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Letter to the editor

What to expect in 2008

By Times Staff Writers
Published January 4, 2008

Redevelopment, redevelopment, redevelopment. Sounds bureaucratic. But the brains behind these movements promise better places to live, and we should see the fruits of some of these efforts in 2008. In some communities, the earthmovers are already busy. In others, they're still crunching the numbers. The buzz words "walkability" and "neotraditional" have not gone completely out of vogue, although don't push your car off a cliff just yet. In Citrus Park, developers are navigating new rules in the county's community plan. In Temple Terrace, they're trying to remake a commercial strip into a fully functioning town center. In Tampa Palms, homeowners are re-investing in Vision 2011 to keep this fashionable community on par with the newer ones around it. And, of course, the elections. But we'll get to those later.

Citrus Park

This is the year that will see segments of the Citrus Park Village Plan fall into place.

But it's not the achievement many foresaw when they helped craft it nearly five years ago.

"They've taken something that could have been workable and beautiful and made it almost impossible," said Cheryl Pulley, president of the Citrus Park Civic Association.

The Citrus Park Village Plan calls for higher-density development and a village center that would surround the Upper Tampa Bay Trail. It would include shopping, restaurants, local business offices, civic uses and apartments. The plan, which is similar to the historic Hyde Park area in south Tampa, calls for a well balanced mix of land use.

Critics of the plan, however, say it's just a vehicle for developers to pave over wetlands and build at so high a density that it would change the once rural character of the community.

Those in favor of the plan say it will provide a main street where interesting shops beckon and pedestrians can feel safe on the sidewalks.

Jackie Ripley

Temple Terrace

After facing loads of criticism over the past six years, the Temple Terrace City Council is moving forward with a plan to redevelop the downtown shopping district.

A walkable, mixed-use development plan squeaked by a council vote, putting developer Ram/Pinnacle on track to close as early as July.The company may pay $13.2-million for 16.9 acres on N 56th Street and Bullard Parkway.

But even though the city has committed to the plan, the developer still has three months to back out of the sale.

"We really hope we can break ground in the third quarter of 2008," said council member Allison Fernandez. "This has been going on for a long time now."

Robbyn Mitchell

New Tampa

With New Tampa pretty much built out, about the only place you can find new home construction is the K-Bar Ranch area. Easton Park, a 600-home development off Morris Bridge Road, has about 200 families moved in.

"We're thinking we'll sell little bit more than 100 more homes next year," said Marc Mobley, vice president of Mobley Homes, the K-Bar developer.

On the Kinnan Street side, Stone Creek Townhomes is about 75 percent sold out. Mobley predicts the remaining 24 units will sell this year.

Also on the Kinnan Street side is a cluster of high-end homes called Basset Creek. Five families have already moved into Phase 1, made up of 116 lots, and some closings are scheduled for this month, Mobley said.

"Probably, realistically in the coming year, we'll get pretty close to moving through all the lots in Phase 1 and begin construction on Phase 2," he said.

The exciting news, Mobley said, is that they hope to soon reach a deal with both the city and the county on a joint regional park facility off Kinnan Street. If that deal is reached, construction on the 80-acre regional park can begin midyear, he said.

"It'd be great for the area if we can get it done," Mobley said.

Dong-Phuong Nguyen

Tampa Palms

Vision 2011, the taxing district's modernization project for areas 1 and 2, is on schedule to begin monument sign construction in March.

The five-year, $3-million plan will improve everything from entrance signs to amenities in the community parks.

The first order of business is to agree on a price structure and time frame to replace Tampa Palms' blue tile monument signs. The new signs will be black granite with gold lettering.

Homeowners have endorsed the plan in the interest of helping the relatively mature Tampa Palms hold onto its home values in a declining housing market.

Robbyn Mitchell

The elections

Most of north Hillsborough's incumbent politicians will be running for new terms alongside the presidential candidates.

CountyCommission

Already, County Commissioner Ken Hagan is being challenged by fellow Republican Tom Aderhold, president of the Keystone Civic Association, and by Edmund Wonder, a Democrat from Lutz.

State representative

State Rep. Kevin Ambler, R-Lutz, faces Adam Phinney of Citrus Park, who has no party affiliation.

House of Representatives

Two challengers, Democrat Bill Mitchell and Richard Emmons of the Term Limits for the United States Congress Party, have filed to run against U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Palm Harbor.

State representative

Nobody has filed to challenge state Rep. Ed Homan of Temple Terrace.

Bill Coats

Keystone

The Keystone Civic Association spent last year fighting and it's going to spend this year fighting, too.

First challenger: Ernie Haire. Back in October, the Tampa car dealer petitioned Hillsborough County for a helistop at a home on Crawley Road. Property records list his mother, Mary, and Haire Properties LLP, as the owner. Haire, who lives in Avila, uses the home sometimes on the weekends.

Hillsborough County requires a minimum 500-foot distance between helistops and homes. A handful of homes are less than 500 feet away from the proposed helistop and some Keystone homeowners worry that noise from a helicopter could disrupt their quality of life and that of the wildlife that calls the area home.

Hearings on the matter have been rescheduled four times, the latest being Jan. 11.

Next up: those proposed amendments to Hillsborough County's comprehensive plan, a blueprint of sorts that determines where and what kind of construction is allowed. There are 13 of them on the books. Four could change the rural face and feel of this northwest Hillsborough community.

One would subtract 268 acres from Lutz-Lake Fern Road west of the Suncoast Parkway.

Another would add 596 homes and 175,000 square feet of commercial space to the same area and change its land use designation from "agricultural rural" to "suburban mixed-use."

Yet another would revise a long-standing policy of one house per 5 acres and make way for 174 homes and 110,000 square feet of commercial space at Van Dyke Road.

