It’s no secret that Zukku-San Sushi Bar & Grill, located in the small strip plaza next to the Hyatt Place hotel across S.R. 56 from the Tampa Premium Outlets has been among my favorite restaurants in Wesley Chapel — including my #1 fave for 2024! — since the day it first opened back in late 2020.
So, what could make Zukku-San even better? How about the most unique and delicious weekend brunch in “The Chap?”
Co-owner and executive chef Gia Tran was proud to introduce us to the new weekend brunch menu items on the first day brunch was offered — two weeks before we went to press with this issue. Gia and his partner Ferdian Jap now own five fast-casual Zukku Sushi places in four states (including at Tampa’s Armature Works), three Ato Burritos & Bowls (including in The KRATE at The Grove), Astro Ice Cream (also on Sierra Center Blvd.) and have another Zukku-San opening soon in Orlando.
Gia (left) told us that he’s been “cooking up” the ideas for almost all of the items on the opening brunch menu (which he said will be expanded) “for a couple of years,” but just couldn’t seem to pull the trigger on getting it started.
“I knew I wanted to include some ingredients that you almost never find at an Asian restaurant,” Gia told yours truly, photographer Charmaine George and Charmaine’s boyfriend Brendan. “Have you ever had fried eggs, ube waffles or bacon at an Asian place?”
The answer was clearly “no” from all of us, and I’ll be honest that I wasn’t 100% sure I was going to love all of the new items — until I actually tried them. Of course, the only things I couldn’t try were the new “Bird’s Nest” sushi roll (right photo) and the “Zukku- San Signature Mary” (one of the two drinks above) because both included fried shrimp.
But, Charmaine and Brendan both raved about them, especially the Bird’s Nest, which combines tempura shrimp, salmon and cucumber, topped with avocado and real crab (not “krab”), plus a poached egg, scallions, masago, eel sauce, spicy mayo and sesame seeds.
Meanwhile, the Signature Mary has Haku Japanese vodka, wasabi paste, soy sauce and Bloody Mary mix, with Sichuan peppercorn bitters, garnished with a California roll, tempura shrimp, pickled ginger and celery, with a black-&- white sesame seed rim. There’s also an option to add sriracha to this Mary “for extra spice.”
But, all of us honestly went bonkers for all of the other choices. The other brunch sushi roll was a Quail Roll (left photo), which combined tamago, cucumber and avocado, topped with two sunny-side-up quail eggs (shockingly tasty), plus bacon (yes, bacon!), scallions, “lava aioli,” eel sauce and Japanese togarashi spice. I don’t know if I’ve ever had that last ingredient before, but the entire sushi roll was just soooo tasty.
I’ve also never really been a big fan of Eggs Benedict, so the new Crispy Rice Benedict (right photo) was something of a revelation, with its crispy rice topped with (again, real) snow crab, poached egg and a never-heard-of miso brown butter Hollandaise sauce that Gia said stays blended longer than most Hollandaise sauces because of the miso. We all agreed we had never tasted anything like it.
But wait, there’s more! I know we just hosted the first-ever Wesley Chapel fried chicken tender contest, but there is a new contender in town, as Zukku-San’s Ube Waffle & Fried Chicken combo (top right photo) is a combination of three thick slabs of the crispiest (and yet, still juicy) panko-fried chicken served with three of the only waffles I’ve ever had made from ube — also known as the vibrant purple yam (sweet potato) originally used primarily in The Philippines. The waffles also are topped with a generous dollop of creamy ube butter and served with a sake cup of ginger maple syrup. If you’re the kind of person who tries the fried-chicken-&-waffles at every place that serves them and don’t think this is among the best you’ve ever had, feel free to let me know what you didn’t love about it.
Gia said that his pastry chef Alex Winchester (above left photo) went through “like ten different waffle irons” before finding the one that would give his ube waffles the proper texture and crunch.
