TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Developer Withdraws Controversial Pasco Development

Commissioner calls plans "junk"

ADVERTISEMENT

By KEVIN WIATROWSKI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 6, 2009

DADE CITY - The developers of Berry Hill Estates, a controversial subdivision proposed for land west of Dade City, abruptly pulled out today after one county commissioner called the latest revision of the project "junk."

During the latest public hearing on the project, the developers faced a laundry list of last-minute county-mandated changes to the 402-acre project. The developers' spokesman, Michael Holbrook, complained that the developers would need to think about the implications of those changes.

The developers stuck by their original request for 266 homes on the property. Today, they offered a redesigned conceptual plan for the project that included more open space but only half-acre and one-acre lots. Earlier designs had included five- and 10-acre lots.

The redesign didn't sit well with county commissioners, several of whom have voiced their concerns about the project in the past.

Commissioner Ted Schrader, who represents the area, noted that the plan looked more like a standard suburban subdivision than like the conservation subdivision the developers originally set out to mimic.

But Commissioner Michael Cox slammed the door on the project.

"I think this is junk," he told Holbrook. "You keep going back to the point that you need 266 for it to be economically feasible. That's not our problem."

After a few minutes of back and forth with commissioners, Holbrook consulted briefly with his client and then stepped to the microphone: "On behalf of my client, we withdraw our application," he said.

Cheers when up from the dozen or so opponents who have become a fixture at every public hearing on the subdivision since it was first proposed.

"The board upheld the language of the comprehensive plan," said Noah Kaaa, who lives on Platt Road at the northern edge of the Berry Hill property. For opponents, today's sudden change was vindication.

"They looked at the same faces time and time again," Kaaa said of county commissioners. "They hear all the concerns."

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201.

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT