Development planned near preserve

Homes, apartments or both would be built near a cypress preserve, which takes up 168 acres of a 273-acre project in Hudson.

By JIM THORNER
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 22, 2002

HUDSON -- A developer that specializes in retiree housing is proposing to build hundreds of homes next to the Sugar Creek and Shadow Ridge neighborhoods.

K. Hovnanian, the nation's 10th-biggest home builder, has asked Pasco County for permission to develop 273 acres north of State Road 52 roughly between Sugar Creek Boulevard and Moon Lake Road.

Hovnanian proposes either 720 apartments or 385 single-family homes, or a combination of both types of housing. A cypress preserve tucked among the homes would take up 168 of the 273 acres.

The property is part of a 613-acre Sugar Creek "development of regional impact" first approved in 1974 for 3,583 homes, but later sold off in chunks to different developers.

Two of the parcels became Shadow Ridge and Sugar Creek. A third section, called Hollynne Woods, was acquired by Hovnanian in 1986.

It took a lawsuit, not settled until 1999, to sort out a dispute with the county over development rights. Last week, Hovnanian, based in New Jersey, submitted an application to revamp previously approved plans for the property.

Hovnanian's representatives couldn't be reached for comment Monday. County approval of the proposal, capped by a vote of the county commissioners, is expected to take several months.

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