TOP STORIES OF 2017:Â Bruce B. Downs, Kinnan-Mansfield Fired Up Debates
Things heated up on local roads in 2017, primarily the tempers of drivers who are finding the stretch of Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. that slices through New Tampa more maddening than ever.
While Segment A of the widening of the road is all but wrapped up, Segment D — from Pebble Creek Blvd. to County Line Rd. — continues to plague New Tampa travelers. Next year, our year-in-review might just be about the great success of the project, as it is expected to conclude in late 2018. That may be, however, of little solace to those getting stuck in traffic now in front of Wharton High, a hot spot of the current BBD construction.
We don’t want to give you any spoilers, but for our Best Of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel” issue coming out next month, we a
sked for your opinion on the worst intersection in New Tampa, and 11 of the BBD intersections made our readers’ list. Yes, 11.
However, none have provided as much angst as the intersection of BBD and Cross Creek Blvd., which in 2017 rose to new heights for snarling traffic. A recent study by the city led to new light patterns at the troublesome intersection in early December, but those results remain inconclusive.
BBD had some company, though, when it came to controversial road debates in 2017.
Kinnan-Mansfield
This photo taken by a drone shows the 60-foot gap between Kinnan St. (on the bottom) and Mansfield Blvd. Hillsborough and Pasco counties are stalemated on the issue but continue to discuss connecting the two roads.
The potential connection of Hillsborough County’s Kinnan St. to Pasco County’s Mansfield Blvd. also inched closer to a fever pitch after a series of discussions between residents and Hillsborough and Pasco County representatives.
Pasco County commissioned a study of the connection (along with two other possible connections) in April, a public meeting was held in May at Pasco-Hernando State College (PHSC)’s Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch to solicit responses, and the Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners pledged $250,000 in September to help make the connection happen.
Will it? Not witho
ut a big fight. And, that battle will begin in earnest this year.
Morris Bridge Rd.
Flooding on Morris Bridge Rd. had some residents questioning that road’s future, which might even one day involve a widening north of Cross Creek Blvd.
I-75 At S.R. 56
Of special interest to many commuters who prefer to avoid driving south on BBD to get to the interstate, the Divergin
g Diamond Interchange (DDI) for I-75 at S.R. 56 is closer after receiving some good news in 2017.
A Florida Department of Transportation project that is expected to ease the flow of traffic at the S.R. 56 and I-75 intersection near Tampa Premium Outlets, was originally scheduled for a 2024 start in construction. Now, however, it looks like shovels will hit the dirt in 2018.
Be patient, people. It’s all going to get better.
Hurricane Irma, Fires, Neo-Nazis & The Loss Of Too Many People
Crazy weather, fires blazing their way through forests and over roads, neo Nazi controversy and contentious budget battles.
Welcome to New Tampa!
While those stories all sound like incidents happening around the country you might catch while watching CNN, they were, in fact, local news stories in New Tampa in 2017.
(Spoiler alert: Most of the good news is in our cover story.)
Hurricane Irma might have been the biggest story of the year, especially when you consider the number of people who fled or hunkered down in shelters in anticipation of the Category 5 storm that approached Florida in mid-September. Some storm models had the hurricane slicing right through Tampa Palms.
Windows were boarded as plywood become a hot, then scarce, commodity. Water flew off the shelves at every area store, days before the storm actually blasted through the area Sept. 20-21.
As it turned out, Irma was more bark than bite when she finally showed up in New Tampa. We’re thankful the biggest story of the year wasn’t bigger.
Fires!
On the other end of the weather scale, dry conditions and a lack of rain in May led to three brush fires that burned more than 200 acres in Flatwoods Park, and led to the temporary closure of I-75 due to smoky conditions that spread as far as Lakeland. Thankfully the fire was contained before any damage could be done to nearby homes and businesses.
Another fire, this one intentionally set in February by an arsonist at the Daarus Salaam Mosque on Morris Bridge Rd., failed to do its intended damage, thanks to alarm sprinklers, but still left members without a place to worship for a few weeks. Cypress Pointe Community Church opened its doors to its neighbors until the mosque was suitable for worship.
At our press time, no one had been arrested for setting the fire.
New Tampa Neo-Nazis?
Yes, you read that right.
In what had to be the craziest story of the year, self-proclaimed neo Nazi Devon Arthurs shot both of his roommates to death because, he claimed, they had disrespected his recent conversion to Islam.
He then held three hostages at the Green Planet Smoke Shop on Amberly Dr. before surrendering to police, who he led back to the Hamptons in Tampa Palms apartment where his dead roommates were.
A third roommate, Brandon Russell, was there when police arrived. In his bedroom were Nazi and white supremacist propaganda and a framed photo of Timothy McVeigh, who was executed for killing 168 people in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
Russell admitted to being a member of Atomwaffen, an active neo-Nazi hate group, and had enough explosives to make a bomb stored in the apartment’s garage. He was arrested on federal explosives charges.
Taken Too Soon…
Hailey Acierno
New Tampa also experienced its share of sadness.
In April, the body of local teen Hailey Acierno was found in Flatwoods Park, two miles from her Arbor Greene home, after a 10-day search that rallied help from all over the New Tampa area.
