The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Michele Baker

Plans for elevated toll road collapse, but battle not over

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Jason Amerson was caught flat-footed when he first learned that a private company planned to build an estimated $2.2 billion elevated toll road in front of his Stonegate home.

Carlos Saenz and Michele Sakalian plant signs for a planned Pasco Fiasco rally that was supposed to take place next week at Sunlake High School. The rally, however, was indefinitely postponed after the Florida Department of Transportation killed the private elevated toll road proposal for the State Road 54/56 corridor. (Michael Hinman/Staff Photo)
Carlos Saenz and Michele Sakalian plant signs for a planned Pasco Fiasco rally that was supposed to take place next week at Sunlake High School. The rally, however, was indefinitely postponed after the Florida Department of Transportation killed the private elevated toll road proposal for the State Road 54/56 corridor.
(Michael Hinman/Staff Photo)

He vowed to stop the road before the first surveys could even be done. And over the weekend, Amerson finally had a chance to celebrate when Florida Department of Transportation secretary Ananth Prasad officially killed the project.

But as vocal as Amerson’s group, Pasco Fiasco, had become to protest the project, it was actually International Infrastructure Partners who hastened its own demise when it shifted gears and started to ask FDOT for taxpayer assistance to fund the project. That was just too much for Prasad to hear, especially with public sentiment against the road growing.

“He came to the conclusion that the project does not look very promising,” FDOT spokesman Dick Kane said last week. “The reason, he said, was that when they looked into the financials of the unsolicited proposal, it was not what we were initially led to believe.”

When Kane shared Prasad’s thoughts, the toll road project was not dead, but it was dying. Pasco Fiasco moved forward with a planned rally at Sunlake High School for next Monday. The door had been left open for more negotiations, but all of it came to an abrupt end last Friday.

“The department was unable to reach an agreement with International Infrastructure Partners LLC on a framework of financing and various design concepts for the corridor that would be acceptable to all parties and address the concerns of the local community,” Prasad said in a release Friday. “In absence of this framework, advancing this project would not make any sense.”

That decision forced Pasco Fiasco to make one of its own, indefinitely postponing the planned rally, which was being funded from the pockets of its members. Even if the rally had gone forward, it would’ve been money well spent, Amerson said.

“We all are finding that with every dollar we spend, we’re going to get a return of 10 times that in home value savings,” Amerson said. “I’d rather spend $200 now than $40,000 to $50,000 in home value losses later.”

International Infrastructure Partners, or IIP, first expressed an interest in building what would’ve been Florida’s first private toll road in June 2013. It submitted a proposal to FDOT, which controls the rights of way along the State Road 54/56 corridor between Zephyrhills and New Port Richey, where it would build a 33-mile expressway similar to the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway in Tampa. Using private money, IIP would collect tolls from travelers to help pay for the cost. All they needed was FDOT to give up the rights of way along the corridor to make it happen.

Yet, throughout the process, FDOT made it clear they would not move forward without the blessing of Pasco County, although it didn’t officially need it. County commissioners gave a blessing late last year to study the proposal more, but in February, Commissioner Henry Wilson came out against the project. He was joined in April by commission chair Jack Mariano.

However, this might not be the end for Pasco Fiasco.

“We’re not high-fiving each other or doing our end zone victory dances just yet,” Amerson said.

County administrator Michele Baker said even with the elevated toll road gone, something is going to have to be done with the corridor as more and more cars look to go east and west through southern Pasco.

“Pasco County will continue to engage the public and move forward with its analyses and studies in order to determine how to manage future congestion on the State Road 54/56 corridor,” Baker said in a statement last week.

That means taking a close look at the long-range transportation plan, which is set for adoption in December.

Richard Connors, one of the founders of Pasco Fiasco, says that means there’s more work ahead of them.

“It’s a victory,” he said. “But we still have a long way to go.”

Published May 14, 2014

Elevated toll road down, almost out

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The private elevated toll road proposed for the State Road 54/56 corridor isn’t so private anymore. And that might be enough to cancel the project altogether.

Florida Department of Transportation secretary Ananth Prasad said he has some serious concerns about the controversial 33-mile project, especially after the developers behind the project — International Infrastructure Partners — signaled they would need some taxpayer investment in the project.

“He came to the conclusion that the project does not look very promising,” FDOT spokesman Dick Kane told The Laker/Lutz News. “The reason, he said, was that when they looked into the financials of the unsolicited proposal, it was not what we were initially led to believe.”

