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Mike Carballa is named Pasco’s next county administrator

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The Pasco County Commission decided it didn’t need to look beyond its current staff to fill the county’s top job.

Board members took action at their June 21 meeting, elevating Mike Carballa, assistant county administrator of public infrastructure, to interim county administrator, effective July 30.

Board chairwoman Kathryn Starkey will negotiate a contract with Carballa, who has been selected on a unanimous board vote to become county administrator, effective Oct. 1.

Mike Carballa is Pasco County’s new interim administrator, effective July 30. He has been selected to replace Dan Biles as the county’s new administrator, when Biles’ contract lapses on Oct. 1. (Courtesy of Pasco County)

The action to promote Carballa happened quickly.

Dan Biles officially announced his resignation on May 17. His contract expires Sept. 30, but he’ll be leaving sooner because of accrued time off.

County Commissioner Ron Oakley made a motion to appoint Carballa to the interim county administrator during the board’s June 7 meeting, but withdrew it after Starkey raised concerns about making that decision without a full board. Commissioner Mike Moore was absent because of illness.

Seeking a compromise, Biles suggested that the board could direct him to start working with Carballa, and delay any formal action until the following meeting.

That led to Oakley’s motion on June 21.

Oakley told his colleagues: “Last time I’d made a motion for an interim administrator and by waiting, I’ve thought more about it. If I was doing this in my business, and it was a vice president, or something who had left my business and I had someone interim to put in that position, I wouldn’t put him in there as an interim. I’d put him in the position and go forward, and it would be a smooth transition.”

Commissioner Jack Mariano added: “My first thoughts were a national search, get the best candidate you can for the county.”

But Mariano said he, too, had a change of heart.

Mariano referenced a budget meeting that he’d had the previous day with Carballa, Erik Breitenbach, assistant administrator of internal services, and Robert Goehig, the county’s budget director.

That meeting, Mariano said, solidified his feeling that promoting Carballa was the right move.

He said both Carballa and Breitenbach initially indicated interest in the job, but Breitenbach backed away, saying this wasn’t the best time for him to pursue it, because of family considerations.

Commissioners express confidence in Carballa
“I don’t think there’s been a better person suited to take over the county administrative than Mike Carballa, of anyone I’ve ever seen,” Mariano said. “He’s really diligent. I think he’s ready for the job.”

Oakley agreed: “I think it would be really smooth and this county will keep moving forward.”

Commissioner Mike Moore said Carballa is “obviously, very competent, obviously, understands the county — lives in the county, knows the county very well.

“I have all of the confidence in the world in him. I think he would excel at this position,” Moore said.

At the same time, Moore said he wanted to hear the thoughts of his other colleagues.

Commissioner Christina Fitzpatrick gave her stamp of approval: “I think he would be a great asset to the county.”

Chairwoman Starkey added: “I also think Mike is very, very capable. I’ve talked with people who have worked with him, in other agencies, and they find him to be capable, as well.

“I have mixed emotions because I think sometimes it’s good to hear what other people’s ideas are in other places.

“I’ve had the opportunity to live around the world and I’ve learned something in every place that I’ve lived, so I guess I can go either way.

“I know sometimes when you do a national search you don’t know what you’re going to get. “We’ve interviewed some people that probably weren’t right for our county, but we did find someone like Dan Biles.

“I think Mike can do a great job, but I also think it’s good to hear what others have to offer, and bright ideas from other really prime areas that I think we could attract from,” Starkey said, but she did not push for a national search.

Moore said the decision to hire from within is not unusual.

“Pasco County is a very large company. We’re the board of directors and all of the constituents are its shareholders. The shareholders decide who the board of directors are and the board of directors decides who our new CEO is.

“If you look at companies, throughout time, people groom their replacement. The board doesn’t always go out and do a national search.

“Why put outside people through a process when we know who we want?

“It’s not fair to them, anyhow. So, good decision,” Moore concluded.

Fitzpatrick also noted some of Carballa’s attributes: “It’s very easy to speak with him. He has great communication skills. He’s respectful. He has ethical values and integrity.”

Mariano added: “We’ve got a great team. We’ve got great leadership. We can keep this thing rolling … without skipping a beat.”

Carballa, who was filling in for Biles at the June 21 meeting, told commissioners that their action was unexpected, but appreciated.

“It was also unexpected for me to land here, in Pasco County, and work for such a great administrator, Dan Biles, as well as the people that we work with here, this board and our various stakeholders.

“I do appreciate your confidence. I look forward to working alongside the women and men, as well as our key stakeholders, in Pasco County, as your county administrator. So, thank you for that,” Carballa said.

Carballa joined the county’s senior leadership staff in 2014, after working at Tampa Bay area engineering firms, according to information provided by the county.

Before working in the private sector, Carballa was a captain in the U.S. Air Force for five years.

He holds a master’s degree from the University of Florida Warrington College of Business and a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of South Florida.

Carballa and his wife have two children, and they are Pasco residents.

Published June 29, 2022

Model homes expected soon in new ‘city’ of Angeline

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Crews are busy at Angeline, a new 6,200-acre master-planned community in Central Pasco.

A recent tour of the property, given by Vaike O’Grady, vice president of marketing and communications for Metro Development Group, provided an early glimpse of the emerging development.

Fabric banners proclaim Angeline, on a portion of Sunlake Boulevard, just south of State Road 52.

Angeline is a massive community that’s in the early stages of development. It is being likened to a small city, built from the internet up, by Kartik Goyani, vice president of operations for Metro Development Group. (Courtesy of Metro Development Group)

A welcome center is under construction.

Some street signs already are posted, including Banyan Breeze Boulevard and Anchor Dune Drive.

Vibrant signs proclaim some of the community’s values: Thrive. Nourish. Learn. Connect.

Lennar will build the first homes in Angeline, from its Active Adult Collection, with model homes expected to open this summer.

A multimillion amenity center and clubhouse will be constructed within Lennar’s gated neighborhood — featuring a resort-style swimming pool, fitness center, tennis, pickleball and bocce ball courts, and more.

“We are currently launching with four (builders). Just like in any of our large communities, we would expect to have a very diverse mix — anywhere from eight to 10 builders, over time,” said Kartik Goyani, vice president of operations for Metro Development Group.

“We like to create multigenerational communities, so everything from townhomes, villas, entry-level single-family homes, move up, luxury, for rent, multifamily apartments.

“Our goal is to be able to offer a very diverse product mix, so there’s something in it for everyone,” he said.

Angeline will be massive
When completely built out, Angeline is expected to have about 35,000 people, Goyani said.

The community will be home to H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center’s planned Pasco County 775-acre campus, which is entitled for up to 24 million square feet of planned clinical and research facilities.

