Choppy Waters For Lagoon Community?

Construction has resumed at the Crystal LagoonsÂź amenity in Epperson, after a delay due to permitting. The delay in opening the lagoon, combined with the cost of amenities, has riled some in the community. (Photo: Gavin Olsen)

After years of anticipation and months of positive press clippings, the country’s first community to be home to a Crystal Lagoons¼ amenity in Epperson, is facing choppy, albeit crystal clear, waters.

First, summer is here and the lagoon isn’t open, thanks in part to Pasco County ordering Metro Development Group, which is building the high-profile project, to halt construction back in May when it discovered 19 buildings had been built without proper permits.

While construction has resumed, even more disconcerting to Metro might be a host of current residents — and others under contract and waiting to move into Epperson — complaining publicly about what they feel are broken promises and false advertising that have led to additional fees, despite paying premium prices for homes in the community.

That group, which it says numbers roughly 70 homeowners and those who have placed deposits or are under contract, hired the Kovar Law Group to represent themselves when, they say, they did not receive any answers from Metro.

They took their complaints public on June 15, when the group called local media outlets for an impromptu press conference at the lagoon. That has exacerbated strained relationships, mostly through Facebook posts and comments, and residents who say they are pleased with Metro and who fear the bad publicity will bring down their property values and cast an unfair stain on the new community.

Metro responded to the Neighborhood News through public relations firm Tucker/Hall with a prepared statement:

“The Epperson neighborhood has been extraordinarily popular, and we are honored that so many families are moving here and enjoying the area. We want all families to enjoy the neighborhood and amenities, and we have already extended new discounts and benefits to early residents. We want to hear feedback from residents about their questions so we can work with them to make the area even better as this neighborhood grows.”

Those angry with Metro, however, say they haven’t received any clear answers.

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They say they were promised an idyllic paradise, presented for months in beautiful renderings where one monthly fee of $25 gets you full run of the lagoon, all packaged as “Lagoon Living.”

Instead, those residents are discovering a number of things they claim Metro and Epperson did not market — additional costs for amenities, including rides down an inflatable water slide and kayak and paddleboard rentals, as well as rules against bringing in your own chairs and coolers, as well as memberships for non-residents.

“The people complaining are the ones who looked at stuff without asking questions,” says Epperson resident Ken Shere. “They obviously didn’t read the bylaws” which, he adds, states clearly that Metro has the right “to set and adjust pricing.”

Bill Rowe, who moved into Epperson June 1 with his granddaughter, agrees, but only to a certain point.

“You can put into a contract that we have the right to make changes,” Rowe says. “Of course, they are going to make changes. They have to be reasonable, though.”

Some don’t think Epperson’s latest email falls into the reasonable category, though.

According to an email sent to residents three weeks ago, thanking them for their patience, Epperson introduced, in addition to the $25 monthly fee all residents pay, Play Passes.

Bronze Level passes, which will cost $20 a month per person for the summer season (March through September), are good for unlimited slide rides, four Wibit (an inflatable water platform) sessions and four guest passes. For $40 more a month per person, Silver Level passes allow four 1-hour kayak rentals, four 1-hour paddleboard rentals and two more guest passes.

A Gold Level pass is $90 per person per month, allowing for 30 Wibit sessions, 30 1-hour kayak and paddleboard rentals, eight passes and unlimited slide rides.

A family of four could spend as much as $360 a month ($4,320 per year) to enjoy close to unlimited access to the lagoon amenities, or $2,160 just for the summer. (Note-Metro did not respond to a question about what happens from October through February, since it’s not mentioned in their pricing.)

“I hope they come to some sort of resolution, something fair,” Rowe says. “I don’t want that every time my daughter goes down a slide I have to get out my wallet and pay a fee. I want my wife to be able to walk down to the lagoon and have a bottle of water with her without water police stopping her. I want Metro to succeed, but you have to be fair and not let it become some amusement park. It’s not what I signed up for.”

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Epperson is reducing prices for current homeowners. Residents who bought before June 25 receive a 75-percent “pioneer” discount, but just for this summer, meaning that the Play Pass tiers will be only $5, $15 and $22 a month per person. Next year, the pioneer discount will be 50 percent, then 25 percent in 2020, before being phased out completely.

Kristen Alvis, who bought her home in July of 2017, and others, say those who are complaining did not read their contracts closely enough.

“I signed a contract with M/I Homes and again at closing and, in both cases, it was clearly stated that the $25 monthly fee provided you access to the lagoon,” she says. “There was nothing implied about (other) amenities.”