The final brunch “entrée, which Gia called “kind of a throwaway addition because I felt we needed at least one more entrée,” is no “throwaway” to yours truly, as the “Sunrise Fried Rice” (above right) is Zukku-San’s nutty & savory chicken fried rice (already among my whole family’s favorites), which has big chunks of chicken, peas, carrots, onion and garlic and tops it with a sunny-side-up (chicken) egg. Does the fried rice “need” the egg? Maybe not. But is it still a winner? You bet!
What About Dessert?
We all were honestly too stuffed to want to even order dessert, but Gia insisted we try Alex’s new mango & passion fruit sponge cake (left), which isn’t even on the dessert menu yet, but it was excellent and the whipped tropical icing is addictive. And yes, we still found a way to polish it off — are you surprised?
Also on the brunch dessert menu — all of which I have to start sampling on my next visit — include an ube cheesecake, a ginger yuzu (citrus) creme brulée and a banana hazelnut opera cake.
I also enjoyed my lychee mimosa (at left in top left photo) enough to not need a shot of my usual Ballyhoo Irish whiskey (found only at Zukku-San locally) with my meal. Other Brunch beverages include an Asian Mary, a Sake Mimosa and a Green Tea Umeshu Martini. Try these for yourself and let me know what you think.
And yes, if these brunch items somehow don’t do it for you (but my opinion is that you’d have to be crazy, or a vegetarian, to not at least try some or all of them), Zukku-San’s full menu is still available during the weekend brunch hours — which are every Saturday & Sunday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Zukku-San is located at 25916 Sierra Center Blvd. It is open for lunch & dinner every day at 11 a.m. and stays open until 9 p.m. on Sun., 9:30 p.m. on Mon.-Thur., and until 10 p.m. on Fri. & Sat. Reservations are not required (except for larger parties), but are definitely suggested, especially on the weekends. For more information, call (813) 419-1351, visit ZukkuSushi.com. And please, tell Gia and Alex and the entire crew that I sent you!
Former Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn (photo) says that being the mayor of the 49th largest city in the U.S. (by population) is, “the only job I ever wanted.”
Buckhorn admits he was sad when term limits took him out of the job six years ago (when Jane Castor, who is coming up on her two-term-limit herself in 2027, took over), but during an exclusive recent interview with the former mayor, Buckhorn said he is seriously considering another run at the office, which he called, “maybe the worst-kept secret in town.”
Buckhorn first got into government work when he served as the special assistant to then-Tampa Mayor Sandy Freedman during her two terms (1987-95). During that time, he lost a Democratic primary for the District 60 State House seat to Carol Palomino by 554 votes. Then, in 1995, he was elected to the Tampa City Council, where he served two terms under former Mayor Dick Greco (who served as mayor from 1967-74 and again from 1995-2003).
In 2011, Buckhorn won the first of his two terms as mayor when he succeeded Pam Iorio (who also served two terms, from 2003-11), defeating fellow City Council member Rose Ferlita and Greco.
“We have opened a PAC (political action committee), but I haven’t officially filed yet, so I’m not yet officially a candidate,” former Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn told Jannah and me as we enjoyed a delicious lunch at Lima Peruvian Cuisine on Aug. 29. “I probably won’t file until after the first of the year (2026), but it depends on what happens. We’re still 19 months away, so I’m going to use this time to get around and reconnect with people and identify things that have changed since I left office in 2019 — of which there’s a lot. Let’s just say that the reaction so far has been very positive.”
He says that some of the challenges are, “because of our success. We completely reversed a lot of what the city was facing when I came in.
“I was here when we annexed this — from Day One of cutting the ribbons at Tampa Palms and Hunter’s Green. I knew Ken Good and Jim Apthorp (who developed Tampa Palms), so I know the whole history [of the New Tampa area] and what it took for us to get here. This area has become a vibrant, important part of our city.”
“Gary, you were my rabbi, my sensei that I could call and ask what’s going on up here and you’d always know the inside scoop. We were like brothers in arms.” He remembers “being booed when I cut the ribbon on that New Tampa Gateway Bridge in West Meadows,” even though now the people who live on both sides of that bridge now can’t imagine not having it.
