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Atlanta builder has local plans

Todaythe Pasco County Planning Commission considers the company's rezoning request for 4.6 homes per acre.

By JAMES THORNER
Published October 5, 2005

WESLEY CHAPEL - An Atlanta builder new to the Tampa Bay market is pitching its first solo project in Pasco County.

McCar Homes, a $500-million company anchored in the Southeast, bought 51 acres of pasture between Zephyrhills and Wesley Chapel.

The site is a half-mile west of Morris Bridge Road at Chancey and Apfel roads. The property is more livestock than livable at this point, but its suburban future has already been charted.

Pasco plans to cut Chancey Road through to Bruce B. Downs Boulevard in a couple of years, giving McCar the additional Interstate 75 access it desires.

McCar has proposed a high-density neighborhood of up to 7.3 homes per acre. The company won't get what it wants.

County planners insist such dense development won't mesh with the surrounding area, where home lots range from 1.5 acres to 19 acres.

When the Pasco County Planning Commission takes up McCar's rezoning request today at 1:30 p.m., it will be for a revised plan of 4.6 homes per acre.

The meeting is scheduled for the West Pasco Government Center on Little Road in New Port Richey.

McCar is a powerhouse in Atlanta, building townhomes and single-family homes in 43 neighborhoods ringing the Georgia capital. It's also strong in Charlotte, N.C., and Greenville, S.C.

It recently dipped its toe in the hot Tampa area market. The company is filling out a section of the Heritage Isles golf course community in New Tampa. Sales have yet to start on 58 "executive home sites" with four models from 2,800 to 3,600 square feet.

The company has released few details of its Pasco project, and numerous calls to McCar's Tampa office went unanswered.

[Last modified October 5, 2005, 01:14:17]