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Measure would help fight sprawl

County commissioners will take a look at a measure to enable residents to live, work and shop in one community.

By GARRETT THEROLF
Published December 6, 2005

Pasco wants more residents to soon be able to live, work and shop in one place.

County commissioners will take up today a proposed ordinance that presents new guidelines for the type of large developments that would include all three uses.

"The idea is to have a central focus, with a town center or neighborhood center," said assistant county attorney David A. Goldstein, who helped draft the ordinance. "These places will tend to have slightly more open spaces, front porches, alleys, connectivity among streets. It's more like the traditional old neighborhood."

That means fewer pure bedroom communities and less sprawl, in other words. These would be more like the urban centers that draw workers to Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.

The ordinance addresses all the nuts and bolts of such a community - roadway width, street sign style, landscaping, on-street parking - but without a strict one-size-fits-all policy.

Instead, it lays out ranges of options that follow five key principles: having a town center as focal point, a variety of land uses, walkable streets, respect for natural features, streets that are fully interconnected.

Several big developments - such as Connerton in central Pasco and Longleaf in the western part of the county - already have been planned or built in roughly the same mold.

But current county ordinances were not written with them in mind, meaning costly delays and headaches for developers as they seek variances.

"This ordinance should streamline that process," Goldstein said, adding that several additional projects of this type are waiting in the wings until the ordinance is passed.

It also could help streamline the process for pending projects such as the 16,000-home city, with 8-million square feet of commercial and office space, to sprout on the planned Wiregrass Ranch in Wesley Chapel.

Developers and other proponents see it as a way to stem the flow of about 50,000 commuters from Pasco bedroom communities to Tampa offices alone.

The new ordinance will first be discussed at today's County Commission meeting (1:30 p.m. at the West Pasco Government Center in New Port Richey). The ordinance would have to be discussed in at least three additional public hearings before a vote is taken.

--Garrett Therolf covers Pasco County government. He can be reached at 727 869-6232 or at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6232. His e-mail address is gtherolf@sptimes.com

[Last modified December 6, 2005, 02:15:34]