 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
A city grows a parcel at a time
By CHASE SQUIRES, Times Staff Writer Two years after Dade City leaders made expanding city limits a priority, the map is beginning to reflect the vision along what may be destined to become a busy commercial corridor. With the goal of expanding west to Happy Hill Road, officials have worked to annex parcels that, when the paperwork is complete, will trace a finger of incorporated city property from Pasco High School to the edge of the Lake Jovita development. "As we grow, we can offer more services, and that helps us grow further," City Manager Doug Drymon said. "We show people what we can offer, and they join the city. Then our tax base expands, we can offer more, and more people annex into the city." Since 2000, city commissioners and Drymon have agreed annexation is key. Commissioners at a planning session two years ago announced annexation was among the biggest goals of the city. Drymon, in a budget memo last year, wrote that without expansion and a greater tax base, the city will have a hard time keeping up with expenses. And there was State Road 52. With an eye to the potential for commercial growth along the well-traveled route, the city reached out. Because annexation in Florida almost always must be agreed to by the landowner, the city has had to court owners, city planner Doug Currier said. And because the law also limits annexations to land that is adjacent to the existing boundary, it has meant Dade City has had to piece together the westward march parcel by parcel. True, Drymon said, joining the city comes with an additional property tax -- $7.40 per $1,000 of assessed value -- but the city has been successful in attracting landholders with available services and lower impact fees than in Pasco County, he said. "Our job has always been to show them what we can offer," Drymon said. "We have to make it attractive. We offer a higher level of service." Mayor Scott Black said recent successes are proof the city is achieving its goals. By acting early, before land is developed, he said, he expects annexations can benefit both the newcomers and the city. In April 2000, the city annexed 16 acres owned by Bill Nye, a Pasco real estate dealer and investor. The land has been pitched as a potential site for a Publix-anchored shopping center and future home of an expanded YMCA campus. Using a county park adjacent to Nye's land as a connector, the city linked to 178 acres of communities, the Pines and Lynan Estates, being developed by Bill and Darba Adair. Next up, the city has inked a deal to bring in the 134-acre Roadside Groves parcel, and when that deal is done, extending the city west to Happy Hill Road, the city has an agreement to tie in two long, narrow parcels totaling about 21 acres, owned by John and Jacqueline Cameron. The expansion sets the table for a city push south to SR 52, ripe for commercial development and close to a proposed 192-unit apartment complex along Janke Road where the developer has already inquired about city water and sewer. The westward push will also leave the city adjacent to the Lake Jovita development and a short distance from the town of Saint Leo's boundaries. Lake Jovita developer Roy Gaddy said he isn't sure the city can justify the price of the extra tax rate, now that the early work on his 900-acre development is complete. "If they were out here four, five years ago, it would have been much more worthwhile for us," Gaddy said. Still, it isn't too late to collect undeveloped land between the development and Dade City, Drymon said. Drymon said the city offers newcomers water and sewer service, nearby police and fire protection, mosquito control, a city-backed YMCA, street lighting and road maintenance. It also offers a hometown City Hall, and with a centralized district to serve, city staff can offer personal attention to needs and develop innovative approaches to special problems. And commissioners are talking about lowering the tax rate someday as the city expands. One important parcel already ripe for growth is the northwest corner of the Happy Hill/SR 52 intersection. Property representative Drew Pittman attended a Dade City planning session recently and afterward said that in addition to the value of city services, there is an additional intangible value. "Being part of the city can be important," he said. "It's an identity, a connection." Pittman said that when the city annexes a few more properties and becomes adjacent, the landowners may consider annexation. Already the property has been identified by consultants as a likely spot for a major commercial development. The joint benefit to the city and to landholders along SR 52 is that they can work together to shape the future of the corridor, consultants Steve Luce and Bruce Kaschyk told commissioners at a planning session. A plan produced by the pair's firm, URS, proposes the city concentrate commercial developments at a few intersections on the route, marked by new traffic lights. It's important, they said, to limit businesses to a few spots to avoid the U.S. 19 effect, with strip development clogging the road with driveways that allow unlimited access. "Retail follows customers," Luce said. "They go where the traffic is, and they go where the rooftops are." The most important thing the city can do now is communicate with landowners, Luce said. Landowners have to buy into the vision and want to be part of it because it will be good for them, not because they are forced, he said. "I like what I'm seeing," Black said after viewing the URS study. A positive attitude toward not only expanding boundaries and managing that expansion responsibly is going to determine what Dade City looks like in the future, Currier said. "Anyone can have growth," he said. "The key is what kind of growth do you want."
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From today's Pasco Times Jan Glidewell |
