Two civic groups get $12,000 to come up with a new plan after helping derail the "Crackeresque" idea.
By JAMES THORNER
Published July 17, 2003
Land O'Lakes has a case of double vision.
Last year, Pasco County commissioners bankrolled a $20,000 "vision plan" aimed at creating an architecturally uniform town center for the growing suburb.
A group of community landowners complained the plan was too restrictive. Now they'll get a chance to pitch a vision of their own. On Tuesday, commissioners agreed to spend $12,000 toward the effort.
The beneficiaries of the money, the Land O'Lakes Leadership Council and the Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce, promise a more flexible vision that stresses economic development without nitpicking.
The leadership council consists mostly of Land O'Lakes property and business owners who rallied late last year under the banner of defeating the first vision plan.
Most criticized the document, authored by the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, for suggesting future buildings adhere to a style dubbed "Crackeresque:" metal roofs, porches, columns and picket fences.
Leadership council members say they favor architectural consistency within individual residential and commercial developments, but not an overall standard for Land O'Lakes.
"We're not keying on any one thing, that everybody's going to have a teepee and campfire on their property," said former Pasco property appraiser Ted Williams, who owns 30 acres of commercial frontage on U.S. 41.
Tim Hayes, a board member of the Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce, knocked the old plan for being too narrow. It focused on what it called the "Heart of Land O'Lakes," centered on U.S. 41, School Road and Bell Lake Road.
The new plan will cover all of Land O'Lakes and stress the need for more business parks and industry.
"With railroad tracks going through our community and the interstate nearby, it's logical to assume we could attract some of that stuff," Hayes said.
Supporters of the initial community plan, led by Land O'Lakes sculptor Brad Arthur, are talking compromise. He supports commissioners' decision to spend the extra $12,000. Gone is talk of Cracker style architecture. Gone is the focus on the Heart of Land O'Lakes.
Arthur admits his group goofed by not approaching Williams and other landowners earlier, although the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council assembled the first vision plan with suggestions from several public meetings.
Although the leadership council is skeptical a town center is feasible, Arthur hopes any compromise plan includes financial incentives for developers to build just such a center.
"Two heads are better than one," Arthur said in favor of the second vision plan. "The other group has the same love of the community as we do. Let's move forward ASAP."
The leadership council and chamber of commerce propose spending half the $12,000 on consultant Fred Lowndes, until November 2001 Pasco's zoning administrator. Another $5,000 will pay a Tampa advertising agency to print booklets of the new vision plan.
Both sides insist the double vision, with a proper spirit of compromise, can become a single focus for Land O'Lakes.
"Let's put together a winning plan," Arthur said. "I don't want to be fighting my own neighbors."
- James Thorner covers growth and development in Pasco County. He can be reached at 813 909-4613 or toll-free 1-800-333-7505, ext. 4613. His e-mail address is thorner@sptimes.com
