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Vote Imperils Berry Hill Project

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 11, 2008

DADE CITY - Bowing to residents' opposition, county planning commissioners on Wednesday voted against plans to develop Berry Hill Estates on land along Blanton Road west of town.

The 4-4 vote was the second split decision in favor of Berry Hill's neighbors; the Development Review Committee split 3-3 in May on the proposal. A tie vote goes to county commissioners as a negative recommendation.
County commissioners will have to decide next month whether to follow the negative recommendations and deny developer Tracy Harris' proposal or ignore the recommending agencies and give Harris a green light.

Harris aims to build 266 homes on 400 acres of hilly terrain just across Blanton Road from the east campus of Pasco-Hernando Community College. Neighbors and rural-life advocates say the proposal violates the spirit of rules intended to preserve the rural nature of northeastern Pasco County.

"We've been trying desperately to keep our area rural," said Trilby resident Nancy Hazelwood. "We've done everything everyone has said, and the densities keep going up and up."

Harris' plans fall 100 houses short of the number he could build if he followed the letter of the county's conservation subdivision ordinance, which asks developers to preserve half their property in exchange for the right to build more homes on the remaining property, said Zoning Administrator Debra Zampetti.

Harris agreed to the lower number and agreed to set aside 51 percent of his land as open space, including a 100-foot landscaped buffer zone along the perimeter of the land. Harris also agreed to leave the crest of the hill undeveloped to avoid interfering with the sweeping views of the handful of people who live along Platt Road.

None of those changes were enough to persuade residents or a majority of government officials to support the project.

Residents argued Wednesday that the project was being shoved through the county before it could write new rules enforcing protections for Northeast Pasco.

"Why did we spend $2 million to study east Pasco?" said Sue Szczerba, whose land overlooks Berry Hill. "The rules haven't been written, so we're winging it."
County commissioners recently set up a committee of builders and land-use experts to bring the county's Land Development Code in line with the Comprehensive Plan. That committee could take 18 months to two years to complete its task, Zampetti said.

With no changes to the property's zoning, Harris could establish 139 1-, 5- and 10-acre lots. Those lots would be spread across the property, including the crest of the hill at Platt Road, according to plans the developer submitted to the county in May.

Planning commissioners split between those unwilling to make Harris wait two more years to develop his land and those who said the county's land-use rules should come first.

"This is the kind of thing that gives government a bad name," said Planning Commission chairman Charles Grey, who voted in Harris' favor.

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

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