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© St. Petersburg Times, published September 12, 2001
Editor: Leave it to an attorney representing another one of Pasco County's 1,599 specials to threaten a lawsuit regarding the newly approved tree ordinance.
These "1,599 home specials" are not considered to be Developments of Regional Impact because they don't have one more home packed in. In reality, lots of developers are playing a game of hopscotch across rural Land O'Lakes to keep the numbers out of the Development of Regional Impact category.
Land O'Lakes is being impacted in heartbreaking ways. The natural beauty of the area and the multitudes of wildlife are being compressed as if by a giant compactor.
How much money does it take to be happy?
This quality-of-life vs. developers situation going on in all of Pasco County is like a giant monopoly game. Most of us who truly care do not have a lot of money to fight. And many of the big money developers we are defending ourselves from do not even live in Pasco County. I quote the developer of Meadow Pointe and Oakstead, Don Buck, president of Devco Corp., regarding a parcel of green space remaining on the new State Road 56 in Wesley Chapel.
"It is a hole in the map and it made sense that we buy it. We don't know what we are going to do with it," Buck said to the Tampa Tribune in an Aug. 14 story.
When our Gov. Jeb Bush visited New Tampa, he asked why the runaway growth there could not be controlled and was told by Hillsborough County commissioners that they were afraid of being sued. Gov. Bush said, "It sounds like you need some new attorneys."
Our County Attorney Robert Sumner and the staff that care about preserving the quality of life that is Pasco County are doing a great job trying to do what is right.
Let's not let the people of our county be bulldozed over and paved over like the poor gopher tortoises and the endangered wildlife of Pasco County. Get involved.
The county you save may be your own.
-- Debbie Moore, Land O'Lakes
Re: Mail carrier should be taken off route, Sept. 4 letter
Editor: I read the letter complaining about the mail carrier. I have the same person deliver mail to me and I find the man to be a perfect gentleman, and a very capable carrier who goes the extra yard.
If there is a personality problem, I suggest that Mr. Kolb, the letter writer, consider a mailbox at the post office, thereby avoiding contact with the carrier.
-- William Jacobsen, Hudson
Editor: Eureka! Wonders will never cease. After years -- more than I care to remember -- of waiting, we were treated Friday, Sept. 7, to a Glidewell column without a single "I," "my,"' "me," or "mine" in reference to himself.
He did, however, manager to slip in a "we" and an "us."
-- Bob Wilson, Bayonet Point
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