Based on the speed with which the construction is progressing, the opening of the Wesley Chapel Walmart’s gas station should only be a few months away.
Walmart Fuel Under Construction
The massive banner on the construction fence couldn’t be any less subtle — “COMING SOON, YOUR NEW WALMART FUEL STATION” (photo).
The underutilized northeast portion of the Wesley Chapel Walmart’s parking lot (directly behind Chase Bank) on S.R. 54 (east of Bruce B. Downs Blvd., or BBD) is being transformed into the next useful feature of the popular store.
Final site plan revisions for the gas station addition were submitted to the county back in January of 2024, but nothing transpired for almost a year and a half, so it was unclear when, or even if, the station would ever come to fruition.
That question has been answered, as the construction is now happening at breakneck speed. Walmart hadn’t even fenced the area off just a few months ago, but now, the massive fuel tanks are getting ready to be buried, the station’s canopy is about half done, and the convenience store is pretty much finished. At this pace, it appears that the new gas station, with 18 fueling positions (making it the largest such station in Wesley Chapel), will be done in a few months.
In addition to the gas pumps, the station will feature a very tiny and interesting 440-sq.-ft. convenience store. From what we can tell from the building plan and this photo, the tiny store will have two exterior restrooms to the rear of the building, with roll-up doors on the side of the building that will protect what appears to be display doors that will open outward which will likely contain drinks and snacks. It’s unclear, however, if you will even be able to go inside the store to make your purchases or if everything will be done from the outside. We’ve never seen anything quite like it before. It’s certainly nothing like the full convenience store at the New Tampa Walmart on BBD.
In addition to these features, the plan also proposes to add a new right turn lane into the Walmart’s northern driveway on southbound Wiregrass Ranch Blvd., which should hopefully reduce conflicts for motorists who only want to access the new gas station.
Sam’s Club Expansion Not Happening?
Considering that the two stores are run by the same company, is the Sam’s Club on S.R. 56 getting its desperately needed fuel expansion next? Unfortunately, it seems that it’s not likely to be happening anytime soon, as the plans for that expansion were withdrawn from the county by the developer in January of this year.
We had previously reported — back in the summer of 2023 — that Sam’s Club representatives had met with the county to expand the store’s existing gas station from 12 fueling positions to 16, which would include adding two more fueling lanes and a redesign to make things run smoother, as the existing location and design of the station causes backups on the access roadway (which sometimes extend out onto S.R. 56) in front of the main Sam’s Club parking lot.
Engineering plans were submitted the following year, and the county gave comments, but it appears that the plan is off the table for now.
Sgt. Christopher Lawrence & his daughter DeliaMarie (both in red) pose with several of the 100+ volunteers who helped landscape (bottom pics) their future home in Wesley Chapel.
“We don’t have a lot of family or friends here in Florida,” said retired Marine Sgt. Christopher Lawrence during the super-hot “Volunteer Day” (July 26) at his family’s future “Homes for our Troops” (HFOT) home in Wesley Chapel, where about 10,000 sq. ft. (25 pallets) of sod was unloaded and dozens of plants were used to landscape the front and side yards at the home on Steeplechase Rd. “But today, we feel like we have a lot of new family members.”
You could see the appreciation and joy Sgt. Lawrence, his wife Michelle (Chelley) and daughters DeliaMarie and Cristiana felt as they helped more than 100 volunteers beautify the outside of the Kent Custom Home the family expects to move into by around the end of this month.
Sgt. Lawrence raised the HFOT flag during the volunteer event (above).
Partner Nathan Pratt explained how to place the sod and plant the plants and said how proud he was to have two more Kent Custom Homes — for Sgt. Lawrence and Army Sgt. Quincy Lopez, who, like Sgt. Lawrence, lost his right leg to an improvised explosive device blast in Iraq. (Note-Sgt. Lopez’s Volunteer Day will be this Saturday, August 9, at 9 a.m.) — in Wesley Chapel, bringing the total Kent has specially adapted and built for Post-911 recipients designated by Homes for our Troops here in Central Florida up to nine.
Homes for our Troops is a national 501(c) (3) military nonprofit that continues to spend 90 cents of every dollar the organization raises to build more than 400 custom homes (and growing) across the country since its inception in 2004.
In addition to the landscaping on July 26, volunteers also sold HFOT hats and accepted cash donations to help HFOT continue to provide these homes at no cost to our severely injured military men and women.
To make a donation or for more information about HFOT, visit hfotusa.org or call (866) 787-6877. — GN
The Lawrence family can’t wait to move into their new home. Nathan Pratt of Kent Custom Homes thanks the volunteers & gives them instructions.
