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Road's backers benefit from it

The proposed four-county beltway is getting some of its biggest support from people who own land along the route.

By MICHAEL VAN SICKLER and JANET ZINK
Published August 10, 2006

TAMPA - After the unveiling last month of a regional beltway through the Tampa Bay area, some planners and residents worried the road could fuel sprawling growth.

Hillsborough County commissioners, though, blessed it as "excellent" and "bold." And some transportation officials and business interests said it was key to keeping the area's economy vital by easing traffic congestion.

But a Times examination of more than 1,000 property records shows that some of this early support comes from those with economic and political interests along the proposed route.

- Bob Clark Jr., a board member of the Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority, which is spearheading the project, co-owns 290 acres of Pasco County land near the proposed route.

- County Commission Chairman Jim Norman is pushing for a new $40-million regional sports complex in northeastern Hillsborough. The beltway, about 5 miles from the complex site, would be a new highway near a project about which planners have said roads are a concern.

- Expressway Authority officials said their goal is to relieve gridlock, not to spur new development in rural areas of Hillsborough and Pasco counties. The road, however, would bisect thousands of acres already owned by developers and home builders, or by landowners who hope to sell for development.

All of those asked by the Times about the intersection between the toll road and their properties said they had no insider knowledge of the project or an active role in getting it this far.

But many echoed the sentiments of Gerald Davis, whose family owns 569 acres in south Hillsborough along the proposed route, where they now grow citrus and own nurseries. He said after years of farming, he was ready for change.

"We've worked our whole life to get to this point," he said. "A road like that makes this land out here more appealing."

* * *

The Expressway Authority has proposed building 70 miles of new toll road starting at U.S. 19 in Pinellas County, going east through Pasco County, south through Hillsborough and then west in Manatee. Planners say if approved, the first segments could open by 2015.

The road's roots go back to 2001, when the authority's board asked staff members to look at projects to take on after completing elevated lanes for the Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway.

They came up with the beltway, saying the proposed route addresses existing congestion and future growth.

"The development's going to come to these areas with or without this road," said Ralph Mervine, the authority's executive director.

Still, the road is likely to increase the development potential and thus the property values of parcels now devoted to farming, recreation or preservation.

"When you put a major expressway through vacant and rural land, you essentially re-create the landscape," said Warren Weathers, Hillsborough County's assistant property appraiser. "Within a few years, the land around it will no longer be considered rural because you've created a lightning rod for development due to easier access, site potential for big box development and subdivisions."

Among those who could benefit is Bob Clark Jr., a member of the Expressway Authority's board of directors since 2003.

Clark's father bought more than 200 acres in Pasco County in the 1950s that is now held in a family trust. Clark and one of his brothers bought 80 adjacent acres in 2001.

The road is likely to bump up the value of the property, Clark said, but he and his brothers have no plans to sell or develop it.

"It's just a playground for the family," he said. "We go up there and fish."

On the other hand, he said, "the risk you run by holding onto property like that is all the people who are environmentally sensitive will one day fix it so you can't develop it. You'd have to build one house for every 50 acres."

The Expressway Authority board hasn't yet been briefed as a group on the new toll road, or made formal decisions about it. But when that time comes, Clark said, he's not worried about a conflict of interest.

"I'm just one of seven members of the board. There's no way I could sway what was going to happen," he said.

Mervine said he did not know Clark's family owned land in Pasco County, and Clark did not offer any input on the route. The corridor, he said, was chosen because it had open space close to existing population centers.

In Pasco County, the route brushes Connerton, a 4,800-acre community slated for 8,700 homes.

Stewart Gibbons, vice president and general manager of Connerton developer Terrabrook, said the toll road suggested appears to provide easy access to the 2-million-square-foot Connerton town center, which is intended to serve the entire region.

"Having transportation from various directions would be helpful," he said.

A new major road also could prove helpful to Hillsborough County Commission Chairman Jim Norman.

The beltway would come within about five miles of a $40-million sports complex with football, soccer and baseball fields that Norman wants built north of Plant City.

Commissioners have okayed a feasibility study of the complex. In a September 2005 report, county planners said careful consideration would be needed as to whether existing roads could handle the increased traffic.

But Norman, who lauded plans last week for the beltway, said he never considered that it could improve the chances his complex would get built.

He agreed the road would benefit the park, if both are built. But that's not why he threw his support behind the beltway.

Norman said he proposed a similar roadway in Hillsborough some five years ago. His aim has always been to put such a road where it would affect few existing homes and businesses.

"It makes common sense if you utilize unbuilt areas, you have your road cheaper, quicker and you'd have a major new road system," Norman said.

Large homebuilders own big chunks of land near the proposed road south of Interstate 4. Taylor Woodrow Homes plans to build 430 homes east of the route and would welcome the road.

"Anything that can help people get to their jobs, it's all positive," said vice president of sales and marketing Lonnie Herman. "The area has suffered a bit because of limited access."

In south Hillsborough, the proposed route also bisects properties owned by people who tried for a highway on a similar route 20 years ago.

The Big Bend Area Group was a coalition of large landowners who in the 1980s sought greater protections of their property and development rights. The road plan died for lack of political support.

The group's hired lobbyist at the time was Joe Smith, who today is leading efforts by the Tampa Bay Partnership to organize a regional transportation authority that can plan and finance projects across county lines.

The partnership, an economic development group, has given its support to further study of the beltway, as long as it includes a mass transit component. Smith has praised the beltway idea and called the proposed route good and logical.

Smith said he ended his financial relationship with the Big Bend group in 1987.

Smith's son-in-law, Joe Willis, owns 48 acres of land next to the beltway route. Next to that property are another 260 acres owned by Willis' father, Josiah. Both were bought more than 20 years ago.

Smith said he first met with expressway officials to discuss the project four months ago. He said he thinks the expressway will hurt, not help his son-in-law's property, but that he didn't share what he learned with Willis.

"I haven't even talked about it with Joe to avoid any conflict," Smith said, who added he also informed Mervine and partnership officials that his family owned land near the route.

Joe Willis grows tomatoes and watermelons on his land. He said he only learned about the project in detail from newspapers.

Many members of the now defunct Big Bend group still own land in the area and some say they wouldn't mind seeing the beltway happen.

"It would enhance the area," said Dan Tillett, whose father was active in the landowners group and who herds cattle about a half-mile east of the proposed route. "Without it, traffic on local roads will only get worse."

Times staff writer Bill Varian and researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report. Michael Van Sickler can be reached at (813) 226-3402.

What's Next:

Hillsborough County commissioners gave their support last week to the Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority for a proposed four-county toll road. The authority will take the plan to Pasco commissioners on Aug. 22 and Pinellas County officials in September. A meeting in Manatee County is not scheduled.

If all counties agree to the concept, the Expressway Authority will need to get the project on the long-range transportation plans of Metropolitan Planning Organizations. Then design and engineering studies can begin with the Florida Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration.

The authority will also need to explore funding possibilities with Florida Turnpike officials and the private sector.

[Last modified August 10, 2006, 01:07:17]