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County Delays Talks For Subdivision Plan

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI

kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com

Published: November 26, 2008

DADE CITY - After nearly two hours of debate Tuesday, county commissioners put off consideration of a controversial subdivision proposed for hilly terrain just west of Dade City.

Delaying further consideration of Berry Hills Estates until January represents another setback for developer Tracy Harris, who has spent two years trying to win county approval for 266 homes on 400 acres off Blanton Road. The proposal has drawn a sharp response from its neighbors and other residents of northeast Pasco, who fear the project will be a suburban-style intrusion into their rural community.

The proposal failed to win support from the county's planning commission and development review committee, both of which deadlocked on the proposal.

Of particular concern for the project's neighbors is a portion of the property across from Pasco-Hernando Community College. That segment of the project would have the same density as the typical Wesley Chapel subdivision. The rest of the property would contain a mix of two-, five- and 10-acre lots.

In a deal with county officials, Harris agreed to preserve slightly more than 50 percent of the land as open space, including a 100-foot-wide buffer around the perimeter.

"We have tried to come up with a plan that meets the intent and the spirit of the conservation subdivision," Harris' attorney, Michael Holbrook, told commissioners.
Commissioner Ted Schrader, who represents eastern Pasco County, became the development's champion on the commission in the face of resistance from other commissioners.

"The developer has tried to come up with something that makes sense," Schrader said.
Schrader reminded the project's opponents that many of the things Harris has proposed met concerns rural residents have voiced during the recent rewrite of the county's long-range comprehensive plan.

"I'm concerned about the alternative," Schrader said.

That alternative, as laid out by Harris, would lay 139 lots across the hillside in line with the current zoning. That proposal allows for no land preservation and ignores the county's desire to protect views from the top of the hill by forcing Harris to leave several hundred feet at the top of the hill undeveloped.

Neighbors say they prefer the simpler design because it has fewer houses and lacked the high-density corner at the bottom of the hill.
Schrader suggested the project's opponents might live to regret their support for such a plan if Harris goes ahead with his threat to develop it if his 266-home plan is rejected.

Commissioners asked the developers to return Jan. 6 with a new design that reduces the density near PHCC. The developers reluctantly agreed.

In other business, commissioners:

•Approved plans for Long Lake Ranch, a development of regional impact planned by the Geraci family of Hillsborough County. Along with residential and retail projects, Long Lake Ranch could become home to a new headquarters for financial services firm T. Rowe Price, which is seeking room to expand its Tampa operations. County officials have offered $7 million in local incentives and an additional $6 million from the state in hopes of enticing the company to build a three-building office complex at State Road 54 and Sunlake Boulevard.

•Approved the $700,000 purchase of Pasco Palms, 116 acres of coastal land off Strauber Memorial Highway in Holiday. The land ranges from tidal flats to upland forest and houses a variety of birds and one endangered plant, said Rene Wiesner Brown, manager of the county's environmental lands acquisition program. Money for the purchase comes from the county's Penny for Pasco sales tax. The property is eligible for a 50 percent reimbursement by the state, Brown said.

•Agreed to invest $50 million in county reserves in the Certificate of Deposit Account Registry Service, a program that funnels money to local banks. The $50 million will be spread among multiple banks to keep the individual allocations under the $250,000 limit guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., said Jay Kominsky, who oversees the county's investments at the Clerk of Court's Office. Pasco-based Patriot Bank and the First Community Bank of America both participate in the investment program, Kominsky said.

•Chose Commissioner Jack Mariano to chair the board for the next year. Mariano won a second term this year and was sworn into office by Judge Wayne Cobb at the start of Tuesday's meeting along with commissioners Ann Hildebrand and Ted Schrader. Commissioner Pat Mulieri was chosen as vice chair.

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

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