Volume 23 Issue 26
Inside:
Did YOU Win A FREE Carnival Cruise For Two? See page 31!
December 19, 2015
Named The 2014 ‘Small Business Of The Year’ By The Wesley Chapel Chamber Of Commerce! The Direct-Mail News Magazines Serving New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Since 1993! For the complete list of neighborhoods that receive this Wesley Chapel issue by direct U.S. mail, see page 38!
The ‘Connected City’ — Coming Soon To Northern Wesley Chapel By John C. Cotey
Paul and Marie Miller moved from Tampa to Wesley Chapel two years ago to get away from city living and to enjoy the country life. They bought 10 acres just north of S.R. 54, and figured they would spend their free time on their quiet, rural property. However, the city may not be such an easy place to escape. A Connected City, which began planning in late 2014, is coming to a 7,800-acre area running north from Overpass Rd. in Wesley Chapel to S.R. 52 in San Antonio, and west from I-75 to Curley Rd. The Connected City is touted by developers and planners as a first-of-its-kind high-tech community with emphasis on gigabit internet access, job creation, alternative transportation along integrated roadways with two first-in-thecountry man-made crystal lagoons all bolstered by a detailed 50-year plan. Metro Development Group, a Tampabased company, is leading the planning for the area. It owns about 30 percent of the property in the area, but will welcome the participation of other developers , doing everything from residential to commercial and retail. Metro is already building one housing development at Epperson Ranch, and will begin construction on another starting next year. It also intends to build developments for office, retail, multifamily and light hightech manufacturing. Heidt Design LLC, which was also involved in the adjoining 22,000-acre Villages of Pasadena Hills in Zephyrhills – Pasco
County’s largest development -- was hired by Metro “to augment Pasco County’s resources to do this very special plan,’’ said Pat Gassaway, Heidt’s president. The Miller’s property, however, may be in the way of progress. For the past two months, a series of community meetings have been held at Wesley Chapel Elementary (WCE) to address concerns of residents in the 7,800-acre area, some of whom will be disLocal residents ask questions about the roadways and their effects placed. A fifth and final com- on their property at the last Connected City community meeting. munity meeting will be so people in attendance at the last meeting on held on Wednesday, January 13, 6 p.m., also Dec. 2 on large poster boards with residents at WCE — to discuss the connected city cor- encouraged to make suggestions. The Millers took a black magic marker ridor, a pilot program which was created by a Growth Management bill (SB 1216) which and redrew the one road that concerns them speeds up the process for creating city-con- the most — the one planned to run right nected corridors. For the 10-year length of through their property in the southeast corthe pilot program, there will be no state over- ner of the Connected City area. “I think the idea of a Connected City sight. Roads were the hot topic of conversation is awesome, but as it is right now, the road at the last community meeting. Construction going through our property isn’t going to let on Overpass Rd. and Curley Rd., where four us enjoy our property, our little oasis,’’ said of the eventual six lanes of both roads are be- Marie Miller. “I’d prefer this be done on a ing built, is already under way. The project’s blank slate of land, not disrupting (existing) network of roads, approximately 144 lanes landowners.” Many in attendance at a contentious miles with 82 additional miles for alternative transportation, were presented to the 50 or Dec. 2 meeting say they also will be disrupt-
ed, either by the proposed roadways or the construction that will be required to build them. Bigger roads will equal fewer homes and less of their property, they said, especially along Tyndall Rd., the topic of most of the discussion at the last two meetings. “What’s in this for us?,’’ asked someone in the audience. Others said that the only ones benefiting would be the developers who were making money on the Connected City. Gassaway, while acknowledging that some residents will be displaced, replied that the roadways and infrastructure, “will benefit everyone in the area.” At a Pasco Board of County Commissioners (BCC) Workshop at the Historic Courthouse in Dade City a few days later (on Dec. 8), Gassaway told county commissioners that there would be pushback on some of the items, including resistance from some residents on giving up their land and way of life. “But I’ve also had people come to me and say ‘This is a great idea, I can’t wait for you to buy my land,’’’ he added. The Millers have hope changes can be made so roads bypass their land, but have resigned themselves to the possibility of having to sell. “We have zero control,’’ Paul Miller said. “We realize they are coming and are going to do what they want to do, we’re just trying to gather the info so we can get the most value for what we feel the value of the property is.” Gassaway noted that local residents can still have some effect on the roadway plans. See “Connected”on page 15.
Wesley Chapel Rotary Club Hosts Another Successful ‘Gobble’ By Gary Nager area homeless and other needy individu-
The Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel Noon is proud to have again served more than 500 “Turkey Day” meals with all of the trimmings at two locations on Thanksgiving morning, Nov 26 — including 450 meals at Atonement Lutheran Church on SR 54 in Wesley Chapel — during the club’s sixth annual “Turkey Gobble.” The 100-member WC Noon Rotary, which meets Wednesdays at noon at Stage Left on SR 54 in Lutz, has been feeding
als & families at the church (which also is the location of the free Helping Hands Food Pantry for locals in need) every year since 2010. At this year’s “Gobble,” more than 50 volunteers from the WC Rotary (including club members and their family & friends) fed more than 450 families at Atonement Lutheran, while the WC Rotary’s “satellite” club in Land O’Lakes served another 50 meals at Keystone Community Church on S.R. 54 in Lutz — the third year in a row that the Land O’Lakes
Also Inside This Issue!
News, Business & Sports Updates
Neighborhood Magazine
Work To Speed Up On 56/75 Interchange, Wesley Chapel Teen Killed In Car Wreck, Pasco County’s New Logo & Lots Of Local Business Features!
Holiday Lights At The Shops at Wiregrass, Saddlebrook Prep Student Publishes Book, Our 2015 Reader Dining Survey Results, Plus Neighborhood Nibbles & Biz Bytes!
Pages 3-26
Pages 27-40
satellite club has “Gobbled” at Keystone. “We also donated 150 ‘snack packs’ for those families to take with them,” said Dineen Pashoukos Wasylik, the Rotary Club’s Turkey Gobble organizer this year for the third consecutive year. She also thanked a contingent of volunteers from Boy Scout Troop 149, based in Lutz. “And, some members of our club again
went into the woods to take meals to the homeless camp (located off S.R. 54).” Dineen also thanked other members See “Gobble”on page 17.