Zephyrhills council, planning commission back mixed-use nodes and tighter design controls for north U.S. 301; request staff plan and model code updates

The Zephyrhills City Council and the city Planning Commission held a joint visioning workshop on Jan. 13 to discuss redevelopment options for the city’s northern U.S. 301 corridor from Caswick Road north to Terrabella. Planning staff and consultant Tammy Vrana presented a quarter-mile corridor plan and a model development code that had been prepared previously; attendees worked in table groups to sketch roads, activity nodes and buffers and to weigh building height and site-design tradeoffs.

"It's an opportunity to be proactive versus reactive," Planning Director Todd told the workshop, describing the goal of creating a regulating plan that would guide future development rather than react to single proposals. Consultant Tammy Vrana summarized the earlier U.S. 301 corridor vision and a draft model code that proposes character districts such as "Zephyr Moore" and "Zephyr Vale," and suggested a density gradient with taller, mixed-use nodes and lower-density edges.

A central…