Mayor Bob also remembers the 2019 debate between then-City Council candidate Luis Viera and his opponent, Dr. Jim Davison, when I asked them both, as one of the moderators of that debate, what they thought about New Tampa de-annexing from the City of Tampa and annexing into its own city. Viera said he was running for City Council and had no interest in de-annexation, while Davison said he would “have to look into it once elected.”
“That’s what got me involved in that race,” Buckhorn recalls. “When he [Davison] started talking de-annexation, I said I’m all in for Luis and will throw whatever support and weight I can to help him get elected.” Viera won by 65 votes.
Buckhorn was in his last year as mayor when the city broke ground on the expansion of the New Tampa Recreation Center. “And then, Luis got the All-Abilities Park funded after he first got elected,” Buckhorn recalls. “That was his baby, but it also was a big deal for the city. Luis is a good man. His heart is always in the right place.”
Part of the reason he decided to try to get his old job back, he says, is because, “Tampa was on such a trajectory as a city when I left office. We completely reversed the out-migration of our young people, where we had become a ‘donor city’ to places like Charlotte (NC) and Austin (TX). Now, Tampa is a magnet for young talent.”
When former Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn was serving his second term in office, he visited Chiles Elementary in Tampa Palms. (NN file photo from 2016)
He adds, “Now, when you walk around downtown and see what Water Street has become, what that partnership with [Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff ] Vinik has done there — that’s part of getting us to that next level.”
Buckhorn says that connecting Tampa’s “urban core” will hopefully be part of his next administration. “How Water St. Phase 2 will connect to Channelside and then to Gasworx, with what Darryl Shaw is doing in Ybor City. And then finishing the Riverwalk on the west side and connecting Tampa Heights to where Armature Works is at the Hillsborough River. The completion of the original portion of the Riverwalk already transformed our city in ways that you can’t even imagine. I knew that if we started to focus on the waterfront as our best asset, that other things would follow. If you look at the hundreds of millions of dollars that have been invested, we are becoming a livable, walkable, 18-hour-a-day environment that will stretch from downtown to all the way around the urban areas.”
Buckhorn also notes that, “The good thing is that downtown has largely taken on a life of its own. It doesn’t need me pushing that boulder up the hill like it did before. So now, we have the opportunity to really expand our horizons, our view, throughout the rest of the city and really connect all of the dots.”
He adds, however, that, “We’ve got some challenges as the result of that growth — traffic, obviously, is a big issue and always will be our Achilles heel until we can get a dedicated revenue source. And then, there’s issues of infrastructure, like stormwater, road repairs and potholes. But, you can never lose sight of those basics as mayor, because those basics impact people’s lives on a daily basis.”
And, speaking of those basics, he says, “We have to do something about the permitting process in the city, which is in dire need of help. I fixed that process in 2011 when I first got in, but I guess we’re going to have to come back in and sort of re-do it.”
He also notes that it also will be a priority for him to, “Start driving that narrative again to compete on a global basis for corporate relocations and [bringing] jobs, with technology and keeping our young people from moving away again. So, we’ve got some more chapters to write. This city’s really only just beginning to realize its full potential.”
He also says he figured he had, “another two tours left in me. They can’t turn my hair any whiter — that’s already happened — and so, all I can say is ‘Let’s go!’”
What About Light Rail?
“Downtown will always be the heart of any city,” Buckhorn says, “but in order to connect the rest of Tampa to it, we do need light rail. Brightline (the privately-owned, eco-friendly intercity rail system now connecting Miami to Orlando) has been a client of mine (in his job working for Shumaker Advisors, a lobbying and public affairs firm) over the last couple of years, so I’m already kind of neck-deep in it. But, once Brightline comes in, you have to find ways to connect the Brightline station to other things in our city. You can’t, in an urban area, rule out light rail or mass transit. I know that some of our friends at the county think [mass transit] is a UN [United Nations] plot, but it’s important to start connecting where people live to where they work — that’s the next iteration of what our city could look like.”
