The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Chris Nocco

Pasco County approves $2.249 billion budget

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NEW PORT RICHEY – The Pasco County Board of County Commissioners adopted a budget of $2,249,943,417 for fiscal year 2024-25 during a Sept. 17 hearing.

The new fiscal year will begin Oct. 1.

The budget that was adopted is $13,005,811 less than the amount commissioners had considered during the first budget hearing held on Sept. 3 in Dade City. 

Commissioners also adopted an aggregate millage rate of 9.8597 mills per $1,000 of assessed property value. This is an increase of 6.95% over the roll back rate.

The aggregate rate that was adopted is a decrease of .2963 mills from the rate of 10.156 mills that the board had considered on Sept. 3.

These decreases were possible because of reductions in the millage rates that were going to be charged to cover general fund expenses and to fund the newly established Road Rehabilitation Municipal Services Taxing Unit. County Administrator Mike Carballa had recommended both of these reductions following discussions with board members.

Another reason for a significant reduction in the budget was because a proposed Municipal Services Taxing Unit that would have funded capital maintenance on the county’s 37 parks wasn’t approved on Sept. 3. That Municipal Services Taxing Unit would have raised $8 million during 2025 if it had been approved. 

The Pasco Sheriff’s Office will receive $174,524,315 during fiscal year 2024-25. This is a 15.6% increase over the sheriff’s office’s 2023-24 budget of $150 million.

Sheriff Chris Nocco had requested the additional funding in June so that 40 new deputies could be hired and trained. It will be possible for 50 new deputies to be hired through the sheriff’s office receiving 40% of the new property taxes the county receives annually because of its growth. Other funding sources for the hiring of the new deputies include the county providing an additional $4,137.702 from ad valorem revenue along with other money from Tax Incremental Financing money obtained from its public works department.

The Pasco Sheriff’s Office will now also be able to obtain an armored SWAT vehicle along with two armored vans for $725,000; upgrade its forensic unit resources for $650,000; have a pole barn built for $300,000 to provide shelter for vehicles and equipment; and $125,000 for the design of an armory for the department.

The budget for Clerk & Comptroller Nikki Alvarez-Sowles will be $9,250,747, which is an increase of 11.6% for fiscal year 2024-25.

Property Appraiser Mike Wells’ office will receive $7,761,214, which is an increase of $501,370, or 6.9%. Part of that increase is needed to pay the salaries of two new employees who have been hired along with salary increases given to employees. 

The office of Supervisor of Elections Brian Corley will receive $6,256,432, which is a decrease of $645,922, or 9.36%. This is because only one election – the general election on Nov. 5 – will be held during fiscal year 2024-25.

The budget for Tax Collector Mike Fasano’s office remains to be determined because information hasn’t been received yet from Florida’s Department of Revenue.

 

Commissioners limit building of car washes

In other business on Sept. 17, commissioners approved an ordinance changing the county’s Land Development Code to prohibit car washes being built in the Connected City near Wesley Chapel. 

The development of new car washes will also be limited in the Villages of Pasadena Hills, which is a large-scale development planned for approximately 22,000 acres of eastern Pasco County

And the changes to the Land Development Code will also prohibit car washes from being built in future land uses that are reserved for employment generation. 

These changes were made because of concerns commissioners had about car washes, which don’t usually produce many jobs, being built on prime locations of real estate throughout the county.

In the future, applications for the development of car washes will have to go through a request for a conditional use for the proposed location. Similar requests are currently required to be made by individuals or businesses desiring to place cell phone towers in certain locations.

In addition, commissioners:

  • Adopted a resolution recognizing Jamie Dye for having worked as a deputy clerk for 30 years in the Pasco County Clerk & Comptroller’s Office.
  • Approved a rezoning request made by Residences at Rolling Hills Master Planned Unit Development on 9.87 acres on the southwest corner of the Little Road and the Denton Avenue intersection. The applicant wants to be allowed to build 132 multi-family units (apartments), 104 senior multi-family units (apartments), 3,600 square\ feet of medical offices and 3,000 square feet of retail on the property.

 

Memorial in Pasco County honors fallen law enforcement officers 

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DADE CITY – More than 100 people turned out Sept. 11 in downtown Dade City to witness the unveiling of a memorial honoring law enforcement officers who had lost their lives in the line of duty.

The ceremony on the grounds of the Historic Pasco County Courthouse was the result of nine years of fundraising efforts, according to attorney Craig Laporte, who was one of the speakers at the event.

