Neighborhood Planning Process Lacoochee/Trilby Neighborhoods

What is the neighborhood? Michelle Miller Senior Community Development Specialist Pasco County Community Development Division

It consists of… Neighborhood Retail Industrial Development Center of Community Commercial Development

Planning Schedule Needs Assessment and Capacity Evaluation Draft Plan Development and Validation Financing, Implementation Strategies, and Adoption Public Participation Throughout Entire Planning Schedule

Needs Assessment  Survey (developed through partnership with St. Leo University) of Trilby/Lacoochee neighborhood  Evaluate capacity of existing social service providers  Determine service gaps  Focus groups with community stakeholders and leaders  Economic Impact Study  Retain Businesses  Increase Employment Opportunities  Infrastructure analyses – utilities and roads  Housing analysis

Needs Analysis - Continued  Public Participation  Continue successful partnership with Lacoochee-Trilby-Trilacoochee steering committee  Disseminate information in English and Spanish  Distribution to housing authority residents by management  Electronic and hard copy distribution

Draft Plan Development  Identify Improvements for:  Health Care  Education  Employment  Public Safety and Welfare  Infrastructure  Affordable Housing  Social Service Accessibility

Draft Plan Development  Draft Plan Presented to Community  Validate recommendations  Propose Alternatives  Recommendations incorporated into final plan

Final Plan  Goals, Objectives, and Implementation Strategies will be developed for each project and service  Identify actions to be taken by County, Housing Authority, and other partners  Identify Preliminary Financing Mechanisms  Develop Financial Plan

Final Plan (Continued)  Short and Long Term Goals  Implementation Matrix

Plan Acceptance and Adoption  Final Plan, Implementation Matrix, and Financial Plan Presented to Community and Stakeholders for Acceptance  Adoption Hearing by Board of County Commissioners  Adoption Hearing by Housing Authority Board of Commissioners

Reflective Practice  Throughout planning period, reflective practice exercise to be completed  Was proper data collected?  Were milestones achieved?  What additional information is needed?  What other approaches are needed?

Existing Conditions  Poverty Rate – 33%  Vacancy Rate – 18%  Lacoochee Elementary School – “D” for School Year  Affordable Housing Shortage Ratio – 2.26

Further Evaluation Tools  Needs Assessment Surveys Developed  St. Leo University  Housing Authority Residents  Larger Trilby/Lacoochee Community  Processes for data validation and analysis  Housing, People, and Neighborhood Assessments  Economic Impact Analysis

Building On Existing Assets  Utilize community center  Access to social services  Community and Neighborhood Identity  Training and Development  Utilize Lacoochee Elementary School  Neighborhood Asset – Focal Point  Existing processes for communication with parents and community  Safe Place for Students and Parents

Building on Existing Assets  Increase Capacity of Social Service Agencies  Identify specific needs and targets  Coordinate services with larger initiatives  Identify funding sources (gap and primary)

Infrastructure  Planning Grant as Catalyst  Connect existing infrastructure improvements to larger community projects  Connect transportation improvements to Long Range Transportation Plan, Capital Improvement Plan  Utilities Master Plan – Connect small utility improvements to long range vision

Economic Development Melanie Kendrick Senior Planner, Economic Development/Redevelopment Pasco County Planning and Development Department

Rural Economic Development Challenges  Low Population Density  Limited Basic Infrastructure  Transportation and Communications Systems  Often a Single Employment Sector  Wages Tend to be Lower and/or Seasonal  Fewer Services that Support Work  Training Programs  Fewer Resources for Social/Medical Services.

Transforming Challenges into Opportunities  Distinctive Assets  Natural Amenities: rivers, forests, wildlife, and open space  Community: faith based, generational,  Higher Rates of Self-employment  Increased Opportunities for Entrepreneurial Ventures

Opportunities Into Goals  Need: Long-term strategy that develops additional engines of growth  Goal 1: Effectively engage farmers, foresters, rural business owners, rural community entities, and rural related organizations  Goal 2: Develop a vibrant, well connected community that turns the area’s small size into an advantage by more effectively linking regional assets with the firms that need them

Goal 1: Engage -- Strategies  Support and partner with programs that promote market development for agricultural, forestry, equestrian industries and associated value-added goods.  Strengthen and enhance a diverse home-based business cluster with uses ranging from sole proprietorships to cottage industries to natural resource-based support businesses.  Strengthen and enhance the commercial and industrial cluster to sustain compatible businesses on sites designated for commercial or industrial uses within rural Neighborhood Commercial Centers, Rural Urban Growth Areas, Industrial, and Mining/Mineral Resource Lands.

Goal 1: Engage -- Strategies  Strengthen and enhance a tourism and recreation cluster while ensuring that the use and scale is compatible with the area (s) in which the activity or activities are located or provided.  Initiate, support, and partner with programs that provide business and technical assistance to businesses within the broadest definition for each business cluster.  Solicit partners and support the mentioned business clusters or programs conducting efforts to develop secondary markets for value-added products and services.

Partnerships Richard Riley Chairman, Lacoochee-Trilby-Trilacoochee Steering Committee

Anticipated Financial Resources  Section 108 Program Amendment: Initial financing for infrastructure improvements  Economic Development – Identify ED funds, locally, statewide, nationally, to support endeavor  Foundational Support for Social Service Agencies