A potential new development, to be anchored by a pharmacy, could be headed for the corner of S.R. 54 and Curley Rd.
While development proceeds in the busy S.R. 56 corridor, from Culverâs going up east of Bruce B. Downs Blvd. to Blaze Pizza and others breaking ground to the west in the hectic Cypress Creek Town Center area, representatives from Stella Management Group met with Pasco County planning officials about a new proposed retail center on the northeast corner of Curley Rd. and S.R. 54 (see photo).
According to paperwork field with the county prior to a pre-application meeting on Aug. 6, the project is named Pasco C-Center, with approximately 32,500 square feet of leasable commercial/retail space.
The Pasco C-Center, according to a conceptual plan, will have a fast food restaurant with a drive-thru, a 14,698-sq.-ft. pharmacy with 49 parking spaces, a 4,000-sq.-ft. retail building divided for three businesses, and a 5,500-sq.-ft. retail building divided for four occupants, none of which had been announced at our press time.
Another 4,000-sq.-ft. building is labeled for retail/restaurant.
The conceptual plan also proposes two entrances/exits into the Pasco C-Center, one off S.R. 54 and the other off Curley Rd.
Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (FHWC), we hardly knew ye.
Adventist Health Systems, the faith-based health care system that is the parent company of all of the Florida Hospitals, has announced that it is changing its corporate name to AdventHealth.
As a result, all of the Florida Hospitals, including FHWC, will get the name change, too, as well as a new logo (above).
On Jan. 2, 2019, Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel will become AdventHealth Wesley Chapel.
âWe are transforming to be a more consumer-focused health care system to better meet the needs of those we care for and the communities we serve,â says Terry Shaw, president/CEO for Adventist Health System. âBecoming AdventHealth allows us to be a fully integrated and distinguishable health system across all aspects of the care continuum, while also speaking to our Christian healing ministry, message of wholeness and our rich Seventh-Day Adventist roots.â
The Altamonte Springs-based Adventist Health Systems, which has nearly 50 campuses across the state â including seven in the Tampa Bay area â will kick off a transition campaign in September featuring TV and print ads in various markets across the country.
Changes to signage and visual elements at hospitals and other facilities are expected to take place in January, when the AdventHealth name is fully adopted.
NAILING IT: In the new Pleasant Plaza on the south side of S.R. 54, east of BBD, Starbucks and Pizza Hut are up and running, and according to Pasco County permitting records, a Sweet Nail Spa will be next.
And, right across the street on the north side of S.R. 54, Heartland Dental is nearing completion.
As we reported in a previous issue, although it is based in Hillsborough County, Hillsborough Area Regional Transit (HART) has a brand-new bus route that picks up near Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel in Wiregrass Ranch and transports riders all the way through New Tampa to both downtown Tampa and Tampa International Airport (TIA). The new route is a welcome addition to the area. Prior to the introduction of Route 275LX, Wesley Chapel residents have lacked in public transit that could take them into Tampa but HART is set on fixing that with the new limited-stop service from the Wiregrass Park-ân-Ride lot all the way to TIA.
Neighborhood News and WCNT-tv production assistant Giuliano Ferrara recently rode the bus from Wiregrass to TIA. Below is his first-hand account of that ride.
âFor $2 you can ride from New Tampa to the airport, thatâs the best deal out there.â said Pedro, my driver for this trip and a public transit driver for more than 30 years.
âThe service has changed a lot [in those 30 years],â he adds. With the addition of working air conditioning and heating, power steering, and most important, a nice comfy driverâs seat, Pedro told me that the HART buses have come a long way and that Route 275LX is the first taste of a truly comfortable local public transit experience for Wesley Chapel residents.
My first impressions of the bus were overwhelmingly positive. I noticed first and foremost that the HART bus is, without a doubt, the cleanest bus I have ever ridden.
The bus I boarded was one of the nearly 200 that make up the HART fleet and, if theyâre all as clean and comfortable as this one, those who rely on public transit in the area, and even those riding a bus for the very first time, should expect to be satisfied with the service. While the seats still left something to be desired in terms of cushioning, the powerful air conditioning should be able to compensate for any lost comfort during your ride.
