Dist. 2 Pasco Commissioner Seth Weightman (below left)is proud of Pasco’s new ordinance to limit new car washes to no more than one every 1.5 miles. (Above)
District 2 Pasco County Commissioner Seth Weightman says he has learned a lot about the inner workings of the county government since he took office in 2022.
Weightman also says that listening to his Dist. 2 constituents has had him working to solve county problems — such as limiting the ability for new car washes to open countywide, but especially in the Wesley Chapel area, where there already are 25 or more…with more still to come.
“I’m proud that, at our September 17 Board of County Commissioners meeting, we passed (by a 5-0 vote) a new ordinance limiting new car washes to no more than one in a Master Planned Unit Development (MPUD) and to keep them at least 1.5 miles apart,” Weightman says, noting that already approved (and built) car washes would not be affected by the new ordinance. “I agreed with my constituents that this needed to get done.”
After seeing the overwhelming number of car washes in the Wesley Chapel area, Weightman asked the county staff several months ago to come up with a map showing the existing car washes, many of which were so close to each other the labels for them were on top of each other on the map. He also hopes to create a similar map showing all of the storage facilities in Pasco (there are at least 12 in the Wesley Chapel area).
“The problem is that businesses like these take up a lot of area but don’t really bring a lot of new employment to the county,” he says. “We want our commercial land to be home to businesses that are employment centers.”
Weightman, who attends the openings of as many new such employment centers as possible (including the Grand Opening of the new downtown building in Avalon Park), also has been keeping tabs on all of our area road projects, especially the widening of both Old Pasco Rd. and Wesley Chapel Blvd., a new traffic signal at the intersection of S.R. 56 and Lajuana Blvd., and intersection improvements at S.R. 56 and Meadow Pointe Blvd.
The long-awaited Old Pasco Rd. widening (sign above) is proceeding apace, especially the grading of the land (below) along Old Pasco Rd. (both north & south of Overpass Rd., including in front of the new Sanctuary Ridge subdivision). The contract for the widening was amended in July to add a 6-ft.-wide sidewalk on the west side of Old Pasco Rd. heading south from Cypress Creek Middle & High Schools.
Old Pasco Rd. — Weightman says that in July, the $22-million contract between the county and B.R.W. Contracting was amended (it is now a nearly $30-million agreement) and the length of time was extended (by an additional 400 days) to extend the project further north of Overpass Rd. and to add a 6-ft.-wide sidewalk on the west side of Old Pasco Rd. to provide “connected pedestrian and bicycle facilities and needed roadway capacity to the Cypress Creek school campus, improving safety for all roadway users. The amendment results in substantial time and cost savings to the County by precluding the need for a separate solicitation for the shorter additional length of road.”
Wesley Chapel (WC) Blvd. — Although we had originally heard that the $69.4-million WC Blvd. widening was going to begin sooner than later (we reported an expected August start date in our May 14 issue), at our press time, we hadn’t seen much, if any activity — not even utility work.
Because WC Blvd. is a portion of S.R. 54, Weightman says that the Florida Dept. of Transportation (FDOT) is responsible for the project, but that he was going to find out when the actual work was set to begin.
“What we do know is that once this project starts, a lot of people who live along Wesley Chapel Blvd. are going to be affected,” he says.
The three-year project will impact those living from south of Lexington Oaks (including in Grand Oaks, The Oaks, Cypress Estates, Stagecoach and others), “but the sooner it starts the sooner it can get done,” Weightman says.
S.R. 56 at Lajuana Blvd. — If you check out the local Facebook communities, there is agreement that one of — if not the most dangerous — intersections in the Wesley Chapel area is the intersection of S.R. 56 and Lajuana Blvd., which is the road with Cooper’s Hawk on the west side and the Audi Wesley Chapel dealership on the east side.
Although many locals believe that the speed limit also needs to be reduced on S.R. 56, Comm. Weightman says that, at its Sept. 17 meeting, the County Commission acted to help try to fix the problem at this intersection with a new traffic signal. The $139,590 project was awarded to Kissinger Campo & Associates Corp.
“There’s no doubt that this is a huge deal and really needed,” Weightman says. “I’ve been pushing for it ever since I first came into office. We got that expedited. That is definitely a dangerous intersection, so I’m excited that it’s finally happening.”
S.R. 56 at Meadow Pointe (MP) Blvd. — Although this item was passed in July, Weightman also says that improvements are coming to the intersection of S.R. 56 and Meadow Pointe (MP) Blvd. (see graphic on this page).
The big news with this item is that a much-needed second left turn lane will be added for the traffic heading eastbound on 56 onto MP Blvd. northbound. In addition, a second left turn lane also will be added for northbound traffic on MP Blvd. to turn west onto S.R. 56. The project also will include signal modifications.
