DADE CITY — After months of scrutiny over traffic and water use, as well as the usual concerns about the speed of growth in eastern Pasco County, commissioners approved a major expansion of the sprawling Two Rivers community along State Road 56.
The approval, in the form of a comprehensive plan amendment and a rezoning of the 3,405-acre master-planned development, adds residential and commercial entitlements and clears another hurdle for a proposed 35-acre surf park development developers insist will be a regional destination.
Both measures passed 3-0.
On paper, some of the residential changes appear substantial. The updated plan allows up to 4,047 single-family homes and 2,500 multifamily units while eliminating 1,125 age-restricted dwelling units.
County staff and the developer said those numbers aren’t really what they seem, because several land-use conversions had already shifted much of the projects housing mix, and Two Rivers initially had entitlements for roughly 6,400 total residential units. The new plan increases that to 6,547 total, or a net gain of only 147, said Clark Hobby, attorney for master developer Eisenhower Property Group.
Also, it was noted, Pasco’s definition of “multifamily” in its code includes townhomes, duplexes and other attached housing, not just apartments. Under the new MPUD, only 240 additional garden-style apartments are permitted.
Even with the added density, Hobby said apartments will make up less than 18% of Two Rivers overall housing stock.
The new plan also more than doubles the amount of retail space from 630,000 to 1.34 million square feet, while maintaining 1.34 million square feet each for office and light industrial. It adds a 300-bed assisted living facility, 480 hotel rooms and the surf park on the massive development stretching from Morris Bridge Road east to Gall Boulevard.
The expansion received a recommendation for approval from the Pasco County Planning Commission in July following a lengthy hearing in which more than a dozen residents raised concerns, particularly about traffic and the surf park’s potential water consumption in the middle of ongoing drought concerns.
For clarity, the Planning Commission required the developer to return with binding concept plans for the surf park.
At the Sept. 9 meeting, Peak Surf Park developer Tony Miller presented plans depicting a lagoon and beach surrounded by restaurants, retail and hotel uses. Those concept plans are now part of the project’s conditions, along with minimum requirements for commercial and hotel development around the park.
“This is more than just a surf park,” Miller told commissioners. “This is a lifestyle and leisure destination for the community here, for tourism.”
Miller said the project is intended to be a gathering place for residents as well as draw visitors.
“It really fulfills this idea of work, live, play,” Miller said.
The 240 garden-style apartments are directly tied to the surf park’s developments. They cannot move forward until the surf park receives its certificate of occupancy or at least three years have passed since approval of the MPUD changes.
“I’m just trying to show the county we’re not trying to run in there and just build another apartment complex,” Hobby said. “That’s not the intent.”
Traffic remained a concern for Commissioner Ron Oakley, particularly along U.S. 301 east of Two Rivers.
Oakley noted that U.S. 301 remains two lanes north of Chancey Road toward Zephyrhills and questioned what adding more traffic would mean for an already congested corridor.
“You put more traffic in there, you’re going to crowd that area going into those two lanes,” he said.
“It will,” responded Hobby.
Engineer Steve Henry addressed some of those concerns, telling commissioners the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has funded and designed an interim increase to four lanes of U.S. 301 from S.R. 56 through the Chancey Road intersection, set for construction in 2029.
Two Rivers has also committed to building an eastbound dual left-turn lane at S.R. 56 and U.S. 301 ahead of the FDOT project, targeting an intersection commissioners called the area’s worst chokepoint.
Hobby said Two Rivers is contributing roughly 60% of the cost of adding lanes three and four to a six-mile stretch of S.R. 56 through development surcharges. He said about $7 million in surcharges has already been paid, and another $7-8 million has been banked for Morris Bridge Road widening from Chancey to S.R. 56.
“We’re going to generate about 40 million additional dollars in mobility fees that the county can use wherever it wants,” Hobby said.
Hobby added that Eisenhower Property Group is spending about $20 million dollars on landscaping south of S.R. 56, $18 million in hardscape improvements and $26 million in amenities.
“It’s a quality product,” Hobby said.