I arrived at the Wiregrass Park-ân-Ride lot at 12 p.m, fifteen minutes prior to the departure time, to find that my bus was already there and ready to go. At almost exactly 12:15, the bus left the station and my ride to TIA had begun.
As the bus made its way down Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., which is the road that makes up more than half of Route 275LX (in terms of scheduled stops), I was skeptical as to how smooth the bus ride would be when traversing the obstacle course of construction that is BBD. By the time we had reached our first stop, which was to pick up one passenger waiting at the HART stop just before the corner of Highwoods Preserve Pkwy. and BBD in New Tampa, I hadnât felt a single bump in the road or pothole (of which there are plenty) while traveling the route. In fact I was surprised with the ease and speed at which the bus had reached the stop.
As a daily commuter living in Wesley Chapel, I was happy to be able to relax, sit back and trust that the bus would get me down the road safely, giving me time to stare out the window, which is a rarity for those of us in the area who have to deal with BBD traffic on a daily basis.
It was clear that there are still those out there who would prefer not to be at the mercy of a bus schedule, as there were only three passengers, including me, who got on at the Wiregrass Park-ân-Ride and the bus only stopped to pick up three people at the nine scheduled stops in New Tampa. Although HART provides a punctual and efficient service, most of us would still rather take matters into our own hands, even if that means giving up the ability to relax and not have to stress about traffic.
What HART has already done very well, however, is that theyâve made Route 275LX the best deal in town. The fact that $2 can now get you a one-way ticket to TIA from the Wiregrass Park-ân-Ride is astounding. The gas you would burn on the drive would cost far more than the $2 it will take to ride the bus all the way there. If youâre planning on picking someone up from the airport, or just want to go somewhere downtown and come back to Wiregrass, your round-trip will come to a grand total of $4.
For only $2, it took our reporter 1:35 to reach his final destination â TIA â on Route 275LX.
âTwo dollars from Wesley Chapel to the airport is an incredible deal,â Pedro reiterated. âAn Uber or taxi would cost you $30 to $40, at least.â So, when it comes to value, Route 275LX is definitely the best bang for your buck.
There are some downsides to this otherwise tremendous service, however, the first and foremost being that HART has no facilities to accommodate overnight parking anywhere along Route 275LX. This seemed to be the most pressing concern among those who attended the most recent Economic Development Briefing on July 26th, where HART representatives discussed the new route with the members of the North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce.
As it stands, you will still need to get a ride to the bus stop if you plan to take the new route to the airport. The Park-ân-Ride locations take no responsibility when it comes to overnight parking and HART has urged those who wish to utilize this service to not leave their car in these locations overnight. This means that if you have a trip out of town and want to ride the bus to the airport, you will need to sort out some plans for getting back home and may have to rely on someone with a car, regardless of the fact youâre attempting to use public transportation.
Of course, not everyone is going to the airport. I spoke with one passenger who was on her way to the International Mall. Tonya Gonzalez told me she is an infrequent user of HARTâs services. She said that the bus was, âa nice way to get to the mall from downtown,â and that, âthe $4 round-trip price tag was worth it for a ride.â She also explained that the gas it would take for her to drive from her stop at USF Pine Dr. and BBD in North Tampa to the International Plaza/Westshore Blvd. stop would cost quite a bit more than hopping on a HART bus and would also put wear on her personal vehicle, so the bus is âa convenient alternative.â
At noon on a Wednesday, there were only a handful of passengers who took Route 275LX. Out of the 28 total scheduled stops, we only gathered a total of 10 people, including yours truly, over the course of my trip. This granted me an enjoyably empty bus ride but it could vary depending on the chosen day you wish to ride, as well as what time you do so. A HART representative I spoke with told me that weekdays during rush hour traffic and early in the morning are the busiest times for the route. My bus left on time, rode for exactly 1 hour and 35 minutes, and arrived at the airport right on schedule. While my experience was ideal, I canât promise that this will always be the case, especially on weekdays during morning rush hour, but it worked out perfectly for me.
