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Two Rivers

New community of Two Rivers edges closer to reality

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Two Rivers — a community proposed to rise along State Road 56, between Morris Bridge Road and U.S. 301 — will offer people places to live, work and play — under plans submitted to Pasco County.

The community has taken a step closer to development — through the Pasco County Commission’s April 20 approval of a text change in the county’s comprehensive plan, and a change to the county’s highway vision map.

This land, along State Road 56, east of Morris Bridge Road, is now occupied by trees, ponds and open fields. But it is proposed to become the future community of Two Rivers — a place that will feature homes, businesses, recreational options and schools, under proposals going through Pasco County’s regulatory process. (File)

Commissioners approved the changes unanimously. No one spoke in favor or opposition to the proposed changes.

Next, the developer must secure a rezoning to create the proposed community. That request is in process and is expected to come to the county board in coming months.

Once the regulatory hurdles are cleared, efforts can begin to bring the proposed 3,405-acre community to life.

Two Rivers is envisioned as a place that features a mixture of housing types, work opportunities, shopping, recreation and schools, according to previous public hearings involving the development.

The project has been in planning stages — off and on — for more than 10 years, and there have been a number of ownership changes.

The current proposal calls for creating Two Rivers as a master-planned development, on the southern edge of Pasco County. The project would tie into a community that’s under the same ownership, which is just south of the Pasco-Hillsborough line.

County documents detail the proposed plan, which includes:

  • 246 acres of conservation area
  • 3,875 single-family homes
  • 1,400 multifamily homes
  • 1,125 age-restricted homes
  • 1.3 million square feet for a targeted industry
  • 630,000 square feet retail

Other elements include schools for elementary, middle and high students, on property that would be next to an 80-acre county park.

Two Rivers is expected to be a community that emphasizes walkability and includes an extensive trail system that provides connectivity within the community. Alternate modes of transportation, such as golf carts, also will be encouraged, to help residents get from place to place.

The proposed community also calls for numerous recreational amenities, including recreational complexes, multipurpose fields, ball diamonds, an aquatics center, playgrounds, a dog park, tennis and basketball courts, and open spaces.

Published April 28, 2021

Helping people get from place to place, safely

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As Pasco County and the municipalities within the county’s borders continue to grow, Pasco County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey thinks the Pasco Metropolitan Planning Organization should have a greater voice in planning future roads to ensure safety, while promoting connectivity.

The issue came up repeatedly during the Pasco MPO’s Feb. 11 meeting.

“I’m wondering if it’s the role of the MPO to give some policy direction when we work on our road network,” Starkey asked her colleagues.

This aerial photo of the State Road 56 extension shows a pristine stretch of roadway, running from Meadow Pointe Boulevard, in Wesley Chapel, to U.S. 301, in Zephyrhills. But that road will be developed on both sides, and once it is, Pasco County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey says it will be hard for pedestrians and bicyclists to safely cross the road. She’d like future road planning efforts to be more forward-thinking when it comes to cyclists, pedestrians and people driving golf carts. (File)

She’d like the MPO board to be able to weigh in before road projects are done — to keep safety in mind for pedestrians, cyclists and golf cart users.

Otherwise, she said, the county and local jurisdictions could end up with scenarios they don’t want and have to spend more money later to make changes.

The issue of paying more attention to connectivity came up during discussion of an item to amend the transportation improvement plan to include two wildlife culverts under State Road 52.

The culverts will connect the Connor Preserve on the southern side of State Road 52 to the northern side of State Road 52, in the area of Parker Lake.

Once those culverts are added, right of way acquisition will begin this year, according to the agenda item.

Starkey asked if there’s a way to look at these planned wildlife crossings to make them large enough to allow cyclists and pedestrians to pass through them.

She suggested making the crossings 8 feet deep, to make room for people to go back and forth.

Doing that would be much cheaper than putting an overpass over State Road 52, added Starkey, an avid proponent for using trails to create connectivity within and between communities.

She noted that the extension of State Road 56, between Meadow Pointe Boulevard and U.S. 301, would have benefited from forward-thinking regarding pedestrians and cyclists.

“Now, we’re going to have a problem, of how to get people safely from the south side of Two Rivers to the north side of Two Rivers,” Starkey said. “If we had just gone up a little in elevation, it would have been a lot cheaper than whatever the solution is going to be.”