Ken Shere, being interviewed by ABC Action News, says that Metro has been upfront with Epperson residents and that the overwhelming majority of residents are happy.

And, for those who are complaining that public memberships will be available when they thought they were buying into an amenity offered only to residents, Shere points out where it clearly says in a recent community disclosure addendum that “the Lagoon will not be for the exclusive use of buyers within Epperson Ranch, and outside memberships will be available.”

Shere says Epperson is the best neighborhood he has ever lived in.

He said Metro provided an Icee truck, tent for a grill and other items for Epperson’s summer bash, and has helped develop a tight-knight community. He is disappointed in the negativity towards Metro, and thinks much of it is being fueled by non-residents who only have deposits down and aren’t yet as invested in the community.

He says he is convinced that 95 percent of residents are happy, even though many might be discouraged that the lagoon isn’t open yet. Those on the other side say that they believe more than half of the residents are unhappy and want answers from Metro.

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When the group of residents and potential future residents started having town halls, Shere says he and others asked them to stop representing the community and look for other avenues to resolves their issues. When they hired an attorney, he says that started a series of back-and-forth attacks on social media.

“That’s when it all got real,” said Kip Lessem, an Epperson resident since April. “The fact that the lagoon isn’t open yet, and then all this other stuff happened, it just added fuel to the fire.”

But, Jonathan Smith, a one-time prospective Epperson resident, says Metro’s lack of a response to concerns about amenities, and a series of what he called “conflicting messages,” left him and others no choice.

“It was marketed and advertised and sold to us as an all-inclusive exclusive amenity for residents,’” he says. “Metro has gone back and forth wavering on really what it was going to be.”

Some residents are disappointed that the water slide depicted in renderings used in marketing materials still on display at the pool is not what they ended up with, which Metro Development Group says was done out of caution, due to the potential for severe weather in Florida. Other residents are leery of the lack of free amenities at the lagoon. (Photos: Gavin Olsen)

Smith adds that even today, site maps at the lagoon show a two-person slide next to a tube slide in the Adventure Bay part of the lagoon; when in fact, only a large blue and white inflatable slide sits on the other side of the lagoon.

The renderings have been used for months by Metro to promote and market the lagoon, although their defenders says renderings of any project are always subject to change and should not be taken literally.

“If you look at the rendering and can’t take it literally, then why even post it?,” Smith asks, adding that instead of deluging Metro with emails, the group decided to hire an attorney to represent their concerns and try to get some answers.

On May 24-25, two town hall meetings were held. Smith said due to some of the personal attacks he has endured, he and his wife backed out of their contract.

“I don’t want it to fail,” he says. “I just think Metro should come in and say, ‘Hey guys, we’re going to take responsibility for this (confusion), and moving forward we’re going to change our marketing material.’ If they had said amenities not included, prices subject to change, we would have been okay with that. I just feel like the way they did it was false advertising.”

Lessem says he thinks bashing Metro publicly wasn’t the way to go, though he admits he is one of those disappointed that the lagoon isn’t open yet.

He said the pricing is no surprise to him, but he can see how it can add up for larger families. He hopes Metro will reevaluate the prices of passes in order to attract more people to the community.

And, about that community — Lessem knows nerves have been frayed and enemies made, all inflamed by Facebook. He said he is “disappointed in the maturity level” shown by many of his neighbors on both sides of the issue, “but people let emotions get the best of them when they get passionate.”

At the end of the day, however, he says everyone has to live together.

“The community is not the lagoon, it’s the community,” Lessem says. “It’s your neighbors. When all of this is said and done, you have to ask yourself, what’s more important? You’re going to find out you missed out on, like making friends, because of whatever side you are taking in this whole debate.’’

 

Epperson’s Highly Anticipated Crystal Lagoon Right Around The Corner

The first of two Crystal Lagoons in the “Connected City” is getting closer to completion in Metro Development’s Epperson community off Curley Rd. (Photos courtesy of Metro Development Group)

If the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC) was looking for someone to end its 2017 series of Economic Development Briefings with a bright, energetic look to the future, the Chamber found the right man.

Kartik Goyani, the vice president of Metro Development Group, painted a picture filled with Crystal Lagoons, autonomous cars, hyper-fast internet speeds and even better education, health care and solar-, wind-powered and WiFi-enabled street lights.