County Budget — “With the passing of this budget (also on Sept. 17), we cut general operating millage and, with me being the budget guy, I always want us to be very measured in taxes on folks. We dropped the road maintenance MSTU (Municipal Services Taxing Unit) from 0.5 mills to 0.4 mills. Among the items in this budget are several intersection improvements in the Meadow Pointe/Union Park area and those, by government speed standards, are going to be coming along pretty quickly.”
Unfortunately, those planned improvements were not presented as line items in the budget, so I can’t provide specifics as to what those improvements will be until (most likely) next issue.
Live Local Update — Although he says that there has not yet been any significant change in the plans for the previously commercially zoned parcel being called the ”Woods at Wesley Chapel” (or, as some still refer to it, the previously planned Lowe’s Home Improvement) site off S.R. 54 at Curley Rd. attempting to re-zone for apartments under the so-called “Live Local Act,” Weightman says that there has been progress made on the other Wesley Chapel site that had considered rezoning under Live Local, on Overpass Rd. at Old Pasco Rd.
“They are not using Live Local, but they are now proposing a different mixed-use site plan with residential components on it that currently aren’t there (in the approved zoning) today,” Weightman says. “There is still conversation and activity around that, so even though they’re not using Live Local, they are proposing something that isn’t in the zoning the Board approved a couple of years ago. In other words, ‘We won’t play the Live Local card if you approve this kind of project instead.’ At least it’s collaborative and not hostile.”
David Nelson Construction Co. To Widen WC Blvd. To Six Lanes Between S.R. 54/56 & Old Pasco Rd.
Research by Joel Provenzano
The map (above) shows the full length of the $69.4-million contract to widen Wesley Chapel Blvd. from (mostly) two to six lanes between Old Pasco Rd. & where S.R. 54 & S.R. 56 meet. All of the existing and planned traffic signals are shown, with the planned “additional” signals outlined in yellow. Please note that the signal that is “planned” at the intersection of Stagecoach Village Dr. and WC Blvd. is already there, but that is considered to be a “temporary” signal that will be replaced. (Map: Provided by Pasco County, modified by Charmaine George & GN)
Even though nearly the entire length of Wesley Chapel (WC) Blvd. actually divides Land O’Lakes (on the west side of the street) from Lutz (on the east side) and only actually enters Wesley Chapel’s 33543 zip code at Lexington Oaks, it is big news that Pasco County has finally awarded (on Apr. 23) the $69.4-million construction contract to David Nelson Construction Co. to widen WC Blvd. between S.R. 56 and Old Pasco Rd. from two (for most of this stretch of it) to six lanes.
Although we are not the first to report this information, we are the only local news medium trying to find out whether or not vehicles will still be able to make left turns onto (or off of) WC Blvd. from the many entrances to communities along the full length of the project. There is a median for the widening project’s entire length, but how many curb cuts will there be along the 4.1-mile length of the project? Are there going to be U-turn lanes at any of the community entrances? With only two traffic signals being included (one of which, the “temporary” signal at the entrance to the Stagecoach community, at Stagecoach Village Dr., already exists), will people living in any of the nine residential communities along the project’s length still be able to make left turns across WC Blvd. to enter or exit their communities? Thanks to our Joel Provenzano, we believe we have those answers.
As someone who has lived at the south end of this project the past five years, I (and Jannah) have witnessed two serious accidents caused by people trying to make left turns in or out of these communities who were hit by drivers going north or south on WC Blvd. We also narrowly avoided a left-turning driver whose vehicle did a full 360º spin in front of us following a collision.
The intersection of Compark Dr., at the more northern of the two entrances to the Compark 75 office and warehouse park, will receive a new traffic signal under the WC Blvd. widening agreement.
Here’s what we know about the “new” traffic signals included in the WC Blvd. widening contract:
1) The only completely new signal included in the contract will be placed at the more northern of the two entrances to the Compark 75 warehouse park at WC Blvd. & Compark Dr.
2) The existing traffic signal at Stagecoach Village Blvd. is a “temporary” signal that will be replaced with a permanent signal under the contract
The issue to me, as someone who has lived off of WC Blvd. the last five years, is that there are so many other equally dangerous intersections along WC Blvd. (see list below) that aren’t getting signals.
But, thanks to our research specialist Joel Provenzano, who was an engineer with the Florida department of Transportation (FDOT) for years and is much more “fluent” in reading such documents than I am, we believe we have the answers to my question about the planned median in the center of WC Blvd. that will prevent drivers most of the entrances to these subdivision/apartment communities from going across WC Blvd. to make left turns either into or out of (or both) of their respective communities.
Here is that list of intersections that we believe are being addressed under the widening agreement:
— Pondside Dr. at Old C.R. 54 – Median remains fully open.
— Entrance to Harley- Davidson – Directional median opening (left turns in only) remains the same.
— WC Blvd. at Grand Cypress Dr. (entrance to the Maeva Apartments/Cypress Bend Prof. Park – Directional median opening with left turns in only.