Commissioner Jack Mariano agreed with Starkey’s observation. He told her: “You brought up a great point way back at State Road 52 and (Interstate) 75, about doing something for cyclists to be able to go under that bridge, as well, that did get accomplished. It delayed the project a little bit, but I think it was well worth it.”

Starkey said: “I think it was a $1 million redo. “That is much cheaper than a $10 million, $12 million flyover for cyclists — or whatever other solution there could have been.”

Mariano said he would like the state roads department to take another look at the wildlife crossings proposed for the State Road 52 project.

“Instead of being tight underneath, maybe it should be a big box culvert that will actually allow a couple of bicyclists width-wise to go through. I think it’s something we should explore. It’s a lot cheaper to do it now, than it would be later,” Mariano said.

Justin Hall, with the Florida Department of Transportation, said the department will consider the request. “I can circle back with the project manager and we can take a look at that.”

The issue of advance planning to improve safety and mobility also came up during discussion of two work task orders, approved by the board after discussion.

In one work task, Aecom will prepare Active Transportation Plan procedures and outline a public engagement process.

The consultant will “assist with the actual plan development; the recommended schedule, preparing draft templates for how the plan should be put together and also prepare the next steps. It’s essentially the strategic approach for how to put together the Active Transportation Plan, which is something the county has not had in more recent times,” said Nectarios Pittos, acting executive director for the Pasco MPO.

That work task order was approved for $49,917.25.

The second work task order is being handled by Tindale Oliver & Associates.

“This will include available data sources, data assembly, demographics, data gap, data collection, GIS mapping, crash data analysis, technical memo development, review of comprehensive plan and right of way preservation with standards,” Pittos said.

“This is essentially the technical understanding of what information we have, ahead of the plan formation,” he said. That work task order was approved for $48,666.14.

By having the two work task orders done at the same time, the MPO hopes to finish phase one of the project by the end of June, so it can begin plan development starting in August, Pittos said.

Starkey asked if this planning would be an appropriate place to consider policies that the MPO would like to be considered during future road planning.

“Certainly when they’re developing the plan, there will be recommendations and policies established in that plan. Our understanding is that this plan is going to take a lot of cue from the long-range transportation plan, so there will be a definite dove-tailing of the two documents.

“So, you’ll be able to make recommendations and essentially set policy as well, in these documents.

“The MPO can have its own policy and work with the various jurisdictions that are working with the MPO, to follow that policy,” Pittos said.

Published March 03, 2021

Two Rivers will offer places to live, work, play

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Two Rivers — a community proposed to rise along State Road 56, between Morris Bridge Road and U.S. 301 — is making its way through necessary government approvals, to bring the community closer to reality.

The Pasco County Commission voted last week to transmit a request to state officials for their review. The request involves changing the text in the county’s comprehensive plan and amending the county’s highway vision map.

This land, along State Road 56, east of Morris Bridge Road, is now occupied by trees, ponds and open fields. But it is proposed to become the future community of Two Rivers — a place that will feature homes, businesses, recreational options and schools, under proposals going through Pasco County’s regulatory process. (B.C. Manion)

The state review is required before the county board can take final action on the request.

In addition to gaining approval of those changes, the developer also must secure a rezoning to create the proposed community.

The rezoning request is in process and is expected to come before the board within the next few months.

Once those regulatory hurdles are cleared, efforts can begin to bring the proposed 3,405-acre community to life.

Two Rivers is envisioned as a place that features a mixture of housing types, work opportunities, shopping, recreation and schools.

Details of the proposed project were outlined during a previous Pasco County Planning Commission meeting.

The project has been in planning stages — off and on — for more than 10 years, and there have been a number of ownership changes.

The current proposal calls for creating Two Rivers as a master-planned development, on the southern edge of Pasco County. The project would tie into a community that’s under the same ownership, which is just south of the Pasco-Hillsborough line.

County documents detail the proposed plan, which includes:

  • 246 acres of conservation area
  • 3,875 single-family homes
  • 1,400 multifamily homes
  • 1,125 age-restricted homes
  • 1.3 million square feet for a targeted industry
  • 630,000 square feet retail

Other elements include schools for elementary, middle and high students, on property that would be next to an 80-acre county park.

Two Rivers is expected to be a community that emphasizes walkability and includes an extensive trail system that provides connectivity within the community. Alternate modes of transportation, such as golf carts, also will be encouraged, to help residents get from place to place.

