Seven Diamonds Commerce Park MPUD PDD 24-7649
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What was said
Machine transcription of 24m of recording, with speaker names inferred from voice matching. 89% of 114 lines carry a name. It shows what was said, not what was decided, and both the words and the names can be wrong.
She's not sure.
Good afternoon, Amy Tull with Planning and Development. The item before you is Seven Diamonds Commerce Park M PUD in the name of PDD 24-7649.
The proposal is a rezoning application from R2 Low Density Residential to MPD master plan unit development to allow for the development of light and heavy industrial uses on 188.71 acres. It is located on the east side of Highway 41, approximately 4.5 miles north of State Road 52. Here is the general location. It is located in the central market area. uh
the aerial map view of the subject site. Current zoning is R two. And the existing future land use is currently Res One, residential one dwelling unit per gross acre. There is an accompanying comprehensive plan amendment that was heard a few months back proposing this area to PD Fu PD flu.
Here's the master plan that accompanies the Seven Diamonds Commerce Park as well. As you can see, the certain heavy industrial uses are going to be centralized to the interior of the project scope. I have highlighted here the light industry being on the south and the north, but I also want to make note that the entire project is also just planned for light industry. So the heavy industry Industrial uses will be set back at least five hundred feet from the north and up at at a minimum of
three hundred feet to the south where the wetland is located.
So the applicant is seeking the following variations from the land development code being LDC section 901.6 D11. The applicant is requesting relief to provide connections to the north, east, and south. For the reasons being the north is a platted subdivision, the east is an existing CSX railway, and to the south there's a Category One wetland. Additionally, section 805.6 This is
in place to put the maintenance responsibility of the wetlands and the upland buffers under one entity. The applicant has recommended or requested to put it under a reciprocal easement agreement, which does still uphold the intent of the code of under one entity. And lastly, section 1105.2 for landscape buffering, the applicant is requested. requesting relief to eliminate the internal landscaping buffering due to it being an industrial site. So for those reasons,
staff is amenable to the requested relief. And with that, we recommend approval with the conditions of the requested rezoning petition to the Board of County Commissioners. And I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Okay. Do you have any questions from the Dice?
So the landscaping on the outside of the um project is still gonna be maintained, or the buffering is still gonna
be maintained. The landscaping to the buffer to the outside is still gonna be maintained. They are requesting relief against the CSX railway.
Any any other
questions?
Okay, if not, uh is the applicant present?
Good afternoon. Barbara Wilheit, [address removed]. Great to be here. Congratulations, David. I didn't know that you got an award last week and Elizabeth. I hired them both.
You would have had to be here at nine o'clock to find that out. Apparently we need to
give Barbara an award.
The uh we were here before for the the transmittal of the Complant Amendment. That Complant Amendment was approved by the Board for Transmittal and went to the state and came back with no um no comments. So we're here with the MPUD. Regarding landscape buffers, we actually put those, the external ones are on the face of the MPUD, trying to be very clear with what our setbacks will be, what our landscaping will be, where our uses will be. We applied for this in January twenty twenty-two. Yeah. So we've been working at it um and and really for all of a lot of the questions
that that the uh neighbor has asked, well not a direct neighbor but somebody in the in the community Um we worked very hard on conditions that I have not seen on any other uh project, especially for our our our heavy industrial uses. We don't have all heavy industrial uses. We don't have all of I2. We have a select few heavy industrial uses that relate to where this project is. This project is across from Seven Diamonds Mine. Um, that's a Lime Rock mine. And so the there's a high demand
to take materials from that mine and take them across the street to this location and use them to manufacture. We all need and we all use, um, if not in our house today, but in our children's house they want to build tomorrow, or a relative that's moving to Florida and building. So these are these are necessary products to be produced. This location is ideal because of the um proximity and the trips. Because these these trucks are gonna go somewhere, if
it's not this facility, they're going to be making more trips on the road. Not only that does that put more trips, trucks on the road, it also increases the price of product that we would that we all have, that we all would experience. Not to forget that we do we are in an area where we want to make sure that we're good neighbors, and I can tell you that the county attorney's office, we have written the most unusual conditions that I've ever seen in all my years to make sure that we have double enforcement authority. So not only do we have stringent DEP permitting, which I
have our our expert consultants, who's one of the best that I've ever met, who does this for a living, is is permit these types of facilities. Um but we have also added them into the county the county zoning ordinance here so they can be enforced by the county if for some reason the state doesn't enforce, if for some reason our users aren't following the rules. So I have my full team here. I think my client was feeling a little ill, so but I feel very strongly that we can answer any questions as a team and um
we look forward to your uh support hopefully and appreciate all that staff has done to uh work with us. on getting to this point. Thank you.