As I see it, there are many reasons to take advantage of this new service. I believe that Route 275LX could become a more utilized alternative to driving and could even help alleviate some of the traffic woes that are so prevalent in the area, especially along BBD.
Route 275LX is a step in the right direction and I hope it becomes more widely used. If you have the time, take the bus. It will save you gas and eliminate the unnecessary stress of driving through Tampa.
HARTâs Route 275LX leaves the Wiregrass Park-ân-Ride every hour between 6:15 a.m. and 10 p.m. every day.
The pepperoni Keto pizza from 900Âș Woodfired Pizza
From what I see on Facebook, even though I donât âgetâ it personally, everyone in Wesley Chapel is completely insane about the crustless pizza being sold in our area for those who are on the Keto diet.
Yes, Keto pizza is all the rage, even though I canât personally eat more than one small âsliceâ of it, but not because it isnât tasty. All I can tell you is that if I ate more than one slice of Keto pizza at a time, I might not go to the bathroom for the rest of the year. Just saying.
Our story begins (as so many in this publication seem to, John Cotey) at 900Âș Woodfired Pizza in the Shops at Wiregrass mall, where owner Steve Falabella became a local Facebook sensation when our mutual friend Jennifer Ames, the administrator of the Wesley Chapel Community Facebook group, posted a photo of 900Âș Woodfiredâs Keto pizza.
And yes, Jannah was among the hundreds (thousands?) of locals saying âI have to try thatâ following Jenniferâs post.
Jannahâs finished Keto pizza.
Literally the next day, we were at 900Âș trying it out and we both agreed that although it did taste like pizza, the âcrustâ â a double (or triple?) layer of cheese and nothing else to âhold it togetherâ â was not only ridiculously filling, but should also come with a warning about having to have at least a salad (or some other kind of roughage) with it or risk being bottled up like the S.R. 56 exit off I-75 during rush hour.
Before we ever went anywhere else to sample another store-bought Keto pizza, Jannah started working on variations of her own. And, just for the record, I do a lot more cooking in our apartment than she does, so I was so surprised at how charged up she was to cook that I became her sous chef for this adventure.
After a few efforts, Jannah came up with the recipe and procedure and, after the first time it worked to perfection (I preferred it to 900Âș Woodfiredâs and Amiciâs), I told her I just might have to write about it in these pages.
So, here goes.
Although we donât have a fancy new convection oven or any special cooking utensils, Jannah found that making her smaller version of crustless Keto pizza worked best in our toaster oven.
The pepperoni base for Jannahâs Keto pizza. Slices of mozzarella go on top of the pepperoni. Cover the mozzarella slices with sauce. Cover the sauce layer with shredded mozzarella and pop it into the toaster oven. Bake at 450Âș F, for 7-10 minutes, or until golden brown.
She starts with a layer of the Publix-brand large-size pepperonis and puts them in the broiler for around five minutes, or until the edges get brown and curl up slightly.
One of the keys to the success of this recipe is not to burn the âronis. Then, while preheating the toaster oven (on bake at 450Âș), she covers the pepperoni âcrustâ with a layer of single slices of Publix-brand low-moisture, part-skim mozzarella.
She then completely covers the top of the sliced cheese layer with either the tomato basil or vodka sauce from the new Cost Plus World Market, which we have found to have the fewest net carbs per serving of any store-bought brand. Although you can use your own homemade sauce, if you prefer, all I can tell you is that you Keto diet folks out there probably canât make a sauce with fewer net carbs than World Marketâs sauces (although we may have cleaned the store out of both types, because there hasnât been any of either kind the last two times weâve visited there).
She then covers the sauce layer with a layer of Publix shredded mozzarella and sprinklings of parmesan, and bakes it in the toaster oven for 7-10 minutes, or until all the cheese gets that golden brown hue.
It still goes against everything I loved growing up to have pizza without a New York-style crust, but hey, we still (in my opinion) have plenty of great options for that in Wesley Chapel â including not only 900Âș Woodfired, but also La Prima Pizza, NY NY Pizza, Amiciâs Pizza, Best NY Pizza and PizzaMania.