The proposed community also calls for numerous recreational amenities, including recreational complexes, multipurpose fields, ball diamonds, an aquatics center, playgrounds, a dog park, tennis and basketball courts, and open spaces.

Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore spoke in favor of the proposed project.

“I’m in support of this. In the future, this is going to be a really, really nice, very well-done, master-planned community. This is something that has really been on line for a long, long time,” Moore said.

And, while Moore has decried what he perceives as a proliferation of multifamily development, he said he doesn’t oppose including multifamily in Two Rivers.

“There are multifamily apartments in the future of this property, which I understand and am in support of because this is an area that does not have the oversaturation of the multifamily. It makes sense in a large master-planned community,” Moore said.

Commissioner Kathryn Starkey also spoke in favor of the proposal.

She also noted that she’ll be very interested in seeing the proposed trail network in the rezoning request for the master-planned community.

Commissioners unanimously approved the transmittal request.

Published February 17, 2021

New community planned along State Road 56

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The new Two Rivers community proposed to rise along State Road 56, between Morris Bridge Road and U.S. 301, is a step closer to reality.

The Pasco County Planning Commission has recommended the approval of changes to a highway vision map and to the text of the county’s comprehensive plan — to bring the envisioned project closer to fruition.

The Pasco County Commission has final jurisdiction over land use and zoning decisions, so the project still needs additional approvals before any work can commence.

But, plans for the area envision a 3,405-acre community that offers a mixture of housing types, work opportunities, shopping, recreation and schools.

The Two Rivers project has been in planning stages — off and on — for more than 10 years, and there have been a number of ownership changes, according to Craig Lohmiller, a group leader for Ardurra, who has been involved with the project for more than a decade.

Current plans call for creating Two Rivers as a master-planned development in Pasco County, which would tie into a community under the same ownership that is south of the Pasco-Hillsborough line, according to attorney Clarke Hobby, co-counsel on the project along with Attorney Joel Tew.

Background materials in the agenda packet detail that planning for the project site includes:

  • 246 acres of conservation area
  • 3,875 single-family homes
  • 1,400 multi-family homes
  • 1,125 age-restricted homes
  • 1.3 million square feet for a targeted industry
  • 630,000 square feet retail

The plan also includes schools for elementary, middle and high students, on property that would be next to an 80-acre county park.

The plan calls for an extensive trail system that provides connectivity within the community, Hobby said.

It emphasizes walkability and also encourages the use of alternate modes of transportation, such as golf carts, to get from place to place, Lohmiller said.

The plan also calls for numerous recreational amenities, including recreational complexes, multipurpose fields, ball diamonds, an aquatics center, playgrounds, a dog park, tennis and basketball courts, and open spaces, Lohmiller said.

“We’re really excited about that,” he said.

There’s a large boulevard loop within the community, which will create a way to get around, without disrupting major wetland features, Lohmiller said.

Plus, there will be areas along the loop that “will support neighborhood retail, restaurants, other commercial opportunities, coffee shops, things like that, to really engage the community.

“When you complete the loop, with the southern piece of the property, it’s about 6 ½ miles,” he said.

Lohmiller envisions community activities, such as farmer’s markets, runs and festivals.

Hobby told planning commissioners that the project has had starts and stops since the mid-2000s.

Now that the extension of State Road 56 has been completed, he said, the project “is really ready to take off.”

State Road 56 was extended through this project and two others, Hobby said, and the county was able to build the road as a four-lane road, instead of two lanes, through a state infrastructure bank loan, through the Florida Department of Transportation.

“The county and the applicant owner worked together with two other big projects, to make (State Road) 56 happen, all at once. It’s been a collaborative deal for a number of years, and the county needs those mobility fee surcharges to pay back the state infrastructure bank loan that the county took out,” Hobby said.

The county’s transportation staff resisted two changes to the highway vision map, proposed by the applicant.

One involved reclassifying a road and the other involved removing a road.

The applicants explained their rationale, and planning commissioners supported their request.

Another proposed change initially called for removing an extension of County Line Road from the map because there are plans to extend it to the south, on land owned by the same property owner in Hillsborough County.

But David Goldstein, Pasco’s chief assistant county attorney, suggested a different option. He said the road should be kept on the map, along with a note to indicate it would not be needed, if a parallel road was built in Hillsborough County.

“Hillsborough County has been known to threaten us, if we don’t give them something they want on a different road. If for some reason they try to hold us hostage and not allow construction of the network to the south, I don’t want us to be stuck without any east-west road,” Goldstein explained.