— WC Blvd. at Hyde Park Blvd. (entrance to The Enclave subdivision) – The median will remain fully open in both directions at this location.
— WC Blvd. at Wilshire Dr. (entrance to The Woodlands at Stagecoach subdivision) – No left turns out.
— WC Blvd. at Bramblewood Blvd (entrance to the Cypress Estates) subdivision – Directional median opening with a U-turn lane.
— WC Blvd. at Oaks Blvd. (entrance to The Oaks subdivision) – Full median opening. Note – Oaks Dr. and Bramblewood are connected at Tradewinds Dr., off WC Blvd.
— WC Blvd. at Winding River Way (entrance to the Edgewater at Grand Oaks townhome community) – Full median opening.
— WC Blvd. at Cloud Hopper Way (entrance to the Volanti townhomes) & Cobalt Dr. (entrance to the new Cobalt apartments) – No median openings at all at either location. Note – There will be an opening about 600 ft. south of Volanti for U-turns.
— WC Blvd. at Pet Ln. (alternate entrance to Grand Oaks Plaza and Compark 75) – Directional median opening with left turn in only.
— WC Blvd. at Magnolia Blvd. (at Marathon gas station & just north of Midgard Self-Storage & Ewing Irrigation & Landscape Supply) – Full median opening remains.
— WC Blvd. at Players Dr. – Opening will be restricted to right-out turns only.
— WC Blvd. at Tampa Downs Blvd. (by North Tampa Aero Park) – Left-in directional median opening only.
The Presentation To The BOC
Prior to the vote awarding the contract at the Apr. 23 meeting of Pasco’s Board of County Commissioners (BOC), Panos Kontses, the county’s assistant director of transportation engineering, made a presentation to the commissioners regarding the awarding of the contract to widen WC Blvd.
The existing traffic signal at the intersection of Stagecoach Village Dr. and WC Blvd. is considered to be a “temporary” signal that will be replaced with a “permanent” one.
“Typically, construction contracts are presented through the consent agenda,” Kontses said. “However, the size of the contract, the significance of the project for the county and also because of the history of the project, our county administrator suggested that we give you a brief presentation.”
Kontses also noted that WC Blvd. provides access to many communities, as well as commercial businesses, “and also provides an alternate relief route to I-75.”
First, Kontses gave the commissioners an overview of the existing status of WC Blvd. The north end of the project, between Progress Pkwy. and Old Pasco Rd., is 4 lanes, with a 45-mile-per-hour speed limit. It has 5-6-ft.-wide sidewalks and a 4-ft.-wide bicycle lane.
The middle portion, between Old. C.R. 54 and Progress Pkwy. has a 55-mph speed limit and is almost completely two lanes with no sidewalks or pathways and just 4-5-ft. shoulders. The southern portion, from Old C.R. 54/Pondside Dr. to S.R. 54/56 is six-laned, with a 45-mph speed limit, and with a 5-ft.-sidewalk, an 8-ft.-wide pathway and 5-ft.-wide bicycle lane.
Kontses also noted that the project has, “a long history…longer than we wanted…and also went through several project managers. I just happen to be the last one. And, we are very excited to bring this project to its last stage — its construction.”
He then noted that the original route study was conducted in 2003, when WC Blvd. was intended to be a 4-lane rural road. But, even though the design phase for that original plan started in 2008, nothing else happened after the Tampa Bay Regional Planning model became available between 2008- 14, which showed that the original 4-lane plan would not be able to accommodate the expected traffic.
“That area is going through explosive growth,” Kontses told the commissioners, “and the expected traffic volumes were almost double, so the recommendation was to make the road a 6-lane section, but keep it within a 150-ft. right-of-way. “That meant we had to condense the section to an urban road with bike lanes, 5-6-ft. sidewalks and an 8-ft. pathway.”
The route study resumed in 2015- 16, with new design starting in 2016.
“But, in 2017,” Kontses noted, “we got the updated flood plains from Swiftmud and we didn’t want any adjacent properties to end up being flooded, so our design team did a drainage analysis and found that no properties were likely to be flooded, so we were happy about that.”
The WC Blvd. Construction Project Schedule & Cost shows that the $69.4-million project is expected to be completed by May 2027. (Source: Pasco County)
Permitting then began in 2017 and right-of-way acquisition between 2019-23. District 3 Commissioner Kathryn Starkey noted that it took “a long time — five years” for the county to purchase all of the needed right-of way, but Kontses noted, “We had to purchase 43 parcels from 25 different property owners, so that was an extensive effort for our resources.”
He added that the plan also had to go through several revisions because of new developments that began building and additional reviews by the Florida Dept. of Transportation (FDOT), “because they contributed some of the funding for the project.”
Bids were finally solicited in Dec. of 2023 and the bids opened in Jan. of this year.
Comm. Starkey also expressed concerns about animal crossings at a wetland near Oaks Blvd., the entrance to The Oaks subdivision.
