The Wesley Chapel Lakes project has been on the books for decades, but now the developer is seeking an amendment to its master planned unit development (MPUD) to pursue entitlements at three intersections within the community.
The project is located south of, and adjacent to State Road 54, about 3.5 miles east of Interstate 75, and extending south to the Pasco County line.
The developer, M/I Homes of Tampa LLC, is seeking entitlements for vacant parcels within Wesley Chapel Lakes that are consistent with market demands, according to information contained in the Pasco County Planning Commission’s Aug. 26 agenda materials.
The proposed uses will not generate more vehicle trips from the development than were previously approved and that have already been addressed through mitigation (which normally includes impact fees and/or transportation improvements), according to the agenda background materials.
Most of the residential component of the project has been developed.
Now, the applicant is seeking approval of entitlements along three nodes on Meadow Pointe Boulevard, according to Barbara Wilhite, an attorney for the applicant.
The northern node is at Meadow Pointe Boulevard and State Road 54; the central node is at Meadow Pointe Boulevard and State Road 56; and the southern node is Meadow Pointe Boulevard and Beardsley Drive.
The project originally was approved decades ago, as a Development of Regional Impact, which allowed an array of uses, Wilhite said.
Wilhite told the planning commission: “This is not the beginning of this project. This is the end of the project.”
The changes being sought will allow a mixture of uses, along with conditions, at the intersections, Wilhite said.
“It just so happens that the developer has held those properties and not developed those,” she said. “All of those nodes are approved for commercial today. What we’ve done is the ability to do residential at those nodes.”
The property is not within the current multifamily moratorium boundary.
The modification area includes about 166 acres. It calls for up to:
- 850 single-family attached, townhome or apartment units
- 420,000 square feet of commercial use
- 150,000 square-feet office/light industrial
- 700 hotel rooms
The request also seeks a variation from the county’s land development code to permit a reduction in the standard parking space size of 9-feet by 20-feet to a reduced size of 8-feet by 18-feet, with the condition that curbs and/or wheel stops will be required to prevent vehicles from overhanging required landscape buffers, or sidewalks, unless the sidewalk is 7-feet wide, to keep the sidewalk width at a minimum of 5 feet for pedestrians.
One speaker, who appeared via a virtual connection, expressed support for the additional development planned at the State Road 54 and State Road 56 intersections with Meadow Pointe Boulevard, but asked to preserve the area near the Meadow Pointe and Beardsley intersection for residential development.
Wilhite said that the Beardsley intersection currently has some commercial entitlement. But the attorney said her client will not seek to increase the commercial potential at that location.
The county’s planning staff recommended approval of the request, with conditions.
The Planning Commission agreed with county planners, unanimously recommending approval of the request to Pasco County Commission, which has final jurisdiction on land use and zoning decisions.
Published September 08, 2021
