6,547 Homes and an 8-Million-Gallon Wave Lagoon: Pasco's Final Two Rivers Vote Lands Tuesday at 1:30

Pasco County commissioners take their final vote on the Two Rivers comprehensive plan amendment at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 11, in the second-floor board room of the historic Pasco County Courthouse, 37918 Meridian Ave., Dade City. It is the last public hearing before the county decides whether 6,547 homes and apartments, 480 hotel rooms, roughly 1.3 million square feet of retail and a 35-acre surf park get planted on the State Road 56 corridor that Wesley Chapel and Zephyrhills families drive every day.

The amendment covers the nearly 6,000-acre Two Rivers community, which stretches along SR 56 from Morris Bridge Road east to Gall Boulevard. Same stretch of road drivers use heading toward U.S. 301.

What the amendment would allow

Use	Amount
Single-family homes	4,047
Apartments	1,878
Townhomes	514
Villas	108
Assisted-living beds	300
Hotel rooms	480

The residential lines total 6,547 units. Retail adds roughly 1.3 million square feet on top of that.

One part of the package subtracts rather than adds. A previously approved age-restricted community of 1,125 homes would be deleted from the plan, with part of that acreage converted to apartments and assisted living instead. Fewer 55-and-up rooftops. More rentals.

The surf park

Peak Surf Park would occupy 35 acres on the eastern, Zephyrhills-facing end of Two Rivers near U.S. 301, billed as Tampa Bay's first surf park with a target opening in 2027. The plan calls for a wave lagoon, about a half-mile of sandy beach, restaurants, bars, retail, wellness space and event space.

The lagoon runs about six acres and would take roughly 8 million gallons to fill, pumped in over two to three weeks. The design is a 360-degree lagoon with a wave device in the center that pushes swells outward in four directions, so beginners and stronger surfers can be in the water at once. A developer connected to the project told planners it would be a significant asset for locals, comparing it to the best beach club in the area.

An economic study the developer commissioned in 2022 projected more than $1.3 billion in annual business output, roughly 700 jobs a year and close to $150 million in county tax revenue over a decade. Those are the applicant's numbers. The county has not endorsed them. Letters of support from Florida's Sports Coast and the Pasco Economic Development Council argued the park could turn Pasco into a visitor destination in its own right.

Why water dominated the July hearing

Timing. From April 3 through July 1, the Southwest Florida Water Management District had Pasco under a modified Phase III extreme water shortage order, holding lawn irrigation to one day a week during restricted hours. Residents who spent the spring watering once a week walked into the July 9 Planning Commission hearing to ask about an 8-million-gallon wave pool.

More than a dozen people spoke, most of them against. Speakers said the amendment was not a minor adjustment but a large-scale remaking of the area, and pressed the county to fix roads and protect water before approving more housing. Others raised flooding, lost green space and wildlife habitat. At least one resident spoke in favor and said she was disappointed by the level of opposition.

Planners recommended approval unanimously anyway, with conditions.

The condition worth watching Tuesday

The Planning Commission told the applicant to come back with tighter surf park language, closer to a binding concept plan, before the item reached commissioners. That is the piece to listen for on Tuesday. A concept plan written into the development order is far harder to walk back later than a rendering on a slide.

How to be heard

Anyone who wants to speak in person signs up at the meeting. Public hearings are called in agenda order, so an item this size can come up well after 1:30 p.m., and the courthouse is a 30-minute-plus drive from most of Wesley Chapel.

Residents who would rather comment remotely have to move faster: the county requires separate pre-registration for each meeting through its virtual public comment form or by calling customer service at (727) 847-2411, with a deadline of 4 p.m. the day before the meeting, which is Monday afternoon for this hearing. Board meetings are also carried live on the county's website and YouTube channel, plus Frontier channel 42 and Spectrum channel 643. Agendas and registration details are posted on the county's agendas and minutes page.

Follow along at Pasco County Community Website, and give us a follow on Facebook for updates from the board room Tuesday afternoon. Going to the hearing, or have thoughts on 6,547 more rooftops on SR 56? Join the conversation in our Community Forum. For more coverage like this, read our latest government and politics stories and our business development stories.

Header photo: Ebyabe / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.5)