The Meadow Pointe II pool could be expanded as a result of the CDD’s recent acquisition of a parcel of land near the clubhouse.
When developers first looked into buying a parcel of land on the southeast corner of Mansfield Blvd. and County Line Rd. with the thought of getting it rezoned and putting a 7-Eleven gas station and convenience store on the site, they probably didn’t expect the uproar that purchase would create.
An effort to rezone the parcel was scuttled. A year later, the developers have moved on.
And, the Meadow Pointe II Community Development District (CDD) has made sure there will be no repeat — the CDD has purchased that piece of land.
According to treasurer John Picarelli, the CDD closed on a deal on Nov. 15 to purchase the 2.05-acre parcel for $850,000. The asking price was $960,000, and while the CDD was able to negotiate a lower purchase price, the cost was still more than the property’s appraised value of $641,806.
But, it’s well worth the price, says Picarelli, because it will allow for additional amenities for Meadow Pointe II residents, which he says are lagging behind some of the other communities known as Meadow Pointe.
“We were very limited,” Picarelli said. “Of all the Meadow Pointe communities, we have the smallest amount of land for expansion.”
The availability of the land coincided with a bond purchase by Meadow Pointe II for some other capital improvements, including $3.5 million for improving some of the roads and replacing the gates leading into many of the communities.
The bond also will allow for the purchase of the land and includes a line item for the development of new amenities on the property.
The CDD approved the purchase after resident Chris Dillinger surveyed other Meadow Pointe II residents and asked if they were willing to buy the land even if it meant paying more in fees. Dillinger says of the 150 or so respondents, “an overwhelming amount of them” were in favor of buying and maintaining the land.”
And, more great news — Picarelli says that CDD dues might not even need to be raised, due to the retirement of some of the CDD’s other debt and costs. Meadow Pointe II already has paid off its original CDD bond.
It was Dillinger who initially started the petition — which garnered more than 1,000 signatures from those opposed to the 7-Eleven development — that led to the original project stalling.
“I thought 7-Eleven was a worst-case scenario, building a gas station right next to (Kids R Kids Learning Academy), so it was a huge sense of relief to stop that,” Dillinger says.
Picarelli, who has been on the CDD Board of Supervisors for two years, says the idea of buying the parcel of land catty corner from the Meadow Pointe II clubhouse area — which has a covered playground, swimming pool, three tennis courts, two basketball courts and two shuffleboard courts — has long been bandied about by previous CDD boards.
Now that the land is in the CDD’s hands, the community will have to decide what to do with it. Picarelli says a number of possibilities have been suggested, from creating a community or athletic center to building a dog park.
Most likely, he thinks, something from the clubhouse area will be relocated to the new land, allowing the clubhouse to expand and add something like a lap pool, or even a splash pad, which he says is probably the most popular request so far.
“As demographics change, the community is becoming younger and younger, and you have to keep property values up by offering things that can compete with the other communities around here,” Picarelli says, pointing out that Meadow Pointe I is currently building a water slide at its pool. “Whatever we do, we’re going to have to be strategic.”
In what could be considered an early Christmas gift to local holiday shoppers, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) decided to hold off on beginning construction of the diverging diamond interchange (DDI) planned for the intersection of S.R. 56 and I-75.
Construction of the three-year, nearly $40-million project was originally supposed to kick off in November.
“In my opinion, it was a good idea,” said Ryan Forrestel of American Consulting Engineers (ACE), the design project manager for the project. ACE holds the patent on the diverging diamond design.
Although he adds that he wasn’t involved in the decision to delay the project, “it was a good idea to avoid the holiday.”
The delay may have saved shoppers this month, but in January, the project will begin in earnest and drivers can expect to begin experiencing slowdowns, Forrestel said.
The DDIwas originally slated to begin in 2024 before getting moved up, so the delay is minor by comparison.
With its crossover pattern, switching traffic lanes and timed lights, the DDI is expected to ease congestion at the busy intersection, which is near the Tampa Premium Outlets and a dozen or so restaurants, while also serving as primary gateway for those heading to, or home from, Tampa.
DDIs are growing in popularity nationwide, and last year one opened to great reviews in Sarasota, the first DDI in Florida.
There are also plans to build one at the I-75 and MLK Blvd. interchange in Tampa.
Wiregrass Ranch High senior forward Kat Llanos jumps into the arms of teammate Christie Faddoul after scoring on a header against Wesley Chapel High on Dec. 4. (All photos by Andy Warrener).