Attorney Craig Laporte, District 1 County Commissioner Ron Oakley, Dade City Police Chief James Walters and Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco unveiled the Fallen Law Enforcement Memorial during a ceremony Sept. 11 on the grounds of the Historic Pasco County Courthouse in downtown Dade City. Photo courtesy of Joe Potter

Laporte, who had been a Pasco Sheriff’s Office deputy in the 1970s and 1980s, said he understood the stress that families of law enforcement officers experienced when their loved ones were working. He added that the memorial is a good thing for families to relate to.

“Everybody chipped in to help to make this possible,” Ronald E. “Ron” Oakley said, adding that the memorial “was very much worth the wait.”

Oakley, who is chairman of the Pasco County Board of County Commissioners, was another one of the speakers at the event. He represents District 1, which is located in eastern Pasco County.

“We’re not only honoring those who gave their lives . . . we’re honoring their families as well,” Sheriff Chris Nocco said. 

He added the memorial would be a place families of fallen officers could find solitude and receive God’s comfort.

Nocco noted he was at The Pentagon in Washington, D.C., on the night of Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists had attacked it along with both towers of the World Trade Center in New York. 

The demand for the memorial had been so great that it was actually ordered six years before the Pasco County Fallen Law Enforcement Memorial and Benefit Foundation Inc. had enough money to pay for it, according to Laporte.

Several donors combined their efforts to contribute $100,000 in a week and a half, Oakley said. 

The final cost of the memorial hasn’t been disclosed but it was completely funded through charitable contributions to Pasco County Fallen Law Enforcement Memorial and Benefit Foundation Inc., which is a 501c3 nonprofit.

Members of the foundation and its supporters were reportedly inspired to create the memorial after having seen one in Polk County honoring law enforcement officers who had died there in the line of duty.

Brian Brown, the sheriff’s office’s chaplain, said a prayer at the beginning of the ceremony. Part of what he said was that fallen law enforcement officers had put their lives on the line so that others might live.

Several people who assisted in raising funds for the Fallen Law Enforcement Memorial are shown in front of it after it was unveiled on Sept. 11. Photo courtesy of Richard K. Riley

Other things that occurred before the unveiling of the memorial included Jennifer Ferguson singing the National Anthem and Dade City Police Chief James Walters leading attendees in saying the Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag.

District 4 County Commissioner Lisa Yeager read a list of donors who had contributed toward the cost of the memorial.  

Donors recognized for their contributions were Adam Smith Enterprises, Barbara L. Wilhite P.A., BRW Contracting, Deeb Construction & Development, Deeb Family Homes, Heidt Design, JDR Properties of Pasco, members of the Maggard Family, Make A Difference (a 501c3 nonprofit), Pasco County Property Appraiser Mike Wells, Pasco Office Park, PCS Civil, Randy & Shannon Blankenship, Ronald E. Oakley, Santo Carollo, Floria Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson, Sunrise Consulting Group, Tew & Associates, Thomas B. Dobies Funeral Home, Waist-Aid Systems and Wiregrass Ranch Foundation.

Tentative Pasco County budget of $2.262 billion is approved

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Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco is on track to receive more resources in terms of deputies, vehicles, and investigations for the next fiscal year. Here, he is seen working with youth from the 2024 class of Leadership Pasco. Photo courtesy of Leadership Pasco

DADE CITY – The Pasco County Board of County Commissioners adopted a tentative budget of $2,262,949,228 for fiscal year 2025 during a Sept. 3 hearing.

Commissioners also adopted a tentative aggregate millage rate of 10.156 mills per $1,000 of assessed property value.

This is an increase of 9.61% over the roll back rate.

A public hearing will be held Sept. 17 in New Port Richey after which both the budget and the millage rate will be officially adopted by the board. 

The new fiscal year will begin Oct. 1.

The amount of the budget and millage rate will have to be adjusted downward before they are presented to the commissioners for final adoption. 

This is because a proposed Municipal Services Taxing Unit that would have funded capital maintenance on the county’s 37 parks wasn’t approved on Sept. 3. That MSTU would have raised $8,000,000 during 2025 if it had been approved. The proposed millage rate of 0.714 that would have funded that MSTU won’t be included in the county’s final aggregate millage rate for 2025.

The MSTU required a unanimous vote of 5-0 since it was a new tax that would be levied on the county’s property owners. Commissioners Seth Weightman and Jack Mariano both said they favored funding for parks maintenance to be obtained from elsewhere within the county’s budget. Vice Chairwoman Kathryn Starkey said she favored the MSTU because she didn’t want the county’s parks to fall into disrepair like they had during a recession that had occurred in 2008.