Plans include a hospital, research and development space, office, manufacturing, laboratories, pharmacies, educational facility/university, hotel, and commercial space. The multiyear, multiphase project is expected to create 14,500 jobs.

Its footprint is larger than downtown Tampa.

“It’s super exciting. We can’t more thrilled to have an anchor like Moffitt Cancer Center here,” Goyani said.

Recently, Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed $20 million in funding for Moffitt, which would have been recurring for 30 years. At the same time, he left intact $106 million in funding for infrastructure for Moffitt.

Goyani said the governor’s veto will have no impact on Metro Development Group’s plans in Angeline.

Moffitt issued a statement following the recent legislative session, thanking the governor and legislative leadership for their support of Moffitt’s efforts.

In part, that statement says: “The new funding approved will help accelerate Moffitt’s expansion efforts in Pasco County to better serve more patients, increase our research and education efforts, create new jobs and make our vision to build a global destination to live, work and cure cancer a reality.”

Not far from the planned Moffitt site, Pasco County Schools is building a 6-12 STEAM Magnet School, focusing on science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics.

Goyani said the school is significant.

This depicts the 6-12 STEAM Magnet school under construction in Angeline. It’s on a site near Moffitt Cancer Center’s planned Pasco County research and medical campus. (Courtesy of Metro Development Group)

“That’s an integral part of our town center. It’s the first of its kind, not only from an educational standpoint, but from a place-making standpoint that we’ve integrated a four-story school, right within the heart of the town center,” Goyani said.

Angeline also will feature the latest in technology.

“We’re creating an entire city, from the internet up,” said Goyani, obviously passionate about what that will mean to the people who live and work there.

“Angeline is going to have the fastest connectivity in the Tampa Bay area at over 2 gigs —included for everyone who moves into the community.

“At a very fundamental level, we see technology as the great connector and the great equalizer, especially in today’s world.

“Technology is the only thing that can bridge the digital divide.

“So, you could be a school student, you could be a CEO high-level executive, you could be an hourly laborer — but guess what, one thing in common to everyone is technology.

“When I’m looking for a restaurant, I’m connecting to the same level of connectivity. I’m using the same maps, I’m using the same websites that a CEO or an executive or someone else would do, if you bring the same technology to everybody, regardless of where they live.

“They rent an apartment, the live in a townhome, or they live in a multimillion dollar home — we want them to be able to connect, learn, stay healthy, by getting access to the same technology,” Goyani said.

Angeline promotes wellness
The new community in Central Pasco is designed to promote good health.

It will have a professionally managed working farm. It will have a regional park.

(B.C. Manion)

An extensive trail network will weave throughout Angeline and will have connections to the Starkey Preserve, the Connerton Preserve and the Crossbar Ranch Preserve.

“We want to create the healthiest zip code in the country,” Goyani said.

For one thing, people who want to do telehealth appointments are unlikely to encounter problems with the strength of their internet connection.

Besides encouraging good health, the trails provide easy connections between people and the places they want to go, he said.

“You could go on a bicycle, golf cart. You can take an e-bike, you could take a scooter; (or) autonomous golf carts, when they arrive eventually. Or, you could just bike and run,” Goyani said.

“You should be able to get to anywhere within the community without hopping in your car,” Goyani said.

Angeline also promotes sustainability, he said.

It will have state-of-the art battery- and solar-powered streetlights that are completely off-grid and are dark-sky compliant.

It also will retain much of its natural beauty.

“Preserving the natural area is part of our sustainability goal. More than half of the Angeline project is conservation and preserve areas,” Goyani said.

“The way we do that is basically bending our building footprints and subdivision phases around the existing natural areas, and respecting what’s out there that came before us.

“It’s obviously harder. It’s also expensive. But we think that’s the right way to do it,” Goyani said.

One manmade amenity that’s expected to be popular is Angeline’s planned crystal lagoon. The development group established the first lagoon in Florida in Epperson in Wesley Chapel, and another one is under construction in its Mirada development.

This aerial shows the welcome center for Angeline that’s under construction near Sunlake Boulevard and State Road 52. (Courtesy of Metro Development Group)

The lagoon sparks interest, Goyani said.

“So, you’re in California, you’re in New York, you want to move to Florida. Or, you’re living in South Tampa, and you say, ‘OK, why would I go up to Angeline?

“The lagoon provides that visual ‘Wow,’” Goyani said.

He also noted: “What we saw during Covid was that it was just a great way for people to safely gather outdoors, continue with their life.

“It just provides for good, all-around family enjoyment,” he said.

Metro Development Group’s involvement in Angeline began in 2018, when it acquired the property.

“Originally, Lennar had it under contract, and based on what they saw what we’d done at Connected City, the ability to transform an entire region, they approached us to see if we would be interested in taking over Angeline. That’s how we got involved,” he said.

The property’s size and its access to the Suncoast Parkway and State Road 52, as well as the Ridge Road extension running through it, made Angeline appealing to Metro Development Group.

“We want to create something that is of this size and scale, that can also handle traffic for the next 50 years,” Goyani said.

Angeline, a 6,200-acre master-planned community, one day will be like a small city.

Plans for the area, which is south of State Road 52 and east of the Suncoast Parkway, include:

  • Moffitt Cancer Center’s Pasco County campus, a 775-acre life sciences and research park, expected to attract researchers and companies from around the world
  • A diversity of residential options, expected to appeal to be people of all ages in different stages of life
  • A community farm
  • A 6-12 STEAM Magnet School (STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics).
  • 3,600 acres of green space and an extensive trail system
  • A MetroLagoon
  • The fastest internet in the nation, accessible to all within the community
  • Access to State Road 52, the Suncoast Parkway and Ridge Road. An extension of Ridge Road will run through the property, ending at U.S. 41.

Published June 22, 2022

F1RST having a ‘field’ day

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They’ve got a field. Some rubble. And, drones, too.

They even have dogs.

Florida’s Forensic Institute for Research, Security and Tactics, or F1RST Field, is located at the Pasco County Sheriff’s property in Land O’ Lakes and works closely with all aspects of the department. (Mike Camunas)

Florida’s Forensic Institute for Research, Security & Tactics, or F1RST, features several aspects in its multidisciplinary research institute, which operates under the Pasco Sheriff’s Department.

The state-of-the-art training facilities represents a collaboration and partnership between academia, practitioners and the private sector — creating the opportunity to discover and provide innovative, cutting-edge techniques.

“A lot of the research questions we have are ones that come up in the field,” F1RST Forensic Science Administrator Austin Polonitza said. “We rely on that academia aspect on figuring out how to answer those questions. We want to fill in the gaps in the knowledge associated with the seven core disciplines.”

F1RST’s seven core disciplines are Forensic Science; Tactics and Human Performance; Public Safety K-9s; Intelligence Studies; Cybersecurity; Unmanned Systems (Drones); and Leadership.