Tew and Hobby agreed with Goldstein’s solution.

This request will now go to the Pasco County Commission for consideration.

If the proposed changes are approved, the applicant’s next step will be to see a rezoning to a master-planned unit development, which is expected in coming months.

Published January 13, 2021

Ice cream offers a sweet way to cool down

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Americans do love their ice cream.

In fact, in 1984, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed July as National Ice Cream Month, and named the third Sunday in July — this past Sunday — as National Ice Cream Day.

It turns out that the United States is the No. 1 producer and consumer of ice cream in the world

One survey says that 41% of Americans consider ice cream to be their favorite dessert, and it identified the best-loved flavors as chocolate, vanilla, cookies and cream, and mint chocolate chip.

After making your vanilla ice cream, you can use it to prepare an ice cream sundae. Add flavored syrup, sprinkles, crunched candy, nuts, or other favorite toppings. For a final touch, add a cherry on top. (Courtesy of delish.com)

The origins of ice cream are not clear. Some sources trace a variation of it back to ancient China around 200 B.C., where a milk and rice mixture was kept frozen by packing it in the snow.

The Italian Explorer Marco Polo is said to have seen this during a trip to China and brought it back home in the 13th century, where it was enjoyed by the European elites and eventually made its way to North America.

While ice cream may have been created overseas, the ice cream sundae was born in the U.S.A., although exactly where it began remains in dispute.

The cities of Two Rivers, Wisconsin, and Ithaca, New York, have been battling for more than a century over bragging rights as the birthplace of the ice cream sundae.

Two Rivers claims it created the ice cream sundae in 1881; Ithaca claims it came up with the idea in 1892, according to Farmers Almanac.

While that battle rages on, there’s plenty of consensus on how the ice cream sundae got its name, and how it came about.

The ice cream sundae was the result of Blue Laws, which were religious laws enacted to restrict activities considered sinful.

Ice cream soda shops began emerging at pharmacy counters in the 1870s, but soon after, one Blue Law placed restricting the sale of soda on Sundays because it seemed too close to alcohol, which also was banned for Sunday consumption.

Ice cream sodas were very popular — pharmacies sold soda since the caffeine (among other things in soda) was considered medicinal back then.

Both cities claim that someone wanted an ice cream soda on a Sunday (pharmacies were essential and open on Sundays).

Not wanting to violate the Blue Laws, but also not wanting to serve just plain scoops of ice cream, the druggist (now called pharmacist) switched out the soda and put flavored sauce on top instead (Two Rivers said it was chocolate sauce, Ithaca said it was cherry sauce).

The popularity spread quickly.

Initially, it was known as the “Ice Cream Sunday.”

The origins of the spelling change to “sundae” are not quite known, but many believe it was either to not offend those who were religious or to make it clear that the treat could be enjoyed any day of the week and not just on Sundays.

Whatever the reasoning behind the change, it stuck.

Other things, however, have changed.

Ice cream is now widely available in grocery stores, and just the idea of ice cream being sold at the pharmacy counter seems outlandish.

Although many ice cream parlors have closed over time, specialty ice cream shops remain popular.

Ice cream also comes in dozens of flavors these days, including coffee, peanut butter, and birthday cake, to name just a few. It also can be made dairy-free.

And, because it’s National Ice Cream month, you may be able to take advantage of some special prices or freebies at ice cream shops through the end of July.

You can even try your hand at making a batch, and you don’t even need fancy equipment. (Check out the recipe).

Whether you make your own ice cream, or pick some up at a shop or a store — just remember to have fun, and stay cool.

By Shari Bresin

Shari Bresin is the Family & Consumer Science agent for the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Cooperative Extension Pasco County.

Recipe
This recipe comes from delish.com; it uses plastic bags to make vanilla ice cream.

Ice cream in a bag 

Ingredients:
1 cup half-and-half
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups ice
1/3 cup kosher salt
Toppings of your choice 

Directions:
In a small resealable plastic bag, combine half-and-half, sugar and vanilla. Push out excess air and seal.

Into a large resealable plastic bag, combine ice and salt. Place contents of small bag inside the bigger bag and shake vigorously, 7 minutes to 10 minutes, until ice cream has hardened.

Note: Oven mittens or a dish towel will help to handle the cold bags.

Remove from bag and enjoy with your favorite ice cream toppings.

Published July 22, 2020