Plans for massive sports and entertainment complex in Trinity spark backlash

TRINITY — When Storyland Studios released its plans for “the nation’s largest sports entertainment community” on 800 acres in Trinity, it ignited a firestorm of community opposition that is unlikely to abate. This includes hundreds of people sign a petition with change.org to stop development, which they say would destroy the area’s sense of community, increase traffic, worsen flood risks and threaten wildlife.

Unveiled at the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions expo in Orlando last month, the plans outline transforming what it calls “North Tampa” into a massive tourist attraction more than six times the size of Disney Springs, featuring “indoor and outdoor sports stadiums, arenas, resorts, professional estates and recreational spaces that complement a mixed-use landscape including hotels, shopping centers, an arts district and theaters, restaurants, medical centers and residential developments,” according to a press release. “Although still in the pre-development phase, “Trinity” will be the largest community land development project in the United States.

This is a project of the Trinity Development Initiative, which was incorporated last year specifically for this project. Chris Jefferson, a spokesperson for the initiative, told the Suncoast News that the company had secured options on the entire land and had hired Storyland to come up with designs for the project.

Planning stage

Pasco County officials told Suncoast News no plans have been filed yet for the project, but Jefferson says the intention is to build gradually, in stages, in full cooperation with the county and with complete transparency towards the public. He characterized the complex as making amenities more accessible to area residents who must endure long commutes to sporting and entertainment events. Adding restaurants and other attractions would benefit the quality of life of the entire community, he said.

He also characterized the development as alleviating, rather than worsening, flooding problems as well as traffic problems, by providing private roads that the county cannot afford.

Although Trinity is a growing and largely wealthy area — on unincorporated land adjacent to New Port Richey — many residents are adamant that they don’t want to live in “North Tampa.”

The Change.org petition “reflects a broader tension in Pasco County between rapid development and preserving community character,” Austyn Ross of change.org wrote in an email to the Suncoast News.

It’s a tension that played out recently in the city of Port Richey, where the majority of residents who responded to a survey opposed dense development at Cotee River Landing. These residents said they moved to Port Richey because of its small-town atmosphere and did not want the town to become a mini-Clearwater Beach. Much of the same sentiment surfaces at Trinity.

The neighborhood is not, however, purely residential. It is home to several shopping centers and the HCA Trinity hospital complex. In February 2023, the Suncoast News reported on a partnership between Pasco County and the Mitchell Ranch Partnership LTD to develop the Mitchell Ranch area into a “downtown” that would feature a mix of residential and commercial development. The project was expected to include 800 apartment and townhouse units and nearly 1 million square feet of commercial space.