According to paperwork filed with the county, Culver’s Restaurant, which already has a location in front of the Tampa Premium Outlets, is hoping to build another near the Shops at Wiregrass.
Culver’s, popular in the Midwest (it started in Wisconsin) with its frozen custard and Butterburgers. submitted a pre app form to build a 110-seat, 4,476-sq.ft. restaurant with 66 parking spots immediately east of the Shops at Wiregrass. The new Culver’s will have direct access off S.R. 56 or the Wiregrass Ranch access road.
The proposed Culver’s would also only be 3.6 miles from the current location at 2303 Sun Vista Dr. on S.R. 56, in front of TPO and Costco’s. That location has only been open a little over a year, opening Feb. 29 of 2016.
If you’re wondering how the other owner feels about a new Culver’s opening so close to the TPO location, don’t — both franchises are owned by Martin Roeske.
Already under construction and  going vertical in Wesley Chapel’s Wiregrass Ranch area is a new Audi dealership, adding to the already vast selection for automobile shoppers in Wesley Chapel.
Over the last few years, Wesley Chapel has seen Alfa Romeo and Mercedes enter the market, and Chevrolet has added a new building to its existing lot. Lexus of Wesley Chapel is under construction at the southeast corner of S.R. 54 and I-75, and Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce CEO Hope Allen says the new auto dealerships are definitely a coup for the area.
Allen says Lexus, for example, has only given out two franchises in the past 10 years, and one was to Wesley Chapel. As for Audi, Allen says it is another boost for the local economy.
âAny luxury brand is a very good catch, because these car sales generates sales taxes for the county,ââ Allen says. âI think it says something that our area and community are able to sustain not one, not two, but now three true luxury auto dealerships.â
Elizabeth and Bryan Devolder of Devolder Law took a non-traditional approach to becoming lawyers, but say they love helping clients with their family law and other legal problems.
When Bryan and Elizabeth Devolder decided to re-invent themselves at the ages of 35 and 37, respectively, they could have picked something easier, like a nice sales job, or buying a successful restaurant franchise, or maybe even starting their own business.
Instead, they both decided to become lawyers. âItâs crazy,â Bryan says.
But it worked.
At Devolder Law, located in the former Hunterâs Green Model & Visitor Center, Bryan and Elizabeth have found immediate success in their new profession. Since opening in August of 2016, Elizabeth says business has been brisk and is well ahead of their projections after just six months; Bryan adds that they have doubled the amount of clients they expected at this time.
Through various forms, including advertising in the Neighborhood News, the internet, word of mouth and a solid reputation in the community, the Devolders are growing.
The secret to their success might be the same thing that drew them into law in the first place — a desire to seek out answers and solve problems, while meeting peopleâs needs in an informal manner that makes them feel at ease.
âWeâre not about us, were about the client,ââ says Bryan. âWe recently had a consultation where we were the fifth attorney one client had visited. They decided they wanted to be with us, telling us other attorneys gave a 30-minute sales pitch on how cool the attorneys were. They told us we were the only ones who talked to them about what they wanted.â
The Devolders are graduates of the Western Michigan University-Cooley Law School satellite campus in Riverview, FL.
Bryan was working as a computer engineer for Verizon, and Elizabeth had been in sales for the Yellow Pages when they both decided to pursue a different path.
The seed for a change was planted when Bryan had a mortgage company, and during that time had worked almost daily with a title attorney friend. Bryan would teach him a little about the mortgage business, and his friend would teach him real estate and title law. When both of their businesses were knocked out by the 2008 housing market crash, his friend told Bryan âyou need to go to law school. Youâre smarter than me and Iâm a lawyer, and youâd be great at it.â
Those words stuck with him. When the Devolders were dating, they made a list of 10 things they wanted to do, and taped them to the inside of their bathroom medicine cabinet mirror, where it remains today.
âGet a new car was on the list, get a boat was on the list, and get a J.D. (Juris Doctor) degree was on the list,â said Elizabeth, who was on the debate team in high school and had been told sheâd make a great lawyer decades ago but never really thought much of it. âWe had both had enough interest in the law that when we were dating, we said that would be a fun thing to do. Before we had kids. Before anything.â
âWe talked about it,ââ says Bryan, âbut it was more like, wouldnât it be cool? Like, hey, wouldnât it be cool if we went skydiving?â
He married Elizabeth in 2009, and they had their first child in 2010. That put a hold on plans to become lawyers, because there are few choices for people who want to work during the day and become lawyers in their spare time. Stetsonâs St. Petersburg campus was an option, but the driving back-and-forth would just add too much time to an already hectic schedule.
It wasnât too long after that when WMU-Cooley Law School opened its campus in Riverview.
The Devolders visited before the campus was even built, in a little office, and were convinced the schoolâs schedule and mission, to make the law accessible to everyone, fit theirs. They studied for three months and both passed their Law School Admission Test (LSAT) — finishing within a point of each other, although they exercise a little lawyer-spouse privilege when asked who got the higher score.
