Port Richey defies county on annexation

PORT RICHEY -- The Port Richey City Council entered a spat between Pasco's cities and the county government Tuesday night by approving an annexation Pasco County officials said they opposed.

In the past week, the county has started opposing cities' annexing properties along their borders. On Tuesday, the county sent Port Richey officials a fax opposing the city's annexing three plots of land because it might create "a pocket" of jurisdictional boundaries.

On Thursday, the county sued Dade City over two annexations, claiming the annexations are isolated, were done improperly and will add to urban sprawl. The annexations brought more than 160 acres into the city.

"This annexation objection voiced by the staff over at the county is ill advised," City Manager Vince Lupo said of Port Richey's case. "They will eventually lose.

"We don't believe this parcel creates a pocket."

On a unanimous vote -- Mayor Eloise Taylor and council member Bill Bennett were absent -- the council approved the annexation of the land near the end of Siesta Lane and agreed that Port Richey City Attorney Paul Marino should join with other Pasco city attorneys fighting the county.

Across the county Tuesday, Dade City and county officials met to talk about their disagreements over annexation. Officials said they may have the beginnings of a compromise, but nothing final was forged Tuesday.

And Tuesday night, city commissioners told City Attorney Bill Brewton to be ready in case talks with the county fall apart.

"This can have a chilling effect on our city and any other city wanting to extend its boundaries," Dade City Mayor Scott Black said last week. "In a city like Dade City that's built out, annexations are the only way we have to grow."

Port Richey is in much the same situation. There is very little in the way of open land left in the city. City officials have been talking for years about two ways to expand their tax base with redeveloping old properties and annexing new ones being frequent campaign topics.

"The lifeline of a community like ours is growth, expansion and annexation," Lupo said.

Word of a potential compromise in Dade City hadn't reached Port Richey by the meeting time. Marino said that the next step likely would be the cities' appearing before the County Commission as a group to plead their case. If that doesn't work, the next step would be going to court to get a judge to say who was right or wrong.

"There's strength in numbers," Vice Mayor Pat Guttman said.

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