SD Wesley Chapel LLC and Stock Development LLC are challenging the Pasco County Commission’s decision to reject a proposed mixed-use project of apartments, office and retail on a parcel in Seven Oaks.
The petitioners have filed a challenge under the state’s Land Use and Environmental Dispute Resolution Act.
They claim that the county’s denial was “unreasonable and unduly burdensome.”
David Goldstein, chief assistant Pasco County attorney disputes that claim.
He wrote, in part: “The denial was not unreasonable or unfairly burdensome to petitioner, because the board did not take away any of petitioner’s existing rights to utilize petitioner’s property (“Parcel S-19”) for retail and/or office uses, which have been the uses contemplated for Parcel S-19” since the Seven Oaks development was approved.
Pasco County Attorney Jeffrey Steinsnyder informed the county board of the challenge, during its Feb. 22 meeting.
The petitioners have filed a challenge under the state’s Land Use and Environmental Dispute Resolution Act.
“It’s a process that someone who believes that they are inordinately burdened by the action by the Board of County Commissioners in land development can take,” Steinsnyder explained.
Both parties agree to a special magistrate, which in this case will be David Mechanik, a Tampa attorney who is a Florida Supreme Court-certified mediator and a certified planner, Steinsnyder said.
“Unlike a court mediation, the public is invited to attend, especially those who are affected,” Steinsnyder said.
There will be an opportunity for negotiation, between the petitioners and the county, to see if a resolution can occur.
“If such a resolution were to occur, I’m not saying that it would, then that would come forward to the board in another public hearing to vote on whatever the settlement would be,” Steinsnyder said.
The mediation would take place in a county facility, which be selected based on how many people are expected to attend, Steinsnyder said.
The dispute stems from the county’s Jan. 11 denial of the petitioners’ request to modify the entitlements on a parcel within Seven Oaks to allow a development that includes 320 luxury apartment units in a vertical mixed-used project on land zoned for commercial uses.
The proposed project site is next to the Sam’s Club, in Seven Oaks, a community in Wesley Chapel, off State Road 56 and County Road 581.
The county board rejected the request on a 3-2 vote. Commissioners Mike Moore, Jack Mariano and Ron Oakley supported Moore’s motion for denial, while Commission Chairwoman Kathryn Starkey and Commissioner Christina Fitzpatrick dissented.
Seven Oaks’ residents turned out in force at the public hearing to express their opposition.
In the hours-long meeting, many residents testified that their community already has land available for apartments, in a more appropriate location.
They said the traffic created by the development would add to already congested roads and would pose hazards.
They complained that the amount of proposed development was too much for its intended site.
The developer, however, said the project has been carefully planned and would be an asset to the area. He said that great efforts had been made to amend his plans and to design a project that would offer a high-qualify lifestyle, while also incorporating some commercial elements.
County commissioners Moore and Mariano said the proposed project reduces the amount of land available for job-generating uses. Oakley said the project was too big for the proposed site.
The special magistrate is expected to consider the merit of the request for relief, seek solutions between the petitioners and Pasco County, hold an informal public hearing, and then issue his recommendation.
Pasco County has requested that the special magistrate hold the hearing as soon as practicable.
Published March 09, 2022
