Editor Gary Nager has picked his local food favorites.
How do his Green and Middle Eastern choices stack up to the choices of the New Tampa and Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News readers?
Check it out:
Residents who live near Quail Hollow Golf & Country Club (G&CC) may not be able to save their golf course, but their concerns about flooding and traffic may help determine exactly how many homes are built on the land that currently is home to their beloved links.
At a public hearing on Jan. 12 at the Dade City Courthouse, QHG&CCâs owner asked to have its request for rezoning the property for 400 homes delayed while it looks into developing a plan that wouldnât require a zoning change, per the suggestion of the Pasco County Developmental Review Committee (DRC).
Andre Carolloâs Pasco Office Park LLC, the owner of the golf course (located at 6225 Old Pasco Rd., north of Wesley Chapel Blvd.), was represented at the DRC meeting by his attorney Barbara Wilhite.
Carollo has been seeking to rezone the property from R1, which allows for homes on 20,000-sq.-ft. lots, to a Master Planned Unit Development (MPUD), which allows for homes on 4,000âsq.-ft. lots.
In essence, Carollo is hoping to squeeze roughly 400 homes on the 175-acre site, as opposed to the 283 he would be limited to under the current zoning.
More than 100 residents were in attendance at the meeting, and two dozen spoke. While many lamented the loss of green space and privacy, one of the biggest concerns was the 6,811-yard golf courseâs propensity for flooding.
The belief of residents is that the golf course canât handle 400 homes, and that construction of those houses would exacerbate a long-standing problem.
âDuring rainy season, itâs a mess,ââ said Linda Garrett, who lives on Sandbagger Ln. âWhen it rains, it floods the course and fills a ditch on the side of my house. How is the flooding and runoff not going to affect us?â
Chief assistant county attorney David Goldstein asked if there was a flood study or any experts or staff members who could definitively answer if the land could handle 400 homes, but none were forthcoming.
Because DRC members have only seen plans for 400 homes, Goldstein asked to see a plan for 283 homes.
âIt would be helpful to conceptually analyze what the property would look like as R1,ââ he said, for the sake of comparison.
Wilhite asked for time to produce such a plan and said she will present it at a future DRC meeting. The project would need final approval from the Pasco Board of County Commissioners.
The delay seemed to please the crowd crammed into the courthouse, although Goldstein warned that the DRC didnât have the power to save the golf course.
âIâd hate to think that anybody in this audience thinks this board has the power to require this land to stay a golf courseâŚbecause we donât,â Goldstein said. âThis land is zoned R1. The DRC can recommend it stays R1. But, it is not within our purview (to say) that it stays a golf course.â
And it wonât.
âI understand that everybody still wants the golf course and would hope my client maintains it so they could have a park behind their house forever, but thatâs not the reality,ââ Wilhite said.
Someone in the crowd yelled out, âThen why did you sell it to us like that?â
Wilhite responded, âThe reality is, the property has always been zoned for residential use; it was never zoned to be a golf course.â
Two DRC members â assistant county administrators Cathy Pearson and Flip Mellinger â expressed condolences for those who bought homes years ago, at a premium price, that were on a golf course but now appear likely to be surrounded by new homes in the future.
Despite its residential zoning, Mellinger said there was no mistaking it was sold as a golf course community. He had just listened to residents from Sandbagger Ln., Golf Course Lp., Country Club Rd. and 9 Iron Ct. plead their cases.
âWhen I look at the street names, you canât tell me it wasnât sold to them as a golf course community,ââ Mellinger said. He added that the course was built in 1965, before the county had zoning laws, and in the 1990s took advantage of the new rules to change it to an R1. He said he would recommend that it stay as an R1.
Quail Hollow G&CC has had a up-and-down existence the past decade, even closing for two years in 2008-10. Carollo bought the property for $1.7 million in 2010 and the nicely refurbished course and clubhouse drew rave reviews when they re-opened.
When Metro Development president Greg Singleton was first told about a crystal lagoon, with its heavenly blue, ultra-clean water and sandy beaches, he confesses that he was a little underwhelmed.
But, at 30,000 feet, laying eyes on one for the first time a few months later, Singleton says he started sipping the Kool-Aid.
