He moved to Wesley Chapel in 1998 seeking "a certain quality of life" and took little time to realize he'd have to work for it.
By STEPHEN HEGARTY
Published May 16, 2004
WESLEY CHAPEL - Dennis Smith sits in the front row at a county government meeting, waiting to speak.
It's early afternoon, and the wheels of bureaucracy are moving slowly. Smith sticks it out. It is at these tedious meetings dominated by engineers, lawyers and county staff that the face of a community can change.
When it is Smith's turn to speak, County Administrator John Gallagher gives him the standard warning, "You have three minutes." This, to a man who spent hours with arcane reports preparing for his stint at the microphone.
Nearly four minutes later, Smith builds to his conclusion: "If this is approved, then the ordinance isn't worth the paper that it's written on."
The vote does not go Smith's way.
"The community lost. The developer won," he lamented later. Still, Smith leaves with a smile. No time to stew. Other meetings to prepare for.
Smith, a 57-year-old retired Army sergeant major, is Wesley Chapel's own happy warrior against unfettered development and congested roads. He is a rarity in new suburban communities where long commutes, busy family lives and the demands of work add up to something akin to apathy.
"I don't blame people for not getting more involved," Smith said. "This is a bedroom community. People just expect their public officials to do the right thing."
Smith expects no such thing. He is on good terms with many of the county's decisionmakers. County Commissioner Pat Mulieri even appointed him to the county's Planning Commission.
Nevertheless, Smith thinks someone needs to keep up the pressure on government, on developers, on him even, because he is on the Planning Commission.
"There's too much at stake here," Smith said. "The decisions we're making today are things we're going to have to live with for years to come."
"Fighting against the tide'
It was an enormous red-and-white bull's-eye that got Smith started as a community activist.
He and his wife moved to Wesley Chapel from Prince William County, Va., in 1998 after Smith retired from a 28-year career in the Army. He wanted to live in a warm climate and wanted a veterans' hospital nearby. He zeroed in on Wesley Chapel because he liked the feel of the community.
Smith quickly became involved in the Meadow Pointe Community Council and later the Community Development District Board. Larger issues were someone else's business.
Then, a Target store being built by the entrance to Meadow Pointe caught Smith's eye. Specifically, the store's signature red-and-white bull's-eye signs.
Smith and his neighbors objected to Target's request to put up more signs than allowed by county ordinance. In the middle of the fight, Target erected a two-story pylon at County Line Road and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, a spot that Smith and his neighbors would drive by almost every day.
"I moved here for a certain quality of life," Smith explained. "At that point, I realized I would have to work to protect that quality of life. I would have to get involved."
Smith researched sign ordinances, both in Hillsborough and in Pasco counties. He wrote letters. He made phone calls. Ultimately, Target compromised on the number of signs, but the tall sign stayed.
"The real accomplishment was the new sign ordinance," said Lutfi Jadallah, vice president of the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce. The ordinance, patterned after Hillsborough County's more restrictive rules, came too late to affect the sign outside Meadow Pointe. But it helps guard against oversized signs in the future.
That experience changed Smith. He became involved in a committee looking into the possibility of forming a city in Wesley Chapel, a prospect he does not favor. Smith started speaking out on a number of issues.
"He picks issues that matter, and then he really devotes himself to it," said Joan Abrams, a neighbor and sometime activist. "And he knows he's fighting against the tide. The County Commission seems to like every development that comes before them."
Commissioner Mulieri met Smith several times dealing with issues at Meadow Pointe and Wesley Chapel. Both are in her district.
"The thing that struck me is he did his homework," Mulieri said. "He reads the reports, and he makes a good case."
She nominated Smith for the Planning Commission because she thought the commission needed his perspective.
"The Planning Commission used to be all developers," Mulieri said. "It needed some balance - a citizen's point of view, but not a NIMBY (not in my back yard) point of view."
Being a member of the Planning Commission has, at times, been frustrating for Smith. He is still the activist, the rattler of cages. But now he is also a part of the system.
"Whether I like it or not, if a project conforms to the comp plan, it's my job to approve it," he said. "It's frustrating. The comp plan allows development everywhere."
"Glad he's out there'
Put a die-hard Democrat and a staunch Republican together for a four-hour car ride, and you might get some uncomfortable moments. Or worse, ideological squaring off.
Or they might find that they have a lot in common.
That's what happened when Smith, the Republican, traveled to Tallahassee with Larry McLaughlin, a member of the Pasco Democratic Executive Committee. They were pushing legislation having to do with community development districts.
"Oh, we've had some pretty lively discussions - the Iraq war, for instance," McLaughlin said. "But when we talk about local growth and development, we're on the same page. Those really aren't partisan issues."
That's not to say that Smith's outspoken nature hasn't alienated a few.
"I wish he would stick to the areas he knows best," said Jennifer Seney, one of the area's most well-known and respected environmentalists.
Seney also is a registered Republican. She and Smith have worked together on several issues. Both showed up on a recent weekend to get their hands dirty working on a pond restoration project.
But they don't see eye to eye on everything.
"Dennis is a good man, and I'm glad he's involved," Seney said. "But he was way off base with the Penny (for Pasco referendum approved by voters in March). He did not have his facts straight."
Seney and others were disappointed with Smith's active opposition to the Penny for Pasco, a referendum that became something of a political litmus test in Pasco. Smith wrote letters opposing the initiative, arguing that impact fees should pay the bills, not an increase in the sales tax. Voters ultimately approved the tax, which takes effect in January.
Seney was particularly disappointed. She worked hard on the campaign and tirelessly preached of the need for the money to buy environmentally sensitive lands.
Despite that difference, Seney sees Smith as a potential ally in the larger battles.
"You know what, I'm glad he's out there," Seney said. "I"m glad he's involved. There are so few of us out there."