In Jan. of 2013, they both started law school, even though Elizabeth knew her journey would also include adding to her family. âI had to commit to having babies in law school,ââ Bryan said, laughing.
The Devolders took afternoon classes, night classes, weekend classes, and they say they couldnât have done it without family help. âWe didnât go on vacation for three years, I gained 30 pounds, I didnât golf, no birthdays or anniversaries.â
âI spent my 40th birthday in Secure Transactions Class,ââ says Elizabeth, who also served as the editor-in-chief of the WMU-Cooley Law Review.
How busy was it? A pregnant Elizabeth took a law school exam one morning, and afterwards headed right for the hospital to be induced for the birth of the coupleâs second child.
âShe got the highest grade in the class,ââ says Bryan, proudly.
Your Team Of Lawyers
They discovered they had very different study habits. Elizabeth is more detail-oriented, and Bryan is more of the big picture guy. âHe would get me out of the weeds, and I would get him attending more to the details that if I hadnât been there, maybe he would have missed,ââ she says.
Elizabeth handles most of the estate planning, with Bryan taking on most of the litigation.
âI like to do the writing and he is very good at thinking on his feet, the litigating part,ââ Elizabeth says. âWe use our strengths to help our clients.â
The Devolders have the hardware to show the extent of their success. In the spring of 2015, they competed, along with another student, at the American Bar Associationâs Law Student Division Client Counseling Nationals, and beat out 66 other American Bar Association-approved law schools and 111 teams for the title, which Bryan likens to a small, unknown college winning the NCAA Final Four or College Football Playoff.
âItâs a little Cinderella story in terms of law school,ââ he says.
Bryan graduated in Jan. of 2016, and Elizabeth graduated in April of the same year, both finishing at the top of their class. Later in 2016, Elizabeth was among 25 future lawyers named in the National Juristâs inaugural âLaw Student of the Yearâ feature.
In August of 2016, they opened their firm in Hunterâs Green, the same community where they also live.
The Devolders say WMU-Cooley helped make the law accessible to them, and they now return the favor by making it accessible to their clients. And, while the task of meeting with an attorney can be stressful to many, the Devolders try to put every client at ease.
âWe are very down to earth people,â Elizabeth says. âWe werenât born with silver spoons in our mouths, we didnât become Harvard lawyers at 25. We worked hard our whole lives, we understand the value of money and we understand the challenges that people have. And, we answer the phone.â
Bryan turns his cellphone over and reveals a Batman sticker. âThis is the Bat Phone,ââ he says. âWe give this number to our clients, we are available 24/7. Ask any other attorney if they will answer their phone at 2 a.m., or if they even give that number out.â
Rachel Hallford says she was blindsided when her husband asked for a divorce after 10 years and two children.
âFrom the first phone call I had with him, I knew Bryan was the attorney for me,â Rachel says. âHe is such an amazing guy who is really there for his clients. He can be reached any time no matter whether the issue is big or small. I personally had a few freak outs and I didnât want to bother him but I called anyway and he was so nice, patient, supportive and calmed me down every time.â
While many attorneys may focus solely on one aspect of the law, recommending other lawyers to handle related problems, Elizabeth says Devolder Law will take extra steps to make things easier for its clients. They have helped family law clients who have to sell their homes with lease agreements and sales contracts, reviewed various contracts and deeds and dealt with tax and bankruptcy issues.
âProblems donât happen in a bubble,ââ she says. âWe solve legal problems, and related problems. The concept of sending people away to go to another attorney only benefits the attorney by keeping their job nice and small and simple.â
The Devolders do not let conventional wisdom slow them down. When they set their minds to something, they say, they get it done, whether itâs going back to school to become lawyers, or guiding a client through a difficult process.
Devolder Family Law is located at 8709 Hunters Green Dr., at the front of Hunterâs Green before entering the community. right before It is open Mon.-Fri., 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. For additional information, search âDevolderLawâ on Facebook, visit DevolderLaw.com or call (813) 724-3880.
Now that Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (FHWC) has completed its recent major expansion, itâs growing outside of Wesley Chapel, too.
The hospital has broken ground on an off-site emergency room on S.R. 54, just east of the Suncoast Pkwy. in Land Oâ Lakes.
The building will be 18,000 sq. ft., with 24 beds, and will offer full-service emergency room care 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including on-site laboratory and imaging services, such X-ray, ultrasound & CT scan. The new ER will be staffed with Board-certified emergency medicine physicians and nurses who specialize in emergency care.
âThis emergency room facility will provide the Central Pasco community with greater access to comprehensive emergency care,â said Denyse Bales-Chubb, president and CEO of Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel. âWe recently completed a significant expansion at (FHWC) and we continue to add physicians and services to meet the medical needs of our growing community.â
The ER is expected to be open in late 2017 or early 2018. A groundbreaking ceremony was held April 6.
I am from the snowflakes that fall from the sky and pile in heaps on the ground.
I am from the loonâs eerie wails, which I loved to stay awake in bed and listen to at night.
I am from the mix of the worldâs best pancakes, and the batter of the worldâs best fudge brownies.
