DADE CITY COMMISSION
Zoning Approved For Evans’ Property
JOE POTTER
After a tense and lengthly public hearing on June 10, Dade City Commissioners approved a zoning amendment for 142 acres located off of River Road.
The zoning was changed from a Pasco County AC - Agriculture zoning district to a City of Dade City RS -1 Residential Single Family 1 zoning district. The property annexed in 2006 is the eastern most part of the city.
Commissioners initially refused to approve this zoning amendment on its second reading that was held on May 13.
City staff members had recommended on May 13 that the rezoning request be approved after the applicant changed it from RS-2 to RS-1. That would be the lowest residential zoning district for the property.
City attorney Patrick Brackins recommended on May 27 that Commissioners reconsider the decision that they had made on May 13. Failure to do that could potentially result in a costly lawsuit being filed against the city Brackins said.
More than a dozen people who would be affected by the proposed change in zoning spoke during the public hearing that lasted more than an hour.
Their primary concerns included the anticipated increase in traffic that would occur on River Road and the possibility that their properties could be flooded if a subdivision was developed on Evans’ property.
Both Brackins, who was representing the city, and attorney Clarke Hobby, who was representing the applicant, told Commissioners the question before them was not what the potential impact would be if a subdivision was actually developed on the property, Rather, it was whether or not the zoning should be changed.
Matters relating to the property, including infrastructure, would be addressed in the future, also at public hearings, if Evans Property Inc. did decide it wanted to have a subdivision there, Brackins and Hobby both said.
Only 100 acres of the site could potentially be developed because the remaining 42 acres of it consist of wetlands and flood plains according to the applicant.
The zoning change was approved by a vote of 4-1 with Woodard casting the lone dissenting vote.
In other matters on June 10,
it was announced that William R. Nas, Esq., had been selected as Chief of the Dade City Police Department. He will replace former Chief James E. Walters who had retired Feb. 28. Capt. Rob Tungate has been Acting Chief in the interim. Nas is scheduled to be sworn in at the July 8 meeting of the Dade City Commissioners.
Nas, who is an attorney, “brings with him 25 years of distinguished law enforcement experience, most recently serving with the Casselberry (FL) Police Department. His career includes high level command roles,” said a press release about him provided by Dade City.
Several citizens expressed concerns about an oak tree possibly being cut down on the northeast side of the Historic Pasco County Courthouse in Dade City.
It was announced a couple of days later that a permit had been withdrawn that would have allowed the tree to have been cut down. ©
