Aggressive Approach Yields Tourism Results

Pasco County has put its tourism department on steroids.

The county’s formerly sleepy, nature-centric manner of attracting visitors is giving way to a high-powered, aggressive approach that, if everything goes according to plan, will soon yield a new brand that is expected to focus on the county’s diverse offerings.

Executive director Adam Thomas of the Pasco County Visitor Bureau has commissioned Tallahassee-based public relations firm Zimmerman Agency, LLC, to help coordinate a brand relaunch at a cost of $481,000. In other words, the motto “Open spaces. Vibrant Places.” could be giving way to something that reaches a broader, more defined audience.

“We are building a platform that is going to springboard us into the future and will make us relevant in the Florida tourism market,” Thomas says.

Working with local leaders, the Zimmerman Agency is expected to unveil a draft plan by Aug. 31, and the new brand for Pasco tourism could launch in early October.

Thomas says his goal is to help develop a “life-cycle” of tourism, where visitors fall in love with the area they are visiting, and decide to relocate their families or businesses here, and feed the ongoing growth of Pasco County.

While the county already boasts a variety of festivals and outdoor activities, as well as a bustling western coastline attractive to those who like water sports like fishing, inland suburban areas like Wesley Chapel have evolved quickly to offer even more, like two thriving shopping malls.

Natalie Taylor of “Tampa Bay’s Morning Blend” talks with Pasco County commissioner Mike Moore, Gordie Zimmerman and Adam Thomas about Pasco County tourism.

If tourism in Pasco County felt somewhat staid in the past, it could have been for a lack of product that is now becoming more ample.

Wesley Chapel already is proving there is fruit on the sports tree, thanks to the overwhelming and immediate success of Florida Hospital Center Ice (FHCI).

Helped by a two-percent increase in the Tourist Development Tax (TDT) last year to help pay for a new sports complex (see below) in Wiregrass Ranch, FHCI deserves to receive at least some of the credit for the recent boost in tourism dollars filling county coffers.

The TDT has raised more than $200,000 every month through June this year, with a high of $355,279 in April. Last year, the most it raised in any month was $157,942.

Managing partner Gordie Zimmermann (no relation to the agency) says FHCI is booked almost every weekend with hockey tournaments and other events, a majority of them requiring at least a two-night stay.

There is a rush to build more hotels (the Hyatt Place just opened and three more are on the way along S.R. 56), so visitors have a place to stay, and FHCI is more than able to fill them. “We didn’t have as many places to stay in Pasco County in the past,” says District 2 Pasco Commissioner Mike Moore. “Now, the visitors that may have come to Pasco for a day trip or to visit family can stay. We now have (hotels).”

Moore also said that in the past, the county has lost out on events, due to a lack of facilities, like FHCI, hotels and even enough shopping options and restaurants.

“Now, we can handle all of those visitors,” says Moore, who lives in Wesley Chapel.

Our area should be prepared to handle even more in 2019 and, as a result, more hotels and restaurants are on the way.

“I don’t know if they have ever seen anything like this in the history of the county, and we’re really just ramping up,” Zimmermann says. “We have a lot of different events coming in 2019 that we didn’t even have in 2018. It’s something every week.”

Even the “American Idol” auditions held last week (and one year ago) produced overnight stays. However, it has been the various ice sports, from youth and adult hockey to figure skating events, driving Wesley Chapel’s increased impact on county-wide tourism.

FHCI recently hosted a roller hockey tournament featuring 200 teams over the course of 10 days. Any number of events the facility has already hosted are the largest Pasco County has ever seen, Zimmermann says.

“I’m not surprised by the increase in tourism right now,” says Hope Allen, the CEO of the North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce. “We can definitely  tip our hat to Gordie for the majority of that.”

Next year, the new RADDSports-developed Wiregrass Ranch Sports Complex will enter the tourism market and, like FHCI, is likely to make a huge impact of its own.

Thomas also hopes to shine a spotlight on some of Pasco County’s other treasures, including those that speak to the county’s reputation for open spaces, even if those seem to shrinking.

He said “influencers” in the travel industry will be enlisted to spread the word, even travel bloggers, many of whom have large audiences.

On a recent travel post, a blogger wrote of a trip she took, sponsored by VisitPasco, to the county. She wrote (and posted videos) about staying at the Hilton Garden Inn near the Suncoast Pkwy., where to rent a car or a bike, cycling through Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park, enjoying a balloon ride in Land O’Lakes, ziplining at TreeHoppers Aerial Adventure Park in Dade City and enjoying great food at Capital Tacos and Noble Crust in Wesley Chapel.

“Those are the people that can persuade someone’s travel plans,” Thomas says. “It’s all about finding different ways and different strategies.”

Pasco’s Libraries Adapting To New Technologies To Stay Relevant

The times they are a’changing, and so, too, are libraries, according to Bob Harrison of Pasco County Libraries.

“Typically when people think of libraries, they think of books,” Harrison told local business leaders on July 20, during a Lunch n’ Learn program in the Don Porter Boardroom at the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC), which sponsored the event. “But, we’re so much more than just books.”

