You can't fight progress

That's one developer's argument as he asks for higher density heading north.

By CHUIN-WEI YAP, Times Staff Writer
Published February 1, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - What does a 79-year-old bestselling author who lives in China have to do with the county's plans for growth management?

Quite a bit, if private sector planner King Helie has his way.

"Trends, like horses," said Helie quoting John Naisbitt, "are easier to ride in the direction they are going."

That quotation from Naisbitt was useful to Helie as he stood before the county's top staff planners Thursday, trying to persuade them to give greater density entitlements for a mixed-use development proposal just northeast of the Suncoast Parkway and State Road 52.

Helie meant that development is moving north up the parkway's corridor anyway - so why fight the trend?

He was trying to get county planners to change Pasco's growth blueprint.

The 534-acre property, owned by Bell Fruit and Zeneda Partners, is entitled to one home per acre. Helie wanted entitlements to build three homes per acre on 256 acres; 24 homes per acre on 37 acres; and light industry on 53 acres.

Some 178 acres of wetlands would be locked up as conservation area, part of a county-designated wildlife corridor that's going to become a little smaller under Bell Fruit-Zeneda's plans.

These land use changes are the opening act of development negotiations that could take years. A property's land use underlies its zoning entitlements, and hearings like the one held Thursday often set the tone for future negotiations and allow developers to test county planners' appetite for growth.

So did Naisbitt's nugget of apparent wisdom sway county planners?

Let's just say Helie scored a victory.

County staff had recommended the Development Review Committee deny the application.

But the committee agreed to postpone its decision for two weeks, and County Administrator John Gallagher said he'd like to see the western flank of the skinny parcel lined with commercial projects instead of 24-homes-per-acre apartments or townhouses.

"I can't see putting residential along the interstate," he said, meaning the Suncoast Parkway. "Let's put something that would generate tax base for the county there."

But he left Helie with a warning.

"Sometimes increased density costs you more than it's worth," he said. "Shady Hills Road is dangerous. That road is packed all the time. If you think you are going to add a lot of density, you better hold on to your wallet."

In other matters, county planners agreed to other land use changes, including:

- A 150-acre property owned by the Grimsley family, part of a 588-acre proposed development southwest of State Road 54 and Morris Bridge Road, will go from one home per acre to three homes per acre.

- A 3,500-acre property called Two Rivers, at Morris Bridge Road and the Hillsborough County line, will go from one home per acre to a collection of denser allowances. But the ruling comes with a condition that any development there has to undergo a stricter regulatory process, called the "development of regional impact" process, unless the state Department of Community Affairs says it's not required.

In late August, Two Rivers owner Robert Thomas had dropped development plans, but he is now laying the groundwork for future entitlements.

Chuin-Wei Yap can be reached at cyap@sptimes.com or 813909-4613.

[Last modified January 31, 2008, 21:48:31]