Dr. Blanco EC land use multifamily exemption workshop

2:14:28percolate and keep everybody from Coventry on one side. And to the north unknown uh a little bit safer too. So Um The Doctor Blanco, um Terry's still here? Um so Dr. Blanco has been probably the biggest economic development guy Years from from me first getting in the Bud years ago by trying to push to push to make sure we did things right down the fifty-floor corridor, every employment center. And he was told that and he's

2:14:58been trying to hold on for the a big Company coming in. And it was recently told that if you w wanted to have a company coming in, he's gonna have to allow for multifamily to go in a certain section of the property. And he says, I don't want to do that, what can I do? I says, Well I said, I think we're probably trying to do something good there, but if you had someone coming in there, I wouldn't want to make that record on you or anybody else. in any employment center that if you could bring a restrict you from b bringing a bringing a bigger company in. So he um he met with staff I think it was yesterday. And

2:15:29he left shaking his head saying, I gotta go spend three thousand dollars to go get this change so I can actually not have multifamily in there. I said, I don't think the board wants to put you or anyone else in that situation. So I was gonna bring it before the board, coincidentally with this item being polled was part of the conversation. So Terry, I sent you an email asking you if we get some verbiage, but you wanna come up and address that issue a little bit for how the how the meeting went and what you think we can do? Not only for him but for everybody else in an employment center. facility.

2:15:57Uh Nicktarios Pitos, Planning and Development. Um so with regard to the meeting with um Dr. Blanco, uh he has a property that's uh I believe on the northeast corner essentially of Sun Coast in fifty four. Um it is designated at uh future land use as E C Employment Center. And along the fifty four fifty six corridor this is probably th the only point where there is a concentration of EC right on the fifty four fifty six corridor. Um What we talked about with Dr. Blanco yesterday

2:16:27was essentially a potential comprehensive plan amendment, small scale, to amend uh approximately eight to ten acres of his twenty eight acre EC f uh future land use property. uh to office. Uh that would enable him to continue with the economic development strategy that the county has for that corner um and it would essentially uh leave approximately twenty acres or less to the E C flu. Now as a

2:16:58uh recorded lot as of I believe January tw two thousand seven Um He is that property is applicable to a provision within the E C flu that says that if you're twenty acres or less Um you do not have to follow the multifamily requirement. You're exempt from it essentially. But it requires a a a comprehensive plan amendment uh to take eight or ten acres, turn it into office, and then he would be exempted from the multifamily. Conversely, Um

2:17:29You could go into the EC flu itself and begin to make changes to the language of the EC flu. But the key thing to keep in mind with that is that the EC flu is uh applicable countywide, so there are numerous policies across the comprehensive plan that are connected to the EC flu that are impacting other locations in the county. um and also a text amendment of that sort would probably take uh six to eight months to do. because of the analysis but also because of the process

2:18:00that would be involved to bring it uh to the LPA and to the BCC twice in transmittal hearings and adoption hearings, etcetera. as opposed to a small scale comprehensive plan amendment uh for this particular property to surgically address the issue for Dr. Blanco specifically. Um that The process would only take three to four months.

2:18:22Mr. Chairman Mariano.

2:18:23Yes, sir.

2:18:23So I I think this board has done a phenomenal job working on economic development, the jobs we brought in here and right across the way was the touch point project that came in. And they were gonna build even more well, we had it set where they could actually have more commercial in there. They went more residential 'cause it worked for that project. I think that we need to go change this and I want to do as quick as we can at the same time if he's got a Someone that comes in with interest. If they know it's only six or eight months away, I think we're still gonna be okay. For that process to go through. But I think every

2:18:53single person with an EC property that wants to go straight with larger without without Yeah, multifamily. I'm a good I'm good with that. I don't want to restrict that. And had frankly, had I known it was actually laid out there, I don't think I would have supported that concept of it. So you know, God passed me and maybe it was just a good talk about, you know, how to like n live, work, and play in the same area, but seeing as we've seen things develop in the past few years, people are gonna go where they want to go with what they've got, they're gonna work it. But I don't want to restrict anybody with E C not to be

2:19:23able to create more jobs. That's

2:19:25Commissioner, I can agree more with you. It's a great point, especially when you think about how much housing is available in those areas. When we talk about oversaturation of the product you're talking about, there's there's th I I agree. Do we want Apartments or Five hundred more jobs. I'll go with the j I'll go with the jobs. It's not hard to figure out, right? I'm I'm totally agreement with you. So I'm i I uh is your direction to ask them to bring something back to change the easement. I'll

2:19:55make a motion that you bring back uh an agenda item for the board to look at to go through the process of changing everybody with an E C development to be able to avoid multifamily if they so choose.

