Pasco unveils Pasco 2050 draft: planners propose simplified land‑use map, mixed‑use nodes and density tiers

Pasco County planning staff and consultants presented a draft rewrite of the county comprehensive plan — “Pasco 2050” — in a workshop to the Planning Commission, showing proposed chapter organization, new future‑land‑use categories and a draft schedule that would transmit the plan for adoption by the end of 2025.

David Engel, director of Pasco County Planning and Economic Development, opened the workshop and called the rewrite “a very, collaborative effort,” describing a multi‑year public engagement process that began with a 2023 visioning phase and continued through policy drafting in 2024.

“This is the culmination of that effort to provide some information for the planning commission and get your feedback,” Engel said.

Staff and consultants outlined several major changes in the draft: consolidation of the existing 14 comprehensive‑plan elements into 11 themed chapters (branded with names such as “Pasco Grows,” “Pasco Moves” and “Pasco Lives”), a streamlined future‑land‑use taxonomy, creation of three tiers within a new Suburban Density Residential (SDR) category, and a set of mixed‑use place‑making nodes (neighborhood corners, community squares and urban centers).

Chris Dorey, the consultant…