Hailey may be gone, but her spirit continues to live on. Her parents, Chris and Lisa, have created Hailey’s Voice of Hope to help other families deal with mental illness, as they say their daughter did.
In September, former Wharton football standout Joel Miller passed away unexpectedly, shocking many in the Wildcats community.
A running back, Miller ran for more than 2,500 yards his last two seasons at Wharton, and as a senior won Hillsborough County’s Golden Helmet Award.
Doug Wall (right)
And in November, Doug Wall, co-founder of the New Tampa Players (NTP) community theater group, passed away after battling pancreatic cancer.
The Live Oak resident championed a cultural center in New Tampa for two decades, in the hopes it could provide a home for the NTP and a center for local artists, but never got to quite see it come to fruition.
New Tampa Resident Luis Viera Has Stayed Busy Since Being Elected To The Tampa City Council
Thanks to Town Hall meetings organized by New Tampa resident and Tampa City Council member Luis Viera, City of Tampa officials are paying more attention to the people of New Tampa.
In December of 2016, New Tampa resident Luis Viera won a special run-off election for the Tampa City Council District 7 seat by only 65 votes.
He spent 2017 proving he was the right man for the job.
“I didn’t vote for him,” said Tampa Palms lawyer Tracy Falkowitz, a lifelong Republican who voted instead for Viera’s opponent (and fellow Hunter’s Green resident) Jim Davison). “But I’ve already told Luis I’ll be first in line to campaign for him next time.”
Her reasons are simple, and explain how Viera helped shape a productive year for New Tampa (while also fighting for changes in other parts of District 7, like Forest Hills, Terrace Park and the University of South Florida area).
In 2017, he mobilized hundreds of New Tampa residents in an effort to ensure the city budgeted money for Fiscal 2018 for the expansion of the New Tampa Recreation Center (NTRC). He also spearheaded the effort to build a sensory-friendly park in Tampa Palms — in part because he has a brother who is autistic — and was a strong proponent for a new fire station (Tampa Fire Rescue Station No. 23) that will be built on County Line Rd.
Viera founded the New Tampa Council, and filled its Board with leaders from as many different local communities as he could. He also started the North Tampa Veterans Council and has attended countless Home Owners Association (HOA) meetings.
Viera held town halls. Instead of telling New Tampa residents they needed to go downtown to argue and fight for what they thought they deserved — as so many city and county officials have told them before — he brought government officials from South Tampa here.
Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera hosted a town hall meeting at the New Tampa Recreation Center in Tampa Palms in June that attracted roughly 75 local residents who came to discuss a number of issues., especially those related to the traffic in our area.
It was at one of Viera’s first town halls, in June at the NTRC, that Falkowitz first met the guy she didn’t vote for. She was there to tell Mayor Bob Buckhorn’s Chief of Staff Dennis Rogero that it was ludicrous that the city wouldn’t expand the rec center, which had a waiting list of thousands hoping to get into the NTRC’s popular gymnastics and dance programs.
Falkowitz was angry and vocal. Afterwards, Viera spoke with her and they ended up forging a partnership that extended to the New Tampa Council and included the efforts of Tampa Palms’ Maggie Wilson and Warren Dixon, Cory Lake Isles’ Bob Parker, West Meadows’ Brad Van Rooyen, K-Bar Ranch’s Craig Margelowsky and David Burman of Cory Lake Isles, as well as others.
During the decisive and harrowing all-night City Council budget meeting in September, New Tampa had nearly 50 residents in attendance, many speaking in support of the NTRC expansion after years of failed attempts.
The budget passed — and the NTRC expansion, sensory park and Fire Station No. 23 will all begin to take shape in 2018.
Everyone involved says that without Viera, it wouldn’t have happened.
“I think that’s accurate,’’ says Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn. “Luis, through a variety of means, has made sure New Tampa’s voices are being heard, either with him advocating or facilitating those conversations between our staff and the people that live here. In both cases, it was a very, very effective means of communicating.”
Ultimately, that was Viera’s primary goal — to bring New Tampa together as one community, instead of a collection of fragmented neighborhoods. A Tampa Palms resident from 2006-12 and a Hunter’s Green resident since then, Viera says he felt New Tampa lacked an effectiveness cohesiveness.
A large contingent of New Tampa residents showed up in red shirts at both budget workshops to speak to the Tampa City Council about the importance of the New Tampa Recreation Center.
Hoping to stitch those communities together to help advocate for the area with one voice, Viera tried to be omnipresent.
“I tried showing up to as many New Tampa events as I could,’’ said Viera. “Ribbon cuttings, openings…I wanted people feeling like their elected official is accountable, and accessible.”
His efforts, which he balanced with being a father to 10-year-old son Luis and working as a trial lawyer, have been lauded.
“He invigorated a whole lot of residents,” says Wilson, a community consultant for Tampa Palms. “I’ve lived here since 1989, and never has anyone in government service been as boots-on-the-ground and as active and caring across a wide variety of issues as Luis.”
