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Zoning idea has mixed results
By JAMES THORNER, Times Staff Writer In theory, commercial nodes are planning tools designed to concentrate shopping centers within a quarter-mile of major intersections, areas you'd expect to find gas stations, restaurants and stores. In practice, commercial nodes have sometimes encouraged the kind of strip development they were designed to discourage. Two recent cases in Pasco County illustrate what some county officials perceive to be a problem: In November, commissioners agreed to create a node at the intersection of Fivay and Little roads in Hudson. Much of the intersection is a leafy residential area largely untouched by stores, but the node designation creates the possibility of commercial bonanzas in a quarter-mile in all four directions from the crossroads. Then there's the case of Ehren Cutoff and State Road 52. When ranch owner Dr. J. Crayton Pruitt wanted to rezone a strip of land along SR 52 this year, county planners agreed to create a commercial node at SR 52 and Ehren Cutoff to accommodate him. Trouble is, the node sits amid almost unpopulated ranches, some of which have become, or will become, wildlife preserves. Some of these most recent cases raised the eyebrows of county attorney Bob Sumner, who sees several major weaknesses to the current rules governing nodes: By making their land a commercial node, developers find it much easier to rezone their land for shopping centers, often bypassing land use maps that propose less intensive development there. Landowners request commercial nodes with no immediate plans to build stores. But it jacks up the price of land for taxpayers when the government tries to buy right of way to widen the highway. Land that sold for $15,000 per acre before it became a commercial node can skyrocket in value to $100,000 per acre. Contrary to their intentions, nodes sometimes encourage commercial clutter. SR 52 in Hudson is a good example: Major intersections are so close together that the quarter-mile-long nodes essentially merge into one long strip. Even when nodes are far enough from each other, county planners tend to regard that gap as ideal for so-called "infill" development, often office buildings. "You get infill or professional office, and it just destroys everything," Sumner said. Not everyone is such a naysayer about nodes. Ben Harrill was county attorney when the county adopted the node concept, along with its comprehensive land use plan, in 1989. Harrill said nodes represent an improvement over the way things were done in the 1970s, when U.S. 19 became, in the eyes of many, a morass of overdevelopment. He said nodes make sense at major intersections for two big reasons: The roads can handle the expected customer traffic, and residential developers don't like to build houses in such noisy areas. How have nodes actually performed in Pasco? Harrill has mixed feelings. "Like most things in planning, some have worked well, some not so well," he said. If the county isn't satisfied with its node rules, it's the county's job to change them, Harrill said. Until that happens, county planners have to follow what's in place, even when dealing with unpopulated intersections such as SR 52 and Ehren Cutoff. Sumner proposes changing the criteria for commercial nodes, perhaps limiting them to heavily traveled state or county roads or to populated areas underserved by stores. A 25-member Citizens Advisory Committee will convene regularly over the next two years to help the county overhaul its growth plan. Sumner sees an opportunity there to raise the nodes issue. "But it's not easy to change the way things are done in Pasco County," he said.
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From today's Pasco Times |
