Developer downplays impact of project

World Woods says a resort and subdivision can be built without causing traffic or environmental problems. Cave explorers plan to fight.

By DAN DeWITT, Times Staff Writer
Published August 18, 2005

BROOKSVILLE - World Woods Corp. is proceeding with plans to build a 1,680-unit resort and subdivision in northern Hernando, and it may have found a South Florida developer to replace the one that abandoned the project five months ago.

In a report filed with the county, World Woods explains how the project can be built without causing traffic or environmental problems - including to a cave that has been called one of the most spectacular in the Southeast.

Actually, the report says, the cave is not especially large - with a floor space of only about 3 acres - and has only two rooms with significant formations.

"Most of the cave has few (formations)," said a report from George Veni & Associates, the Texas company hired to study the cave.

"Of course, we disagree," said Lee Florea, a University of South Florida doctoral candidate and a member of an amateur caving group, Tampa Bay Area Grotto; he did a preliminary map of the cave but was not invited to work with Veni.

Because of this and because Veni allowed only one month to map the cave, the company may have overlooked some rooms, Florea and other cavers said.

"There's definitely formations everywhere," said Robert Brooks, who helped discover the cave in late 2002. He and other cavers said they will dispute the consultant's findings on Tuesday, when the County Commission decides whether to approve the comprehensive plan amendment needed to build the project.

World Woods vice president Stan Cooke has previously said Brooks and Florea were not included because they had trespassed on the company's land while they explored the cave. He could not be reached on Wednesday to comment about the cave or the role of Kittson & Partners LLC, of West Palm Beach, which a county planner and World Woods' engineer said are involved in the project.

The company is best known for buying the 92,000-acre Babcock Ranch in Charlotte and Lee counties.

The state had tried to buy the land to set aside as a preserve until Kittson "paid significantly more than the $450-million the state offered," said company spokeswoman April Herrle.

The company still plans to sell some of the land to preservation agencies, she said. Kittson did not build its business on such massive projects, she said, but by "helping struggling golf communities to recover."

Though World Woods is not struggling, Cooke has said, it has never realized the profit potential of its two acclaimed golf courses, partly because of a lack of surrounding resort and residential housing.

WCI Communities Inc., the largest developer of planned communities in Florida, had previously intended to build 1,680 houses and rental units on the land, but pulled out in March because of uncertainty caused by the cave.

Though World Woods' report is an answer to the state's objections to WCI's project - and not a development plan - it reveals some information about the new design.

The land above the cave, the report says, will be set aside as undeveloped open space, as will about 70 percent of the 1,170 acres the company still owns; this figure includes the golf courses and about half of the wooded hammock on the property.

"The intent is to have a compact design and maintain those hammock features to the greatest extent possible," said Joe Quinn, principal planner of Coastal Engineering Associates Inc. of Brooksville.

The report also said the roads near the property, which is on U.S. 98, near the north end of the Suncoast Parkway, are adequate to serve the development, which will include a 200-room hotel.

The commission denied the first request for a comprehensive plan change on the land, in January. Then, after lobbying by WCI and Coastal, it voted to forward the project to the state. After considering the state's findings and World Woods' reply, it can grant final approval on Tuesday.

The agreement the commission passed in February required World Woods to preserve the land above the cave and that it be "managed by an appropriate state agency."

The steps taken to preserve have not been completed and will be submitted with the rest of the development plan, Quinn said.

Dan DeWitt can be reached at 352 754-6116 or dewitt@sptimes.com

[Last modified August 18, 2005, 01:05:19]

Aug 17, 2005

Growing pains hit schools

By ANGELINE TAYLOR
ataylor@hernandotoday.com

Hernando County school officials are beginning to feel big city growing pains in a county once considered a rural area.

Those growing pains became evident in the school board's workshop Tuesday, at which board members discussed construction plans for the county's 12th elementary school.

This school, however, will be different than others.

The Northcliffe Boulevard school site will be home to a three-story building providing county planners approve the site for 2,255 students.

Originally, the school was approved by county planners for 1,600 to 1,800 students.

"School officials are beginning to feel city growing pains," said board member Sandra Nicholson. "We're fastly not becoming a rural county anymore."

Board members John Druzbick and Pat Fagan were concerned that a three-story building would create a transportation nightmare at the 31-acre school and cited the new Challenger K-8 School of Science & Mathematics as an example.

"Just because the school is in the neighborhood, it does not ensure that students will take the bus or walk," Druzbick said. "We have schools situated like that now and parents drop students off."

In comparison, Fagan believes parking surrounding the school would present the greatest problem.

"I don't see how we can go three stories based on the size of the parking," Fagan said.

In the end, cost won out above all else.

"We have to provide as many student stations as we can possibly afford," Nicholson said.

It costs a little over $10 million more to build a school with a third floor. According to Druzbick, that $10 million used to be the full cost for a school of 750 students.

"The cost is going to be much greater later on," Druzbick said. "It's cheaper than building a whole new school at a whole new site."

Eventually, Fagan agreed.

"I'm very reluctant to proceed with the third floor," he said. "But, I also understand that five years down the road there's not going to be any land (available)."

The new building will cost the district an early total of $44 million. It will cater to students in kindergarten through eighth grades, making it the second of its kind in the county.

Challenger K-8 School of Science and Mathematics paved the way for the three-story facility that is scheduled to be complete by June 2007.

Aug 17, 2005

Managers Must Protect Integrity Of Rural Areas

I n evaluating pending applications to amend the Pasco County land use plan, the blueprint for growth, the county's growth management staff has provided commissioners with a crystal clear map of their own.

The concept is simple: To prevent urban sprawl, require new development to be compatible with existing.

When commissioners meet today in Dade City as the county's Land Planning Agency, they should follow this guidance. Doing so will protect rural and lightly developed areas from the type of overbuilding threatening quality of life in Wesley Chapel and other parts of the county.

The most troubling applications to be reviewed call for incompatible development in the rural Handcart/Prospect road area of east Pasco south of St. Leo. Evans Properties is proposing more than 2,200 homes on about 1,185 acres.

The parcels are zoned for one home per 10 acres and one home per five. The future land use designations are agricultural and agricultural/rural. But Evans wants the land use plan amended to urban-type densities in both applications to allow for its development plans.

Clearly, these applications should be rejected as proposed. Allowing such intense development in this picturesque rural area is classic urban sprawl, which staff fortunately recognizes. It also jeopardizes the character of the area.

This is not to say the properties cannot be developed. In fact, county staff has recommended a viable solution - an agricultural master planned unit development similar to the attractive Lange Equestrian Village MPUD near the parcels in question.

This would constitute clustering homes and setting aside ``significant'' acreage as open space, county reports show. This is the type growth that some county officials and consultants are advocating for northeast Pasco. Given the proximity to Lange Village, such a use would be compatible. The urban-type uses being sought certainly are not.

Not only has county staff recommended denying these and other similar land use change petitions that threaten rural areas, so has the county's Development Review Committee.

Now it is up to county commissioners to draw a line in the soil. They must take a strong stand against the rhetoric of developers and their lawyers, who pretty much have had their way in other parts of the county, and turn down these undesirable land use amendments. The integrity of the land use plan is at stake.

