The Pasco County Planning Commission agreed to refer a proposed ordinance to the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) that, if adopted, is likely to help promote increased employment growth in the county.
Several amendments to Pasco County’s Comprehensive Plan are being proposed.
One of the purposes of the proposed ordinance is to streamline policy implementation and to upgrade policy approaches in response to market demands.
Also being considered is an amendment that would provide for better flexibility in implementing employment-generating land use classifications.
If the ordinances are adopted, authorized commercial uses and the general range of potential uses to further the intent of employment generation would be amended.
Industrial compatibility adjacent to wetlands, commercial development in general, and land uses and floor area ratios (FAR) within Future Land Use (FLU) categories are being considered.
Making changes in commercial infill development, commercial location limitations and amending calculations of residential densities would occur if the ordinance was adopted.
The county’s intent of restricting Industrial Heavy (IH) uses adjacent to wetlands would also be clarified along with clarity on where commercial development could occur. Meanwhile, provisions allowing for greater flexibility for where neighborhood commercial development could occur also would be included.
In addition, the location of commercial development being able to occur at collector and arterial intersections including collector/collector, arterial/arterial and collector/arterial intersections would be clarified.
Size limitations would be increased from 4 acres to 5 acres, to align with how commercial infill is treated.
Texts would be amended to remove prohibition of light industrial land use classifications and uses adjacent to Category 1 wetlands.
And finally, there would be provisions for amendments that would be necessary for consistency if the ordinance was adopted.
The BOCC is scheduled to consider the ordinance for adoption at its June 4 meeting in Dade City.
Published March 13, 2024
