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Combine school and park space, study says
By SAUNDRA AMRHEIN, Times Staff Writer Pasco County and the School District should immediately start talks about joining school and park space, specifically when it comes to the Wesley Chapel area and Odessa/Trinity, a study recommends. A study by Pasco County consultant Wade-Trim Inc. to examine ways of cutting costs by putting schools, parks and libraries together shows that few options currently exist. The Tampa company advocates placing elementary schools, neighborhood parks and branch libraries together. Middle schools, community parks and branch libraries work well together. And high schools, district parks and regional libraries are compatible because they are usually located in similar places along major roads, and because of types of fields and facilities needed by users of all three services. In the future, the county and the school district have a chance to do it right, the report states. The report will be presented to Pasco County commissioners at 6:30 p.m. today at the West Pasco Government Center in New Port Richey. It will then be passed on to the state Department of Community Affairs, which makes them eligible for grant money on integrating school planning with community planning. "The lack of opportunity for existing facilities to collocate is a direct result of the lack of coordination and communication that has existed in the past between the county and the school board," the report states. That's not news to the county and the School Board, which have been hammering out ways to coordinate their planning. Tensions have risen recently between community sports groups and the school district as some community sports programs have been forced out when the school district either needed land for schools or started charging for the use of its buildings. Parents then turn to the county for answers. Wade-Trim said the only current option for sharing space with existing sites rests with 15 elementary schools that could fit some neighborhood parks on school property. "With the exemption of elementary schools for neighborhood parks, limitations due to existing site development of existing park, library and school facilities do not appear to provide feasible opportunities for collocation," the report said. But, the report said, the county and the School Board should immediately begin talks about joining spots for future schools, parks and libraries in the following areas: Wesley Chapel, Odessa/Trinity, Connerton, San Antonio/Saint Leo, Dade City, and Moon Lake. Immediate emphasis should be placed on Wesley Chapel and Odessa/Trinity, the report states. For Wesley Chapel, the county should start talking to the school district about a 120-acre site north of State Road 54 and east of Interstate 75 that the county is eying for a district park. The site would be a great spot for a high school to serve a growing population, the report suggests. The county and the School Board also should work together to place a high school with a district park in Odessa/Trinity. The county is considering buying 80 acres along State Road 54 in Odessa for the park. Down the road, the School Board needs a high school in the area and the report says the school district and county should work to put these two together. A new district park for the Dade City area is planned by 2010. If the county buys property for the park, instead of expanding Burks Park, it should work with the school district on placing a new high school there, too, the report says. In the Moon Lake/Ridge Road area, the county and school district should start talking about ways to coordinate plans for a district park there beyond 2010 with a future school. A branch library is proposed in the county's master plan for the area, too. The county and School Board should start coordinating this with plans for middle or elementary schools, the report says. The county also plans for a district park in Connerton area beyond 2010. The county should start talks with the school district about future plans for parks and schools there, the report says. In the San Antonio/Saint Leo area, the county's plans call for a branch library there sometime beyond 2010. The county should coordinate with the school district here, too, for planned middle or elementary school construction. -- Saundra Amrhein covers Pasco County government. She can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6244 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6244. Her e-mail address is amrhein@sptimes.com.
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From today's Pasco Times Editorial Letters |