Residents - and voters - north of State Road 52 in northeast Pasco, where county consultants and staff are proposing measures to protect rural areas, will be watching closely.

Send letters to the editor to Pasco Editor of Editorials William Yelverton to wyelverton@tampatrib.com

Aug 17, 2005

Level Playing Field

Regarding the Aug. 11 Citizens' Advisory Committee meeting for Planning District 2, where the Pasco County Comprehensive Land Use Plan through 2025 was released to the public for comment:

I think the developers can chalk one up here. Instead of comments about the comprehensive plan, the speakers - big landowners, small landowners and lawyers and other representatives for big landowners - were talking about landowners' rights. They quoted the Constitution, basically saying they should be able to do anything they want with their land and not have a group of people with measly land holdings, some not even natives of northeast Pasco, influence what they do with their property!

Just turn the whole thing over to the county commissioners - let them handle it.

My history isn't as strong as it should be, but I think the land baron thing didn't turn out well in England. I, with my measly land holdings of 5 acres, having lived in Pasco only 19 years, have the same land rights as the zillion-acre property owners, and the commission gets to represent all of us equally.

Why do I think the developers get to chalk one up here? Because they accomplished goal No. 1 - creating a rift between landowners, making it harder for an environment to exist where people with disagreements about the comprehensive plan can come together and work toward a solution.

Developers are ready to play northeast Pasco like a fiddle. They are good at it. They have been doing it since Flagler laid down his tracks.

Now there is a document that places guidelines on developers after large landowners sell. It lets the remaining folks deal with the aftermath with some leverage over the developers.

If one or two high-density, high-impact developments become reality in this part of Pasco, all is lost. A few people will have made a lot of money, but the rest of us will be stuck with a bunch more cars on the road and more schools and infrastructure to pay for.

Worst of all, one of the most unique parts of Florida would be lost. Forever. It would be just another Florida development.

I believe we can keep the high quality of life we have in northeast Pasco by going with low-density, low-impact development. With smart planning and efficient use of our land and resources, northeast Pasco will remain a regular destination for intrastate travelers, keeping up a demand for estate-type housing and increasing land values.

The comprehensive plan is a good tool. It's not perfect. It needs some work and more input, but it goes a long way in leveling the playing field that is Pasco County.

JOE HAZELWOOD Dade City

997 homes to rise on builder's 520 acres

Southeast Pasco continues to lure developers as property closer to Wesley Chapel and New Tampa is bought out.

By JAMES THORNER, Times Staff Writer
Published August 17, 2005

ZEPHYRHILLS - A Clearwater spinal surgeon-turned-developer has bought 520 acres of southeast Pasco County.

Next for Dr. Doug Weiland and his company JES properties: A new 997-home development called Riverwood.

Weiland paid millions over the past year for cattle pasture and forest east of U.S. 301, about 2 miles south of Chancey Road. He bought most of the land from Thomas and Sandra Sims.

The property is bounded by Zephyrhills Festival Park to the north, Hillsborough County to the south and the Crystal Springs Nature Preserve to the east.

Weiland's company plans a mostly residential development with a smattering of retail and offices. He couldn't be reached at his Clearwater office Tuesday.

Long neglected as a rural backwater outside Tampa's suburban belt, southeast Pasco has lured developers as property closer to Wesley Chapel and New Tampa disappears from the market.

The biggest proposed project in the Greater Zephyrhills area is the 7,000 homes Sierra Properties plans to build on the west side of U.S. 301 opposite the Riverwood tract.

Sierra wants to buy the land from rancher Robert Thomas, whose family owns 3,500 acres stretching to Morris Bridge Road.

Several smaller developments are poised to devour pasture between U.S. 301 and State Road 39 south of Chancey Road.

They include 500 homes approved on the former Rucks farm and 200 homes proposed for property owned by the Feliciano family.

[Last modified August 17, 2005, 01:09:16]

Revised land use plan gets okay

Many see the comprehensive plan changes as good compromises, but activists say the plan doesn't go far enough.

By DAN DeWITT, Times Staff Writer
Published August 17, 2005

BROOKSVILLE - By the time Len Tria, a paid representative of development groups, had the final chance to speak to the County Commission, the growth management activists in the audience were murmuring their approval.

"Pass the plan," Tria told county commissioners three hours into the discussion to revise Hernando's comprehensive plan.

The commission did so, by a 4-1 vote, with Commission Chairman Rob Schenck opposing the plan because he considered its controls on residential development too restrictive.

On the other side of the issue was Gene Kelly, part of a group of residents appointed to help write the document. None of their progressive ideas had made it into the final version, he said.

"I'm disappointed that Lee County, Orange County, Pasco County - the paragons of poor planning - are the paradigms we are following," Kelly said.

Closer to the middle, developers and activists said the new plan was a reasonable compromise.

Growth management activists came out ahead on the rules governing residential development. Additions to the plan should make it more difficult to develop land designated as rural, said county planner Jim King, the plan's primary author.

The developers won on commercial development, with the commission preserving a section that allows the spread of shopping centers along the highways. King had removed this from the plan in an effort to confine commercial development to compact "nodes."

The commission's decision came after commissioners Jeff Stabins and Chris Kingsley both changed their earlier votes on this issue - and then criticized one another for doing so.

Last week, Kingsley had voted to restore the section that allows strip commercial development on major highways as long as it is served by frontage roads. But on Tuesday, he said he had cast his vote with the mistaken belief that the provision was needed to preserve the frontage road system. The county planners had since told him this was not true.

"I'm going to move to undo what I did," he said. Commissioner Diane Rowden seconded his motion and voted with him. Stabins, who had voted to eliminate the section last week, voted to keep it in this time.

Then, during a break in the meeting, he accused Kingsley of "political gamesmanship" in changing his votes to cater to the many activists in the crowd.

"It's like a Ferris wheel," Stabins said. "You don't know whether he's going up or going down."

"I'm incredulous," Kingsley said of Stabins' vote. "How could he be so adamantly for it one week and against it the next week?"

Stabins said he changed his vote because he thought eliminating the rule would forbid commissioners to make zoning changes, as they did last week, to allow commercial developments where residents wanted them.

He also said planning director Larry Jennings had told him the previous day that the provision made very little difference in the shape of the county, though Jennings said his comments had not been that decisive.

"It's a policy question," Jennings said. "There is no right or wrong answer."

The rules on residential development will apply most directly to Hickory Hill in Spring Lake, a development planned for 2,800 acres, almost all of which is designated as rural on the county's future land use map.

The new plan won't stop the project, said both King and Jake Varn, the Tallahassee lawyer who represents the landowner.

But it may make it more difficult to approve, especially because of a provision that allows subdivisions to be built on land designated as rural only if most of the nearby residential property has already been developed.

Just minutes after the plan was approved, though, a potential conflict cropped up. King said the new plan did not include a provision to study future development in Spring Lake.

Varn said otherwise: "I have a copy that has that in," he said.

Brooksville banker Jim Kimbrough spoke out against the tightened restrictions on residential growth, saying the board was stopping itself from approving projects that would benefit the county economically.

The Nature Coast chief executive for SunTrust Bank said the plan should allow "flexibility, flexibility, flexibility," so the county could "seize the opportunity to attract high-end developments."