Prasad, who was traveling Wednesday, did not have the exact amount IIP expected the state to contribute. However, even a single dollar would be more than what officials were told would be required, as the estimated $2.2 billion project was going to be funded completely by private equity.

Prasad, hearing that there would have to be some public dollars, then suggested in a meeting with the developer last week that it might be time to “hit the reset button,” Kane said.

That does not mean the project is dead, but it certainly is on life support. Prasad plans to meet with the developers again in the next couple of weeks to see if they can hammer out some of the questions that have been raised around the project.

A request for comment from the developers of the proposed project is pending return.

Pasco County administrator Michele Baker, however, said it’s not completely over.

“Pasco County will continue to engage the public and move forward with its analyses and studies in order to determine how to manage future congestion on the State Road 54/56 corridor,” Baker said, in a statement.

The county’s Metropolitan Planning Organization will continue to consider options as it gets ready to adopt its long-range transportation plan in December, Baker said.

Members of a local opposition group Pasco Fiasco say they believe the project has been scrapped, based on what they’ve been told by Pasco County commissioner Jack Mariano, who also opposes the project. However, the group is still planning a rally May 19 at 7 p.m. at Sunlake High School promoting their position.

Outlet mall moves forward, but can Wesley Chapel claim it?

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Now that developers of a proposed outlet mall just off Interstate 75 took a big step forward last week with revised site plans for their 57-acre project, one question remains on the minds of local businesses: Will the new mall include “Wesley Chapel” in its name?

Plans for Tampa Premium Outlets Mall call for nine buildings with 482,000 square feet of retail. It would be the first of seven phases on 57 acres of land off Wesley Chapel Boulevard and State Road 56. (File Photo)
Plans for Tampa Premium Outlets Mall call for nine buildings with 482,000 square feet of retail. It would be the first of seven phases on 57 acres of land off Wesley Chapel Boulevard and State Road 56.
(File Photo)

“I think on one hand, we would love to have our local identity,” said John Hagen, president and chief executive of Pasco Economic Development Council Inc. “We would love to see that be more prominent, but we also benefit from our association with Tampa and Tampa Bay. It’s a mixed bag, but I see both things.”

Simon Property Group, part of the development team that’s officially JG Cypress Creek LLC and Tampa Premium Outlets LLC, have named the project on Wesley Chapel Boulevard and State Road 56 “Cypress Creek Town Center Premium Outlets Mall.” However, it’s unclear whether that name is just a working title, or if that is a final decision.

A request for comment from Simon about the name was still pending when The Laker/Lutz News went to press.

Wesley Chapel might be part of the greater Tampa Bay area, but the community has long sought its own identity, and has pushed hard for businesses — especially high-profile ones — to include “Wesley Chapel” in names, and not “Tampa.”

Because this mall will be so prominent for the thousands of travelers that take to I-75 each day, this could very well become a place maker for Pasco.

“Outlet malls draw regionally and nationally with snowbirds and all that sort of thing, and we see it in some respect as a tourism play,” Hagen said. “Once you get things going there, we can leverage some hotel development, and you’ll probably see some office buildings as well as an area like that can really come alive. It should be exciting.”

Hagen points to The Shops at Wiregrass as a prime example of what a major shopping center can do, especially as other businesses come to fill in around it.

The revised plans call for the entire mall property to be constructed in seven phases, beginning with outlet mall itself. The mall calls for nine buildings with 482,000 square feet of retail. Overall, the project is calling for 1.1 million square feet of retail space.

The mall got back on track last November after developers finalized an agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about how the project would impact surrounding wetlands and waterways.

Back then, Simon officials said the mall could open as early as the end of this year. However, County Administrator Michele Baker later put that timeframe somewhere around summer 2015.

There are still other questions to answer beyond the mall itself, including what plans are to expand and extend Wesley Chapel Boulevard, and other infrastructure improvements needed to accommodate the mall.

“That particular piece of road, down to State Road 54, is already designed,” Baker told members of the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce back in January. “When we balance our capital improvement budget, we look at the needs for the what and where, and we balance that. The road got pushed out because we didn’t have a mall there that needed it.”

Published April 16, 2014

Outlet mall property will be built in seven phases

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Five months after working out its differences with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Simon Property Group and its development partners have submitted preliminary plans for the long-awaited Cypress Creek Town Center Premium Outlets Mall to Pasco County officials.

