NEW TAMPA -- When Michael and Michelle Metropolis moved to the K-Bar Ranch subdivision in January, they had high hopes for a planned community center.
They expected the recreation complex would ignite a sense of community pride in a secluded, mostly undeveloped community just south of the Hillsborough-Pasco county line.
They anticipated a clubhouse with a large pool and meeting space capable of accommodating hundreds if not thousands of families.
"Michelle and I moved here from New Hampshire," said Michael Metropolis, president of Innovative Vacuum Solutions Inc. on U.S 301 in Thonotosassa. "We love it down here.
"We had our home custom-built by Mobley Homes. We love our home."
But that is where the love fest ends.
The Metropolises and other K-Bar residents are unhappy the pool and community center remain unfinished.
They dislike the size of the pool, saying it is too small for a community approved for nearly 1,200 homes. Posted safety rules at the community center indicate the pool will be able to handle up to 44 swimmers comfortably.
And, they were outraged when the K-Bar Ranch Community Development District board of supervisors recently considered a proposal to levy a special assessment to pay for recreation improvements in the master-planned community.
The developer-controlled CDD board floated a proposal that would have saddled homeowners with a 4 percent annual assessment increase for 30 years to pay for the new pool and other recreation improvements.
Mobley Homes is the primary developer in K-Bar, which was annexed by Tampa in 2001.
The idea was "an outrageous $6 million pool assessment they tried to slip by us," said Michael Metropolis, who lives on Yellow Clover Drive.
K-Bar residents are willing to pay a fair and reasonable assessment for the pool and other amenities, homeowner Jodi Drysdale said.
In opposition to the proposal, K-Bar residents hired a lawyer, formed a homeowners group, the Stone Creek and Bassett Creek Homeowners Alliance Corp., or SBHAC, and threatened to sue to nix the plan.
The Metropolises and Drysdale are members of the SBHAC board.
The original proposal has since been revised, said John Daugirda, property manager at K-Bar Ranch. A new plan was scheduled to be revealed last night at a community meeting at the New Tampa Regional Library.
The assessment fees would cover recreation costs related to the pool, cabana, basketball court, playground and a larger recreation center. (source : www2.tbo.com)