Hailey Acierno wrote these words in a poem when she was 11 years old, shortly after the family had moved here from Minnesota.
Chris and Lisa Acierno, her parents, honored their daughter by sharing them with a New Tampa community that has tried to fill the holes in their hearts the past two weeks.
Chris read his favorite poem at Haileyâs funeral April 12 at St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church, before hundreds who attended a somber and sad goodbye to a young, 17-year-old woman her parents say had struggled for years with mental illness, and who took her own life in the woods inside Flatwoods Park, behind the Arbor Greene community where her family lived.
âLosing a child and the grief that accompanies that loss is a thought that every parent considers,â Chris said. âYou imagine it as the absolute worst possible scenario of loss, pain and sorrow. Well, we can attest to the harsh reality that it is completely devastating.â
The church was filled with family and friends, and even the rescue parties and their dogs who searched for her over 10 days when Hailey went missing March 28. They cried, hugged and lamented the loss of a life too soon.
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I am from the strawberry wafers sold at the rundown cornerstore where I would always bike to.
I am from âBecause I Said Soâ, and âWhatâd You Say?â, and âThereâs A First Time For Everything.â
I am from the cheers in the bleachers at my brothersâ baseball games.
Hailey, a 17-year-old Wharton student, left behind brothers Ryan and Josh and sister Katie, and her parents, who along with so many others in the community, remember her as bright and imaginative girl who made so many of those around her happy.
âShe was brilliant, she was creative, she was always the smile in the room,ââ said Lisa. âShe would go out of her way to be the happy, bouncy, silly kid willing to do anything to make someone smile.â
When she was 10, a year before the family moved from Minnesota to Tampa, she wrote about being in charge of the world, and how, if she was, she would ban chicken pot pies and blues music and the sport of curling.
Pet Dragons would be the norm in Haileyâs world, all waterheads would be filled with fish, and fudge brownies and ice cream cake would be vegetables. Chris shared that at her funeral, to let those who may not have known Hailey understand how her mind danced like childrenâs minds do.
âIt was a beautiful mind,ââ he said.
She was loved by her classmates and teachers, and cared for everyone. When her cell phone was stolen and later recovered, she worried about what would happen to the child who was caught with it. âIt was just a mistake,ââ she told her mother.
Beneath the surface, however, Hailey was plagued by dark thoughts, her mother said, thoughts she fought hard to suppress. She attended Pride Elementary in fifth grade, and had a perfect score on her FCAT. When she entered Benito Middle School, Lisa says she started to notice the changes: Hailey became more sullen, she stopped caring about school and she couldnât stay on task.
âShe was in so much pain,ââ Lisa said. âIf you knew her, though, she hid it really well.â
Through it all, including hospital stays and visits to therapists and an unending procession of doctors and counselors, she never stopped smiling. Her artistic side continued to shine through. Her writings were deep and sometimes dark but always exceptional. She was two chapters into writing a book her mother insists would have become a best seller.
When Hailey went missing March 28, hundreds of volunteers showed up to search, combing as much of the massive 5,500-acre Flatwoods Park â where she enjoyed hanging out â as they could.
A vigil was held at St. Markâs on April 4, and despite trying hard to remain optimistic, Lisa began to fear the worst.
On April 6, Flatwoods Park was closed as the search was expanded. A day later, in the early morning, Tampa Police officers on off-road bikes found Haileyâs body off the main biking and hiking paths. âHailey had a troubled mind,ââ Chris said, âand needed to find peace for herself.â
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I am from a pair of ice skates that my brothers and I walked with to the outdoor skating rink every winter night, and skated across the lumpy ice.
I am from the long, concealing limbs of the weeping willow, the perfect place to go for privacy and relaxing.
I am from the big pond behind the neighborhood, next to the willow.
Lisa doesnât know what she could have done differently, but itâs hard not to think about.
She said she was on a neverending mission to find help for her daughter. Hailey suffered from bi-polar disorder (formerly referred to as manic depression), which causes extreme mood swings and, in many cases, suicidal thoughts. It affects nearly six million adult Americans, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Hailey spent time in hospitals and with therapists as the family fought to find solutions. Lisa says she called at least 50 doctors searching for help.
Asked if she has any advice for other families suffering with the same affliction, she grows quiet. âBecause we lost,ââ she says, âI donât know how much my advice is worth.â
But after a moment, she steels herself.
âJust keep fighting,ââ she says. âDonât give up. Donât quit.â
Chris says the family can take some solace in the fact that Hailey is free from her torment. The pain never goes away, but some peace can be found.
âShe is now free and she can find happiness fluttering with the butterflies and soaring with the birds in the clouds, and even exploring distant galaxies in space,ââ he said. âAll the things she loved.â
I am in a different place now than where Iâm from.
A new place, completely.
But really, Iâll never leave the places that I am from.
According to paperwork filed with the county, Culver’s Restaurant, which already has a location in front of the Tampa Premium Outlets, is hoping to build another near the Shops at Wiregrass.