After that, Kontses pointed out that the improvements also will include lighting along the length of the project, which will help improve safety a lot, because WC Blvd. is notoriously dark.
District 5 Comm. Jack Mariano expressed concerns about not getting landscaping design included in the project, but Comm. Starkey noted that the landscaping for Little Rd. is only about 30% designed, “so they’re way behind on these projects.”
If the BOC approved the agreement on Apr. 23, Kontses says the Notice to Proceed (NTP) could be given within two weeks, or before this issue reached your mailbox, and that the expected completion date for the 36-month contract is May of 2027.
Kontses also mentioned that in addition to the main contract, there is an additional contract for independent Construction Engineering & Inspection (CEI) services for $4.5 million.
“Four million to see if they built it right? That seems like a lot of money,” Comm. Starkey asked. “How about the contract just stipulates that they have to build it right?”
But, Kontses said that the normal cost of CEI is, “about 10-15% of a project’s construction cost, so at $4.5 million, we’re getting a bargain.”
Dist. 2 Comm. Seth Weightman, whose district includes the full length of the project, then moved for approval of the contract, which was seconded by Comm. Starkey and the motion passed 4-0. Dist. 4 Comm. Gary Bradford, who passed away the day before the meeting, was obviously not available for the vote.
It’s Been A Busy Nine Months Since Pasco County Commissioner Seth Weightman Took Office In November 2022
District 2 Pasco County Commissioner Seth Weightman at the Grand Opening of the Metro Lagoon at Mirada on June 2.
When Pasco County native Seth Weightman took over from Mike Moore as the county commissioner for District 2 at the end of November 2022, some people in our area knew his name — Weightman Middle School on Wells Rd. was named for his great uncle, Thomas E. Weightman — but few knew much else about him.
But, that hasn’t stopped the former Board member for the Southwest Florida Water Management District (aka “Swiftmud”) from jumping in with both feet to tackle the issues that are top-of-mind for his family and — as important to him — the families of his constituents.
“It’s been a super-busy nine months,” Weightman told me in his first full-length interview with any local member of the media, “but I am proud of what we already have accomplished and I’m going to keep pushing for the people of District 2 (which includes much, but not all, of Wesley Chapel) and all of Pasco County.
During my interview with Commissioner Weightman and his legislative aide Andy Taylor (who also was Moore’s assistant) at Weightman’s Board of County Commissioners office in Dade City, I let them lead the way in terms of subject matter.
I asked him to list the accomplishments he’s proudest of so far in his nearly nine months in office. Here’s a list (that we hope to update soon) of many of them:
Sidewalks For Denham Oaks
Although I was looking for projects that directly affect Wesley Chapel, Weightman said that his proudest accomplishment to date was bringing in $1.5 million from the state to build and improve sidewalks for nearby Denham Oaks Elementary and Pine View Elementary and Middle Schools.
“Although I originally asked for $2 million,” he said, “I was proud that in my first attempt to procure money from the state for my district, I was the only Pasco commissioner whose budget request was approved by the legislature.”
He added that Denham Oaks, where kids from southern Wesley Chapel went to school until Sand Pine Elementary opened, was originally a school for the deaf and hard of hearing and still has programs to help hearing-impaired children. “We asked the (Pasco) School District where the greatest needs were” he said, “and these were the schools they came up with.”
He said the sidewalk issue was made loud and clear to him during the county’s budget process for Fiscal Year 2024 because of the statute that ended the courtesy buses for kids who live within a two-mile radius of their schools.
“Sidewalks are never an easy issue,” he said, “because in some cases, a developer, homeowners association or CDD has to pay for them — because there are liabilities associated with sidewalks — but sometimes, the county and/or the state have to step in. But, I plan to continue to work on getting funds for improved sidewalks for our area’s schools, so this was a great first-year success for me.”
Widening Of Old Pasco Rd.
When Commissioner Moore left office, Weightman said, the 99-acre parcel on Old Pasco Rd. now know as the “Rooker Site” was just getting started. Today, that acreage, located south of Overpass Rd., is home to the first 187,000 sq. ft. of a planned 800,000-sq.-ft. Class A warehouse/industrial space (as we reported in our June issue).
Comm. Weightman says Old Pasco Rd. should have been widened south of Overpass Rd. before this warehouse got its Certificate of Occupancy.
“We have a great partnership with Rooker Properties (which bought the land from the county),” Weightman said, “but the segment of Old Pasco Rd. from north of Deedra Dr. to south of Overpass Rd. was supposed to be widened before Rooker received its Certificate of Occupancy for the (warehouse). For whatever reason, the county fumbled the ball on that, but I felt there was a commitment made, not just to Rooker, but to all of the residents who travel Old Pasco Rd. to Cypress Creek Middle and High School (north of Overpass Rd.).”
