The Pasco County Commission has continued a request to rezone the Ballantrae Professional Center until Oct. 9, to provide additional time for county staff to research the issue.
The request has raised 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.
The county planning department and the Planning Commission have 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.
That objection prompted a discussion during which questions were raised about who has the authority to request the rezoning and how a failure to rezone would affect uses that are in the office park that are not allowed under PO-1 zoning.
At one point, a portion of the office park had been temporarily zoned PO-2 to permit Imagine School to operate there.
However, the PO2 zoning was always limited to the school and expired when the school left the office park, according to county staff.
The applicant’s representative also noted that the county appraiser’s website lists the property’s zoning as PO-2 and said there currently are businesses operating at the location which require PO-2 zoning.
The County Commission’s meeting on Oct. 9 will be at the Historic Pasco Courthouse, at 37919 Meridian Ave., in Dade City. Commissioners consider rezoning issues during their afternoon session, which begins at 1:30 p.m.
Published September 26, 2018
