Developers wanted to proceed with a commercial center before Lake Patience Road is completed, but the idea didn't get past the development review committee.
By JAMES THORNER
Published November 7, 2003
LAND O'LAKES - Lack of access to Lake Patience Road is preventing Oakstead developers from building what could be a grocery store and day care center for residents of the 3-year-old Land O'Lakes neighborhood.
And on Thursday, the Pasco County Development Review Committee refused to give developers the relief they were seeking to start commercial construction, most of it near the neighborhood gate on State Road 54.
One condition of Oakstead's rezoning in 1999 was that developers hook an existing stretch of Lake Patience Road with a newly built stretch of Lake Patience inside Oakstead.
Until that link is complete, stores and offices are barred from the property. About 100 feet of grass on the northeast border of Oakstead separates the old Lake Patience Road from the new.
Devco Development Co. argued that Oakstead Boulevard, the neighborhood's entrance road north of SR 54, is well-traveled enough to make up for any deficiency with Lake Patience Road.
But the development review committee, headed by County Administrator John Gallagher, refused to waive the zoning requirement.
And confronted with a counteroffer from Devco that the company would pave the gap separating the sections of Lake Patience Road, Gallagher balked.
Merely linking the two roads isn't enough, Gallagher argued. He also expects an upgrade to the older section of Lake Patience, a narrow rural road that runs east to U.S. 41.
"You guys think that's safe?" Gallagher asked his colleagues about Devco's offer. "You guys think that's good planning?"
The county plans to spend millions improving and extending Lake Patience in 2006, but Devco wants to start its commercial projects earlier.
Devco vice president Craig Weber pointed out that the zoning condition requires only a Lake Patience connection, not a Lake Patience upgrade.
The zoning document reads: "No commercial or residential support parcels" shall be allowed until "Lake Patience Road Extension is constructed to the existing Lake Patience Road."
Weber plans to return to Pasco, lawyer in tow, to insist the county obey the wording of the zoning document. Commercial development is good for the neighborhood that has grown to hundreds of homes west of U.S. 41, he said.
"It's going to be a grocery store, and it's what neighbors want," Weber said.
-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