F1RST has various training facilities, both indoor and outdoor.

K-9 Deputy Ryan Kiley works with Joker, a two-year-old officer, at the Helen Rich K-9 training facility in Land O’ Lakes.

The Helen A. Rich K-9 Training and Research Campus is in Land O’ Lakes. It allows housing for the dogs, but also every training scenario for the nearly 40 K-9 officers in the sheriff’s department.

There also are two FEMA-certified rubble piles that are used for mock training for search and rescue with both the K-9s and the fire and rescue department.

“This is what we call ‘engineered chaos,’” Polonitza said, with an obvious measure of pride.

F1RST Forensic Science Administrator Austin Polonitza watches as Sgt. Tony Hallaian operates the department’s Matrice Drone, which is used mainly for searching for missing people, usually by using its heat-seeking function.

Then, there is F1RST Field.

This 11-acre field, which went up in December 2020, houses three different types of environments and can be used for training, for instance, in finding human remains or investigating crime scenes.

Thanks to the Anatomical Gift Program through Florida Gulf Coast University — one of F1RST’s academic partners — and its Human Identity and Trauma Analysis Program, the field can have actual human remains used to create certain scenarios. This allows Human Remains Detection K-9s to practice searching for “a body” and also allows technicians to try different forensics techniques in varying environments, especially those of harsh Florida wetlands.

“The field really simulates and mimics what you’ll encounter in the actual field in Florida,” Polonitza said. “There are no scenarios out there — nothing else like this area because the environment in Florida is so different, dense and moist.”

The field also is a great training location for the Unmanned Systems portion of F1RST, or the drone operators. Those remote-control pilots are able to use drones that have thermal imaging to locate missing people, as well as multispectral imaging to identify gravesites.

“We used thermal imaging to find a missing kayaker on the Withlacoochee River,” Pasco County Sgt. and Drone Operator Tony Hallaian said, noting the kayaker was found in 5 minutes.

Pasco County Sheriff’s Department has two rubble piles that are used for situational training with forensics, the K-9 units, fire and rescue, and more. Dubbed ‘engineered chaos,’ these environments allow the departments to train for all kinds of scenarios they may face in the field.

“In 10 years, (drones will) probably all be automated, but I guess that’s part of the whole program here: how do we make it better?” he said.

As part of the drone research, each device sends feedback for analysis, such as how to improve imaging or battery life. The drone patrol also is integral in hostage situations, as it can send in a drone to assess the situation before the SWAT team enters.

“That saves lives right there,” Hallaian added.

F1RST relies heavily on sharing its academic finds, as it has no limits on how many institutes or university programs it partners with (Florida International University’s Global Forensics and Justice Center is one of dozens of partnerships).

F1RST also has an outreach program to educate the youth — those who might be interested in forensics and the other core disciplines.

“We do have forensics camps,” Polonitza said. “High school students have shown interest in learning the aspects of forensics as possible careers. We’re all about empowering those with the knowledge we learn right here at F1RST.”

To learn more about F1RST, its Anatomical Gift Donation Program and its upcoming training courses, visit FloridaFirstTraining.org.

Published June 15, 2022

Pasco County Sgt. and Drone Operator Tony Hallaian walks atop the urban rubble pile that simulates a disaster in a city environment and includes a donated downed helicopter from Puerto Rico, at the department’s F1RST Field.
Pasco County Sgt. and Drone Operator Tony Hallaian greets Phi, the Forensics Department’s Human Remains Detection K-9 at the Helen Rich K-9 training facility in Land O’ Lakes.
The Pasco County Sheriff department’s Matrice Drone is used mainly for searching for missing people, usually by using its heat-seeking function. That’s how it found a missing kayaker earlier this year.

Delivering sweetness, the old-fashioned way

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Johnny and Janine Oaks definitely hear the screams.

They hear the screams, for ice cream.

Land O’ Lakes Ice Cream truck owner Janine Oaks takes orders, and passes out ice cream and other treats to patient kids in the Asbel Estates neighborhood in Land O’ Lakes. Janine and her husband, Johnny, visit various communities in East Pasco and Central Pasco County, and alert everyone that they’re coming, through the nursery rhymes playing from the speakers. (MIKE CAMUNAS)

This Land O’ Lakes couple tool around in the Land O’ Lakes Ice Cream Truck, selling cold treats.

Whether midweek or on weekends, kids and adults alike, stand in the street, sometimes barefoot, and pass over dollars for an ice cream bar, cup or Dippin’ Dots.

“It’s really great to see kids jump up and down, and even watching mom and dad seeing their kids be happy to get an ice cream,” Johnny said. “We like doing things, and staying active and getting out. I don’t really want to sit around the house in a rocking chair.”

Besides, he said, it’s fun.

Janine added: “I mean, I’m not ready to fully retire yet. We get to pick and choose when we (take the truck out in neighborhoods) and we don’t go every day, but we do it a lot on the weekends, too.

“He’s right, though: it is fun!”

The Land O’ Lakes Ice Cream truck, with Johnny always behind the wheel, will hit varying neighborhoods in East Pasco and Central Pasco, including Land O’ Lakes, Lutz, Wesley Chapel, Trinity, Odessa and even some parts of Spring Hill.

However, the Oaks also are available to be reserved for events and parties.

Janine says several day care centers book the truck, as do local schools for the last day of school.

“Birthday parties really help (business),” Janine said. “It spreads, not really word of mouth, but that we’re available. Because if one party has it, then another kid or parent wants it for their party — they’ll inquire about booking before the party is even over.”

The Oaks have been driving their truck for about three years, ever since a trip to an antique store in Tallahassee had Janine buying some Blue Bell ice cream. It wasn’t before long she was looking up ice cream trucks for sale on eBay and doing research on aspects of an ice cream truck business.

“Well,” Janine joked, “he was retired and needed something to do!”

“We really started doing it all because of her!” Johnny quipped back.

Issac Lowry pays for his ice cream treat to Janine Oaks inside of her Land O’ Lakes Ice Cream truck in the Asbel Estates neighborhood in Land O’ Lakes. (MIKE CAMUNAS)

In fact, Johnny and Janine were able to keep doing it during the COVID shutdown when people were required to stay home.

Being careful to always wear a mask and have hand sanitizer available, the Oaks actually experienced a slight COVID boom, since the neighborhoods were full of kids and parents stuck at home.

“We, like everyone else, didn’t know what to expect during that time, but it was actually kind of busy for us,” Janine said. 

The truck drives at 10 mph through neighborhoods, ready to serve big crowds of kids.

The Oaks are a spry couple not even thinking about retiring. They’re content to sell ice cream to hungry customers.

“We’re not going to slow down — only to let the kids come buy ice cream!” Janine said.