Schenck said that was the part of the plan that he could not support, saying decisions on whether land is ready for residential development should be made by the market rather than by the county.

But speaking of the commercial provisions the board did approve, Kelly said, "we all know what the free market decides. It's called strip development."

Dan DeWitt can be reached at 352 754-6116 or dewitt@sptimes.com

[Last modified August 17, 2005, 01:09:16]

Aug 16, 2005

Comp Plan gets final approval

By FRED HIERS
fhiers@hernandotoday.com

BROOKSVILLE - County commissioners, county planners and local business leaders hammered out a Comprehensive Growth Management Plan yesterday that will provide guidelines for the next generation of residential and commercial development.

Each group managed to get something they wanted after commissioners unanimously approved the plan.

Local business leaders made headway after convincing commissioners to do away with stringent rules that would have banned residential development on rural land next to existing residential property.

Until the change, the Comp Plan would have required most of the county's residential land in all areas of the county be developed before rural land would be opened up to construction.

Local business leaders convinced planners to allow residential construction on rural land when residential land in the immediate area was used up as long as environmental and compatibility standards were met.

"Obviously, we've come down a long road (in developing this plan)," said real estate and business consultant Len Tria. "Most of us are satisfied."

The Comprehensive Plan is the county's long-range guide on growth and must be approved by the Florida Department of Community Affairs. A committee made up of planners and the public has worked for the past three years revamping the plan.

Commissioners agreed that although there were aspects of some revisions they did not like, overall it was a fair plan.

"I kind of feel like a piñata," Commissioner Jeff Stabins said before voting for the plan. "(But) it's time we move this on."

Business leaders failed to make headway in getting commissioners and planners to open up more land outside large residential development to commercial development.

County Planning Director Larry Jennings convinced commissioners to limit commercial development to about five acres when situated near large residential communities although

some business and real estate investors wanted more than five acres.

The difference between the two schools of thought is that one would have allowed light commercial development such as a few small stores versus larger developments such as a shopping plaza with a chain grocery store and additional nearby stores.

The apparent losers in managing to make significant Comp Plan changes were farmers and those owning large tracts of rural land.

Some farmers complained agricultural business was no longer a viable option.

Rural landowners told the board they wanted to be able to sell their land for residential purposes. The new Comp Plan, which can be modified twice yearly, allows the land to be used for residential development only on either five and 10-acre lots, depending on existing infrastructure.

"(Farming) is not a good business venture anymore," said Dayna Rivenbark, adding that anyone at the meeting who thought they could make a living farming, "I've got 300 acres for sale."

Commissioner Robert Schenck said the plan was still too restrictive and allowed government to involve itself in the private sector residential development.

Specifically, Schenk said he opposed the county allowing new residential development only when a set of county criteria was met, especially after a market study of whether existing residential property was already utilized.

"I don't think we're here to baby-sit someone's bad investment," he said.

During yesterday's meeting, commissioners Chris Kingsley and Diane Rowden failed to convince other commissioners to make it more difficult to develop land between commercial nodes.

Last week, commissioners decided to allow businesses along commercial nodes as long as there were existing frontage roads that would allow that such development.

But Kingsley warned that the result would be strip commercial development and that areas between commercial nodes would eventually be filled in as is the case along U.S. 19 in Pasco County.

'Exurb' is word for New River

A Wesley Chapel neighborhood is featured in a New York Times story about life outside the city.

By JAMES THORNER, Times Staff Writer
Published August 16, 2005

WESLEY CHAPEL - Residents of Wesley Chapel: Did you know you lived in an "exurb"?

You know now. The New York Times says so.

Wesley Chapel, or more specifically the New River Township neighborhood north of State Road 54, shared the front page of this week's Sunday New York Times .

The first of a series of stories that aims to "examine life in America's most far-flung suburbs," the newspaper put New River, and by extension Pasco County, under the microscope.

The reporter dubbed the area an exurb, or a semirural residential community far outside a city. Hotly contested by politicians, exurbanites helped swing the election for George W. Bush last year.

New River fit the bill as an archetypal exurb, said Beat Kahli, the Swiss-born developer of New River interviewed extensively by the New York Times .

Economics, mainly cheaper land prices, encourages the flight far beyond the city centers. "In which downtown can you buy 2,000 acres? I don't think anywhere in the U.S.," Kahli says.

But if Kahli has his way, New River will be less exurb and more self-contained city . In five to 10 years, it could have thousands of homes and a town center that hums with commerce.

Aside from Kahli, The story also featured comments from a couple of Pasco families.

The author suggested New River residents are majority Republican, solidly middle class, ethnically varied and more religious than average.

And despite the relatively low crime of central Pasco, home buyers are supposedly security conscious, judging from builders' requests for built-in burglar alarms and double-bolted locks.

Like most community snapshots, the story has a limited shelf life. Pasco's rate of growth is such that it won't be long before you'll be able to remove the "ex' from the exurb.

[Last modified August 16, 2005, 01:29:18]

Aug 15, 2005

Comp Plan again up for discussion

By FRED HIERS
fhiers@hernandotoday.com

BROOKSVILLE - There will be another round of Comprehensive Plan talks during today's commission meeting, deciding residential and commercial development guidelines for the county.

The scheduled meeting will again pit county planners against local business and real estate leaders with commissioners asked to rule on the degree of county oversight when it comes to growth and development.

County planners are asking the board to limit growth to existing commercial nodes and only allow expansion when businesses have already filled any previous vacant land and growth had no alternative but to expand outward.

Local business leaders are asking for additional leeway in the proposed Comp Plan that would allow for some leapfrogging in commercial growth and rules that would open development to commercial development between nodes.

Possibly at issue during today's meeting is how much commercial growth should be allowed in mixed use development areas that include commercial development located near residential areas, according to Planning Director Larry Jennings.

Jennings proposes to limit commercial development to about five acres when situated near large residential communities.

Some who oppose such a move want more than five acres available to development near large residential subdivisions.

The difference between the two schools of thought is that one would allow light commercial development, such as a few small stores, versus larger developments such as a shopping plaza with a chain grocery store and additional nearby stores.

Another likely issue to be discussed during today's meeting is the fate of rural land and its development as residential property.

Successful farmers such as Homer Hunnicutt say farmers should be allowed to sell their land to developers and rezone the land for residential use, especially when it was no longer economical to farm the property.

But Jennings counters by saying the county has more than ample unused residential-zoned land open to development and the county's goal was to keep residential development in isolated areas rather than allow unrestricted sprawl.

Although developers would have to pay for roads and utilities to be brought to new subdivisions, Jennings complained that the county would still be stuck maintaining those services.

Instead, the goal should be to develop land in more condensed areas where infrastructure already exists, he said.

Reporter Fred Hiers can be contacted at (352) 544-5290.

WHAT IS THE COMP PLAN?

2 sides set for growth plan debate

Development interests and growth management activists know there is a lot at stake.

By DAN DeWITT, Times Staff Writer
Published August 16, 2005

BROOKSVILLE - If the biggest issue in Hernando County is managing growth - as County Commission candidates repeatedly said during last year's election - then today's commission meeting may be the most important of the decade.

