TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Berry Hill Subdivision Review Is Negative

ADVERTISEMENT

By KEVIN WIATROWSKI

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 30, 2008

DADE CITY - A sharply divided county panel handed the developers of a controversial Blanton Road subdivision a setback Thursday in the face of stiff opposition from neighboring residents.

The county's Development Review Committee split 3-3 on whether to recommend rezoning more than 400 acres near Blanton and Ramsey roads to allow for a 266-home subdivision known as Berry Hill.

The rezoning request will go forward to the planning commission with a negative report from the committee. Planning commissioners typically take their cue from the panel, led by County Administrator John Gallagher.

After planning commissioners weigh in, county commissioners will have the final say on the rezoning proposal. That decision could come in two months, barring any further delays.

Developer Tracy Harris has proposed turning his property, which lies across Blanton Road from the east campus of Pasco-Hernando Community College, into a mix of home lots, from a quarter-acre up to 10 acres.

In designing his project, Harris followed the county's guidelines for rural conservation subdivisions, a rarely used land use created during the last rewrite of the county's comprehensive plan and tailored to preserve land in the county's rural stretches.

Harris' design preserved 51 percent of the hilly pastureland west of Dade City and drew a 100-foot-deep buffer zone along the property's perimeter.

On the property's northern edge, 2-acre lots would sit back 800 feet from Platt Road to preserve views from the hilltop.

Home lots would be clustered in pockets surrounded by open space.

The developer ran into trouble with the county because he didn't provide enough access points beyond the single entrance off Blanton Road. But the steady stream of neighbors who urged the review committee to deny the project didn't win him any points either.

"The big problem most people have is it's too dense," said Noah Kaaa, who moved his family to the area in 2006 from rapidly suburbanizing eastern Hillsborough County.

Zoning Administrator Debra Zampetti said Harris' proposal falls 100 houses short of the maximum allowed under the county's conservation subdivision rules. Harris said the number is his break-even point after he extended water and sewer to the project.

Opponents favored a plan that would cover the property in 139 1-, 5- and 10-acre lots. They dismissed Harris' buffers and conservation areas as window dressing aimed at forcing Wesley Chapel-style suburbs into northeast Pasco.

"By the time you get through, it's going to be urban," Nancy Hazelwood told Gallagher.

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

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT