New Tampa All-Abilities Playground Wins Prestigious Award!

City of Tampa Natural Resources Division superintendent Brad Suder (right) accepts the Karen Jacobs Award on behalf of the city at the 33rd annual Americans with Disabilities Act awards celebration hosted by the Hillsborough County Alliance for Persons with Disabilties on Aug. 4. (Photo provided by the City of Tampa).

Congratulations to the City of Tampa and to everyone involved in the creation of the All-Abilities Playground at the New Tampa Recreation Center in Tampa Palms, which was named the winner of the 2023 Karen Jacobs Outstanding Accessible Place award by the Hillsborough County Alliance for Persons with Disabilities earlier this month.

The award, named for Karen Jacobs, a University of South Florida grad, paraplegic wheelchair athlete and advocate for the disabled who passed away in 1996 after a battle with colon cancer, also was won by the city in 2022 for the expansion of Freedom Playground in MacFarlane Park in West Tampa.This year’s Karen Jacobs Award was accepted by Brad Suder, the superintendent of Planning & Design in Tampa’s Natural Resources Division, who played an integral role in the creation of the All-Abilities Playground. 

Dist. 7 Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera, who proposed the creation of the All-Abilities park in his district (which includes all of New Tampa), applauded the award.

“I was thrilled to see our All-Abilities Playground win this meaningful award,” Viera said. “This park stands as a moral statement that people with disabilities are a part of our Tampa community and family. For me, being the youngest brother of a man with an intellectual disability, this issue is very personal.”

Councilman Viera said that growing up with older brother Juan and watching his parents struggle to give Juan as “normal” a life as possible was a big influence in his life.

(l.-r.) State Sen. Jay Collins, State Rep. Fentrice Driskell & Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera at the Grand Opening of Tampa’s All-Abilities Park in Tampa Palms on Dec. 21, 2022. (Photo by Charmaine George).

“I just knew that I wanted to help other families living with similar situations,” Viera said. “I am very proud that the members of the City Council and Mayor (Jane) Castor agreed to fund and build this park.”

Raquel Pancho, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) coordinator for the City of Tampa, was one of the people who nominated the All-Abilities Park for this year’s Karen Jacobs Award:

“I am thrilled to nominate The New Tampa All-Abilities Playground for the Outstanding Accessible Places Award. (The park) is a state-of-the-art,10,000+-sq.-ft. playground that is designed for children with a wide range of physical, cognitive, sensory, and neuro-diverse abilities. It fosters wonderful opportunities for children with and without disabilities to seamlessly and effortlessly engage with each other.”

Pancho’s nomination also noted that, “The All-Abilities playground also includes a sensory area geared towards children with autism, as well as an interactive art installation called “Wild Florida Parade,” which has tactile components so individuals who are blind or low vision can also enjoy the art component.”

Sherisha Hills, Director of Tampa Parks & Recreation, said, “This playground has truly set a new standard for inclusivity and accessibility that we continue to strive towards throughout our entire Tampa Parks system.”

Remembering 9-11

On Saturday, the Zephyrhills Museum of Military History hosted an event in remembrance of 9-11 where Wesley Chapel resident and retired New York City EMT Stephen Spelman, Dist. 2 Pasco County Commissioner Seth Weightman, Lt. Col. Perry Blackburn (from the movie “12 Strong”), FDNY Lt. Michael Basignato and Zephyrhills Mayor Melonie Bahr Monson were among the many guest speakers. There also was a Pasco Sheriff’s Office fly-by and multiple sky divers who landed in a nearby field as part of the event.

Read the full story of this 911 event and others in the Oct. 3 edition of Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News! 

Nibbles & Bites: Shake Shack To Open In Vacant Former Wendy’s Location On S.R. 56

Locals have been asking for a while what, if anything, is coming to the closed Wendy’s restaurant (photo below) on the north side of S.R. 56 (next to Taco Bell).

We now know that the shuttered former Wendy’s will become the second Tampa Bay-area location of Shake Shack (the photo above is an already popular location in Midtown Tampa), a chain with more than 300 units in 32 U.S. states and more than 170 more everywhere from Mexico City to Singapore.

