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Future Of Road Near Mall Remains Muddy

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 15, 2008

WESLEY CHAPEL - Even as they try to persuade federal officials to let work continue on parts of their site, the developers of Cypress Creek Town Center have submitted plans for what will become the main entrance to their mall.

Late last month, Richard E. Jacobs Group gave county officials plans for extending County Road 54 onto their property. The plans show the road stopping short of Cypress Creek.

On Jan. 30, Southwest Florida Water Management District added the road plans to Jacobs' original stormwater management permit. The permit doesn't include plans for extending C.R. 54 (Wesley Chapel Boulevard) south to County Line Road across King Ranch.

Jacobs' 2004 deal with Pasco County committed the developer to bridge Cypress Creek and extend C.R. 54 when its mall reaches 1 million square feet. The deal also gave Jacobs the option of paying $6 million toward right of way if it can't extend the road.

So far, construction plans for the mall show the project coming in at just under 1 million square feet.

Battle Over Homestead

Jacobs also had an adversarial relationship with Hank King, the owner of the ranch just south of the mall site.

King and a small group of local mall environmentalists repeatedly have posted video on the Internet showing environmental violations at the mall site. They've also reported those violations to state, county and federal regulators.

To further complicate matters, King is locked in his own fight with the county over plans to develop his family homestead. County officials want King to give up 20 acres down the middle of his property for C.R. 54, something he has refused to do.

In a letter to King last spring, Jacobs asked him to surrender the land, suggesting it wasn't interested in provoking a drawn-out and costly court battle.
Mall officials said Thursday they aren't ready to make a call on whether to commit to extending C.R. 54 across King Ranch.

"That segment is a long way off, so no decision has been made at this time," Jacobs spokeswoman Deanne Robert said. "Regardless of how it's handled, we'll make good on our obligation."

The fate of even the first leg of the C.R. 54 extension remains uncertain, however.

Jacobs was blocked this month from building on a filled wetland it must cross to extend C.R. 54 south of State Road 56 when the Army Corps of Engineers suspended the development permit it gave Jacobs in 2007.

That move came after heavy rains in January caused muddy water from the mall site to pollute Cypress Creek for the second time in four months.

The suspension means Jacobs can't work in areas where wetlands were filled, now designated by black-and-orange fencing, corps inspector Tom Farrell said.

Corps officials have said they won't lift the suspension until Jacobs provides plans outlining a permanent fix to its runoff problems. Jacobs submitted those plans last week. They remain under scrutiny by the corps.

This week, Jacobs completed an earthen berm around the edge of its property in an effort to control off-site pollution. The berm turns the southern portion of the 510-acre town center site into a giant bowl. Rainfall, such as the storms that rolled across Pasco on Tuesday, will be kept on the property rather than shunted to overtaxed retention ponds, Roberts said.

"It gives us complete onsite storage capacity for a 100-year storm. All water can and will be contained on the site," Roberts said.

Roberts said the mall site got less than an inch of rain Tuesday, the day heavy storms dumped an inch or more on parts of southern Pasco. All the rain that fell on the mall property has been contained, Roberts said.

Last summer the Army Corps of Engineers gave Jacobs permission to fill 54 acres of wetlands on its property, which straddles S.R. 56.

Keeping Watch For Pollution
Cypress Creek rises in the Darby area of north-central Pasco and is a major tributary of the Hillsborough River, which supplies Tampa's drinking water. The creek is designated an Outstanding Florida Water.

Last month's pollution problems also persuaded Hillsborough County officials to post pollution sensors on Cypress Creek above and below the mall site.

On Wednesday, Lutz-based environmental activist Denise Layne asked Eric Summa, the corps' enforcement chief for Florida, to get tougher with Jacobs and Cypress Creek Town Center. Layne belongs to the Tampa Bay chapter of the Sierra Club.

"The health of Cypress Creek and the Hillsborough River depends on your proper protection of these ecosystems," Layne wrote on Sierra Club letterhead.

The Sierra Club still is suing the corps in federal court trying to overturn the permit that let Jacobs fill wetlands on its property.

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

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