Author: John Cotey

Planning Commission Says No To Rezoning Efforts

In a sign that developers in Pasco County may be facing a new uphill battle when it comes to rezoning property in order to build apartments, the county’s planning staff and Planning Commission rejected an effort to do just that in the Seven Oaks development, just off S.R. 56 and Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd.

First, the county’s planning staff recommended denying a substantial modification to the Seven Oaks MPUD Master Planned Unit Development (MPUD) Master Plan, and then, by a 3-1 vote on Sept. 8, Pasco’s Planning Commission voted down the plan to rezone 86,000 square feet of retail and office space for a 320-unit apartment complex.

Chris Williams, the director of planning for the Pasco School Board, had to leave before the Planning Commission vote but did voice his support for the developer’s plans.

Roberto Saez, MBA, CGC, AIA, a 14-year Seven Oaks resident, made the motion to deny. Saez formerly served as a senior construction project manager for Pasco County, and while he noted that the project was impressive, and something needed in the county, “this is not the right location.”

The proposed apartments would be located on a 10-acre parcel, currently zoned for commercial and retail development, adjacent to the Sam’s Club on S.R. 56. Ancient Oaks Dr. serves as the western boundary of the parcel, BBD as the eastern boundary and S.R. 56 as the southern boundary.

The proposed apartment complex would include a pool, a dog park and open space for gatherings in the southern portion of the complex.

But, opponents of the project note that there already are two apartment complexes in that area of Seven Oaks — Windsor Club at Seven Oaks to the east and Colonial Grand at Seven Oaks to the west. And, the Enclave at Wesley Chapel and Bonterra Parc apartments are both located right across the street, on the south side of S.R. 56. The residents also raised concerns about traffic issues on Ancient Oaks Blvd.

Joel Tew, the attorney for the developer DD/SR 56 LLC and Walmart, refuted each argument, and claimed the decision to recommend denying the rezoning appeared to be driven by politics, a reference to the county’s current multi-family moratorium.

Politics Or Public Benefit?

Pasco’s Board of County Commissioners, led by District 2 commissioner and Seven Oaks resident Mike Moore, issued a moratorium on accepting any new apartment applications back in May, after debating for months whether the county, and specifically most of the Wesley Chapel area, was facing too much of a glut of multi-family development.

While the Seven Oaks application was submitted prior to the moratorium going into effect, the political headwinds were still felt, Tew says.

“At the pre-app (meeting), staff told us that there was no problem with this application,” Tew said. “Staff said it was a great spot for this. It’s only now, due to a political directive, that staff at the last minute was told to oppose this application. That’s unfortunate.”

The county’s Planning and Development Department wrote that the project, as proposed, “is inconsistent with Comprehensive Plan Policy FLU 1.8.7, Economic Development, and Policy FLU 1.8.10, Preservation of Capacity for Employment-Generating Uses.”

“I
“In a normal world, if this project came in, it would be on (the) consent (agenda). You wouldn’t think twice about it. You’d be thanking the developer for building exactly the mixed-use project that this county has begged all developers to build.”
— Attorney Joel Tew

Nectorios Pittos, the director of planning and development for Pasco, said an independent third-party analysis that was conducted concluded that the proposed 320-unit rental apartment development would generate $188,375 in annual county revenue over a 10-year average, but the current MPUD entitlements for nearly 90,000 square feet of commercial use would generate $743,375 in annual county revenue.

The county, Pittos said, is placing a high priority on county revenue- and employment-generating land uses, which he says the current project would not do.

However, Tew, who complained he received the third-party analysis days before the hearing, disputed it by showing a chart of other similar multi-family projects and their tax bills. Extrapolating those numbers to the proposed 320 units, Tew said the proposed Seven Oaks project’s tax bill actually would generate $850,000 yearly, which, over 30 years, which would mean a $25-million windfall for the county’s coffers — and more revenue than the $22.3 million that a commercial project would generate over the same time period.

“I don’t know where they came up with those (lower) numbers,” Tew said.

Without the political overtones, Tew said, the proposed multi-family project would be a slam dunk.

“I ask that you look past the politics,” he said. “In a normal world, if this project came in, it would be on (the) consent (agenda). You wouldn’t think twice about it. You’d be thanking the developer for building exactly the mixed-use project that this county has begged all developers to build.”

Three Seven Oaks residents spoke against the project at the meeting, which was held at the Dade City Courthouse, while two others called in, also in opposition. John Thompson, one of those residents in attendance, said the project was like “fitting a square peg in a round hole” and that the area needed more room for small businesses, not more apartments.