2:20:06No, if I might add uh

2:20:12The longstanding policy of the of the county has been to, at least with the Employment Center Future Land Use, to try to put uh jobs and places of residence closer together. to have less of an impact on transportation networks, to optimize uh existing infrastructure. Um and This would be a little bit of a departure from from that long standing policy.

2:20:39Yeah, I think and w sorry, I'm not trying to take your show here, but um Considering how much housing we have up and down that corridor already. I think you've Pretty much surpassed that. I mean you know what I mean? I mean we got it.

2:20:57Yes.

2:20:57Even on the west side, if I had someone who wanted to come in and do that, I wouldn't want to restrict that person either. I don't disagree.

2:21:06follow. Bring the jobs.

2:21:07I I understand. I I just want to make sure that you're aware that in terms of the comprehensive plan, the transit emphasis corridors and the transit center overlays that we have within the comprehensive plan that rely on the EC in in in some cases, not all cases, but in some cases. The whole point is to establish that that transit emphasis, the density, which I understand has been in discussion of late. Yeah. The density that exists currently on the 5456 corridor, by uh by some of the uh estimations that

2:21:37we've had, have has only amounted to about four dwelling units per acre on the corridor, which is not near uh the transit supporting capability of um to essentially to support the the bus routes, et cetera, that we might want along 5456. So what what that could lead to is uh an increase in congestion on these thoroughfares. Yeah, I disagree with that.

2:22:03And totally you know if we we maybe need to have a workshop to understand why our comp plan is set up the way it is, maybe we bring ULI back in here. Um there's a reason why we w went through a lot of work to do the things that we did, we only have two east west roads. I mean, we have to be be careful. You can I recently drove to northern Georgia and if you said you'd driven up there, y I mean they have done a horrendous job of

2:22:34controlling sprawl. Horrendous. and um the congestion is crazy. And it There's a lot There's planning reasons why we've made the decisions that we did and I think because we see some apartment complexes along the road there in fifty six. Um we're making some knee-jerk reactions and I think we need to look at some stats to understand Is perception really reality? And so I would not wanna start messing

2:23:04with major comp plan and land use changes Like that until unless we had a workshop.

2:23:10Commissioner Weightman. And I'm good with the workshop, but I will tell you here's my here's my thing. the board, that high point center wasn't even a not a mark for EC. I asked if they get that put on there, that could put on there. So I mean I I want to pick every single corner we can, every single of these crossways to make them all happen. And I think That we all expected. in in good talk to have Live, work, and play in the same area. What we've seen though is we've seen these apartments will go where they want to go, the family home's

2:23:40gonna go where they want to go. They're on that corridor right now. I am I don't think it's gonna affect that many places. Frankly, w with this, I know it's gonna affect him. But I don't want to affect anybody else either. And if I've got fifty six percent of my population still going south to go work, I wanna put the j congestion right here on that road, but at least it's a lot quicker of a drive. Right for that area. Let them go work in our county than down So if I can add every single job I can do, I'm not sure if you're not going to be able to do

2:24:06I can see on Blanco's corner that that that that that I I wouldn't want to keep a big business coming in because of this housing part. And as you know, if they could connect in the back To Bexley and to those apartments that are gonna be baking next to that unlandscaped parking lot. Um they choose to live there. Um Yeah, there should be a connection there. So there's a maybe enough uh nexus around it. But let's just not Starting to do that. Changing our plan up

2:24:36here. Without Understanding the consequences and the and the data.

2:24:42Yeah. Well I don't I again I don't want to I won't continue a deb a bait or really want to get into a debate here, but um conversations I've had in the past I had during the the workshop previously is that um when some of these policies were implemented, you know, to be a transit-oriented corridor, how's that worked out?

2:25:02So cart before the horse, man. You put the why isn't the transit there before? So Well,

2:25:08yeah.