But, of course, one of the most difficult challenges for Buckhorn will be to connect New Tampa to everything happening in “old” Tampa.
“We’re going to have to go back to a referendum again at some point, for a dedicated transportation revenue stream, because you can’t do these big public works projects without the ability to issue debt. You can’t pay as you go, because you’re never going to have enough money to be able to do it.”
He calls the Florida Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the county’s transportation tax referendum a “pretty political decision. I just hope that people will realize that without a similar referendum, we’re never going to be able to fix this transportation problem. But, it’s never really gotten the focus, the full weight of all of the political players, that it needs to be successful.”
As for what’s needed from the city in New Tampa, Buckhorn is still hopeful to work with Pasco County officials once he gets elected, to finally connect Kinnan St. to Mansfield Blvd. in Meadow Pointe, get some sort of additional emergency medical service for K-Bar Ranch and get the now-being-designed city park in K-Bar built.
As for why Viera has so far been unable to get that additional EMS service for K-Bar, Buckhorn says he doesn’t know, but he speculates that it may be because Viera has, “consistently sided with the [firefighters] union, which puts him at odds with the chief [Tampa Fire Rescue Chief Barbara Tripp], which at times also has put him at odds with the administration. Hopefully, there will be a different way to skin that cat when we get back in office. There needs to be a less contentious relationship between the fire chief and the union because it’s bad now.”
He also says, “There is nothing but opportunity for us. I thought when I left that I was finished. I went out with sky-high poll numbers. It was the only job I ever wanted and I did what I said I was gonna do, and it was time to go home. But, I still wake up just as excited everyday about what we could do and what Tampa could be.”
Buckhorn also wondered if the Hillsborough County portion of Two Rivers — the massive development just east of New Tampa in Hillsborough and Wesley Chapel in Pasco, could be annexed into the city. “Annexation is why New Tampa is part of the city. Maybe it could help us grow again.”
The New Tampa Performing Arts Center (NTPAC) will host its all-FREE third-annual Fall Festival all weekend (Sept. 12-14), beginning this afternoon at 5 p.m. and continuing all day tomorrow & Sunday.
Festival Schedule
All events and performances are free to attend. In addition to mainstage acts, the festival will showcase lobby performances by both professional and student artists throughout the weekend.
Friday, Sept. 12 –Doors open at 5 PM
Studio 1 5:45 PM: Outcast Theatre 7:45 PM: Cultural Arts Theater
Studio 1 5 PM: Winold Music Festival 6:45 PM: USF Musical Theatre Program
Studio 2A 9:30 AM-1 PM: Florida Orchestra Instrument Petting Zoo Backstage Tours at: 12:15 PM, 1:45 PM, and 4:30 PM
Theater 10 AM: Film screening: Disney’s Beauty and The Beast (1991) 1 PM: Entertainment Revue 2:15 PM: Hillsborough College Music Department 3:30 PM: Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival featuring Vincent Pham (solo piano) 4:45 PM: Hat Trick Theatre and Tales of Mild Interest 6 PM: Anna Dance Academy 7:30 PM: Tampa City Ballet’s Cinderella
Food Trucks Rollin’ Bites and Forge Pizza
Sunday, Sept. 14 – Doors open at 12:30 PM
Studio 1 1:15 PM: Countdown Improv 3 PM: Devine Madness Sketch Comedy
Studio 2A Backstage Tour at 3:15 PM
Theater 1 PM: Cypress Creek Jazz Band 2:15 PM: Rudram Dance Company 3:45 PM: New Tampa Players 5 PM: St. Pete Opera with special performance by Tampa City Ballet
Retired New York Fire Department emergency medical technician Stephen Spelman can’t forget 9/11 or the colleagues he lost that day, and he has continued to do everything he can to not let local residents forget it, either, since moving to Wesley Chapel in 2010. Spelman received a piece of the Ladder 18 fire truck destroyed that day from a former fire captain friend of his who also was part of Motts Military Museum in Groveport, OH, where Spelman was scheduled to speak at a 9/11 event in 2017, when Hurricane Irma hit Florida, so he couldn’t make the trip. Spelman arrived at the World Trade Center in his vehicle as the North Tower was getting ready to fall on September 11, 2001. The truck itself was destroyed by falling debris, but the lives of the firefighters from Ladder 18 were saved by jumping under the ladder. “Ironically, I was about 30 yards from that (fire) truck when the North Tower collapsed,” Spelman said. A few weeks after he had to cancel his speaking engagement in Ohio in 2017, Spelman received the piece of the ladder truck in his mailbox.
