After a nearly two-year delay, crews have started working on a major development project in Wesley Chapel.
- New community being built in Wesley Chapel
- Centerpiece will be a 7.5 acre lagoon
- Epperson community
A Crystal Lagoon community called Epperson is being constructed near Curley Road and Overpass Road.
The lagoons are basically gigantic swimming pools, surrounded by sandy beaches and in the middle of more than 1,000 new homes.
Metro Development Group partnered with Crystal Lagoons for the project, announced two years ago. The project, being constructed on the former Epperson Ranch land, will cost over $100 million.
The development group says the project has had a slower start because of the details regarding the lagoon and getting an Army Corps of Engineers permit.
"It's a 7.5-acre water facility that will allow people to do everything from canoeing to kayaking to paddle boarding," said Kyle Parks with Metro Development Group."
Metro Development Group said all of the water to fill the lagoon will be brought in from county utilities and, with the addition of natural rainfall, will keep the lagoon full.
But how will it stay clean? Parks is not exactly saying, adding it's a bit of a trade secret.
"I guess if you want to give it a very basic explanation, censors sense how the dirt gets collected in the lagoon," Parks said. "And there's always some sort of system where that dirt is picked up so it doesn't use a lot of chlorine, it's very ecologically friendly."
Officials say the lagoon will be a part of a gated community and not open to the public.
MDG officials said the project should now be complete by the end of 2017.