Penny For Pasco Renewal On November Ballot

Schools like Wesley Chapel (above) and Wiregrass Ranch high schools are slated to receive upgrades paid for with Penny for Pasco proceeds if the renewal of the one-cent tax passes in November.  (Photo: Charmaine George)

It’s officially campaign season and one of the most noteworthy items on the ballot isn’t a Democrat or a Republican.

It’s the Penny for Pasco sales tax referendum.

By a 5-0 vote, the Pasco Board of County Commissioners (BOC) voted to put the referendum on the Aug. 23 Primary Election ballot, hoping for it to be renewed for another 15 years.

The current Penny for Pasco tax expires in 2024. If renewed for a third time, the penny tax is expected to produce $1.9 billion from 2025 through 2039.

The Penny for Pasco revenues are used for a number of quality of life improvements throughout the county — for things like fire rescue services, roads and sidewalks, new schools and parks and economic development.

The money is split between the Pasco School District (45 percent), the county (45 percent) and Pasco’s municipalities, including Dade City, Zephyrhills, New Port Richey and others (10 percent).

Wesley Chapel’s Jennifer Seney told the Pasco BOC not to get complacent when pushing for the Penny for Pasco renewal. Seney was one of the community leaders in 2004 who pushed to get the first referendum passed by advocating for it and rounding up support. It wasn’t easy. The referendum passed 52-48 percent but it was a hard and bitter fight.

“This campaign needs a lot of money now this time around,” says Seney, who serves on a Penny political action committee that supports and seeks to educate people on the sales tax. “Not due to opposition, per se, but because there are so many new people to Pasco County that have not heard about this Penny for Pasco and don’t understand it.”

Seney also suggested a citizens’ oversight committee for the Penny for Pasco projects, similar to what the school district has in place.

The first Penny for Pasco produced $320 million in revenue. In 2012, economic development was included in the revenue usage and it passed easily with almost 70 percent of the vote. It is expected to bring in $700 million by the time it expires in December 2024.

A formal Penny for Pasco project list is expected to be presented on July 12. A draft of that list includes projects that would impact Wesley Chapel residents, like new fire rescue and sheriff’s office vehicles, school sidewalk projects at Curley Rd. affecting Wesley Chapel Elementary, Weightman Middle School and Wesley Chapel High, improvements on Old Pasco Rd. and others.

The Pasco School Board already has its list of projected projects, and it includes school renovations at Wesley Chapel High ($35.8 million), athletic facility renovations at Wesley Chapel ($1.7 million) and Wiregrass Ranch ($1.8) high schools, cafeteria renovations at Wesley Chapel High ($2.7 million) and several other improvements.

Downtown Avalon Park To Host Groundbreaking

Three major projects promising to transform Wesley Chapel have been in the works for years.

One of them, the KRATE container park at the Grove, launched last month to great reviews and is, arguably, the hottest spot in Wesley Chapel at the moment. Another, the Town Center area in Wiregrass Ranch, is still more than a year off. 

Next up: Downtown Avalon Park Wesley Chapel.

Avalon Park Group/sitEX announced in June it has entered into an agreement with Lema Construction to start construction at Downtown Avalon Park Wesley Chapel. The budding community will break ground on Thursday, July 14, on the first phase of its downtown area. 

The groundbreaking ceremony, to be held from 4 p.m.-6 p.m.,  will feature refreshments as well as performances and entertainment by Jazz Under the Starz, The Wesley Chapel Theater Group and the Pasco County Fine Arts Council. 

The three-story, 73,067-sq.-ft. mixed-use building will include 40 multi-family apartments and 23,720 SF of commercial/retail space on the ground floor. 

The commercial/retail space will include a 12,000-sq.-ft. food hall to be called the Marketplace at Avalon Park, as well a co-working space called “The 5th Floor.” 

Both concepts already exist at the flagship Avalon Park Orlando. The 5th Floor in Orlando includes 22 private offices, 12 dedicated desks, unlimited virtual offices, three conference rooms, and presentation/event, wellness, podcast and mail rooms, as well as a café.

“This phase of construction really helps us move even closer to that vision of building a place where families can build memories and traditions together in a town they can call their own,” said Beat Kahli, the CEO of Avalon Park Group/sitEX, in a press release. “And, while this may not be the most cost-effective time to begin construction, we feel like it is important to continue on to the next step in developing our vision for Avalon Park Wesley Chapel.”

