Pasco scales back Anclote River Park revamp, schedules public meeting

Pasco County officials may be promising to scale back plans to revamp Anclote River Park.

But after months of public discussion, studies by Pasco County and scrutiny by Florida’s indigenous people, there are lingering fears among outdoor enthusiasts that the county’s plan to expand the park is still too much.

This week Linda Martell, who created the Change.org petition that has 5,300 signatures urging the county to be cautious, again asked the Pasco County Commission to do the right thing for those who enjoy its peace and green spaces.

Several months ago county officials notified Keith Overton, the business owner who has a lease to build a restaurant and add new commercial features at the park, including a possible event venue, that he had to downsize the original plan. He has not formally responded.

The county granted the lease for an ambitious project by Overton on the site, which is adjacent to a Native American mound, in August of 2022. His proposal had been for a themed 22,000-square-foot restaurant dubbed Whiskey Fish on the Anclote but the county said it wanted something more in the range of 3,000 square foot.

Martell told county commissioners that was still too much.

“Not only would this disrupt sacred lands but also nature,” she said, pointing out that dolphins and manatees frequent the river and adding more people and more boats would put them at risk. Previous reports also note there is an active bald eagle’s nest within the park boundaries.

Martell said park goers are fine frequenting a food truck or nearby restaurant when they go to the park to help small business owners, but not a larger, permanent building on site.

“Do what’s best for Anclote Park,” she urged commissioners. “We like our peace.”

In addition to the new features the county sought an outside business to provide, Pasco Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources also has its own plan to expand recreational options across the property. Weekends during peak boating season can be hectic and crowded. More parking and better circulation of traffic, as well as expanded boat launch facilities and an expanded beach, were planned.

Martell said that the county wasn’t thinking that through either.

“If there are fights happening at the boat ramp now,” she said, “what do you think is going to happen when you have a restaurant that serves alcohol?”

Commissioner Kathryn Starkey told Martell that the county is aware of the public concerns and that a scaled down plan for the park has been created. She encouraged Martell to pick up a copy and explained that the new approach is to build far fewer new parking spaces, to provide more green space and plant more trees.

She said that she was “very pleased” with the new emphasis and that no one in the county wants to see a huge commercial business on site.

Starkey also said the county has scheduled a long-promised town hall meeting to explain the plans. That has now been set for April 15 from 6-7 p.m. in the Pasco County Government Center in New Port Richey in the County Commission Chambers.

County parks staff were not available to respond to specific questions from the Tampa Bay Times about details of the scaled-back plan. They also have not explained how the county will respond to and incorporate information from the recent archaeological study and ground penetrating radar report about the indigenous mound there.

While the study didn’t find buried remains, it could not rule out the possibility that they exist. It offered recommendations including potentially creating interpretive displays on the grounds to tell visitors about the indigenous populations that once lived on or visited the site.

Providing educational information could help the county “strike the appropriate balance” between protecting the cultural resource and allowing public use and access to the park, the consultant said.

The consultant also urged Pasco officials to keep the representatives of indigenous groups involved in the county’s future plans for the park.