This construction entrance on Elam Rd. for a new townhome community in Epperson North is now expected to become a full entrance for townhome residents once the development has been completed, which is a compromise for those living on Abby Brooks Cir. (homes in the distance) in Epperson Ranch II.
Although we hadn’t yet received, at our press time, confirmation that the deal has been finalized, it appears that Metro Development Group and Pasco County have come to an agreement that hopefully will help protect the safety of the residents of Abby Brooks Cir. (ABC), Lily Arbor Way and Swift Wind Dr. in the Epperson Ranch II Community Development District (CDD).
As we reported back in May, a new development of 186 townhomes in the Epperson North CDD is slated to open adjacent to those single-family homes in the Epperson Ranch II CDD — on property that was originally intended to be a school, with an entrance on Elam Rd.
When Pasco County rezoned the property for the townhomes, the entrance on Elam Rd., which currently is being used as a construction entrance (see photo), was eliminated, which meant the only entrance and exit to and from the new townhomnes would be from Epperson Blvd. through ABC, adding an estimated 400 daily trips through the quiet neighborhood by people who wouldn’t live in the neighborhood nor in Epperson II at all.
A large group of concerned Epperson II residents attended the May 6 Pasco Board of County Commissioners (BCC) meeting to complain, and the commissioners, to their credit, agreed that not having an Elam Rd. entrance for the townhomes was a mistake. They also said, however, that they didn’t think anything could be done about it, but had the group meet with the county’s Planning Dept. director David Engel and Development Services Dept. director David Allen while the May 6 BCC meeting was still in session. Engel and Allen said they would talk to Metro to see if the developer would agree to at least allow the entrance on Elam Rd. to be built as a full second entrance/exit, as an alternative to ABC.
On July 8, Metro VP of marketing & communications Lisa Gibbings sent me an email with the following update:
• Construction of the Elam Rd. entrance will begin when the county completes final review and approval of the plan modification.
• The entrance is expected to be completed at the same time as the completion of the overall townhome project, or by the end of 2025.
• While it is currently an active construction zone, access is not permitted for use by the public until the entrance and overall townhome project have been completed.
• To the best of our knowledge, there is no agreement in place nor one being discussed between Epperson Ranch II CDD and Epperson North CDD regarding the entrance. On May 13, 2025, the developer and Pasco County staff met with and shared the proposed (new) entrance plan to representatives of the Epperson Ranch II CDD and residents of the [Epperson II] neighborhood that attended. The proposed plan was well received, and the developer is currently working with the county for final construction plan review and approval.
• It is our understanding that during the Epperson Ranch II CDD meeting on July 3, 2025, the Chair of the Board of Supervisors indicated the entrance road matter is essentially resolved.
• “Metro is excited to partner with Pasco County to bring this entrance to the new townhome community within Epperson. We hope this adds another layer of convenience and safety for residents while reducing congestion within the [ABC] community.”
The Epperson II residents would not comment until the agreement was finalized.
As we all remember all too vividly, Hurricane Milton, which was a Category 5 tropical cyclone when it made landfall near Siesta Key on Oct. 9 of last year, was the first hurricane in decades (or maybe ever) to make a direct hit on the Wesley Chapel area later that day and cause widespread damage and flooding.
The after-effects of Milton continued to be felt for many weeks and, among the casualties of that storm were dozens of roadway signs that were knocked down and/or destroyed — some of which still have not been replaced now nearly 10 months later (highlighted in red in both pictures, above).
Pasco County Media Relations & Communications public information officer Sarah Andeara says, however, that the county’s Traffic Operations & Public Works departments, “have repaired all damages and replaced all signage on county roads that were damaged by Hurricane Milton. Traffic Operations replaced approximately 40 overhead signs and traffic signals, noting that each overhead illuminated street name sign costs approximately $3,700.”
At our press time, Andeara did not know how many post-mounted signs were fixed via the Public Works department, but said that for any missing signs on state roads — including S.R.s 56 and 54 — the Florida Department of Transportation (or FDOT)’s District 7 is ultimately responsible for the replacement of those signs.
It’s also important to note that, unlike traffic signal “heads,” each of the signs — which are important for tourism, emergency response and local businesses — has to be custom-designed.
FDOT transportation engineer Megan Arasteh says, “The Department has inventoried the damaged signs through field visits, and designed the new signs if as-builts were not available, and is in the process of securing the funds for manufacturing the signs.”
Arasteh also noted that, “The estimated timeframe to complete sign replacements throughout District 7 is approximately one year. It takes FDOT about one hour to design each sign if as-builts are not available. The manufacturing process requires a minimum lead time of four months, and each sign installation takes approximately three hours.”