Growth management activists are hoping they can get that point across to the residents who have packed recent commission meetings to complain about proposed developments near their homes.

"Imminent development is what gets people out," said Joe White, a member of the Hernando Alliance for Open Land Conservation.

"What this will do is make it more difficult for that development to pass."

Or not, depending on which side prevails at today's meeting; commissioners are scheduled to begin discussing the comprehensive plan, which will shape growth in the county for the next seven years, at 1:30 p.m.

Development interests have been the most visible and vocal during recent meetings. White and others said they are trying to encourage concerned residents to show up to oppose them.

The entire plan is still open for discussion, despite what seemed to be two conclusive decisions when it was discussed last week.

Commissioner Chris Kingsley surprised growth activists at that meeting by voting to keep a provision that planners said would encourage the sprawling development of strip malls.

County Commissioner Nancy Robinson said the provision protected the frontage road system - though planners said otherwise - and Kingsley said he agreed.

But Monday, he said he may bring the issue up for another vote, though he declined to say why.

Commissioners also seemed to agree last week to deny developers' request for a more flexible plan, one that would have replaced phrases such as "shall" and "must" with "may" and "will encourage."

But Jake Varn, the Tallahassee lawyer whose clients include the developers of the proposed 2,800-acre Hickory Hill subdivision in Spring Lake, said he thought that decision was still unresolved.

He understood the commission's decision as applying to only a small part of the plan.

The other main issue will be residential development and whether the plan should firmly restrict its spread into areas that are designated as rural.

The idea is to limit sprawl, which is more expensive to serve, said county planner Jim King, the plan's primary author. Also, because the land already set aside for residential development would accommodate 150,000 new houses, the county does not currently need to devote more land for future subdivisions, King said.

Varn proposed new wording for this part of the plan in an e-mail to the county. Varn says the county should make allowances for projects that can fully pay for services to expand into new parts of the county. One of those, he said last week, is Hickory Hill, whose developers plan it as the highest-priced development in the county.

One of the current provisions all but forbids new residential development in rural areas "unless (existing residential) areas are predominantly developed and occupied (and) population projections indicate a need for additional urban development areas." Varn's proposal would change that to allow development if services can be brought to the area and "the development provides a positive fiscal impact to the county."

Varn and others representing business interests have been criticized for last-minute efforts to change the plan, which county employees and residents have been working on for more than two years. Morris Porton, a Spring Hill banker who is chairman of the Greater Hernando County Chamber of Commerce's government relations committee, said the complaints are valid - to a point.

But he recently sent an e-mail urging members to attend the meeting, saying the plan contained too many rigid restrictions on growth.

"They're right. We should have been involved earlier," said Porton, executive vice president of CenterState Bank. "But that doesn't mean we shouldn't do something now."

Anna Liisa Covell, chairwoman of the county Planning and Zoning Commission, was part of a commission that began working on revisions more than two years ago and which held a series of seven public meetings.

"If they had true concerns, they should have brought them forth two years ago," Covell said.

--Dan DeWitt can be reached at 352 754-6116 or dewitt@sptimes.com

[Last modified August 16, 2005, 01:29:18]

Suit against Wal-Mart, Tarpon Springs okayed

By Times Staff
Published August 16, 2005

TARPON SPRINGS - An effort to have a lawsuit dismissed against Tarpon Springs city commissioners and Wal-Mart earlier this year has failed. The Pinellas Circuit Court will hear the case filed by the Concerned Citizens of Tarpon Springs against the city and retail giant.

The resident group, which opposes Wal-Mart, sued in February on the grounds that the city violated zoning guidelines when commissioners approved the store after a 12-hour meeting that began on the evening of Jan. 18. A final vote of 3-2 was taken at 6:45 a.m. Jan. 19.

Any attempts to appeal a city commission's decision must be filed with the court within 30 days of that decision, according to state code. The resident group filed its original petition on Feb. 18 - 30 days after Jan. 19.

Attorneys for the city and company said the filing was a day late because the actual meeting began Jan. 18.

The court turned down the motion to dismiss, saying the filing was timely. The city and company are preparing a joint response to the resident group's claims.

Construction on the Wal-Mart has not started.

[Last modified August 16, 2005, 01:29:18]

I missed this tidbit the other day. I wonder how the Grecos would feel if they they knew that a year or so ago a certain person cut down more than 9 acres of trees without bothering to get a variance and only had to pay $500?

Aug 13, 2005

Not All Of Site's Trees Must Be Replaced

Eugene and Josephine Greco, of Tampa, who recently won approval to turn their 9 acres at the southwest corner of State Road 54 and Livingston Road into a commercial development, won't have to replace all the trees they'll destroy to develop the property.

The county's Development Review Committee on Thursday approved a variance to county rules allowing fewer replacement trees than what will be cut down.

The site is heavily forested, and about half of the lost trees can be compensated for by landscaping, Development Review Director Cindy Jolly said.

The Grecos will pay $3,175 into to the county's Tree Mitigation Fund, which is used to plant trees on public property and along roads.

The Grecos plan to put a bank, fast-food restaurant and a 5,500-square-foot convenience store on the site, according to plans submitted to the county. The project would have access from Livingston and two right-in/right-out entrances on State Road 54.< Kevin Wiatrowski <

Builder, county can't agree on road plans

By JAMES THORNER, Times Staff Writer
Published August 15, 2005

WESLEY CHAPEL - Pasco County planners have absorbed the lesson of Meadow Pointe and County Line Road: When you build thousands of homes, avoid steering traffic onto a single, choked access road.

But a proposal to keep traffic moving through Meadow Pointe's neighbor, Wiregrass Ranch, has met resistance from Pulte Home Corp., delaying by months Pulte's plans to build the first of more than 10,000 homes.

County engineers and planners insist Pulte's "master roadway plan" doesn't provide enough alternative routes to take pressure off major roads through Wiregrass once residential development begins next year.

Those major roads include future extensions of State Road 56 and Chancey Road and a north-south road called Porter Boulevard.

Pulte and two of its subsidiaries, Del Webb and DiVosta Homes, await county approval to start construction on more than 1,300 homes east of Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, between State Road 54 and SR 56.

Pulte views those neighborhoods as largely self-contained - Del Webb will be for buyers 55 and older - and insists some streets be private. The county supports keeping some of those streets public.

The ensuing standoff has delayed approval of Pulte's projects as the home builder tries to take advantage of the ongoing housing boom.

Pulte's engineers and attorneys will plead their case at 10 a.m. Thursday before the county's Development Review Committee, a group of Pasco's top administrators known as the DRC.

"We're just not agreeing," said Cindy Jolly, the engineer who runs the county department that reviews construction plans. "So, let's go before the DRC."

County Administrator John Gallagher, chairman of the DRC, has spent plenty of energy trying to manage traffic in Wesley Chapel.

The community is half-rural but destined to grow by more than 20,000 homes in the next 10 years. The first shopping strips that will blanket much of Bruce B. Downs and SR 56 are moving into place.

On Thursday, Gallagher, presiding over another DRC meeting, insisted a proposed commercial development southwest of SR 56 and Bruce B. Downs have required turning lanes. The intersection is relatively uncongested, but Gallagher noted it would become "one of the biggest intersections in the county in the future."