All right, thank you, Barbara. So just out of curiosity, it doesn't really matter, but um Does do your client does your client foresee accessing the rail? Uh
I don't know. And you know there's there's There's our near future. And then there's a longer future. And so I think in the near future maybe not, but We usu you will see that this property will evolve over time because eventually the Lime Rock mine will um build out and expire and and then and then as you build these c these facilities tend to locate where people are building. So I think there'll be another life of the of the product of of of
this project over time and I think that proximity to real. And that's why we did no landscape buffer on that side so that we can allow that to happen, you know, if there's a demand for it.
That's kind of what I figured. That's why I was asking so It I think the location's great.
Thank you.
Thank you, Barbara. Okay. Anybody here that would like to speak or have questions?
We can have your name and address, please.
Stephanie Schatzman, [address removed].
Okay, and Stephanie you've been sworn, right?
Yes I have. Okay. Seven Diamonds Letter on hearing dates had September twenty-one for planning. I showed up only to find out it wasn't true, sending an email to planning the same day asking for the dates and answers to numerous questions with a copy of Seven Diamonds Letter resulted in no response. I followed up a week later and received the dates. I am still waiting for answers to my questions. This is the norm. Lego Verde owners originally wanted to build million dollar homes around the lake. Pasco County sacrificed
the area for approval of a limestone blasting mine to avoid a Burt Harris lawsuit, even though they were fan financially imploding and they went bankrupt eleven months later. Planning uh Pasco Planning 2011 report states under recommendation that future expansion of the limestone mic mining activities should be discouraged or prohibited in order to maintain the vision and character of the area as well as protect the ecological form of the area. The opposite
happened. doctor James P. Gills Jr. and Lou Friedland, the rich guys, were approved in twenty seventeen for a limestone mine. Now those two are back wanting heavy distress industry in the form of a concrete plant that is requesting wells and septic tanks. Crossbar Wellfield abut abuts the entire eastern boundary of the proposed contract concrete plant. Just like the mine.
That adverse impacts caused by heavy industrial use are managed by the state agencies and thus citizens are basically on their own. According to PASCO 2050 Comprehensive Plan, Objective 1.6 Groundwater and Surface Water Protection, it states to preserve the well fields by eliminating potential adverse impacts to groundwater from adjacent land uses. Soning shall only be allowed upon the condition that no land use that meets the
definition of industrial shall be permitted within such zoning areas. The concrete plant is heavy industry, so 12 states, a subdivision with properties of less than two acres needs a central sanitary sewer system, but Pasco is allowing septic tanks and wells. Crossbar Well Field over four months has pumped on average 20 million gallons of water per day. A concrete plant is not compatible. Okay, we may have pollution.
There is no fire alarm air alarm system out there. The fire department is eight miles away. Through Friedland's various businesses he generously donates to commissioners. Do we ever stand a chance? And where is Pasco's protection from the impacts to the aquifer, our wells, the pollution, the noise, and traffic? This may be business as usual for Dr. James P. Gills, Jr. in Friedland, but we want the same protection and peace they have at their homes. Thank you.
Anyone else?
Okay, no one else is speaking on this, so Barbara, would you like to respond?
