'Commissars' not working for their constituency

In February, Citrus County Commissioner (make that commissar) Jim Fowler, with backing from party faithful, prodevelopment delegates and fellow Commissioners Roger Batchelor and Josh Wooten, voted in favor of the Halls River Retreat condo development. They used, as their primary justification, property owners rights, meaning that a Clearwater carpetbagger had found a loophole in the county's planning law, specifically mixed use zoning. Such rights being determined as paramount, the triad voted "Yes," against the explicit wishes of the illiterate, and uninformed, masses who form the general population.

After five hours of input from the developer and residents, the latter's views were summarily dismissed as "only opinion." Strange that a county with several thousand professionals among its retiree base cannot muster just a few whose views might be accurately described as "expert opinion?"

To compound an already considerable error, the commissars and their delinquent support staff are now compiling a revision to the mixed land use classification. This is tantamount to an admission that the mixed use designation is flawed and open to flagrant abuse. That is of little consolation to the residents of Halls River in Homosassa.

Last week the same triad exercised a 180-degree turn when deliberating a project on County Road 495. This time around it was a small group of residents who held the property owners rights. They assumed the protection of existing county planning law, but they failed. The decision went in favor of the developer, a family company with established roots and considerable political influence.

The Halls River application and the Gerritts' County Road 495 application are not directly comparable. But they serve to illustrate the point that perhaps our commissars are confusing the rights of developers with the lesser category of property owners?

Could it be that the sauce that enhances the flavor of the goose does not grace the same banquet table when the gander is on the menu?

Excluding Florida Power, the bulk of the wealth in Citrus County is comprised of residents who have relocated here as their retirement home. They invested in Citrus County voting stock with the absolute expectation that their interests would receive the continued support of local government. Now this group of investors is discovering, to their cost, that the portfolio originally presented to them is subject to the random decision-making capability of the commissars -- not, it should be noted, a board of directors who demonstrate any real accountability toward those whom they were elected to represent.

To continue the theme of totalitarian rule, many -- probably most -- residents must have felt hugely insulted when pro-developer, psuedo-Democrat Wooten had the audacity to submit a letter to the editor recently in which he encourages participation in cosmetic environmental activities. If Wooten cannot see the obvious incongruity between his words and actions, we had better abolish any claim as to the value of devolved county government.

Imagine, for just a moment, a scenario in which Citrus County government is forced to enact an ordinance requiring the inclusion of the following text within any contract for the sale of real property:

"The purchaser should not assume that any guarantees of protection, provided under the current Comprehensive Plan and/or related documents, have any assurance of continuity. On the contrary, the purchaser must assume that all and any applicable conditions, may be subject to continuous revision without regard to any rights assumed."

With a single stroke, this stipulation would kill the local real estate market, stone dead, in a heartbeat. It is, however, the precise set of operating conditions that prevail today.

If visionary Walt Disney was still alive, and if he was the director of economic development for Citrus County, he would focus exclusively up high-value residential home construction, allied to the protection of our natural resources, using the latter as a sustainable, nonconsumptive marketable asset.

As of now our government is unable to see this vision and, given a continuous prodevelopment perspective on the commission, it is doubtful we ever will.

The sole hope for our immediate salvation may be the November elections and the opportunity to vote for serious candidates who will seriously reflect the viewpoint of their stockholders.

-- Chris Lloyd lives in Lecanto. Guest columnists write their own views on subjects they choose, which do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.

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