Teartical2.htm    May 27, 2006

Pasco County News

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Trilby Estates Garners Commissioners’ Attention

By JOE POTTER. Editor

Trilby – Two of five members of the Pasco County Board of County Commissioners have agreed to attend a community meeting in Trilby on Wednesday May 31, 2006 to hear area residents concerns regarding the proposed Trilby Estates development, said Denny Mihalinec, an official of the organization sponsoring the meeting.

Commissioners Ted Schrader and Pat Mulieri, Ed.D., will be at the 7 p.m. meeting of the Greater Trilby Community Association that will be held at Trilby United Methodist Church.

Nearly 200 people packed the church on May 18 when the first meeting was held regarding the prospect of the 95-home residential housing addition being developed on a 342 acre tract located near Christian and Powerline roads.

The developers envision a mix of 2 to 3.2 acre "Community" lots, 3.2 to 3.4 acre "Estate" lots and 5 to 7 acre "Manor" lots, the majority (63) being the Estate size (3.2 to 3.4 acres) on Trilby Estates.  Plans for this Master Planned Unit Development District (MPUD) development have been in progress for the past year and a half.

Several of the people attending the May 18 meeting said they preferred the lots sizes to be five acres or larger.  King Helie, who is a planner for the owners of the property, said county planning officials are encouraging the development of different lot sizes because having several lots of similar size in a rural development is considered "rural sprawl."

Another concern was what will happen to a 5.4 acre wetlands on the property and whether a neighborhood park will be developed.

Helie said plans call for the existing wetland on the site to be preserved and for 50 percent of the property to be designated as opens space.  Only certain types of uses — including some agricultural related — would be permitted in the open space, Helie said.  Also, the park will be developed as it is a county requirement.

One of the primary concerns raised during the May 18 meeting was the possible impact of traffic from the development on area roads.

Attorney Clarke Hobby, who is representing the property owners, said a traffic impact study was not required because the number of lots that will be developed are below the threshold.

Helie said lots in the development would sell for $200,000 to $300,000 and that people spending that much for lots typically spend between $400,000 and $500,000 for their homes. He said the community would be an upscale, deed restricted community.