Harrison said area libraries are taking a quantum leap into the future with a litany of new services offered to both small businesses and residents of Pasco County.

Although the image of libraries may be of dusty old bookshelves and gray-haired librarians demanding total silence, one of the first services detailed by Harrison was the addition in many county libraries of community meeting rooms.

Space is subject to availability, but having a public space to meet can be an asset for a small business or organization. Heck, just look around at any coffee shop during the day, and you can see all kinds of business meetings taking place. The library not only offers free internet, but also  low-cost printers and copiers.

“We are trying to become part of the Maker Movement that’s sweeping the nation right now,” Harrison said. “The libraries have jumped into it.”

Maker Spaces, as they are dubbed, are being created across the county’s seven branches in Hudson, Regency Park, Centennial Park, South Holiday, Hugh Embry, Land O’ Lakes and the New River branch library at 34043 S.R. 54 in Wesley Chapel.

The New River library has a meeting room that can accommodate up to 30 people, and does not even require a library card to book, which can be done at PascoLibraries.org.

Adrienne Hymes, Missioner for the Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida, sees it as an opportunity, as she said her church is looking to incorporate new members from the Wesley Chapel area.

“We are trying to establish a church in Wesley Chapel, and we need options for meeting spaces,” Hymes said.

Additionally, Pasco’s libraries offer a conduit to the WCCC and to the Pasco County Economic Development Council (EDC).

With that access, potential or existing business owners can learn the ins and outs of how to start and/or run a business in the county, and receive direction to the appropriate places for permitting or licensing information that goes beyond a typical Google search.

All you need is a library card.

AtoZDatabases.com, for example, offers access to business listings not just in the county, but nationwide. The site is a subscription site, but can be used for free at the library. The site  says that while Google and other search engines are valuable tools, they are limited to simple searches. AtoZDatabases can handle more complex questions, and returns the information in a consistent format.

“All the information you need is in one place,” Harrison says.

Pasco County library card holders also can access Demographics Now, a database that gathers information from the US Census from 2000 and 2010, as well other sources. There, users can find information about population density, income, ethnicity, even retail spending figures on households — information that can be vital when deciding whether to start a new business and where it might be most successful.

“I already have a (Pasco library) card, I just didn’t know these services were available,” said Roslyn Yee, founder of Vibrant Life International, a wellness consulting company in Lutz. “I like to be able to research companies. Now, it looks like I can do this from the comfort of my own home.”

Another invaluable tool in Pasco County Libraries’ online arsenal is access to Lynda.com, a popular online training company that offers more than 6,000 video courses on business, technology, software and marketing, to name just a few.

Users can access videos teaching Adobe products like Photoshop or Creative Suite, and other programs. You can learn how to shoot better photos with your DSLR camera, or how to how to master WordPress.

The site boasts more than 1,200 design courses, and over 700 web development and design courses. Lynda.com was acquired by LinkedIn,  and typically requires a monthly fee.

However, with a library card, users can access the premium version through the library website. All library cardholders need is their online access password, and they can even use the service from their home or office computers.

It’s all part of Pasco County Libraries’ vision for the future.

“We see a future for the county library system being heavy on tech and all community-driven,” Harrison said.

That includes things like a Community Garden Maker Space at the New River branch, a new sound studio being built at the Hudson branch and a woodworking shop at the Land O’ Lakes branch.

Volunteers help staff the spaces and libraries are always seeking more volunteers. The ideas for new services are generated by feedback from the community.

“We want residents to drive it,” said Harrison. “We want the library to be more than a knowledge center, we want it to be a hub for the community.”

During the WCCC workshop, Harrison said that Pasco’s libraries spend only $12 per person per year, while the average spent by the rest of the state’s counties is $26 per person.

“We are good stewards of your tax dollars,” Harrison said. “But, as the county grows, we expect to be able to offer additional services as demand grows.”

Southern Pasco County, especially the Wesley Chapel area, is booming with growth. A growing property tax base, along with a 501 (c)(3) Friends of the Library charitable organization, are primarily responsible for funding the library’s current leap into the 21st Century.

For additional information, visit PascoLibraries.org

Pasco OKs School Impact Fee Increase

Once the increases are all rolled in over the next three years, these will be the school impact fees in Pasco County.

As expected, and facing a dire need to build more schools in the quickly growing parts of the Pasco County — particularly Wesley Chapel — the Pasco Board of County Commissioners (BCC) voted Aug. 15 to raise school impact fees on new homes.

The unanimous decision by the BCC was no surprise. Prior to the BCC’s last board meeting on July 13, the Pasco County School District and the Tampa Bay Builders Association (TBBA) had forged a deal to phase in an impact fee increase of roughly $3,500 over three years — $2,252 on Jan. 1, 2018, and $600 on Jan. 1 in 2019 and 2020.

The commissioners all signaled their support for the increase at that meeting, but were unable to vote on the ordinance at the time because it had changed significantly from what was originally advertised.

The delay was to allow for further public comment, but there was only one speaker, who actually spoke in favor of the increase, at the Aug. 15 meeting.