The developers — JG Cypress Creek LLC and Tampa Premium Outlets LLC — are planning to build the property in seven phases, the first one engulfing the largest chunk of the 57 acres off Wesley Chapel Boulevard and State Road 56. It’s on the western-most portion of the property, just off Interstate 75.

The outlet mall itself will be comprised of nine buildings with 482,000 square feet of retail, and nearly 2,400 parking spaces.

The total project is expected to offer 1.1 million square feet of retail.

The project got back on track after years of delay last November, located just north of the Hillsborough County line.

“We are very excited to be moving forward on this project, and are commencing meetings with the county to determine approvals and a schedule,” Danielle DeVita, senior vice president for development and acquisition at Simon, said in a statement five months ago.

The east indigo snake almost killed the deal, with the Sierra Club claiming the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers improperly examined the project’s impacts to wetlands and waterways.

After an agreement was reached with the government agency, Simon officials said the mall could open as early as the end of this year. However, County Administrator Michele Baker later put that timeframe somewhere around the summer of 2015.

Pasco County graduates its very first Citizens’ Academy

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Pasco County’s first Citizens’ Academy is now in the history books as its inaugural class celebrated its graduation March 13.

Each attended nine weekly sessions of interactive and informative presentations regarding Pasco County government. At the final session held March 13, county administrator Michele Baker provided a call to action, and encouraged each of the academy participants to get more involved in government — whether it’s by volunteering at one of the dozens of county programs or serving on a county board.

The graduates were recognized at a county commission meeting March 25, each receiving a certificate and a commendation for their participation and community involvement.

The youngest graduate is Hana Lee, a 17-year-old senior at Wesley Chapel High School. The class also included retirees, a police office, a housewife, educators, business owners, two people running for county commission seats, and an accountant.

Those who would like to know more about how the county’s budget is developed, how the county is structures, or the basic functions of Pasco County’s constitutional offices, can apply for the next academy, expected to begin in September.

Mariano calls artificial turf fields ‘mistake’

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Artificial turf fields are now being fast-tracked for Wesley Chapel District Park, but not before one Pasco County commissioner called the entire project a bad move.

Commissioners Tuesday approved a $1.9 million bid from Mainstay Construction Services to build a pair of 81,000-square-foot artificial turf fields for the park off Boyette Road. The decision, according to county tourist development official Ed Caum, will help keep an annual tournament at the park, and could attract others.

But the focus should not be on tourism, but instead providing services to the residents already living here, Commissioner Jack Mariano said. He wanted five or six grass fields constructed instead to help alleviate some of the crowding for soccer and lacrosse teams who say there is not enough room to accommodate everyone.

“I think you guys are making a huge mistake,” Mariano said. “Your own citizens have spoken.”

Fellow commissioner Ted Schrader, however, rebuffed Mariano, telling him that this is the same argument he brings up each time the artificial turf is discussed, and that Mariano is clearly in the minority on his position. However, Mariano presented a new letter from one of the tournament organizers saying they preferred five new grass fields over two artificial turf fields.

“We have been having this dialogue for some time, and the tournament officials are fully aware what we are planning there,” Schrader said. “This does not come as a surprise to them. We just need to move forward and get these fields constructed, and then we are going to expand it.”

Commissioner Kathryn Starkey said she empathized with Mariano, but the artificial turf fields were the better choice.

“I would like to add a lot more fields everywhere,” Starkey said. “We in the Trinity and West Pasco area have gone without fields for a long time.”

Maintaining five or six additional fields to tournament standards would be costly and difficult for the county with its current resources, county administrator Michele Baker said. Plus, the county is not abandoning the idea of adding more grass fields in the future — just not with tourism funds that are being used to construct these fields.

Six companies responded to the bid request, with the lowest coming from JCT Development of Dunedin. However, the company didn’t complete its necessary paperwork, and Tampa-based Mainstay won the bid instead. None of the bids came from companies in Pasco County, instead submitted from St. Petersburg, Atlantic Beach and St. Augustine, among others.

Artificial turf moves big step closer at Wesley Chapel park

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Although the move is controversial, a Tampa company is expected to take on the planned artificial turf expansion project at Wesley Chapel District Park that is expected to cost just under $1.9 million.