He added, “This was definitely a failure on the county’s part, but once we saw what happened, we were able to get the Request for Proposals (RFP) done and the bids were received by July 10. The county’s procurement staff is going through those now and our Board of (County) Commissioners (BCC) will vote on the selected bid within the next two months, with construction set to begin shortly after.” He also noted that no right of way needed to be purchased for that project.
Widening Of WC Blvd.
“When I was on the governing board of Swiftmud,” Weightman said, “we were negotiating with the county and the property owners on the east side of Wesley Chapel Blvd.(from where S.R. 56 meets S.R. 54 to Old Pasco Rd.) for stormwater relief. That deal is now put together, so we’re working on finalizing stormwater right of way. Once the county has those, we’re going to move forward on getting the expansion of Wesley Chapel Blvd. done.”
He said that until that expansion plan is in place, he doesn’t know if the plan will include additional traffic signals but notes that he expects to advertise for construction bids by September or October of this year, “so construction should begin by early 2024.”
But, because Wesley Chapel Blvd. is a two-lane road, he said, “To quote State Rep. Randy Maggard, ‘The good news for area residents is that there will be road construction. The bad news (at least for a while) will also be that there will be road construction.’”
S.R. 54 Traffic Issues
While the freshman commissioner says he was happy to vote for the redevelopment of the Saddlebrook property on S.R. 54 (see pg. 10), there’s no doubt that, with all the growth in that area the last few years, and with more still to come, the traffic signal situation on 54 from Curley Rd. to the new Wiregrass Ranch Blvd. “is a mess. So, we met with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) secretary in Tampa (since that portion of 54 is a state road) to discuss the traffic light cycles, the timing of them, to make them more fluid and safer.”
He added that, “We’re hoping that when Wiregrass Ranch Blvd. officially opens (which we reported last issue was supposed to already have happened by now, but hadn’t yet at our press time), that will alleviate some of the problems in that portion of 54, but we owe it to the folks who travel that segment of that road every day to figure out a good light timing pattern for them.”
County Aquatics Facility
“Currently, the only county-owned pool in District 2 is at the Land O’Lakes Rec Center,” Weightman said, “but being part of Florida’s Sports Coast, and with all the new families moving in — many of whom aren’t originally from Florida, so they’re not as used to being around water — we’re trying to find a site east of Land O’Lakes for a true, full aquatics center, with swimming and diving. This would be not only for swim meets, but also for learn-to-swim programs for children and adults — for safety as much as for recreation.”
He noted that the BCC had a workshop on the idea in January, “and there was consensus on having a county aquatics facility.” And, while there wasn’t a location for it yet, “There is a 300-acre ‘superpark’ site — which would be the largest park in the county — in the Villages at Pasadena Hills, which was one possibility mentioned. I selfishly want to see this aquatics facility built in my district, preferably in Wesley Chapel, but Pasadena Hills is just outside of my district.”
He admitted that the facility is “a want, not a need, but maybe because of my age demographic — I have a family with young kids — I am excited about this and will be trying to navigate where we can land with it. This would be a great ‘big picture’ item for Pasco County.”
He added that he encourages his constituents, “If you see a park need, please let us know because that’s a fun part of this job. As the Sports Coast, we want our residents to have opportunities to have fun and be active.”
Fighting Sex Traffickers
“There’s a big group of people in Wesley Chapel, including the Wesley Chapel Rotary Club, that is really focused on sex trafficking issues,” Weightman said. “It wasn’t long ago that we had one of the strip clubs on U.S. 19 caught having an underage girl that was basically fostered by her family and was being trafficked through there.”
He said that, “If we believe we’re a premiere county, when we look at quality of life issues, something’s not right when we hope families will want to live here but we have this type of underworld environment.”
He added that he understands that although “adult entertainment” businesses have a right to operate, because most of their employees are independent contractors, there are very limited rules as to how to keep tabs on these “employees.”
“The county started down a path of creating its own ordinance to tighten the reporting rules on these businesses, but it wasn’t successful,” Weightman said. “So, we spoke with Rep. Maggard and the legislature wrote up a bill to add reporting rules to these adult businesses — with the age, who you’re working for, etc. (The businesses) have to comply and submit their info to a state database. So, while Pasco wasn’t successful on our level, it’s another example of working with our state government, and the governor signed it into law, to add some teeth and say to these establishments, ‘Hey, we’re watching you. When you’re in this kind of tough business, you need to be more transparent with what you’ve got going on.’
Taylor added, “Even if we were successful on a county level, the penalties we could impose would have been extremely limited. We were concerned about going through this whole process and probably getting sued as soon as it passed, and that it wouldn’t have much ‘teeth’ anyway. By the legislature doing it, the state has much more (enforcement) authority and, at some point, it becomes a felony if the businesses don’t comply. By the state taking the action, it has a lot more teeth to it.”
Weightman added, “The state came in big with this and it felt good to me having some small piece of making that happen. But now, our state attorney has much more ability to make things much more uncomfortable for these businesses. So, I’m pretty proud of that work, too.”