Viera also has taken up the fight to connect Kinnan St. in K-Bar Ranch to Mansfield Blvd. in Meadow Pointe, which the city and counties have so far failed to do. He has met with Pasco County officials, and discussed the matter with Hillsborough County commissioners.
Viera is quick to decline all the credit for his 2017 accomplishments, however, instead deferring to the community he is helping to spark. By connecting them to the right people, he knows he can continue to make a difference and produce results for New Tampa.
“I think he’s had a superb year,’’ Buckhorn says. “Since the day he was elected, he hit the ground running and has not stopped…he was a forceful advocate for New Tampa, and the results speak for themselves. He made sure in our budget process that the expansion of the New Tampa Rec Center was in the mix, the sensory park was very near and dear to his heart, and until the very end, he was up there fighting make sure New Tampa voices were heard.”
Metro Development Group announced on Dec. 26 that the much-anticipated Crystal Lagoon at Epperson is filled.
Yes, those are actual photos of the lagoon, not renderings.
To commemorate the first-ever Crystal Lagoons’ amenity in the U.S., Metro will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony next week, on Friday, January 5.
“Metro Development Group is excited to be the first to bring this amazing amenity to the U.S.,” said Metro president Greg Singleton in a press release. “We have celebrated many milestones with Crystal Lagoons over the past two years and we are proud to have earned the distinction of being the first developer to inaugurate a Crystal Lagoons’ amenity in the U.S.”
While filled with crystal clear water — maintained by ultra-sonic technology that uses sensors to monitor the quality of the crystal-clear water, and uses 100 times less chemicals than a traditional swimming pool and 50 times less energy than conventional pool filtration systems — work continues on the 7.5-acre lagoon at Epperson.
As you can tell by the pictures, some palm trees are in place but still to come: a waterslide, private cabanas, in-water obstacle platform, swim-up bar, tidal pool, restaurant, family beach, yoga lawn, an entertainment plaza, an area for special events and more.
Metro is planning an official grand opening celebration in early spring 2018, where Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps is scheduled to appear.
Hope Allen & Jen Cofini thank the Board’s longest-tenured members Dr. Micah Richeson (left) and Steve Domonkos, who have each served for seven years.
Congratulations to the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC) for another truly amazing year of growth in both membership numbers and in standing within not only Wesley Chapel and New Tampa, but throughout Pasco County and beyond.
The WCCC wrapped up 2017 at its annual breakfast meeting on Dec. 5, at Pasco Hernando State College’s Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch, where 2017 Board of Directors chair Jennifer Cofini of Parks Auto Group handed her gavel over to local dentist Dr. Zack Kalarickal, who will lead the Board in 2018. Pasco County Clerk & Comptroller Dr. Paula O’Neil swore in Kalarickal and his new Board.
After that rite of passage, as her final acts as Board chair, Cofini first named a few award winners for 2017, including Karen Tillman-Gosselin of Smith & Associates Realty, who was named the Board Member of the Year. Also honored at the event, emceed by Bob Thompson of Thompson Brand Images, was my former WCNT-tv partner Craig Miller of Full Throttle Intermedia, who won Rookie Board Member of the Year, in part for his more than 200 man-hours putting together the Chamber’s “Explore Wesley Chapel New Tampa” video. Mary Nash of the Advisor magazine won Ambassador of the Year, although the honor wasn’t announced at the event because Nash wasn’t present at the meeting.
Board Member of the Year Karen Tillman-Gosselin (center) is joined by outgoing Board president Jen Cofini (right) and Chamber CEO Hope Allen.
Also recognized were Cindy Ross of RP&G Printing, who chaired the Chamber’s Ambassador Council, and attorney Cristen Martinez of Martinez Law for chairing the Chamber’s Women of Wesley Chapel (aka WOW) group.
(Note-Although it also wasn’t announced at the meeting, WCNT-tv’s own Mollyana Ward has been named the WOW chair for 2018.)
Also recognized at the breakfast, which was provided by WCCC Ambassador Peter Gambacorta of Private Chef of Tampa, were the Board members who have had the longest tenures — Dr. Micah Richeson of Cypress Creek Chiropractic and Steve Domonkos of The Shops at Wiregrass, both of whom have served on the Board for seven years.
Cofini also reviewed some of the Chamber’s 2017 accomplishments, including the WCCC’s acquisition of the Greater Pasco Chamber, which allows Wesley Chapel to extend its reach out not only to western Pasco, but also to northern Pinellas county. Cofini also noted that the WCCC hosted more than 150 networking events duringÂ
2017.
Dr. Kalarickal also mentioned that the Chamber has agreed to continue as a partner in WCNT-tv, which just passed a Facebook reach of 1 million and has had nearly 500,000 views on YouTube and Facebook.
Sadly, shortly after the meeting, WCCC membership director Jennifer Tussing announced she was leaving the Chamber to work at Martinez Law. You’ll be missed, Jen!
For more information about the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce, visit WesleyChapelChamber.com or call (813) 994-8534.
TOP STORIES OF 2017:Â Bruce B. Downs, Kinnan-Mansfield Fired Up Debates
Of special interest to many commuters who prefer to avoid driving south on BBD to get to the interstate, the Divergin