Additionally, a 2-acre community park with an amphitheatre will begin construction later this summer, following permitting. Construction of both the mixed-use building and the park are scheduled for completion in late 2023.

Kahli says he is investing more than $700 million in the downtown project — with a $33-million incentive package from Pasco County.

Upon completion, Avalon Park Wesley Chapel will include more than 1,800 acres hosting roughly 400,000 square feet of retail and 100,000 square feet of office space in its downtown area. 

Construction of Downtown Avalon Park Wesley Chapel actually began in 2018, with the addition of the Pinecrest Academy K-8 Charter School, which is currently under construction in its second phase. With nearly 600 students already enrolled, the current construction will add approximately 600 6th-8th grade student stations.

For more information about Avalon Park Wesley Chapel, visit AvalonParkWesleyChapel.com.

Two Nearby Projects & Nearly 10,000 Jobs, Get BOC’s Green Light

The Pasco Board of County Commissioners (BOC) was busy in June.

During meetings on June 7 and June 28, the commissioners voted unanimously, and without any debate, to approve performance-based incentive deals for two large projects expected to completely transform the one-time sleepy I-75/S.R. 52 intersection known previously for its truck stops.

The first deal approved was the big one — on June 7, the BOC paved the way for a new development on 965 acres at the southeast corner of 75/52.

The project, called the Pasco Town Centre, is expected to generate 5,988 jobs and will include 4 million square feet of industrial uses, 725,000 sq. ft. of office uses and 400,000 sq. ft. of retail uses, plus room for 300 hotel rooms and 3,500 homes.

According to the agreement, the mixed-use project will be, “The I-75 corridor’s gateway project into Pasco County.”

The county is contributing $55.8 million in incentives to project developer Columnar Holdings, $46.2 million from ad valorem tax rebates and $9.6 million from the Penny for Pasco fund. All of the payments will be deferred and accrued in a county escrow account for the company until 1 million square feet of industrial/office space has been built.

Thanks to the Pasco Town Centre project, the county is expected to gain more than $386 million in estimated property tax revenue through 2061 (40 years) and a total economic output of $604 million.

The benefits to the county are “profound,” David Engel, Pasco’s director of the Office of Economic Growth, told the BOC.

“This is the most productive agreement that I’ve brought forth to date to the Board,” he said. 

Engel said this project comes in at $9.60 per square foot, while the Rooker project, two 200,000-sq.-ft. Industrial warehouses approved for I-75 and Old Pasco Rd. in San Antonio that broke ground in 2021, was $9.80 a square foot.

As part of the deal, Columnar will have to provide $70 million in infrastructure, like roadways and sewer and water lines.

“When you put it all together — the road, the utilities — that’s well over $200 million before the developer can even get $1 out of the escrow account,” Engel says. “That’s a very significant gesture and a commitment to the project the developer is making.”

County commissioner Ron Oakley calls the projects a “win-win” for the county.

Engel also said the new development will be a boon to the area and to companies that are looking to move to Pasco County. The county is eager to accelerate the project because, “We do not have suitable space for companies to come in to that area right now, and we have tremendous demand for that,” he said.

The Pasco Town Centre is within the Connected City at the north end of Wesley Chapel, and Michael Wolf of Columnar Holdings said the goal is to make his project synergistic with the Connected City when it comes to local travel.

“We think it’s so important to truly get that activation, to have folks be able to run, bike, golf cart, what have you,” he said. “If we don’t have those components, we won’t be able to activate that space.”

The Town Centre still has to go through the rezoning process, but Phase One is expected to be completed by June 30, 2024, with the final two phases finishing up by the end of 2026 and 2028, respectively.

Northpoint Project

A second, smaller project was approved by the BOCC on June 28, with commissioners voting unanimously in favor of a $6.3-million incentive package for a project on roughly 218 acres near the northeast corner of Interstate 75 and State Road 52.

Northpoint Development LLC is building a 1.4-million-sq.-ft. build-to-suit site expected to yield 2,400 jobs when completed. 

Build-to-suit projects are typically facilities specially constructed to meet the specifications of a particular user, who currently is unnamed.

According to Clark Hobby, who represents Northpoint, the original site was smaller but the developer acquired an additional 56 acres to the north.

With nearly $10-million in costs just for road improvements, the developer asked for $6.3 million in assistance.

“This is an exciting project,” Hobby said. “It is being designed and will be constructed for a major regional distribution center that will include a significant number of jobs.”

