Pasco County has extended its temporary moratorium on new multifamily applications — which applies to a specific area of the county — until April 1, 2022.
The approved 185-day extension occurred after Commissioner Christina Fitzpatrick called for receiving a report back on the issue within 90 days, but that request received no support from her board colleagues.
The county board initially approved the moratorium on May 4 — retroactive to April 1, 2021 — at the urging of Commissioner Mike Moore, who expressed concerns that his district was becoming oversaturated by multifamily development.
The temporary ban on new applications applies to an area contained in Moore’s District 2, essentially made up of Wesley Chapel and Land O’ Lakes.
The area is generally defined as between State Road 52, on the north; U.S. 41, on the west; State Road 54 on the south; and, Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, on the east. The boundary zigzags between Moore’s District 2 and Commission Chairman Ron Oakley’s District 1.
Initially, the temporary ban was set to expire on Sept. 28.
The temporary ban’s intent “is to study the potential oversaturation due to the existing and all possible future multifamily developments within the moratorium area and to determine whether additional regulations are necessary,” according to a resolution the board approved at its Sept. 28 meeting, to extend the moratorium.
The 185-day extension was recommended by county staff, to provide time that’s needed to complete the study, and to draft and adopt any needed regulations to implement the study’s results, says the resolution, included in the board’s agenda packet.
A housing market research firm is preparing the report and will present it to the board.
That report will cover the current quantity of multifamily dwelling unit entitlements and the current acreage of land zoned for multifamily dwelling units, including the acreage having potential for multifamily units upon approval of a conditional use.
It also will include the potential number of multifamily dwelling units available through existing land use equivalency matrices to accurately calculate and determine the true potential for the oversaturation of multifamily dwelling units within the moratorium area.
More time is needed to complete the report because of procedural delays, staff shortages, and complexities associated with accurate data collection, according to the resolution.
When Fitzpatrick called for a report back to the board within 90 days, Moore said achieving that would require pulling county staff off of other work that needs to be completed.
In granting the extension, the board agreed with the resolution’s finding that the action “is in the best interest of the public health, safety, and welfare, and that it advances a valid and important public purpose.”
No additional extensions will be granted, the resolution says.
Objections were raised to the moratorium when it was initially approved, but there was no public opposition before the board’s recent vote.
Published October 06, 2021
