Will development lead to fall of the wild?

Residents had grown used to the woody plot of land, home to tortoises, owls and large oaks. But that land was zoned for development years ago, and there is little they can do to stop it.

By JACKIE RIPLEY

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 16, 2001

CITRUS PARK -- A Pinellas County developer with a penchant for finding nooks and crannies to fill has discovered a sliver of land in Citrus Park where he hopes to shoehorn in a townhome complex.

Pioneer Developments of Tarpon Springs proposes building 68 townhouses on an 11-acre site bordering Rocky Creek, between the Eaglebrook and Turtle Creek subdivisions.

In addition to virtually razing the heavily wooded property, plans call for funneling traffic into and out of the development down Salamander Place, a street of about a dozen homes that intersects with Turtle Creek Boulevard.

"I don't think anyone on Turtle Creek Boulevard is aware of the impact," said Madonna Bocko, who lives on Salamander. "Not only have we been in the dark; our voices haven't been heard at all. I would have protested the whole way."

But there is virtually no forum for the homeowners since the land was zoned for planned development roughly 15 years ago and a rezoning is not necessary to develop the property for multifamily housing, such as townhomes.

"It's such an example of a poor use of this type of property," said Sierra Club member Lynn McGarvey. Thirty to 40 percent of the land "is wetlands, and in the small plot in uplands there are gopher tortoises, owls, woodpeckers and beautiful, very large oaks."

But having no voice has not stopped a group of Eaglebrook homeowners who met recently to discuss what, if anything, they can do to persuade Pioneer, which is owned by George Zutes and George Stamas, to at least limit the environmental impact the development would have on the land and on their 102-home subdivision.

The residents say the project, to be called Citrus Park Townhomes, would destroy a heavily wooded refuge that for years has been home to wildlife and a buffer against pollution and noise; and that it would add traffic to an already congested area.

"It's horrendous," said Patsy Couch, whose Eaglebrook home would abut the project. "When I'm walking my dog I see the birds, whippoorwills, fox. It's so pathetic, filling in every inch of every lot."

In fact, the property has sat fallow for so long that many residents say they their real estate agents led them to believe the tract was a preserve and would forever remain undeveloped.

Pioneer's president, George Zutes, said his company is sensitive to the residents' concerns and that engineers are working to preserve as many trees as possible. "We found the trees to be the biggest amenity because so many places today are barren sites," Zutes said. "It takes years and years for landscape to grow up. It's to everyone's benefit to give the neighborhood privacy."

Citrus Park Townhomes will start at about $120,000, Zutes said, and will be comparable with other homes in the area.

But because plans were preliminary, Zutes said he could not predict how many trees would have to be removed to make room for the town houses.

"We're going to try to get as many trees back on site as we can," said Carla Shelton, a senior forester with the county who is reviewing the project.

Because a tally of the trees was still being made, Shelton could not say how many would be cut, but she said the developer would be responsible for replanting "a couple of hundred" trees under the county's tree replacement policy.

The county uses a formula to calculate how many trees a developer must plant based on the number removed. And some trees might have to be planted elsewhere because there might not be room on the developed land. If there is no room, "some left over that won't fit" might be planted other places or be donated to the parks department," Shelton said.

Paul Carpinone, an environmental engineer whose Eaglebrook home would sit about 25 feet from the townhomes, said he is especially concerned about Pioneer's plans to cluster the 68 townhouses on eight of the property's 11 acres.

Carpinone said he also worries about Pioneer's plans to dig a 2.5-acre retention pond "that appears to encroach into the wetland conservation area along Rocky Creek."

And he is concerned that some of the dirt dug to create the pond would be used for fill to raise the property, which is in the 100-year flood plain.

"There are hurdles," said Mike Allgire, director of the county's permit services division. "But the main issue is the wetlands delineation and filling in the flood plain."

Allgire said the county's environmental restrictions are more stringent in a flood plain area.

Not all of the project's future neighbors oppose the deal. Jeff Harris, president of the Bellamy Road Home Owners Association, said he "would rather have townhomes than apartments."

"They start at $110,000, all within matching prices for our subdivision," said Harris, a real estate investor. "Why spend a lot of money, raising a ruckus and fighting a losing battle?"

The current zoning would allow multi-family housing but not apartments.

Harris said he hopes to work with Pioneer to get some amenities for the 135-home subdivision of Turtle Creek, including a playground and speed humps on Turtle Creek Boulevard.

Harris also said he hopes to persuade the county to approve a new road that would run parallel to Salamander, a route that would divert the Citrus Park Townhomes traffic to a new route through the middle of Turtle Creek's common grounds.

Allgire, though, said creating a new point of entry to the property would require a public hearing before the Hillsborough County Commission and it was unlikely that Pioneer would opt for that because it would also open the door to those opposed to the project.

Among special concern of some opposed to the project is the fate of wildlife on the property, especially gopher turtles.

"The birds will fly into the wetlands and the mobile animals" will get out, said the county's Shelton. But "the gopher tortoises are stuck where they are."

Developers are given two options regarding gopher tortoises: They can capture the animals and move them to an area set aside on the same site or destroy the tortoise's burrows, leave them to fend for themselves and pay into a state fund that maintains an off-site habitat for other relocated gopher tortoises.

"They're going to entomb them," said Carpinone, referring to the more common practice of plowing over gopher tortoise holes.

Admittedly, most of the neighbors would like to see the land remain virgin. And some said they would prefer single family homes because they would cause less destruction of the land and create less traffic.

Zutes, though, said the tract is too small to make a single family home subdivision profitable.

Anyway, Zutes said, "because it's a single family home doesn't make it better or more valuable. You can build a 1,200-square-foot box and call it a single family home."

But with townhomes, "there will be mandatory association fees and it will be kept in tip-top shape," Zutes said. "I've been to enough single family homes that look like a hodgepodge. The values didn't go up the same way they would if they had a planned town home community."

But no matter how nice Citrus Park Townhomes might be, neighbors, especially those on Salamander aren't convinced.

"I regret buying here," said Mary Wilson who lives on Salamander with her husband, Kenneth, their 11-year-old son and family pets. If the development is approved "there will be a car going by every 84 seconds."

Wilson said she recently stayed up until 2 a.m. writing letters to county officials, and that other residents were marshaling their forces to fight the project in any way they can.

Turtle Creek's not alone. Homeowners in Eaglebrook are also circulating petitions and writing letters to their county officials, including Hillsborough County Commissioner Jim Norman, whose district the property resides in.

As for Pioneer?

"We're trying to be a good neighbor," Zutes said. "We probably won't win a popularity contest by building in woods behind their houses, but we'll continue to leave the communication lines open."

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