Author: John Cotey

District 2 commissioner Mike Moore is hoping the sight of mattresses and couches stacked against overflowing donation bins will soon fade from the view of residents throughout Pasco County, now that his fellow county commissioners have voted to introduce an ordinance to more closely regulate these sometimes-eyesores.

A public hearing was held on the proposed ordinance Oct. 11 in Dade City and received no opposition, with another scheduled for Oct. 25 in New Port Richey. Moore said he did not expect any public opposition to his proposal, which has been endorsed by the other commissioners.

“I’ve talked to many constituents about it, and they say, ‘It’s great to hear you talk about it, now let’s do something about it,’’’ Moore said. “And we are.”

Moore, whose district represents much of Wesley Chapel, including the Wiregrass Ranch area, said he has had enough of driving past unsightly stacks of garbage masquerading as donations to the needy. Among the offending bins he cites most are one on a private service road off S.R. 54 by the Super Wal-Mart that was visible to passers-by and attracted dumpings, and another on Ancient Oaks Blvd. by the Sam’s Club on S.R. 56.

Those are just two of the sites Comm. Moore has noticed in Wesley Chapel. “There are multiple ones across the county too,’’ he says, adding that if he had to put a number on the donation bins in the county — and he admits that not all of them have become dumping spots — he would estimate there are more than 200, although an exact number is hard to tell.

The owners of those bins, however, will now have to obtain county permits and be held responsible for ensuring that the areas where they place their bins remain junk- and vandalism-free — if and when the ordinance is enacted into law.

According to the proposed ordinance, in some cases, the bins are placed on private and public property without approval from the landowners.

The county currently has no standards or permitting procedures for site location, number of bins, signage, maintenance, or security of donation bins, but Moore says the ordinance would change that.

Some Provisions…

Anyone placing a bin within the county first has to prove it is authorized to conduct business in the state and county. They also must produce a site plan showing the location of the proposed donation bin and have written consent from the property owner to set up the bin.

Moore says the bin he cited near the Sam’s Club, which has now been removed, had no markings on it indicating who owned it or what it was even for. It attracted people looking to get rid of tattered mattresses, kitchen appliances, rugs and other items just dropped off in its vicinity.

The owners of the property, Moore says, had to pay to the have area cleaned up. “He told me it was about the seventh time he had to do that,” Moore says.

The removal and regulation of donation bins isn’t a new problem. Some cities in California and Michigan have banned the bins or have begun stricter regulation of them in recent years.

While many bins are marked as non-profit, not every bin is for charity and many have no markings of any kind on them. Moore says it is hard to tell them apart, as many for-profit businesses have collection bins, and sell the contents to recycling companies, which then ship them overseas. The clothes and other items are then re-purposed as rags or furniture padding and sold.

Without regulations, however, Moore says for- and not-for-profit businesses can put bins wherever they like, and not even bother to keep the area clean. In many cases, Moore says, it appears they bins aren’t even emptied in any sort of timely manner.

On S.R. 54 just east of Advance Auto Parts and across the road from Parks Ford of Wesley Chapel, Moore drove by an unmarked bin collecting junk almost every day until something had to be done.

“We actually went out there and did it ourselves, it got so bad,’’ Moore says. “We used county staff, though, and that’s paid for by taxpayer money.”

Moore said the problem was finally solved with the county removed the bin and placed a sign banning the dumping of anything in that area.

Pasco County will end up writing a $90,000 check to support this year’s 11th Annual DICK’s Sporting Goods Lacrosse Tournament of Champions but, for the first time, county officials are reaching out to the community to help offset those costs and ensure that the popular tournament stays in Wesley Chapel.

Pasco has enlisted the help of the Greater Wesley Chamber of Commerce (WCCC) to find supporters of the event, which provides an estimated $3-million economic impact to the area’s restaurants, hotels and retailers, according to Ed Caum, the program director of Visit Pasco.

“We have (Florida Hospital Center Ice) opening (see page 42) and we will have an indoor sports complex coming, but we only have a finite amount of dollars,’’ says Caum. “We’ve kept the lacrosse tournament here on our own dime. We’re hoping to share that burden (going forward); it just makes more sense because (of how many local businesses benefit).”

The longest-running national tournament of its kind, put on by Colorado-based National Development Program (NDP) Lacrosse, the DICK’s tournament — scheduled every year for Thursday-Saturday, December 29-31— is going on its ninth year of being played at the Wesley Chapel District Park and nearby Wesley Chapel High. It previously was held at Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, PA.

Last year’s event attracted 73 teams from 16 different states, including teams from New Tampa and the Wesley Chapel Athletic Association (WCAA) programs, although, in past years, the number of teams has been as high as 115.

The numbers were down 23 teams from 2014, due in part to a nearby lacrosse tournament at Bradenton’s renowned IMG Academy. “We need to win those teams back,’’ Caum says.

Pasco spent $100,000 on the tournament last year, and received $13,000 from the Florida Sports Foundation to help offset costs. Caum says the county is again asking the foundation for assistance.

“If we didn’t spend the tourism money the last 10 years, we would have lost the tournament,’’ he adds.

Last year was the last of a five-year NDP Lacrosse contract with Pasco County, but in May a new two-year deal, with an option for a third year, was announced. According to Hope Allen, the CEO of the WCCC, Pasco had to stave off challenges from other sites hoping to host the event.

“They approached us last year when the contract negotiations came up,” says Allen. “We were approached to step in and not let this amazing tournament leave the area, as there were other locations courting the event to host it. We realize the significant economic impact to a lot of our members, and wanted to see if we were able to help.”