“Everyone loves our truck,” Johnny added. “Everyone wants us to come to their neighborhood and everyone seems to want ice cream when we come around.

Janine and Johnny Oaks drive through just about every neighborhood in East Pasco and Central Pasco County, even replying to texts for direct-to-door stops. They also take reservations to park at events and parties. (MIKE CAMUNAS)

“So,” he said, “we’ll just keep selling ice cream, as long as the truck keeps running.”

Land O’ Lakes Ice Cream

Details: This classic ice cream truck (also featuring Dippin’ Dots) visits various communities in East Pasco and Central Pasco County. It also can be scheduled for events and parties. It accepts cash only.

Owners Johnny and Janine Oaks respond to call and text requests, and can be reached at 813-781-8297, or visit LandOLakesIceCreamTruck.com.

Published June 1, 2022.

Pasco County is seeking a new top executive

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Pasco County Administrator Dan Biles is stepping away from his leadership role in county government so he and his wife, Mandy, can pursue church development work overseas.

His last day official day will be Sept. 30, but his last working day will be July 31, because of accrued personal time off.

Biles asked the county board to accept his resignation during its May 17 meeting and to begin the process for naming his replacement.

The board will be addressing that process soon, including the possibility of hiring the same search company as it used to find Biles, or considering the option of hiring a local candidate for the county government’s top job.

Pasco County Administrator Dan Biles is leaving the top job in the county, after five years of serving at the helm. He and his wife, Mandy, are moving overseas to be involved in church development work. (File)

Biles is leaving at a time when Pasco has been experiencing rampant growth.

In his resignation letter, Biles noted, “While change is inevitable, I don’t think many of us expected what we would go through when I was hired by the county five years ago.

“On the positive side, we have seen some incredible growth with projects such as the much-anticipated Ridge Road extension and the subsequent Moffitt Campus initiative. On the negative side, we could never have anticipated the impacts that a worldwide pandemic and natural disasters would bring to our county. And yet, probably the work I am most grateful for is the radical cultural changes that have occurred within our organization that have resulted in not only significant performance gains across the enterprise but also the granting of three different Best Places to Work awards.”

He credits his accomplishments to the board’s willingness to give him “the flexibility and authority to focus first and foremost on building and maintaining our people-focused culture.”

Biles’ exit comes at a time when the county is preparing to expand its jail and to take over jail operations.

He’s also leaving at a time when the county is seeking to extend its Penny for Pasco surtax, a 1-cent sales tax that helps to pay for county projects.

His departure also comes when the county is in its early stages of updating its comprehensive plan, known as Pasco 2050.

Commission Chairwoman Kathryn Starkey told Biles: “Well, we’re sorry to see you go, but I understand when these callings come, you need to answer them.

“You’ve taken us to new heights, in a challenging time. And, I think we had the right person, for the right time,” she added.

Commissioner Mike Moore noted that the board needs to choose an interim to serve until Biles’ replacement is named. The interim is expected to be named at the board’s next meeting in June.

Moore also observed: “You don’t always have to do a national search. Maybe we want to talk about people that are here.”

The job must be posted, but whether the board uses its own human resources department or a national search firm is the board’s decision, Biles said.

Commissioner Jack Mariano told Biles: “Dan, you’ve done a phenomenal job here.”

The commissioner said Biles’ background as an engineer was crucial in working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regarding the extension of Ridge Road.

The Ridge Road extension is “such a critical piece for us,” Mariano said, adding that it played a role in attracting Moffitt Cancer Center to locate a campus in Pasco, which is leading to greater things for the future of Pasco.

Mariano said the county should consider both internal candidates and candidates from elsewhere.

Mariano raised concerns about the timing of the jail takeover, which had been discussed in previous board meetings, as being scheduled for Oct. 1.

Biles said he has always viewed Oct. 1 as an aggressive schedule for the takeover.

County Attorney Jeffrey Steinsnyder told the board: “We had concerns about Oct. 1, so we didn’t want to bind you to Oct. 1. But that’s still going to have to be a negotiation between you and the sheriff.”

Chief Assistant County Attorney David Goldstein told the board there will be a resolution at its next meeting relating to the takeover.

The resolution doesn’t refer to Oct. 1, but rather refers to the 2023 fiscal year, Goldstein said.

Published May 25, 2022

Pasco Schools begin ramping up ‘engagement’ efforts

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When it comes to engaging with families and the community, there are some bright spots in Pasco County Schools — but there’s no consistency.

Alison Crumbley

The issue exists throughout the district, and at every level, those are some of the key findings in a report shared with the Pasco County School Board at a workshop in April.

The district has identified community engagement as one of its top priorities and, as it attempts to make improvements, it has been working with TNTP, a national consulting company.

A Landscape Analysis has been done to get to know Pasco and its needs.

“Every community is unique,” said Janet King, of TNTP.

“So, we really need to start by understanding the place’s unique history, needs and priorities.

“Even within a district, communities are not monolithic, so it’s really important to look across a county and to understand that different parts of a county have different ways of accessing information, and different challenges and different resources that we need to understand before we build any kind of plan or solution.

“Finally, without this understanding, any improvement efforts are not likely to last because it’s not responsive to what families and community members most want and need, and works for them,” she said.

The Landscape Analysis included:

  • Market research: Taking a deep look into Pasco’s unique history, demographics, landscape and growth patterns
  • Asset mapping: Peeling back the layers of who’s doing great work in Pasco and who could be great potential partners
  • Insights Survey: Surveyed 38 representative schools, using TNTP’s survey, to enable the results to be benchmarked nationally
  • Listening Tour: Conducted focus groups, one-on-one sessions and superintendent-led sessions. In short, the sessions asked: “What are your experiences? What’s working? What can be improved?”

The efforts included:

  • 5,397 caregiver/stakeholder surveys
  • Eight parent/caregiver focus groups, including two conducted in Spanish
  • 42 community stakeholder interviews
  • Five student focus groups
  • Four teacher focus groups
  • Five superintendent-led listening tour sessions

In total, the efforts have included more than 70 hours of listening, said TNTP’s King, who shared findings from TNTP’s work during an April workshop with Pasco County School Board.

Colleen Beaudoin

Vanessa Hilton, the district’s chief academic officer, said TNTP was brought in to help the district to develop its capacity to improve its efforts regarding community engagement.

The district also formed its own Community Engagement Task Force, made up of district personnel representing different departments, roles and responsibilities. The task force includes school board member Alison Crumbley and assistant superintendent Dr. Kim Moore.

Hilton said the district realizes “we have lots of bright spots around the district in regards to our school efforts, but not yet, an intentional, meaningful strategy from the district level.”

Efforts to establish authentic engagement are important because it has a real impact on student achievement, King said.