So, yes, we had a notice letter that uh went out with the comp plan that noticed the date of the MPUD before this body that we overlooked that we noticed the re this MPUD with the zoning, the MPD dates changed. We overlooked that. We did send out notice of this hearing to everybody as required with the with the date. That's what happened. And I think staff ended up continuing it that day, walking on and continuing it to today. So apologize for that, certainly
not trying to do anything wrong or hide anything and was no we were noticed for today. Crossbar Wellfield is on our west and I will bring up Gary from ECT. He answered this question um before and Ms. Shotzman heard the answer, but she has still citing the same things. So we'll have him repeat the answer with regard to the proximity to the well fields, the protection zones. A lot of people like to stand up and and and cite comp plan to you, but comp plans are implemented in codes. And this Complant
policy you have a groundwater protection ordinance, um which Gary's gonna explain to you how that what that ordinance shows as far as mapping of that well field relative to this property. And with regard to water and sewer, the utilities department has advised that the nearest um w nearest water and sewer are more than one point five miles away, with uh water being four miles and sewer being two point seven miles, which exceeds the distance to require us to hook up in the comprehensive
plan under table 101. Let me I didn't hear anything else I needed to respond to. A lot of it was ha was personal attacks against my client and um his project across the street, which
Um I don't have not heard any complaints about that project across the street. Everybody's noticed heavily regarding the blasting over there.
Yes, Lago Verde is not owned by my client. My client does own seven seven Diamonds Mine, which is adjacent to Lago Verde. Right. Let me have Gary explain the
refill. Before you do that, let me just uh So so that everybody who might speak at a on at a future item Um knows that I'm not sure. our timer is set for three minutes. It'll go off in two minutes just to let you know that there's a minute left. That's what that beep is. first one goes off that you gotta quit talking. So I wanna make sure you know that you've got plenty of time. The other thing is I I just want to say this because it
you know, I it She her comments. When you make a person personal attack against people, it doesn't help your position at all. And uh so let's try to stick to the facts. Yeah. She she I don't know, she left so she didn't want to hear what you had to say I guess. But uh Um let's try to do that. You know, just respect each other, okay? So thank you very much.
Name and address and and uh you you've been sworn, right?
Yes, my name is Gary Ubelauer. I'm a principal engineer with environmental consulting and technology. Address is fourteen oh eight Northwest Shore Boulevard in Tampa. And I have been sworn. There are two responses or or two answers Two her comment or question. The first is that it's well documented. that the direction of groundwater flow Beneath the well field. And the commerce park. is
to the west or to the coast. And so the Commerce Park location would not naturally flow towards the well field, just the opposite would occur. Um so as a result, the potential for the Commerce Park to cause issues with the well field. is contrary to s to the knowledge of the of the science of how the aquifer works. This is demonstrated
and supported by not only your comp plan but your groundwater ordinance. that that provides well head protection zones. around each well in the well field. That Restricts uses and is designed to to protect each of those each of those individual wells. And those zones extend outward. depending on again the groundwater flow. Uh and so they're not just a circle,
they're kind of uh oblong shape. Yeah. And the Seven Diamonds Park is located well west of any of those protection zones. So You know, that says that staff in concert with Water Management District staff have looked at the well field And have mapped where protection is necessary. And determined that this site is beyond those protection zones. I'll
be happy to answer any questions.
Okay.
Do you have a sense of just out of curiosity what your consumptive use is gonna be under you know what what's proposed there from your past experience on Other sites?
Um It would depend on the mix of uses actually. Uh
but you're talking about a concrete a batch plant or or something like that. So just generally based on your your experience and
Mm. It would you know, it'd be on the order of a million gallons a day. Okay. Something like that. Okay.
Thanks, sir.
Mm-hmm. Okay,
thank you very much.
I
think
she's raising her hand to speak. Pardon me? I don't are you raising your hand to speak?
Do you want to speak? Okay, well he should've come up with the Yeah, I appreciate that. We we just what we do normally is we you know, invite the applicant up to s to speak, give their presentation, then anybody who has concerns, like you, might maybe. Uh would come up and restate those and then they'd have a chance to respond. So we're going out of order here a little bit, but that's okay. We can work with it. Okay, I'm sorry. I just need your name and address and know if you've been sworn.
