The Pasco County Commission has continued a request to rezone the Ballantrae Professional Center until Sept. 17, to sort out issues relating to the center’s current uses, the proposed zoning and who has authority to request the proposed zoning.
The center, on the south side of State Road 54 at the intersection of Hunting Bow Circle, in Lutz, is currently zoned as a PO-1 Professional Office District.
The request, by the Ballantrae Center Owners Association, is to change the designation to a PO-2 Professional Office District, which allows a wider array of uses, said Denise B. Hernandez, zoning administrator/special project manager for the county.
The county planning department and the Planning Commission recommended approval of the rezoning.
However, during the County Commission’s public hearing on Aug. 21, an owner of a condo office building within the development objected to the proposed rezoning.
And, that objection prompted a reaction from Commissioner Mike Moore.
“He owns the building. That’s not what he bought into. That’s not what he purchased. Who am I to tell him that he’s got to change his zoning for something he doesn’t want. I’m not going to back this,” Moore added.
Hernandez said the rezoning request is aimed at bringing uses on the property into conformance with PO2.
“Going PO2 allows them to do every single use in PO1 and then add some additional uses, including private schools, post office, government buildings, barbershop, beauty salons, flower shops, those type of things,” she explained.
A number of current uses on the property already fall under the PO2 designation, she added.
“We think it’s consistent with the character of the area, the existing area, and we’re recommending approval of the zoning amendment,” Hernandez said.
However, there is confusion over who has the authority to request the rezoning, and also about the site’s current zoning.
The office park is condo-platted.
A real estate agent working on a parcel came in and told the county that the development needed to be PO2 because there are PO2 uses there, Hernandez said.
Stacie Mixon, speaking on behalf of the management company for the office development, said “this property, in essence, was originally a PO1, then it was changed to a PO2 years ago.
“If you looked at the property appraiser’s website, all of these properties are zoned PO2 according to the website.
“One of the builders went to build and they were told by building permitting that it’s PO1,” Mixon said.
“A lot of the owners purchased under the assumption that it’s PO2,” she said. “Tenants are in there that are supposed to be in PO2.
“Now, we’re at a standstill,” Mixon said.
County Attorney Jeffrey Steinsnyder said the issue wouldn’t be before the County Commission if the current zoning wasn’t PO1.
“The property appraiser is not the one who is in charge of zoning,” Steinsnyder said. “This board is.”
At one point, a portion of the office development was temporarily zoned PO2, with explicit provision that the zoning was temporary and was exclusively for Imagine Charter School, Hernandez said. That zoning was initially granted in 2008 and expired in 2012.
Imagine Charter School now has a permanent location on Sunlake Boulevard.
Commissioner Kathryn Starkey asked whether an individual office condo building owner could decide if they want PO1 or PO2.
“We don’t want to shut down all of those businesses,” Starkey said.
Mixon said owners in the office park voted on whether to seek a rezoning to a PO2 and the majority agreed, but she did not have specific information about the vote at the public hearing.
Steinsnyder recommended continuing the hearing until Sept. 17.
“Without looking at the condominium documents, I don’t know who the legal authority to rezone this property really would be,” Steinsnyder said.
By delaying the vote, county staff will have a chance to get additional information from the opponent to the rezoning and from the applicants, commissioners said in voting for the delay.
Published September 5, 2018