County officials still hopeful on SunWest project

At times during the past three or four years, Pasco Commissioner Jack Mariano might have come across sounding like some overzealous developer with a scam to sell people waterfront home lots in the middle of a desert.

Mariano scans the largely barren SunWest mine property, west of U.S. 19, and can see a new county park, a lakefront beach, cable skiing, canal access to the Gulf of Mexico and scores of upscale homes.

The sprawling SunWest Harbourtowne project and the public park within it might finally be on the cusp of getting crucial permits as early as January - or so Mariano, whose County Commission district includes the SunWest property, hopes.

Approval certainly would make a nice gift nestled under the county's Christmas tree, which is Mariano's fervent wish.

The early phases of park development could proceed in 2011 since the developer has pledged nearly $3 million to help get the park off the ground.

A staff meeting within the next few weeks will be devoted to contingency plans and exactly when to start building the park at SunWest Harbourtowne, according to Pasco Parks and Recreation Director Rick Buckman.

The county already has spent $500,000 to design the park, Buckman said, leaving roughly $2.5 million to build facilities.

The catch-22 for the Parks and Recreation Department has always been finding the money to pay staff and operating costs after a park is built. The department already has been forced to trim its staff for the current fiscal year. The use of money from the $3 million fund is restricted to construction costs only by law.

Of course, watching paint dry can be faster than the permit process for huge projects with regional impact. Just ask Bob Carpenter.

Carpenter, the project manager for SunWest Harbourtowne, started working on the permit process in early 2006. That is actually faster than most applications for Developments with Regional Impact status.

"We're not counting our chickens before they are hatched," Carpenter cautioned. But January does indeed look possible to secure the environmental permits to go ahead with the park and gulf access.

"The county has put an extensive mitigation plan spanning the Pasco coastline together to offset the impacts of the development of the park and the deep water access channel at the site," Buckman said. The ball is in the court of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

"We hope to get state approval by January," Buckman said. Once permits are in hand, "the park will most likely be developed in phases as the funding hurtles can be addressed."

"This kind of stuff is not for the faint of heart," Carpenter said. "We have to get 17 agencies all to agree. We're optimistic. I think we have met all the requirements of the law. The environmental impact has been mitigated."

Less clear is when new homes might start sprouting on SunWest Harbourtowne lots. Zoning already is in place. The recession has slowed efforts to find joint venture partners to build homes, Carpenter concedes.

For more than 50 years, SunWest has operated a limestone mine on this property which is evolving into Harbourtowne.

The development holds promise to jump start the Pasco economy, Carpenter firmly believes.

"You talk about the federal government trying to stimulate the economy, this is what would create jobs," Carpenter said.

The private sector is better at creating jobs, Carpenter insists. Harbourtowne could pump hundreds of millions of dollars into Pasco and plenty of jobs, he predicts. Construction of gulf access might convince some people to go out and buy boats, he theorized.

These projects take a "bold vision," Carpenter said. But he is convinced it will be worth the wait.

For more information, go online to www.sunwestpasco.com .