Meanwhile, commissioners tentatively approved fully funding the budget for the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, which will receive $174,524,315 during fiscal year 2025.  This is a 15.6% increase over the sheriff’s office’s 2024 budget of $150,000,000. 

Sheriff Chris Nocco had requested the additional funds in June so that 40 additional deputies could be hired and trained. The amount his department will receive will enable 50 new deputies to be added to his staff. This has been made possible through the sheriff’s office receiving 40% of the new property taxes the county receives annually because of its growth. Also, an additional amount of $4,137.702 is being provided by the county from ad valorem revenue along with other money from tax incremental financing money obtained from its public works department.

The sheriff’s office’s budget will also enable it to obtain an armored Special Weapons and Tactics vehicle along with two armored vans for $725,000; upgrade its forensic unit resources for $650,000; have a pole barn built for $300,000 to provide shelter for vehicles and equipment; and $125,000 for the design of an armory for the department.

Budgets were also tentatively adopted for other constitutional officers, including those of:

  • Clerk & Comptroller Nikki Alvarez-Sowles, Esq., who is requesting $9,250,747, which is an increase of 11.6%; 
  • Supervisor of Elections Brian Corley, who is requesting $6,256,432, which is a decrease of $645,922, or 9.36%, because only one election – the general election on Nov. 5 – will be held during fiscal year 2025; 
  • Property Appraiser Mike Wells, who is requesting $7,761,214, which is an increase of $501,370, or 6.9%. Part of that increase is needed to pay the salaries of two new employees who have been hired along with salary increases given to employees. 

The budget for Tax Collector Mike Fasano’s office remains to be determined because information hasn’t been received yet from the Florida Department of Revenue.

In other business on Sept. 3, commissioners:

  • Continued until Oct. 8 making decisions on a couple of requests that had been made by CPA Fletcher. The applicant is seeking to have a change in the county’s comprehensive plan for and rezoning of approximately 100.8 acres of property located adjacent to Pilot Country Airport in the area of U.S. Highway 41 and Leland Avenue. The applicant would like for 160 townhomes, 350 multi-family apartments and 100,000-square-feet of commercial to be developed on the property. These requests were delayed because residents of the airport’s community told commissioners that they hadn’t been consulted regarding the proposed project.
  • Approved a State Housing Initiatives Partnership funding agreement between Pasco County and Port Richey Leased Housing Associates, III, LLLP in the amount of $3,000,000 for The Anchors at Gulf Harbors. The Anchors will be a newly constructed 388-unit apartment complex in New Port Richey that will provide critically needed affordable housing that will be income restricted and dedicated for the elderly.
  • Approved a required local match of $64,900 for the Ekos at Bayonet Point II project. This will enable the project’s developer to apply for full funding from the Florida Housing Finance Corporation for a multi-apartment community for elderly housing in Pasco County. The project, Phase II of their master-planned community located along the west side of Lakeshore Boulevard in Hudson, consists of 160 units dedicated to seniors at 70% and below of the area median income. 

Pasco sheriff explains officer-involved shooting

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Sheriff Chris Nocco (Pasco Sheriff’s Office Facebook page)

NEW PORT RICHEY – A suspect wanted for a federal warrant was shot Aug. 29 as Pasco Sheriff’s Office deputies attempted to apprehend him. 

Deputies were part of a U.S. Marshals Task Force trying to locate suspect Tom Rose, 40. 

“Tom has a very long history of criminal history – a 35-page rap sheet,” Sheriff Chris Nocco said. “He has numerous gun and drug violations – spent over 10 years in state and federal prison. He is a very violent individual.”

Nocco said Rose warned others that if someone contacted the police about his whereabouts they would have to answer to him and that he would “take cops with him.”

“Clearly this individual is not going to go back to prison and clearly he didn’t care who he harmed to make sure that he did not go back to prison,” Nocco said, in explaining the heightened sense of awareness among his deputies. 

After surveillance and tracking, officers found Rose at the Home Depot at Ridge and Little roads. Rose was able to elude law enforcement but officers opted to reestablish surveillance instead of continuing their pursuit. 

A plain-clothes Pasco County detective later spotted Rose in the River Ridge neighborhood. Nocco said the detective was wearing a carrier issued by the sheriff’s office that had the word sheriff on it.

He said Rose attempted to strike the detective with his vehicle, prompting the detective to fire at the vehicle. Rose was taken to the hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening, according to officials. 