When it comes to local high school soccer, the Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH) boys have been the Wesley Chapel-area standard bearer, with a sterling 108-17-11 record the past five years, including a Class 4A State semifinal appearance in 2015.
But, in the early going this season, Wesley Chapel’s three girls high school teams are making some of their own headlines. Combined, Cypress Creek (CCH), Wesley Chapel (WCH) and WRH have a combined 26-9-1 record, boasting solid defenses and players who can put the ball in the back of the net.
Although area teams have always had to pass, unsuccessfully, through Mitchell, Pasco or Land O’Lakes when it comes to playoff time, they might just be on their way to finding the right path to do so.
Here’s a look at the local girls teams:
Wiregrass Ranch High
Last season: 12-8-3
This season: 9-3, 3-1 in Class 5A-7.
The Skinny: The Bulls have been the best of the three Chapel-area teams. They got off to the best start in school history, winning their first eight games, and have topped their arch-rival WCH Wildcats twice — once by a 3-1 score in the preseason, and by a 3-0 score on December 4.
Alhrough it looks like the Bulls struggled heading into Christmas break, despite losing three of their last four matches they were closes defeats to some of the best teams around — Palm Harbor University and Land O’Lakes (by 1-0 scores) and Wharton (by 2-0 score). Still, the Bulls have outscored their competition by an eyepopping 46-6, thanks to 20 goals from junior forward Avery Damjanovic, who transferred in from Wharton High in New Tampa after scoring 10 goals last season.
Damjanovic has scored hat tricks against Zephyrhills and Sunlake, and found the back of the net seven times in the win over Pasco. She also scored in the 3-0 wins over Plant and Wesley Chapel. Not seen on the stat sheet is a weather-postponed game against River Ridge where Damjanovic scored three goals in the first 13 minutes. So, she’s really sitting at 23 goals and five assists to start the season.
“Last year, we didn’t really have a striker, it was more midfielders playing up top,” WRH coach Edwin Costa says. “They finished the season with 14 goals. Avery already has more than that. Now, we can attack with five midfielders. It gives us the ability to score goals.”
Merrick Rees has four goals for the Bulls, while Kay Llanos was three.
Costa also is excited about his defense. He’ll ration time in goal between senior Mackenize Spurling and sophomore Lara Esen, but he’s particulary hopeful for his three-girl back line. Senior captain Ysa Novak, senior Marin Yeagle and junior Nisa Cahoon form a trio that is not only a solid rear guard, but a springboard for offensive forays.
“We can attack with seven or eight,” Costa says.
(L.-r.)Cypress Creek Middle High’s Emily Dominguez, Katelyn Leavines, Sophia Mitchell and Abby Murphy.
Cypress Creek Middle High
Last year: 3-13
This year: 7-3, 1-3 in Class 2A-9.
The Skinny: The Coyotes have already won more than twice as many games than they did all of last season, which was their first year as a school. They also already boast a victory over nearby rival WCH, defeating the Wildcats 3-2 last month after trailing 2-0.
Two losses suffered by the Coyotes have been respectable ones — 4-1 to an undefeated Clearwater Central Catholic team, and 3-0 to traditional Hillsborough County power Berkeley Prep.
Coach Jennifer Richardson, who started the CCH program last year, is building some rapport with her young group, which only includes two seniors. The roster has grown significantly in talent since last year.
“We had new players, good players, girls that play soccer, come out this year,” Richardson says. “Our freshman class brought in a lot of talent.”
Of the 16 players on the varsity roster, eight are freshmen. Freshman striker Emily Dominguez has already logged nine goals in as many games, including a pair of hat tracks, and Cypress Creek is 6-0 when she scores or assists on a goal.
Richardson says that freshman midfielder Sofia Ibata has been great and forms a strong tandem up top with junior Raegan Bourne, who led the team with 15 goals last season and leads them again so far with 10, including a hat trick Dec. 11 in a win over Fivay. However, if the Coyotes are going to come out of the 2018-19 season with a winning record, a goal for Richardson, it’s going to have to come from the experience they’ve developed.
Despite the lack of seniors this season, the Coyotes do have some veteran leadership. Bourne, who has scored five goals thus far, is a leader, as well as senior sweeper Katelyn Leavines, who plays a key role in the backfield. Junior keeper Alina Vizza also is a steady hand in goal.
