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Proposed amendments require landscaped buffers next to any road rights of way.
By SAUNDRA AMRHEIN, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 15, 2001
Not to be ignored, shrubs and flower beds will have their day, four months after the county passed the tree ordinance.
The Pasco County Commission will hear proposed amendments to its landscaping ordinance -- which actually includes trees, too -- during its weekly meeting at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at the West Pasco Government Center.
But the landscaping ordinance deals with both residential and commercial property, while the tree ordinance dealt mostly with residential.
Proposals call for a landscaped buffer next to any road right of way outside the commercial development, and next to any primary access roads inside any such development.
The width of the landscape buffer corresponds to the width of the right of way, according to the proposal. For instance, a right of way width less than 100 feet requires a minimum of a 10-foot wide landscape buffer.
A right of way width of 100 feet or more calls for a minimum buffer of 15 feet in width.
The other new requirement is landscaping around the perimeter of new buildings.
"All shopping center, retail, office, apartment, condominium, clubhouse and similar uses shall provide perimeter building landscaped beds in an amount equal to 10 percent of the proposed building ground level floor area," the proposed ordinance says.
Nita Beckwith, executive director of Pasco Building Association, says she's in favor of the landscape concept, but plans to carefully examine the proposals.
"We're definitely going to be reviewing it to see if it conflicts with the tree ordinance, to see if it's consistent with the tree ordinance so they don't overlap or don't overdo anything," Beckwith said.
-- 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