Snowbirds: While You Were Away

The changes in fast-growing Pasco County continued this summer.

You might notice a few changes here since you left in March or April.

Pasco County has more options for shopping, and more on the way. You're also likely to notice more cars on the road and more road work.

Here's a sampling of what's been happening:

•The Grove at Wesley Chapel, the first of three planned malls in central Pasco, opened in November, just north of County Road 54 on Oakley Boulevard. The mall's tenants include Best Buy, Dick's Sporting Goods, Toys R Us and Bed Bath & Beyond. More places are expected to open in the spring, including a movie theater, restaurants, Michaels, Ross, TJ Maxx and PetSmart.

Nearby, the Shops at Wiregrass, at State Road 56 and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, is expected to open in the spring with a stable of retail heavy hitters, including Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Williams-Sonoma, Victoria's Secret, Bath & Body Works and Pottery Barn. Cypress Creek Town Center, which will straddle State Road 56 west of Wiregrass, is set to open in the fall, bringing in Costco, Old Navy, SuperTarget, Kohl's and other shops.

•All those shoppers and the new residents who keep coming will need better roads. Developers and the county collectively will spend more than $100 million in 2008 to widen Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, County Road 54 and State Road 54. And before the Shops at Wiregrass can open completely, S.R. 56 must be extended eastward from Bruce B. Downs. That work could begin as early as January.

•Several area landmarks have closed or soon will, including Butterfield's supply store, a mainstay in Zephyrhills for nearly half a century, and Hill's Grocery & Coffee Shop, another Zephyrhills landmark that soon will make way for a CVS drugstore.

In September, Tampa's iconic Silver Ring Cafe opened a Cuban restaurant on U.S. 41 at Hale Road, and Dade City has welcomed several new businesses, including a Beef O' Brady's across from the historic Pasco County Courthouse, a trolley tour of historic spots and another tour of an animal rescue outside town.