Public comment on dredging, short-term rentals, speed limits
What the county recorded
This item is not from the published agenda
It is a stretch of the recording that this archive identified as a separate matter — a call to order, a recess, or something taken up that the agenda does not list. There is no official title, no staff recommendation and no disposition, because the county never recorded one. Everything below is inferred.
The source document
The county’s agenda for Board of County Commissioners, Jun 8, 2021
The published PDF, as served by the county. This item is one entry in it.
The county’s minutes for Board of County Commissioners, Jun 8, 2021
The published PDF, as served by the county. This item is one entry in it.
What was said
Machine transcription of 25m of recording, with speaker names inferred from voice matching. 91% of 94 lines carry a name. It shows what was said, not what was decided, and both the words and the names can be wrong.
Here. Uh with uh Commissioner Fitzpatrick being uh at Online today we will have all the voting will be done by roll call vote. Now is the time for public comment. Citizens were given an opportunity to comment on any. Item coming before the board during this session. The board to take also takes public comment on items to come forward in the future board agenda and to businesses under their preview.
Due to COVID-19 operations to safeguard the well-being and safety of our citizens and staff, today's public comment will be handled as follows. First, we will take public comment from those persons who are here in person. This includes a public comment kiosk. If it is necessary due to the overflow or someone shows up and prefers to speak. The kiosks and hasn't closed and
it hasn't closed yet. Next, we will take public comment from these who those who are pre-registered for WebEx Link and are currently on queue. Finally, we will read into the record public comments and documents, PowerPoints, or videos that have been identified by members of the public to be read out loud, played at the meeting, or received and filed. This news format does not waive the request that when you
address the board comments not um directed toward any personally toward any commissioner or team member, but rather the directed to the issues. This provides virtual respect between the board members and the public. The WebEx and and persons, kiosks, participants, after stating your name and address for the clerk, they will the timer will be activated and start at with countdown. After two minutes, one beep
will sound and Letting you know that you have one minute remaining. After the time is up, two beeps will sound, indicating three minutes are up and that you should finish your comments. WebEx participants will be disconnected when their time is up, and kiosks participants will be asked to step away from the kiosks. Okay. Do we have um anyone to speak in person today? Yeah.
Um the list I have is uh for no one to speak in person. It's just individuals here to speak on um regular agenda items.
Okay. So we'll move on to WebEx.
I have um four people pre uh pre-registered but I have one that has connected. Mr. John Wilder. Mr. Wilder, if you could state your name and address for the record, please.
Mr. Wilder.
Yeah, can you hear me? Yes, I can
hear you. Thank you.
Yes, my name is John Wilder. I reside at [address removed].
Right then of the web. Club and I'm here on the back of our army workers.
You may proceed.
We are a building community that lives or enjoying all the amenities that the area provides. However, we're challenged.
Yeah. I've lived here for more than 20 years and our channels have never been dredged in that time frame. At this point they are so bad that at low tide we have one to one and a half feet of water throughout the channel and in the winter months less than six inches.
Some photos of the shallow water cross bars and the tear-grading navigational markers that make up our channel. These are the photos you're looking at today. As new developments come into the county, we should not forget. After all.
Moving forward. Thank you for your time.
Thank you.
Um while um Mr. Wilder was speaking we had another individual that had pre-registered log in, Shauna Loban.
Okay.
Ms. Lovan, if you would like to state your name and address for the record and then you may begin your comments.
Hi, I'm Shauna Loban, [address removed].
Thank you, ma'am. You may proceed. Okay.
I am a registered voter and homeowner of Pasco County and a former Metty Commissioner of one of the fastest growing communities in the United States. I'm here to speak on the removal of our county ordinance dealing with short-term rentals in Pasco County. The central concern is current resident impacts to quality of enjoyment and expectation of standards under the ordinance structure that has been dependent upon since the 1980s for the county. When an individual decides to convert their home into a hotel, they are consciously
choosing specific risks and bringing unverified individuals into their home. Unfortunately, their adjacent neighbors take on similar risks and interact with these individuals without their consent. Just the fact that alters the zoning of their existing neighborhood, as commercial zoning from a hotel is much different than zoning from a neighborhood.
