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Dealership Approved To Move

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 24, 2007

WESLEY CHAPEL - Nearly four years after he bought land on State Road 56, Chevrolet dealer Buddy Foster has won the right to relocate his business from Zephyrhills - with one hitch.

The state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles ruled last week that Foster must wait until 2010 to move his dealership from its longtime home on State Road 54 to booming Wesley Chapel.

Foster bought 11 acres near the interchange with Interstate 75 in 2003 in hopes of moving to the heavily traveled corridor. He spent $4.4 million for the property within the Cypress Creek development just east of the interstate, county property records show.

Foster's Tallahassee-based attorney, Dean Bunch, referred calls to Foster. Foster did not return calls for comment.

Foster was among nearly a dozen car dealers who had their sights on south-central Pasco in 2004 and 2005.

Many of those dealers have set up shop in the time Foster has spent trying to persuade state regulators to let him relocate. His development plans were blocked by Tampa-based Chevrolet dealers, who said Foster would cut into their business if he moved.

On Thursday, the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles formally sided with Foster and General Motors. At the same time, however, it restricted Foster to opening his Wesley Chapel dealership to after Sept. 30, 2010.

Although the final order forced Foster to wait three years to open in Wesley Chapel, it's not likely the dealership could have been open by 2009 even if Foster had opted to fight rather than settle, attorneys for Foster and GM argued.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201 or kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com.

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