County planners did offer another option for committee action — a continuance to the Nov. 4 Planning Commission meeting to allow the Planning & Development Department to “develop and include conditions of approval for vertically integrated mixed use building(s) that have commercial and office entitlements on the ground floor and multi-family entitlements on the upper stories.”

Tew rejected the alternative motion, saying the developer said there was “no viability” or market for such a project.

“Ironically, when I bring new clients in to meet with staff, this is exactly the kind of project they ask my clients to build,” Tew said. “When we find a hole in the donut that has everything around it, all of a sudden it’s not acceptable.”

Moore and the rest of the county commissioners will hear Tew’s apartment proposal in the coming weeks.

The county’s six-month moratorium, which went into effect May 4, has been extended another six months. Part of the plan is to determine exactly how many multi-family projects already exist in the county, and study whether the county, especially in areas like Wesley Chapel, has reached its saturation point.

Moore says he is not opposed to multi-family projects, just the efforts to rezone parcels approved for commercial and retail projects to build apartments. He says that there already is plenty of land with entitlements for multi-family projects, and cited a number of projects currently in progress.

Ditch Your CPAP With Sleep Apnea Treatment From Dr. Jay Nelson

After decades of practicing dentistry, Dr. Jay Nelson, D.M.D (Doctor of Dental Medicine), has sold his dental practice in Lutz to focus exclusively on dental sleep medicine.

It’s been his passion for more than a decade, since he first took a course that he says sparked his interest.

As his knowledge, expertise and dental sleep medicine practice have grown over more than 10 years, it led Dr. Nelson to sell his dental practice, located off S.R. 54 in Lutz, in January. He had originally opened that practice in 1987, about the same time he moved to New Tampa, where he still lives.

In April of this year, he opened Nelson Dental Sleep Medicine on Foggy Creek Rd., in the Cypress Creek Professional Center off of S.R. 56 (less than a mile east of I-75).

The move to the new office allows him to focus fully on treating those who suffer from sleep apnea “We’re actually saving lives,” Dr. Nelson says.

Building on what he learned while earning his D.M.D. degree at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine in Philadelphia, Dr. Nelson has since earned advanced certifications from professional organizations such as the Academy of Laser Dentistry (ALD), Academy of Comprehensive Esthetics (ACE) and the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine (AADSM).

*Frances Cameli (left) and Betsy Ramos both worked with Dr. Nelson at his dental practice and have now joined him at his Nelson Dental Sleep Medicine office.*

Nelson Dental Sleep Medicine is the only facility in Florida and one of the first 20 dental offices in the U.S. to be accredited by the AADSM.

Recently, Dr. Nelson was one of only two dentists asked to speak before the 21st annual Current Concepts in Sleep medical conference, where he taught virtually to a national audience.

His team at his new office includes Frances Cameli, who worked in his previous practice for more than 10 years and serves as the dental sleep manager in the front office, while Betsy Ramos, who also came from Dr. Nelson’s previous practice, serves as the office’s clinical assistant.

Dr. Nelson offers a free consultation to people who wonder if their snoring might be a sign they have a serious underlying condition. And often, it’s not the patient who suggests they visit Dr. Nelson, but those who have to sleep within earshot of them.

“We save marriages, too,” Dr. Nelson says, referring to those couples who sleep separately because of the disturbances from snoring.

To find out if you’re at risk for sleep apnea, Dr. Nelson suggests using Google to search for the “STOP BANG” survey questionnaire. It asks questions about snoring, tiredness and other risk factors. There also is a similar assessment (that requires personal information to be entered) on the Nelson Dental Sleep Medicine website: SleepBetterFlorida.com/take-our-quiz.

Sleep apnea is a condition affecting more than 200,000 people in the U.S. each year. It causes patients to stop breathing for brief periods of time during sleep, which can lead to drowsiness that increases risk for auto and other accidents, as well as an increased risk of overall mortality, strokes and cancer.

“If you have symptoms of sleep apnea,” he says, “get tested or get treated.”

Obstructive sleep apnea is a medical condition, so those who see Dr. Nelson will be referred for evaluation at a sleep testing center, as well as to their primary care physician for diagnosis.

The standard treatment for obstructive sleep apnea has been to pump a continuous stream of air into a patient’s nose or mouth while sleeping. This method — using a Continuous Positive Air Pressure (or CPAP) system — is effective, but many people find the CPAP machine cumbersome and uncomfortable to use, Dr. Nelson says, resulting a high failure rate, usually due to patient non-compliance.

“We know that 50% of people who start on a CPAP give it up within a year,” explains Dr. Nelson, “so we provide an alternative to that.”