As for how many signs FDOT needs to replace in our area, Arasteh says, “A minimum of 16 signs will be replaced in Wesley Chapel, nineteen signs total in Pasco County, and 203 signs total in all of District 7,” which also includes New Tampa.
Arasteh also notes that, “FDOT recently completed the process of acquiring federal funds to replace these signs. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) requires a Detailed Damage Inspection Report (DDIR) for approval of funding. FDOT began the process in December 2024. The report included details of the hurricane damage and pictures. FHWA approved the funds this month. As you can imagine with the extent of the damage due to Hurricane Milton, FHWA has had a very large number of DDIRs to review and approve, [and] they have been a great resource to work closely with the Department throughout this process. Dist. 7 Traffic Operations is now working on a new contract that will advertise for bids in about two months for sign replacement.”
As for cost, Arasteh says, “The cost varies to replace each sign. Based on FDOT’s statewide averages for signs, the cost is approximately $7,500, not including design, maintenance of traffic and mobilization. A vendor will manufacture the signs on behalf of FDOT and Pasco County will install the signs.
Now, two months into the 2025 hurricane season, the hope here is that the work will be completed before our area takes another major hit.
The memory board of Dave displayed during the celebration of Life
Join Us When The Former Proprietor Also Will Be Celebrated At Stonewood Grill On Monday, July 28, 1 P.M.-???
Even though I had met David (“Dave”) Rathbun when he managed the Carrabba’s Italian Grill on N. 56th St. in Temple Terrace, I didn’t really get to know him until 2002, when he opened the first Stonewood Grill & Tavern in the Tampa Bay area.
There weren’t a lot of great restaurants in our area at that time — heck, there weren’t a lot of restaurants, period — but Stonewood became New Tampa’s favorite restaurant pretty much from the day it opened and there’s no doubt that Dave had as much to do with it as the restaurant’s steaks and seafood.
The way Dave seemed to remember everyone’s name after one or, at the most, two times meeting them, the way he made sure his instant slew of regulars always got their favorite table or seat at the bar — literally everything about the guy was warm, funny and genuine. He was the very definition of the word “hospitable” in the hospitality industry.
(L.-r.) Emily Barreira, Gina & Dave Rathbun (Photo provided by Emily Barreira)
I didn’t know that Dave’s wife Gina was suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, better known to many as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease”) for the first several years she was stricken with it, and it wasn’t because Dave didn’t talk about Gina. It was because he constantly talked about how wonderful she was, what a great mom she was to her daughter (and Dave’s beloved stepdaughter) Emily and what a talented artist Gina was. The first time I found out Gina was ill was when Dave asked if I could publish an article about her in the paper to show some of her art, which I did and I wish I could’ve found the issue with that story before I went to press with this issue.
Now, mind you, Dave Rathbun never asked me to write anything about Stonewood. He literally had never asked me for anything until that day. And, for the first time ever, I saw pain behind his ever-present, infectious smile.
When Dave left Stonewood, a lot of people were heartbroken. There were some who told me that they couldn’t keep going to their favorite place if Dave wasn’t there anymore.
The next time I heard from Dave was in 2023, when he had accepted a position as a manager at Bella Brava New World Trattoria in The Hub at Bexley (off S.R. 54 in Lutz) , which opened a few months later. He introduced me to general manager Tina Stormer and made sure the Neighborhood News was on-hand for Bella Brava’s “Friends & Family” pre-opening and introduced us to co-owner Thomas Sanborn, who was the original chef at Stonewood when Dave opened it.
Dave seemed to thrive in his new position at Bella Brava, but in April, he was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that affects the kidneys. Suddenly, after years as Gina’s primary caregiver, Dave was receiving dialysis treatments three days a week for several weeks.
In June, Dave decided to work a full shift at Bella Brava, even though Emily — who is a nurse with two degrees — was concerned that her stepdad wasn’t fully recovered from his weeks of dialysis treatment. He just loved the work.
But, when Dave got home, he told the caregiver that he wasn’t feeling well. He went to sleep…and never woke up.
At only age 69, the man who loved his wife for 28 years and had taken care of her for the last 17 years as she struggled with ALS, was gone.
