Dade City to pen memo against Citrus Ridge plan

By HELEN ANNE TRAVIS, Times Staff Writer
Published January 9, 2008

DADE CITY - Commissioners will do all they can to fight certain aspects of a controversial development planned just outside the city limits, even if their only weapon is a memo.

At a special workshop Tuesday afternoon, commissioners met to discuss Citrus Ridge, a 112-acre "traditional home" project, complete with front porches and back alleys, planned near St. Joe Road.

The density of Citrus Ridge, they say, is too much for the area.

That's why commissioners tossed the idea when developers Bayshore-Broadway of Clearwater proposed including the project inside the city limits.

After they were rejected by the city, Bayshore took Citrus Ridge to the county. Developers wanted four homes per acre. The county wanted two. At a November meeting, the two sides settled at three homes per acre.

Still too dense for Dade City.

Commissioners worry about exit roads and traffic jams, flooding and future development in the area.

And though the matter is out of their hands, commissioners plan to send a memo to the county voicing their concern.

They hope they have at least one factor on their side.

The Citrus Ridge site, according to the city, is located in a spot the county designated as a transition area in its comprehensive plan.

The city's density on average is three homes per acre, City Attorney Karla Owens said Tuesday - the same as the proposed Citrus Ridge.

The logic that the transition area would have the same density as the city didn't sit well with staff. "It's supposed to step down," said city attorney Karla Owens. "That's the point of it."

The city has already written letters to the county and spoke against the development's density at the November meeting. Commissioners hope to have their memo ready before the county's Jan. 24 meeting.

But the city fears it won't have much say in the future of Citrus Ridge. "The final vote rests with the County Commission on this item," Owens said.

Helen Anne Travis can be reached at htravis@sptimes.com or 352 521-6518.

[Last modified January 8, 2008, 21:40:44]