The impact fee on a new single-family home, currently $4,828, will be bumped to $7,128 beginning in January. For any applications filed after Dec. 31, 2019, the last year of the phased-in increase, the impact fee on a new single-family home will be $8,328.

Impact fees are charges assessed on new construction to pay for other infrastructure needed to accommodate growth. In Wesley Chapel for example, homes are continuing to be built and the area continues to grow so rapidly that most of the elementary, middle and high schools have been over capacity (see story on page 13).

Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH) has been on a 10-period schedule for the last two years, and while the rezoning will alleviate some overcrowding, the school still has no room. Cypress Creek, which opened Aug. 14 as a combined middle/high school, has roughly 1,900 students, which also is near its capacity.

Combining a middle and high school is not ideal.  Pasco County Superintendent of Schools Kurt Browning said he hopes to have a separate middle school built in four years on the Cypress Creek campus, as the new fees are expected to raise more than $200 million over the next decade for school construction.

The school district had formed a School Impact Fee Committee (SIFC) to study the issue, which hadn’t been done since a 2007 study that never went to a BCC vote. The SIFC met four times between March and April of this year and looked at a dozen options to raise enough funds for new schools to accommodate an expected increase over the next 10 years of 7,500 students. The members of the committee decided that the best way to raise the funds without requiring a referendum was the increase in home impact fees.

District staff recommended an increase to $9,028, or an 85 percent increase that it said would pay for four or five new schools those 10 years.

The TBBA was hoping to keep the increase to $7,176, or a 48-percent raise, which means that the school district got 92 percent of the increase it was seeking.

‘Neighborhood Notebook’ Chalkboard At Wiregrass Mall Enlighten Planners

Think you have great ideas about hoe to improve life in Pasco County? It looks like you may have to go online to add your suggestions to Pasco County’s “Neighborhood Notebook.”

The Pasco County Planning and Development Department would like feedback regarding what residents want to see develop in the community.

They’ve taken a novel approach.

The county’s first ‘Neighborhood Notebook’ debuted at the Shops at Wiregrass, located at 28211 Paseo Drive in Wesley Chapel, on June 30, eliciting ideas from passers-by.

Members of the Pasco County Long Rangers built what amounts to an enormous chalkboard where residents can share their ideas with county officials.

One side of the board that was left blank asked what residents would like to see, and the other side of the board asked how they can make it happen. Buckets of chalk attached to the boards allow residents to fill in the blanks.

County officials came by several times a week to photograph the board, take notes in a log and clear it off for new suggestions. The board was initially supposed to leave The Shops at Wiregrass on July 17, but officials extended it until July 20 while they took additional comments and looked for a suitable location in the North Pointe area, near S.R. 54 and the Suncoast Pkwy.

Matt Armstrong of Pasco County planning and development said that during the three weeks it was up at the Shops at Wiregrass, the chalkboard notebook garnered between 150 and 200 comments.

The Neighborhood Notebook is part of the county’s Gateway Crossings Market Area Plan, otherwise known as the South Market Area that covers all of Wesley Chapel and much of southern Pasco County, from U.S. 301 all the way to Little Rd. in the Trinity area. The area also covers the north-south corridors of I-75 and the Suncoast Pkwy.

“We’re here, to hear you,” Pasco’s director of planning & development Kris Hughes said. “We want public engagement from multi-media sources in high-traffic parts of the South Market areas.”

Hughes and his staff come from a diverse background and drew on their experiences to dream up the Neighborhood Notebook.

“The physical board was taken from a staffer’s experience in Mississippi,” Hughes said. “We bring a lot of experience to the project and borrow from the experience we’ve all had.”

If you missed the physical message board when it was at the mall, residents can visit WalkBikePlay.com/copy-of-virtual-notebook. Hughes said  the online notebook also is getting lots of comments, as is the physical notebook. Residents are encouraged to connect with the “Walk. Bike. Work. Play” initiative via social media.

“We’re getting good suggestions and we’re working with them,” Hughes said. “Information from the Notebook is used to inform the preparation of the market area plan. The Notebook comments will help us focus on specific areas of interest or concern.”

While the online notebook hasn’t done quite as well as the physical board at the Shops at Wiregrass, the comments online have tended to be longer and more descriptive.

Early comments on the physical Notebook at Wiregrass included better public transportation options, more recycling programs and more nature trails.

One resident who advocated for transit options noted that residents could help by voting for transit-friendly candidates and referendums. Another advocating for clean streets said that people could help “Make it Happen” by cleaning up their own street and sidewalk.

Naturally, a chalkboard in the middle of a mall inviting comments is going to have some strange requests. Under things people would like to see, some chalk-toting shoppers included world peace, a million dollars, Justin Bieber, a real live red fox and a dog president.

All suggestions feed into the County’s Comprehensive Plan and associated goals, objectives and policies that will guide Pasco’s future growth.

The Neighborhood Notebook was originally planned to move to the Tampa Premium Outlets near S.R. 56 and I-75, but concerns about teenage vandalism, and governmental red tape, has been holding up that move..

Instead, Hughes said that the physical portion of the project may evolve into postage-paid comment cards.