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Environmentally Conscious Development Planned South Of County Line

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By LAURA KINSLER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 26, 2007

THONOTOSASSA - The company that developed Avila and West Meadows has filed a rezoning application for Hillsborough County's first "environmental planned community" just north of Hillsborough River State Park.

Sierra Properties and the Thomas family, which owns the 14,000-acre Two Rivers Ranch in southern Pasco and northern Hillsborough counties, have been working together for years on a development plan for the environmentally sensitive land.

"This is a long-term partnership with the family," Vice President Sebring Sierra said. "We started developing Avila 30 years ago, and we're still the developer. When you have a piece of land like this, you don't want someone who gets in and out. We're long-term thinkers."

The nearly 2,000-acres on U.S. 301 south of the county line would be known as Two Rivers Preserve.

The Pasco County portion would be a more densely populated mixed-use project. The developers withdrew the Pasco side of their project from the regional review process earlier this year, but have continued to move forward with land-use changes.

Sierra and Thomas pulled out of the complex regional review process after running into trouble with Pasco County officials regarding 13 miles of new roads the county requested to offset the amount of development slated for the ranch. Similar disputes over roads tied the Porter family's Wiregrass Ranch project in Wesley Chapel in knots for years.

Development in the Hillsborough portion would be limited to limited to 1,000 single-family units, and most of them would be clustered on existing ranchland, Sierra said. Special care will be taken to protect wetlands, creeks, wildlife corridors and the Hillsborough River. No development would take place within 2,000 feet of the river.

The earliest construction could start is 2010.

Sierra also would build a 45,000-square-foot retail center at one entrance so residents don't have to drive miles to pick up a gallon of milk. The shopping center would be developed within the same strict architectural guidelines as the rest of Two Rivers Preserve to keep with the "old Florida" style.

"The key is to make it fit," Sierra said. "We want it to be authentic and timeless."

There will be a community center and an extensive network of trails. Other possible features include an equestrian center, a tennis complex and/or a golf course. Sierra Properties is known as a leading developer of golf course communities. The company teamed with Jack Nicklaus to design Atlanta's Country Club of the South and Ruby Hill, which is in Northern California wine country.

"It hasn't been ruled out," Sierra said. "We're still very early in the process. If we do build a golf course, it would be an Audubon course."

To gain Audubon certification, a golf course typically uses less water, fewer chemicals and native landscaping, and acts as a wildlife and bird sanctuary.

Whether they are on half-acre lots or 20-acre lots, all of the homes would be custom-built and designed to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards established by the U.S. Green Building Council, Sierra said.

Ranch President Robert Thomas is a strong advocate for sustainable development. In an earlier interview, Thomas said the developers would work with "green" builders and encourage the use of alternative energy, solar panels and solar water heaters.

"That's just good business and common sense," he said. "If you can cut your electric bill from $200 to $100, who wouldn't want to do that?"

The first rezoning hearing probably won't take place until May or June, but the Hillsborough Planning Commission has scheduled a hearing for Jan. 14 to finalize the comprehensive plan amendment. Planner Melissa Zornita said the purpose of January's meeting is for the developers to comply with an order from the Florida Department of Community Affairs, which had raised concerns over the capacity of roads, schools and parks to serve the 1,000-home community.

"Everything was positive except the transportation," Zornita said. Because of those concerns, the developer has agreed to build no more than 110 homes in the first five years, she said.

Sierra Properties also is one of the developers of Pasco County's Cypress Creek Town Center, a 1.3 million-square-foot mall, hotel and residential complex on State Road 56.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski contributed to this report. Reporter Laura Kinsler can be reached at (813) 865-4844 or lkinsler@tampatrib.com.

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