The Laker-Land O' Lakes-May 26, 2021

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Pasco eyeing vacation rental rules

By B.C. Manion bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com

Pasco County is looking to tweak its vacation rental rules, to make them more applicable to today’s times. The issue came up during the public comment portion of the Pasco County Commission’s May 18 meeting. Nancy Thrower, who lives in Hudson,

asked the board to amend the county’s ordinance that governs vacation rentals. “I’m here today to request that you begin the process to amend the current Pasco County ordinance governing vacation rentals. “As you know, the current Pasco County vacation rental ordinance, enacted way back in 1999, restricts vacation rentals to 30 days or more, unless community owners file a

petition with 51% owner support to change the minimum to six days instead,”Thrower said. “It would be to our whole county’s benefit to update this ordinance, as soon as possible, because right now, Pasco County is losing out on much-needed revenue. “It is out of reach financially for most See VACATION, page 9A

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A riderless horse, with boots facing backward in the stirrups, is a traditional part of a ceremony held each year to remember law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty. PSO volunteer Mary Findlay, the horse’s owner, walks on the horse’s left. In the forefront is Hernando County Deputy Tony Musto.

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Patriotism was on full display at the annual Fallen Law Enforcement Officers Memorial ceremony on the grounds of the Historic Pasco County Courthouse in Dade City.

The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, along with several other area law enforcement agencies, on May 14 honored the life and sacrifice of law enforcement officers lost in the line of duty, as well as those who died of natural causes on the way to or from their jobs, during National Police Week. The event was held on the grounds of the Historic Pasco County Courthouse, according to the sheriff’s office’s Facebook page. Fallen officers were honored throughout the day on the agency’s social media sites. The sheriff’s office was joined at the me-

morial event by Dade City Police, Zephyrhills Police, New Port Richey Police, the Florida Highway Patrol and Tarpon Springs Police. A number of community leaders and elected leaders were in attendance, including Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez, State Sen. Danny Burgess and Pasco County NAACP President Clyde Carter, who offered the invocation for the event, according to the Facebook post. The event also featured significant traditions, including the appearance of a riderless horse and a gun salute. U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis also recognized the sacrifices made by law enforcement officers

Growth pressures being felt on Old Pasco Road

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Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore expressed optimism about the county’s tourism future, given amenities such as the 98,000-square-foot Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County, in Wesley Chapel.

By Kevin Weiss kweiss@lakerlutznews.com

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Tourism is ramping up in Pasco County and considerable roadwork is underway, too, to make it easier for motorists to get around. Those were the main messages delivered by Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore at a meeting of the East Pasco Networking Group. Moore, chairman of the Pasco County Tourist Development Council, described how well the 98,000-square-foot Wiregrass Sports Campus of Pasco County has been performing, even amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The sports complex, at 3211 Lajuana Blvd., in Wesley Chapel, has been attracting youth and amateur sporting events year-round since its August 2020 opening. The indoor space can accommodate up to 17 different sports — including basketball, volleyball and cheerleading, or pickleball, futsal, wrestling, mixed martial arts, karate and others. This widespread flexibility has seemingly

By B.C. Manion bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com

been put to good use, with weekdays set aside for residents and weekends generally reserved for large-scale tournaments that can become family affairs, as parents and siblings road trip together. Moore observed the complex is “constantly full.” “Every single weekend there is a tournament there where people are coming from somewhere else,” he said.“There’s weekends where we get over 2,000 room nights for those tournaments. So, what happens? Hoteliers are obviously happy, supplying those jobs for our hotels. Those small businesses, restaurants, retail, gas pumps everybody’s benefiting when you bring those people here.” Moore also pointed to AdventHealth Center Ice, which has continued to be a major draw since opening in January 2017, at 3173 Cypress Ridge Blvd., in Wesley Chapel. At 150,000 square feet, it’s the largest ice sports facility in the southeastern United

The Pasco County Commission voted last week to continue a hearing on a rezoning request by Victorious Life Assembly of God Inc., for a 122-unit subdivision off Old Pasco Road, 250 feet south of Overpass Road. The application — which was accompanied by a request to deviate from some of the county’s land development code — received pushback from county board members. Commissioner Mike Moore made a motion to continue the hearing until June 8, after technical problems made it impossible for commissioners to understand what the applicant’s representatives were saying — as they attempted to participate remotely. Moore said he didn’t understand why the developer’s representatives were not present at the meeting, since in-person appearances are no longer prohibited due to concerns about COVID-19. “I think this item should be continued until we can have the applicant sitting right in front of us, so we can go back and forth and have a conversation, because right now, we can’t,” Moore said. Moore’s remarks followed testimony by a woman who spoke on behalf of her son who lives near the proposed rezoning. “I think we need to put the brakes on this project, at least until we get that red light and get the infrastructure done,” the

See TOURISM, page 9A

See GROWTH, page 9A

Pasco seeing tourism gains, road improvements www.lakerlutznews.c com

by sharing information about those contributions in a news release. “According to Officer Down Memorial, there have been 124 police officers killed in the line of duty since January of this year,” Bilirakis said, in the release. “Tragically, two of them have been my constituents: Deputy Michael Magli of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and Master Patrol Officer Jesse Madsen of the Tampa Police Department. I went to the funeral services of these two heroes, and shared the anguish of their grieving families and colleagues.These fallen heroes leave behind a distinguished legacy of service and sacrifice that deserves to be honored,” Bilirakis added.


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