The Planning Commission agrees with neighbors that the two projects would be more trouble than they're worth.
By JAMES THORNER
Published March 10, 2004
DADE CITY - Two proposed commercial projects that riled neighbors in Wesley Chapel - a gas station in Meadow Pointe and an auto dealership on State Road 54 - didn't survive the scrutiny of the Pasco County Planning Commission.
Opposition from Saddlebrook Resort, the county's biggest tourist attraction, helped doom the attempt to rezone 8 acres east of Interstate 75 on SR 54 for an auto dealership.
Landowner Gotthold Gerber withdrew his application before Tuesday's meeting of the planning commission in Dade City. Nissan and Toyota both had considered the site across from Saddlebrook.
The other zoning case, for the gas station on the southwest corner of County Line Road and Mansfield Boulevard, got a hearing at the planning meeting but met a similar fate.
Representatives of Trout Creek Properties LLC made the case that the 7-acre site was already approved for a fast-food restaurant, dry cleaner, florist or other neighborhood business.
So adding a gas station to what eventually will be a busy commercial hub made sense. Trout Creek needed a special exception permit from the planning commission but didn't get it.
The reason was complaints from some of the 15 Meadow Pointe residents who traveled to Dade City.
One of Meadow Pointe's two clubhouses sits across County Line Road from the proposed station.
Neighbors cited the potential harm to children from traffic and the beer-drinking teens they assume the attached minimart would draw.
"I will drive 10 miles out of the way to avoid patronizing this station," said Paul Freeman, whose 3,400-square-foot Meadow Pointe home looms a few hundred feet across a swamp from the site.
Trout Creek could appeal the planning commission's rejection to the county commissioners. Development of the parcel could be a couple of years away as the company has yet to land a tenant for the site.
In other business, the planning commission, over opposition from neighbors, allowed a Presbyterian church to open on Wilson Road, northwest of U.S. 41 and SR 54 in Land O'Lakes.
Wilson Road residents said it wasn't the church they disliked, but the nightmare of trying to compete with church traffic to exit onto SR 54. The church numbers 45 families.
"They're going to sit there a long time on Sunday morning trying to get home," neighbor Harold Andrews 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
