 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Preservationists fight development plan
By JOSH ZIMMER, Times Staff Writer KEYSTONE -- It's shaping up as the broadest effort in the history of the Keystone Civic Association, president Rich Dugger said. The community group, with a reputation for successfully confronting developers and county officials, is campaigning against a proposed 227-home subdivision on a rare piece of pristine land around Brooker Creek in northwest Hillsborough. The property is unusual for its size -- 1,682 acres -- and importance. Owned by rancher and philanthropist Kay O'Rourke, the piece would connect 33,000 acres of preserved land in Pinellas and Pasco counties, creating a large wildlife corridor. The corridor has long been on the wish list for environmental land managers in the three counties. The tract is listed as a top priority purchase under Hillsborough County's Environmental Land Acquisition and Preservation Program. But timing is forcing the association to map out a two-pronged attack, Dugger said. Most residents living around the property would like to see the land used for a wildlife corridor, Dugger said. But in the meantime, the group feels it must challenge the proposed layout of 5D Ranch, which would combine 2.5- to 4.9-acre lots with larger tracts on property stretching from the border with Pasco County south to Tarpon Springs Road. The proposal, which O'Rourke's attorney, Gordon Schiff, calls one of the best examples of new planning in northwest Hillsborough, is scheduled to come before a zoning hearing master on Sept. 17. "Their hope is that it becomes a preservation plan, but if it doesn't they want to make sure it's something fitting to the area," Dugger said. "We're really concerned about having 2.5-acre lots too close to (Brooker Creek)." The hearing master's recommendation will go to the Hillsborough County Commission, which can vote for or against the project, or send it back to the hearing master for further consideration. The association has led winning campaigns against controversial developments before. But enthusiasm for the wildlife corridor is raising the stakes for the group, Dugger said. "It has kind of fallen into the lap of the Keystone Civic Association," he said. "I don't care if it's Aunt Suzie's sewing club, I'll send them a letter if I know they're interested." Joe Murphy, the local Sierra Club's conservation co-chairman, called it "a historic opportunity. We're going to do everything we can." O'Rourke did not return calls seeking comment. She has been unreachable since meeting with the county nine months ago, ELAPP acquisitions manager Kurt Gremley said. For two months residents have met Wednesdays to discuss strategy, Dugger said. They face frustration on various fronts. One is the lack of detail. The latest plan doesn't show exactly where O'Rourke would place the smaller lots. The biggest homesites would be along the Hillsborough County perimeter. And they have found O'Rourke aloof. Her proposal took residents by surprise, said Edie Dopking, who owns Quantam Leap Farm, an equestrian center for the disabled. Until now, O'Rourke, who lives on different land off Patterson Road, was considered a preservationist like her father, local benefactor Austin Davis. "In fact, her son ... told me once they hate developers and it would never be developed," said Dopking, who spoke with O'Rourke a long time ago. The only contact she has allowed was through a representative, who met with residents about the proposed development. Dopking suspects O'Rourke was not pleased with the prices she heard. Gremley said he offered options: purchasing the property outright, a partial purchase with a conservation easement that would allow her to keep using the land, a phased purchase, and a life estate that would bequeath the tract to Hillsborough upon her death. "I've heard through sources she wasn't (happy), but I didn't have the opportunity to address that with her," he said. As O'Rourke's zoning attorney, Schiff would not address the proposed wildlife corridor. But he said the presence of smaller homesites creates more room for open space. The proposal calls for installing buffers and expanding some wetlands. "What we've accomplished ... is a greater environmental sensitivity," he said. But some residents are not impressed. "Virtually all of us would love to see the property preserved," Dopking said. "There's just nowhere for the animals that are living out here to go anymore." -- Josh Zimmer covers Keystone, Citrus Park and the environment. He can be reached at 269-5314 or zimmer@sptimes.com.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times |
