Swiftmud: Road foes lack a case

LAND O'LAKES -- Two environmental groups wouldn't be hurt enough by construction of a Ridge Road extension to justify a legal challenge to the 8.6-mile highway that would connect New Port Richey and Land O'Lakes.

That's the opinion of the Southwest Florida Water Management District, which has asked the state Division of Administrative Hearings to dismiss a petition from Citizens for Sanity and Floridians for Environmental Accountability and Reform.

Clay Colson, an opponent of the extension, wants a hearing before an administrative law judge to detail objections to the $25-million project. First among them is that the highway will sever the Serenova nature preserve west of the Suncoast Parkway.

Pasco County expects to destroy 49 acres of wetlands in Serenova. To compensate, the county has agreed to buy 488 acres in west Pasco for preservation and to restore another 1,130 acres of ranch land to its natural state.

Colson's challenge freezes the permit Pasco needs from the water district to start construction. But the two environmental groups of which Colson is a part lack standing to go to court over Ridge Road, Swiftmud attorney Margaret Lytle said.

Lytle likened Colson's position to that of a person who wants to save a lake but has never visited, swam in or boated on the lake.

"If the proposed action doesn't cause you a certain degree of injury, the courts say you don't have the right to object to it," Lytle said Thursday.

Pasco officials have waited years to build a highway they say would be a hurricane evacuation route. The Suncoast Parkway already includes an overpass to accommodate Ridge Road.

Colson and his allies fear the highway will open thousands of acres of farmland in central Pasco to suburban development. Developers with projects totaling more than 10,000 homes have cited Ridge Road as vital to serving future homeowners.

Colson couldn't be reached late Thursday afternoon but has said that even if his administrative hearing fails, he plans to delay the highway for years, starting with a lawsuit in state Circuit Court.

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