On Taxes & Fire Stations
“We recently sent the TRIM (Truth in Millage) notices out to property owners and the Board voted that the county’s operating millage would be held flat,” Weightman said. “Staff recommended back in May to not increase the MSTU (Municipal Service Taxing Unit) for fire services. Then, at 6 p.m. the night before the vote, staff proposed increasing the MSTU millage from 1.8 to 2.3 mils for 2024, a 27% tax increase, and that’s roughly $24 million for just FY 2024 — and staff wanted to base this on a five-year plan. It was like, surprise, there was no notice to the public, no notice to us.”
He added, “I’m pretty conservative when it comes to money. We’re battling 40-year-high inflation, housing prices through the roof, interest rates through the roof and we’re going to hit people with taxes they didn’t know about, regardless of what entity (the money is) for? The process was not managed as it should be, transparently, in my opinion. So, we called it out. The School Board passed its referendum last August, and that 1 mil is on top of what the county may or may not do in terms of its taxes.”
With the county’s fiscal year beginning October 1, the vote on the taxes will be held in September and, Weightman said, “We’re going to do a little investigation into what the proposed taxes could mean for our District. Two additional fire stations are planned for our area, but they’re staff-ranked based on the pot of money available to fund them. With as many folks as there are moving here, everybody says, ‘I need it now,’ but I rely on the fire chief, the experts, who tell us that while it’s tough here for response times, we still have to spend those millions of dollars where they say we need them first.”
Weightman also noted that Pasco’s new Fire Chief Anthony (Tony) Perez, who lives in District 2, just took over on Aug. 1, “But, he has fantastic energy, so I’m excited to see what he will do about fire services in not just my district, but the entire county.”
“Eatertainment”
“Whenever a big project comes in, and someone spreads all of these plans out on this table,” Weightman said, “my two questions are, ‘What are these people going to do for work?’ and ‘What are they going to do for fun?’ I get asked these questions by residents daily. If we’re going to build these projects, some of which are bigger than the incorporated cities we have here, why don’t we have a Disney-style downtown with food, drink and green spaces? Most folks don’t just want chain restaurants, they want places where you have the right space for a boutique-style diner, wine bar or whatever.”
Tine & Joe’s Café in downtown Zephyrhills, is located across 5th Ave. from the Zephyrhills Brewing Co., which are the types of “Eatertainment” establishments Comm. Weightman wants to see in new communities.
“So now,” he laughed, “Other Board members are now asking when these large projects come in, where’s Weightman’s ‘Eatertainment’ going to be? Mixed-use projects, like out in front of Saddlebrook, where’s your fun things for folks to do?”
In fact, even though Avalon Park Wesley Chapel’s downtown was approved before he took office, Weightman said, “I think Avalon Park is on to something there. Having these places within these communities keeps people off the roads. The models for us here in Pasco are to look at downtown New Port Richey, downtown Zephyrhills or downtown Dade City. People will come to them, they’ll create jobs, moms and dads can meet folks, and someone can live their American dream — it’s a way to build a sense of community.”
And, even though change is inevitable, Weightman said that he hears many long-time Pasco residents complaining that the county, “isn’t what it used to be because of all these new folks. So, I say we need these types of downtown areas to build those communities. And I think we’re gaining traction on it, so we’ll see.”
‘Live Local’ Challenges
“There are challenges everywhere,” Weightman admitted. “There’s a new law out there called the ‘Live Local Act,’ which is the state’s way of trying to find more people an affordable way to live. But, buried deep inside of this bill, it preempts cities and counties from saying ‘No’ to multi-family apartments on any commercially- or light industrial-zoned properties.”
He added, “I hit this thing head-on right out of the gate, to protect our job-creating sites. We now have six projects in the pipeline, over 1,000 units, on C2 (business and office) commercially-zoned properties throughout the county. One problem with this is that we weren’t planning for hundreds of residential units to come in; we were planning for jobs to come in.”
He also said that the bigger, compounding issue with this law is if at least 40% of the units in these properties are “affordable” housing, “they’re tax-exempt until 2059, but we still have to provide services to them. We have to figure out how to get fire service to them, etc.” The law was unanimously passed by the Florida House and Senate and signed by the governor.
“In Pasco, we value our jobs, and to be a thriving county, we need a balanced county. We’re very housing-rich and jobs poor. The Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council has a chart that shows this, and it’s not just us — it’s also Hernando, Citrus, your growing kind of traditionally rural counties. In order to stop just being ‘bedroom’ communities, you really have to focus on the rezonings and protect these sites, to allow jobs to come in. Now, at all of our properties that have commercial and industrial zonings, the developers could sell those sites to an affordable housing developer and the cities and counties can’t do anything to stop it.”