Other committee members worried, before construction, whether roads through the shopping center would snarl traffic.

Meadow Pointe is often cited as an example to avoid. Developers provided for only one access road - County Line Road - for a neighborhood that has grown to more than 3,000 homes.

That's meant traffic delays, particularly in the morning and afternoon when Sand Pine Elementary School is in session. Relief could arrive when the county finishes augmenting County Line Road.

[Last modified August 15, 2005, 02:30:20]

Stall-and-conquer tactic plays well at commission

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By JEFF WEBB, Hernando Times Editor of Editorials
Published August 14, 2005

Way back when, the British created a good portion of their empire using the strategy of divide and conquer. They stole the phrase from the Latin divide et impera, which translates to "divide and rule."

In Hernando County these days, a variation of that maneuver is working well. Call it stall and conquer.

The tactic is being exploited by some of Hernando County's most influential development lobbies as they try to protect their interests and outsmart the County Commission.

Earlier this summer, representatives from the builders, Realtors and Chamber of Commerce successfully postponed the commission's decision on raising the impact fees on new construction. The reason? They had not had time to thoroughly review the county's data.

In the interim, their consultant went to work and eventually whittled the county's proposed fee by about 10 percent.

Fair enough. If the county's numbers were not correct, it needed to be pointed out. But the delays saved the builders more than the difference in the fees; it bought them time to pre-pay the fees at the much, much lower rate. Then, after the commission passed the new fees and tried to curb the pre-paying frenzy, the pro-development lobby went to work on having a grace period reinstituted. The commission obliged again.

The latest example of the stall-and-conquer scheme played out Wednesday at the commission's monthly land-use hearing, where several amendments to the comprehensive growth management plan were up for adoption.

The commission, egged on by the same clique that pleaded the impact fee case, rejected the recommendation from its staff to tighten the rules that govern commercial development on the county's major thoroughfares. The goal, planners told the commission, was to limit retail businesses to designated "nodes," or pockets. Doing so would control the flow of traffic and prevent State Road 50 from duplicating the motorized mayhem on U.S. 19 in Pasco County.

But three of the five commissioners disagreed: Chris Kingsley, Nancy Robinson and Robert Schenck. Apparently wiser than the professional planners, those policymakers said they would rather see developers build frontage roads that run parallel to the highway. Never mind that it will cost more to acquire rights of way for those access roads, or that there is no apparent limit on how far they will extend. Nodes are no-nos. Period.

But after making that decision, commissioners cited the late hour (almost 6 p.m., for goodness sakes!) and put off the rest of the comp plan discussion until their meeting this Tuesday.

That was just fine with the stall-and-conquer crowd. After all, they had privately and publicly lobbied for the commission to delay its deliberations until - you guessed it - they had more time to review the proposed amendments.

Of course, the amendments had been the subject of numerous meetings the past two years by a dedicated team of learned volunteers who had given their recommendations to county planners, who then met several times with representatives from the building and real estate concerns.

But they needed more time. And, boy, did they use it well.

By Thursday morning following Wednesday's commission meeting, Jake Varn, the venerable development lawyer and Brooksville native who has taken it upon himself (and perhaps a client or two) to help rewrite portions of the comp plan, had already contacted county planners and set the agenda for a meeting with county planners on Friday. Joining him were Len Tria, who is on the payroll of the builders, Realtors and the Chamber of Commerce, and Commissioner Diane Rowden, who crashed the semi-private confab, as did Pam Ward, a growth management activist. A Times reporter nosed in, too.

So, the public won't get the full picture of what transpired in that room until Tuesday when the commissioners reconvene and take a look at what changes were made to their staff's original proposals. All of them dealt with several crucial issues that will shape the county's growth for at least the next 20 years.

Maybe the changes will be absolutely visionary and will satisfy everyone. Maybe they will be just clever manipulations designed to enrich the special interests of the stall-and-conquer crew. Stay tuned.

If it sounds like I am faulting this group of arm-twisters for doing their best to accomplish their self-centered goals, I do not. They have every right to try.

But anytime a group is given access and voice not available to others, whose opinions may be just as valid or visionary, it amounts to special treatment. If you weren't at that meeting Friday, or can't get your own private audience with the planners before the commission votes on these amendments, you were left out.

Somewhere, a British strategist is smiling.

Jeff Webb can be reached at 352 754-6123 or webb@sptimes.com

[Last modified August 14, 2005, 00:53:19]

Quality, Not Quantity, Is Needed In East Pasco

By RICHARD K. RILEY

Growth in Pasco County is inevitable. But growth can be

controlled.

The Pasadena project wants to build 1,642 units. The Prospect

project wants to build 653. These development proposals and

requests for high-density land uses are trying to make east

Pasco look like Pinellas, west Pasco and Wesley Chapel. We do

not have to accept this.

County commissioners should accept the recommendations of their

staff that this is an inappropriate change and the projects are

designed for unacceptable growth.

They should listen to those concerned that these proposals will

violate water quality, confuse storm drainage, destroy the

environment, clog traffic and insult the county's rural and

aesthetic assets.

Commissioners have reminded me that the constitution of the

United States prohibits anybody from denying a landowner the

right to sell property to anybody for almost any reason. But the

Constitution does not guarantee that a landowner is endowed with

the inalienable right to make the most money possible by

building the most homes per acre possible, and do it with the

least concern for the rest of the county or state.

The western part of Pasco and much of the central area has been

ruined by inappropriate overdevelopment. We have the chance to

protect what is left of our land and provide homes that fit the

rural atmosphere that attracted us here. Raping the land in the

name of development and profit may be the history of American

real estate, but it doesn't have to be the present or future of

it.

If landowners and developers are not allowed to make the highest

amount of profit, I feel they can still sell their property and

the intelligent homes built on them. Attractive, sensible and

affordable homes can be built with reasonable lot sizes on

soon-to-be-abandoned ranches, groves and open spaces of east

Pasco .

We have the opportunity to develop east Pasco into an area we

can be proud of and increase the quality of homes and the tax

base, as well as attract people with higher incomes so they can

better support the county.

If you reduce the quality of life by crowding people in 5-

foot-lot-line homes with garages in the front and front doors in

the back, you will get people who do not respect their

neighborhoods, neighbors or themselves.

High-quality homes and a high quality of life will attract and

develop quality homeowners. This is what will benefit Pasco

best. Quality … not quantity.

I urge commissioners to deny approval of these proposals.

The writer is a Trilby area activist and a former program

director for the Maine Department of Education.

Editor's note: The county commission, acting as the

county's land planning agency, meets at the Historic Pasco

County Courthouse in Dade City on Wednesday to consider a large

group of applications to amend the comprehensive land use plan,

the guide for growth. The meeting begins at 9:30 a.m.

Woman on 2-year-old quest for dry land

In 2003, a Darby woman's ranch began flooding. Two years of calls later, relief is near.

By BRIDGET HALL GRUMET, Times Staff Writer
Published August 14, 2005

DARBY - Wendy Martinez used to ride her horses in this grassy pen on the east end of her 78-acre ranch.

That was before her back yard became the new Bird Island Lake, with knee-deep water lingering for months.

Now, Martinez says, "The only thing I'll be riding in this arena is dolphins."

