Planning commission approves Sandy Lakes rezoning with school-buffer condition

The Pasco County Planning Commission on Feb. 19 voted to recommend approval of a rezoning request from Sandy Lakes Development Corporation that would convert roughly 75 acres to an I-1 light industrial park district, with an added condition addressing a nearby school.

Commissioner (speaker 3) pressed staff to include the property’s prior rezoning history in the finding-of-fact language and highlighted a 150-foot buffer — more precisely a setback — along the western property line that abuts a school-board property and an existing elementary school. “It’s 150 foot buffer,” the commissioner said, urging that site-plan review coordinate access because of a school bus garage on Interlaken Road.

The applicant’s attorney, Clark Hobby of Hobby & Hobby, P.A., said the project includes a large retention pond on the west side that will mitigate impacts from development and that the developer will work with county engineers and the school district. “We will get with the school board on it,” Hobby said, adding that Aurora Engineering will coordinate on the proposed berm and access.

After discussion, the commission approved the rezoning with added language to condition 12 requiring the clarified finding and directed staff and the applicant to coordinate access details with the school board and county engineers before site-plan approval. The commission’s approval was recorded on the public record and will be forwarded to the Board of County Commissioners for final action.

The commission’s decision followed staff notes that a PDE number associated with the item had been corrected and that an ex parte disclosure was filed with the clerk’s office. When the applicant advances to site-plan review, staff and engineers will coordinate with the school district on bus-circulation and access alignment.