I have never been the most political (or politically correct) guy in the world, but I have watched and covered so many elections â local, state and national â over the nearly 25 years I have been the owner and editor of this publication that I canât help but notice that more often than not, more people than not do not vote in local elections.
And, the #1 reason I hear from New Tampa and Wesley Chapel residents for not voting is always the same: âI only vote in the important elections, like for our President.â
Well, Iâm here to tell you that if youâre a) not already registered to vote or b) donât plan to vote in the upcoming Primary Election on Tuesday, August 28, or the General âMidtermâ Election on Tuesday, November 6, youâre selling yourself â and your community â short.
In August, three of Pascoâs five School Board seats (in other words, 60 percent!) are up for grabs and, unless there is a Runoff Election in any of those three districts (all Pasco School Board and County Commission seats are elected countywide), this will be your only chance to have a say in who will be responsible for building and staffing schools and protecting your public school children.
That fact alone should at least get you thinking about getting out to the polls on Aug. 28, although it is past the deadline to do so if youâre not already registered to vote as youâre reading this. In addition, with so many parents concerned about the future plans (in 2020) to again re-zone the schools in Wesley Chapel, getting out to vote for the candidates you believe will be the most likely to help keep your children where you want them perhaps should be important enough to get you to cast a ballot this year.
Two of those candidates â three-term incumbent Allen Altman in District 1 and Heide Janshon, one of two candidates attempting to unseat two-time District 3 incumbent Cynthia Armstrong â have taken ads (both on page 5) in this issue, in order to try to help convince you to get out and cast a ballot for them.
There also are six local judges and several local Community Development District (CDD) Board candidates who will be elected on Aug. 28, and there will be primaries for U.S. Senate, Floridaâs next Governor, Attorney General and Commissioner of Agriculture, as well as the State Senate.
If you decide not (or youâre not already registered) to vote on Aug. 28, you have until Tuesday, October 9, to get yourself registered for the General Election on Nov. 6.
At that time, in addition to voting for U.S. and State Senate, as well as Governor, Attorney General, Chief Financial Officer and Commissioner of Agriculture, youâll also get to vote for two County Commission seats and our areaâs Dist. 38 State Representative.
One of those November contests will have Pasco County Dist. 2 Commissioner Mike Moore squaring off against fellow Wesley Chapel resident Kelly Smith. I just wanted to make it clear that the fact that we have a story about Smith, a political newcomer, in our latest issues isnât an endorsement for her or in any way an indictment of the job that Moore has done since being elected in 2014. We just felt it was newsworthy for our readers that Mike will face an opponent who also lives in Wesley Chapel.
As For Endorsements…
The first 10 or 15 years that I owned this publication, I felt it was my job to go to as many governmental meetings as possible in order to cover those meetings for our readers and to get to know as many of our local, state and some national (such as District 12 U.S. Congressman Gus Bilirakis) elected officials as I possibly could. One of the reasons I did so was so I could make intelligent endorsements, based on my knowledge of our areaâs infrastructure and other needs.
I began phasing out making endorsements about 10 years ago, in part because I have had other people covering most governmental meetings. I never really had any problem with the often negative feedback I would receive when I would endorse one candidate over another, but I will say that I have gotten a lot less hate mail since then. At any rate, get out and vote, New Tampa and Wesley Chapel!
Pasco County Superintendant of Schools Kurt Browning meets with school safety guard Connie Novak, one of many to be stationed at schools all across the county. (Photo: Pasco County Schools
In the weeks leading up to school starting two weeks ago, school officials across the state have been preparing to comply with a new state law. The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act was passed in the aftermath of the mass shooting at the high school in Parkland, FL, on Valentineâs Day of this year, and requires armed security on every public school campus.
The new law also comes as parents are reporting having more fear about sending their kids to school. Phi Delta Kappa (PDK) International is a national professional organization for educators that has surveyed attitudes towards public education every year since 1969. This yearâs poll finds that one in three parents fear for their childâs physical safety at school. PDK describes that as, âa sharp increase from 2013, when just 12 percent said they were fearful.â
In Pasco County, middle and high schools will continue to have Pasco Sheriffâs Office (PSO) deputies serving as school resource officers.