“I thank God Almighty because the suspect, Tom Rose, tried to kill one of our detectives today,” Nocco told reporters. “I thank God Almighty that detective did a hell of a job ensuring that he was safe and ensuring the community was safe.”

Nocco reiterated that the detective thought his life was in danger and that it was obvious just listening to the radio traffic. 

“It’s a sad day in society where people think there is no consequences or negative actions,” Nocco said. “In our community, in our region, there absolutely is. And today, the Pasco deputies, the Pasco detectives did one hell of a job getting him off the street.”

The detective was placed on administrative leave. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is handling the investigation. 

 

New Florida Human Trafficking Strike Team cracking down on border-related crime

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(The Center Square) – A new multi-agency human trafficking strike team has been created in Florida to target border-related crime. As the result of a recent months-long operation, 10 victims were rescued, and several alleged perpetrators were arrested.

Attorney General Ashley Moody announced the creation of the new strike team with law enforcement leaders on June 13. 

“Human trafficking is a challenge for every state,” Moody said.

(Florida Attorney General’s Office/YouTube)

The investigation began in October 2023 in Manatee County after the sheriff’s office acted on a search warrant and turned over information to Homeland Security Investigations and the strike team, FDLE (Florida Department of Law Enforcement) Special Agent in Charge Mark Brutnell said. 

Investigators identified businesses that were commercial fronts for sex trafficking operations in Manatee and Hillsborough counties, where alleged ringleader Lina Payne recruited women from Columbia and allegedly held them hostage in Florida. She then allegedly forced them to have sex to pay off their debt to bring them into the country under threat of violence. 

“What we found was a fully functional, highly organized international human trafficking operation” based in Hillsborough and Manatee counties, Brutnell said. Payne was allegedly making frequent international trips to Latin American countries where the victims were living and were later trafficked through the border into Florida, he said. 

The victims had no accessible modes of transportation, their identification documents were taken from them, their food was delivered to them, they were forced to live inside massage parlors, barber shops and other businesses, where they could not leave, he said.  

Payne’s alleged accomplices — her boyfriend, Sebastian Jurado, and her son, Andres Payne — were involved in recruiting women from Venezuela and Colombia who agreed to pay between $40,000 and $50,000 to be smuggled across the southwest border into the U.S., according to the investigation. Payne allegedly promised them legitimate work, but once they arrived, they were held hostage. 

At one point during the investigation, it appeared Payne was attempting to flee the country and was arrested at the Fort Lauderdale International Airport. Not soon after, her boyfriend and son were arrested in Tampa. Another alleged trafficker remains at large. Each defendant faces multiple felony charges and is being prosecuted by Moody’s Office of Statewide Prosecution.

Through the course of the investigation, the strike team rescued 10 victims. They also believe they identified more than 117 victims of Payne’s trafficking operation over years. 

Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said the victims “were brought here to Florida and had no idea what hell they were being brought into. We’re talking about human lives. If someone was drowning, we’d go out and save them. These are people who are lost out at sea, in hell, living in captivity. We are going to rescue them.”

While he said he was glad they caught the traffickers, he said, “there are a lot of evil people who pay to have forced sex, rape, with these women.” 

One way to break the cycle of sex trafficking was to enhance criminal penalties “against people who are buying and forcing sex on and raping women.” Another is to create a civil penalty to enable victims “to easily sue” their abusers, he said. “If we take away the livelihoods of the people buying and forcing sex on victims, take their houses, cars, … it will set a tone. Just like everything else we do in Florida, we will protect people.”

Moody said, “The disturbing facts of this case highlight the need for our new statewide Strike Team, and demonstrate how this expert team of investigators, prosecutors, analysts, and victims’ advocates can help coordinate efforts to take down trafficking operations and rescue victims.”

The new strike team is providing intelligence, guidance and support to law enforcement agencies statewide and is also coordinating emergency victim support services. The team works directly with Florida’s new statewide human trafficking tip line, 855-FLA-SAFE. 

It’s currently assisting local law enforcement efforts with more than 20 human trafficking cases and making contact with nearly 40 victims—including the 10 victims from this investigation, Moody said. 

Also joining Moody in making the announcement were FDLE Commissioner Mark Glass, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Colonel Chris Rule, Manatee County Sheriff’s Office Major Todd Shears and Homeland Security Investigations Tampa Special Agent in Charge John Condon.

Published June 26, 2024

County officers outline budget needs for upcoming fiscal year

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Four of Pasco County’s constitutional officers made their budget needs known to the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) during a June 11 workshop in New Port Richey.

The offices of the Clerk & Comptroller, Sheriff, Supervisor of Elections and Property Appraiser made the requests for the upcoming fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1.