Grass would help ease the overcrowding at Wesley Chapel District Park, one Pasco County commissioner says, but artificial turf fields — which could attract tourism dollars — are likely on the way instead. (File photo)
Grass would help ease the overcrowding at Wesley Chapel District Park, one Pasco County commissioner says, but artificial turf fields — which could attract tourism dollars — are likely on the way instead. (File photo)

If accepted by the Pasco County Commission, Mainstay Construction Services will build two artificial turf fields in Wesley Chapel, each spanning 81,000 square feet, and also will construct additional parking areas. The commission was expected to make a final decision at its Feb. 25 meeting, after The Laker/Lutz News went to press.

The artificial fields are intended to help bring some additional tourism dollars to the county by making the Wesley Chapel fields more attractive to regional or even national tournaments, Ed Caum, who works in the county’s office of tourist development, told commissioners last October.

“I cannot market grass fields,” he said at the time. “We have had field problems out there before for overuse.”

Some people who have used Wesley Chapel District Park, located just off Boyette Road, have complained about overcrowding and the need to build more fields. Some have even started traveling farther away to play soccer and other sports in places such as Zephyrhills.

Commissioner Jack Mariano highlighted those problems in October, suggesting the county look to serve local demands first before seeking to attract teams from elsewhere.

“They would rather have five grass fields than two artificial fields,” Mariano said at the time.

When the project was first put to bid last year, only one company — QGS Development Inc., of Lithia — responded, and they priced it $500,000 over budget. County Administrator Michele Baker, however, felt the request the county sent out was too broad, and that re-bidding it would get them closer to their budget.

Six companies responded this time, with QGS staying close to its original $2.2 million bid, higher than everyone else. The lowest bid actually came from JCT Development of Dunedin. However, the company was disqualified after failing to submit necessary final paperwork on bonding.

None of the bids came from Pasco County companies. Bids also came in from companies based in St. Petersburg, Atlantic Beach and St. Augustine.

Work could begin as early as late spring.

Published Feb. 26, 2014.

Wilson not convinced Pasco needs elevated road

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It’s no secret Pasco County Commissioner Henry Wilson doesn’t put a lot of faith into studies, statistics or consultants. And that’s not changing at all when it comes to the proposed elevated road for the State Road 54/56 corridor.

Pasco County officials have used a series of diagrams, like this cutaway, that show how an elevated road over the State Road 54/56 corridor could expand the existing highway from six lanes to 10. (Courtesy of Pasco County Commission)
Pasco County officials have used a series of diagrams, like this cutaway, that show how an elevated road over the State Road 54/56 corridor could expand the existing highway from six lanes to 10.
(Courtesy of Pasco County Commission)

In fact, he told the Republican Club of Central Pasco last week that if county planning and development administrator Richard Gehring can sell the privately proposed toll road he advocates to the public, he’d buy him dinner at the pricey Bern’s Steak House in Tampa.

“I want to put out this disclaimer right now,” Wilson told the group. “I was the only one of the five commissioners that has opposed this from the beginning, because I don’t think we need it.”

County officials have talked about how future growth in Pasco and the rest of the region will create significant congestion on the existing State Road 54 and State Road 56 in coming years, but that’s congestion Wilson says he hasn’t seen.

“Before I was in office, I spent 14 years travelling from New Port Richey to Tampa, and the only time I hit congestion was in Hillsborough County,” he said. “This is something that will help Hillsborough, not Pasco.”

Yet, county officials have warned against comparing current traffic issues to those that might happen in the future. In a recent meeting with the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce, Pasco County administrator Michele Baker credited forward thinking that expanded the lanes in the State Road 54/56 corridor for keeping congestion under control in the present.

“We know we’ll never build enough roads to prevent congestion from occurring,” Baker said last month. Places to build east-west roads in the county are limited because of the amount of preservation land and planned development that exists, especially in the central part of the county. That limits most of the talk to both the State Road 54/56 corridor in the southern part of the county, and State Road 52 and the county line road bordering Hernando County to the north.

“When you look at all the entitlements out there, even if we didn’t approve one new development again, we’re going to need at least 20 east-west lanes,” Baker said. The two major roads have between six and eight lanes, but officials have to ask themselves, “where are the rest of those lanes going to come from?”

Wilson, however, said the idea of needing a 20-lane road in the State Road 54/56 corridor is wrong. Very few places in the country have roads that large, and nearly all of them serve populations counted in the millions, like Los Angeles and Las Vegas. It’s nearly impossible to imagine the need for it here.