Where is the compensation for the impact of the neighbors that log home in the area that was guaranteed to be free of hotels through this ordinance on the zone?
Relinquishing local control and stability in favor of distant control by state legislators and bureaucrats. It's not a good idea. Local control ensures that we have the stability of standards and predictability at one plastic family. You should be very We should just be very uh slow to hand over control of our daily lives in any in any aspect. It is confusing for an elected body to put a morelli on an apartment house with the sacred property value. And then the same period signed change standing
ordinances to encourage transient runners in our county. We also had um the commissioners speak about Speak uh having a sense of community with all of these new developments being put. How do Airbnb Airbnbs contribute to that? They don't. Property owners have the right to peaceful enjoyment of their property through the contracts of their homes. and the ordinance of this county, and ship and essential local control such as the short-term weather ordinance are essential aspects of the quality of life here in Pasco
County. A majority of these are the residents that live here year-round, unlike the investors that may only come out once in a while, or snowbirds that only live here a portion of the year, the residents that occupy their homes full-time are the ones voting in our local elections. That was this. Thank you for your time.
Thank you.
I have no one else um that pre registered are logged in.
Okay. So you have um is there anyone at the kiosks?
There is nobody at the PF at this time.
All right, thank you. Go ahead. Um you got emails to read?
Yes sir. I do have emails. There are a total of twenty two emails. Of those, uh thirteen are duplicates, so I could read the names and addresses of the individuals who sent it and then just read that email once and then I I'll read the others.
Okay.
Alright, so
The emails that I'll be reading that are duplicate, I'm going to read the names and address of the individuals. Bonnie Allen at [address removed]. Myra Baker, [address removed]. Patricia Cunningham, [address removed].
Doug Freymeyer and Janie Finch. 4055 Marine Parkway, Newport Ritchie, Florida. Robert and Joanne Gotshawk. [address removed].
Madam Clerk.
Yes sir.
Sir Mr. People can't I'm getting messages people can't hear on TV and can't hear you in the audience. just so you know
I'll move
my mic
closer
my Pasco T V is working and s I think something on the regular T V thing they're not hearing, they can only see. Just just a heads up. Okay. That might be the T V station, so
Uh Donnelly, can we hear?
Yeah you can hear me.
I'm gonna g I'll put it closer. All right, so I'm gonna um just repeat the names and addresses.
What
do you mean?
Bonnie Allen at [address removed]. Myra Baker at [address removed]. Patricia Cunningham, [address removed]. Doug Freymeyer and Janie Finch. [address removed]. Robert and Joan Gottshawk at [address removed]. Jillian Graffy.
At [address removed], Jim and Sue Green. [address removed]. Um Gianna or maybe Gina. Uh Kybel. At [address removed], Deborah Leone. [address removed].
Teresa and Bill Liley. [address removed]. Joan and Jeannie Pilato [address removed]. Jeff and Paula Spivey. [address removed]. Sherry Weiler. at [address removed]. Alright, so those were the individuals that submitted the duplicate emails.
I'll read the duplicate email at this time.
We need to bring to your immediate attention a serious situation that could and already has resulted in an accident between a vehicle and a pedestrian which caused bodily harm to one of our GHWA residents and pets. There are many ongoing factors in GHWA, which creates a dangerous situation for vehicles and our residents. We do not have any sidewalks. We have very narrow and winding roads. And most importantly, our current speed limit of 30 miles per hour is
unsafe as drivers often cannot see and slow down in time to avoid hitting our many walkers, joggers, and bikers. For the safety of our residents, Ranging from children to seniors and to avoid future
Serious accidents, we therefore request that you immediately provide a safer situation for our community. One, reduce the speed limit in GHWA. Two, pose several danger winding roads and flashing signs so that drivers can lower their speed accordingly. We request that you take the above action because we are primarily concerned with creating a safer environment for our residents. We are also asking you to take these safety measures because we are equally concerned of the liability that might be levied against us
and Pasco County if we are not proactive and if we do not take the action or the above action to protect our residents when we know for a fact that our current higher speed limit is unsafe for our seniors, children and pets. Please note there is already a statute on the books, Florida Statute 316.183 that authorizes the reduction of speed limits in residential neighborhoods. quote, as may be necessary to avoid colliding with any person, vehicle, end quote. This statute clearly gives you the authority
to lower your speed lower our speed limit and we are we are asking you to enforce it for the safety and welfare of our residents. Commissioners, we want to thank you in advance for taking immediate action to protect our residents and to prevent another accident in GHWA.
