The Pasco County Commission has approved a new process for selecting members of the Pasco County Planning Commission.
Under the new process, each county board member will be able to choose someone to sit on the planning board.
There also will be one at-large member, who will be selected collectively by the county board.
There’s also a representative for the Pasco County School Board on the planning board and that will not change.
County board members approved the process change during their Dec. 7 meeting.
They had discussed their desire to change the selection process during previous meetings and directed county staff to pursue changes to the county’s land development code to effectuate the change.
The amendment required public hearings, and no one stepped forward to speak in favor or in opposition.
The proposed terms of the planning board members would coincide with the term of the county board member who selected him or her.
The new process will take effect on Feb. 22.
Although each county board member will appoint one member of the planning board, there are no restrictions on where the planning board members live.
Three of the current planning board members live in County Commissioner Mike Moore’s district and three live in County Commissioner Christina Fitzpatrick’s district. No planning board members live in the districts represented by Kathryn Starkey, Jack Mariano or Ron Oakley.
In previous discussions, Oakley said he didn’t see a need for the change since the planning board members serve the entire county, but Starkey and Mariano said they wanted a greater say.
Published December 15, 2021
