Pasco officials and developers review Connected City progress, entitlement mix and park needs

Pasco County planning staff and a Metro Development representative told the Board of County Commissioners on April 9 that the Connected City special planning area has largely met its nonresidential goals but still has significant residential entitlements and unanswered questions about park siting, trails and local road connections.

David Engle, Pasco County planning and economic development director, told commissioners the presentation would “focus on Connected City” and invited Metro Development to provide a brief overview of the project’s history and goals. Metro Development’s speaker, identified in the record as Kartik (Metro Development representative), summarized the initiative’s origins and the county-level goals to attract jobs, health-care anchors and digital infrastructure to the area.

Why it matters: the Connected City overlay was created as a long-range economic-development strategy; commissioners and staff said the next phase must balance commercial growth with where and what type of housing, active public spaces and trails will serve new residents.

Staff findings and developer perspective William Vermillion, senior planner, presented an entitlement study showing roughly 44% of the originally planned single-family…