In addition, Pasco County Schools has hired school safety guards for all elementary schools, with each one carrying a gun and a Taser, as well as handcuffs.
Simple security precautions are being emphasized, such as locking gates and classroom doors, using scanning software to check for sexual offenders/predators, and making sure everyone who comes on campus goes through the office.
With the new school year just underway, we asked Pasco County Superintendent of Schools Kurt Browning to tell us more about the changes in school security, and what to expect at Wesley Chapelâs schools this year.
WCNN: Now that kids are back at school, what are they seeing and experiencing that is different from previous years?
Browning: The elementary students are seeing armed safety guards for the first time.
The guards will be easy to spot, because theyâll be wearing black polo shirts with our safety guard logo on the sleeve, and a vest with the word âSecurityâ on the back. Students may not see any differences related to mental health services, but there will be a better coordinated effort to respond to students in crisis between the school, the district, law enforcement and community mental health partners.
We are adding social worker, psychologist and school nurse trainers to help school student services staff (members) respond to student mental health issues.
WCNN: Tell us more about the changes to the way that mental health is addressed in schools, and will students or teachers notice those changes?
Browning: Student mental health needs will be broken out into three tiers of support.
Tier 1 is universal prevention for all students. Tier 2 is supplemental/at-risk services involving early identification and social, emotional and behavioral interventions based on need.
New River Elementary security guard.
Tier 3 is individualized, intensive counseling and intervention, including behavior support plans, intensive monitoring, and wraparound and crisis planning.
We are increasing the number of crisis intervention teams from four to five, increasing the number of trainers for Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS), creating a 3-year training plan, and expanding the use of social emotional learning in instructional practices.
In accordance with the new law, we also have revised our threat assessment procedures and coordinated threat assessments to include law enforcement.
We will have a new mental health managing entity, the Central Florida Behavioral Health Network (CFBHN), which will provide a project manager to manage mental health services and assist with data reporting.
We are implementing the Sandy Hook Promise: âKnow the Signsâ programs, and creating a Parent University and other parent training opportunities.
WCNN: What are your thoughts about the changes in school security mandated by the new state law?
Browning: Theyâre a good start. Without significant funding increases, though, it is difficult to implement all of the safety measures we would like to. We are working within our means to do everything we can to make our campuses as safe as possible.
WCNN: What is the benefit to students and schools of having armed security guards on elementary school campuses?
Browning: Elementary schools will have school safety guards trained by the Sheriffâs Office on campus. These men and women will provide a level of security that elementary schools have not had in the past. They will be visible at drop-offs in the morning and during dismissal. They will patrol the grounds to make sure doors and gates are locked, and to assure that everyone on campus is checked in and accounted for. They also will be a resource for students and staff, and will become part of the school community.
WCNN: With all of the continued growth in Wesley Chapel, what rezoning plans are in the works?
Browning: We donât currently have any rezoning in the works.
WCNN: What is the current timeline for opening Cypress Creek Middle School and transitioning the current Middle/High School to a high school only?
Browning: Cypress Creek Middle School is scheduled to open in August 2020. The transition will occur at that time.
WCNN: Are there any other new schools proposed or under construction in Wesley Chapel?
Browning: We are working on a plan to build a technical high school in East-Central Pasco in the next five years.
WCNN: On a side note, can you explain why there is a transition to call substitute teachers âguest teachersâ instead? Does that apply to all substitute teachers or only those in a certain category? Is it expected that staff and students will address these teachers as âguest teachersâ and not refer to the more common âsubstitute?â
Browning: We have some really great subs and are hoping this will enhance their credibility and better demonstrate the scope and caliber of their service to kids in classrooms….as opposed to the âjust a subâ mentality.
Weâve also moved to professional guest teachers (formerly âprofessional subsâ) as well as the daily and long-term guest teachers. All students and staff will be expected to use the title, although there will be a natural adjustment period.