True: She lives in a low-lying area west of Bellamy Brothers Boulevard, about a mile north of State Road 52, and the west part of her ranch is in a flood zone. But up until two years ago, with the exception of El Nino, she never flooded like this.

She blames her neighbor to the north, Joey Holloway, who turned one of the original Bird Island Lakes into a 13-acre dirt mine known as a borrow pit. As part of the project, he added berms, ditches and a raised road that changed the flow of the water, according to the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

Holloway did not return calls for comment Friday. The agency has cited Holloway for illegally pumping water out of the pit and into a ditch that disturbed 0.2 acres of wetlands. The fine still is being negotiated: Swiftmud asked for $17,450 in penalties and enforcement costs, but Holloway has offered to pay $13,505, agency spokesman Michael Molligan said.

Swiftmud also has told Holloway to fill in the ditches, remove the berms and restore the road to natural grade, now that the dirt mining operations are winding down. Holloway has until Nov. 20 to finish the work, Molligan said.

That's all Martinez wanted: a return to normal.

It just took her two years and scores of phone calls to get it.

* * *

Martinez bought her ranch 10 years ago knowing part of it was in the 100-year flood plain, a place with a 1 percent chance of flooding each year. She expected soggy patches from time to time.

"We're in a flood zone, and I expect to flood," Martinez said. "We just need to flood fair."

And by fair, she means naturally.

Swiftmud granted a permit for Holloway's borrow pit in 2001. The county's stamp of approval came the following year. At that time, Holloway's engineers wrote a letter assuring Swiftmud that "the building of the pond will not affect the existing runoff pattern."

But in August 2003, Martinez's property began flooding. So did some of her neighbors'.

None of the permits allowed for digging ditches or raising the road, but Holloway did both, according to Swiftmud. He also built a berm that was larger than the permit allowed, the agency said.

"He's changed the existing drainage patterns," said Kyle Harper, an engineer hired by Martinez to study the problem. "That leads you to conclude the problems (Martinez) has had are directly related to the issues from the mine."

Yet at first, Swiftmud inspectors concluded Holloway wasn't the culprit. An inspector who visited in August 2003 found the berm around the mine had gaps that allowed the water to pass, Molligan said.

"It wasn't blocking water, and it wasn't diverting water to Mrs. Martinez's property," he said.

Then came the hurricanes of 2004. The entire area was under water. Crews at Holloway's mine crafted a pumping plan: They dug a ditch, then hooked up two pumps to take the water out of the mine and into the ditch, according to Swiftmud.

Swiftmud inspectors visited in September 2004 and ordered the pumping to stop. But according to the agency's records, the crews kept pumping. The matter went to Swiftmud's legal department, which drafted a "consent order" requiring Holloway to stop pumping, restore the ditch and pay thousands of dollars in fines.

But the proposed consent order didn't go out until May 9. Why the delay?

"We didn't determine this was an emergency situation," Molligan said. "Some of these things might have been directing more water than already would have gone to the (neighbors') property, but it wasn't causing the flooding."

In the meantime, the neighbors were saturated. Bill Jensen, who lives down Miller Road from the mine, raised his driveway 3 feet so he could get in and out. Martinez had to move out of her house for three months because it stood in a makeshift lake.

"It took us until May to dry out from last year's hurricanes," she said.

* * *

Martinez raised her driveway on Miller Road last winter to ensure she wouldn't be stranded by floodwaters again. A neighbor turned her in to Swiftmud for filling without a permit.

Now she's working with Swiftmud and county engineers to set the matter straight. She might need to add one or two culverts so the water can pass.

"There are multiple people there who are doing filling and/or excavating, and they are not hiring professionals to do what needs to be done," said Dan Rothwell, a Pasco County stormwater engineer who is providing technical assistance to some of the neighbors. "None of it is with intent to hurt anybody. When they're doing one thing to help something, they're ending up hurting something else."

Swiftmud officials now acknowledge Holloway's mine has been part of the problem, too. After another site visit in June, inspectors flagged the ditches, raised road and berm as deviations from the permit, and told Holloway to restore the site to its natural condition.

The flooding has taken a toll on the neighbors: Jensen lost 10 trees. A hay farmer who rents part of Martinez's ranch has filed for flood losses the past two years, and plans to file another one for this year.

Now that Swiftmud has imposed fines and deadlines, Martinez hopes an end is in sight.

"I just want everything to be back to the way it was," she said.

Bridget Hall Grumet covers Pasco County government. She can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6244 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6244. Her e-mail address is bhall@sptimes.com

[Last modified August 14, 2005, 00:54:16]

Florida rules for lobbyists flunk

Florida fares worse than 33 states in a ranking by the Center for Public Integrity, and earns a failing grade.

By LUCY MORGAN, Times Tallahassee Bureau Chief
Published August 13, 2005

TALLAHASSEE - Mississippi, where veteran lobbyist Haley Barbour is governor, does a better job regulating lobbyists than Florida, says a report compiled by the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit investigative research group.

Georgia does better too. So does South Carolina. While Florida enjoys a national reputation for open government, its regulation of lobbyists is tied with Louisiana, a state with a notoriously corrupt political past.

Florida's failing grade: 55 out of a possible 100. No state scored higher than 80, a score achieved by Washington. Scores below 60 are considered failing. Mississippi, 14th, passed with a score of 65, while Georgia, 18th, earned a 63.

The worst score - 0 - went to Pennsylvania, which has no regulations for lobbyists because the courts overturned rules passed in 1998 that would have required lobbyists who are lawyers to report their fees.

More than half of the states failed in 2003, when the center last reviewed all 50 states, because most details about lobbying dollars were hidden from public view. Since then, some states have tightened regulations while others weakened them. In many states regulations fluctuate from year to year as lawmakers, lobbyists and watchdog groups battle over what must be disclosed.

Efforts to reform Florida's lobbying laws failed earlier this year.

"Hopefully people will be shamed into recognizing we have a lot of room for improvement," said Senate President Tom Lee after hearing about the report. "We can do better."

In April the Senate, prodded by Lee, approved bills to force Florida lobbyists to report the fees they earn from clients and provide more detailed reports on the lawmakers they wine and dine. The bills died in the House during a final-day fight over other issues, but House Speaker Allan Bense has promised to revive the issue when lawmakers convene in March 2006.

Florida is one of 15 states that does not require its lobbyists to report their fees. Lobbyists also don't have to itemize the money they spend on lawmakers, nor must the businesses that hire lobbyists report what they spend on lobbyists. The vague spending reports that are filed are not widely available for public inspection and no one audits the reports or compiles expenditures by interest groups.

Florida did score points for its revolving-door clause, which prohibits lawmakers who leave office from lobbying for two years.

Only New York has more lobbyists per lawmaker: 18 lobbyists for each of the state's 212 lawmakers. But New York ranks fifth among the states for policing the relations between state officials and lobbyists.

Florida has 13 lobbyists for each of its 160 lawmakers and ranks 33rd among the states (there are ties) in its effort to regulate those who seek favors from the state.

Public Integrity's new spending report was released Thursday after the center analyzed and ranked lobbying disclosure laws and expenditures in 50 states and Congress. The report found overall lobbying expenditures highest in California, Texas and New York but found Florida's overall expenditures the lowest in a decade because so much money is being channeled into campaign activities.

