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Pasco approves digital billboards By Kathy Steele ksteele@lakerlutznews.com
A 17-year ban on digital billboards in Pasco County has ended. The Pasco County Commission has approved an ordinance to allow an illuminated, multi-image style of billboard advertising. The ordinance allows digital billboards in exchange for fewer static billboards along the county’s highways. Digital billboards will be restricted to the county’s major corridors, including segments of Interstate 75, U.S. 19, State Road
54, State Road 52 and U.S. 41. The unanimous vote, at the Jan. 24 meeting in Dade City, concluded nearly two years of negotiation between the county’s legal staff and the outdoor advertising industry. Pasco County Commission Chairman Mike Moore said residents can expect to see less blight on the roadway. “Not that we don’t like billboards and people advertising on them,” he said.“Less is better for the county and the community. Some of these structures that are dilapidated will end up coming down. It will be good to see them go down.” While voting in favor of the ordinance,
Pasco County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey had reservations. “I worry they’ll take down all the little ones and leave these big monsters all around,” Starkey said. The swap-out agreement is based on square footage of a static billboard’s face, or the surface area displaying the advertisement. A billboard can have more than one face. The county’s ordinance would require removal of 4,032 square feet of static billboard advertising for each digital billboard See BILLBOARDS, page 11A
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Dignitaries use golden shovels at the groundbreaking for Mettler Toledo’s new plant at North Pointe Village.
Pasco County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey was among dignitaries who attended the groundbreaking for Mettler Toledo’s 250,000square-foot plant in North Pointe Village, off State Road 54 at Suncoast Parkway.
Mettler Toledo breaks ground for new plant By Kathy Steele ksteele@lakerlutznews.com
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Swiss manufacturer, Mettler Toledo, broke ground on a 250,000-square-foot manufacturing plant that will bring about 185 new jobs to Pasco County. More than 300 people attended the ceremony on Jan. 14.Among those present were Viggo Nielsen, general manager of Mettler Toledo Safeline; Pasco County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey; Pasco County Planning and Development
Administrator Richard Gehring; and, Bill Cronin, president of Pasco Economic Development Council. Mettler Toledo is relocating its current facility from Town ‘N Country, in Hillsborough County, to Northpointe Village, off State Road 54 at the Suncoast Parkway. The company is a global supplier of precision scales and services used in research, and the packaging and production of food and pharmaceuticals. The new facility will be part of the product inspection division for Mettler
Toledo Safeline. Gehring said a substantial amount of work from Mettler Toledo and county staff members preceded the groundbreaking. He updated the Pasco County Commission on the project at the commissioners’ Jan. 24 meeting in Dade City. “It was a great performance to see the result and to see $25 million in (investment) is going into the ground,” he said. “It’s a major, major, major effort. When you walk out See METTLER, page 11A
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Love — in its many forms — is concert’s theme By B.C. Manion bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
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Veterans and active service members will be honored at an upcoming concert, that centers on the theme of love, at the University of South Florida. The Love Concert, which is scheduled for Feb. 3 at 7:30 p.m., will feature the Touch iPad Band, which uses iPads to make music. The band dates back to 2011. Music at this concert will feature collaborations between Touch and the university’s dance, theater and visual arts to portray stories told by local military veterans, according to David Williams, who is a USF school of music faculty member, as well as a member of Touch. Other members of Touch are Clint Randles, another USF school of music faculty member, and USF music education students Jonathan Kladder, Jeff Temple and
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This band, which calls itself Touch, uses iPads to make music. They’ll be featured in a concert at the University of South Florida on Feb. 3. From left are: George Pennington, Jonathan Kladder, David Williams, Jeff Temple and Clint Randles.
George Pennington. They will be joined by New York-based singer/songwriter Kat Reinhart; USF alum and Hillsborough County music teacher Nathaniel Strawbridge, students and faculty of USF’s schools of theater and dance; art and art history; and, the singers from the school of music’s A cappella singers,Tones of Gold. The event will benefit a local organiza-
Connected City vote on Pasco’s agenda By Kathy Steele ksteele@lakerlutznews.com
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tion that helps disadvantaged veterans. The event will take place at the USF School of Music Concert Hall, 3755 USF Holly Drive. General admission is $15; students and seniors are $10; and veterans and active members of the military are $5.Tickets are available at the Arts Box Office, (813) 9742323 and at the door 90 minutes before show time.
A final decision on an ambitious technology-driven community in eastern Pasco County – known as Connected City – is at hand. The Pasco County Commission will have a final public hearing on the project on Feb. 7 at 1:30 p.m., in Dade City. The first public hearing on Jan. 24 offered a review of the project and an opportunity for public comment. Pasco County and Metro Development Group are partnering on a 10-year pilot project, authorized by state law. About 7,800 acres were set aside for development projects that encourage advanced technology and high-wage jobs.
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The Meridian Autonomous vehicle, known as the World Bus by Mobi-Cubed, will be the first self-driving vehicle tested in the Connected City. The ‘city of the future’ is being developed by Metro Development Group in partnership with Pasco County.
The area is bordered by Interstate 75, State Road 52 and Curley and Overpass roads. Metro is the first to offer a development project for the area. More developers are expected to take part in Connected City in the future. “This project arguably is one of the leading technology designs in the country right now,” said Kris Hughes, the county’s planning and development administrator.“It sets new standards for physical development. It makes Pasco highly competitive and attractive as a place to live and work.” Several people spoke during public comment on Jan. 24. Most supported Connected City. See CONNECTED, page 11A