Odessa: Couple propose upscale El Lago subdivision
The Oliva family also sets aside a nearby tract for a future rezoning for retail and office space.
By JOSH ZIMMER
Published November 7, 2003
ODESSA - After years of lobbying for luxury homes and businesses, John and Angel Oliva will develop virtually all their land for houses.
But don't expect a simple subdivision at Gunn Highway and Tarpon Springs Road. The 13 lots at the gated "El Lago" will fetch between $500,000 and $800,000 apiece, project manager Claire Clements said. And those prices do not include the high-end homes.
Clements doesn't expect the 2- to 8-acre lots to remain on the market for long. Monied people from Tampa and other areas have been flocking to large-lot developments in Keystone and Odessa. In El Lago, Spanish for "the lake," each homeowner will get 200 feet of lakefront property.
The Olivas' earlier plan included a small Publix supermarket with a special rural design. Many surrounding residents liked the potential convenience of shopping so close to home. But the plan ran into strong opposition from the Keystone Civic Association.
Hillsborough County planners and elected officials sided with the association, which argued the development would clog local roads and undercut the area's rural feel. A denial by the County Commission two years ago put a nail in the coffin.
This time around, the Olivas avoided public hearings by applying under the terms of the most recent zoning, which permits single-family housing.
"We did not get the Publix, but that's not the end of the world," said Clements. She compared El Lago to nearby Stillwater, one of the county's most expensive subdivisions. "The Olivas have owned this for 40 years and they want to see something as nice as possible on the corner."
The redesigned project is sure to attract naysayers. The homes will create dangerous runoff into Lake Fern, said Gloria Curtis, a member of the Keystone Civic Association's board of directors. Lake Fern is connected to Lake Wood by a stream running underneath Gunn Highway.
"We just wish this wasn't happening," Curtis said.
Clements predicted the open space will be a major selling point.
El Lago will have three entrances, including a main, Spanish-style gate off Gunn. Once inside, residents will be surrounded by a 100-foot buffer, much more than the county's 30-foot vegetative requirement. The buffer will include a berm and a moat filled with water year-round, she said.
The design allows for an 11-acre open space area for recreation and social gatherings, an effort to create a greater sense of community than what exists in other luxury developments, she said.
Luxury homes builders already are seeking rights to develop homesites, she said.
The Olivas haven't written off commercial development on the property, Clements said. The plan sets aside a tract at the far corner of Gunn and Tarpon Springs for a future rezoning for retail and office space.
The property, which borders a gas station, might appeal to some of the business people expected to populate El Lago.
"Possibly some of the people who buy lots in here will want to buy space in the (business or retail) cottages out here," she said.
- Josh Zimmer covers University North, Keystone/Odessa and Citrus Park. He can be reached at 269-5314 or zimmer@sptimes.com
