Center okayed despite protests

The project needs the approval still of Hernando County commissioners.

By DAN DEWITT
Published July 10, 2007

BROOKSVILLE - A county planning board recommended approval of a 400,000-square-foot shopping center on Spring Hill Drive on Monday despite neighbors' objections that it would bring increased crime and traffic.

Though a real estate broker who helped assemble the 53-acre parcel previously said the main tenant would likely be a SuperTarget store, the developer's representative would not confirm that Monday.

"No leases have been signed," said Darryl Johnston, a Brooksville lawyer representing Regency Centers of Jacksonville, which will develop and operate the center.

The county Planning and Zoning Commission voted to approve the plan by a 4-1 majority, with Commission Chairman Anthony Palmieri casting the opposing vote. The project still needs the approval of the County Commission.

The property on Spring Hill Drive is just east of the Suncoast Parkway and about a half-mile from the planned Wal-Mart Supercenter on Barclay Road. Besides the site for the large store, the Regency project will include another retail store covering about 100,000 square feet and several parcels for smaller stores and restaurants along Spring Hill Drive.

The land includes the current site of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10209, which will move to a parcel on Anderson Snow Road. Most of the rest of the property was originally owned by Joscha Ltd., which is based in the Cayman Islands. Its owners include Joannes Shallekamp, who helped create the massive Holland Springs development of regional impact just to the north, and who previously received commercial zoning for most of the Regency property.

The commission recommended rezoning for a small section of the property now designated for agricultural use and creating a planned development district covering the entire property, a zoning classification required for large shopping centers.

The short road through the property, now called Rotterdam Loop, will be incorporated into a collector road called Aerial Way that will be built by the developer and the county. This will connect Spring Hill Drive with U.S. 41 and, eventually, join an extension to County Line Road.

But opponents from Springwood Estates, just across Spring Hill Drive from the property, were more concerned about the traffic coming from the north.

Drivers already use their subdivision's main road, Spring Park Way, as a shortcut between Powell Road and Spring Hill Drive, they said. The draw of a large shopping center will increase this traffic.

"The shopping center will not be compatible with the surrounding area due to its enormous size," Karrie Miller, who lives on Spring Park, told the commission.

"Do we really need another large shopping plaza? There are already three shopping plazas serving the proposed area, two of which were built in the past year."

Johnston said Regency has agreed to install traffic-calming devices on Spring Park to slow traffic on the road. Its lighting will be designed to shine away from the residential area. The planning commission recommended forbidding the large stores from opening after 10 p.m. or before 7 a.m.

Dan DeWitt can be reached at (352) 754-6116 or dewitt@sptimes.com

[Last modified July 9, 2007, 23:11:25]