2:25:09I'm not so sh the again I don't want to get into long debate about this here, but show me where the on the plans for the next ten, fifteen, twenty years where we're going to have that transit along that corridor. and then maybe I'll bite. But guess what? There's no plan, there's no funding, it's not there. Essentially what in my opinion what you're doing is you're it's no difference because because those same people are a lot of them are living in the communities off say, well I'll use fifty four, fifty six or fifty two for

2:25:39example. When they're driving, they're probably driving farther on those roads and then they're hopping on s 75 or two seventy five to go north, south, east, west, wherever they're going, and then they're coming back on the same road anyways. So that traffic is still there. They're just driving a longer distance on those roads, actually in my opinion, affecting the roads even more because they're driving further. So I I mean I Yeah, maybe I I did I did it I did it for years myself when

2:26:09I f first moved to Pasco County. I mean it's no secret that it my I moved from Hillsborough County to Pasco County for good reasons But I still own a company that I drove to every day. in Hillsborough County and would drive to Hillsborough County from my office in the Temple Terrace area along I would go to South County, I would go to downtown, and I would come right back to Pasco County and drive that same stretch of fifty four, fifty six. So I was still that guy

2:26:39on the road. I was just going further.

2:26:44So if somebody's living in the right-of-way, Somewhere And already in Pasco. We have a business here and they're not having to take that long route. It just makes sense. I anyways, you know, I don't want to get into a long one on this. I mean just common sense but

2:26:59Terry wants to say something.

2:27:00Yeah, one more thing and let's move on. Yeah, go ahead. Oh let me get Commissioner Weightman. Go ahead, sir.

2:27:05If I could, real quick, and this is in my district, I'm very familiar with it. Um I absolutely, positively, 100% agree with Commissioner Oriano. Um if that's the wish of the board and Commissioner Mariano, you're okay with uh doing a workshop, I'm okay with that. But I absolutely positively agree with you on this, um, a hundred percent and I'm with you on it.

2:27:26So what do we uh

2:27:28Do we need direction or

2:27:28did we you had something else, Terry, you had something else you want to add? Or

2:27:32just a little bit of perspective. Um and

2:27:36But again, I want to get into a debate on the issue if we're going to bring it back. So

2:27:39Correct. No, I I understand. Okay, sure. From a anchoring standpoint, what we do have in the region, uh the regional rapid transit planning activities that are going to essentially connect St. Petersburg downtown with Wesley Chapel. Correct. Um what you have there is the beginnings of a good network that can span the 54-56 corridor east and west and make transit connections into the regional system and allow the regional system to access uh Pasco County when people

2:28:09do arrive from wherever they're coming from in the Tampa Bay region into Wesley Chapel. They can get onto a PCPT route and head west on 55. forward to the businesses and what have you that are that are down the road as well. So the Yes, in a sense, uh I would maybe agree with you a little bit that the cart was ahead of the horse, but it is a sort of chicken and the egg thing which comes first. Um but we do have a a a point of reference at this point in time with regard to the regional rapid transit system. And so we want to be able to uh maximize

2:28:39that 'cause there may be some people who will come into Pasco County to actually work here using the rapid transit

2:28:45systems. Listen, I'm with you. I've been a supporter of the BRT for Yeah. But again, let's talk about when that's going to actually take place and be finished. How many years? Possibly

2:28:58building the Howard Frankman project

2:28:59right now. So w before we got here, I'm just giving a s what ancillary feedback too. And then so you have the time to well I I Company wants to break a few hundred jobs. Um don't twist my arm. You know. Yeah, let me know. So what do you would what would you like to do, sir?

2:29:14I would like to bring it back for

2:29:16a workshop and Well I think we're all in agreement on the Blanco piece. I don't know if you need a workshop on that. Is there a motion that you can Well I'm not sure.

2:29:26Much as I just know Doc Dr. Blanco's thing. I I think if anybody wants to bring more jobs as opposed to Multifamily, give him the option. Let him know.

2:29:41But do we need to do something to help Dr. Blanco today? I don't

2:29:44think so because I think if he knows and and anyone he would have come in, it's going to take him a while to come in anyway. And I think that's a good thing.

2:29:55And I I think if he knows it we can always change it right away. Then three to four months instead of six months. I think it'd be okay with that. But I think if we're making that direction, I'd like to took it the whole look at it the whole thing holistically anyway. Let's face it. The way we were told things may develop down there has been a little bit different. Let's just see if we can tweak a little bit b better, make it better now. Let's go do

2:30:16So uh just to repeat so I understand Workshop The E C Employment Center Future Land Use Uh and in particular the proportions of the land uses that are within the easement.

2:30:31If they don't want to put in multifamily, we don't make them. We can make them we'll talk about connecting them. them to what's around it. That's right.

2:30:42So what's that's the discussion? That's why we're going

2:30:45to

2:30:45have a workshop to have those discussions then. So let's is that okay? Perfect. Thank you.

2:30:53Beautiful. Anything else, sir?