While it isn’t exactly the flying cars many of us thought we’d be driving by now, Goyani’s presentation to local business leaders created a buzz that has many looking forward to the new year
and beyond.

By then, Goyani hinted, the first Crystal Lagoon in North America — at Metro’s new Epperson development off Curley Rd. — will be filled with water and frolickers.

He showed some drone video of the current state of the lagoon, but it was a picture of someone with a large hose standing in the lagoon, with its inner lining in place, filling it with water, that drew a few audible gasps.

“We are hoping to stay ahead of schedule so the lagoon opens up early next year,’’ Goyani said.

The new year also will see the hi-tech community project, billed as the first smart giga-bit development in the country — with lightning-fast internet speeds 200 times faster than most homeowners receive now — finally get an actual name. Goyani said the project was dubbed “Connected City” by the Florida Legislature after approving it as part of a 10-year pilot program, but that name was always just what Goyani called a “placeholder.” In January, it will be branded with a different name.

While the Crystal Lagoon is driving sales of homes “through the roof” in Epperson, it is just one of many amenities that Goyani says will make the Wesley Chapel community one the rest of the country will try to mimic.

The “Connected City” is a 7,800-acre area running north from Overpass Rd. in Wesley Chapel to S.R. 52 in San Antonio, and east from I-75 to Curley Rd., that will one day feature thousands of new homes and much more.

While Epperson will have as many as 3,000 homes upon completion, the “Connected City” project, which is expected to take 7-10 years to complete, will have as many as 37,000 new homes, up to 12-million-sq.-ft. of office space, a second lagoon in Metro’s Mirada development, and hundreds of dedicated miles for autonomous vehicles.

“I don’t think I’ve seen a project anywhere else in the U.S. that has that,’’ Goyani said. “We are creating something really really exciting in Pasco County that will draw people from everywhere.”

But, the Crystal Lagoons are the crown jewels of the “Connected City” project.

“We didn’t want to build a larger clubhouse, or a bigger golf course, we wanted to totally reimagine it,” Goyani said. “That’s what we did with Crystal Lagoons.”

As for the most commonly asked question about lagoon access — “Can we go, too?” —Goyani says that Epperson homeowners take precedence. Over the next 7-10 years those 2,000 homeowners in Epperson will pay for the maintenance of the lagoon.

While there are currently only 30 homes or so in the community, Metro Development will be picking up some of the tab to keep the homeowners’ maintenance bills low.

That may create some opportunities for controlled access to the lagoon, as members of parties or events held there.

First Families: The Crystal Lagoon is spurring big sales in Epperson & excitement among the community’s first residents

Epperson resident Jennifer Rose is excited to be one of the first residents of the community where the first Crystal Lagoon the U.S. is expected to open in February or March of 2018.

Jennifer Rose was in the market for a home, and narrowed her choices down to two communities.

Her realtor, however, suggested they take one more drive, this time to Wesley Chapel, to a large stretch of land off Curley Rd. with nothing to see but trees, grass, dirt and tractors.

Rose, a hair stylist at Salon Loft, was sold a vision that day, of a development with affordable homes that were cheaper than they ones she had previously looked at, that would be built from the ground up with gigabit internet, roads that would one day handle autonomous vehicles, a community that would be vibrant and active, and year-round parties and events.

Oh, and this new community also promised to be home to a Crystal Lagoon — which boasts a specially- formulated system for keeping its water crystal clear and clean. The lagoon, the first of its kind in North America, will be surrounded by white sandy beaches, have a swim up-bar, an adventure cove, cabanas and multiple party areas.

“There was nothing there at the time,’’ Rose says. “Even the model home was only in framing. But, I could just see the outline of the lagoon.”

The pictures of what that Crystal Lagoon will become sealed the deal.

“I absolutely loved the whole concept,’’ said Rose, who bought a five-bedroom, 2,500-sq.ft. home.  “I saw all the pictures of what it was going to be. It was swimming in bottled water that piqued my interest.”

Rose is one of the first handful of residents to move into Epperson, a new community being constructed by the Metro Development Group north of S.R. 54 off Curley Rd.

Epperson is the first part of the “connected city,” a project created by a senate bill that called for a private-public partnership between Metro Development and Pasco County.

The project will turn 7,800 acres of mostly undeveloped land in Wesley Chapel into a mini-city of its own within 50 years, with 37,000 homes, more than 60,000 jobs and almost 100,000 projected new residents.

“The connected city thing is hard to imagine,” says Diane Bissett, who became the first-ever resident in Epperson. “It will be neat to see it come together, and to say we were a part of that.”