Nineteen states have pushed to tighten lobbying laws during the past year with limited success, and in some states vague reports filed by lobbyists have undermined reporting laws, the center reported.

LOBBYISTS PER LEGISLATOR

States with the most lobbyists per legislator:

New York 18

Florida 13

Illinois 12

Colorado 11

Ohio 10

Arizona 9

California 9

Michigan 9

New Mexico 8

Texas 8

Source: Center for Public Integrity

REGULATING LOBBYISTS

State scores in nationwide ranking of best lobbying disclosure laws in 2003:

Top 5

Washington 87

Kentucky 79

Connecticut 75

South Carolina 75

New York 74

Florida 55

Bottom 5

South Dakota 42

Federal Government 36

New Hampshire 36

Wyoming 34

Pennsylvania 0

LOOPHOLES IN FLORIDA LAW

Lobbyists not required to report compensation.

Lobbyists not required to itemize spending.

Lobbyists not required to report spending on lawmaker families.

Lobbyist employer not required to report compensation.

Legislature does not audit reports.

Lobbying reports not available on the Internet.

Lobbyists not required to report campaign contributions.

Source: Center for Public Integrity

[Last modified August 13, 2005, 01:23:07]

Aug 13, 2005

Northwoods Commercial Center Plans OK'd

By KEVIN WIATROWSKI
kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com

WESLEY CHAPEL - The county Development Review Committee this week approved initial development plans for Northwoods Commercial Center at the southwest corner of State Road 56 and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.

The project on 19 acres is part of the Northwood Development of Regional Impact, which extends south to County Line Road and west toward Interstate 75. Developers of the commercial center plan to create 11 parcels on the site. One will be claimed by a CVS pharmacy, a second by a Wachovia bank branch, according to plans submitted to Pasco County and testimony by the developer's attorney, Ben Harrill.

A road running north to south through the property will give visitors access from S.R. 56 just before the traffic signal at Bruce B. Downs. The property will have three right- in/right-out entrances on Bruce B. Downs.

The project, which backs up to Trout Creek and The Lakes subdivision, is still waiting for federal permits to fill wetlands for construction.

The development of Northwood Commercial Center fills the fourth corner of an intersection that has become the epicenter for growth in south- central Pasco. A Rooms To Go store is going up north of the Northwood site. Diagonally across the intersection, JCPenney plans a new store in October. East of the project, developers of The Shoppes at New Tampa are adding a Sonic Drive-In, liquor store and a new strip of stores.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201.

Growth plan gets further scrutiny

Business advocates meet with and ask county planning staff members for more flexibility in developing the growth management plan.

By RICK GERSHMAN
Published August 13, 2005

BROOKSVILLE - Hernando County commissioners on Tuesday again will consider amendments to the county's comprehensive growth management plan. But between that public meeting and a land use hearing earlier this week, the county planning staff got an earful from business interests.

Development lawyer Jake Varn and Len Tria, a government liaison for several business groups, enumerated their concerns to county planning staff members in a Friday morning conference at the Hernando County Courthouse.

The meeting was not required by the Sunshine Law to be open to the public. However, its organizers did not object when County Commissioner Diane Rowden crashed the meeting, joined by Pam Ward, growth management activist, and a Times reporter.

Tria, however, did half-jokingly protest early in the meeting when he noticed Rowden's tape recorder had been running during the discussion. He said he had not arrived yet when she began recording and thus had not consented to being recorded.

In fact, he was sitting about 2 feet away from the recorder, which sat atop the conference room table, when Rowden had hit the "record" button.

Whether Varn and Tria's concerns will affect the planning staff's recommendations won't be entirely known until Tuesday afternoon, when commissioners reconvene to discuss the plan. But planning director Larry Jennings and county planner Jim King took careful note of their thoughts and concerns throughout.

The bulk of Tria's comments regarded commercial development and what he considered a lack of "flexibility."

"Our general feeling is that there should have been more flexibility in the plan," said Tria, a former Hernando County commissioner. "We don't want to look like Pasco County - we'll never look like Pasco County.

"But the issue is that you need to have some flexibility. If you have (an amendment in the plan) that says "shall not,' well, there is no (comprehensive) plan that has worked that has not been flexible."

When Jennings prodded Tria for specifics, Tria replied, "I will get with you (later). Let's sit down, I'm sure there are things we can look at."

Tria's comments were echoed in correspondence from Morris Porton, vice chair of the Greater Hernando County Chamber of Commerce, to county commissioners.

"We feel strongly as do our 1,000 members that this is one of the most important issues that will be decided by (commissioners)," the letter read. "For that regard, the plan should maintain a certain amount of flexibility. . . . That is why we have elected officials to make the tough decisions on growth issues. . . . (We are) suggesting that the most restrictive verbiage like "shall not" be replaced with "may."

Varn said he felt the plan didn't do enough to push for planned developments and communities.

"My concern is that projects get approved here and the commissioners are not aware whether the project is going to be a drain or (an asset to) the county resources."

He also suggested the language of several amendments was "too restrictive" and said the county has "too much low-income housing now."

Rowden disagreed, insisting that with skyrocketing housing costs, the county needs more low-income housing.

"You need to have places for people who work at the Wal-Marts (and other low-income jobs) to live," she said.

"You have to have it," Varn replied. "But you can't let your community become predominated by that."

As the meeting was concluding about 12:30 p.m., Rowden inquired about a 1:30 p.m meeting Varn was having with planning staff.

"This is is a settlement matter," Varn told her. "This is not for public consumption. . . . It's not a public settlement (with) a public company."

"I just don't want to have any surprises on Tuesday," Rowden told Varn.

His reply: "You won't have any surprises you haven't already heard from me."

Rick Gershman can be reached at 352 754-6117 or rgershman@sptimes.com

[Last modified August 13, 2005, 01:22:17]

This one falls under the category "I'm glad I don't have their jobs."

Townhome hearing becomes heated

Despite a Leisure Beach resident's forceful attack, project plans get preliminary approval. He plans to appeal the decision.

By JAMES THORNER, Times Staff Writer
Published August 12, 2005

Things didn't go Steve Byle's way. Pasco County's Development Review Committee approved a plan that would inject his Leisure Beach neighborhood with 362 new townhomes.

And as he left the Pasco County historic courthouse Thursday afternoon, Byle was certain of the reason why: "It was a kangaroo court!"

He certainly spent the better part of an hour pretending it was a trial.

Bellowing like a prosecuting attorney, mistakenly calling committee Chairman John Gallagher "Your Honor," Byle laid out a case against building the townhomes northwest of State Road 52 and U.S. 19.

"I'd like to make a hearsay objection!" Byle yelled when someone presented evidence in support of Bayonet Point Townhomes.

Assistant County Attorney David Goldstein reminded Byle, who studied law but works as a business consultant, that he wasn't in court.

"The Development Review Committee is not bound by rules of evidence," Goldstein said.

Byle accused the county of flubbing its oversight of the project. The developer, Mid-Peninsula Realty Investment Group, proposes building three-story units on 63 acres beside Werner-Boyce Salt Springs State Park.

The rezoning is inadequate, Byle said, and the county didn't require a mandatory tree survey on the scrubby property.