Wesley Chapel midifielder and co-captain Kaylei Koschman
Wesley Chapel High
Last year: 17-5-2
This year: 10-3-1, 8-1 in Class 3A-7.
The skinny: The Wildcats won the first girls soccer district title in school history last season, and started this season with 10 players returning from that roster, including sophomore defender Sydney Bauer, sophomore midfielder Kaylei Koschman and senior defender Emily Esquinaldo. All three serve as co-captains.
While the Wildcats’ only two losses so far this season have been to CCH and WRH (twice), they have defeated Land O’Lakes 1-0 (for the first time); the Gators have been ranked in the state’s Top 30 each of the past three seasons.
No one was hotter heading into winter break as the Wildcats went 5-0-1 in their final six games, outscoring th opposition 20-3.
“We had 18 different goal scorers last season,” says second-year coach Mark Leonard, “and we have 15 players on the team this year, and 10 already have goals.”
Senior attacking midfielder Heather Sefton leads the group with 15 goals in the first 12 games. She played the second half of last season after returning from an injury, when she scored seven goals in eight games. She obviously has picked up right where she left off.
Junior midfielder Gaby Cardenas has 10 goals thus far his season. Cardenas has a great left-footed shot and can move between forward and midfield. Koschman played right midfielder as a freshman for Wesley Chapel and returns to the midfield, albeit in the center, for 2018-19.
“(Koschman) is a smaller kid but she mixes it up with everyone,” Leonard says.
Junior Morgan Herndon is another fast, physical midfielder in Leonard’s talented rotation.
On defense, Leonard is high on Bauer. In fact, the coach is really excited about the whole left side of the formation, from Sefton to Cardenas to Bauer, even all the way back to sophomore keeper Madison Holcombe.
Holcombe won the starting job last season as a freshman but a knee injury shelved her until the district playoffs, where Leonard says she, “was huge for us during that run.”
Holcombe is tall and has a good wingspan. She registered three shutouts in the first seven games of the season (the team has six total) and kept the 3-0 loss to Wiregrass Ranch from being a blowout with some heady play.
For the last few years, when people have talked about the growth in Wesley Chapel, they mainly have focused on the S.R. 56 corridor, from west of I-75 all the way east to the Wiregrass Ranch Development of Regional Impact (DRI).
Now, however, it appears that the portion of S.R. 54 from near I-75, east to Morris Bridge Rd./Eiland Blvd., also is heating up, as a flood of new meetings, permits and construction are ready to transform the one-time sleepy road that cuts through the middle of the county from Zephyrhills to New Port Richey.
In Wesley Chapel, the aforementioned segment of the S.R. 54 corridor has been sparsely populated with businesses and restaurants. But, with the widening of the road all the way to Zephyrhills, as well as a house-building boom taking place on the north side of 54 (in addition to the growth of the northern portion of Wiregrass Ranch), Wesley Chapel’s portion of S.R. 54 is taking its turn as a fast-growing area.
“I think it will be the next area where you see some things happening,” said Hope Allen of the North Tampa Chamber of Commerce. “There are a lot of things coming to that corridor.”
And, it’s not just businesses.
On the north side of S.R. 54, Avalon Park West and WaterGrass (on Curley Rd.) are still building hundreds of homes and even smaller communities like Saddleridge Estates are still adding new homes.
In between those soon-to-be larger developments, the massive high-tech Connected City project, which is starting in Epperson, features the first Crystal Lagoons® amenity in the U.S. (which is finally open), and soon in Mirada, which also will be home to a lagoon.
The nearly 8,000 acres of the Connected City are bordered by S.R. 52 to the north and Overpass Rd. to the south, and from I-75 to the west and Curley Rd. to the east.
Combined, Epperson and Mirada will have nearly 6,000 new homes and 1,500 apartments.
“First come the homes, then the commercial,” says Bill Nye, founder of Century 21 Bill Nye Realty, Inc.
Nye has been in real estate in the area since 1974, long before there was anything on S.R. 54 and when Pasco’s C.R. 581 (now called Bruce B. Downs Blvd., or BBD) was nothing but a dirt road. Over the years, Nye has watched the Porter family ease along the development of Wiregrass Ranch, and seen the Sierra family’s vision for the western portion of S.R. 56 come to fruition.
