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Delay is urged on U.S. 19 proposal

Builders say a proposed ordinance would hurt their business, and want to present their case to the county.

NEW PORT RICHEY - With the proposed U.S. 19 concurrency ordinance rolling toward a vote tonight, the Pasco Building Association is making a plea to hit the brakes.

At a workshop Monday afternoon, association attorney Joel Tew asked the County Commission to postpone a vote on the ordinance so commissioners can address the builders' concerns.

The proposed ordinance would bar developers from worsening traffic on the busy highway. Developers would have to pay for road improvements to handle the extra traffic they would create on U.S. 19, unless they redevelop an existing building or add only a negligible number of cars to the highway.

"It's a very complicated ordinance, and it has some very complicated ramifications," Tew told commissioners at the workshop at the West Pasco Government Center.

County staffers debated the ordinance for months as they crafted it, Tew added, but "the issue has not been debated with the business community, the residents and the others who will be impacted."

At least two commissioners seemed receptive to Tew's call for a delay.

"My only concern is we're going to adopt something we don't fully understand," said Commissioner Ted Schrader. "It's very, very complicated."

Commissioner Ann Hildebrand said the county often holds months of workshops on ordinances that will affect many businesses or residents, but the U.S. 19 ordinance had its first airing just two weeks ago.

"We spent an awful lot of time on trees, cell towers and signs," Hildebrand said, referring to ordinances on those topics. "Those were quality-of-life issues. This (U.S. 19 ordinance) in my mind is quality of life, too."

The ordinance is the brainchild of Commissioner Peter Altman, who left the workshop Monday for jury duty. But before he left, Altman defended the intent of the ordinance and lashed out at a few critics who, he said, are spreading "misinformation" about the proposal.

In a Nov. 24 memo to its members, the Pasco Building Association warned the ordinance could mean "the end of your business as you know it."

"No more Friday paychecks," reads the memo from association president Joseph E. Yemen. "No more food on the table, no (more) college education, no more life as we know it."

The ordinance would affect most of U.S. 19 in the county and a roughly 2-mile stretch on either side of the highway. Development within that area would be scrutinized for its effect on U.S. 19 traffic.

Areas in the city limits of Port Richey and New Port Richey would be exempt. Of the 19.7-mile stretch of U.S. 19 in Pasco, Hildebrand said, about 7 miles fall within the two cities.

Under the ordinance, a developer could add up to 1 percent of the traffic trips on U.S. 19 without making improvements. For example, a 14,000-square-foot retail store or a 3,000-square-foot convenience store could open without road improvements.

But Marilyn Healy, an attorney for Wal-Mart, said those exemptions allow smaller businesses to cumulatively make the traffic worse, leaving the large retailers with the tab for fixing the highway.

"I think (the ordinance) needs more time so it can be thought through more clearly," Healy said.

Herman Schwendinger, a member of Pasco Citizens for Growth Management, hopes commissioners stand by their initial support of the U.S. 19 ordinance.

"I really don't know what's going to happen now because the big guns are coming out to play," he said. But when the issue comes before commissioners tonight, "We'll have our troops out."

- Bridget Hall Grumet 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 hall@sptimes.com