Turning Cotee River Into Clearwater Beach? Developers Asking For Taller Buildings And More Housing

At a special Citizen's Advisory Committee meeting on April 18, developers presented their plans for a wild-looking and new Cotee River Landing.

"The west side of U.S. 19 by Grand is a vision, not a plan."

Now, these developers have already bought land there, and they're looking for more. They want the residential density in the Waterfront Outlay District to be increased from 15 units per acre to 60 and that the maximum building height be raised from 72 feet to 110 feet, or they claim they would be unable to keep making investments in the area without these "small changes."

Nick's ParkPhoto byAbandonedReclamation

"First of all, how do we build community?'" How could we make a space where he would feel content?”

They gave a speech and a slide show at the meeting. The development plans were projected on land that the group wants to buy, not the land they already own. Things like a paved shoreline, accessible green space, 10-story apartment buildings, more public access to the Gulf, pickleball courts, theaters, concert and entertainment venues, stores, and restaurants.

It looked a lot like Tampa.

They cited the establishment of the Moffit Cancer Research Center as evidence of the 14,000 jobs it was expected to create and also mentioned Port Richey's obviously precarious financial status. He lectured that property taxes, tourism income, and retail sales would all benefit the city from the new construction. More density is necessary to sustain the eateries, shops, and other facilities that visitors will anticipate, they stated.

Waterfront constructionPhoto byAbandonedReclamation

Nonetheless, a lot of people who attended the meeting had concerns or were simply not on board.

Linda Rodriguez, a City Council member, said, "You have a lot of ideas about green space in there." There isn't a lot of open space in that area. Gill Dawg's and his (little less than 6) acres on 19 acres are situated next to that one strip that runs parallel to the canal. Where is your green area, then? This place is much larger than what the Gill Dawg can contain."

Meeting attendees pleaded with differing opinions.

"You're going to turn this into a Clearwater Beach. Buildings will get taller, roads busier. You'll have to pay to see the water, and it'll be polluted and full of drunk people. You'll burden taxpayers with the strain of infrastructure and all our fishermen will have to be cut loose with all the extra traffic on our water. And what about our schools?"

Former City Council member Todd Maklary advised the committee to be careful about any changes to zoning laws, as there's no guarantee that if this request is granted, someone else couldn't buy the properties from these developers and throw in 60 apartments per acre with no other bells and whistles.

Cotee Landing AreaPhoto byGoogle

Every Port Richey municipal meeting is streamed live on Zoom and can be accessed via phone calls. The meetings are also posted on the city's You Tube account. On the day of the meeting, the Zoom and phone meeting numbers are posted on the city's website, cityofportrichey.com. I suggest that if you have something to say about all this, you attend and speak your mind.

How do you feel about our little Cotee River getting a massive facelift? Do you feel all the new people and business will be good for our little spot, or do you feel like the development will make it into an overpriced, overpopulated smaller sister of Clearwater Beach? Let me know in the comments below!

Attributions:

History of Port Richey, Florida. (n.d.). https://www.fivay.org/port_richey.html

Planning and Zoning Board. (2024, January 26). City of Port Richey. https://cityofportrichey.com/boards-and-committees/planning-and-zoning-board/

https://www.google.com/maps/@28.2722129,-82.7260913,1598a,35y,242.53h/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en&entry=ttu

Boatramp.com - All boat ramps on the map. (n.d.). Boatramp.com. https://www.boatramp.com/index.html#google_vignette