Amazon Animal Hospital Plans a New Clinic

Largo may get a new veterinary clinic in about one year. The empty, grassy one-acre lot next to the Hess station on Roosevelt could become the new home for the .

Since the mid 1980s, Dr. Sergio Carvajal, Amazon's owner, has practiced in the community. The proposed new, state-of-the-art veterinary hospital would replace Amazon's current location on the west side of US 19 along East Bay Drive in the Tri-City Plaza. 

On , community members saw plans and asked questions about the proposed 5,589-square-foot veterinary clinic at the northeast corner of Dodge Street and Roosevelt Boulevard.

The developer's planner, Robert Pergolizzi, showed how the proposed one-story animal hospital would be placed at a diagonal on the vacant parcel with retention ponds, grassy areas, and 19 parking spaces around the building. 

The grassy lot is zoned commercial general, which allows for a variety of uses including medical offices. The veterinary clinic is one of the least intensive uses allowed, Pergolizzi said.

"We think it will add value to the area. It's a vacant property currently not adding taxes to the area," Pergolizzi said.

Neighbors asked questions about kennel locations and shared concerns about easements and access to the two residential properties behind the proposed clinic's parcel.

Access to Roosevelt Boulevard would be maintained for the homes through the veterinary clinic property. Kennels and a dog walking area would be on the opposite side of the homes near a retetention pond, Pegolizzi said.

The new building should be open in about one year. Project planners anticipate the approval process will take about three more months, and construction should last about nine months.