Hundreds of Zephyrhills residents have voiced their sentiments on key emerging issues and opportunities facing the city — both now and in the future.
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And, several of their thoughts and ideas — collected via a community-wide survey and a series of roundtable discussions — will be used in crafting an update to the city’s 2030 comprehensive plan.
Planning director Todd Vande berg and Tammy Vrana, an urban planning consultant, presented the findings in a summarized report during the Feb. 13 meeting of the Zephyrhills City Council.
The City of Zephyrhills launched a community opinion survey in September to identify the city’s key issues and opportunities across the next 15 years, for the Zephyrhills 2030 Comprehensive Plan.
The survey had more than 700 responses, Vande berg said.
Some of the main themes:
- The city is rich in assets, and downtown is its greatest asset
- Downtown has challenges — such as blighted properties
- The city needs more housing choices
- Demographics are changing Zephyrhills’ identity — poorer, younger
- School quality is declining, as is community spirit
- The city needs to address emerging health trends, including obesity
- Growth is strong, but happening in places mostly outside the city’s control
- South of Zephyrhills represents a development opportunity
- Opportunities for economic development are in place
- Traffic is growing
The Zephyrhills Comprehensive Plan projects forward 15 years to envision where residents will “live, work, learn, play, socialize, maintain health, and preserve assets for benefits of current and future generations.”
The plan — which should be complete by the end of 2017 — also seeks to address the city’s growth and development priorities and opportunities. Per state law, comprehensive plans must be evaluated every seven years and updated as needed.
Additionally, city consultants and planning department staff conducted interviews of more than 50 people with different backgrounds and interests.
Roundtable discussions were held on a number of issues, including real estate, economic development, culture/leisure, health, education/job training, community quality of life and transportation/mobility.
Approximately 200 ideas were compiled from those exercises, Vande berg said.
A released report summarizes the key points identified from each of those meetings.
“We felt like we…really gathered a lot of data and input from the community to what our issues are, and what we want to identify and address,” Vande berg said.
During roundtable discussions, a questionnaire was distributed asking for “must-haves” in the 2030 comprehensive plan update.
The report shows many stakeholders want the following:
- More ways for the community to come together via work, play, arts and culture, suitable venues
- Better communication between the city and its residents
- Better housing opportunities
- Better upkeep of the property and an improved public realm
- Less crime
- Improved services for homeless people
- Better quality of education
- Greater focus on the airport industrial area and corridor
- Increased attention on south Zephyrhills, and south of downtown
The report also includes what stakeholders think the city “must avoid” in the 2030 plan update:
- Too much focus on retiree communities, and not enough on youth
- Too many alcohol events
- A homeless shelter
- Unfriendly environments
- Another high school
- Low-income housing
- Becoming a “bedroom community”
- Growth too quickly
- Growth without adequate infrastructure, such as traffic
- Urban sprawl
- High-speed traffic
Some of the issues involving growth, however, are unavoidable, according to city manager Steve Spina.
“There’s going to be a certain amount of growth,” he said. “There’s going to be a number of those things, whether we want it or not — it’s coming.
“Our role is…to bring it in and control it the way that it meshes with the kind of community that we have right now.”
Council vice president Alan Knight agreed, pointing directly to the city’s growth.
“Some of this is going to be inevitable,” he said. “Some of it’s coming — it’s coming like a freight train.”
The strategy to manage impending growth issues, Vande berg said, is to plan ahead, and still identify and maintain “a sense of place.”
Vande berg said the next task for the planning department is to confirm and prioritize goals for the comprehensive plan, and engage the community again.
The preliminary focus areas are: developing strategies for stabilizing downtown, developing a scope for the master plan of the industrial corridor, and creating a vision for the north and south corridor of U.S. 301.
Those strategies, Vande berg noted, will take a collaborative effort from the city’s planning department, the city council, Pasco County and the state legislature.
Meanwhile, key forthcoming city projects include the extension of State Road 56, the transformation of Zephyr Park and the redevelopment of Gall Boulevard.
To view the complete report, visit tinyurl.com/zfezgx6.
Published March 1, 2017
