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Neighbors fight to keep land rural
By BRIDGET HALL GRUMET, Times Staff Writer CRYSTAL RIVER -- The old Collins farm, a grassy expanse just over the fence from a herd of goats and a weathered sign advertising fresh eggs, may not look like an important piece of real estate. But for years the farm has provided a buffer between the SMG Inc. trucking company on County Road 495, about 3 miles north of Crystal River, and the 13 tidy mobile homes on W Charlynn Lane. With its proximity to an active railroad line and the proposed Suncoast Parkway routes, the undeveloped property also has unrealized potential. Now a battle is brewing over this small farm, pitting the proponents of economic development and progress against a tiny neighborhood that cherishes its rural character. The County Commission will hear a request at 2 p.m. today to rezone part of the farm, about 6.86 acres, from rural residential to industrial use. SMG Inc. owner Sean Gerrits bought the 11.5-acre farm in September for $130,000 with plans to build an industrial park just south of his trucking business. "This is one of the last pieces of industrial property in this county with railroad access. What's best for the community?" Gerrits asked. The SMG trucking company and the nine businesses at Gerrits' Shamrock Industrial Park across the street account for 110 jobs, he said. Building another park would create more jobs and provide much-needed industrial space, he said. Gerrits noted that the county's Comprehensive Plan calls for 1,765 acres of industrial property by 2020. Citrus County had 692 acres at last count. But the 20 residents along W Charlynn Lane have all signed a letter opposing the project, saying the industrial park would bring more noise to their back doors. "SMG is a pretty good distance, and we can still hear the trucks at night when they're being cleaned," said Jennifer Pollard, who has lived on W Charlynn Lane for four years. Although Gerrits said the 1930s railroad tracks and the SMG site, first developed in the 1960s, predate the neighbors, residents say the industrial activity has increased significantly over the past decade. "When we moved down here, it was quiet," said Rhonda Distel Barker, whose mother came to the community in 1983. Barker followed her in 1994. "You're backed up to the farm, you look out and you see cows." With the proposed industrial park, however, "You know noise is going to come with it," she said. "They can't guarantee me what kind of business will come into that place." The neighbors earned the support of the county's Planning and Development Review Board, which voted 4-2 in February to recommend denial of the rezoning request to the County Commission. Homeowners bought into a rural residential area, and the planning board majority bristled at the rezoning request for an industrial park next door. But county planners have recommended approval, saying Gerrits would leave a 100-foot-wide buffer of rural residential land, along with a separate vegetative buffer, between the industrial park and the neighbors. In fact, the industrial park buildings might help block the noise from the trucking business, senior planner Ian McDonald said. "It's one of those rural development conflicts that happens when people start moving into an area that was rural," McDonald said. "In the old days, industrial parks were on the edge of town because no one wanted to live next to them. Now we've got people living everywhere, so they come into conflict, and there's not an easy solution." County Commissioner Roger Batchelor indicated support of the rezoning request at a workshop last month, saying SMG Inc. and the Shamrock Industrial Park are assets to the community. Those sentiments were echoed by several private-sector supporters, including the Rev. Alan Jefferson of Crystal River United Methodist Church and former County Commissioner Nick Bryant. That leaves the residents of W Charlynn Lane wondering how their concerns will weigh against the plans of a prominent local family. "I'm just going to have to hope that they do consider all the issues that are involved, not just that the Gerrits want to keep growing," Barker said. -- Bridget Hall Grumet can be reached at 860-7303 or bhall@sptimes.com.
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