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Residents oppose road as path to preserve

Some tell county officials that Tyler Road can't handle traffic to the site.

By JACKIE RIPLEY, Times Staff Writer
Published November 30, 2007

KEYSTONE 

The crowd that gathered at Keystone's Austin Davis Library on Tuesday night was not against setting aside 1,000 acres for conservation.

But many voiced concerns about Hillsborough County's plan to use Tyler Road to get there.

"I love the idea of a preserve, but we can't handle the traffic," said Nadine Peterson, who lives nearby. "You have to stop on the road to let other cars pass as it is."

The county spent $17-million for the 1,000 acres where Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties come together under the Environmental Lands Acquisition and Protection Program, or ELAPP. Ideally, traffic would use Tarpon Springs Road to enter the site, but Pinellas County owns that part of the road. That's why Hillsborough officials asked how residents felt about using Tyler Road instead.

"Typically, we don't have public meetings on ELAPP sites," said Kurt Gremley, the program's acquisitions manager. "But we've had a lot of people calling, concerned about access to the site."

Gremley told homeowners the county could recoup nearly half of its purchase price if it opened a small part of the site to the public. The use would be minimal and limited to hiking. It would, however, require an area for parking and a few picnic shelters.

The ELAPP proposal goes before county commissioners Wednesday.

Gremley told those opposed to the project that he would make county commissioners aware of their concerns at that time.

[Last modified November 29, 2007, 08:05:57]