The budgets of these four offices will be adopted on Sept. 17. They will become effective on Oct. 1 and will fund county offices and services through Sept. 30, 2025.

(Romain Dancre/Unsplash)

Clerk & Comptroller Nikki Alvarez-Sowles is requesting $9,250,747, or an increase of 11% in her budget for fiscal year 2025 (FY25). The main increase of $688,396 is being requested for board services provided by her office. An additional $240,848 is needed for the highly sophisticated computer program, Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS), which enables people to search records maintained by the Clerk & Comptroller’s Office.

“These increases are the result of legislatively mandated employee retirement costs, increased information technology expenses, inflationary impact on goods and services, 5% merit pay raises and adding two new positions within the Board Records (1) and Treasury Management & Capital Assets (1) divisions,” Alvarez-Sowles wrote in her budget request.

“Also represented in this request is $1,024,069, representing the BOCC’s unpaid balance to reimburse the clerk & comptroller for the BOCC’s prior years multi-agency CJIS obligation. The county’s obligation was absorbed by the clerk & comptroller in the amounts of $671,465 (FY22) and $352,604 (FY23). This remaining balance is currently the subject of settlement negotiations related to the Florida Second District Court of Appeal’s recent appellate decision (Fla. 2d DCA Case No. 2D23-0305),” her budget request said.

Sheriff Chris Nocco is requesting $164,476,541 for the Pasco Sheriff’s Office (PSO) for FY25. That is an increase of 9% over the $150 million the PSO is receiving for FY24 that expires on Sept. 30. 

Most of the $14,476,541 increase Nocco is asking for is the $8.93 million that will be needed to cover the salaries and other costs of 40 new deputies he hopes to be able to hire in FY25. 

The county has been giving the PSO 40% of the new property taxes it receives due to its growth for the past few years and has been offered 10 new deputies each year. But Nocco told commissioners he needs to hire 40 additional deputies during FY25 because of the explosive growth Pasco County has been experiencing. 

Part of the remaining additional $5,546,541 Nocco is seeking is to cover salary increases for PSO’s employees, which are needed “to ensure our agency remains competitive with surrounding agencies,” Nocco’s budget request said. Money is also needed to pay for capital expenditures, including armored vehicles, which currently are not budgeted by the sheriff’s office.

Even if the 9% increase is approved, staffing of the PSO won’t be keeping up with the county’s growth, Nocco said, and should be a high priority to commissioners.

Supervisor of Elections Brian E. Corley is requesting $6,256,432 for his office for FY25. This is a decrease of $645,922, or 9.36% from the $6,902,354 that Corley’s office receives for FY24.

This decrease is possible, Corley said, because there is only one election during FY25 for which his office requires funding. That will be the general election on Nov. 5. 

The amount of money the Supervisor of Elections’ office requires varies from year to year depending upon the number of elections that it is responsible for overseeing, according to Corley. There was a Presidential Preference Primary on March 19, and there will also be a Primary Election on Aug. 20 for candidates running for offices including sheriff, superintendent of schools and county commissioners for Districts 1, 3, 4 and 5.

The cities and/or towns in Pasco County that will hold Municipal Elections in April of 2025 are each responsible for covering the costs of those elections, according to Corley.

Property Appraiser Mike Wells is requesting $7,761,214 for FY25. This is an increase of $501,370, or 6.9%, from the $7,259,844 his office is currently receiving. Part of the reasons for the requested increase is due to employee salary increases and two new employee hires, Brendan Fitterer told commissioners. He is the chief administrative officer for the Property Appraiser’s office and attended the workshop because Wells was unavailable.

It also was announced that the current budget for the Pasco County Tax Collector’s office is $13,459,190 — but the budget for FY25 needs to be determined later this year after information is received from Florida’s Department of Revenue.

Published June 19, 2024

Sheriff Chris Nocco seeks 9% budget increase

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The Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) was recently told the Pasco Sheriff’s Office (PSO) needs to hire 40 new deputies because of the explosive population growth the county is experiencing, as was discussed during the June 4 BOCC meeting.

Sheriff Chris Nocco shared the staffing needs of his office during an April 16 workshop with commissioners and reiterated those needs, among others, in a budget request he submitted on April 25.

Sheriff Chris Nocco (Pasco Sheriff’s Office Facebook page)

The PSO needs a 9% increase in its budget for fiscal year 2024-2025 that begins on Oct. 1 and ends on Sept. 30, Nocco’s request said. The office currently receives $150 million and Nocco is requesting $165.5 million for the upcoming fiscal year.

