The Pasco County Planning Commission has delayed a request in the Central Pasco Employment Village, to give neighbors a chance to discuss proposed conditions of approval.
The main sticking points involve the alignment of a proposed road and entitlements regarding commercial uses.
The requested zoning would allow development up to 2 million square feet of corporate business park and light industrial uses, as well as 300,000 square feet of support commercial/office on 321.13 acres.The site is on the south side of State Road 52, about a half mile west of Bellamy Brothers Boulevard.
The application, known as Eagle II, was filed by 3KS Family LLLP.
George Southworth, of 3KS Family LLLP, and Cynthia Spidell, a professional land planner, spoke on behalf of the application during the planning board’s May 19 meeting.
“We have a light industrial project. It’s an employment center. We have people that are looking for large, light industrial tracts, and we want to help the county fulfill that vision and bring some jobs to Pasco County,” said Spidell, who works for Stearns Weaver Miller, a law firm in Tampa.
She said her client is willing to reduce the commercial entitlement by 200,000 square feet, if the county is willing to exchange that for additional industrial development.
Chief Assistant County Attorney David Goldstein said the county board has made it clear that it wants to lift restrictions on industrial development in the Central Pasco Employment Village (CPEV).
The CPEV is an area designated by the Pasco County Commission years ago to create a coordinated vision among a group of landowners.
As adopted, the plan envisions a mixed-use employment village on more than 2,400 acres, located along the south side of State Road 52, roughly between the Collier Parkway Extension and Bellamy Brothers Boulevard.The employment village is expected to contain commercial, residential and industrial uses.
A system had been developed to allow landowners to swap entitlements among them- selves, under the county’s supervision. But during the Pasco County Commission’s May 2 meeting, it became clear that at least some board members don’t think that landowners within the CPEV should have to jump through hoops, if they want their sites to be used for industrial development.
Disagreements already have arisen between CPEV landowners over entitlements, and a dispute of a similar nature arose at the May 19 planning board meeting.
Daniel Bergin, representing D&D Ranch of Pasco LLC, an adjacent landowner, asked the planning board to delay the request.
“Eagle II is seeking 300,000 square feet of commercial space,” Bergin said, which he said is inequitable, based on the overall total of commercial allotted within the CPEV.
Bergin asked Andy Joe Scaglione, the adjacent landowner, if he wanted to make some remarks.
“Most of this information was not submitted with the application. That’s why it’s such a mess,” Scaglione said. “I’d like to ask for a continuance because all of this information was not in the application.”
One issue in dispute involves the alignment of a proposed road that would be built on the Eagle II property.
Scaglione and Bergin said they were not aware of the proposed shift.
Goldstein, representing the county’s legal staff, told Scaglione it appears the new alignment would actually benefit Scaglione.
“The eastern side of your property seems somewhat landlocked,” Goldstein said. “What the applicant is saying, is by that moving it, they’re going to build you a road going out to the east.”
If the proposed road is left where it currently is, on the southern boundary, there’s a good chance it would never get built, Goldstein said.
That’s because the county typically doesn’t require landowners to build roads that aren’t needed by their developments, and in this case, the property already has access to State Road 52, Goldstein said.
Still, Scaglione asked for a continuance, say- ing the information came in at the last minute.
Spidell disputed that claim, pointing to a summary of a Nov.8 landowner meeting.
She presented a map to the planning board from that meeting, noting: “This is the map we showed.”
Goldstein asked the applicant if there’s a way to change the alignment of the road on its property, to avoid making a portion of Scaglione’s property unusable.
Southworth said they can provide connectivity, and “they can swing the road and hug their line.”
Goldstein observed: “I think there’s a way that you two could work out a connection point.”
But Southworth wasn’t so sure: “We aren’t going to work out a connection point with Andy Scaglione. It won’t ever happen.”
Planning board Chairman Charles Grey responded:“I don’t think that’s necessary.”
Ultimately, planning board members voted 3- 2 to delay the request until their June 16 meeting. Planning board members Jaime Girardi and Roberto Saez dissented.
That allows the parties time to have a meeting, to see if they can resolve their issues.
After the planning board makes its recommendation, the request moves on to the Pasco County Commission, which has final jurisdiction on zoning and land use issues.