“Research shows that when families and communities are engaged, it makes a real difference for students. Increased family engagement has been linked to higher test scores, increased school readiness, better attendance and decreased suspension rates for students,” she said.

Assistant Superintendent Moore noted that some of the school system’s challenges stem from its rampant growth. In the 1999-2000 school year, the school district’s enrollment was 46,458; now, its 82,377.

“That growth puts a strain on our resources. It puts a strain on how we operate as a school district,” Moore said.

“We have to look at putting in systems so our community feels that they can come in and interact with us, and be an authentic partner with us,” Moore said.

“Many of our community leaders, they want to partner with us. They don’t know how. They don’t where to go, to connect with us,” she said.

Cynthia Armstrong

They call the district and they get passed from one person to the next.

“That increases their level of frustration and then they give up. They want to work with us. They want to support our students,” Moore said.

Steve Hegarty, public information officer for Pasco County Schools, said, in general, the district pushes out information. And, when it seeks feedback, it doesn’t routinely reach back and let people know what it did with the feedback it received.

The lack of systemwide expectation for school-based family engagement has resulted in inconsistent experiences for families, Hegarty said.

One of the issues is the variety of tools that is used to communicate with parents.

The variety of communication methods and styles can be confusing.

“If you’re a parent with three kids in the system, you might have three different ways that you’re being communicated with,” Hegarty said, adding that can be frustrating for parents.

School board member Crumbley said improving community engagement is crucial.

“This is really such important work because it touches everything we do in the school district. Everything. It really does. It has so much to do with the success of our students and our families,” Crumbley said.

She’s particularly alarmed by the survey results that reveal the connection in secondary is far below the national average.

School board member Colleen Beaudoin said she wasn’t surprised by the findings, noting these issues have persisted for years.

She suggested the district build on what’s working.

Beaudoin also pointed out the need to devise training that is focused and avoids wasting staff time.

Kurt Browning

School board member Megan Harding asked: “If we’re trying to engage the community, shouldn’t we have some parents on that task force as well? We need to be sure that we are listening to those groups.”

Harding likes the idea of holding town hall meetings, to add a forum for engagement.

Board Chairwoman Cynthia Armstrong said when people want to know more about a school, they’ll visit its website.

She’s visited nearly all of them and she’s not impressed by the inconsistency she found.

“There’s nobody in charge of the websites at the schools. It’s whoever has an interest in it.

“That just doesn’t work, from what I saw,” she said.

While one school may offer a plethora of information; another might just say when lunch money is due.

Both Armstrong and member Allen Altman also said greater efforts are needed to inform the general public — who do not have children in school — about accomplishments within the district.

When he talks to people who don’t have students in the district, Altman said that many have no clue about the positive things that are happening. Instead, they only know the negative news they’ve read or heard.

Shifting mindset
Superintendent Kurt Browning agrees that much work lies ahead, and added that establishing authentic community engagement will require a broad-scale commitment.

“It cannot be just a small group of people in this district running, managing the community engagement work. It has got to be a districtwide effort. Not only that, but I’ll also say, community-wide.

“Beyond setting clear expectations, the district needs to develop tools and provide training, to shift the mindset,” the superintendent said.

The effort needs to involve “all district staff, whether you’re a bus driver, an entry operator, a school teacher, a principal, a superintendent,” Browning said.

Efforts to develop a plan of action are under way and more details are expected in June.

Community Engagement in Pasco Schools

Some key findings

  • Many community leaders want to partner with the district, but don’t know where to go or what the district needs.
  • District communication practices with community leaders tend to be one-way; stakeholders want more transparency and opportunities to provide feedback.
  • Where there are bright spots, there are not system-wide expectations for school-based family engagement, resulting in inconsistent experiences for families.
  • A lot of information is provided to caregivers at the school level, but it is not streamlined, consistent or focused on how they can support their student.
  • Parents want to know what their children are learning and how they can help.

Issues identified
Comments contained in TNTP’s report reveal the school district has myriad issues, when it comes to communication and engagement.

Here are some comments from the report:

  • “It is great to know that it is blue T-shirt day, but I want to know what my children (are) learning and how they are doing.” (Elementary and middle school caregiver)
  • “I left voicemails and never got a response. As a community partner, that is disappointing. I hope that they are not missing other opportunities.” (Community organization staff member)
  • “Sometimes community input and engagement is more of a ‘checking a box’ exercise, rather than meaningful participation.” (Community Engagement Task Force member)
  • “Each teacher communicates differently. There are many portals, that we, as parents, have to access.” (Elementary school caregiver)
  • “The communications from teachers are inconsistent.” (Elementary school parent)
  • “I wish the teachers all shared a cohesive communication standard.” (Caregiver)
  • “We should have town halls and be asked: ‘What do you think?’” (Community leader)

Source: TNTP Community Engagement report

Published May 18, 2022

Seven of 10 Pasco residents commute to other counties for work

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When it comes right down to it, the sites that are designated for industrial uses and employment centers in Pasco are simply too small and too scattered for the county to attract the kinds of companies that can make a significant difference in the county’s jobs picture.

That was essentially the message delivered to the Pasco County Commission, at its May3 meeting, by Randy Deshazo, chief of staff for the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council.

Pasco County has had a significant amount of residential growth in recent years — but it needs to attract more high-paying jobs to keep its workforce at home. To make that happen, the county needs large tracts of land available for the development of employment centers and industrial parks, a recent study shows. (B.C. Manion)

In introducing Deshazo to the board, David Engel, director of the Office of Economic Growth, said, “As a result of unprecedented residential demand for land in our region, the Office of Economic Growth and Planning and Development Department engaged the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council (TBPRC) to conduct a strategy analysis for the preservation and optimization of light industrial and employment center properties and zoning in the county.

“The study does an economic analysis of the fiscal and economic impact to the community, when we take industrial land and we modify it to allow residential,” Engel said.

Deshazo said the focus of the study was on land that has been designated for employment center and light industrial uses.

“You want to increase the share of target industry jobs in your economy and this is your main land use tool to do that,” he explained.

“Target industry jobs are those higher-paying jobs that span a range from blue collar manufacturing to high-tech kinds of jobs, that help raise the average wage in the county and provide, what we’ll call, an employment multiplier.

“They create more jobs through their own spending, down through their own supply chains and household spending,” Deshazo said.

Deshazo briefed theboard on the county’s current employment conditions.

“One out of 10 jobs in Pasco is what we would call a target industry job,” Deshazo said.

By comparison, in both Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, one of every four jobs is a targeted industry job, he said.

He also noted that Pasco has the longest commute in the Tampa Bay region, as well as one of the longest commutes in the state.

It also has the highest imbalance, when it comes to number of housing units compared to the number of jobs.

“About 70% of your employed residents work somewhere else besides Pasco County,” he said. “That is not just a case that there’s not enough jobs in the county. There’s not enough well-paying jobs,” he said.

