Environmentalists say the toll road scarred the landscape, but an advocacy group wants to save unspoiled views.
By DAN DeWITT
Published May 3, 2004
Richard Owen is a cyclist who had Friday off, which meant he had no more pressing concern than finding a tail wind.
Depending on which way the breeze was blowing, Owen said, he planned to ride south on the Suncoast Trail, where in Pasco County he would pass miles of undeveloped marshes, pastures and woods.
Or he could pedal "north of here," he said, as he strapped on his cycling shoes in the trail parking lot off Powell Road in Spring Hill. "You get into some hilly, rolling countryside. It's beautiful."
Preserving the views from the trail - as well as on the adjacent Suncoast Parkway - is the main goal of an organization called the Suncoast Corridor Advocacy Group, which is pushing for the 42-mile toll road to be designated as a Florida Scenic Highway.
Joanne Hurley, a state turnpike spokeswoman and a member of the group, agreed with Owen and others who said development along the parkway is inevitable. But that doesn't necessarily mean the end to pleasant scenery from the road and the trail.
Joining the nine other highways in the state already designated as scenic would not offer any formal protection from development, Hurley said. But it could encourage local governments and developers to work to improve the appearance of projects near the toll road and minimize their impact.
Last week, she told the Pasco and Hernando county commissions that this could be done through the counties' comprehensive plans - which both Pasco and Hernando are currently revising - and that the scenery along the parkway is worth preserving.
"It has a unique look that is designed to blend into the surrounding area," Hurley said last week. "And the trail is a gem."
But what was really unusual and scenic was the countryside the road cut through, critics say. And the road is precisely the reason it will not stay that way.
"Everybody knows why this road is here: so the politicians who pushed it through could make more money out of the development it brings," said Scott Bland, an engineer from Spring Lake who spent Friday morning inline skating along the trail with his family.
"They don't want buffers. They want to crowd in as many houses as close to the road as they can."
Not all of the developers are squeezing every possible lot out of their property.
The Bexley Ranch development will stretch across 7,000 acres on the east side of the parkway north of State Road 54. Along with houses, offices and stores, the project will include 1,666 acres of green space, much of which will be in a buffer running along the parkway, said Steve Luce, who was hired by the developer of Bexley, Newland Communities, to help design the project.
The cycling trail will attract buyers, he said; the developers would be foolish to degrade it. Instead, he said, Newland plans to feature the trail by connecting it with pathways in the development.
"We, as land planners, see (the Suncoast Trail) as an absolute benefit to new residents in the community," Luce said.
But Bexley is unusual. Many projects use the parkway as a selling point, but only as a quick way to get to Tampa. And most of the subdivisions approved on land adjoining the road will be built with the minimum required buffer. Although the counties will look at writing tougher rules in their new comprehensive plans, there are limits to what they can do.
"If you have a 100-foot residential lot and we ask you for a 50-foot buffer, is that feasible? And, more precisely, is it a taking (of property rights)?" asked Jim King of the Hernando Planning Department.
Neither Pasco nor Hernando addresses the issue of parkway buffering with an ordinance. Both have attached such requirements as conditions for new developments next to the toll road. Pasco asks that 50 feet of land, along with a fence or an earthen berm, be left between the parkway's right of way and residential lots.
Two developments planned for the east side of the parkway in Hernando - Trifoliata, north of Powell Road, and Trillium, an 862-unit subdivision - will be separated from the road only by 25 feet.
King said the main problems with substantially tougher rules is the design of the road. The Suncoast, unlike, for example, the Blue Ridge Parkway, was not built as a true scenic highway, he said.
Most of the land around it is prime for development, he said; the right of way is not expansive enough to prevent drivers from seeing rooftops and shopping centers.
"There are some places where the parkway is pretty high and you can see for a long way," King said. "Can you preserve those scenic vistas? Not without buying it, you can't."
The real benefit of the scenic designation would be to spread the word that the road and trail are community assets that, if respected, will draw tourists and home buyers.
"There are real economic benefits to having the scenic corridor designation," King said.
Hurley disagrees with King on some points. The 400-foot right of way is wider than a typical urban expressway. Care was taken to keep it from clashing with its natural surroundings, she said. Fences were painted black. The light poles are brown rather than silver.
"Even the backs of the signs are painted dark brown," Hurley said.
And the state, when determining whether a road deserves to be called scenic, takes into account the presence of recreational facilities. The Suncoast Trail is one of the best in the state, she said.
The effort to earn the designation began two years ago, Hurley said. Because the application project is demanding, she said, at least another year will pass before the parkway can be added to the list, which includes the Bradenton Beach Scenic Highway on Anna Maria Island and the Florida Keys Scenic Highway.
Environmentalists have differing views on whether the designation is worth the effort and whether it will offer any real protection.
Lesley Blackner, who filed an unsuccessful lawsuit on behalf of the Sierra Club to stop the building of the parkway, said such efforts are supposed to be backed by citizens. The Suncoast group is made up mostly of government officials, including Hurley of Turnpike Enterprise.
"This reveals the hypocrisy of the turnpike," Blackner said. "The whole purpose of the road was to serve as a can opener for development in that whole area."
Charles Lee of Audubon of Florida said "such elements can be useful" in managing growth. It is much less effective than planning to control development before the road is built, he said, as the state is currently doing north of Orlando with the proposed Wekiva Parkway.
If the Suncoast Parkway is extended into Citrus County, as Turnpike Enterprise intends, officials should push for a similar plan there, Lee said.
And the scenic designation is all but worthless, Lee said, unless government officials work to make it more than just a label.
"Standing alone, it is ridiculous to suggest it addresses the serious land use and environmental issues that came with the completion of the Suncoast Parkway."
- Dan DeWitt can be reached at 352 754-6116. Send e-mail to dewitt@sptimes.com
