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Rural Debate Develops

Pasco Tribune photo by FRED BELLET

In the area of Zia Ridge Lane, Sue Szczerba walks in a neighbor's backyard that skirts part of the pasture land which Szczerba hopes will become a residential area. The land located not far from Blanton Rd., across from Pasco-Hernando Community College, has generated protests against the Berry Hill subdivision.

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 6, 2008

DADE CITY - Tom and Sue Szczerba's backyard overlooks hundreds of acres of rolling fields, copses of live oaks and scattered cattle.

The bucolic scenery persuaded the couple to move to their hillside home off Ruffing Road a decade ago. The same kind of scenery prompted county commissioners in 2006 to shield much of northeast Pasco County from the sprawling suburban development consuming places such as Wesley Chapel.

Standing on his poolside patio, Tom Szczerba surveyed the sight framed by 245-foot-high Frazee Hill on the left and the eastern horizon on the right.

"It's like having a Mass every morning," he said.

Lately, however, the Szczerbas have begun imagining masses of rooftops invading their beloved view.

The former Touchton family property, now known as Berry Hill, has become the focus of a debate between those who want northeast Pasco to remain a quilt of acre-plus lots and a developer who believes he can build hundreds of houses on his land without ruining the area's rural nature.

Tracy Harris of Tampa has proposed putting 266 homes on the 400-acre hillside parcel that wraps around the Szczerbas' neighborhood. The bulk of the property lies within the Northeast Pasco Rural Protection Area, but the southeast corner near Pasco-Hernando Community College has the same land-use designation as most suburban subdivisions.

Harris' proposal would cover that eastern corner near Blanton and Ramsey roads with home sites a quarter-acre or smaller - a plan that sends shivers down the spines of those who live nearby.

"All the surrounding properties are 5 and 10 acres," said Sue Szczerba, a real estate broker. "We want them to develop responsibly."

Harris' plan got a negative report from the Development Review Committee last month, partly because of public outcry. Harris has asked that the Planning Commission rezoning hearing scheduled for Wednesday be delayed until Sept. 10 because members of his group will be on vacation this week.

Neighbors have taken little solace from the fact that Harris will set aside half his property as protected open space. That strategy follows the spirit, if not the letter, of the county's conservation subdivision ordinance, Zoning Administrator Debra Zampetti said last week.

The conservation subdivision rules were written with northeast Pasco in mind. They encourage developers to cluster homes on part of their land, leaving at least 50 percent of the total undeveloped to protect the region's rural character.

Harris' preserved land includes a 100-foot-wide strip along the perimeter and wetlands in the middle. Opponents say Harris should set half his property aside as a single block, rather than spreading it around.

Zampetti said that's not necessary.

"In theory, the 50 percent can include things. Buffers are one of those things," Zampetti said. "If this were a strict conservation subdivision, I would have been pickier about how it was laid out."

At its heart, the Berry Hill debate revolves around a simple fact: Two years after creating the Northeast Pasco Rural Protection Area, the county has yet to craft the ordinances that will control the kind of development that happens there.

In the absence of formal rules, developers and planners have been improvising as they try to design projects that landowners, regulators and neighboring residents can live with.

That strategy has forced county planners to negotiate deals based on the goals outlined in the county's long-range plan. The latest version of that plan - hammered out over public hearings - mandates medium-density transition areas between urban and rural areas in northeast Pasco.

The Berry Hill project is in one of those transition areas along the western edge of Dade City. The other includes the proposed Citrus Ridge development off St. Joe Road. That project has been shelved because of resistance from neighbors, Dade City officials and County Administrator John Gallagher.

Citrus Ridge's developer, Clearwater-based Bayshore Broadway, has proposed a high-density urban-style subdivision where the county wants more spread-out growth.

Zampetti said last week that following the comprehensive plan makes sense where no formal rules exist. She used that philosophy in her dealings with Harris and Berry Hill.

"If it's a transition area, you don't want higher density," Zampetti said. "I wouldn't spell out lot sizes without an ordinance."

Zampetti said pockets of dense development close to the Dade City campus of PHCC make suburban-style density in parts of Berry Hill an acceptable option.

Harris said last week he has not ruled out tweaking the project to try again to win over his neighbors. But, he noted, previous meetings with residents opposed to the project haven't been very productive.

"We gave them four plans or five plans, and they didn't like anything," Harris said.

Harris said he believes the design for his development will prove better than the neighbors expect. Plans call for a mix of 1-, 5- and 10-acre lots getting larger as they move west and get closer to existing homes.

"If it's planned properly," Harris said, "I believe it will fit in with the neighborhood."

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

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