Tiny quickly organized a Celebration of Life in Dave’s honor and memory on July 14 and an estimated crowd of 300-400 people showed up to hear his family and closest friends talk about what a wonderful husband, father, brother, friend and manager of people he was. Here are a few excerpts from the speeches given about Dave that day:
Dave’s stepdaughter Emily Barreira & her mom & Dave’s wife Gina Rathbun (Photos by Charmaine George)
Gina (Emily read a letter from her Mom to her husband Dave): “From the moment David came into our lives, he became a second father figure to Emily, loving her as if she were his own. He was endlessly dedicated and loyal not just to me, but to our whole family. He showed his love through his strength and unwavering support by always putting us first. David, you carried your confidence and kindness with you. Wherever you went, your compassion touched countless lives, and your love will always remain alive in the hearts of everyone who had the privilege to know you. But, you left me so fast and unexpectedly. I love you more than you will ever know, and I will miss your radiant smile everyday. Your love is the lasting legacy you left with me and your family. Your kindness was a true gift to everyone who had the chance to know you.”
Emily: “David always had a favorite story that he love to share. When I was four years old, I was sitting out in the living room with him watching TV. My mom came over and reminded me that it was time to go to bed. I looked up at her and said, ‘No, mommy, I can’t go to bed. I’m watching baseball with my ‘little stepdaddy.’ From that day on, that’s what he was to me… my little step daddy. He instantly became my bonus dad at a very young age and supported me throughout the rest of my life.”
Dave’s brother Paul Rathbun
Paul (Dave’s brother): “When I was 16 years old, and we lived in Boston. David, John myself and Dave’s friend Tim took us to see the Trammps, a disco band in the seventies, and they were pretty hot at the time. There were a lot of problems with that evening, not the least of which was that four of us were under age. The five of us were invited on stage to sing the finale, “Disco Inferno” with the group. It was amazing. Okay, it was the seventies. Dave loved his family, He loved the restaurant. He loved the people he worked with. He loved his customers. He just loved people.
“Dave loved reading his devotionals. A recent one he shared was, ‘He’s Preparing a Place for You.’ Jesus promised that he’s preparing a place for us, a place where we will be with him forever. It’s not the size of the room or how fancy it is. It’s about being in his presence, where there’s joy, peace and love that never ends. Dave, you have fought the good fight. You finished the race. You have kept the faith. Well done, my brother.”
Dave’s brother John Rathbun
John (Dave’s brother): “He and I talked about the power of positive thinking — in the things you do, the things you say, the things you think — it all determines your destiny and the energy you give off to people. Dave greatly valued his family, connecting with his creator, and mentoring his coworkers. He loved his customers and obviously, his friends, and many of his customers became his friends.
“The French have a phrase “‘Joie de vivre,’ which means “the joy of life.” I think Dave possessed that. He put a lot of effort into his relationships with his coworkers and his customers. and he brought a lot of joy to you guys and, to be honest, you brought a lot of joy to him, too.”
Dave’s close family friend Tim
Tim (Dave’s long-time friend): “Dave had gone to school for physical education but when he moved here, he was going to nursing school and he was working in an Italian restaurant (Lorenzo’s). And I would come down from Tennessee to visit and you could just tell that he loved it. I soon realized that he all the things that he could do as a P.E. teacher, he could do in the restaurant business.
“He mentored so many people and was a great coach. He was so inspirational to so many people. I’ll never forget that we were working on a paint crew here in Florida. I was going to school, and I’m borrowing money to go to school and I didn’t know what I wanted to do. And I was really beating myself up and I had one conversation with Dave and he said to me, ‘Timmy, don’t worry about it. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself. You’re smart, you’re a hard worker and people like you. Just focus on doing the best that you can every day and treat people around you the way you want to be treated, and you’ll be successful.”
Dave’s friend Kelly Barnett
Kelly (another long-time friend): “I worked at the Olive Garden in New Tampa, right across the parking lot from Stonewood. Dave and I had worked together like 30 years before that, and we end up working right next to each other. So, one day I was eating there and I’m just watching him.
“I knew what he was like, but I never got old to watch him work a dining room. He knows everybody by name. And he knows something about each of them. It’s not like he’s just out there saying, ‘Hey, how’s your dinner?’ And the person I was with was also in the restaurant business. And they said, ‘Oh my God, he’s like the Mayor of Stonewood!”
Bella Brava Bexley GM Tina Stormer (with Emily & her husband Ryan Barreira)
Tina (Bella Brava GM): We closed the restaurant today so all of our employees could be here to celebrate Dave. He was the definition of hospitality at its best. They called him ‘Diamond Dave’ for a reason. If he didn’t know who you were when you walked in, he would definitely know you by the time you left.”
Please join us for a second Celebration of ‘Dimond Dave’ Rathbun’s life on Monday, July 28, 1 p.m., at Stonewood Grill & Tavern.
(l-r) Dave’s brother Mark Rathbun, his sister Martha Peddle (with Paul) & his sister Mary DeSantis
