BROOKSVILLE — The developer of a proposed upscale condominium complex off State Road 50 wasted no time in getting his project off the ground after he got zoning approval last month from planning and zoning bosses.
The very next week, the broker for Treiman Oaks started taking buyer reservations for the 288-unit complex on 42 acres off S.R. 50, half a mile east of the new Brooksville Regional Hospital.
So it was something of a surprise when county commissioners pulled the rezoning request off the “unified agenda” at Wednesday’s land use hearing. The unified agenda contains previously voted on projects slated for quick approval and limited debate.
At least two commissioners asked the project’s engineer for more specific details about the condominiums and the intensity to the region.
As he did at last month’s P&Z meeting, Marvin Flam, a principal with GCMB Partners LLC, reiterated the particulars: three four-story buildings with two bedrooms and two bathrooms, screened terraces, community center, swimming pool, tennis courts, putting green and other amenities. The units would be definitely upscale and limited to people 55 and older with an “active lifestyle.”
Then Commission Chairwoman Diane Rowden hit him with a verbal broadside: How much of this project will be devoted to affordable housing to meet the needs of the majority of this county?
Flam candidly told her: none.
“This is not affordable housing,” Flam said. “I don’t know how we would be able to do it.”
When asked what the starting price of these condominiums was to be, Flam said $260,000.
That brought a chuckle from someone in the audience and a query from County Commissioner Chris Kingsley, who questioned how anyone in this county would be able to afford these condos.
It also ended the debate. The vote was taken and Flam got his final approval from county commissioners: 4-1, with Rowden voting to deny the rezoning.
“It’s an extremely dense development for this area,” Rowden told Flam. “I don’t think this area needs (that).”
Rowden said developers should do more to meet the housing needs of its citizens instead of approving these kinds of upscale projects.
“That’s a big issue — not only in Hernando County but throughout Florida,” Rowden said.
Treiman Oaks will be gated and have accesses off S.R. 50 and Wiscon Road. The developer will stub out a frontage road that fronts S.R. 50. Eventually, the frontage road will connect to the hospital, probably after the parcel between Brooksville Regional and Treiman Oaks is developed.