Spelman was one of the featured speakers at St. Leo’s event on Sept. 8, which also featured Lt. Col. Perry Blackburn from the movie “12 Strong,” as well as Craig Gross, a Gold Star Family member whose son, Cpl. Frank Gross, was killed in Afghanistan, retired NYFD/EMS lieutenant Dominick Maggiori, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson, District 2 Pasco County Commissioner Seth Weightman, new St. Leo president Jim Burkee, Bob Hatfield from Congressman Gus Bilirakis’ office and Spelman’s son Matthew.
Simpson said, “Memory fades if it is not told. Thus, the history of September 11 and its heroes must be shared and told.”
Maggiori shared his 9/11 story and of working “on the pile” – the rubble of the World Trade Center towers. “We heard a jet, and the work stopped,” he said. “Then we saw it was a [U.S.] fighter jet and there was a sigh of relief. Somebody has got our back.”
And it was more than just the U.S. military. “People came from all over,” Maggiori said, bringing water, food, and volunteering in any way they could to assist those involved in rescue and recovery. “Everyone pulled together.”
As a Green Beret, Blackburn was one of the first Americans on the ground in Afghanistan after 9/11. “I was the leader of the greatest fighting force on the ground,” he told the audience at Saint Leo.
They rode on horseback with Afghans, “hunting those responsible, and I was proud be help to defeat the Taliban and Al-Qaida,” he said. “The American soldier is not an individual. 9/11 brought out the best in all Americans. We stood together. We prayed together. That’s the part I carry with me every day. Show up for one another.”
For Spelman, the event at Saint Leo as well as the memorial featuring the piece of the ladder truck, is about carrying on the legacy – the legacy of those lost, of those who battle cancer and other illnesses from their time working in the dust and debris, and those who suffer mental anguish, alcoholism, and drug addiction following that horrific day. “I wasn’t prepared for what I saw,” Spelman said. “It was the horror of war. I’m not military, but it seemed like a battlefield.”
He was teaching at the NY fire academy when the first terrorist struck, grabbed what gear he could find, headed to his duty station, and then toward the towers, going the wrong way on the street.
“We could see people jumping from the building, and we weren’t even close [yet],” he said. “We could see the towers engulfed in flames about midway up.”
A NYFD lieutenant sent him and his team to look inside police and other vehicles parked nearby to see if anyone was alive. The lieutenant ran the opposite direction toward the towers. “I’m alive,” Spelman said. “He saved my life.”
He told the Neighborhood News after the event, “There were like 180 people there. It was an amazing event.”
Never Forget
The In Their Honor 5K kicked off the events at 7:30 a.m. today (September 8) and the route through Saint Leo’s campus featured more than 300 photos of firefighters who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. Funds raised through the event will support the sponsoring organizations and charities, including the creation of the Children of Heroes Scholarship at Saint Leo University. Representing the shared mission between the Pasco Patriots Association and Saint Leo University, this fund will provide tuition assistance for first responders and the children of fallen and catastrophically injured first responders. Tom DeLuca, executive director of the Pasco Patriots Association and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, served as the emcee for the memorial program.
