According to admin Kelly Gilroyโs personal Facebook profile, the Facebook page called โPasco County Development & Growth Updatesโ (PCDGU) was first created and started posting in July of 2023, and thereโs no doubt that it has quickly become the most trusted online source for new information about new residential and commercial developments โ not just in Wesley Chapel but for all of Pasco County โ in a very short time.
And, for good reason. As the editor of the most trusted print source of news and information about Wesley Chapel and New Tampa for the last 30 years, all I can say is that page administrators David Hutsell and Kelly Gilroy have done โ and continue to do โ an amazing job of releasing information supplied to the county, usually the same day these development applications are filed.
Rather than express any kind of professional jealousy about how theyโve captured the imagination of local residents, I have found that PCDGU and the Neighborhood News have developed a kind of synergy โ they make the announcements and we (myself and editorial researcher/correspondent Joel Provenzano) follow up to try to give additional information about them. A few times, weโve been the first to note that a previously announced development was scrubbed or its application was withdrawn, but most of the time, the information, site maps and other graphics in PCDGU are truly spot-on.
Of Facts & โMythโ
One of the things that makes the volume of information they put out on an ongoing basis so impressive is that Kelly and David both apparently have full-time jobs. We found this out when we exchanged private Facebook messages with Kelly โ once โ and have tried a few times to get an actual interview with her and/or David (which she said they were amenable to do, but that theyโre both super-busy; she also said that it was probably best for us to interview David, since PCDGU is his page), but as of the day I am writing this column, no such interview has yet been set up.ย
A few local news reporters, including yours truly, have tried to find out from our county commissioners and county staff if perhaps either David or Kelly or both currently or previously worked for the county, but several months ago, one Pasco commissioner told me, โNo one in Pasco County government even knows who they are or how they keep such close tabs on everything that comes before us. Some of our staffers have even said they think their profiles are fake or that the administrators donโt use their real names on their page.โ
Whoa. This mythology about them has grown in part because Kelly has only one photo on her personal profile page and, according to many people Iโve spoken with about it โ and it seems that everyone I talk to about it wants to know โ โit looks more like an illustration or AI-generated than a photo.โ Her profile also says her work is โAVP – Risk Analytics at Banking Industryโ and that she is married and lives in Lutz. Whenever she is asked in the comments of a post what her actual job is, she says โI work in commercial bankingโ (the same thing she told me on the phone).
Meanwhile, Davidโs personal profile says that he works at St. George Capital Partners, LLC, which is based in Palm Beach Gardens.
Considering the amount of valuable information Kelly and David put out, and the fact that (it seems) everyone wants more information about them, itโs probably a good idea that they have remained mostly anonymous doing what I assure you is not easy to do.
Back in the โgood old days,โ before everything submitted to a county or city government was available online, in order to get information about new developments, Iโd have to go to the New Port Richey Government Center (for Wesley Chapel) or to downtown Tampa (for New Tampa), pull the files and take film pictures of the maps, charts and development info. Easy, right?
Nowadays, however, all of that info, once itโs been filed, is available online โ if you know where to look. We have usually waited until a development review has been put on an agenda of the countyโs Planning Commission or Board of County Commissioners (BOC) before putting that information in front of our readers. But, even though some of what PCDGU puts out is preliminary and subject to change โ and Kelly and David always mention when it is โ thereโs no doubt that they continue to do an amazing job of providing that information.
And, this is true despite the fact that whenever someone asks on their page, โWhatโs coming to…,โ too many people are still making the same tired jokes about car washes and self-storage facilities, while others try to turn every post into a political argument (usually) condemning the BOC and county staff. Itโs a lot for them to put up with, considering that this isnโt either of their full-time jobs. Kelly, in particular, continues to try to shut down such unnecessary nonsense, but Iโm sure it isnโt easy.
We also appreciate it whenever Kelly or David post Neighborhood News stories in response to comments on their page. Keep up the great work, you two! Letโs make that interview happen!
Above is a list of new developments from PCDGU since Aug. 1 that we plan to update.
