The Pasco County School Board has approved the acquisition of a 104-acre site near the Connected City area of Wesley Chapel.
The school district anticipates there will a need for future schools as more residents move into Connected City, which includes Epperson Ranch and other future developments.
The site is at the southeast corner of Curley and Kiefer roads, directly across the street from future phases of Epperson Ranch and just south of the future Mirada development.
The board’s unanimous vote allows district staff to proceed with the necessary steps to acquire the property from the owners of Kirkland Ranch.
This acreage would potentially house a future high school and/or future kindergarten through eighth grade school, according to a school board document prepared by Chris Williams, director of planning services for the school district.
The owners have agreed to sell the property to the school district for $20,000 per acre, with the full sales price expected to be slightly more than $2 million.
The purchase is contingent on the completion of two independent appraisals, due diligence and some additional conditions.
Part of the agreement includes that the entire campus to be constructed at the site shall be named the Kirkland Ranch Campus, subject to applicable school board policy.
The campus may include one or more of the following types of schools: elementary, middle, high, vocational training or magnet.
The agreement also stipulates that once the campus is named, the name cannot be changed for a minimum of 50 years subsequent to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy, or completion.
The proposed sale is also subject to other requirements, which include allowing the seller to use the land for livestock grazing purposes at no rental until such time the school district commences construction of the campus.
The school district also agrees to build a barbed wire fence to separate the property from the seller’s remaining land to the south.
Published March 13, 2019
