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Dade City clears way for 125-acre project

Plans for Summit View, west of downtown, call for 306 houses and 100 townhouses.

By MOLLY MOORHEAD
Published January 11, 2006

DADE CITY - One of the city's first new large-scale residential developments gained approval Tuesday night, but only after arduous review by elected officials.

City commissioners unanimously gave the green light to Summit View, a 125-acre project west of downtown at Happy Hill Road and Abbot Charles Road. The neighborhood is zoned as a planned unit development, or PUD, which allows developers flexibility in design, lot size, use of open park space and density of homes.

According to plans, Summit View will have 306 houses and 100 townhouses.

PUD zoning also enables city officials to set any number of conditions.

In Summit View, city attorney Karla Owens required uniform mailboxes and street lights, 4-foot wide sidewalks along the streets and several architectural conditions.

City commissioners watered down some of them for Summit View. A condition that would have banned so-called "snout houses" that have a protruding garage and a recessed front door was softened to allow up to 25 percent of the homes to have a garage that extends no more than 8 feet beyond the roof line.

But stucco houses will have to have some accents to avoid a bland appearance, and all houses will need trim around the windows.

"You're not going to have everybody's front of their house look exactly the same," Owens said.

Steve Booth, the developer's attorney, said market forces should dictate how the houses look, not elected officials.

By insisting on extra features, Booth said, "what you're doing is pricing some people right out of the market."

Homes in Summit View will range from $220,000 to $350,000 or more.

City Manager Harold Sample said such debates will become more frequent as large developments are finally materializing in the city, long isolated from the county's rapid growth.

"Whatever you decide, you need to be prepared to live with several times," Sample told commissioners.

[Last modified January 11, 2006, 00:41:19]