TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Failed Pasco development property to be auctioned today

ADVERTISEMENT

By KEVIN WIATROWSKI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 19, 2009

BLANTON - Eight months after developers scuttled plans for homes on Berry Hill, the hillside property in northeast Pasco County goes on the auction block at noon today.

American Heritage Auctioneers of Clearwater will sell the 407-acre property in 13 parcels. The sale will happen at 15019 Ramsey Road at the southeast corner of the property. In keeping with standard practice, the first winning bidder will get the chance to buy the remaining parcels, according to auction officials.

The sale puts to rest questions about developer Tracey Harris' plans for the property after the project ran into a buzz saw of opposition from neighbors and Pasco County commissioners this year.

Harris had proposed putting 266 homes on the property, which is in a rural area west of Dade City, in a plan that left half the land undeveloped and preserved views from the top of the hill. The plan won the support of county planners but never swayed the neighbors, who objected to the project as a suburban intrusion into rural northeast Pasco County.

Under the current zoning, more than 200 homes could still go into the property in a mix of 1-acre, 5-acre and 10-acre lots.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 731-8168.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT