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By RICHARD RAEKE, Times Staff WriterAs developers explore whether Crystal River may annex land for the store, the city is designing sewer lines.
CRYSTAL RIVER - While the City Council awaits the results of an annexation study, city officials already have started designing sewer lines that would extend to the site of a proposed Wal-Mart south of the city.
Realticorp owns more than 200 acres along U.S. 19 south of the Crystal River limits. It has approached city officials about having the land annexed into Crystal River. The overture happened came after the company came to loggerheads with Citrus County government over plans to build a 246,000-square-foot Wal-Mart supercenter on the site.
The developer is paying the cost of $18,540 in studies to determine if annexation is feasible. The results of that study should come back to the City Council in mid September.
In the meantime, City Attorney David LaCroix said a contract between Realticorp and U.S. Filter, which manages the city's water system, was drafted for the construction of a sewer main and hookups to the site, according to his monthly report, a copy of which was included in the agenda packet for the council meeting Monday night.
City Council member Susan Kirk said the city had planned a sewer line extension south along U.S. 19 before the proposed Realticorp annexation came to the fore.
However, doubts remain if the city's sewer system can handle the additional development.
"Questions have arisen regarding the city's ability to handle all of the sewage disposal needs of the entire Realticorp development (residential and other commercial) in addition to (the) proposed Wal-Mart and that issue is now being reviewed," LaCroix wrote in his report. He added that the city is "now awaiting the completion of the sewer system study to determine (the) capacity to handle all of the Realticorp proposed development ... ."
LaCroix plans to discuss the items at the City Council meeting Monday. On Thursday, he declined to answer questions verbally and then hung up on a Times reporter. City Manager Susan Boyer did not return phone calls seeking elaboration.
During an Aug. 5 council meeting, LaCroix said he did not know whether the site was intended for a Wal-Mart.
Realticorp negotiated with the county for three years as it tried to find a suitable location for a Wal-Mart in west Citrus. This site, located east of U.S. 19 and just south of the Crystal River Airport, includes pristine wetlands and an old growth cypress stand.
"It's not that the county is opposed to a Wal-Mart supercenter. The real issue is that the landowner wants to develop the whole area," said Chuck Dixon, the county's community development director. "They want to develop every potential acre of that land."
He sat in on the negotiations with Realticorp before the developer approached the city about annexation. Ultimately, Dixon said, the two sides could not agree on conservation easements.
If the annexation occurs, the city would take responsibility for interpreting the county's land development code and ensuring compliance from Realticorp.
"I just wish they would understand the ramifications of this and not be in such a hurry to help it along," Dixon said of the city. He also said he hopes, if the annexation occurs, that the city requires Realticorp to build a frontage road on the development, rather than individual driveways for each business, which could further clog traffic along U.S. 19.
Gary Maidhof, the county's director of development services, said that the county preferred that Realticorp preserve the existing wetlands rather than mitigate, or create new wetlands elsewhere.
"Just because you can mitigate the wetlands doesn't mean you should," he said.
- Richard Raeke can be reached at 564-3623 or rraeke@sptimes.com