And the fear of such a large road is driving the support behind the elevated road, Wilson said.

“Since I have been in office, we try to say that we are business friendly,” he said. The elevated road “is probably the least business-friendly thing we could do.”

How the elevated road would move forward is based on studies conducted by the Florida Department of Transportation, Wilson said.

“It doesn’t say anything about it being determined by Pasco County needs, or Pasco County wants, or Pasco County anything,” he said. “And we know that a government study can say anything we want it to say. Just like statistics. We can make it say anything you want it to say.”

A private road development group, International Infrastructure Partners Inc., has asked the FDOT to give up key right-of-way along the State Road 54/56 corridor to build an elevated toll road that would connect Zephyrhills at U.S. 301, and New Port Richey at U.S. 19. The 33-mile project would be constructed through private money, with returns coming from toll revenue.

Although the project is commonly known as an elevated road, Baker said no one should expect every mile of it will be above the ground. Some pieces could be much lower.

“Are they going to build an elevated road from U.S. 19 to U.S. 301? There’s no reason to,” Baker said. “The whole road doesn’t require that, and it doesn’t make sense.”

Flyovers would have to occur at major intersections, however, like where State Road 54 and Land O’ Lakes Boulevard meet, an intersection that already draws 100,000 cars a day, according to the county. And the goal would be to prevent flyovers similar to what’s found on U.S. 19 in Pinellas County, splitting entire areas in half, and forcing many businesses to face a giant wall where the road elevates, Baker said.

Yet, the need for such a structure is at least a decade away, if not more, Wilson said. And that means the county can convince the FDOT to slow down a bit on the project.

“If we don’t need it for 15 to 20 years, then there is probably going to be a better option in the next few years,” he said.

Published Feb. 5, 2014

Outlet mall completion pushed to July 2015, officials say

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Dirt could turn soon for a planned outlet mall on State Road 56 near its junction with Interstate 75. But the final product will look quite different from the original designs when it was announced more than seven years ago.

This undeveloped land was once slated for a big box mall, but is now the subject of a planned outlet mall. Site plans have yet to be submitted to Pasco County, however, meaning the project may not be complete until the middle of next year. (File photo)
This undeveloped land was once slated for a big box mall, but is now the subject of a planned outlet mall. Site plans have yet to be submitted to Pasco County, however, meaning the project may not be complete until the middle of next year. (File photo)

“It was supposed to be a big box mall,” Pasco County Administrator Michele Baker recently told an economic development committee of the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce. “Obviously, during that period, many of those (originally announced) tenants had to go elsewhere, so they have a new plan on how they want to be out in the marketplace.”

A lot of that is to move toward an outlet mall concept, which was part of developer Simon Property Group’s and landowner Richard E. Jacobs Group’s unofficial announcement last November when news the mall was back on track first started to leak.

Although the plans have been in the works for years, the modifications are taking a little more time since the project will essentially be redesigned, Baker said. And “presuming nothing really crazy happens in the economy,” the new Tampa Premium Outlets should be on track.

Whether it will actually open by the end of this year, as Simon told The Laker/Lutz News last November, is a big question mark at this point. Amanda Boone, development review manager for Pasco County, said her department is still waiting for a site plan.

“I’m not really sure of what their timetable is, because they control when they submit (their site plan) to us,” Boone said. “I did hear July of next year.”

Simon Property Group itself has remained mum on the mall outside of its initial statement in November. The mall has received barely a mention in public filings with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission since 2012. However, Simon has not released any public filings on its financials since August, and isn’t expected to do it again until the end of January.

When the mall does open, roads surrounding it will have to carry a lot more traffic. That could mean the widening of Wesley Chapel Boulevard leading into the mall is back on the fast track.

“That particular piece of road, down to State Road 54, is already designed,” Baker said. “When we balance our capital improvement budget, we look at the needs for the what and where, and we balance that. The road got pushed out because we didn’t have a mall there that needed it.”

In fact, the county had not planned to begin work on the road until 2022 at the earliest. With a mall now in play, however, it’s likely Simon and Jacobs will want that road operating at higher capacities, and will push for a start date to occur much sooner.

But that depends on what the developers are willing to contribute. The mall developers have around $46 million in unused proportionate share money that was supposed to be used to extend Wesley Chapel Boulevard south through their development, Baker said.