And that 9% increase isn’t fully reflective of the full funding needs of the PSO, Nocco said in a memo to commissioners outlining some of the specific reasons behind his request.

The sheriff’s office currently receives 40% of the new property taxes the county receives because of the county’s growth. The office has been offered 10 new deputies a year in the past. 

Commissioners have approved 10,000 new residences since July 2023 — this is in addition to the number of new businesses and industries that have opened in Pasco County since then — leading to the projected need of 40 more deputies, according to Nocco’s request.

Pasco County’s Property Appraiser Mike Wells estimated last month that there will be a 12.8% increase in property taxes. The final figure won’t be known until the beginning of July.  

Nocco says that even if the 9% increase is approved, staffing of the sheriff’s office won’t be keeping up with the county’s growth. If they are able to hire 40 new deputies, it’s anticipated that it would cost $8.93 million during the first year due to the cost of training and equipment, and other miscellaneous costs.

Also included in the budget request are salary increases for all employees of the PSO “to ensure our agency remains competitive with surrounding agencies,” Nocco said, adding, “It is crucial we continue to attract quality applicants and retain our valuable members to provide the highest level of service to our community, so we do not return to the previous situation, which we had to address with members leaving for surrounding agencies.” 

His request also included funds for capital expenditures, including armored vehicles, which currently are not budgeted by the sheriff’s office.

The FY 2024-2025 budgets won’t be determined for county departments until later this year.

In other business at the BOCC meeting:

  • Commissioners continued a request for a zoning amendment made by Cherry Hills West MPUD Master Planned Unit Development – Veterans of Foreign Wars of US Major Francis E. Dade Post 4283 et al. 

It had been requested that the zoning of a 34.07-acre parcel on the east side of VFW Post Road, approximately 275 feet south of State Road 52, be changed from an A-R Agricultural Residential District to an MPUD Master Planned Unit Development District. The applicant wanted to be allowed to develop a maximum of 160 single-family detached dwelling units on the site near the Pasco County Fairgrounds.

District 2 Commissioner Seth Weightman, and Chairman and District 1 Commissioner Ron Oakley both expressed concerns about the zoning change being approved without assurances that water and sewer services would be available for the development. 

The applicant is currently seeking an agreement with Dade City to provide water and sewer services for the proposed project. 

Weightman recommended the requested density of the proposed project be reduced by 50% so only 80 single-family homes could be built there.

Attorney Shelley May Johnson, representing the applicant, said she was confident Dade City would have water and sewer services available when the site plan for the proposed project is approved. That procedure normally takes several months after the approval of the request for a zoning amendment.

“We don’t know when the city’s gonna have sewer available for its customers. They’re all on hold. There’s no timeline for anything coming anytime soon,” Oakley said.

  • Commissioners also agreed to allow plats to be recorded for three subdivisions that Len-Angeline LLC plans to develop on property in District 4; for two subdivisions that Thornwood Associates LLC, plans to develop in District 1; and for a subdivision that Brookfield Holdings LLC and EPG-Two Rivers LLC plan to develop in District 1.

Commissioners allowed all of the plats to be recorded after the applicants either posted Surety Bonds or Letters of Credit to cover the estimated cost of infrastructure improvements that haven’t yet been installed at the proposed developments.

  • A comprehensive plan amendment was also approved to allow a maximum of 18 single-family homes to be built on approximately 92.6 acres of real property located at 17001 Bellamy Brothers Boulevard, Dade City. Sandarben LLC / Tarapani Planning Strategies were the applicants for the amendment. The property is located in east Pasco.

Published June 12, 2024

County board wants to know more about constitutional officers’ needs

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As the Pasco County Commission considers its budget for fiscal year 2024-2025, it wants to hear more about the needs of its constitutional officers, who are Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco, Pasco County Clerk & Comptroller Nikki Alvarez-Sowles, Pasco Tax Collector Mike Fasano and Pasco Property Appraiser Mike Wells.

Pasco County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey asked county staff to invite the constitutional officers to share their needs during the county’s budget talks.

“I just want to be sure our constitutional partners are involved,” Starkey told County Administrator Mike Carballa and Amielee Farrell, the county’s new budget director, during a board workshop on Jan. 16.

Carballa said county staff typically brings the constitutional officers’ budget to board members.

Starkey: “Can we not engage with them before they bring us their budgets?”

Farrell responded: “Can you, yes. My office will encourage it and recommend it, but we will need support from you all.

“Do you want that to be at a workshop? Do you want that to be a regular item?” she asked.