The key questions, Deshazo said, are: “How many jobs does the county need?

“How many acres do those jobs need?”

Decision-makers must focus on how they allocate the county’s land, he said.

Converting an acre of industrial land to a non-employment use has the impact of about $2 million in lost personal income, direct and indirect, he said.

That number was calculated by taking the average of what those wages might be in a target industry, stretch it over the forecast period of 2050, and  doing some financial discounting, he said.

The county wants to increase its share of target industry jobs in its economy, and land use designations are the main tool to achieve that, he said.

Large tracts needed to help generate jobs
Pasco has a significant amount of acreage designated for employment centers and light industrial uses, however, those designations are generally on small parcels, he said.

Employment centers and industrial uses need large tracts.

“The average for industrial parks throughout the country is about 550 acres in size,” Deshazo said.

He told board members: “the really big issue here is that you’ve got a very fragmented pattern of industrial land. The overall distribution is that half of your parcels are less than 4 acres; 40% of all those parcels are actually less than 2 acres in size.

“They’re scattered across the county. They’re not easily assembled. So, that is really your land use supply issue. It’s not so much the total acreage, but where those acres are and how they’re divvied up,” Deshazo said.

His report also identifies current concentrations of industrial land. It adds buffer areas around those, as potential places for expansion of industrial land in the future.

It also identifies areas along railway corridors and truck routes for consideration of adding future employment centers and industrial land.

“The point here is not just to add acres, but to look at larger sites that might better fit the needs of future industrial land use,” Deshazo said.

In Jacksonville, there are areas that have been protected for industrial uses. It has coined the term “industrial sanctuary” to identify that concept.

“These are areas that you want to protect from redesignation to residential or other uses, to consolidate industrial land, so that you can get to those scales that industry needs to operate, and to work with each other and to attract labor,” he said.

“To do that you need to identify some basic criteria, such as perhaps establish a new land use in zoning that has a significantly larger minimum lot size than what you currently allow for light industrial or heavy industrial, which is about 30,000 or 40,000 square feet and talk about a minimum lot size of 50 acres or perhaps higher than that.”

Deshazo said the key takeaways in the TBPRC’s report are:

  • Employment centers and industrial land are the key tools for attracting and developing target industries.
  • It is important to set job goals; there doesn’t need to be a perfect 1:1 ratio, but every job closer to that is good for the county.
  • The county needs to think about where future industrial land should go.
  • It’s important to pay attention to the size of potential employment centers and industrial parks, to make sure they’re large enough.
  • The county may want to consider creating districts that allow both heavy industrial and light industrial uses.

Engel said the county’s Planning and Development Department, the Metropolitan Planning Organization and his Office of Economic Growth are working together to identify freight corridors, road systems, to look at the marketplace and at available land, to provide information to help inform future land use decisions.

Pasco County jobs picture

  • One out of 10 jobs in Pasco County is a target industry job; in Hillsborough and Pinellas, one in four jobs are target industry jobs.
  • Pasco County has the longest commute in the Tampa Bay Region and one of the longest in the state.
  • Pasco County has the highest jobs imbalance, that is the number of jobs compared to the number of housing units.
  • About 70% of employed Pasco residents work elsewhere.

Published May 11, 2022

Pasco expected to add 250,000 people

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Pasco County has been growing rapidly in recent years, and that trend is expected to continue.

“You have over 250,000 people in the pipeline that are expected to move to the county by the Year 2045,” Steve Schukraft, a planner with HDR Engineering Inc., told the Pasco County Planning Commission, during its April 21 meeting.

So, over the next 25 years or so, Pasco is “going to add the number of people, that’s similar in a scale, to all of the people who are living in the city of Tampa,” said the planner, whose company has been hired to help Pasco County update its comprehensive plan.

“When you look at the curve, that’s a similar rate of growth as you’ve experienced, since around 1980,” Schukraft said.

Knowing how many vehicles are traveling down a road is essential information for future planning of roads, developments and various services. Here is a look at a backup of traffic heading east on State Road 54, waiting at a traffic signal at S.R. 54 and U.S. 41. (File)

“There is a lot of development in the pipeline. Shaping that development is really fundamental. Preparing for it, serving it, shaping it — is really critical,” the planning consultant added.

Local governments, under state law, must develop comprehensive plans.

“Comprehensive plans provide your authority to zone. So, it’s a fundamental basis for your land development code. But it also provides guidance for capital investment programs, conservation investments, transportation programs,” Schukraft said.

In the 2050 update, he added, “we’re folding in some of the work the county is doing, related to sustainability and resilience.”

Completing the update is expected to take five years. The first two years have focused on primarily research and beginning to think about the broad structure of the plan. Next, the plan elements will be drafted, and finally, the Pasco County Commission will adopt a new plan.

“The most minor approach would be a strike-through and add-in to the existing document, but there’s a possibility to restructure segments of it, in a more significant way. So, that’s what we’re trying to find out, what’s appropriate,” Schukraft said.

“We’ve been doing a series of work sessions with groups around the county, to supplement our research in the more technical aspects of growth and development, across Pasco County,” he added.

The consultants are diving into past planning processes, in the documentation and feedback that the county has received through various activities and is supplementing that with listening sessions.

The listening sessions focus on perceptions of the county’s assets and challenges and ideas about what should be done to build a better future, the consultant said.

The county also has gathered feedback from the community in recent years, and that data, along with information gleaned through the listening sessions will be used to create an Issues and Ideas Report, he said.

Listening sessions aim to gain greater insights
Schukraft explained how the listening sessions work.

“As we talk to people, we ask them: ‘Do you know about the plan?’ ‘Are you aware of development that’s going to happen around you?’

He told the planning board: “I can tell you our observation is that, it’s kind of hard, when you look at the plan, to know that. To know what’s coming.

“If you were uninitiated and you pulled up the county’s comprehensive plan, or went to the web site, it’s really tough to tell what’s going to happen around the corner, up the road, down the road, and the timing of that.

A new apartment community, Avidity Living, is one of the latest new residential options on State Road 54 and Oak Grove Boulevard, in Land O’ Lakes. Pasco County is expected to attract about 250,000 new residents by 2045.

“So, one of the things we need to do in this process is make the future more transparent, so people understand, what’s in the pipeline, what’s committed, what’s next and where the sort of edges between different kinds of development occur.”

He also shared observations regarding the county’s long-range planning and zoning processes.

“We have early notions that it appears you spend an awful lot of time doing comprehensive plan amendments, which are kind of like land development code approval actions. And, they’re almost stacked right on top of one another.

“The comp plan is supposed to be a larger policy document that guides broader decisions, and the land development code is where things get executed and detailed.

