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County cool to SR 52 project
By CHASE SQUIRES, Times Staff Writer
ST. LEO -- A pasture and woods at a busy State Road 52 intersection could be home to a shopping complex or hundreds of apartments if a property owner's request for a land use plan change is approved. That could be a big if. St. Leo Town Attorney Richard Chritton on Monday evening told the Town Commission that property owner Tom Rankin is asking Pasco County to change the land use designation on about 10 acres he holds at SR 52 and Prospect Road, just outside the town's eastern boundary, across from Happy Hill Road. The application seeks to change the permitted use from one house per acre to a mixed designation that would allow up to 240 apartments or 260,000 square feet of retail buildings. But that would depend on the county's reaction to Rankin's request at an intersection the county already contends would choke on development if the Roadside Groves property, recently annexed into Dade City, were developed. Pasco growth management administrator Sam Steffey on Tuesday said his office was against a different proposed development, across the street from Rankin's, at the same intersection. Pasco likely would remain opposed to Rankin's request unless major improvements to the intersection were made, he said. The 14-page request for a comprehensive land use amendment does not specify exactly what Rankin would do with the property if the new land use is accepted, but it notes the growing population and proximity of Saint Leo University and Lake Jovita Golf and Country Club show the need for more shopping centers. "It is an ideal location in which to provide a neighborhood-serving retail center for residents at a convenient location where they live, work and play," the request states. Chritton told commissioners the requested designation is "extremely dense" and "quite intense." In other business at the town's Monday night meeting, commissioners directed Chritton to draft a resolution of support for the drive to ask county voters to approve a sales tax increase. The 16 percent increase -- up from 6 cents to 7 cents on the dollar -- would generate more than $30-million a year for local governments. The proposal is dubbed "Penny for Pasco." Supporters of the tax increase say the money would be used to fund capital improvements. In St. Leo, the share would be about $48,000 a year that could be used to fund a fire station, fire hydrants and other public safety improvements, commissioners said. If the Pasco County Commission sides with municipalities seeking the increase, it could wind up on the 2004 ballot for voter approval.
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