Wesley Chapel Residents Prepare To Battle Dayflower Rezoning

Lutz FL

12 August, 2021

3:03 PM

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WESLEY CHAPEL, FL — Quail Hollow residents are preparing to take on a well-known South Tampa developer to defeat a plan to rezone 1,013 acres for high-density housing in an area that's long been dominated by large residential lots and ranches. SoHo Capital LLC has submitted a site plan to develop the property north of Wesley Chapel Boulevard and Old Pasco Road with 1,469 homes, including 150 town homes, on 40-foot-wide lots. It's a prospect that alarms the surrounding residents in the Quail Hollow, Angus Valley and Lexington Oaks neighborhoods. Quail Hollow and Angus Valley are the oldest neighborhoods in Wesley Chapel. Homes in Angus Valley and Lexington Oaks sit on lots ranging from a half acre and up. The homes in Quail Hollow sit on lots starting at 2 acres. The residents have formed the Quail Hollow Alliance, which has been meeting regularly to discuss strategies to defeat the proposal. They've also launched a petition drive that has garnered more than 2,592 signatures. They say SoHo Capital's plan is not only incompatible with surrounding land uses, but more than half of the 1,013 acres (523 acres) are wetlands that provide necessary runoff for the flood-prone area. They not only fear such a high-density development will exacerbate existing flooding problems but will negatively impact the environmentally sensitive wetlands on the property as well as the adjacent Cypress Creek Watershed, owned by the Southwest Florida Water Management District, which serves as a recharge area for municipal water supplies in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater. SoHo CapitalAmong those leading the opposition is lifelong resident Lane Mendelsohn, who owns 73 acres north of the SoHo site. His parents own 14 acres next door to him. "I'm not an activist that goes around looking for a fight," said Mendelsohn, who's invested his own money in hiring traffic, planning and environmental experts to fight the proposal. "I'm not anti-development. I do believe property owners have a right to develop their properties. But the development has to be responsible, and consistent and compatible with the surrounding area. The existing residents shouldn't be negatively impacted by a development." SoHo Capital purchased the property in 2014 for $4,200 an acre. It is zoned Residential 1, which allows 2.2 homes per acre. Quail Hollow resident Jennifer Seney said any higher density would cause flooding, traffic problems and increase the chance of sinkholes developing in the area. "What is being proposed for this piece of land is completely inappropriate," she said. "There's a reason why this property is still has cattle grazing on it. It should be left alone." The property, said Mendelsohn, is nearly landlocked. It has two access points: one through Dayflower Boulevard via Woodsman and Mangrove drives and the other through Quail Hollow Boulevard via Sandy Lane. SoHo Capital estimates the development, called SoHo Dayflower LLC, would generate 13,309 trips a day on surrounding roads. Mendelsohn said those surrounding roads and the single-lane bridge on Sandy Lane are already substandard and would need to be improved to handle the traffic increase. However, he said there's no way to widen them without encroaching on the drainage ditches that control the area's flooding. Additionally, the developer is asking that the county share the cost of improving the roads. While most Florida counties pay for road improvements using property tax funds, Pasco County funds road improvements through a Road Paving Assessment Program, which assesses the property owners that use the roads for the cost of improvements. Seney said that means the existing residents will have to pay for road improvements that would only benefit SoHo Capital. "We don't need these improvements and would never ask for them, but we could end up having to pay for them," she said. Seney said residents are also concerned about safety. Nearby Quail Hollow Elementary School sits on two-lane Quail Hollow Boulevard, which has a blind curve where a child was killed. Traffic on Quail Hollow Boulevard already backs up for about 40 minutes when school lets out, Seney said. SoHo Capital hosted a virtual public meeting on March 1 to present its plans to the community but Seney said there wasn't an opportunity to provide feedback. "There were about two dozen residents online for the meeting, but there was no way for residents to ask questions," Seney said. "We deserve some answers." "I live here, I work here and I love it here," said Mendelsohn. "I got involved because this affects me, my family and my community. We've got one shot to stop this proposed development. If I didn't do something, I'd never forgive myself. Once it's developed, there's no turning back." Pasco County staff hosted a meeting July 29 to discuss the developer's stormwater plan. SoHo Capital is proposing a network of drainage easements that would channel flood waters into Alligator Creek. However, an Aug. 5 meeting to present the plan to the Pasco County Planning Commission was unanimously continued to a later date. Patch reached out to SoHo Capital principals Chas J. Bruck and Adam Harden for comment and will update the story once they've responded.