Instead of the unwieldy, scary-looking CPAP machine, Dr. Nelson makes an FDA approved oral appliance that is adjusted to position the tongue and jaw to allow greater airflow to the lungs while sleeping.

“Many people find the oral appliances more comfortable than the CPAP,” Dr. Nelson says, explaining that those who have been diagnosed with mild or moderate sleep apnea can begin using an oral appliance, while those who have severe sleep apnea should start with the CPAP. If they are not able to comfortably use the CPAP, they then become a candidate for an oral appliance. Nelson Dental Sleep Medicine does offer both types of appliances.

Ed Sapiega is one of Dr. Nelson’s patients, who first came to him about three years ago. Tired of the hassle of lugging his CPAP machine around while he traveled, Ed was thrilled with the appliance that Dr. Nelson made for him.

“I had lived with a CPAP machine for years,” Ed says, “The noises it made prevented my wife from sleeping almost as much as my snoring did.”

Recently, Ed’s original oral appliance broke, and he went back to Dr. Nelson for a new one. However, he found out that since he first became Dr. Nelson’s patient, an even better device (above) has become available.

“It’s quite fantastic,” he says. “It’s easy to use, and there’s no pain and no strain. I didn’t have to go through a process of learning to sleep with it.”

He says that while he was very happy with his first device, times have changed, and his new one, while from the same company, is much better.

“Compared to the CPAP, it’s very convenient and extremely effective,” Ed says. “Dr. Nelson is very good with these devices and keeps very current. I’m extremely pleased.”

Ed adds that Dr. Nelson was able to accommodate him very quickly, and he has nothing but good things to say about him. “He’s a very pleasant dentist and professional to deal with.”

Because the treatment is for a medical condition, Dr. Nelson and his staff help patients navigate the confusing world of medical insurance and accept Care Credit, which offers payment plans for those who have out-of-pocket expenses.

Nelson Dental Sleep Medicine is located at 26907 Foggy Creek Rd., Suite 101, in Wesley Chapel. To make an appointment or for additional information, visit SleepBetterFlorida.com or call (813) 733-4169.

Dr. Nelson

Gas N Grills Is Ready To Upgrade Your Grill Game

Football season has arrived which, for many people, also means grilling season. With cooler weather (finally) around the corner, it’s time to invite those fantasy football buddies over for some beer, beef and football. It also might be time to upgrade your grill game.

Gas N Grills, located on Livingston Ave. just north of E. Bearss Ave. and a 1.2-mile west of Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., likely has everything you need to make all of your friends envious.

Not only does the location offer grilling accessories, charcoal, wood chips and propane. The store’s selection of gas and other grills also can help transform your outdoor cooking space into a charming culinary oasis.

Gas N Grills owner Joe Baker says that while it is tough to compete against the bigger box stores and online shopping, those who prefer to spend their money with smaller, local businesses will be pleasantly surprised by the quality offered at his store, which has been located in the same plaza since 1989.

“We specialize in high-end grills,” Joe says. “You get a good product here, not the cheap stuff. Good quality products, with good warranties.”

What you won’t find at Gas N Grills are the same, basic $199 grills you see lined up outside the big box stores, especially during the spring and summer.

At his store, Joe offers everything from simple Broil Master grills to a number of high-priced stainless steel beauties from top name brands like Alfresco, Blaze and Tec.

Alfresco grills are made in the USA, Joe says Blaze is his best seller and boasts commercial-grade cast stainless steel burners, as well as a lifetime warranty, and Tec uses infrared heating, which puts a good char on your meat. All are ideal for any outdoor kitchen, according to Joe.

Joe also sells the Weber brand, arguably the most popular and highly-rated grill in the country.

Naturally, any grill store would be incomplete these days without kamado grills, which are the popular kettle-shaped grills with a ceramic shell that offer both charcoal grilling and smoking versatility.

At Gas N Grills, Joe sells the Saffire Grills, which are similar to the more-well-known Big Green Egg grills but are even higher quality, he says.

The Saffire uses charcoal, and can be used to grill, smoke, bake, roast and BBQ. Not only can you cook steaks and burgers on it, you also can slow-cook some ribs, and even use it to make a true wood-fired pizza, if you so desire.

“It gives you better results than a regular grill,” Joe says. “The food stays so juicy that once you eat food cooked on it, you will never go back to just a ‘regular’ grill.”

The Saffire grills are definitely a little pricey — although they are available in multiple sizes, a medium-sized one will set you back about $1,000 — but they all come with a lifetime warranty and Joe says it will probably be the last grill you’ll ever buy.

