Letters to the Editors

We do have a valid growth management plan

Editor: It is an alarming revelation that Richard Wesch, current county administrator and former assistant county attorney, does not consider the Citrus County Comprehensive Plan a "valid plan to manage growth."

In the recently published Citrus County 2002 Annual Report, Wesch makes the following statement regarding growth: "There is no legal basis to prohibit growth. With that said, we need to explore and adopt a valid plan to manage that growth so we can't look back 20 years from now and say, How did we let that happen?"

Maybe a better question is, how did we let it happen that we have a county administrator who would make such an absurd statement? We do have a valid plan. It is the Citrus County Comprehensive Plan. It was explored and it has been adopted.

Minutes from the Planning Development Review Board meeting of Nov. 6, 1997, reflect a disturbing trend when Wesch, assistant county attorney, said: "If DCA raises the question of what data and analysis was used, staff would have to be very creative."

If Wesch, the top nonelected official in our county, does not believe in adhering to the growth management law and condones "creative" explanations, then what can we expect of every employee working under him?

Could Commissioners Josh Wooten, Roger Batchelor and Jim Fowler be so naive as to believe that we don't have a valid growth management plan, otherwise known as the Citrus County Comprehensive Plan, that the law requires them to follow when making land use decisions because that is what the county administrator told them?

If so, I urge them to do their homework because they are the ones we will hold accountable at election time. If the residents of this county can detect when falsity is inserted in place of fact, then we have every right to expect they can, too.
-- Ida Houle, Homosassa

Pine Ridge is changing for the worse

Editor: After attending the Jan. 22 Pine Ridge meeting, I am ashamed to be a resident of Pine Ridge. I have never in my life seen such rude and vulgar behavior.

When I came to Pine Ridge in 1990 we did not have fancy signs and, guess what, we still came! We were allowed to have garage sale signs and people did not spy on their neighbors. And we did not have "horse people," "tennis people" and whatever other kind of "people" with their tentacles in the budget.

Many of us who do not attend the monthly meetings are thankful to the newspaper letter writers who have informed us about the proposal to hire a tennis professional with our dollars and about how we are paying for the equestrian hobby of a select few.

Concern about the aforementioned two items is why many of us attended the January meeting. Many of us are on fixed incomes and viewed the recent increase in our annual fee with skepticism. When I went to the community center to pay my bill, I encountered a new $1,000 equestrian sign! Were our fees raised to pay for an expensive sign for a special interest group? Are we in Pine Ridge or Tallahassee?

All Pine Ridge lot owners have worked hard for their money and deserve fiscal responsibility with regard to the use of the annual fee that they pay. We view the function of the board as a boring one, like running one's own personal household and balancing one's own personal checkbook, not going on a spending spree.

We came to Pine Ridge because we loved it the way it was and is. Those who want to change it might be happier in Black Diamond or Citrus Hills.

While our board is monopolized by trying to contain the greed that has taken over our community, the really big issues that will affect our quality of life are ignored.

First of all, there is the overwhelming possibility of a toll road at our southwest entrance with a 25-foot-high bridge over County Road 486. If you live within 2 miles of that bridge, the peace and quiet that you came here to enjoy will be decimated. If you live anywhere in Pine Ridge, the air quality that you now enjoy will be diminished by auto and truck exhaust fumes.

Further, it is my understanding that our board, instead of opposing the six-laning of County Road 491, which will impact the northeast side of Pine Ridge with air and noise pollution, has instead welcomed it and has been working with the county to sell common land, which has been recognized by the state and the county as belonging to all Pine Ridge residents.

Also, the builders seem to have a stranglehold on our community. New residential lots are clear-cut and filled with sod. Instead they should be educating new property purchasers about Pine Ridge's unique habitat, i.e. sandhill terrain needed to recharge Florida's aquifer.

Ten years from now we will have a 25-foot-high bridge with truck traffic at one end of Pine Ridge, trucks speeding along CR 491 at the other end, and few pine trees left. Instead of Pine Ridge, we will have to change the name to Ridge Development.

Let's wake up before it is too late. If you care, please attend the Feb. 18 meeting at the Community Center to learn about the candidates. Some on the ballot represent the special interest groups.
-- Isabell Spindler, Pine Ridge

Another 'no' on mandatory trash pickup

Editor: It seems to me that everyone in our county is against mandatory trash collection. If you are counting, I am also against it.

I have read in the newspaper that our laws forbid the recalling of our county commissioners. That is really too bad. We will have to change the law.

There are certain people who hold these positions who should listen to the people who pay their salaries.

The people who have attended the public meetings have voiced their opinions. It looks like everyone is out of step but Jim Fowler and his two dwarfs. How can all these people be that out of touch?
-- Henry Butler, Lecanto

Share your views

The Citrus Times welcomes letters from readers for publication.

Because of space limitations, letters should be of reasonable length.

Letters may be edited for clarity, taste and length.

All letters must be signed and must contain the writer's address and telephone number. Addresses and telephone numbers will not be printed.

Send your letters to Greg Hamilton, editorial page editor, Citrus Times, 301 W Main St., Inverness, FL 34450. To fax a letter, call 860-7320. Send letters by electronic mail (in text only format) to Hamilton@sptimes.com.

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