He says that most of the property on S.R. 54 isn’t owned by a Porter or a Sierra. Instead, a hodgepodge of owners are now cashing in. Nye says the “For Sale” signs along S.R. 54 are snowflakes — “You don’t see any two signs that are from the same owner,” he says.
A majority of the traffic emanating from all those new homes is likely to pass right through the intersection of BBD and S.R. 54, and local drivers will soon have new places to stop for gas, coffee, lunch, dinner, groceries and more.
And there is still a wealth of options coming along S.R. 56 from the Lutz area past the Shops at Wiregrass mall.
“I think everyone is growing together,” says District 2 commissioner Mike Moore, who along with District 1 commissioner Ron Oakley, represents the Wesley Chapel area on the Pasco County Board of Commissioners. “One thing comes, and then more things come.”
Here’s what is under construction, in permitting or proposed for the area along S.R. 54:
1. Nye Commons:
This little strip center recently hosted a ribbon cutting for its six businesses, including the popular O.T.B. (“Only the Best”) Café, which has moved right up the road from its previous location across BBD from Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel.
For more about the tenants at Nye Commons, see “Nibbles & Bytes” on pg. 42 our our current issue.
2. Twistee Treat
3. This will be Wesley Chapel’s third Wawa, joining two locations on S.R. 56. After a seemingly endless stay in permitting, the new store is going up quickly.
4. Chick-fil-A gained final approval in July. Ground should be breaking soon.
5. Dunkin’ Donuts is still under construction, and Dental Care at Quail Hollow is all but complete, and there may be additional retail coming to what is called the Scherer Center.
6. The Publix at Hollybrook Plaza (on the corner of BBD and S.R. 54) is escaping the traffic and moving closer to the new Wal-Mart. Publix closed on the land for its new location in October.
7.Parks Ford of Wesley Chapel is in the middle of a major expansion that is expected to be completed by early spring 2019.
8. As part of the development of the northernmost portion of Wiregrass Ranch, a new strip center is going up that could be home to two new restaurants. They’re not named in the county filings, but the 5,610- and 6,995-sq.-ft. spaces are both labeled for retail/restaurant.
9. Already under construction, the RaceTrac will give local travelers four options for gas and snacks. Also under construction immediately to the west of RaceTrac is Bay Breeze Car Wash’s 10th location in Tampa Bay, and first in Wesley Chapel.
10. The Pasco C-Center: According to a conceptual plan filed with the county, this center is proposing a fast food restaurant with a drive-through, a 14,698-sq.-ft. pharmacy with a 4,000-sq-ft. retail building divided for three businesses, and a 5,500-sq.-ft. retail building divided for four occupants.
You can have breakfast with Santa (aka Paul Bartell) tomorrow.
The Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel will host its third annual “Breakfast with Santa” tomorrow — Saturday, December 15, 8 a.m.-10 a.m., at Applebee’s (28422 S.R. 54).
Don’t tell your kids, but Santa will actually be played by one of our favorite people — Paul Bartell — and of course, the event will benefit the Wesley Chapel Noon Rotary Fund, which donates money to many local nonprofits. The cost to attend the breakfast is only $7, which includes breakfast and a picture with Santa, but due to limited seating, walk-ins will not be accepted. To purchase tickets online today, please visit https://bit.ly/2By54pg.
Bartell and his wife Jamie and their surviving son James, also hosted their third annual “Quarter Auction” to benefit the Sean Bartell Memorial Foundation, in honor of the Bartells’ younger son, who passed away suddenly from a rare illness. Around 100 people attended the auction for some great prizes, and helped the Bartells’ raise several thousand dollars for $1,000 college scholarships the foundation has donated each year for local high school seniors. To make a donation to the Foundation, please visit SeanBartell.org.
Other local holiday festivities include:
The Shops at Wiregrass “Symphony In Lights” — The always popular show, which you can catch nightly through Monday, December 31, 6 p.m.-9 p.m., features holiday lights, dazzling decor and even snow, all to the sounds of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Free! (See pg. 34)
Christmas Movies Under The Stars! — On Saturday, December 15, 5:30 p.m., catch “Jingle All The Way” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, which will be shown at the Under Armour entrance to Tampa Premium Outlets (TPO). Free!
Still Time To See Santa — Santa is in town and you can still give him your Christmas list and get a photo with him at the Christmas Tree in Lagoon Court at TPO. Stop by from 6 p.m.-9 p.m. on the next two Saturdays, Dec. 15 & Dec. 22. Free!