He said he started working with our state legislature, “because I didn’t believe that they meant for this to happen, but somehow, some way, it got passed, and this language affecting our job-creating sites made it into this bill. It might work for Orlando or for Tampa, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all, as it could really damage Pasco.”
He said that the county already has six sites that are being affected by this, “One of the six sites is close to my district, on S.R. 54. Two of the six did not disclose the parcel ID or say where they’re wanting to (put this affordable housing) just yet. But, they will ultimately have to come in with a site plan, so that’s when we’ll find out.”
So now, when people are coming to look at commercially-zoned sites in Wesley Chapel, Weightman’s first question is, “What’s your intention? Because we know that it’s in the back of their minds when they negotiate with the county that they could always just cut a deal with a Live Local apartment developer and there’s nothing that we can do about it.”
He adds that, “It’s important to be vocal about it and I’m not afraid to ask the question. We recently had one developer come in who wouldn’t agree to put a deed restriction that would have not allowed for residential zoning on their property, so Weightman told the developer, “When it comes for a vote to approve your site plan, you might not get my vote to approve it.”
He added, “We’ve been trying to educate the planning commission to ask these developers in advance to agree to this type of deed restriction. People in our area need to know about this. What you might think is a Publix or Amazon could very quickly not be that. They could put up Live Local apartment units — with no caps. They can do whatever the highest density that’s allowed in that jurisdiction and whatever the highest height a building can be in that jurisdiction.”
‘Build-To-Rent’ Issues
“Build-to-Rent” is another recent development that Weightman said is exploding.
“Investors are buying 60 acres at a time and they’re building these build-to-rent houses because they’re tied to single-family.”
Here’s how he says it works:
“You’re looking to buy a house in Wesley Chapel, they’re like $600-800,000. You’re making a big investment, and you don’t realize that tied to the neighborhood are build-to-rent units that look like houses, but are actually deconstructed apartments. Their rules are multi-family and we have hundreds of these units all over the place.”
He noted that build-to-rent “homes” do not have to adhere to single-family home architectural design standards, “Plus, the product’s not platted, so you can’t sell it off as a single-family-home product. It looks like a duck, it quacks like a duck, but it’s not.”
He also admitted that, “It’s kind of a donut hole within our code. My fear was that you come in and make a big investment in your home and you don’t realize that right next to you, there are hundreds of units that are rentals. They don’t have the same driveway or landscaping standards, etc.”
He notes that in Quail Hollow, where the golf course and clubhouse were razed, the new Siena Cove neighborhood is build-to-rent, but the Villages of Quail Hollow directly behind it is single family. “My concern,” he said, “is to protect the investment of the property owners who aren’t renting, to ensure that their property doesn’t decline.”
Weightman has begun working with the staff, the development community, all of the stakeholders, to address build-to-rent regulations. “We’re very early in the process, we just have our first memorandum that addressed this,” he said. “We started working on it in January, and our regulation now is, if you’re going to do build to rent, the product is platted, so it can be sold off individually. It’s not just sold as one big apartment complex. They’ll be platted and their architectural design standards are that they have to match the single-family-home product.”
He said he also is looking into the different styles of build to rent. He said there’s one going on Old Pasco Rd. that’s going to be build-to-rent “horizontal apartments,” which is another style.
“There are a few different versions of this product out there,” he said. “We’re trying to figure out how these types of products fit into our code and the quality and value standards of our communities.”
Taylor noted that the first policy memo, “was sent out in April, but because there are so many different styles of this, we’re working on additional ones. But, the first piece, the build-to-rent products that have driveways, was approved in April by the Board.”
To which Weightman added, “That was a good win for us to start addressing this product. It was our initiative and we got it pushed through and we’re excited to be able to start addressing build-to-rent products to be up to our quality and value standards.”
On Preserving Pasco
Weightman said he’s also, “big on preserving big environmental spaces. And, the county has the Environmental Lands Acquisition & Management Program (ELAMP) to do just that. Within our district, there are sites that we’re taking a hard look at. And for me, if we’re successful in capturing these sites for water control, keeping our wildlife corridors open, that’d be a huge win.”
He added, however, that he doesn’t take “pulling properties off the tax roles lightly, either, so if we’re successful in preserving these lands for perpetuity, everything that goes into preserving a piece of historical Florida and Pasco County, I hope to be successful in doing that.”
He also noted that there aren’t many such sites in Dist. 2, “but there’s more than one and we’re in the very early stages of conversation on one of them. We’re involving Swiftmud because there’s always a water component to it. I think residents old and new will be able to appreciate if we’re able to do that for recreation and water quality — everything that folks like.”
In Closing…
“I’m only nine months in,” Weightman concluded, “but I am trying to bring a different way of thinking, such as, ‘What is quality of life?’ We’ve been busy. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished in a short amount of time. We’ve hit the ground running and I’m excited to see how we can round out the year.”