I'm Mary Cornitas [address removed]
in
[address removed].
And
you've
been sworn?
Um what does that mean?
Did you stand and swear?
Back there or not. I could do
it right now. Did you stand and raise your right hand?
I don't think she's been sworn.
Okay, so what would you like me to do? So
let's get sworn
then.
Okay, sure.
Do you swear affirm the testimony you're about to give is the truth, so I'll be back.
Yes, I do. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. And I appreciate you all allowing a forum for the citizens to speak. So I'm on behalf of some of the residents in my community. Um in the in the in regards to uh
Uh they she asked me to r say that we request that they cease and desist the continued plans to build with the lack of infrastructure. This is in regards to the wells that are drying up in Zephyrhills Uh they are no longer in a position to continue building without providing the sufficient ways to accommodate the necessary infrastructure prior to all. that they are bringing into the county. Um I also wanted to bring
up um I'm reading a book. Uh I I actually read four books about the environment and I'm a conservative, but I really believe that we need to pay attention to what's happening to our environment, especially here. you know, in Florida and um I'm really reading a great book by Jeff Goodall called The Heat Will Kill You First. So and I'm concerned about our future generations in Florida if it will be a habitable place due to our you
know, the continued uh trees that we're cutting down, how we're affecting our water sources and the heat and things like that. So it does mention Pasco County in this book, which had me a little alarmed and um You know the You know, the reality of all the growth here and and what are we doing to protect our water sources? You know, and and you know, just the environment in general, it's a scary
thing. And I think it's something we regardless of our of our ambitions or political opinions and things like that. I I think it's just something that we really need to put, you know, in the forefront. Secondly, um How many people in Pasco County have died of a heat emergency this this year? Those are statistics that are important for us to consider. Okay? We need to pay attention to this as responsible citizens. Thank you.
Thank you. So Mr. Chair, I think you do need to give the applicant a chance to rebut again. Barbara.
I don't have anything necessarily to say. We're still available if you all have any questions.
So Barbara, do you have a question? Um or for you or Amy. Condition twenty four.
This may just be a typo numbering issue, but it says In lieu of conditions twenty four through twenty-seven. The project may be served by Well and Septic. I Is that supposed to say in lieu of conditions twenty five through twenty seven or twenty five through
I'm not sure what it's supposed to say, but it I don't think it should say twenty-four through twenty-seven because they're not going to be able to do that.
The seven.
H just say twenty five to twenty seven. Twenty five to twenty eight.
Well twenty eight. Let's see, hold on front.
Well twenty eight only applies.
We're only for applying or for providing water and silver. And or reclaim water. So it should probably sit say twenty twenty through twenty
eight.
Thank you for catching up.
We can certainly fix that. No, steckst. Thank you, David.
All right. Any of you have any questions for the for that. Okay.
All right.
If not, there's no one else to speak.
Mayor motion, please. I'll make
a motion to approve. Second. As I said before, I think this is a great project in an area that really needs it, so I'm fully in support of it.
That includes the change of the condition numbers, correct? Yes
sir.
And we have a second. Yes.
I was gonna say if for what it's worth we we do consider the environment in a lot of these projects and there's a lot of um you know John can speak he's he's forgotten more than I'll ever know about uh Uh stormwater treatment and and uh its impact on the environment, so forth. So There's there's a lot of uh things that we have to do when we approve the or when these projects get approved that the developer has to do to make sure that The impact on the environment is Negligible. So it's something
we definitely do look at. So your your concerns are not Unheard.
I'm I'm actually an environmental geologist and I'll be happy to if you stay after the meeting I'll be happy to to speak with you too separately. Sure. Thank you. You're welcome.
And I'd just like to say as the project evolves I do hope that they utilize the rail. I think if we want industrial jobs in the country that having access to rail is important and I'm still very pleased with the Location of this project in proximity to the rail. Agreed.
Okay. No other comments. Um We have a motion, we have a second. All in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed, like, sign.