About Us
Welcome to the Country Villas of Safety Harbor website. Country Villas is a Home Owners Association located in the City of Safety Harbor, in Pinellas County Florida.
In the early 1970’s the land where the neighborhood of Country Villas stands today was developed in two phases. These two phases were developed for deed restrictions in 1978 for Phase I, and in 1979 for Phase II. In July of 1988 the Country Villas Homeowner’s Association was formed.
Across the street from our entrance where homes and The Sun Groves ice cream stand is now located, were orange groves and a nursery. Just west of our neighborhood where the Pinellas County Water Treatment Center is located was a small lift station that nobody knew existed.
For three days over the 1985 Labor Day weekend, Hurricane Elena stalled off the coast of West Central Florida and held the area a virtual hostage. Although Elena never came closer than 80 miles to the Tampa Bay area, its 40 to 50 mph sustained winds caused tides six feet above normal on the beaches and seven feet above normal in the bay. The storm killed four people, destroyed more than 250 homes and damaged thousands of others before finally moving north and coming ashore in Mississippi. Many of the Country Villa residents evacuated because of the strong storm surge which nearly put the two lane bridge from Oldsmar to Safety Harbor under water.
Several years later SR 580 and the bridge connecting Oldsmar to Safety Harbor were widened. In the process of widening the roadway, 7 houses were relocated from where the existing berms are located, making 232 homes instead of 239. These homes were 102, 104, 106, 108, 110 and 112 Timber Circle, and 101 Country Villas Drive. These homes were relocated to other areas of the County, with two of them located across from Espiritu Santo Catholic Church on Philippe Parkway.
Association projects:
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The existing residential signs were built shortly by the association after the road was widened and with permission of DOT.
- The Association also worked with DOT to get trees planted along the berm as a visual and sound barrier to traffic.
- The Association (along with neighboring subdivisions) fought off a proposal to rezone the vacant lot at 580/590 for a 7-Eleven.
- The Association (along with neighboring subdivisions) helped in fighting off the proposed Pinellas County Schools Bus Compound just west of our homes in 2008.
