Pasco County Commissioners Approve Saddlebrook Rezoning!

Residents & Developer Come To Agreement Over Redevelopment Plan Prior To Commission Vote On July 11!

By GARY NAGER

Although the planned rezoning of Saddlebrook Resort and its surrounding community was a fairly long and contentious fight between the community’s existing residents and Miamibased Mast Capital — which purchased the 480-acre resort last year for $15 million — the good news is that the battled was settled amicably.

On July 11, Pasco’s Board of County Commissioners (BCC) approved Mast Capital’s redevelopment plan for Saddlebrook after a hard-fought agreement finally was reached between the residents and the developer.

After dozens of meetings since Mast’s purchase of the property, the BCC vote was unanimous and most of the residents who spoke before the vote part said they were happy with the plan. Among those who expressed their concerns were Saddlebrook condominium owners who said they were unhappy that they would have to pay for renovations to their units by the developer out of their own pockets.

There are four redevelopment areas under the plan approved by the County Commission on July 11 (see site map above):

Development Area #1:

This 35-acre parcel on S.R. 54 will replace the current driving range that fronts 54 (see photo on next page). This section will include 75,000 square feet of commercial, retail and office uses in a neotraditional village (similar to what is being built in Avalon Park Wesley Chapel) with 465 apartments and 36 townhome units. The planned multi-story buildings will have retail or office uses on the ground floor, with apartments above and behind them.

Amenities in this development area will include a clubhouse, swimming pool, outdoor amenities and parks. This area also includes a new “Vision Road H,” which will extend south from S.R. 54 at the westernmost edge of Saddlebrook and provide access to multiple gated entrances.

Development Area #2:

Located further to the east on 54, Mast purchased this 20-acre site, which will feature 25,000 sq. ft. of commercial, retail and office space and 120 additional townhome units. This development area will actually be separated from Saddlebrook by fences and will include its own clubhouse, swimming pool, outdoor amenity areas and parks.

There will be no access to Saddlebrook for residents and businesses in Development Area #2, which will have its own entrance at the intersection of 54 and Vandine Rd., which already has its own traffic signal (at the existing the Racetrac gas station).

Development Area #s 3a & 3b: Mast’s plan calls for Development Area #3a (in yellow on site map above) to “maintain an area that equates to a minimum of 20 of the current tennis courts, which may be used as tennis, pickleball or paddle tennis, or for similar outdoor racket sport use. New development (which is defined to not include renovations) within Area 3a shall be limited to construction of additional surface parking and construction of one-story structures that are ancillary to court use and to surface parking uses.”

“Any new development within Area #3b (in orange on the site map) (which is defined to not include renovations) shall be limited to construction of a clubhouse for the golf course(s) (not to exceed 12,000 sq. ft.), restaurant(s) (not to exceed 5,000 sq. ft.), a cart barn, surface parking, maintenance structure(s) and area(s) and golf bag storage structure.”

Restricted Development Area #4:

“Restricted Area #4 (in light gray with pink outlines on site map) may only be used as a 27-hole golf course(s) replacing the 36 holes in the Arnold Palmer-designed Saddlebrook and Palmer courses), together with any ancillary and incidental uses to the operation and maintenance of a golf course(s), including, without limitation, practice facilities, vehicular parking around putting greens, chipping areas, a conventional driving range, player-based food and beverage areas, open areas, landscaping, irrigation, drainage improvements, floodplain compensation(limited to the stormwater runoff and drainage caused by the permitted uses, and maintenance activities, special events associated with the operation of a golf course(s), and any other uses customarily applicable to the operation of a golf course(s) (collectively “Restricted Area #4 permitted uses”).

Barbara Wilhite, Mast’s attorney, said the 27 holes of golf will be designed by a new golf course designer as three nine-hole golf courses and noted that the driving range will be relocated. In addition, all of the current golf course areas will be restricted to golf and open space.

Restricted Area #4 also will have separate tee areas for those enrolled at the Saddlebrook Prep Golf Academy and golf members and resort guests.

In a statement, Mast noted that since buying the property in March 2022, it has “invested in repairs and upgrades, including adding the pick- leball courts. It has also relocated the hotel gym, replaced all of the buildings’ roofs and added a new fleet of vehicles at the property.

It also has stated that, ays that in addition to all of the new features, the developer plans to invest “millions of dollars in capital improvements” to the existing resort, from modernizing the resort’s lobby, food and beverage areas, guest rooms and meeting space to making swimming pool upgrades.

Saddlebrook Resort was developed by Tom Dempsey, now 97, the former owner of Penton Publishing (a subsidiary of Pittway Corp.), in 1979, and was purchased by the Dempsey family from Pittway in 1988. The family owned the resort until it was sold to Mast Capital last year.

Saddlebrook Resort currently is still open for golf, tennis, spa services, dining and lodging. We were not yet aware of a timetable for the planned renovations to begin, according to an article in the Tampa Bay Times, the agreement requires Mast, “to have all the new amenities started before the town center apartments begin and sets percentages of resort work that must be done as that mixed residential and commercial area moves forward.”

For more information about Saddlebrook Resort, visit Saddlebrook.com or call (813) 973-1111.