NEW PORT RICHEY – The proposed rezoning of the La Vista Inn hotel in Port Richey did not gain a favorable recommendation Oct. 17 from the Pasco County Planning Commission.
The 4.44-acre site at 11736 U.S. Highway 19 is currently zoned C-2 General Commercial District and MF-1 Multiple-Family Medium Density District. HCM Hospitality, based in Clearwater, is seeking to rezone the site to MF-1 Multiple-Family Medium Density District.
The change is needed for HCM Hospitality to convert the hotel’s rooms into 153 individual dwelling units where people could live in for more than 28 days.
County staff is recommending the Pasco County Board of County Commissioners approve the request. The board may decide on the request during its Dec. 10 meeting in New Port Richey.
Hiram Patel, HCM Hospitality’s manager, and Todd Pressman, who was representing the firm, said that if the zoning request is granted, the hotel would be used as an affordable housing site. Pressman is president of Pressman & Associates in St. Petersburg.
The planning commission preferred having a conditional use to be designated on the property, which would enable it to be used for the same purpose. They preferred a conditional use for three reasons.
First, that would allow the county to have more control over what HCM Hospitality did on the property rather than granting the rezoning request, which only contained a couple of deed restrictions.
Second, it has been Pasco County’s longstanding policy to try to make it possible for properties zoned C-2 to be used for employment-generating purposes. The site where the La Vista Inn is located could possibly be used for that purpose if the hotel closed or went out of business.
Third, Pasco County has also gone on record saying it doesn’t agree with certain provisions of the Live Local Act that Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law on March 29, 2023. That law preempts a local government’s regulation on zoning, density and height for certain multi-family and mixed-use affordable housing developments.
The hotel would be a last resort product for people in dire straits whose next step is probably homelessness, Pressman told the planning commission. He added that it could provide housing to people who couldn’t afford to stay at other affordable housing units in the county that had more amenities than the hotel would have.
If the rezoning request was approved, it would enable many of his workers who were staying at the hotel to remain there for more than 28 days instead of having to move to and from, Patel said.
Both men were told that approximately $1.4 million in impact fees would be charged to convert the rooms in the hotel into affordable housing units. That information was also included in the agenda papers that HCM Hospitality had access to prior to the meeting.
“Typically an affordable project wouldn’t want to be paying $1.4 million in impact fees because then they’ve got to raise the rent which probably makes it not affordable,” Chief Assistant County Attorney David Goldstein said.
Planning commission members wondered how HCM Hospitality would fund the remodeling of the hotel in addition to having to pay the impact fees. Also, it was asked why HCM Hospitality hadn’t applied for various grants and other resources that are available in Pasco County to lower expenses for affordable housing projects.
“We have a potential partner who is willing to do that who is already in the industry,” Patel said. “He has done affordable housing in the Orlando area. They are willing to partner with us and guide us through this process.”
He was also asked if it would be agreeable to HCM Hospitality if the property were granted a conditional use instead of the requested zoning change.
“If we cannot change the zoning, he cannot partner with us, so that’s the first step that we need to take,” Patel said.
Planning commission member Chris Poole said he thought HCM Hospitality needed to think about going before the board again in two months after more steps are taken to help reduce the impact fees and other expenses.
