The Pasco County Planning Commission has recommended approval of a proposal that will change the way its members are selected.
The planning board took the vote at its Oct. 28 meeting.
The action stemmed from the Pasco County Commission’s previous direction to county planners to pursue changes to the land development code to alter the selection process.
County board members said they wanted to be able to make an individual appointment to the planning board, rather than voting collectively for the entire planning board.
Under the proposed process, each of the five county board members will appoint a member to the planning board, and the board will act collectively to appoint a sixth planning board member.
One seat, which is occupied by a representative for Pasco County Schools, will not be affected by the new system.
The proposed terms of the planning board members would coincide with the term of the county board member who selected him or her.
The recommendation now goes to the Pasco County Commission for final action. Once approved, the new process would become effective Feb. 22, 2022.
While each county board member will be able to appoint one planning board member, there are no restrictions on where the planning board member must live, said Denise Hernandez, the county’s zoning administrator.
Currently three planning board members live in County Commissioner Mike Moore’s district and three live in County Commissioner Christina Fitzpatrick’s district, while no planning board members live in the other three districts.
In other action, the planning board:
- Recommended approval of a rezoning request that would allow 238 multifamily units on 37.9 acres, within a master-planned unit development on the southeast side of Dale Mabry Highway/U.S. 41 intersection and abutting Hillsborough County to the south.
- Recommended approval of a change to the county’s land map from a residential designation to a neighborhood commercial category on 4 acres at the southeast corner of the intersection of Foxwood Boulevard and State Road 54.
Published November 03, 2021
