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Halls River polarizes county
© St. Petersburg Times HOMOSASSA -- Remember when Halls River simply meant that shallow, sidewinding branch of the Homosassa? That was a year ago, before the term became synonymous with the county's most controversial development in a decade. The 54-unit Halls River Retreat condominium project had far-reaching impacts in 2002, forever changing the way the county looked at growth. It spurred legal challenges. It sparked new ordinances. It colored the County Commission elections. It became a tug-of-war over the county's future, and it forced everyone to take sides. "I have agonized over this more than anything since I have been on the board," County Commissioner Josh Wooten said shortly before he cast the deciding vote approving the project in February. "This issue has divided our community, divided our staff, divided commissioners against staff," Wooten said. "It has been hard to sit back and watch this." Clearwater developer F. Blake Longacre first offered the plans for the time share project on the shores of the Halls River in 2000. He scaled them back several times before earning county planners' support in January 2002. Environmentalists and Homosassa residents quickly mobilized to fight it. More than 2,900 residents signed petitions against the project, an additional 800 sent letters, and dozens spoke in opposition at the public hearings. "Every means of communication, including obscene phone calls, have gone in on this," Jim Bitter, co-founder of the Save the Homosassa River Alliance, said jokingly at one point. The Lecanto Government Building filled with hundreds of condo foes for a tense 51/2-hour hearing on the project Feb. 12. Commissioners Gary Bartell and Vicki Phillips voted against the project, saying it was incompatible with the area. Wooten joined Commissioners Jim Fowler and Roger Batchelor in approving the development order for Halls River Retreat. They echoed what Longacre said all along: that the developer had done everything county planners and state agencies asked of him. The downsized project no longer affected the wetlands along the river, Longacre said, and the Southwest Florida Water Management District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers gave initial approval for the necessary permits. So the opponents challenged those permits and sued the county for approving the project. "I've become these guys' poster child for no development," a frustrated Longacre said. "That's what it sure does seem like." The plans dropped from 18 boat slips to 11 after the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission revisited the project over the summer at the River Alliance's prodding. The alliance also filed an appeal to the project's Swiftmud permit, although the hearing officer has not yet made a ruling. In the meantime, the condominium controversy inspired a pair of new ordinances. Commissioners approved a measure in April that curbs development on land zoned for mixed use, the dense designation that had paved the way for the Halls River Retreat. The mixed use ordinance came too late to affect the condo project, but it should ensure future projects in the coastal area are no larger than the Comprehensive Plan allows. In July, commissioners approved another ordinance spelling out the procedures for "quasijudicial" hearings on proposed developments. The measure tries to preempt the difficulties that plagued the Feb. 12 Halls River Retreat hearing, where documents piled up faster than commissioners could read them, certain experts weren't available for cross-examination and attorneys weren't sure what was supposed to happen next. "I have a problem as the jury being handed mounds of evidence I don't have time to look at," Wooten said. The condo project created political ripples, as well. Wooten's vote for the project drew intense heat, because he had accepted campaign contributions two years earlier from the attorney, engineer and Realtor for the project. He said the $1,400 from those donors was a fraction of the $30,373 he raised during the campaign, and those dollars in no way influenced his vote. Gary Bartell, the Homosassa commissioner who voted against the project, raised eyebrows when he notarized two of the legal challenges brought against Citrus County by an anticondo group called Protect Our Waterways. Adding to the intrigue, that group is led by Bartell's wife, Joanne, although both Bartells say they have kept their roles separate. Commissioner Jim Fowler, an unapologetic supporter of the project, faced a tough road to re-election. He came within 27 votes of losing the Republican primary to Joyce Valentino. He amassed an unprecedented $94,960 campaign war chest and resorted to negative ads to beat independent candidate Scott Adams in the November election. The scars from the condo project didn't heal after the campaigns ended, either. The day after the Nov. 5 election, a judge signed a scathing ruling that threw out the County Commission's approval of Halls River Retreat. Circuit Judge Jack Springstead, the Brooksville jurist assigned to the case after Citrus judges recused themselves, said the Commission majority "appeared to totally ignore much of the testimony presented" Feb. 12. He said Fowler, Batchelor and Wooten had "predetermined their decision" and "disregarded evidence" in approving the project, which Springstead said violated the county's Comprehensive Plan by placing too many condos in the sensitive coastal area. The Save the Homosassa River Alliance and Protect Our Waterways, the two anticondo groups that filed the legal challenges, applauded Springstead's ruling. It stripped Longacre of his ability to build the project -- for now. An indignant commission majority responded in November with another 3-2 vote, this time to challenge Springstead's ruling to the 5th District Court of Appeal in Daytona. "Am I the only one who finds it offensive that a judge appointed himself the sixth commissioner?" asked Wooten, who joined Fowler and Batchelor in the vote to appeal. "I think he made himself the only commissioner," Fowler replied. As the issue heads into 2003, the fate of Halls River Retreat is once again in commissioners' hands. In a Dec. 18 letter to the county, the state Department of Community Affairs outlined a proposal to put the controversy to rest. The county or the opponents' groups could seek a state grant to buy the condo site and turn it into a park, DCA general counsel Cari Roth suggested. The county could also revise its development regulations to bar other future intense developments in the coastal area. It will be up to commissioners to decide whether to pursue the settlement proposed by the DCA. "Our goal would be to make all pending litigation . . . a moot subject," Roth wrote. -- Bridget Hall Grumet can be reached at bhall@sptimes.com . Past stories of the year in Citrus County:2001: Terrorist attacks and aftermath -- http://www.sptimes.com/2002/01/01/Citrus/Miles_away__Sept_11_h.shtml 2000: The weather (drought, brush fires). -- http://www.sptimes.com/News/010101/Citrus/Environmental_issues_.shtml 1999: Juvenile violent crime. -- http://www.sptimes.com/News/010100/Citrus/Face_of_violence_youn.shtml 1998: The weather (floods in Arrowhead, excessive rain, heat and tornadoes). -- http://www.sptimes.com/News/10199/Citrus/Floods__fires__funnel.html
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