Zephyrhills Steadily Expands City Limits as Industrial Corridor Reshapes the Map

Over the past several years, Zephyrhills has used Florida’s voluntary annexation laws to grow outward in pieces — absorbing acreage tied to utility agreements, smoothing out long-standing county pockets within the city, and most notably, pulling in industrial-grade land near the Zephyrhills Municipal Airport. The strategy is reshaping the largest city in Pasco County at a time when overall growth pressure across east Pasco continues to build.

The Most Recent Annexation: 13.72 Acres Near the Airport

According to the City of Zephyrhills, the City Council held a public hearing on July 28, 2025 on Ordinance No. 1503-25, which annexed approximately 13.72 acres into the corporate limits. Public records identify the property as parcel 18-26-22-0010-09300-0000, located west of Chancey Road and east of Zephyrhills Municipal Airport, immediately adjacent to the existing city boundary.

The annexation was carried out under Section 171.044, Florida Statutes, the state’s voluntary annexation statute. That same evening, the council also took up Ordinance No. 1504-25, a small-scale comprehensive plan amendment that changed the parcel’s land use from county industrial to city industrial and its zoning from county agricultural to city light industrial — a clear signal that the parcel is being prepared for the same kind of light industrial use already taking shape across the airport corridor.

An Industrial Corridor Built One Annexation at a Time

City officials have repeatedly described the area around the Zephyrhills Municipal Airport as the future heart of the city’s job base. According to information from the Pasco Economic Development Council and the City of Zephyrhills, the corridor is anchored by two large “Ready Sites” that have been certified for industrial use through a partnership between Pasco County, Duke Energy, the Pasco EDC, and the city.

Those sites have driven some of the most consequential land moves in recent Zephyrhills history:

Brazilian baked goods producer Bauducco Foods purchased 72 acres at the Zephyrhills Airport Industrial Park Ready Site and broke ground in March 2025 on a planned $200 million production and distribution complex. According to the company and the Pasco EDC, the project is being built in three phases through 2030 and is expected to bring roughly 600 jobs to the area at full build-out.

Construction technology firm MiTek followed in 2024 with the purchase of the 111-acre North Tampa Bay Industrial Park, where it has announced an investment of nearly $80 million in a 480,000-square-foot manufacturing facility. According to the City of Zephyrhills, the council approved an incentive package of up to $2.9 million for MiTek in July 2024, while Pasco County added a separate performance-based agreement of up to $3.15 million.

Earlier rounds of growth included a 7-acre annexation tied to the Blue Triton bottling plant — the operation that produces Zephyrhills brand bottled water — which the City Council approved in 2023.

How Voluntary Annexation Works in Florida

Most of the recent expansion has not been forced. Under Florida Statute 171.044, a property owner whose land is contiguous to a city, reasonably compact, and not creating an enclave can petition the municipality for voluntary annexation. The city then processes the request through ordinance, typically alongside a future land use change and a rezoning to assign a city zoning designation.

According to publicly available city records, the steps generally follow this pattern:

Historically, many east Pasco voluntary annexations have been triggered by long-running utility agreements, in which property owners outside the city limits agreed years ago to eventually annex in exchange for access to municipal water service. As parcels develop or change hands, those obligations come due.

Industrial Annexation Continues, But Residential Building Is on Pause

The annexation push has unfolded against the backdrop of one of the more unusual moves in recent Pasco County government — a multi-year residential development moratorium in Zephyrhills.

According to the City of Zephyrhills, the council originally adopted the moratorium in 2023 as the city approached the limits of its water-use permit issued by the Southwest Florida Water Management District. That permit currently authorizes Zephyrhills to draw 3.3 million gallons of water per day, and projected demand was expected to push the city past that threshold years ahead of schedule.

The pause has been extended more than once. Under Ordinance No. 1501-25, the city extended the residential moratorium for another 12 months, running from July 14, 2025 through July 13, 2026, according to public notices posted by the City Clerk’s Office. A separate moratorium tied to medical marijuana treatment center applications, Ordinance No. 1502-25, was also renewed for the period from July 23, 2025 through July 22, 2026.

A City That Has Grown Faster Than Anyone Expected

Zephyrhills became Pasco County’s most populous city in the 2020 Census, with 17,194 residents, surpassing larger west Pasco municipalities for the first time. According to a 2025 estimate cited in publicly available demographic data, the city’s population has continued to climb, reaching roughly 23,300 residents.

According to comments from City Manager Billy Poe in publicly available interviews, projects that were once expected to take 15 to 20 years to materialize have arrived in roughly two. That compressed timeline has pushed the city to think more carefully about where it wants growth to land — and where it does not.

What It Means for Zephyrhills Residents

Annexations affect residents in several practical ways. When a parcel joins the city, it becomes subject to city zoning, city utility rates and policies, and Zephyrhills Police Department jurisdiction rather than the Pasco Sheriff’s Office. Property owners may see changes to their tax bills as municipal millage replaces certain county fees, though specific impacts depend on the parcel.

For nearby residents along Chancey Road, US-301, and Eiland Boulevard, the bigger story may be what the annexed land becomes. The same corridor now anchored by Bauducco and MiTek will continue to take shape over the next several years, bringing more truck traffic, construction activity, and eventual jobs to the east side of the city — and potentially renewing conversations about road widening, intersection upgrades, and the long-discussed eastward extension of State Road 56 from US-301 toward US-98.

The Bigger Picture

Taken together, the recent annexations point to a clear strategy: continue building out the Chancey Road industrial corridor, clean up enclaves where possible, and use voluntary annexations to keep the city’s footprint moving forward even as residential growth is held in check. According to City Manager Billy Poe in publicly available comments, roughly 500 to 600 acres of industrial land remain available in the corridor — meaning more annexations and rezonings are likely to come before the moratorium debates are settled.

For residents trying to make sense of why the city looks different on the map than it did a few years ago, the answer is mostly written in one-paragraph ordinances and public-hearing agendas: a parcel here, a parcel there, all stitched together with state law and economic development partnerships.

For more local news and updates on growth, development, and government decisions in Zephyrhills, visit zephyrhills-community.com.