He added, “We know what we have here in Pasco County; everybody wants a piece of us. We’re the fifth fastest-growing county in the entire country. We know we have something special. It’s time that we recognize that and know that we have a (great county) here that I intend to continue to work hard to try to make better.”
To contact District 2 Pasco Commissioner Seth Weightman, email him at SWeightman@mypasco.net.
A new Harley Davidson dealership will be one of the new business highlights of the growth along the soon-to-be-widened road. (Photos by Charmaine George)
Pasco County finally has the land it needs to widen Wesley Chapel Blvd. from a two-lane to a six-lane road. Now all the county needs is a final plan.
The county completed the needed right-of-way acquisition for the long-planned project in January, and the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is working on the final reviews of the design plans, according to county spokeswoman Tambrey Laine.
“As soon as those reviews are complete (likely by the end of March), we’ll be able to move forward with the bidding process,” Laine told the Neighborhood News.
Construction could begin as soon as this fall, and will take approximately three years to complete.
When the widening project has been completed, Wesley Chapel Blvd. (also known as C.R. 54) will be a six-lane roadway from north of S.R. 56 (near the Cypress Creek Town Center) to I-75, near The Grove.
The widening of Wesley Chapel Blvd. (the roadway portion in red, north of S.R. 56) should begin soon. Many of the major projects along the roadway are either under construction or already open. Please note that the locations of these projects are approximate & not to scale
Of course, the name Wesley Chapel Blvd. — which has been known as much more of a country road connecting Land O’Lakes to the fledgling Wesley Chapel and ultimately, to Zephyrhills prior to the opening of S.R. 56 — is something of a misnomer, as most of the developments on both sides of the road that actually travels north and south, even though it is labeled as an east-west road, are actually located within either Lutz or Land O’Lakes zip codes.
Also located off of Wesley Chapel Blvd. is the North Tampa Aero Park, the small (one-runway) private airport that used to host a popular annual air show. The more popular the air show became, the worse the traffic snarled throughout the Lutz/Wesley Chapel area. The last year the air show was held, people were stranded on Wesley Chapel Blvd. for several hours.
At a Pasco County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) meeting on May 23, 2017, meeting, the commissioners approved a County Incentive Grant Program Agreement with FDOT for the right-of-way acquisition for the project. The estimated right of way costs were $11,718,400, with FDOT contributing half, or $5,859,200.
The construction phase of the Wesley Chapel Blvd. project is estimated to cost $36,392,250, with FDOT agreeing to fund $5,733,308 of that. Including the design costs and right-of-way acquisitions, the total estimated cost of the project is $50.8 million.
The widening will include a six-lane “urban typical section,” with a sidewalk, bicycle lanes, a multi-use path, lighting, and new signals at the intersections at Stagecoach Village Blvd. (the entrance to the Stagecoach Village subdivision, which become an active traffic signal a few months ago), at Compark Dr. and Grand Oaks Blvd. (the latter of which has been in existence for several years).
The project will be constructed in two parts. One part will widen Wesley Chapel Blvd. from north of S.R. 56 to Magnolia Blvd., which is just south of Amici’s Pizza (see map above).
The second phase will widen from just north of Magnolia Blvd. to north of Old Pasco Rd. That portion will include the addition of two new lanes in a 48” median to tie into the existing six lanes to the east and proposed six lanes to the south.
A Look Back…
The idea of widening Wesley Chapel Blvd. was considered as far back as 2003, when there was an initial study to widen it to four lanes. But, later studies showed that would not be enough to accommodate the growth in the area on both side of the road.
There are three major multi-family projects already under construction on WC Blvd., including the Maeva apartments, located just north of PopStroke.
Business on both ends of Wesley Chapel Blvd. has exploded in recent years, with the development of the Cypress Creek Town Center to the south and The Grove to the north. But, in between, new businesses and apartment and townhome communities continue to sprout.
There continues to be additional expansion at the Cypress Creek Town Center development north of S.R. 56. PopStroke opened last month, Academy Sports + Outdoors is being built next to PopStroke and a 260-unit luxury apartment complex, Maeva, is under construction just north of those two large businesses, as well as Total Wine & More. Maeva is expected to open around September.
On the west side of Wesley Chapel Blvd. north of S.R. 56, a 42,000-sq.-ft. Harley-Davidson dealership is nearing completion,and there also are plans for a 5,000-sq.-ft. restaurant on the same site.
North of Harley-Davidson, the Cypress Bend Professional Park also is under construction. While none of the tenants have been named, the complex is being built on nine acres and will include 23 buildings ranging in size from 2,612 sq. ft. to 5,868 sq. ft. The entire Cypress Bend Prof. Park project will be 74,172 sq. ft.
Other projects — including a storage unit, Valvoline oil change facility, small businesses in the plazas that dot the boulevard on the drive from I-75 to S.R. 56 – continue to pop up.
And, if Wesley Chapel has proven anything over the last few years, development along Wesley Chapel Blvd. isn’t likely to slow down.