Started in 2004 at a hot dog cart in New York City’s Madison Square Park, Shake Shack serves Angus beef burgers, crispy chicken, hand-spun milkshakes and house-made lemonade. Beer and wine also are served at most of its locations.

Unlike the Midtown location, the Lutz/Wesley Chapel Shake Shack will be in its own freestanding building. We had no additional information about when it is expected to open at our press time. 

For more information, visit ShakeShack.com. 

New Rental Units Now Under Construction At MP Blvd. & Beardsley Dr.

Research by Joel Provenzano

The areas outlined in black on the two site maps on these pages are the separated sites of the two new rental communities coming to the northwest and northeast corners of Meadow Pointe Blvd. and Beardsley Dr. The graphic above shows the plan for the northwest corner, which will include a clubhouse and other amenities. (Source: Pasco County)

We’ve seen some recent posts online asking about what might be coming to the intersection of Meadow Pointe Blvd. at Beardsley Dr. Well, the answer is that it is no longer a “might be” question.

It appears that both empty grass lots, one on the northeast corner and the one on the northwest corner of Meadow Pointe Blvd. at Beardsley, are owned by the same property owner — Clearwater Bay Associates, Inc. — and were zoned together. In 2021, the property owner applied for and was approved to be zoned for residential rental units.

The grass lot (12.7 acres) on the northwest corner of the intersection moved forward with a developmental construction permit (applied for in June of this year) with an associated site plan. 

The site plan for the northeast corner.

The other grass lot (11.7 acres) on the northeast corner was issued a permit on Aug. 22, the same day that crews arrived to start work on the site, where there is now a construction trailer. Construction fencing has been erected around both sites.

For permitting purposes, the two developments have been referred to as either Meadow Pointe West or Meadow Pointe East (depending on the side of the road), but the official name of the community is likely to change as it moves forward.

The site plans, designed by Heidt Design, show multiple rental units mixed together and laid out on each side, like rental townhomes with driveways and garages, single standalone units (individual rental houses) with driveways and garages, rental villas (duplexes) with driveways and garages, and rental townhome-style units without driveways or garages. Those units without driveways would have parking spaces like in an apartment complex, as opposed to their own garages. It appears that all of the units will have small, individual fenced-in backyards. All of the units also would be rented via the leasing office.

The start of the construction on the east side.

There will be a total of 99 units on the east side and 82 units on the west side. The clubhouse (which will be located on the west side) is expected to have a leasing office, fitness center, club room and a pool. A crosswalk is proposed to link the two separate parcels for residents on the east side who would have to cross Meadow Pointe Blvd to get to the community’s amenities on the west side. Meadow Pointe Blvd also is proposed to be widened to include left turn lanes. 

At our press time, we did not yet know the timeline for when the construction is expected to be completed. 

Wesley Chapel’s Contract Post Office Is Open!

After what seemed like an eternity for new Wesley Chapel Contract Postal Unit (CPU) contractor Jevon Williams and his wife Cindy — and pretty much the entire Wesley Chapel community — the new CPU opened today in the Freedom Plaza at 30124 S.R. 54.

“I know we still have the old (3D Wellness) Pharmacy sign on the building, but we finally got it open,” Jevon told me when I became the new CPU’s second customer shortly after 9 a.m. “We’re here to serve the community.”

Jevon and Cindy, both local Realtors with EXP Realty, are now selling stamps and can handle your Priority and Priority Express mail, as well as send Certified and Registered mail, all at Post Office prices. They stock boxes, packaging tape and materials, have a few greeting cards and some candy and snacks, and also serve free coffee to their customers. The new location also is renting P.O. boxes to businesses and individuals who need them.

“We tried to keep the same P.O. box people from the old CPU,” said Argelis Castro from the Zephyrhills Post Office, who was helping Williams work out some issues at the CPU on opening day. “The problem was that the old CPU’s zip code (on Boyette Rd.) was 33545, while this is 33543, so not everyone who had a P.O. box there wanted to or was able to transfer that box here. Plus, the old location was closed for more than six months.”

In other words, P.O. boxes are available at the new Wesley Chapel CPU, which is open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., and 9 a.m.-noon on Saturday. 

And, until the holiday season kicks in, at least, it doesn’t appear as though there are any major parking issues at the new CPU. feel free to tell Jevon and his friendly staff that I sent you.