Coming across the 5K finish line first was Kevin Perez, a University of South Florida student and a member of the Suncoast Battalion of Army ROTC. Right behind him was Austin Curtis, also a USF student and ROTC member.
All eyes were on the sky following the 5K as parachutists Rian Kanouff, Keith Hanley, and Patrick Fortune of Fortune’s Flags in the Air and Skydive First Project, glided to the ground with Fortune carrying a billowing U.S. flag.
Bagpipers Gemma Riggs and Thomas Fritz played as everyone entered Saint Leo’s Wellness Center for the memorial program, which featured a prayer by Mike D’Ambrosio, mayor of the town of St. Leo, and the national anthem performed by Marlee Michael.
Sponsors The sponsors for the event were the town of St. Leo, Chick-fil-A Zephyrhills, Totally Blu Pools, and Campus Gear and Trade Mark Sales.
Beneficiaries Funds raised support the following nonprofit organizations: Saint Leo University – Scholarship, Pasco Patriots Association, 18 Series Coffee Co., AFG Free, Cryoeeze22, Krewe De Forti, PCRetiredK-9 (Pasco County Retired K9), Tunnel to Towers Foundation, and Warrior Wellness.
The map above shows the outline of the 20,000+-acre Villages of Pasadena Hills (VOPH) & the approximate, relative positions of Epperson, Mirada, Oak Creek, unincorporated Zephyrhills & more. This is a portion of the Pasco County GIS map, which was modified by NN, as we also added clearer labels for S.R. 54, Overpass Rd., Curley Rd. & Kiefer Rd. This map is also somewhat dated, however, because it doesn’t show the reconfiguration of S.R. 52, although that reconfiguration is shown in the map at the bottom of the page. Please also note that the locations of all markings added by NN are approximate and are not to scale.
Over the past several months (and for years before that), we’ve written a lot about Pasco County’s so-called “Connected City,” a “special land use plan” established the State of Florida in 2015 that already is increasing the size of the Wesley Chapel area by thousands of residences and millions of square feet of commercial uses.
But, not only is the Connected City not alone in Pasco in having a special land use plan, there is another such plan — first established in 2008, and implemented by Pasco in 2009, or six years before the state helped Pasco create the Connected City.
This special land use plan is called The Villages of Pasadena Hills (VOPH), but most Wesley Chapel residents know very little (if anything) about this huge, 20,000+-acre (see top map on this page) land use plan that includes 13 planned villages designated by letters A-M (map below).
“Pasadena Hills” is actually its own “Census Designated Place” — with a 2010 population of more than 7,000 people — some of whom are located in Wesley Chapel.
The Wesley Chapel residents in that number live primarily currently in the 1,162 residences in the Watergrass community north and south of Overpass Rd. and east of Curley Rd., but also in the smaller Oak Creek community, which is just south of Watergrass on the Wesley Chapel (west) wide of Handcart Rd.
But, a lot of those current VOPH residents live east of Handcart Rd. in Zephyrhills, including in the communities of Stonebridge, Hidden Creek and Silverado. The northern boundary of VOPH also touches S.R. 52 and includes a portion of San Antonio and extends to south of the incorporated town of St. Leo.
The only community in VOPH that currently has homes being built is Vida’s Way, which we first told you about several months ago. This Pulte Homes community currently has its 305-home Phase 1 in development, with approximately 300 more in Phase 2, in VOPH Villages L&M (near the bottom of the bottom map, right), but there is a lot more to come.
But, Where?
The map above shows VOPH’s 13 distinct “Villages” (lettered A-M), as well as the area with purple lines designated as “Countryside Area.” The under-development community called Vida’s Way will encompass parts of Villages L&M near the bottom of both maps.
Among the planned communities coming soon to VOPH are two Lennar developments in Village F, one called Twinflowers, with 129 single-family (SF) homes and 60 townhomes, and the other called Acacia Fields, with 204 SF homes. Both of these new subdivisions are located off the existing Tyndall Rd., which is in the VOPH plan to be expanded and connected from Curley Rd. on the west side and east to Handcart Rd.
