courts, Gormly said.

But New Tampa's first billboard has not set well with many.

Grinnell said that what has been described to her as ``a very ugly sign'' was a topic of conversation at Friday's New Tampa Rotary Club breakfast meeting and is being discussed by Tampa Palms Community Development District employees, the Tampa Palms Owners Association and others.

``And you know the NTCC is going to be in there fighting away,'' said Grinnell, a member and former president of the nonprofit group.

Reporter George Wilkens can be reached at (813) 977-2854, Ext. 22.