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Review Panel OKs Trilby Habitat For Humanity Project

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 25, 2008

TRILBY - County officials on Thursday approved plans for a potential Habitat for Humanity community off U.S. 98 north of Dade City.

The community would be called Trilby Station in honor of the area's historic train station, said Theresa Kelly, the real estate agent who owns the land and submitted the development proposal.

Habitat officials say they have talked with Kelly about the land, but have not signed any deals to develop the property.
East Pasco Habitat for Humanity President and CEO John Finnerty said there is no contract. He said that they have discussed this property but no agreement has been reached.

Habitat rejected a proposed contract from Kelly in December.

"They said they were going to come back to us, but they haven't," Finnerty said.

The 57-home project drew criticism from some local residents, who worried that the county couldn't limit the development to Habitat alone.

Resident Richard Riley told the Development Review Committee that he and others were concerned that, should Habitat not be the builder, the project might be turned into a mobile home park.

"The overall quality of the homes cannot be guaranteed," Riley said.

Kelly told the committee she had no intention of selling the 16-acre parcel to anyone other than East Pasco Habitat for Humanity. She agreed to restrictions that prevent placing mobile homes on the land.

"I've never had a contract with anyone but Habitat," Kelly said. "I've never had the intention to sell to anyone other than Habitat."

Kelly met earlier this week with Trilby residents to discuss her proposal. Although some people worried the project might decline into a blight on their area, Herb Green told committee members he was all for it.

"The blight's already there," Green said. "We're trying to improve" Trilby.

Committee members approved Kelly's request to develop the property with narrower-than-normal streets to increase the number of homes. Some of the property's lots will be turned into ponds to meet modern drainage requirements.

In other business Thursday, the review committee:

•Approved the construction of an office park at the entrance of Suncoast Meadows on State Road 54 just east of the Suncoast Parkway. The development, which is called Suncoast Professional Center, will consist of eight two-story buildings on the west side of Meadowbrook Drive.

•Allowed the elimination of a sound wall from plans for Pine Ridge Estates, a conservation subdivision planned for the Darby area west of Interstate 75. The 178-home subdivision will straddle Darby Road. The location in northeast Pasco, which the county aims to keep as rural as possible, made a large sound wall out of character. DRC officials demanded that developers warn potential homebuyers in sales documents and deeds that they will be living near the interstate to avoid future conflicts.

Reporter Todd Leskanic contributed to this report.

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