The Planning Commission approves two developments along the Suncoast Parkway. Some traffic concerns are being raised.
By JAMES THORNER
Published November 13, 2003
NEW PORT RICHEY - Two developments totaling almost 900 homes proposed for opposite sides of the Suncoast Parkway won the recommendation Wednesday of the Pasco County Planning Commission.
Lone Star and Spanish Oaks straddle the parkway north of State Road 52, Lone Star's 166 acres on the west, Spanish Oaks' 165 acres on the east.
Part of a surge in development sparked by the February 2001 opening of the three-county toll road, the projects will sit on swamp, woods and fields once approved for a development called Mablebridge.
A Swiss businessman proposed building 2,093 homes in Mablebridge in 1985. Parkway construction devoured 74 acres of Mablebridge and sliced the land in two. The Swiss investor has been selling the property piecemeal.
Although the projects mostly breezed by the Planning Commission - final rezoning hearings before the county commissioners are scheduled within the month - some raised concerns about traffic troubles.
Planning commission member Calvin Branche wondered how many traffic lights the county would add to SR 52 to control cars streaming in and out of the new communities.
At least one signal is planned just west of the parkway to serve Lone Star and the up-and-running Suncoast Lakes development on the south side of SR 52.
"I don't know when this stops," Branche said of fears that too many lights would make the highway "unworkable."
Lone Star, a project of Westfield Homes of Florida, calls for 360 town homes and/or apartments and 239 single-family homes.
As for Spanish Oaks, developer David Maltby declined to reveal the national home builder for the project, but mentioned a summer of 2004 ground breaking.
Another project, called Serengeti, is under review for 296 acres next to Lone Star. Lexington Homes plans to build 170 units between the parkway and Hays Road.