On Feb. 2, while standing in front of a crowd of more than 100 people at the official groundbreaking ceremony for the first Crystal Lagoon to be built in the U.S., Singleton was sipping champagne as he led a toast celebrating a sneak preview of the Metro Lagoon by Crystal Lagoons coming to the Epperson development Wesley Chapel.
With developers, home builders, county commissioners and the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC) on hand at what could someday be home to as many as 3,000 homes off Curley Rd. (less than three miles north of S.R. 54), Metro Development showed off the beginnings of the massive project which currently is one large hole in the ground â while selling a vision so bright, the developer felt the need to hand out white Crystal Lagoon shades.
Epperson is part of the larger Connected City project, a high-tech, ultrafast gigabit community covering roughly 7,800 acres stretching from northern Wesley Chapel into San Antonio. That project is still working its way through the Pasco County Board of County Commissioners.
Crystal Lagoons are expected to become one of the fastest-growing amenities in the country, and was the star of the preview show. The 7.5- acre lagoon at Epperson will be 4,200 linear square feet (almost a mile) in circumference and will have an average depth of 8 feet, with some areas as deep as 10-12 feet.
Developed by real estate developer and biochemist Fernando Fischmann, it will be like âswimming in a bottle of Zephyrhills water,ââ Singleton said during the event.
Thatâs possible because of a patented pulse disinfection and ultrasonic filtration system, as well as 400 sensors monitoring the water. Singleton said the lagoon will use less water and chemicals than a golf course or park when it comes to maintenance.
Some of those on hand (including Neighborhood News editor Gary Nager) were taken up 75 feet in a tethered hot-air balloon for an aerial view of the lagoon, which will be the first operational Crystal Lagoon ever in the U.S., while the less adventurous were raised in mechanical lifts.
With the exception of a few kayaks laid out among the piles of dirt, there was little to see, but plenty to imagine.
âIt will be the most incredible amenity you will ever see,ââ said Scott Andreason, the director of landscape architecture with Heidt Design, which is designing the surrounding features of the Metro Lagoon, such as:
⢠The Hub, which will provide access to the lagoon, and include a large plaza to host community events, like farmers markets, a synthetic lawn covered with shade sails, a stage for live entertainment like bands, and a huge outdoor television for sports and movie viewing.
⢠A restaurant and swim-up bar, with an extended plaza behind the restaurant for food trucks and the ability to host weddings and corporate events, as well as a zero-entry access to the lagoon.
â˘Venture Bay, for paddleboarders and kayakers.
â˘Gasparilla Island, which Andreason describes as an âendless islandâ with hammocks, cabanas and umbrellas, and a âTidal Waterâ area where the water rises from zero to 3.5-feet deep.
â˘Cabana Pool, a cove within the lagoon completely surrounded by cabanas. In the middle of it, an entertainment pavilion to accommodate a deejay or band, and another large television screen.
⢠The Grotto, which Andreason calls the âgemâ of the lagoon; it will feature a waterfall.
⢠Town Center & Getaway Cove, which will have beaches where you can watch the sun set.
With gigabit internet, homes by Pulte, DR Horton, Miranda and Apex Homes and what will be a one-of-a-kind lagoon â at least, for now â Singleton says the goal at Epperson Ranch is simple:
âWe want to make it very difficult for you to go elsewhere.â
Crystal Lagoons CEO Uri Man his company, which has more than 1,500 patents in 60 countries, already has 15 contracts to build other lagoons in the U.S., and will build hundreds in the next few years.
âItâs exciting,ââ he said.
He also noted that a recent Boston Consulting study says more than 2,000 lagoons will be built nationwide over next 15 years. Crystal Lagoons already has more than 600 projects in development across the globe.
But, Wesley Chapel will be the first in this country. After Epperson, Metro is scheduled to build a lagoon near the Mirada development just south of S.R. 52, also in the Connected City. It also has plans to build in the Riverview area and in Fort Myers. For more info, visit MetroPlaces.com or Facebook.com/CrystalLagoonWC.
Editor Gary Nager has picked his local food favorites.
How do his Japanese/Sushi choices stack up to the choices of the New Tampa and Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News readers?
Check it out:
Editor Gary Nager has picked his local food favorites.
How do his pizza choices stack up to the choices of the New Tampa and Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News readers?
Check it out:
