Residents raise alarms over well-field plans, development notices and storm damage during Pasco public comment

Several Pasco County residents told commissioners on Tuesday that the county should proceed cautiously with any water-supply work in the northeast and do more to address storm damage, infrastructure failures and notice practices.

Nancy Hazelwood, who said she lives in the 34110 area, urged commissioners to read the county’s comprehensive plan for the Northeast Rural Area and highlighted material she said she handed to the board related to a proposed test well field. Hazelwood said the county and Tampa Bay Water should consider that the area is designated for well-and-septic to preserve rural character and questioned whether locating a well field there could spur development: "My conclusion is this project's major goal is not to supply the rest of the county with water, but to open up the northeast rural protected area to development," she said.

Julia Bartanek described the Northeast Rural Pasco area as "an area of outstanding beauty" and urged a moratorium on new development while the county recovers from hurricanes. Lisa Moretti said she has been frustrated by late agenda postings and short notice of continuances; she cited a planning commission meeting where maps arrived the morning of the hearing and said the land-use code requires a continuance request five days before an event. "How do you have open and transparent government that involves citizens if we can't get our hands on the information that we need to know when we need to be there?" she asked.

Daphne Cease (transcribed as Cease) said construction at Creelah Estates affected her ingress/egress and utilities buffer, which she said is shown as 35 feet in her deed. She told the board that heavy equipment removed vegetation in her rear buffer, left long-term erosion and compromised privacy and security, and that code enforcement told her parts of the road area were "up for grabs." The county attorney said the matter appeared to be a private legal dispute between property owners but that staff attorneys would follow up and that the county's real-estate attorney could contact her.

Krista Howell Larkin, a Zephyrhills resident displaced by hurricanes, said she is paying about $3,000 a month out of pocket while unable to return home and pressed the county for an update on infrastructure work in the Zephyrhills Silver Oaks area. She said money previously allocated for Silver Oaks had been shifted and that residents need clarity on whether repairs will occur before next hurricane season.

Other commenters included Asia Moore, a vice president of a Pasco-based nonprofit, who urged more protection for the Nature Coast and criticized overdevelopment, and Anne Marie Winter from the Area Agency on Aging, who thanked the county and Commissioner Oakley for a private $5,000 donation to the agency's unmet needs fund.

County staff and commissioners responded to several comments: staff said someone would contact Daphne Cease, the county confirmed it would follow up on the Creelah Estates matter, and commissioners urged staff to improve notice and transparency on planning items. Commissioner Jack Mariano said Tampa Bay Water and county officials had hosted a public meeting and that additional public outreach would continue as feasibility work advances.

Ending: County staff told residents they would follow up on the specific complaints and that the county would continue separate outreach on the Tampa Bay Water feasibility work and on infrastructure recovery in displaced neighborhoods.