A site at U.S. 19 and Ozello Trail that was in the works might not be suitable. Officials say the wetlands could be hurt.
By ARCHANA PYATI
Published June 5, 2003
CRYSTAL RIVER - At Ozello Trail, U.S. 19 is not the busy commercial corridor that it is in downtown Crystal River. Here the highway cuts through a swamp filled with towering cypress trees, lush cinnamon fern and sleepy gopher tortoises.
These wetlands are in good shape and are proving to be an obstacle for Wal-Mart, the retail giant that wants to build a 246,000-square-foot supercenter at the intersection.
The property is owned by RealtiCorp, a South Carolina-based investment firm that is eager to sell the 53 acres to Wal-Mart and close the deal.
RealtiCorp was supposed to try to clear another hurdle today in the county's development review bureaucracy. But Clark Stillwell, the attorney representing RealtiCorp, pulled the item from the Planning and Development Review Board's agenda.
RealtiCorp wants the board, and later the County Commission, to approve construction of the supercenter on that land. The building would be considered a planned development and thus would need local government approval.
But the project doesn't have the blessing of the county's planning staff. It has advised the planning board to reject RealtiCorp's latest design because the wetlands are healthier here than in other parts of the county and take up about 20 percent of the property. This negative impact on wetlands would be inconsistent with the county's comprehensive plan, staff has said.
"These are pristine areas, and that raised a red flag for us," said Jenette Collins, one of the planners who reviewed the design. "We found them to be substantial enough to pay attention."
"There are a lot of trees that are remaining," said Chuck Dixon, the county's director of community development. "There are old trees, large cypress trees that take a long time to grow."
The staff report also identifies a host of other species native to the parcel's ecosystem: pond pine, laurel oak, wax myrtle and saw palmetto. The habitat would be suitable for Sherman's fox squirrels, Florida pine snakes, and black bears. Only gopher tortoises have been seen on the site.
The store would be Citrus County's second Wal-Mart Supercenter. The first, located on State Road 44 in Inverness, is nearing completion.
For three years, RealtiCorp has struggled to find a suitable location for the store. The company owns property along U.S. 19 north of Ozello Trail; and last year it selected a parcel just south of West Penn Drive, where the wetlands aren't as plentiful.
County planners suggested a location closer to a stoplight to accommodate the waves of traffic a supercenter would bring to Crystal River. RealtiCorp, with Wal-Mart, then chose the Ozello Trail intersection.
Because staff had been enthusiastic about this location before, Stillwell was surprised by its rejection of the design's latest version.
"We'd been advised we would get a favorable staff report. We didn't, and we're disappointed," he said. "They told us what they wanted us to do, and we did it."
RealtiCorp has proposed conserving 2 of the 12.5 acres of wetlands near the store's front. Two more acres will be compromised because of an access road to the east of U.S. 19 that the county is requiring RealtiCorp to build. It might not be easy to squeeze the massive supercenter onto the site and avoid wiping out more wetlands.
"When you're dealing with something like this, you can't readily change the design to accommodate the wetlands," Dixon said.
A Crystal River environmental group hasn't taken a formal stance against the supercenter. Gail Jannarone, who sits on the board of directors for the Kings Bay Association, said the group has been focused on other issues, like opposing state Sen. Nancy Argenziano's agriculture bill.
The supercenter, lower on her radar screen, still concerns her because of runoff that would pollute Kings Bay and the Crystal River.
"My main concern is the water," she said. "I know there are wetlands, and we feel strongly about retaining the wetlands."
Save the Homosassa River Alliance, whose focus is the waterways of southwestern Citrus, has spoken out against the project. Member Chris Lloyd wrote a critical guest column in Wednesday's Citrus Times, saying the store would harm the environment and damage the county's fledgling ecotourism industry. He also said the store lies in an area prone to flooding during the mildest hurricane.
Jim Bitter, the group's vice president, said he's opposed to the project since water percolating through the wetlands will make its way to the Homosassa River.
"It's a filtration area for the river complex," he said. "If we eliminate this recharge area, we're going to have more stormwater runoff."
Stillwell said Kimley-Horn & Associates, the engineer hired to design the store, is supposed to finish another set of drawings by June 18. The newest design will go back to the planning board, which will make a final recommendation to the County Commission. The commission's vote, scheduled for later this summer, will make or break RealtiCorp's project.
If Kimley-Horn can't come up with an alternative that lessens the impact to the environment, Stillwell said he may just forge ahead with the current design.
"It may not come to fruition," he said. "We may say hell with it, and fight the war."