If the end-user backs out, the county won’t lose any money. But, Hobby said his client is so confident in the deal, “we’re planning on starting construction in late August, to early September.”

Hobby said the building will be a half-mile wide, and Engel said the total size will be roughly equivalent to two football fields.

The county’s Office of Economic Growth calculates that the Northpoint project will generate $19.1 million in ad valorem taxes over 20 years, and inject $282 million into the Gross County Product (GCP) during construction.

Once completed, the county says the annual recurring benefits to the GCP will average $227 million, and the return on investment is 195:1 for every dollar the county is providing in assistance.

Both 75/52 projects are in Commissioner Ron Oakley’s District. He supports both projects and called them a win-win for the area.

My Father’s Day Weekend Was Definitely A Dream Come True!

Gary Nager Editorial

Twenty years after having both of my knees arthroscoped, and after too many years of trying to deal with being bone-on-bone in both knees (and walking with an obvious limp), I finally decided to get my knees replaced.

Yes, I was motivated for myself, as I wanted to improve my quality of life, but my true motivation was that I wanted to be able to dance at my 30-year-old son Jake’s wedding to Meghan Hathaway, which just happened to finally take place on the Saturday night of Father’s Day weekend.

I say “finally” because Jake and Meghan had to twice put off their wedding celebration with their family and friends, due to concerns about Covid-19, even though they were married at a courthouse more than three years ago. While they were waiting for their first party in 2020, they became pregnant with my now 2-1/2-year-old grandson Jackson (Jax).

The renewal of their wedding vows and reception, which were held in Miami, will forever be among the highlights of my life.

Jared, Jake & their Dad

Perhaps best of all, for me, was that I did accomplish my goal — only nine weeks after having my right knee replaced and 17 weeks after receiving a new left knee, I did indeed get to dance at Meghan and Jake’s big event. I was one of somewhere between 150-200 people — more than 50 of which were members of Meghan’s huge family from Boston — who were able to participate in this magical celebration of their love.

One of the other highlights of the weekend was getting to spend some grandpa time with the adorable Jax — who looks almost exactly like Jake did at the same age (some people even said he looks like me, which made my heart melt). Jannah and I also were able to spend a lot of quality time over the course of the weekend with more than a half-dozen of Jake’s closest friends from Wharton High, some of whom I didn’t recognize at first because I hadn’t seen them at all since their high school days more than a decade ago. 

It also reminded me of how precious this life is, as neither my own father nor mother — Jack and Marilyn Nager — were able to attend the wedding, due to health concerns, although my sister Bonnie was able to make her way down from her home outside of Philadelphia to share this most joyous event.

I can’t imagine a more perfect Father’s Day gift or a better weekend. I finally got to witness the celebration with this most beautiful (inside and out) couple and my older son Jared absolutely killed it with his Best Man speech at the wedding — “I never thought I had a problem making friends until I found out that Jake had more than eight groomsmen. To me, it seemed like kind of an excessive number, but it did make me question my own popularity.” J-Man made me so proud and he even gave me credit for helping him become a better writer. I also got to join in the fun, as I made a toast of my own to the happy couple at their rehearsal dinner.

If there’s ever been a happier father on Father’s Day, I’d like to meet him. Congratulations to Jake, Meghan and Jax, to Meg’s mom and dad, Janice and Kevin Hathaway and this happy couple’s entire family.

First-Ever RADDSports Charity 5K Runs To Fund-Raising Success! 

Fresh off last year’s successful golf fund raiser at Lexington Oaks Golf Club, the RADDSports Charity 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization is now 2-for-2.

The charity, which is the nonprofit arm of RADDSports, the private partner of Pasco County responsible for the sports programs at the county-owned Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus, hosted more than 100 runners and their families at its first-ever Charity 5K, 1K, Kids Run and Family Fun Festival.

The run and festival were held at the Sports Campus on June 18. RADDSports president and Charity Board chair Richard Blalock says that he is proud that the event raised enough proceeds to provide scholarships for more kids who can’t afford RADDSports’ programs.

“This is still all about changing the culture and helping young athletes, regardless of their ability to pay, participate in our programs,” Blalock said. “Plus, it was a fun day for everyone who came out to participate.”

In addition to the various runs, RADDSports’ sponsors, vendors and business partners had booths at the event. Final fund-raising totals for the RADDSports Charity 5K & Festival had not yet been tabulated at our press time.