In fact, that’s the case with many of the grills Joe sells at Gas N Grills, which are more for the dedicated and serious grilling enthusiasts who like to cook outdoors more than they do inside, moreso than the usual weekend chefs just looking to cook up a few burgers and hot dogs every once in a while.

“We target those customers who are looking for a better cooking experience,” Joe says. ”People who know the difference are very interested in what we have. Spending $1,000, though, may be overkill for some people. But, I have customers who cook on their grills five times a week.”

At Gas N Grills, the high-end grill choices feature large cooking areas and added perks like rotisserie kits, side burners, adjustable warming racks, shelves, cabinet storage and even blue LED lights for nighttime grilling.

Gas N Grills also sells camping stoves, turkey fryers, pizza ovens and grilling accessories, like a wide variety of different types of smoking wood with some flavors that Joe says you cannot find anywhere else.

Gas N Grills also specializes in various grill replacement parts, which can be ordered in-store or online and are a big part the store’s business. Even during Covid-19, when parts are hard to come by, Joe was able to help out customer Charles Sailor.

“I was looking for igniters for my (grill),” Sailor wrote in a review. “No one had it or it was back ordered 10 days. Also, this was all during the Covid-19 stay at home. I called Gas N Grills, (Joe) answered the phone and was very helpful…. ordered both parts on a Wednesday and (it came on Thursday). Efficient, quick and very helpful. If you have a hard time getting or finding parts, this is the place. I dealt with five other companies, but this was the only one that came through for me.”

Gas N Grills is located at 14615 Livingston Ave. For more information, visit GasNGrills.com or call (813) 972-4984.

For PTSD, Covid Concerns & More, Try Tampa Palms Psychology

There’s little doubt that, because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the past two years have been especially tough to deal with for most of us.

For many people, whether or not to wear masks everywhere we go, whether or not to take a Covid-19 vaccine and not being able to go out to eat, to a movie, sporting event or concert has put more strain on us emotionally than perhaps any other situation in most of our lifetimes.

That’s where Brian Wilson, Ph.D., of Tampa Palms Psychology, comes in. Dr. Wilson (no relation to the co-founder of the Beach Boys rock group with the same name) says that although he doesn’t treat couples, adolescents or young children, he can help individual adults with a wide range of emotional problems — including depression, anxiety, work stress, aging, surviving abuse, dementia, compassion fatigue, insomnia, grief, relationship concerns and more — deal with their issues.

He also offers ongoing psychological treatment for people with chronic medical problems, including geriatric patients.

“These are challenging times,” he says, “so working with a skilled psychologist can help you navigate them with success. I am focused on helping you cope with the demands of the modern world through compassion, careful listening and comprehensive psychotherapy.”

Dr. Wilson graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from the University of Florida in Gainesville and earned both his Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees from the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. He also completed a psychology residency at the Minneapolis Veterans Administration Hospital, where he specialized in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as an adult generalist.

He has been practicing since 2003, and moved to Tampa in 2009 and to New Tampa in 2013. He says his private practice today is exclusively telehealth and, to that end, says that it was important to invest in good technology, with a nice computer and fast internet, even though he does also have a physical office location in Tampa Palms. He isn’t sure when he will begin seeing patients again in person, but says that transitioning to a telehealth-only practice hasn’t affected his ability to help his adult patients.

“The ripple effect of the Covid-19 pandemic is that everyone’s overall stress level is up,” Dr. Wilson says. “Even without Covid, however, many adults feel that there is often not enough time in the day to both accomplish our goals and care for ourselves. Responsibilities and commitments can be overwhelming. Raising children, pursuing career advancement, helping aging parents, retirement and coping with losses can leave us emotionally depleted. Such stressors and setbacks can feel even more difficult to manage with the state of affairs in the world.”

Because of HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act) rules, Dr. Wilson doesn’t offer online testimonials but he says he has had a lot of success treating veterans and others with PTSD, and says that many people’s fears and concerns about Covid-19 (especially for those who have lost loved ones or seen them hospitalized long-term, as well as medical professionals treating Covid patients) have caused many of the same issues.

“It helps to have a professional to talk to about these concerns,” he says. “A lot of my current patients have been referred to me by a friend or family member I’ve been able to help.”

And, while he says that word of mouth is still the best way to build a practice in his profession, he has had a lot of success with his ads in this publication, too.

“Building a practice is very much a grassroots thing,” Dr. Wilson says. “But, I’ve found that the Neighborhood News is the best way to do that locally. My ads have generated a lot of calls.”