“So, there may be a way to separate those two documents a little bit, so you’ve got higher level guidance in the comp plan and then you use your land development code to detail how projects get delivered, location by location.

“So, if it’s minor uptick in density on a project, maybe the comp plan can absorb that level of change, if it doesn’t change the character of a broad area.

“The land development code, if you want to change your zoning, that becomes a separate discussion, about appropriateness, about compatibility, about impacts on roadways, schools, public facilities,” Schukraft said.

David Goldstein, chief assistant county attorney addressed the consultant: “Can I ask you a question about that, though, because most of what we process are amendments to the future land use map. Are you suggesting that we not have a future land use map?”

Schukraft responded: “You need to have a future land use map. You don’t have to have the lan -use map you have now. It could be a more generalized map. That’s a possibility that we could look into. Because right now, your future land use map and your land development code are practically the same thing.

“You wouldn’t be doing amendments at every meeting. You’d be doing amendments on a three-month, six-month, cycle, that would be broader-scale amendments.”

Schukraft went on: “The thought of that is that long-range planning could focus more on the long-range questions. Your short-range, your zoning and land development code staff, could focus on the land development code questions.

“They wouldn’t be stacked up and doing similar things,” he said.

Goldstein also told Schukraft that the county’s current comprehensive plan contains a number of policies that says the county will adopt amendments to the land development code by certain deadlines, but that hasn’t happened.

Schukraft responded: “Where there’s time frames and commitments indicated in the comp plan that staff hasn’t been able to deliver for various reasons, it’s really fundamental to get that cleaned up.”

Planning board members told Schukraft that they would like a longer session to delve deeper into issues and the consultant said that will be arranged.

Published May 04, 2022

Pay raises needed to remain competitive

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The Pasco County School Board is asking voters to step up to provide more funding to enable the school district to improve pay for teachers and other district personnel, except for administrators.

The board voted unanimously to pursue having the referendum question added to the November 2022 ballot.

The board is asking voters to approve up to a maximum of 1 mil in funding to be designated for improving employee pay.

In an April 5 school board workshop on the topic, it was estimated that a 1 mil increase would yield an average instructional boost of $4,000; for non-instructional, $1,700.

‘I personally believe we are nearing a crisis. The teachers are leaving. Ultimately, it is about the children of Pasco County and the families.’ — Pasco School Board member Alison Crumbley

District calculations also show that Pasco’s median home cost of $325,000, and assuming a $25,000 homestead exemption, a property owner would pay $300 more per year, if the increase is 1 mil.

The board’s vote to pursue up to a full mil, followed persistent requests by Don Peace, president of the United School Employees of Pasco (USEP), urging the board to seek the ballot initiative.

Peace repeatedly has cited the number of district employees who are resigning or retiring, and has said the district must improve pay and fill vacancies, to stem the tide.

School board member Colleen Beaudoin made the motion to support the ballot initiative, which  was seconded by board member Alison Crumbley.

Specifically, the ballot question asks for a yes or no vote on whether to levy an additional tax, not to exceed 1 mil,  beginning July 1, 2023 and ending no later than June 30, 2027.

The proceeds, according to the ballot question, will be used “for essential operating expenses to maintain salaries competitive with the market, attract and retain high-quality teachers, bus drivers and other non-administrative school support employees.”

There also is a requirement for “annual reporting to Pasco County taxpayers for transparency of the use of these funds.”

“We are losing good teachers because they can’t make ends meet here,” Beaudoin said, offering many specific examples.

“We are not talking about numbers. We are talking about people you know and I know,” she added. “Pasco County Schools is the largest employer in our county. Everyone has someone in their family, their neighborhood or a friend, who works for us.”

Besides losing teachers to nearby districts that pay better, the district also is losing teachers who are leaving the field to work in industry, Beaudoin said.

‘For too long, we have struggled to remain competitive with other school districts in the area.’ — Pasco County Schools Superintendent Kurt Browning

“We want our teachers using their talents for our kids. We don’t want them leaving the profession,” Beaudoin said.

“How many ways can we ask our community to compromise, or settle for having substitute teachers or people with provisional certifications? Our community members want people with professional certifications who are highly qualified,” she said.

“Our community is tired of the revolving door of teachers and the lack of bus drivers that has led to inconvenient bell times and fewer child care options.

“We want the best teachers for our kids.

“We want to attract and retain the best teachers for our students, because they deserve it,” Beaudoin said.

Action needed to reduce staff departures
Board members unanimously agreed with the need to have the flexibility to go up to a full mil of additional funding.

“We’ve known for decades our salaries aren’t keeping up. The evidence and data are all there,” Crumbley said.

“I personally believe we are nearing a crisis. The teachers are leaving. Ultimately, it is about the children of Pasco County and the families.”

Board member Megan Harding agreed: “I don’t disagree. We’re short-staffed everywhere, and I’ve talked to many teachers who have left the profession, due to pay.”

In the board’s backup materials for the April 19 meeting, there were 23 instructional, five bus driver and 47 non-instructional resignations, Harding said.

“We owe it to our students, teachers, staff and the community to try for this referendum,” Harding said. “We tried for many years to put a Band-aid on the problem, and I think it’s time that we asked the community if they’re willing to help us fix it once and for all.

“We cannot be a world-class education system with one of the lowest pay scales in the region.”

After the meeting, the district released a YouTube video of Superintendent Kurt Browning, advocating passage of the referendum.

‘How many ways can we ask our community to compromise, or settle for having substitute teachers or people with provisional certifications? Our community members want people with professional certifications who are highly qualified.’ — Pasco School Board member Colleen Beaudoin.

The next step is to ask the Pasco County Commission to place the referendum on the November ballot, Browning said.

The superintendent noted: “For too long, we have struggled to remain competitive with other school districts in the area. In most cases, those other school districts have already taken the step that we are taking now.

“They recognized that they couldn’t simply rely on funding from the state. They made their cases to the voters and got a referendum approved.”

As a result, other districts can offer better pay, which puts Pasco at a disadvantage, Browning said.

“Long ago, the Legislature provided a mechanism for school districts to supplement staff funding for salaries, and several school districts have already taken this step.

“It’s time for us to act,” Browning said.

“We are losing good people.

“Who could blame a teacher or a bus driver for seeking better pay in a neighboring county?

“We need to turn that around; by taking this step, we are showing our commitment to keeping our great employees working in Pasco County, and attracting more of them,” the superintendent said.

More details will be shared in coming months, Browning said.

Union president Peace has pledged USEP’s full support in working toward passage of the ballot initiative.

Published April 27, 2022

Commercial growth popping up in Pasco

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Brick-and-mortar projects are rising rapidly, expanding Pasco County’s booming growth.

Construction crews are building shops, restaurants, Class A offices, gas and convenience stores, and car washes — on sites with “Coming Soon” signs.

