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 detached entitlements remain, about 50% of multifamily entitlements remain and roughly 37% of commercial entitlements remain; staff reported about 26% of the SPA land remains undeveloped. Vermillion said the county’s traffic analysis (2023) does not show any roadway exceeding the county’s accepted volume-capacity threshold and that the infrastructure built to date is “keeping up with the amount of entitlements that are being improved in Connected City.”

Kartik described the program of investments — fiber, road realignments, two public lagoons, and commitments to school impact fees and a public enterprise fund — and said the development effort has produced nearly 12 million square feet of nonresidential approvals across the planning area. He said the connected-city strategy was intentionally aspirational to attract employers and visitors and that “we're just getting started.”

Parks, trails and a potential site swap Commissioners raised concerns about park capacity and trail connectivity inside the Connected City area. Commissioner Jack Mariano said Wesley Chapel District Park is at capacity and urged staff to “figure out how to make something happen sooner than later” for park land inside the connected-city footprint. Parks and recreation director Keith Wiley said the planned Villages of Pasadena Hills (VOPH) Superpark site totals about 300 acres but includes deed-restricted passive acreage that will limit buildable active fields and that site conditions will increase construction expense.

Commissioner Mariano proposed looking at county-owned parcels adjacent to proposed private development (including a site shown on the county map near the bus maintenance facility) and asked staff to examine land-swap options with developers. County staff said they will analyze potential swaps, develop optimal site options and return with recommendations; the board gave direction to pursue that analysis rather than committing to a specific swap at this meeting.

Trail and multiuse-path connectivity Multiple commissioners asked staff to provide a clearer, consolidated map of multiuse paths and trail connections within Connected City. Commissioners stressed that several primary east–west routes show only narrow sidewalks today and urged staff to identify where wider multiuse paths are needed to support biking and golf-cart connectivity to town-center nodes.

Board direction and next steps The board asked planning, parks and public-works staff to: (1) analyze remaining entitlements and recommend an updated housing mix for the 26% of land not yet entitled; (2) inventory trail/multiuse-path connectivity and identify priority segments for multiuse paths rather than 5-foot sidewalks; and (3) evaluate potential park sites, including county-owned parcels near the bus maintenance facility and the feasibility of a land swap with adjacent developers, and return with a recommendation and cost implications. Staff said they would return with maps and analysis in follow-up presentations.

Context and limits Staff and the Metro Development representative repeatedly noted many elements of Connected City stem from long-range, multi-owner agreements and state enabling legislation referenced in the presentation; staff said the county’s comprehensive-plan overlay remains the governing framework for land use inside the SPA. Commissioners and staff emphasized no final land-swap or reallocation of park capital took place at this meeting — the board’s action was a request for analysis and recommendations.

Ending note Commissioners paused the item for lunch after directing staff to return with maps and options; staff said studies on mobility fees and the villages-of-Pasadena-Hills financial assessment will follow in the coming weeks.