The Pasco County Development Review Committee (DRC) has given the go-ahead for additional components of The Connected City Corridor to move forward in the County’s approval process.
At a Nov. 10 meeting, the DRC voted to recommend County Commission approval of financial, transportation, utility and governing plans for The Connected City. The approved items establish developers’ fees, a utilities service plan, a master roadway plan and a special review committee that will be in charge of overseeing development of the community.
The Connected City Corridor is a 7,800-acre mixed-use community being developed between Wesley Chapel and San Antonio in East Pasco County. It will be the first Smart Gigabit Community in the nation to be built from the ground up with a fiber network providing gigabit internet technology. The community is also slated to feature the nation’s first Crystal Lagoon, which is a 7.5-acre sustainable manmade lagoon with crystal clear waters for swimming and other aquatic activities.
Upon completion, The Connected City is expected to be home to 96,000 residents and create 65,000 jobs. Data presented by Pasco County at the Nov. 10 DRC meeting shows that the community is expected to generate an average of $20 million a year in property tax revenues from its initial development through 2040. From 2040 to 2065, the property tax revenues could be as much as $30 million a year.
Several Pasco County residents expressed their support of The Connected City at the DRC meeting. Meanwhile, several residents had questions about transportation and roadways in The Connected City Corridor, specifically related to plans to expand Kenton Road from a two-lane dirt road to a paved roadway with multiple lanes. Committee members explained that Kenton Road will only need to be widened if increased traffic makes it necessary. Current plans do not call for widening it until after 2030.
DRC members also reiterated that residents who live within The Connected City do not have to be part of the community; only residents who opt-in will be included in the community. Therefore, if Kenton Road residents do not opt-in to the community, their properties will not be developed as part of The Connected City.
For more information on the DRC’s latest decisions related to The Connected City, read reports from the Tampa Bay Times and The Laker / Lutz News.
