On February 11, board members from The Council of Neighborhood Associations will be taking a 2-day trip to Tallahassee to speak with local and state politicians at the Capitol so that we can spread the word of the short term rental issues that are plauging Pasco County.

AAt our January Members Meeting, guest speaker Travis Moore drove home the fact that with the looming possibility that associations and the people that live in them will lose the power to enforce restrictions regarding short term rentals, the most effective way to make the voices of Pasco County residents heard is to take those voices straight to the Capitol.

WWe will be posting photos and livestreams throughout the trip, so make sure to keep an eye on our Facebook Page!

THE COUNCIL OF NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS IS A NON-PARTISAN ORGANIZATIONCONAPASCO.ORG | INFO@CONAPASCO.ORG | FACEBOOK.COM/CONAPASCOCOUNTY

Tax Collector Mike Fasano said hundreds of pounds of food and $2,000 were collected by his office during just the first two days of a drive to benefit US Coast Guard members and their families.

The Coast Guard is one of the agencies whose workers are not receiving paychecks during the partial government shutdown.

“It“It’s a sad situation because these are the people who are putting their lives on the line everyday — securing our borders, protecting us, going out when people are in distress in the Atlantic and in the Gulf of Mexico,” said Fasano. “They’re putting their lives on the line protecting our shores, and yet, they’re not getting paid for that.”

CollectingCollecting donations for good causes is part of business as usual at the Pasco Tax Collector Offices. Each month, the office picks a different charitable organization. Customers leave change or whatever money they can spare in canisters at service counters.

FFasano said during the past five years, they’ve helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for causes across the county.

ThisThis time around, it was actually an organization, the non-profit U.S. Coast Guard Mom In Need Fund, that approached him and asked to partner on the drive. According to Fasano, donors haven’t just been people who’ve needed to visit one of his offices.

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The Council of Neighborhood Associations

JANUARY 2019

The Voice of Condo, Civic, and Homeowner Associations of Pasco County

THE COUNCIL OF NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS IS A NON-PARTISAN ORGANIZATIONCONAPASCO.ORG | INFO@CONAPASCO.ORG | FACEBOOK.COM/CONAPASCOCOUNTY

A task force formed by the Pasco County Economic Development Council to explore the creation of a county food hub held its first meeting this week.

According to EDC president and CEO Bill Cronin, the council forms two task forces each year aimed at dealing with issues or obstacles for county businesses.

"This"This year, as we looked at the task forces, we looked specifically at how we could better work with the eastern side of Pasco County around the Dade City area," Cronin said. "We looked at industries they were strong in, and they’re not always the same as our target industries for everything else we do."

AccoAccording to Dr. Whitney Elmore, director of the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension of Pasco County, agriculture generates about $75 million a year countywide. It’s particularly important in east Pasco.

AA food hub is an organization that’s part of a local food system. It brings together those involved in production, packaging, distribution, and marketing to help get locally grown food to local restaurants, supermarkets, and institutions such as schools.

“It“It helps bring all of these players together and really allow for the farmers and the ranchers to focus on the production of the best product possible and not worry about the distribution chain," Elmore said. "They can move their product into the local food system so that the public gets a healthy local food system, local food source that’s environmentally friendly, that is sustainable and secusustainable and secure, and that is also equitable.”

Cronin said one of the goals of the hub would be to help get fresh food to areas of the county in need.

“We have some food deserts, even in rural Pasco County. We’ve got a couple of places that need access to healthy, nutritious food, because right now, they’re getting it from gas stations and convenience stores,” Cronin said.

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People Places LLC plans to break ground on its new residential project, The Central, on January 28.

The 85 luxury apartment complex will be built at the intersection of Circle Boulevard and Central Avenue, just across from Orange Lake.

““We’ve designed the project to be an integral part of the neighborhood, not an apartment complex that is walled off or separated from the neighborhood,” said People Places President Frank Starkey.

The $7.3 million phase one of the project will involve the construction of 42 apartments. Each building will be three stories tall and hold six units.

WhileWhile Starkey said the price range is fluid at this point, one bedroom apartments will start in the $1,050 range, while two bedroom units will begin around $1,250. He said a 2015 market study showed demand exists for 500 residences in the downtown area.

“The“There’s a big trend in demand for downtown living in authentic, real, pre-war, urban areas," Starkey said. "There are people who want to live in a big, bustling downtown like downtown Tampa or downtown St. Petersburg, and people who want some of those aspects but want a little bit quieter place, and that would be downtown New Port Richey."

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Concept Art for “The Central”

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As long as they don’t mind a little noise and a little dust, those who pass by the crossing of State Road 54 and Little Road are in store for seven or eight months of watching the fast-paced evolution of a new shopping center.

TheThe first phase of the ambitious and long-awaited project at the southwestern corner of that intersection, now known as The Village at Mitchell Ranch, has entered full-steam-ahead mode, with completion of most shops and restaurants slated for late July or early August. The 22-acre commercial portion of project is now not only seeing constant construction, but its tenant list is nearly full.tenant list is nearly full.

It is highlighted by commitments from anchor stores Michaels, HomeGoods and Sprouts Farmers Market — the first unit of the Phoenix-based chain of organic food supermarkets to arrive in Pasco County.

Meanwhile, the smaller stores have quickly followed with commitments. Of the 165,000 square feet available, only 5,700 square feet of in-line storefront — connected to other stores — remains open and only two parcels on the exterior remain up for grabs. They are 0.79 acres along State Road 54 and 0.83 acres on Little Road, next to what is reserved for a future PDQ restaurant.restaurant.

The sudden progress come on the heels of stagnation dating back to the concept’s unveiling in 2015.

“We love it,” Ryan Jonson, the manager of Steak ’n Shake on Little Road, across from the development, said. “We see this as a huge opportunity for more sales and everyone has been waiting and hoping to see something happen. Based on what I’ve heard, it has been worth waiting for.”

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Gasparilla wasn't the only event to draw thousands of people on Satuday.

The annual Dade City Kumquat Festival was back.

It's become an annual tradition for thousands to make their way to Dade City to try a kumquat for the first time.

"It"It's called the little gold gem of the citrus industry," said John Moors, head of the Dade City Chamber of Commerce. "You eat it whole, just like you would a grape. The peel and all. It's got a bit of sweetness, then a bit of tartness."

TheThe growers say this was a big year for the Kumquat Festival because last year, a freeze hit right before the festival started. Folks couldn't even take some home because there were so few left.

"It"It was very, very frustrating," said Greg Gude, general manager of Kumquat Growers, Inc. "It was heartbreaking to just let people sample the kumquats because we only had a small amount."

That was not the case this year as the festival sold about 30,000 kumquats. The growers even ran out halfway through.

"This"This year we made sure we were going to have kumquats for this festival," Gude said.

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