Two Rivers' 6,547 Homes and a Surf Park Reach Their Final Pasco Vote Aug. 11

Pasco County commissioners take their final vote on the Two Rivers amendment at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 11, at the historic courthouse in Dade City, and it is the last public hearing before the county decides whether to allow 6,547 homes and apartments, 480 hotel rooms and a 35-acre surf park on the State Road 56 corridor at Wesley Chapel's eastern edge. The county Planning Commission recommended approval unanimously on July 9, over objections from a room full of residents who came to talk about water, traffic and flooding.

The amendment covers the nearly 6,000-acre Two Rivers community, which runs along SR 56 between Morris Bridge Road and Gall Boulevard. That is the same stretch of road Wesley Chapel drivers use to get east toward U.S. 301.

What the amendment actually allows

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

Those residential numbers add up to 6,547 units. The plan also carries roughly 1.3 million square feet of retail, according to local news reports.

One piece of the amendment is a deletion. A previously approved age-restricted community of 1,125 homes would come out of the plan entirely, with part of that land converted to apartments and assisted living instead. Fewer 55-and-up rooftops, more rental units.

The surf park

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

The lagoon itself is about six acres and would take roughly 8 million gallons to fill, pumped in over two to three weeks, according to local reporting on the project. The developer has said the initial fill would likely come from municipal water, with rainwater capture and possibly stormwater used to top it off later, which would require its own permits.

The technology is a 360-degree lagoon with a central wave device in the middle that pushes waves outward in all four directions, so beginners and experienced surfers can ride at the same time. An economic study the developer commissioned in 2022 projected more than $1.3 billion in annual business output, about 700 jobs a year and close to $150 million in county tax revenue over a decade. Those are the developer's figures. The county has not endorsed them.

Why water dominated the July hearing

Timing explains a lot of it. From April 3 through July 1, the Southwest Florida Water Management District had Pasco County under a modified Phase III extreme water shortage order, cutting lawn irrigation to one day a week and limiting it to overnight and late-evening hours. Residents who had spent the spring watering once a week showed up in July to ask about an 8-million-gallon wave pool.

More than a dozen people spoke. Speakers told planners the amendment was not a minor adjustment but a large-scale change to the area, and pressed for roads and water protection ahead of more housing. Others raised lost green space and wildlife habitat, and flooding.

Support came in writing as well as in person. Letters from Florida's Sports Coast and the Pasco Economic Development Council argued the surf park could make the county a visitor destination, and a developer tied to the project told planners it would be a major asset for locals. At least one resident spoke in favor.

What the Planning Commission attached

The recommendation came with conditions. Planners told the applicant to come back with more specific surf park language, closer to a binding concept plan, before the item reached commissioners. That is the kind of detail worth watching on Aug. 11, because a concept plan locked into the development order is harder to change later than a rendering.

How to be heard Tuesday

The hearing starts at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 11, in the board room on the second floor of the historic Pasco County Courthouse, 37918 Meridian Ave., Dade City. Public hearings run in order on the agenda, so an item this large can be called well after 1:30. Anyone who wants to speak signs up at the meeting.

Commissioners have three options: approve the amendment, deny it, or continue it to a later date. A continuance would push the item onto a future agenda rather than kill it. Agendas and backup material are posted ahead of each meeting through the Board of County Commissioners page. Even with a yes vote, the surf park still needs water use permitting from the water management district and construction plan approval from the county before anything gets dug.

We will be following Tuesday's hearing. For more from the county building and the SR 56 corridor, read our government and politics and business development coverage at Wesley Chapel Community Website.

Going to the hearing, or have a question about what the amendment changes? Join the conversation in our Community Forum, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X for updates as the vote happens.