Also getting ready to build in Village F is Magnolia Island by Homes by WestBay, on the north side of Kiefer Rd., which also is planned to extend from Curley Rd. to Handcart Rd. Magnolia Island is planned to include 269 SF and 120 townhomes.
Two additional communities are getting ready to build in VOPH. One is Chapel Manor by KB Homes, which will be 146 SF homes located east of Handcart Rd. in Village G, which will have Zephyrhills addresses.
Also to be located in unincorporated Zephyrhills will be Pasadena Ridge, by Homes by WestBay, which will build another 579 SF homes in Villages G&H.
In all, that makes 2,112 home sites to be added in VOPH in the near future and all of these new communities — except Phase 1 of Vida’s Way — were just finalized over the summer. Many more communities are being proposed and/or are going through the permitting phase in VOPH, which has entitlements for 41,987 total residential units, 2,260,000 sq. ft. of commercial entitlements and 500,000 sq. ft. of office entitlements. Among those additional developments are:
Harvest Hills South, which is located in Village H, is proposed to include around 300 homes, both SF and townhomes, near Prospect and Handcart Rds.
Depue East MPUD, located in Village L, is planned for 931 acres and could include up to 1,700 single-family homes, 300 townhomes, 300 apartments, and 20,000 sq. ft. of commercial space.
There also is an as-yet-unnamed MPUD proposed for Villages J, K, & G, involving 614 residential units, including 175 townhomes and SF homes, located between Kiefer Rd. and Overpass Rd., west of Handcart Rd.
There also was a rezoning last year in Village B, with plans for 796 dwelling units and 75,000 square feet of non-residential use to be developed on 101 acres of property, but we had no further word on when this possibly community might begin building.
We weren’t able to get confirmation of all of these planned developments from District 1 Pasco County Commissioner Ron Oakley, whose district includes all of VOPH, so we can’t say for sure which are only proposed and which are for certain moving forward.
All of the potential residential and commercial developments are expected to be divided up among all 13 villages — which are themselves divided into four “Village Type” categories, as follows:
Type 1 — Villages D&G — With 9,516 total residential unit entitlements and 1,320,000 sq. ft. of commercial and office entitlements between them, the Type 1 villages are the “most urban” of the villages.
Type 2A — Villages A,C,I&J — With 11,030 total residential unit entitlements and 960,000 sq. ft. of commercial and office entitlements between them, the Type 2A villages contain all of the remaining office and much of the remaining commercial entitlements not included in the Type 1 villages.
Type 2B — Villages B,F,H,L&M — With 17,621 residential unit entitlements and 400,000 sq. ft. of commercial entitlements between them, the Type 2B villages contain most of the remaining commercial entitlements not included in the Type 1 and Type 2A villages.
Type 3 — Villages E&K — With 3,820 residential unit entitlements and 80,000 sq. ft. of commercial entitlements between them, the Type 3 villages only contain “neighborhood commercial” entitlements.
It’s also important to note that roughly 1/3 of VOPH (7,000+ acres) is to be retained and designated as a “Countryside Area,” which is land that will be required to remain rural in character, and cannot be redeveloped in any substantial way. This “Countryside” area is indicated by the purple slashes on the bottom map on pg. 6 that extend from the eastern end of Village I north to the east side of Village A, all in unincorporated Zephyrhills. But again, this is the plan. It remains to be seen if Pasco will allow the plan to be altered.
But, Can It All Work?
If you read (as I have) the entire 50-page document serving as the “blueprint” for the development of VOPH, it’s clear that the intent of the state and county when this special land use plan was established was to create something better than the typical Pasco County community — one with multiple modes of transportation, walkability and lots of parks and green spaces, including a planned 140+-acre “Superpark” that, as it turns out (as we reported in a previous issue) probably isn’t going to end up as a major park site, due to issues with the property set aside for it.
