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Rep. Castor's long arm threatens Pasco progress

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By TOM JACKSON

Published: October 2, 2009

Pasco County residents, ably represented in the halls of Congress by GOP veterans Ginny Brown-Waite and Gus Bilirakis, are not obliged to track the exploits of Rep. Kathy Castor, the South Tampa Democrat.

Although many do, just for fun. August's out-of-control town hall event, for instance, provided weeks of hilarity among the read-the-bill set. And Castor's contortions on cutting off federal funding for scandal-plagued ACORN - she voted against the cutoff before she voted for it - fuel a limitless supply of yuks.

But in recent days, Rep. Castor has demonstrated with compelling forcefulness that her reach as an energetic member of the majority party extends far beyond the modest Tampa-centric boundaries of District 11. And Pasco residents are free to be unamused.

This week, the congresswoman persuaded the Environmental Protection Agency to hold a re-re-review of its own findings, and those of the Army Corps of Engineers, regarding the development plans for Cypress Creek Town Center - a proposed shopping, dining and entertainment mall straddling State Road 56 in Wesley Chapel whose official name seems destined to include "Oft-Delayed."

The EPA's acquiescence comes in the wake of the Army Corps' green-lighted last month of the development order for Cleveland-based Richard E. Jacobs Group. The corps pulled the permit in early 2007 after silt was bulldozed into Cypress Creek, resulting in nearly $300,000 in fines and costly delays while Jacobs amended its design.

Now the project, which promises 3,800 fulltime jobs upon completion and a couple of years' worth of paychecks for some 1,000 construction workers, will be put off yet again.

The heavy hand of the federal government at work ... seeing to it the private sector can't. Work, that is.

Never mind that the EPA was in the loop throughout the redesign process, which Jacobs conducted in consultation with the Army Corps. Nor that EPA officials have said the extent of their reconsideration will be to re-examine the documents the agency already has signed off on.

What's really at stake

Assuming the unthinkable does not occur - District 11 goes Republican in 2010 - Rep. Castor will remain a rising star in Speaker Nancy Pelosi's power constellation, and agency operatives resist rising stars at their peril.

And it's not like her ostensible concern extends beyond her constituents. At the end of its meandering journey from Darby to the Hillsborough River near the University of South Florida, Cypress Creek contributes to Tampa's major source of drinking water. So there's that.

But those willing to assign subtler intentions will note that Castor is a darling of radical environmentalists, and her intervention cannot help but please them. Environmentalists remain absolutely freaked that Jacobs has chosen a larger asphalt footprint over the breathtakingly expensive - possibly deal-breaking - parking garage they prefer.

Designs on progress

And if they can at last get EPA moving in their direction, so much the better. After all, EPA is not obligated to factor a cost-benefit analysis into its rulings. Upon further review, under the scrutiny of an administration that this week demonstrated its intention to crack down on all polluters, real or imagined, mall opponents may yet get the cram-down design amendment that would mean no development at all.

Which, by word and deed, has been their obvious aim from the start.

New jobs? Who cares? Endless years of millions in new tax revenue? Big deal! Shifting Pasco's status from a bedroom community to one with its own sources of commerce? Overrated!

Doubters should brace themselves. What emerges from the next two months may bode ill for private enterprise in Pasco - and the nation at large. Such would be the message of a Castor-abetted EPA reversal.

Tom Jackson's "The Jax Files Weekend" airs Saturday at 11 a.m. on WGUL, 860 AM.

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