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A farm becomes victim of growth

A developer's proposal will replace the cows at Tower Dairy with hundreds of new homes.

By S.I. ROSENBAUM
Published November 11, 2005

PALM RIVER - Sammy Busciglio gazes at his cows, at their massive heads pushed through the bars of the stanchion. They gaze back at him, with huge, liquid eyes.

"Take a look at that cow there," Busciglio says. "She just loves her food. That's like a plate of spaghetti to her. Watch her take a big mouthful."

Busciglio loves cows. He loves milking them, feeding them, caring for them. He loves being a dairyman.

But Tower Dairy, the farm Busciglio's family has owned for six decades, will soon be gone. Its 250 acres will become a subdivision.

A development company, Priority Development, has a purchase agreement for the property and has applied to the county to change the zoning on the property from agricultural to residential.

They've also submitted a site plan for building 588 houses and 620 apartments or condominiums.

Selling the dairy wasn't Busciglio's decision. He doesn't own the farm, his family does. They want to sell the valuable property, he said.

"Everyone wants their inheritance from their fathers," he said. "This is what they all got coming. Everybody's waited a long time for that."

The farm was founded in 1948 by Busciglio's father, Joe Busciglio, and his uncles, Sam and Joe Romano. Back then, Palm River was the edge of civilization.

"There was nothing out there but weeds, palmettos, rattlesnakes," Sammy Busciglio said. "This was the end of the line."

Almost 60 years later, the dairy is only one of roughly 25 development projects in the area, said Liz Gutierrez, director of the community advocacy group Palm River POINT.

"There's just an enormous level of development that's happening in a pretty small area," Gutierrez said. "I think the developers as well as the county need to take into consideration the lack of infrastructure to support these developments."

Palm River residents are concerned about the lack of adequate roads, schools and sewers around the dairy, Gutierrez said.

Marlise Tolbert-Jones, who grew up in Palm River, said 78th Street, at the dairy's entrance, is too narrow to support more traffic.

"We've been driving down a two-lane highway for over 40 years and that's what we're still driving down," she said.

Derek Roberts, an engineer working for Priority Development, said the company has already met with residents to hear their concerns before a zoning hearing on Dec. 5. They're looking at ways to alleviate traffic problems, he said. Still, he said, most neighbors "would much rather it remain a farm," he said.

Tolbert-Jones feels that way. Her brothers worked on the dairy when they were kids, she said. Now, she wants it to be there for the next generation.

"I have a 4-year-old daughter, and sometimes when I'm driving down 36th Street I pull over and let my daughter look at the cows," she said.

One of Busciglio's earliest memories is of his father teaching him to drive an old hand-clutch tractor. He was 5 years old.

He grew up working on the dairy farm, clearing land, milking cows. He wanted to follow in the footsteps of his beloved namesake, Sam Romano.

His brothers felt otherwise. One became an orthodontist, the other a veterinarian.

Of Sammy's own sons, one is a pharmacist. But the other, Jeff, works on the dairy farm. He loves the work as much as his father does.

"It's not for everybody," said Jeff Busciglio, 32. "You have to be born into it."

Sammy Busciglio said that if it weren't for his son, he would consider just giving up the dairy. But he wants to be able to pass the business on to his boy.

So he's been looking for a new home for the dairy.

"I'm preparing myself to move on," he says. "Whatever happens here, whatever comes in, God bless 'em. I want to be some other place, milking cows."

But so far, he hasn't had much luck.

"It's been awful," he said. "I can't find no place to relocate this dairy that's not way out of town. There's no land to be bought where you can afford it."

S.I. Rosenbaum can be reached at 661-2442 or srosenbaum@sptimes.com

[Last modified November 10, 2005, 09:34:06]