The Pasco County Planning Commission has recommended approval of a request that would allow up to 115 single-family detached residences or up to 100 residences plus 5 acres of office.
The request, known as the Deer Springs master-planned unit development (MPUD), seeks to convert the zoning on 38.29 acres of land now zoned for agricultural and agricultural-residential uses.
The proposed development is on the west side, and abutting, Crystal Springs Road, about 3,200 feet east of Gall Boulevard and about 4,700 southwest of the city limits for the City of Zephyrhills.
The planning board recommended approval, but not before increasing the proposed setbacks on the properties. Initially, the proposed setbacks called for houses to be set back only 10 feet from the property line.
But planning board members Jaime Girardi and Jon Moody questioned how landscaping requirements could be met, since that 10 feet of setback is required for utilities and trees can’t be planted in spaces where utilities are located.
Board member Chris Williams asked why the staff would allow a condition that is virtually impossible to meet.
Brad Tippin, the county’s development review manager, said the applicant would have to meet the county’s code requirements — regardless of the conditions listed in the zoning request.
The rezoning sets a maximum limit for the development. If it can’t be achieved while meeting all of the county’s requirements, it can’t be achieved, Tippin said.
In essence, it just gives the applicant more flexibility, said Shelly Johnson, the attorney for the applicant.
Those responses didn’t satisfy the planning board.
It recommended approval, contingent on conditions that increase the setback requirements and specify a maximum amount of lot coverage.
Moody asked the county planning staff what the setback and lot coverage requirements were for the Cobblestone development, an adjacent subdivision.
He then recommended that approval of the Deer Springs request be contingent upon matching the requirements imposed on Cobblestone.
His colleagues agreed, recommending approval of the request, based on Moody’s revision.
In other action, the planning board recommended approval of a comprehensive plan amendment from a category allowing up to three residences per acre to one that allows up to six residences per acre. In this case, the applicant is seeking a maximum of 240 residences on 61 acres at a location that’s east of Billmar Road and north of the Zephyrhills Bypass.
The site abuts the Chapel Crossing master-planned unit development to the west and Avalon Park West to the south. A separate rezoning request is being pursued, as well, and that must be approved before development could take place.
These planning board recommendations now go to the Pasco County Commission, which has final jurisdiction on land use and zoning issues.
Published November 09, 2022
