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New high-end project in works

By CHUIN-WEI YAP
Published January 3, 2007

SPRING HILL - Land O'Lakes developer John Dalfino made headlines in 2000 when he announced plans to turn an illegal rock 'n' roll campsite east of Ehren Cutoff - a favored haunt for members of the Outlaws motorcycle gang - into a 97-acre upscale subdivision.

He even called the 37-home development Outlaw Ridge, preserving a bit of local history in the monolith of suburbia.

Now Dalfino wants to bring the same touch to a 100-acre pasture in the northern reaches of central Pasco that used to belong to Hernando County developer Ralph Glover.

The property is zoned for more than 600 mobile homes.

But under Dalfino's plan, it's poised to become a ring of million-dollar homes around a 50-acre lake, to be called Lago Verde.

The lake will be the artificial leftover of a sand mine that Dalfino wants to dig before he creates the subdivision. Little wonder, with the cost of dirt having tripled since 2003 to $30.56 a cubic yard.

But if Outlaw Ridge is to be a model, Lago Verde may take years to get going, and only after the sand pit has been mined out.

To date, just a handful of homes are starting to get built in Outlaw Ridge, though a stately subdivision sign and a boat trailer park have gone up.

The Lago Verde proposal goes before the Planning Commission on Feb. 7 and is scheduled to be heard at the County Commission on Feb. 20 at the West Pasco Government Center in New Port Richey.

Dalfino, whose company is called Outlaw Ridge Inc., is behind other Pasco projects, including the 212-acre Asbel Creek at U.S. 41 and Asbel Road, Hidden River in Zephyrhills, and developments in Dade City. He is also working in Hillsborough County.

At Lago Verde, at the southwestern corner of U.S. 41 and Somerset Acres Lane, Dalfino wants to raise only 19 homes.

But these will be 19 pricey homes.

"They'll be high-end homes," he said. "Outlaw Ridge has $1.5-million homes in there. The design for Lago Verde is basically identical to the Outlaw Ridge subdivision."

County records show that the pasture is home to only a dairy feed warehouse, built in 1930.

As with Outlaw Ridge, part of the Lago Verde deal includes digging a huge sand mine that would later be a lake for the development.

Dirt from the 50-acre, 27-foot-deep pit will be sold or used for fill in the development, Dalfino said.

When all is said and done, the pit will be turned into a waterski lake, he said.

County records show that Dalfino bought the property from Glover in September 2005 for $3.2-million.

Chuin-Wei Yap covers growth and development. He can be reached at (813) 909-4613 or cyap@sptimes.com.

[Last modified January 2, 2007, 23:26:48]