When county development director Cindy Jolly tried to respond, Byle kept interrupting her.

"Can you let me finish without interrupting me, please!" Jolly yelled.

Then Byle launched into Gallagher, suggesting the county's approval of the project would be illegal.

It was Gallagher's turn to lose his patience. "If you think there's any criminal activity going on, go to the State Attorney's Office," the county administrator told Byle.

Tired of pacing before the committee, Byle helped himself to a cushioned chair beside Jolly and wheeled it to the podium. Gallagher told him to give it back.

As members of the audience began to mock Byle, he whipped around to face the developer's attorney, Richard Millian. Byle blamed Millian for snickering behind his back. Gallagher ordered Byle to face forward.

For all the hubbub, the development committee approved the townhomes unanimously. Before groundbreaking, the project still needs permits from the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Byle isn't finished either. Downstairs in the courthouse after the vote, he seemed confused about what had happened.

Told the committee had approved the project's preliminary construction plans, Byle said, "They approved it? That's bizarre!"

He vowed to appeal the committee's favorable vote. First step in the appeals process is a hearing before the county commissioners.

"This is just the beginning," Byle pledged. "Cindy Jolly thinks her job is to pave the county and act like a CEO."

[Last modified August 12, 2005, 00:47:15]

Aug 12, 2005

1,999 Homes Get Go-Ahead From County Officials

By KEVIN WIATROWSKI
kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com

DADE CITY - County officials on Thursday gave a green light to Wyndfields, the latest major development to take shape in Wesley Chapel.

The project covers 1,173 acres south of State Road 54, between Curley Road and Morris Bridge Road. After a small access point on the highway, the bulk of the property, owned by members of the Schickendanz family, runs parallel to the newest sections of Meadow Pointe now under development.

The plan won approval from the Development Review Committee after some last- minute haggling between the developer and the committee led by County Administrator John Gallagher.

GL Homes of Coral Springs will be the principal builder of the 1,999 single-family homes and town houses planned for the property, GL President Rick Costello said. Wyndfields will be GL Homes' second project in the Tampa area. The company has an office on Harbour Island.

As part of their project, the developers will design an extension of State Road 56 from the western edge of their property to Morris Bridge Road. Construction of that leg is several years away. That extension of S.R. 56 will tie in with others planned for Wiregrass Ranch and Meadow Pointe. S.R. 56 now dead-ends at Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.

Wyndfields also will be crossed east-to-west by a planned extension of Chancey Road that will link Chancey with Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.

Also on Thursday, committee members approved initial plans for Nottingham Farms, a horse-oriented subdivision in Hudson being developed on two pieces of land by Metro Development Corp. The property lies north of Hudson Avenue and east of Nottingham Trail.

Both sections of the project will be circled by a 100-foot- wide wooded riding trail and linked by an easement across the narrow strip of land separating them. Stables will be part of the larger, southern part.

The project met mixed support among neighbors, many of whom have their own horses on lots of 5 to 10 acres. Although neighbors liked the large buffer, Renee Louis worried the development might not have enough land to support a horse for every resident. Residents won't be allowed to keep their horses on their quarter-acre lots. The stable area covers about 2 acres.

``I have one horse on 2 1/2 acres,'' Louis told committee members.

The parts of the project involving horses will have to meet the approval of horse experts at the Pasco County Cooperative Extension Service, according to conditions imposed by the committee.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201.

Revising plan for growth turns chaotic

Supporters of growth management are dismayed as resistance from the business community spreads.

By DAN DeWITT, Times Staff Writer
Published August 12, 2005

BROOKSVILLE - A month ago, advocates of strong growth management thought the revision of the county comprehensive plan was just about wrapped up.

"We thought this was an obstacle that had been overcome. We thought this task had been done," said Sindra Ridge, a member of the Hernando Alliance for Open Land Conservation.

They were wrong.

That was about the time real estate agents, developers and their lawyers began sending e-mails, making phone calls and rallying business groups to fill the County Commission chambers.

They were late to mobilize, they say, partly because they were misinformed by county planners. But Ridge and others say the late charge is a strategy to overwhelm the planning staff and take the discussion out of the sunshine.

Either way, business leaders have been making their points to County Commissioners while residents, who expressed strong support for growth management in county surveys and during last year's election, have been relatively silent.

It is also clear that the once-smooth process of approving a comprehensive plan - designed to shape residential and commercial growth for the next seven years - has become chaotic. The commission was scheduled to approve a plan on Wednesday; partly because of the many new issues raised, that decision was postponed until Tuesday.

"This is not a good way to do this," said Tallahassee development lawyer Jake Varn. "It's a helter-skelter process and the issues are not being properly framed."

Varn is as much to blame for this as anyone, said County Commissioner Diane Rowden, who said the business groups have no grounds to claim they were not informed.

They were told of all public discussions of the plan, including those of an advisory commission that began meeting three years ago. The Greater Hernando County Chamber of Commerce and two other business groups hired former County Commissioner Len Tria last year to monitor the comprehensive plan process and keep them informed.

Despite this, Rowden said, Varn did not send his long list of proposed changes to the plan until last week. This week he booked a series of meetings with county planners, including planning director Larry Jennings, scheduled to take up about half of today's office hours.

"It's a strategy to break us down and divide and control," Rowden said.

"They're subverting the whole process," Ridge said.

Not so, said Varn, whose clients include Robert Thomas, who wants to develop his 2,800-acre ranch in Spring Lake. He said he had been reviewing copies of the comprehensive plan on the Internet, where the proposed changes were garbled because of a technical glitch.

"Come to find out, the stuff I thought was hunky-dory was not hunky-dory," Varn said. "I've been scrambling like a scalded dog to catch up and deal with the merits of this thing."

Though Varn and others have suggested dozens of changes, the biggest remaining issue is whether or not developers should be able to build subdivisions on land the plan designates as rural.

County planner Jim King, the new plan's primary author, included a rule that stops the spread of sprawl into farmland unless the land already set aside for housing is "predominantly developed and occupied."

Developers said that tramples the rights of farmers and all but forbids worthwhile projects such as Thomas' Hickory Hill development. To make the plan more flexible, King recently added several conditions.

Varn and others say some of these new conditions are just as restrictive and are fighting to change them. The most objectionable, they say, all but restores the earlier, firm control on sprawl:

"New residential development provides additional dwelling units where additional housing is needed and available housing supplies in the market area have been predominantly utilized," the draft of the plan said.

"If I was king of the world (that provision) would be eliminated," Varn said. He also objects to the elimination of a proposal to study future residential development in Spring Lake.

But King said the strict controls are justified because the plan allows for huge population growth on land that is already designated for housing. There are now about 75,000 dwellings in the county, he said; the plan would allow at least twice as many more to be built.

Though all the commissioners have publicly expressed strong support for growth management, on Wednesday they voted to restore a provision that county planners said weakened the restrictions on sprawling strip development.

Commissioner Nancy Robinson, who led that discussion, also said she had objections to some of the tighter controls on residential growth.

Commissioner Chris Kingsley, who surprised some observers by voting with Robinson on the commercial growth issue, said he will stand firm on residential sprawl control.

"That's my intention, to strengthen the document," he said.

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