G H W A stands for Gulf Harbors Woodlands Association. It's okay.
Here are the individual emails. The first email is from Candy and Andy Buck. They reside at [address removed]. Dear Pasco Commissioners, I reside at [address removed], and I request that the Count the Pasco County Board of County Commissioners, BOCC, not add as an amendment and approval by the B BOCC to include all the canals and waterways in the Seaforest
area. or which includes Golf Landings Association and to not be included in the phase two permitting that is scheduled for the May eighteenth, twenty twenty one BOCC meeting. I request my email to be read and entered into the record. of the May eighteenth, twenty twenty one Board of County Commissioners meeting. Sincerely. Next email is from Barry Lasher [address removed]
[address removed]. Dear Commissioners, I request that this email be read into the record at the next meeting on this subject. I wish to thank the representatives that have already acknowledged my prior emails on this subject. As you each well know, boating and waterway access is an essential part of our golf lifestyle. The canals in our area are becoming more shallow and troublesome to navigate with each passing year. Without dredging, the time will soon come that boaters will be unable to will be Unable to access the golf in vessels which they currently own.
Your current commitment of funds to dredging in this area will result in the dredge and associated resources already being in this area and will offer the most cost-effective opportunity to provide a more comprehensive dredging solution to include the golf landing, seafood canals, and adjacent canal system. It is a very important opportunity to address this. Problem. Let's not miss it. Thank you again for listening and being responsive to your citizens and electorate electorate. Best regards.
Next email is from Deborah Cox. Address [address removed]. I own a home in the community of Gulf Harbor's Woodlands in Marine Parkway in Newport Ritchie. We have lived there for the past six years and can tell you the traffic speeding is by by the the traffic speeding by is a problem. The road is busy and has many curbs. We have service vehicles and neighbors using the full stretch of Marine Parkway.
The way the road was built makes visibility limited and curves dangerous. The vegetation in the community is mature and can also block site lines, which is different from when the county was built and the 30 miles an hour was decided upon. There are no walkways. People that are walking or riding bikes are at a great risk of getting hit. We have a severe problem backing out of our driveway. Twice we've had a car come through our yard that was going too fast to avoid hitting us. Cars have gone off Off the road and through several yards in Marine
Parkway from going too fast. I prefer not to walk or even stand near Marine Parkway for fear of getting run over. My grandchildren are not allowed in our front yard for fear of speeding cards or losing control. Many of my neighbors feel the same. Even though there are signs suggesting a slower speed, drivers routinely travel more than the posted 30 miles per hour. We can't change the structure of the road with its many curves and lack of the road. of sidewalks, but we can make our communities safer by lowering the speed limit and enforcing it. Deborah Cox.
Next email is from Michael Dogali. Address is [address removed]. I have now lived in the woodlands for almost two years and have experienced multiple close calls with speeding drivers almost hitting me, members of my family, our pets while on a on walks in our neighborhood, slower vehicles. And not long ago I witnessed a close call with a child waiting for a school bus. The speeding here
needs to be addressed immediately. I don't believe that just lowering the speed limit is all that is going to take place.
Many times right in front of my home in Pasco County, deputies sits in their vehicle to detour speeders, but as soon as they leave people continue to speed. Either better enforcement or or other means such as speed humps need to be implemented in our community. This is a major safety issue and as more families with children move into our community, I fear that this issue is left undressed will lead to someone getting seriously hurt or possibly killed. Thank you for your time.