Dr. Wilson’s wife, Jessica, is a psychologist with the Department of Veterans Affairs and they have a six-year-old son who attends Chiles Elementary in Tampa Palms. And, even though he’s no Beach Boy, Wilson says that he enjoys not only playing, but also buying, selling and refurbishing guitars (“to fund my habit”) and working out.

For appointments with Dr. Brian Wilson and more info about Tampa Palms Psychology, call (813) 491-9343 or visit TampaPalmsPsychology.com.

K-Bar Resident Shares His Story Of Tragedy To Triumph

K-Bar Ranch resident Pete Radigan has a story to tell, and he’s been waiting 20 years for people to read it.

On Oct. 4, Tragedy to Triumph: The Story of Tom’s Heart will be officially released for sale by Red Penguin Books.

“Oh my God, I can’t wait,” says Radigan, who moved from New Jersey to K-Bar Ranch in 2019. “If there was ever a made-for-TV (story), this book is it.”

Decades in the making, it is the personal story of Radigan’s battle with his health, his life-saving heart transplant and Jan Mauk’s healing from the loss of her son Tom, the teen whose heart keeps Radigan alive, and the rare relationship between the parent of a donor and the donor recipient.

Radigan says he and Jan have talked about writing the book for many years. Radigan, who had kept a journal during his long hospital stays while waiting for a transplant, had written his version of it years ago, and Jan surprised him with her version at Christmas in 2018.

A friend of Radigan’s, writer Jim McGrath, weaved it all together.

“Over the last 10 years, when was the last time you heard of a major story about organ donation?,” Radigan asks. “They are few and far between. This book talks about what the experience is like from the view of the mother of a deceased donor — how she felt and went through the grieving process — and also about the recipient and what they go through together. It’s the first time something like this has been catalogued in a book. I feel like it’s a healing guidebook for those on both sides of the organ donation process.”

Born on Staten Island, NY, in 1965 and raised in East Windsor, NJ, Radigan’s story certainly is unique.

In 1987, he was first diagnosed with hypertrophic cardio myopathy, which is an enlargement of the heart. It was later discovered he was actually suffering from Emery Dreifuss muscular dystrophy, which affects the heart.

By age 30, Radigan’s health had deteriorated to the point where he was having difficulty walking up stairs. He says he was teaching a corporate class in Orange County, CA, and couldn’t even wear shoes because his feet hurt so much. He was unknowingly already in end-stage heart failure.

“I thought, ‘When did I get in such bad shape?,’” he recalls. “I was embarrassed.”

Radigan returned to the east coast and underwent a battery of tests that made it official. He needed a heart, or, his doctors told him, he was going to die.

That led to months in the hospital. His first transplant was canceled after Radigan, surrounded by his family, had been prepped for the surgery. The heart he was to receive, doctors said, was damaged.

A week later, at 7:15 p.m. on Aug. 4, 1997, a new donor heart had been found, and Radigan received his heart at the New York Presbyterian Medical Center.

Just two days earlier, 16-year-old Tom Mauk was driving his motorcycle when a car struck him and sent him flying more than 150 feet.

Jan says she struggled for a day with the decision to donate Tom’s organs, but knew that was what her son would have wanted.

Jan listening to her son’s heart. Pete described the moment as one of the most emotional of his life.

On Sept. 13, Radigan walked out of the hospital with a cane and a new lease on life.

Jan mourned.

That’s the tragedy. The triumph came more than a year later, when, after a few letters back and forth, Pete and Jan agreed to finally meet on Feb. 5, 1999, in Niagara Falls in Toronto.

Radigan says it was one of the most emotional moments of his life. He brought Jan flowers and asked her if she wanted to listen to her son’s heart. She leaned in and pressed her ear to his chest.

“It was not like listening to the quality, rhythm, or rate of a heartbeat or detecting arrhythmias, which I practiced as a nurse,” she wrote. “Listening to his heart brought a connection to Tom, joy to my soul, in contrast to the previous sadness, as tears formed in my eyes….The sound of his heartbeat was a melody to my ear, as I wanted to permanently affix my head to (Pete’s) chest to hear it continually. It brought comfort to me.”

Radigan says that the last third of the book details their friendship, and includes the letters and emails they wrote to each other over the years.

“When I asked Jan what made her want to write the book, her answer was pretty simple: ‘It gave me the opportunity to leave a legacy for my son, the man he was and the gifts he provided,’” says Radigan.

For Pete Radigan, it was another chance to say “thank you.”

To purchase the book or for more information on donor and tissue donation, visit TragedyToTriumph.net. Tragedy to Triumph will also be available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Google Books.

Pete Radigan Tragedy to Triumph