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BRIDGET HALL GRUMETCounty commissioners say they had little choice - the school follows the Comprehensive Plan.
NEW PORT RICHEY - Over the pleas of retirees from three communities, the County Commission gave its blessing Tuesday to plans for a new elementary school just south of St. Michael's Catholic Church on State Road 52.
Commissioners said they had little choice in the matter, as the school does not need a rezoning or a special permit - just a finding of consistency with the Comprehensive Plan, the county's blueprint for growth. That plan encourages the placement of schools within neighborhoods, County Attorney Robert Sumner said.
"We basically are a Mother-May-I pass through," Commissioner Ann Hildebrand said at the meeting at the West Pasco Government Center. "This is not a rezoning we have."
Homeowners from neighboring Gulf Highlands, Timber Oaks and Forestwood communities raised a slew of concerns about the 724-student elementary school. They fear their property values will drop, the noise level will rise and traffic will come to a standstill on their neighborhood streets.
Several homeowners said school officials have failed to address their concerns.
"There must be some reasonable people somewhere who will listen to us," said Eleanor Rizzo, president of the Gulf Highlands Civic Association, her voice trembling with frustration.
The county's finding of consistency comes with a request from commissioners: The school district should provide ample buffers and enough space to handle cars coming to the school.
"I understand you have to (build a school at this site), but why can't you make it as palatable as possible?" Commissioner Pat Mulieri asked.
Commissioners gave a similar finding of consistency for the School Board's plans for a new 1,181-student middle school in Holiday near Sweetbriar Drive.
In other news Tuesday:
At the commission's request, the county attorney's office will draft an ordinance allowing businesses to sell alcohol starting at 11 a.m. on Sundays, a two-hour head start over the county's current blue law banning sales before 1 p.m.
The proposed ordinance will come to commissioners for a couple of public hearings before they vote on it. Commissioner Steve Simon suggested a change after getting a letter from the Seven Springs Golf and Country Club, which loses golfers on Sundays to surrounding areas with earlier alcohol sales.
"It's not just the beer money they lose," Simon said. "It's the revenue from the rounds of golf."
The county attorney's office got the commission's blessing to seek court injunctions to shut down two adult businesses: La Vie Aromatherapy at 1356 Alt. U.S. 19, and TLC Aromatherapy (formerly Night Images) on U.S. 19, both in Holiday.
Assistant County Attorney Kristi Wooden said both businesses opened in a commercial district, in violation of a county ordinance that sends new adult businesses to industrial zones.
The owner and an employee at La Vie Aromatherapy were arrested October in a prostitution sting, county officials said. The landlord is considering terminating La Vie Aromatherapy's lease, Wooden said, so the county might not need to take that business to court.
- 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