Pasco County Commission Chairman Ron Oakley said the county board needs more information. ”Last year, we didn’t hear anything,” he said.

Starkey added: “I want to hear their vision for what they need, so we have a short-term goal. We have a long-term goal.”

Starkey said she regularly meets with the sheriff and he told her that no one has sat down with them to find out what they need, in terms of buildings.

She said she’s aware that the tax collector is planning a building.

She wants to know the big picture.

“I’d like to hear what their capital needs are, long-term, so we can plan them into ours. It’s our responsibility to fulfill their capital needs,” she said.

Board members left it up to Carballa and his team to arrange for an opportunity for the board to have a discussion with constitutional officers during the budget process.

Published January 31, 2024

Development agreement stalled on Land O’ Lakes project

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The Pasco County Commission is expected to discuss a proposed amendment to a development agreement involving a 108-home subdivision planned in Land O’ Lakes.

The development plans call for the housing development to be built on 50 acres on the south side of Bexley Road, about a mile west of the intersection of U.S. 41 and Wisteria Loop.

Board members continued the request during their Dec. 5 meeting, after Commissioner Kathryn Starkey refused to agree to proposed changes involving a trail near the project.

County planner William Vermillion told the board that a modification is needed because at the time when the development agreement was approved, it wasn’t yet known whether the trail was feasible because the engineering work had not yet been completed.

Since then, Vermillion said, it has been determined that the original plan can’t be pursued because of insufficient right of way.

Starkey balked.

“So, board members, we had quite a few meetings on this and I went out there with our county engineers and their engineers and Ray Gadd (an area resident),” Starkey said.

Chris Nocco, Jeremy Crouch and Gadd had appeared before the board at a public hearing when the rezoning was being discussed, pointing out issues regarding the need for a better road network before the request should be approved.

Starkey noted: “Part of this road is designed as an urban section and part of this road is a rural section. The multi-use trail is supposed to be on the north side of the road.”

She said an adjacent master-planned development had pledged to donate land to the county, which provided plenty of room for a multi-use trail, a trailhead and even a park.

“So, where is that land donation?” Starkey asked.

“If I’m hearing you right, we’re just getting little bits and pieces of the multi-use trail?

“And that was how this neighborhood was going to be able to get out on this trail,” Starkey said.

Vermillion responded: “Unfortunately they just don’t own or control any of the land.”

Starkey: “But we do because that was given to us. Where’s the bottom piece along Wisteria that was given to the county?”

Shelly Johnson, attorney representing the Renner developer, told Starkey that the engineers went and looked at it and discovered that the right of way is insufficient.

She said they have consulted with Gadd and Crouch and they don’t have objections with the current plan and she said she thinks Nocco is aware of it.

“Everybody has met out there and they discussed exactly what we’re proposing in these exhibits … And, everybody is in agreement with the changes,” she said.

The county’s staff also recommended approval.

But Starkey wouldn’t budge.

“Someone has dropped the ball on this because there’s plenty of room for a multi-use trail to go on that piece of land,” Starkey said.

Johnson responded: “As of right now, there’s not.”

Starkey: “No. There’s acres and acres. That piece was given to us, or pledged to us … I am 100% positive that they (nearby master-planned development) said that we could have that piece. So, I’m not buying that we can’t put the trail there. So, this is going to have to be continued. I won’t go for that one, when we have plenty of room for the trail.”

Johnson told Starkey: “We’ll be happy to go back and look at it. But I’m being told there’s insufficient right of way, currently. My understanding is the area you’re looking at now is being used for their stormwater, so what they gave us is what they could give us and there’s not any additional right of way there.”

The attorney also noted that the developer of the other master-planned development agreed to work with her client as a condition of their approval, but it did not result in sufficient land being provided for the trail.

Starkey responded: “Well, there’s a problem if they didn’t give us enough to fit the trail. We’re going to have to dig into this a little bit more. This is really important for that community because there’s no room on that road, and that’s going to be a busy road to ride anywhere. And, this is how they’re going to get over to the Orange Belt Trail.

“It was a whole condition of approval for me.”

“I went out there and met with Jeremy and Ray and our engineering staff and their engineers  and we walked it. There was plenty of room for the multi-use path and it didn’t have to be smushed up against the road.

“So, something has happened here,” Starkey said.

”I agree with Commissioner Starkey 100%. It shouldn’t be a problem and if that means we’ve got to bring the other developer in to have that conversation with them, it’s going to have to be our staff that’s going to have to lead that conversation,” said Commissioner Jack Mariano.