According to that document, the goal of the Pasadena Hills Area Plan is to “Establish a long-term vision for the future of Pasco County that will enhance the livability of the Pasadena Hills area and that will integrate Future Land Use plans and policies with a master transportation network” in a manner that will provide:
• A “smart growth” approach to accommodate additional growth and new development in a sustainable form.
• Long-term mobility.
• A logical extension of urban uses that successfully transitions to existing patterns of rural development.
• The capital construction of services and facilities to serve the new land use form.
The document also talks about the “Planning Framework” that Pasco is supposed to employ “to create a planning framework and implementation strategy that will enhance the livability of Pasco County and preserve its natural, cultural, and physical resources.
Among the planning principles described in the plan are:
• Plan for the logical extension of urban development in a more sustainable form.
• Provide for a variety of land uses and lifestyles to support residents of diverse ages, incomes, and family sizes, including housing that is affordable to residents of Pasco County.
• Reduce automobile trips and trip lengths.
• Create efficiency in planning and provision of infrastructure.
• Allocate development costs appropriately.
• Preserve and protect existing rural enclaves.
• Preserve and protect areas that exhibit existing patterns of rural development along Fort King Road.
• Preserve environmental systems and functional open spaces. That all sounds great on paper, but the fear here, as it always seems to be in Pasco County, is that the people who own the land — with many of the families of the property owners having owned their land for decades — will be incentivized, whether by the county, developers or (usually) both, to abandon the very clear principles set out in the VOPH blueprint in order to maximize profitability for the property owners and tax base for the county.
Considering just how rural the vast majority of the property in VOPH currently is, it’s kind of hard to imagine any type of “Urban Core” anywhere in those thousands of acres, much less one that will be served by an actual working roadway network — especially based on how overrun with traffic the roadways serving most of the existing master-planned communities throughout the county seem to be.
In the 2065 Future Transportation Map shown above, the roadways in orange — which include Curley Rd., Overpass Rd., U.S. Hwy. 301 and most of Clinton Ave./S.R. 52 are all planned to be expanded to six lanes. The roadways in blue — including New River Blvd., Kiefer Rd., what we have been calling the Zephyrhills Bypass (which currently ends at the eastern end of the Chapel Commons community), Handcart Rd. and the eastward extension of Eiland Blvd. (from east of Handcart Rd.) are all planned to be four-laned. And, all of the roadways shown in purple on this map — some of which already exist in some form while others don’t at all yet — are all planned as two-lane roadways criss-crossing VOPH.
Speaking of those improvements, final plans were recently completed by the county to extend Handcart Rd north from where it currently ends at Prospect Rd, thru Villages C & D, to connect up to SR 52. This extension will serve as a primary backbone for the proposed community of Harvest Hills.
Of course, all of these improvements are planned by 2065 — 40 years from now — and while many of the planned two-lane roadways are likely to be developer-built roads, we have no way of knowing how soon any of these improvements will be in place.
All those of you who live in Epperson, Watergrass, Bridgewater, Chapel Pines, Chapel Crossings, etc., or have kids attending any of the schools along Curley Rd. or on Wells Rd. know is that the traffic on Curley Rd. and S.R. 54 already is brutal and isn’t likely to get better anytime soon.
And, speaking of schools, while Metro Development told us for our previous story that the Kirkland Ranch K-8 School, the Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation high school and the Innovation Preparatory Academy K-8 school are all located just inside the border of the Connected City, they all appear to be in VOPH, as is Watergrass Elementary (as well as the future Pasco Public Library in Watergrass.
And, although the VOPH “special land use plan” calls for as many as seven school sites within the VOPH boundaries — and we’re assuming the four previously mentioned schools are part of that total, since the pan was originally approved 16 years ago — only one additional school site has so far been proposed in VOPH.
That proposed school, which was only added to the Pasco School District’s plan in June of this year, is at the very northern tip of Village B, at S.R. 52 in San Antonio. Whether that school will be an elementary, middle or high school or a K-8 school has not yet been determined.
