Pasco staff urge Planning Commission review as Pasco 2050 chapters and swipe map go live

Pasco County planning staff updated the Planning Commission on July 24 on the Pasco 2050 comprehensive plan rewrite, describing recent public open houses, an online swipe map to compare current and proposed future land uses, and several policy areas that drew sustained public comment. The update matters because the comprehensive-plan changes will guide growth, utility extensions and land-use rules across Pasco County and because planners asked the local planning agency to prioritize early review of contentious chapters. Terry (planning staff, first name only in transcript) explained that the county has held four of five summer open houses for the Pasco 2050 update and will host a final event on July 28 at the New River Branch Library in Wesley Chapel. "Our website is pasco2050.com," staff said, directing residents to draft chapters and contact information. Amy Heiler, project manager with Planning and Development, summarized outreach conducted for the Grand Boulevard form-based code: the team held three workshops and collected 108 survey responses. "Essentially, the common theme is ensuring walkability, making sure we keep our transportation or not our commercial corridors in place, don't detract from the existing residential, and just give it a nice revitalization," Heiler said about visioning feedback. Staff described several recurring topics from open houses and stakeholder meetings: residential-density ranges in rural and suburban categories (for example, staff initially proposed an AGR maximum density of 0.29 units per acre, roughly one unit per 2.5–3 acres, and residents urged lower densities); questions about whether utilities would be extended into the Northeast rural area (staff said there are no plans to extend utilities there); and whether the proposed future-land-use categories on US 19 should require vertically integrated mixed-use buildings or allow multifamily residential. Commissioners pressed staff on process. Several commissioners recommended staged review: publish chapters online, then bring one or a small number of elements to each Planning Commission meeting for structured review and public hearing time. Staff said they would post additional chapters online in the coming weeks and aim to bring elements to the Planning Commission for review in September and October, with the larger land development code update to follow (staff cited a February 2026 target to align code to the new plan). Staff also demonstrated a new "swipe map" on pasco2050.com that lets users compare the current (2025) and proposed (2050) future-land-use maps by swiping between layers and zooming to individual properties. Staff encouraged commissioners and the public to review the chapters online and to request workshops if they wanted more time for deliberation. No final action on the comprehensive-plan text occurred at the meeting. Staff said they will continue public outreach, post additional draft elements online, and bring selected chapters to the Planning Commission for detailed review in the coming months. The department suggested the Planning Commission consider extra or extended meetings in September and October to ensure adequate time for chapter-by-chapter review.