Starkey declared: “We can play the tape. We can roll back the tape.”

The request has been continued to the board’s Jan. 23 meeting.

Published December 27, 2023

Pasco planning board wants more input on public safety needs

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The Pasco County Planning Commission — which makes recommendations related to the county’s growth — wants public safety agencies to provide more meaningful comment on proposed zoning and land use changes.

The planning board voted at its Jan. 19 meeting to ask for a discussion with representatives from the Pasco Sheriff’s Office and Pasco County Fire/Rescue.

That request arose from the planning board’s consideration of a proposed land use change that would allow up to 158 townhomes on two parcels on Clinton Avenue, a quarter-mile west of U.S. 301.

The planning board recommended approval of that request, but not before some planning board members said they’d like the county’s public safety agencies to provide greater detail in their comments on a potential development and the increased public safety needs it will create.

Ladder 38 is located at Pasco Fire Rescue Station 38, at 7541 Paramount Drive, in the Watergrass subdivision of Wesley Chapel. (File)

Planning board member Jaime Girardi observed that he notices that many applications come in with “no comment” from public safety agencies.

County planner Doreen Roy told the planning board that when a request like this comes through, it is forwarded to the agencies for their review.

“I constantly have to send out an email, to see if we get comments and sometimes we just get an email back, ‘No comments.’”

Girardi continued: “But the sheriff’s department did respond back, ‘No comment’?”

Roy replied, “Correct.”

Planning board member Peter Hanzel added: “Just to springboard from that, what about the fire department?
Roy replied: “The fire department, I usually never hear from them.”

Hanzel responded: “I think it’s unfair to the public, as a whole, that these two departments that are extremely critical to safety of any county, do not respond, other than in a negative fashion.

“I think there should be some pressure applied that they indicate that, ‘Yes, we have reviewed this and we do not concur, or we concur, or we have comments,” he said. “I think that needs to be a positive response, rather than no response.”

Chief Assistant County Attorney David Goldstein told the board: “The problem with saying that they have to provide comments, is that it has the potential of slowing down an otherwise meritorious application for months and months simply because the department doesn’t want to focus on it.

“Applicants were put in limbo for months and months because staff was waiting on comments from affected agencies and not getting any,” Goldstein said. “At some point, it becomes a fairness to the applicant issue.”

Hanzel said he has no desire to slow the process down.

But planning board member Derek Pontlitz asked if the Pasco County Commission can compel the agencies to respond.

The county has jurisdiction over Fire/Rescue, but not over Sheriff Chris Nocco, who is an independent constitutional officer.

However, Goldstein added: “We also don’t have the authority to compel the school board to do it, either, but they do. They recognize the value of being able to participate in the planning process.”

Goldstein added: “At one point, I thought the sheriff recognized the value, too, because at one point he asked for a seat on the Planning Commission.”

But the Pasco County Commission turned down that request.

Goldstein said that county staff responded by involving the sheriff’s office more in the pre-app and application process, but he doesn’t know why the sheriff’s office isn’t more actively involved in the process.

The attorney continued: “The school board actively participates and probably gets certain developer concessions that they otherwise wouldn’t have gotten, had they not participated in the process.”

Even when the county is planning very large projects, it doesn’t get much feedback from public safety, Goldstein added.

“For example, the Villages of Pasadena Hills has sites allocated for parks, sites allocated for schools, roads, utilities. To the best of my knowledge, there’s no specific sites allocated for fire stations or sheriff substations.

“Probably the same thing in Angeline. So, it is a problem. I’ve raised this concern in the past, but I don’t have a solution,” Goldstein said.

Planning board member Chris Williams, who represents the school board, agreed with Goldstein’s assessment.

With the master-planned unit developments coming to Pasadena Hills, fire station sites likely will be needed, Williams said.

Pontlitz noted: “Public safety appears to be a little bit more reactive, than proactive.

“We could get away with being more reactive when there wasn’t a whole lot of growth going on. But there’s a lot of growth going on,” he said.

It’s an issue, he added “because it takes time to actually purchase assets and hire a staff. In the case of fire/rescue, to buy new trucks and ambulances, it has to be budgeted well in advance. That could be a couple years process right there.

“So, the earlier in the planning process this gets addressed, with some substance, the better,” Pontlitz said.

The planning board’s comments follow repeated appearances by union representatives for Pasco’s Fire/Rescue responders urging the county board to provide additional resources to reduce their emergency response times. Sheriff Chris Nocco also has appeared before the board to highlight the law enforcement agency’s significant manpower needs.

Published January 25, 2023