The plan to keep the road current with growth and development lacks specifics, opponents say.
By BRIDGET HALL GRUMET
Published January 15, 2004
NEW PORT RICHEY - The revamped proposal for a U.S. 19 concurrency ordinance goes something like this:
Developers along U.S. 19 would make their own highway improvements to keep traffic moving. Or they could pay a special fee, and the county would use the money to fix trouble spots along the hectic highway.
But members of the Citizens Ordinance Review Committee pointed out Wednesday evening that there's a catch: There is no guarantee the fees from a specific developer will fix the stretch of U.S. 19 where its project is affecting traffic.
Rather, all of the money would go into one big pot for U.S. 19 improvements throughout Pasco County.
"There's never any requirement that a particular improvement be made, other than in the grand scheme of improving U.S. 19," said Steve Booth, a development attorney who sits on the committee reviewing the ordinance.
If the county tried to tie a developer's fees to fixing a specific stretch of U.S. 19, however, it could take years to amass enough money for each project, Assistant County Attorney David Goldstein said. As it is, the developer's fees won't cover all of U.S. 19's needs; Goldstein said the county hopes to get money from the state and federal governments, too.
"What we need to be able to do is pool the money together and fix the worst spots," Goldstein said during the meeting at the West Pasco Government Center.
"To say the money has to be spent where the developer impacted (U.S. 19) would be impossible," he added.
Robert Fudge, an engineer with Avid Engineering and a representative of the Pasco Building Association, said the ordinance unfairly sticks new developers with the tab for a highway that has deteriorated over decades.
And there's another problem with developers pitching in to one big fund:
"That money could go down the street to your competition to help their (U.S. 19) access," Fudge said. "That doesn't make sense to me."
Several Beacon Woods residents complained the proposed ordinance has been watered down. The proposal would allow developers to make the traffic on U.S. 19 worse, as long as they pay a fee.
"An impact fee is not going to prohibit someone from destroying the community," said Henry Elam, a Beacon Woods resident who owns a computer software shop on U.S. 19.
The committee's second public hearing on the U.S. 19 measure, originally slated for Jan. 21, has been postponed until Feb. 18. That gives county-hired traffic consultant Tindale-Oliver and Associates more time to calculate the U.S. 19 fee for developers.
The Feb. 18 hearing will run from 4 to 8 p.m. in the West Pasco Government Center.
The issue would then go to the County Commission for additional hearings and a vote.
- Bridget Hall Grumet 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