Diane Bissett, pictured above right with her children, is the first homeowner in Epperson (Photo courtesy of Diane Bissett)

As an employee of D.L. Horton, one of six homebuilders in Epperson, Bissett had an inside track to the first home being built in what promises to be an original, almost-futuristic community.

Bissett had been eyeing the new development for what felt like forever, primarily because of the promise of the 7.5-acre Crystal Lagoon.

When she initially heard about the project, she says, she was working for a different homebuilder in Watergrass, right across the street. Not only did she think she would never be able to buy a home there, she says it just didn’t seem real what Metro was proposing.

“No way,’’ Bissett thought.

However, changing jobs and getting first dibs on a house at Epperson, Bissett, the mother of a 2-year-old boy and 4- and 14-year-old daughters, jumped at the chance to be part of something fresh and new.

And, as it turned out, a little frightening. For a month, Bissett and her family were the only residents on their street.

“There was a whole lot of dirt and not much else when I moved in,’’ Bissett said. “It was very dark and scary. It was a little spooky in the beginning.”

Bissett was the first of what is now roughly 60 residents living in Epperson, where homes are still going up and will one day number roughly 2,000.

Home sales have so far exceeded expectations., driven by the excitement over the first Metro Lagoon by Crystal Lagoons, which is currently being filled in anticipation of a spring opening.

“The Lagoon effect is real,’’ said Greg Singleton, the president of Metro Development, recently at an event announcing that water has started filling in the lagoon.

Todd Carrier bought the second home in Epperson, and wasn’t going to let bad timing deter him once he read about the lagoon.

Carrier had just bought a home in Spring Hill and had lived in it five months when he heard about a Crystal Lagoon coming to Wesley Chapel sometime around April.

“Honestly, it was a shot in the dark,’’ Carrier says. “Since I just bought a house I didn’t think I’d get approved.”

Not only did Carrier get approved, the 25-year-old AT&T sales rep found someone to rent his Spring Hill home to within five weeks.

“I heard about the lagoon and I wanted to be part of that before the prices went sky-high and got to the point where I couldn’t afford it,” Carrier says.

An avid gamer, Carrier is excited about the gigabit internet speeds, which can download high-definition movies in 30 seconds, and says the community events also are a bonus.

He grew up in a new community once before, when his parents moved into The Preserve at Lake Thomas in Land O’Lakes in 2000.

“It was not as nice as this is going to be though,” he says.

In the end, of course, it was the lagoon that spurred him to dive in headfirst.

When friends and coworkers ask him where he lives, he often just describes his new digs as “the place with the lagoon.”

“They don’t know Epperson,” he says, “but they know the lagoon.”

While the allure of the lagoon has brought everyone together, Bissett says being part of something so innovative and buzzworthy is intoxicating. Her son loves watching the construction trucks drive by as new homes continue to sell at a rapid rate.

Bissett jokes that for years, many of her South Tampa friends often passed on coming over on weekends because Wesley Chapel was too far a drive. Now, “I’ve had a lot of friends come out of the woodwork to ask me, ‘What are you doing next summer?’”

As someone who doesn’t take a lot of vacations, Bissett says Epperson, “will be like living in a resort vacation place.”

The community already has hosted trick-or-treating, and the streets are now being filled in the evenings with children riding bicycles and hanging out in their friends’ driveways. Bissett thinks a special camaraderie has developed amongst what is currently a small, tight-knit group.

Jennifer Rose says her kids can’t wait for the lagoon to open in the spring. (Photo courtesy of Jennifer Rose)

Rose agrees. She was the third person to move into Epperson, and from there, the numbers have steadily risen. One by one, each home on her street was filled with a new family. and her children, Christopher, 11, and Kayla, 9, have made new friends with each “Sold” sign that goes up.

“Oh my gosh, they love it,’’ says Rose, who previously rented a home in Wesley Chapel. “In our old neighborhood, I couldn’t get my kids to go outside. Now, I can’t keep them inside.”

It won’t be long now before what will be the center of the Epperson universe is ready for its first swimsuit-clad visitors, and the vision sold to the current residents comes into full view. Residents will lay in hammocks on Gasparilla Island after filling up at the lagoon’s swim-up restaurant and bar, or rent kayaks to cruise the waters of Venture Bay, or maybe just relax at The Grotto and cool off under the waterfall.

“The lagoon,’’ Rose says, “is going to be the place to be.”