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Owners suing Pinellas, Connolly
By CANDACE RONDEAUX A group of angry Pinellas homeowners filed a class-action lawsuit on Tuesday against controversial land speculator Don Connolly. The suit, which also names Pinellas County as a defendant, claims Connolly's ownership of the 61 submerged lots adjacent to the homeowners' property in South Pasadena is "unfair" and "allows him to restrict" the use of their docks. "We do feel we have some rights that Connolly can't take away from us," said Chris Sanders, an attorney for the homeowners. Although homeowners Geoff and Tammy Apthorp are named as the lead plaintiffs in court documents, attorneys for the homeowners' association are confident that many of the lot owners affected will join the class-action suit. The dispute over the submerged lands erupted early this month when Connolly threatened to cut off access to homeowners' docks and boatlifts unless each agreed to pay $100,000. Connolly reduced the price of each of the lots in the Pasadena Golf Club Estates to $5,000 after the homeowners' attorneys balked at his first offer. Connolly bought the land, which lies in an unincorporated area of Pinellas County, at a county tax deed auction for about $2,000 in February. Last week about 200 concerned property owners from the South Pasadena area met with county officials to discuss a gamut of legal actions the county could take against Connolly. Connolly said Wednesday he had not yet seen a copy of the suit and declined to comment. Terry Buchert, who owns one of the disputed lots and is co-counsel for the suit, said Pinellas was included as a defendant to try to force the county to act against Connolly. Homeowners hope the suit will prove to the county that Connolly's actions adversely affect the public. Legally, the county can then condemn the lands and return them to the homeowners. Buchert and County Attorney Susan Churuti said they discussed possible legal actions in "general terms" last week. "(The lawsuit) is not a total surprise to us. I haven't examined the suit because we have not been served yet," Churuti said. "But if we were served we would have 20 days to respond and that would give us 20 days to craft a remedy in this case." The Apthorps and others who join the suit are essentially asking for an injunction against Connolly barring him from interfering with use of their docks and boat lifts. The complaint lists three additional reasons for taking action against Connolly. The suit claims that when the property was deeded to a local developer in 1957 it was sold as "65 single-family residential waterfront lots." Though the property traded hands several times before it wound up with Connolly earlier this year, the complaint says, the property's waterfront status and its inclusion of docks did not change. Buchert also said that the county is at fault because the sheriff was unable to notify the last long-term property owners that their taxes were in arrears. "Our point is that not all the procedures were followed here," Buchert said. Attorneys for the homeowners say they fear that recent national attention to Connolly's case may fuel interest in the properties from other land speculators. Sanders and Buchert hope the lawsuit will deter Connolly from selling the property to other individuals. "We saw that as a legitimate threat," Sanders said. Attorneys also said that as many as 120 people could join the suit. Buchert said he doesn't know whether all of the lot owners will support the lawsuit, but he hopes it will push Connolly to reconsider his claims to the land. "I'm confident there will be a result that will benefit homeowners," Buchert said.
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