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 topic was an 8.5-acre property on the corridor where developers have proposed two hotels. City staff and planner Tommy Lee presented visual modeling showing existing topography and a conceptual grade change to make hotel pads roughly level with U.S. 301; Tommy Lee said that illustrations from an applicant's engineer indicated roughly 8 to 10 feet of cut at the front of the site with fill behind it. "The grade is showed up where it drops in grade and elevation to the east," Tommy Lee said during the presentation, and staff noted the proposal had not been engineered in final detail.

Participants at the workshop generally endorsed the idea of mixed-use "activity nodes," multimodal connections, and internal street grids to reduce reliance on U.S. 301. At the same time council members and commissioners emphasized protecting tree canopy, minimizing visible cuts from the main roadway, and avoiding some high-impact commercial uses on the immediate frontage (for example, drive-throughs or car washes). Councilman Lance Smith told staff, "We shouldn't worry about making the developers money ... Somebody will develop something there at some point. So why shouldn't it be what we envision for our city to look like?"

Many speakers said they preferred hotels rather than additional multi-family apartment complexes for the 8.5-acre site because hotels generate different traffic patterns and can support visitor-serving uses the city wants. Council members asked staff to seek contractual or site-plan controls to ensure tree replacement, appropriate landscaping, limits on grading, and higher-quality architecture and amenities (restaurants, meeting space) if hotels proceed. Council members also asked staff to produce an illustrative regulating plan and a short code amendment or special district that would specify permitted uses, prohibited uses and design rules for the corridor.

Tammy Vrana and staff recommended using the model development code and the 2016 US-301 corridor vision as starting points while updating assumptions to reflect current infrastructure capacity, topography, and utility availability. Participants suggested adding frontage roads and internal connectors (including Dairy Road extensions and a proposed Phelps Road crossing) to improve circulation and reduce turning movements on U.S. 301.

Why it matters: The north U.S. 301 corridor includes some of Zephyrhills' last large developable parcels inside the city limits. Decisions on zoning, allowed uses, building scale and design standards will shape the city's character as drivers enter from Dade City and affect long-term traffic, utilities and tree canopy.

Next steps: Council asked planning staff to prepare an illustrative regulating plan and draft code text or a special district; staff was also asked to meet with property owners and to return with recommended zoning tools, site-design standards and a tree-replacement/enforcement proposal for future consideration.