Caum says NDP Lacrosse is adding a number of activities and events to the tournament, and the Holiday Inn Express on S.R. 56 is opening on Nov. 1, which will provide a new option for players and their families to stay closer to the event.

Although there are hotels on S.R. 54 itself that have been utilized in years past, Caum has said that as many as 60 percent of the rooms booked for the event have been in Hillsborough County (many in New Tampa). Wesley Chapel, however, is in the midst of a hotel boom, with plans for a Hyatt Place Wesley Chapel, Fairfield Inn & Suites and Hilton Garden Inn to be completed within the next three years.

“It’s going to make the drive time better for the families, so in that sense, it is very good for us,’’ Caum says. “According to industry (analysts), 15-30 minutes is all people want to drive. So, having hotels closer is excellent for us, not only for the bed tax but also the driving.”

Because so many of the DICK’s tournament participants turn the event into a Florida vacation, the growth in Wesley Chapel makes it imperative that those vacationers stay nearby and spend their money in our area.

“Within two years, that will make a major difference,’’ Caum says.

The success, and staying power, of the DICK’s tournament also plays a significant role in the success of another large, local lacrosse tournament — the Derek Pieper Memorial Cup, which was established in 2006, the year former WCAA player Derek Pieper was murdered.

The tournament is a qualifier for the DICK’s National Championship and drew 55 teams last year. This year’s Derek Pieper tourney is scheduled for the weekend of November 19-20 and will be played at the Wesley Chapel District Park.

For more information about the DICK’S Sporting Goods Tournament of Champions, visit NDPLacrosse.com. To learn more about the Derek Pieper Memorial Cup, visit WCAASPorts.org/derekpieper. For additional information about Pasco County Tourism, visit VisitPasco.com.

After more than a year of debate since it was first introduced to local residents last fall, the Connected City project slated for northeast Wesley Chapel has passed its first test and is moving forward.

At the October 13 Pasco Development Review Committee (DRC) meeting in Dade City, concerns over some of the wording in the Connected City’s comprehensive plan were addressed, changed and then approved by a unanimous vote. It was the first vote held for the project, with many others yet to come.

The members of the DRC — comprised of county administrator Michele Baker, assistant county administrators Heather Grimes (internal services), Cathy Pearson (public services) and Flip Mellinger (utility services), vice president of the Pasco Economic Development Council John Walsh and Chris Williams of the Pasco District School Board — were satisfied with the changes made in the Connected City land development code, which proponents say will help expedite construction and eliminate unnecessary and costly delays in building, while attracting industry to the project.

The Connected City project was created by a Growth Management Bill (SB 1216) in 2014, which speeds up the process for creating city-connected corridors. Metro Development Group of Tampa, currently the only developer involved and owners of 30 percent of the land in the grid, is leading the planning for the project.

Pasco County — namely the Wesley Chapel area running north from Overpass Rd. in Wesley Chapel to S.R. 52 in San Antonio, and west from I-75 to Curley Rd. — was selected as a 10-year pilot program, although the build-out of the 7,800 acres is expected to be a 50-year project that could bring 37,000 homes and attract as many as 100,000 new people to the primarily rural (for now) area.

Bigger hurdles still await the Connected City, as the financial, master roadway and utility plans will be presented for approval on Thursday, November 10. Ultimately, the Pasco Board of County Commissioners (BCC) will have the final vote on the project.

The changes in land development code gives additional leeway to developers, but Ernie Monaco, the assistant planning and development administrator for the county, says there will still be oversight from the BCC. Monaco sees the new comprehensive plan revisions as a chance to try new, and possibly more efficient, ways to develop.

“Please keep in mind, this is a pilot program,’’ Monaco told the DRC. “We have the freedom to do things that we can change later. We a have better code that works for the (Connected City), but there are some elements that, if they work, can ultimately be carried over to the (entire) county.”

A key component of the project is an Expedited Greenlight Process, which creates a new process for fast-tracking construction approvals. The county already has an expedited process, but the new one written into the Connected City land development code will have incremental reviews and approvals, which will create timeframes for review that are shorter (due to less information in each increment).

Monaco said the incremental review process would save 4-5 months by allowing developers to begin on multiple portions of their projects that have been approved while waiting on other approvals that might normally need to be secured first.

“We have to experiment,’’ he said. “If it is more efficient and faster, we should consider extending it to the rest of the county.”

The Connected City promises to be an engine for economic and technological development in Wesley Chapel as the first-of-its-kind, built-from-the-ground-up gigabit-internet connected community in the country. There will be an emphasis on alternative transportation and integrated roadways, and the Connected City will feature amenities such as the first-ever man-made crystal lagoon in the U.S.

Part of the project already is under construction. Metro has begun work on a $100-million, 2,000-home residential development called Epperson of Wesley Chapel in the Epperson Ranch Development of Regional Impact (DRI), as well as a 4,000-home community called Mirada on the former Cannon Ranch property at I-75 and S.R. 52.

There was little public disagreement with any new land codes, but a few Wesley Chapel residents were on hand to express their displeasure with the project in general.

Jennifer McCarthy, who lives on Kenting Rd. in the south central part of the proposed project grid, expressed frustration that the parcel of land she had hoped to live on and ride her horses on for the next 50 years will soon undergo an urban transformation.

McCarthy also voiced her concerns at the Sept. 15 hearing. Other concerns by other residents have been raised in the last year as well, mostly concerning urban sprawl encroaching upon their rural lifestyles, people potentially being forced to sell property that has been in their families for decades, the potential for sinkholes during construction of the 8-acre crystal lagoon and the loss of nature.

The DRC noted that existing residents located within the proposed project overlay don’t have to join the Connected City corridor, but cannot enjoy all of its benefits if they choose not to participate.