“We have been exploring on whether we can widen Wesley Chapel Boulevard instead, and we might be able to move that forward in our capital plan,” she said. “That’s, of course, depending on how negotiations go with the mall.”

Published Jan. 29, 2014

Starkey Ranch park moves forward while others still struggle

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With 18 sports fields, eight total courts for basketball and tennis, more than a mile of trails, and a library, Starkey Ranch District Park is aiming to become a centralized recreational location for the entire county.

Developers of the Starkey Ranch District Park showed the proposed layout of its massive recreational offerings within the community just off State Road 54 past Trinity. The first phase of the district park is expected to open in 2015, with the county expected to take over the full estimated $285,000 in maintenance and operations costs a decade from now. (Image courtesy of Pasco County Commission)
Developers of the Starkey Ranch District Park showed the proposed layout of its massive recreational offerings within the community just off State Road 54 past Trinity. The first phase of the district park is expected to open in 2015, with the county expected to take over the full estimated $285,000 in maintenance and operations costs a decade from now. (Image courtesy of Pasco County Commission)

And while Pasco County’s financial commitment is minimal compared to that of the school board and the private developer of the project just off State Road 54 past Trinity, commission chairman Jack Mariano wanted to make it clear that his approval comes with conditions: start fully funding the rest of the county parks.

“We cut libraries back tremendously, and cut parks back tremendously,” he said, adding that by the time Starkey Ranch District Park moves forward, “if we haven’t addressed getting rid of the park fees and putting more money back into the parks, I am not going to be comfortable moving forward.”

The problem, Mariano said, is that the county already is struggling to maintain the recreation areas it already has. Adding the Starkey Ranch project could make it even more difficult for the county, which is already charging $2 parking fees for those who visit various parks in the county. Those fees were designed to stave off further funding cuts from parks following a fall in overall tax revenue after the housing market collapse.

If the fees were still in place by the time parts of Starkey Ranch opened up, visitors also would pay the parking fee there, county administrator Michele Baker said.

“We cut back parks over 30 percent, and we’re going to add another liability for more parks and libraries,” Mariano said.

Starkey Ranch, however, is planned to become much less of a liability. The county would not be responsible for taking over part of the maintenance fees until 2017 when it would take on 15 percent of the costs — estimated at $42,700. The county wouldn’t fully take over maintenance of the park until 2023, where it’s estimated to cost just under $285,000.

By then, the existence of the park should spark more residential growth in and around Starkey Ranch, and those additional taxpaying rooftops should more than offset the costs incurred by the county, Baker said.

“The developer has stepped forward and he is taking the risk, eating that operation cost, but bringing that quality,” Baker said. “They are stimulating growth in the area, and stimulating property value.”

Pasco County Schools will work directly with the developer on most of the district park project, funding its share, and even providing a small loan to the county to help it fund its contribution.

The first phase of the project would include five baseball and softball fields, six multi-purpose fields, two concession stands, a pavilion with picnic tables, a playground, a maintenance building and just a little less than a mile of trails. The price tag to build that portion is $9 million.

The second phase would be built when the $1.9 million in funds become available, and will include three more large multi-purpose fields, an additional playground and concession stand, and nearly 2,000 feet more of trails.

The first phase is expected to open in 2015, carrying an annual operating and maintenance cost of $285,000, which will be fully paid for by the developer over the first two years, before the county responsibility is phased in.

The overall project will include a lot more, as well. With the plans to build a three-story elementary and middle school near the project, the developer and the school district also are planning a 20,000-square-foot library, a 6,000-square-foot “black box” theater, a gymnasium, four tennis and four basketball courts, and a track among other amenities.

The county and school district also have the chance to generate revenue from the park from things like ticket surcharges, rent from private users, facility fees, advertising, and even naming rights.

Paying to name something in the park is an experimental concept the county and school board are trying, although no one can buy the rights to name the entire district park or the school. Under the program, the school district would bid out such an offering, and it would need the county’s approval.

Any name that is chosen would have to contain the phrase “at Starkey Ranch” at the end. Among the examples the county provided were “Raymond James Theatre at Starkey Ranch” or “Coastal Caisson Field at Starkey Ranch.”

Naming rights for major facilities, like Raymond James Stadium in Tampa and Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg generate millions of dollars in revenue. However, naming shared-use facilities at Starkey Park is expected to go for much less.

The commission green-lit the project unanimously. Commissioner Kathryn Starkey abstained, citing a conflict of interest.