And the last one would permit public water and sewer service through rural areas and increase the density of rural developments.

"They have all the trappings of an attempt to peck away at our rural boundary lines," said Tom Aderhold, president of the Keystone Civic Association.

Last October, homeowners authorized the association to withdraw up to $5,000 from its legal defense fund to contest the proposed amendments.

The planning commission will discuss them at a public hearing Jan. 14.

And the final competitor: Stephen Dibbs, the Northdale developer who wants to dig 2.5-million cubic yards of dirt for road and construction projects from 50 acres of Lutz-Lake Fern Road. Digging would last a decade. So would the noise from truck traffic. County officials recommended approval of the project and it looked as if Dibbs' proposed borrow pit was close to approval.

Then Nov. 16 came. That day, hearing officer Harold Youmans presided over a four-hour land use hearing that opponents said violated their due process rights. Youmans agreed and, on Dec. 11, called for a new hearing to give opponents and Dibbs' team equal time to present their cases for and against the borrow pit. No date has been set for the new hearing.

Rodney Thrash

Westchase

Community enhancements will take center stage in Westchase.

First, there's the new 1,000- square-foot community center, which will house a conference room and the property manager's office.

"The new facility is going to give us additional meeting space and convenient and very visible access to our property managers," said Ruben Collazo, president of the Westchase Community Association.

Currently, the three-person management staff is housed in a warehouse behind Westchase Elementary. At an association meeting in November, property manager Patty Stewart described wretched working conditions: inadequate space, lack of outdoor lighting, the smell of dead rats.

Last month, the board authorized Stewart to negotiate a 6 1/2-month lease for up to $1,600 per month for short-term office space behind the Publix on Linebaugh Avenue and Countryway Boulevard. The staff and its members were expected to move to the temporary facility at year's end, while the permanent center - which will cost $250,000 - is under construction. Work should be done by summer 2008, Collazo said.

As new buildings rise, Westchase must figure out how to maintain the ones it has. Across the country, the housing market has taken a hit and Westchase is no exception. Bankruptcy and foreclosure have left a large number of abandoned homes in this master-planned community "to weeds and general disrepair," Collazo said.

"A lot of residents have the perception that the homeowner association has the authority to spruce them up while we wait for the homes to change hands but that's not the case at all," he said. "We've consulted with our attorney and we cannot trespass on private property for any reason."

Collazo said it is frustrating to have eyesores in this high-end suburb, but the best the association can do is wait for a sale to take place. "It's a new and difficult issue that the board has got to deal with," he said.

Rodney Thrash

Thing to do 

CARROLLWOOD - This time it's for real. Or at least organizers hope so. Originally set to debut in 2005, the $7-million Carrollwood Cultural Center is scheduled to open March 2.

Registration for classes is scheduled to begin March 3, with the first classes starting March 10. Classes might include jazz and chamber music, photography and tai chi.

The product of a partnership between the county and community organization Friends of Carrollwood Cultural Center, the center should be a beacon for cultural activity, according to Friends president Tom Jones.

For more than a year, the nonprofit group has been holding concerts at the annex as work finishes on the main center and will continue the concert series there until the grand opening.

When the cultural center is completed, Jones envisions a seven-day-a-week operation, where people from all over the area can come to drink coffee, talk to friends, work in the arts rooms, take lessons, create pottery and attend recitals.

Amber Mobley

Schools 

When Sgt. Paul Smith Middle School opens in August on the campus of Citrus Park Elementary School in Citrus Park, anticipate a shift of students at multiple North Tampa middle schools, said Steve Ayers, director of pupil administrative services for the district.

Davidsen, Farnell, Martinez, Walker and Webb may be affected, but nothing is definite yet.

School system representatives will present boundary maps for Smith, named for a deceased Medal of Honor winner, at a Jan. 23 community meeting at 7 p.m. at Sickles High School, 7950 Gunn Highway. It will be the first of many meetings to come throughout the early part of 2008.

Later this month, earth movers are to rumble onto former pastures in Lutz to begin the construction of Steinbrenner High School in time for classes in August 2009. The $67-million high school will join McKitrick Elementary School and Martinez at the northeast corner of Lutz-Lake Fern Road and the Suncoast Parkway.

Next door, contractors are to begin work this fall to build an interchange for the Suncoast at Lutz-Lake Fern. It also is to open in August of 2009. The changes will include a westward move of the trailhead for the Suncoast Trail.

And Hillsborough County contractors by the fall will begin widening Lutz-Lake Fern to four lanes. The first segment, from the Suncoast to the Cheval and VillaRosa entrances, is to be finished by August 2009 along with a signalized intersection for the schools' combined entrance. The remainder of the Lutz-Lake Fern widening is to be finished by 2012 - sooner if several uncertainties clear away, said Edd Arnold, the county's project manager.

Bill Coats and Amber Mobley

Sports and recreation 

NEW TAMPA - About 20 years after officials first talked about placing cabins in county-run parks, it's finally expected to become a reality at the end of 2008.

Flatwoods Park, 8 square miles sandwiched between Tampa Palms and Hunter's Green and known for its 7-mile looped bicycle trail, will become the first park in the county to offer cabins.

According to Richard Mayer, senior project engineer for Swiftmud, which owns the land, the agency is spending $1.8-million for a road, utilities, restrooms and showers for the cabins complex.

Officials are awaiting permits and hope to take bids in the spring. Construction will begin in the fall, with a completion date of December. Then, the county will install eight bare-bones cabins for legal overnight camping.

Dong-Phuong Nguyen

Correction

Adam Phinney, a candidate for state representative, lives in Carrollwood. 

[Last modified January 7, 2008, 12:40:46]