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Pasco hockey academy gets nod from county planning board

Hockey rink owner hopes to provide room for expansion and possible future tournaments.
 
If successful, Russ Henderson would be able to open enrollment to the Christian school and use the Henderson Ice Rink facility for training and possibly future competitions as well as opening it for public events.
If successful, Russ Henderson would be able to open enrollment to the Christian school and use the Henderson Ice Rink facility for training and possibly future competitions as well as opening it for public events. [ DIRK SHADD | Times ]
Published May 9, 2023|Updated May 9, 2023

Plans for the 150-student Nest Hockey Academy, which would combine academics with hockey training at a skating venue in East Pasco County, got a jolt forward by the planning commission earlier this month.

Russ Henderson started his school small with a county approval two years ago. He was allowed to have up to 20 people in the academy, with 13 of those being students. But his hopes were always larger than that, he told planning commissioners.

Approval for an expansion has taken him more than a year. With the planning commission’s recommendation for approval, the next stop is before the County Commission in the coming weeks.

If successful, Henderson would be able to open enrollment to the Christian school and use the Henderson Ice Rink facility for training and possibly future competitions as well as opening it for public events. It also would pave the way for building future facilities.

The 10-acre site is located west of McKendree Road, east of Interstate 75, south of State Road 52 and north of Overpass Road.

Henderson also has asked for a variation of the county’s land development code that prohibits a school from being located within 1,000 feet of places where alcohol is consumed. That might be part of future plans for the site, county planning staff said. He will also be required to pay for work on McKendree Road.

While some neighbors have expressed concerns about the facility in the past, none spoke at the hearing. Several parents of students at the school now were in the audience in support, including Tampa resident Priscilla Julian, who said that as a parent she was “beyond blessed to have this opportunity … The education is incredible.”

She added, “the boys are being trained to be men of character.”

Planning Commissioner Jon Moody asked why the county urged Henderson to go through the lengthy and expensive master planned unit development zoning process rather than just getting an expansion of the previous approval, which he said seemed unfair.

Planners responded that the property is in the special development district called “connected cities” and that designation would give the owner more development options in the future. Henderson said he would have been happy to have had a shorter and easier approval. The current process also means that the County Commission will make the final decision, which is not required in the simpler process.

The delays in approval, Henderson said, had already made him miss several key deadlines for signing up students, some of whom might have had to choose to go to different hockey academies.

“It has been a very tough journey,” Henderson said.