Carrabba’s Italian Grill is under construction at the Cypress Creek Town Center, off Sierra Center Boulevard, next to Bonefish Grill. (Kathy Steele)

The county’s major commercial corridors – State Road 54 and State Road 56 – remain the epicenters of a construction juggernaut.

But Land O’ Lakes Boulevard, also known as U.S. 41, is an emerging source of expanded commercial and retail development.

Workers in hard hats and construction equipment engaged in projects are common sights on primary corridors in Pasco County.

Beginning on State Road 56, east of Interstate 75, options at The Shops at Wiregrass are expanding, or have expanded, to include Body Details; Crazy Sushi; Leonidas; and The Living Room.

New arrivals nearby include the Fairfield Inn & Suites, and Morningstar Storage.

On the west side of I-75, on State Road 56, new businesses are opening at Tampa Premium Outlets and Cypress Creek Town Center.

Zaxby’s opened in September on an outparcel on the south side of State Road 56, as part of the Cypress Creek Town Center. A Chicken Salad Chick restaurant is expected to open in a shell building under construction next door.

Tampa Premium Outlets, on the south side of the state highway, is adding Zumiez, according to the outlet’s website. The store features “cutting-edge” clothing, shoes, accessories and brand names for skateboarding, snowboarding and surfing.

Zaxby’s fast-food chicken restaurant opened in September on an outparcel of the Cypress Creek Town Center expansion, also on the south side of State Road 56, between Wesley Chapel Boulevard and Sun Vista Drive. Chicken Salad Chick is expected to occupy space in a new building under construction next to Zaxby’s, according to county permits.

On the north side of State Road 56, a Carrabba’s Italian Grill is under construction, next to Bonefish Grill in the Cypress Creek Town Center.

El Dorado is a 70,000-square-foot furniture store that will showcase as many as 20 storefronts offering furniture choices from contemporary to traditional. It is being built in front of Brighthouse Crossings apartments, near the Cypress Creek Town Center and Tampa Premium Outlets. A June opening is anticipated.

Also, a January 2023 opening is expected for the 300-unit, four-story Silversaw apartment homes, on Garden Village Way, off the town center’s Sierra Center Boulevard. Work also continues for the 260-unit Garrett Apartments at Cypress Creek Town Center..

Heading toward Land O’ Lakes, the Avila Living apartment complex is rising at State Road 54 and Oak Grove Boulevard. Brick-and-mortar also is visible now at EOS Fitness.

U.S. 41, heading west from State Road 54, has had activity in recent months, too.

Circle K and 7-Eleven opened new gas stations and convenience stores on the federal highway, which locally is known as Land O’ Lakes Boulevard.

The Circle K replaced a demolished older strip mall at the intersection of U.S. 41 and Hale Road. The 7-Eleven and a Radiant car wash filled out a vacant corner at the Bell Lake Road intersection.

Land O’ Lake residents are eagerly awaiting the opening of Stonewater Grill, which fronts Bell Lake.

Stonewater Grill is a waterfront restaurant that is expected to open on Land O’ Lakes Boulevard in early May. The restaurant will offer a range of menu options, craft beers and cocktails, a wine room, and an outdoor bar with patio dining.

In its previous renditions, the restaurant operated as Rapscallions, was rumored to be a future Hooter’s location that never came to fruition, and then served customers as Mosquito Grill and Bar, before closing and falling into disrepair.

Years ago, county officials moved to demolish the vacant and dilapidated structure.

But co-owners Dominic Difante and Scott Harris saw potential and now plan to open Stonewater Grill in early May.

They tore down most of the old structure and replaced it with a modern, stone-infused restaurant that will offer what Difante describes as an “elevated casual” dining experience.

The menu will include burgers, wings, tuna, steaks, chicken, and other options to please all tastes, Difante said.

There also will be patio dining with a bar, a wine room, a large event room with a bar, and an outdoor lounge area. He hopes to see customers dining, watching sports on large screen television, and returning two to three times a week, he added.

He hopes in the future to build a 75-foot dock, also suitable for outdoor dining.

“It’s a good area, a visible area,” Difante said. “I’m glad to be here.”

Projects galore on State Road 54
On State Road 54, moving west of the U.S. 41 intersection, an array of shops, restaurants, Class A offices and new apartments are transforming former pastureland.

The Shops at Ballantrae and the Cypress Ranch residential and commercial development especially are busy.

The Hub at Bexley is a new shopping and activity center at Bexley by Newland master-planned community, off State Road 54. Several shops and restaurants are scheduled to open by the end of 2022.

At Ballantrae, on Aprile Drive, the 54 Crossings Professional Center is under construction. The Class A office project includes two 60,000-square-foot office buildings. It will offer luxury flexible office space, lush landscaping, bicycle racks, a pavilion and walking trails, according to its website.

A shell building is under construction, also on Aprile, that will include a Five Guys restaurant and Trulieve, a medical marijuana store, according to county permits.

Opposite Ballantrae, Cypress Ranch is adding apartments and retail. Aldi’s grocery store, on Skybrooke Road, and Panda Express, on Harpers Run, are under construction. County permits also show work underway for EOS Fitness, Pacific Dental Services, The Learning Experience, and Chick-fil-A.

Next to a new Circle K gas and convenience store, Burger King is serving burgers and Woodie’s Car Wash is cleaning cars.

4 & Co. is a luxury business center and co-working space under construction on Bexley Village Drive in Bexley by Newland master-planned community.

Further west toward the Suncoast Parkway, The Hub at Bexley, off Bexley Village Drive, plans to open by the end of 2022. Its website lists future tenants for what is promised as a community gathering center, where residents can “come, stay and play.”

Among future tenants are Amazing Lashes; Bubbakoo’s Burritos; Checkmate Escape Rooms; Downright Deli & Donuts; Dr. Bawany dental office; Duckweed Liquors; Headlines Barbers; Haute Nails and Spa; P-Fit Fitness; Revolution Ice Cream; and The Poke Company.

Off Bexley Village Drive and Early Riser Drive, 4 & Co. Is planned for a summer 2022 opening. The company will offer about 35,000 square feet of Class A offices and co-workspaces. Amenities include a gym, yoga studio, sauna, a treatment room for acupuncture, and conference rooms.

The Springhill Suites by Marriott, also on Bexley Village Drive, is checking in guests.

In Odessa, commercial development at Starkey Ranch is expanding.

A new retail center – Shoppes at Starkey Crossings – is scheduled for an early 2023 opening on the north side of State Road 54 and Gunn Highway, opposite the Starkey Ranch Town Square, anchored by Publix. Details on tenants are not announced, but the shopping center will have 20,000 square feet of leasable space, including a drive-thru window at one end.

Stay tuned. There’s more to come in Pasco, soon.

By Kathy Steele

Published April 20, 2022