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A road more traveled
By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK, Times Staff Writer RIDGE MANOR -- For the past eight years, bumpy, dusty limerock roads have afforded Richard and Diana Militana the privacy and anonymity they enjoy when not immersed in the hectic world of litigation and mediation. Few people know that this cheerful, unpretentious lawyer, his secretary wife and their children live in an $806,000, five-story mansion on 25 acres abutting the Little Withlacoochee River and the Withlacoochee State Forest. The roads are not well-traveled, save for a handful of neighbors and the friends and clients who have the Militanas' unlisted phone number and directions to the house. That soon could change. Last year, the Militanas came to Hernando County planners with the idea of turning their home into a bed-and-breakfast. To make the idea go down easier, they offered to pave nearly 21/2 miles of roads leading from U.S. 301 to their front gate. The bed-and-breakfast idea has fallen by the wayside, victim to the law firm's heavy workload. But the paving of county roads will begin this fall, paid for with $77,000 from the Militanas and $37,925 from the county. The family has pledged to deliver a check to the county two weeks before the work starts. "There was a lot of romance to the dirt road. We resisted paving it for a number of years," Richard Militana, 55, said. "I guess it's going to lead everybody here. It was nice being anonymous." Rather than being inconvenienced, clients who include dot-com executives and country music stars were pleasantly surprised to learn that at the end of the roads lay rolling hills, flowing river and wildlife few knew existed in Florida. The future of eastern Hernando County won out in the end, though, Militana said. "Ridge Manor is the stepchild," he said. "We're hoping (the paved roads) will give a shot to the area. . . . It's important that everyone benefits. And it didn't seem right to impose our will on everyone else, to make them pay." This is a first for Hernando County. More frequently, entire neighborhoods pool their resources to pave limerock roads, often agreeing to lengthy repayment programs coordinated by the county and billed to their property taxes. These arrangements can disrupt a community's harmony. Once in a while, those who do not want to pay for repaving come to commissioners, angrily accusing the others of misrepresenting the community and urging the board to call off the deal. Occasionally, the county has seen groups bypass the repayment plans and pay the bill in advance, public works director Charles Mixson said. But never before has an individual offered to write a personal check for more than 2 miles of paving. "This is unusual for a guy to do this much, just one guy," Mixson said. "This is a first time." He noted that most of the roads slated for improvement -- Rousseau, Umbrella Rock, Wickshire, Rimrock and Nostone -- lead to side streets and could become feeder roads as the area grows. The county probably would have improved them eventually, he said. Those are some of the reasons why the County Commission had no problems approving the arrangement, Commissioner Diane Rowden said. "It's great," she said. "I wish more people would do it." The Militanas, who once lived in St. Petersburg, said they came to rural Hernando County to enjoy the countryside, to ride horses through the woods when they want, and still have easy access to Orlando and Tampa. Diana Militana, 53, said she sees many more professionals from bigger cities seeking the same type of lifestyle. "People are building some really nice houses out here. I'm happy for them," Richard Militana said. "You see the school buses. I'm happy for that, too." And better roads, he said, only can help. -- Jeffrey S. Solochek covers Hernando County government and can be reached at 754-6115. Send e-mail to solochek@sptimes.com.
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