The next email is from Neil Paulka. Address is [address removed]. I request that you vote in favor of reducing the speed limit within Gulf Harbor's Woodlands. The goal of a lower speed limit would be to improve the safety of the residents and the guests of the community while potentially providing some favorable environmental impacts. The safety of the residents and guests of this community is of paramount importance, and a lower speed limit would reduce the risk of accidents and also. Reduce the severity of accidents that could
still occur. In addition to the potential of reducing the risk of harm to persons or property, other intangibles from a lower speed limit could arise, such as better fuel economy, which could translate to lower greenhouse gas emissions and reduced air pollution. There would seem to be no justifiable reason to vote against reducing the speed limit, and we hope that you will consider our request as it relates to this matter. Thank you for
Next email is from Louis Stein, [address removed]. We need to lower the speed limit in Gulf Harbor's woodlands. We have no sidewalks and people need to slow down.
The next email is from Bruce Weiler.
Address is [address removed]. Dear Mr. Dear Commissioners, my name is Bruce Weiler. I have been a homeowner and resident of the Gulf Harbor's Woodlands neighborhood since August 2007. During this time I have been concerned with the speed of traffic in the neighborhood, especially on Marine Parkway between Opal Lane and Dewey Drive. I am concerned about the safety of my family and neighbors who regularly walk around the neighborhood. The factors that create the concern are listed below. One, traffic tends to
move out. Or above the posted speed limit 30 miles per hour. Two, the section of marine parkway that I mentioned above winds around and is heavily wooded. Trees and shrubs encroach on the roadway so driver visibility is limited and may prevent them from seeing pedestrians early enough to avoid an incident. Three, the neighborhood only has a couple of sections of walk sidewalks, so pedestrians are forced to use the roadway. I would like the commissioners to consider lowering the speed limit within the Gulf Harbor's Woodland neighborhood to twenty five miles per hour
or installing traffic, quieting uh devices along Marine Parkway. Thank you for thank you very much for your consideration, kindest regards.
And
The next email is from John.
Завадний. Address is uh [address removed].
Okay.
We have been residents of Gulf Harbor's Woodlands since May of two thousand four. We love this community, we love the people, and we want to be safe. The roadways have become dangerous, very dangerous, walking and bicycling, riding Walking and bicycle riding riding have become very popular. Everyone is trying to stay fit and live longer. When Hummers, Teslas, and sports cars roar through the neighborhood way beyond thirty miles per hour. And i something needs to be done. It is especially dangerous on Marine Parkway where the curvy roads traverse older
trees and visibility is at a minimum. Nobody wants speed humps speed bumps However, that may be the only solution if we can't reduce the speed limit to twenty or twenty five miles per hour. And with the increased value, we have seen younger families moving in with many younger children. Who is going to take responsibility when one of those beautiful children is crushed by a gigantic pickup truck? Please help us. Action is needed. John and Audrey Zavadni [address removed],
Golf Harbors.
The last email that I have is from Karen Henningway.
Address is [address removed].
I am a vacation rental owner at Golf Islands Beach and Tennis Club. My please present my comments regarding the short term rentals Tuesday at the B C V O C C I have one condominium. It is managed by an excellent property manager and there have never been any complaints or nor uh no problems from the time I've owned it since January twentieth, twenty sixteen. I occasionally stay at my Home my own unit and a very short term. Wait, I occasionally stay at my own unit and a very
short term. I would like to see that this issue is settled because we've been able to do this in the past and coming back and asking owners to continuously sign petition. I currently reside in another state, but I bought a personal home in a senior mobile home park in Hudson, Florida, Pasco County, and plan on being there shortly to reside in Florida. I just wanted to let you know that I do believe in short-term rentals and I have used Airbnb. in other co uh in
other countries and find them to be very honorable business people and also VRBO brings many fine clients to my property. Thank you very much, sincerely. And that concludes the emails.
So we have any more or that's it? That's it.
That is all the emails that I have. Okay, Karen.
Mr.