Habitat not part of Trilby project

Once part of the planned development, its name still appears.

By CHUIN-WEI YAP, Times Staff Writer
Published January 24, 2008

TRILBY - On the application papers filed with the county, the proposal for a 57-home development had a ring of altruism to it:

"We would like to be able to develop lots the way they are for affordable housing and for Habitat For Humanity," wrote the developers behind the proposed Trilby Station project, off U.S. 98.

But there was a hitch: Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit agency that helps the homeless, isn't involved in the project.

The assertion caught the attention of some people in east Pasco, including Richard Riley, a 62-year-old Trilby man who's become a civic watchdog in Pasco's development affairs.

So they checked it out.

"I went to talk to John Finnerty, the president of Habitat for Humanity," Riley said. "He said, yes, he'd been talking to them but the price wasn't what they wanted to have."

Finnerty confirmed Riley's account.

"We were in negotiations with them, but we never signed a contract and don't intend to sign a contract," Finnerty said.

Finnerty said they couldn't agree on price - the sellers wanted more than $1-million at first, though they came back later with lower prices - and Finnerty also worried about getting enough home lots on that site.

More than a week later, at a community meeting that neighbors organized to discuss Trilby Station, the site's owner, Theresa Kelly, told residents that her project - to be developed by a Dade City company called T-Jak's - is not associated with Habitat for Humanity.

Kelly didn't reply to a call for comment.

Habitat for Humanity's name is still included in the application papers for Trilby Station that the county's top staff planners are going to consider today.

Kelly and T-Jak's are asking for an exemption from the county - officially called an "alternative standard" - so the developer can have narrower rights of way than what the law allows. Under the section titled "Justification" in their proposal, they cited the project's purported association with Habitat for Humanity.

County staff are recommending approval, with some conditions.

Finnerty said he could see why the owner may have mistakenly included Habitat for Humanity's name in its papers. After all, talks between them had gone on nearly two years, he said.

"I can't hit them on the head with it," he said. "Is it good they used our name? No. But do I understand it? Yes, I do."

Riley has an additional concern:

Despite assurances from Kelly that the site won't have mobile homes or trailers, Riley said he found out that the zoning designation for that site does not rule out some mobile homes.

Pasco zoning administrator Debra Zampetti confirmed that the site's "R3" zoning allows modular homes, though not trailers. Part of the site also sits on "agricultural-residential" zoning, which allows mobile homes.

"If Habitat for Humanity wants to build some homes in Trilby, I'll be there with a hammer and nails and screw gun, if they let me," Riley said. "But Kelly is positioning this land to be more valuable. ... I'm just concerned about a final product that may result if she sells it to another developer."

Chuin-Wei Yap can be reached at cyap@sptimes.com or (813)909-4613.

[Last modified January 23, 2008, 21:34:38]