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Planning commission approves gymnastic training facility at Odessa Town Center; staff requires parking study and road reconstruction
Summary
The commission approved a special exception for a 31,500-square-foot private gymnastics training facility in the Odessa Town Center plan development, subject to a parking study, Old Gunn Highway reconstruction from the project entrance to Interlaken, and landscaping and buffering conditions.
The Pasco County Planning Commission approved a special exception for a proposed private school / gymnastics training facility in the Odessa Town Center PD, conditional on several staff-mandated requirements including a parking study and reconstruction of Old Gunn Highway from the project entrance to Interlaken Road.
Amy Toll, planning staff, said the application requested a 31,500-square-foot facility on roughly two acres at the northwest corner of Old Gunn Highway and Interlaken Road. Because the land-development code lacks a parking standard specific to gymnastics training facilities, staff recommended a condition requiring the applicant to supply a parking study at the time of preliminary development/site plan.
Staff also recommended operational limits and site-design requirements: hours of operation (proposed, later clarified), cross-access to adjacent parcels to improve circulation, a 5-foot sidewalk along Old Gunn Highway frontage, and a 6-foot minimum/8-foot maximum opaque buffer along the north and west property lines (no chain-link). Toll said the applicant must also reconstruct the portion of Old Gunn Highway from the project entrance south to Interlaken to meet county standards.
Neighbors asked questions about stormwater management, on-site retention, and whether the conceptual plan’s 85 parking stalls would be adequate for competitions and peak events. Jim Spivey and Ricky Miller, who live on Interlaken/Old Gunn, urged the commission to ensure parking and drainage are sufficient and raised concerns about the condition of Old Gunn Highway north of the project (the portion Lowe’s previously reconstructed ends before Interlaken).
Applicant representative Shelly Johnson said the team accepted the staff conditions and would perform the required parking analysis once the project moves into permitting; engineer Michael Raser said he would prepare a substandard-road application and a traffic/parking study during permitting to address outstanding questions.
Commissioners debated the parking and roadway conditions but concluded the staff conditions—and the applicant’s commitment to a parking study and to reconstruct Old Gunn from the project driveway to Interlaken—addressed the main public concerns. The commission approved the special exception on a voice vote.
Why it matters: The facility will create a large, specialized athletic use in a developing mixed-use area, raising transportation, parking, and stormwater questions that staff and the applicant are required to resolve prior to permitting. The project also illustrates how the planning process uses condition-based approvals and post-approval engineering review to address technical concerns.
What’s next: Applicant must submit the parking study, finalize stormwater design and demonstrate the required road reconstruction and cross-access measures at preliminary site plan and permitting stages.
