Development doesn't test growth plan, it disregards it
Published September 10, 2003
Re: Project tests county land plan, Sept. 7 Times:
Editor: I am adamantly opposed to the VLT/Chastain Development proposed for State Road 50 and Griffin Road.
I understand that we have to be somewhat flexible with the county's comprehensive growth management plan. However, when apartment buildings and city lots are proposed in an area designated mostly rural, they are talking about throwing out the comprehensive plan and allowing developer Gary Shraut to dictate the wants and needs of Hernando County residents.
I hope our county commissioners, as elected officials, will represent the best interests of the people of Hernando County and not the profit-motivated interests of developers.
-- Nancy Jones, Brooksville
Deforested land shows folly of Swiftmud
Re: Weeki Wachee Springs vs. Swiftmud:
Editor: Less than 20 years ago, the Southwest Florida Water Management District was a small bureaucracy meeting and working in some office trailers on U.S. 41 south of the county airport. Today, it operates from a multistory building at the same location, all funded with property taxes. (Check your trim notice to see what they cost you.)
They are a bureaucracy run amok. One need only take a look at the land on U.S. 19 and County Road 550 surrounding the Weeki Wachee spring. The land, which had been a forest since I moved into the county more than 20 years ago, has been clear-cut and, except for the few lanky trees left standing and the acres of palmetto that have since sprouted, it looks like a barren wasteland, which is now fenced to keep out the public. (I have often wondered what public lands are and just who owns them.)
Swiftmud claims it is bringing the land back to its former self. A history of the area tells us otherwise. The land was a huge virgin forest with cedar, live oak, cypress and pine trees until the Centralia Lumber Mill was built in the late 1800s, and in a decade or so the forest was gone and so was the mill.
I truly believe Swiftmud will force the attraction to close, tear down all the buildings and fence the property (the fence is necessary for the safety of the public), all while a do-nothing group of politicians called the Hernando County Commission sits back and watches as taxpayers are robbed of another piece of Florida, and the city of Weeki Wachee no longer exists.
-- Bob Maier, Hernando Beach
Signs for campaigns, not yards sales, need to go
Editor: The yard sale sign ruling really irks me, and I am not the only one. It is a waste of the county's money to pay someone to go around to pull up everyone's signs.
Why is it such a crime to have a sale? Recycling our goods is what we are doing. Many people can't afford to go out and buy brand-new things but can find what they need at a reasonable price at a yard sale.
People also come from Pasco and Citrus counties and while here spend some money in our county.
This is a retirement area and this is a social event, for our seniors especially. Some of them need the extra income they can make having their own sale.
Most of us remove our signs faithfully. Why not have everyone put their address and date of sale on their sign? If the sign is left up, fine that person. Don't penalize all of us.
These signs are not that tacky or big to have such a fuss about. They are up weekends, then gone.
What about the many political signs all over the roadsides and in people's front yards for months at a time? Talk about eyesores! If commissioners can't win without all those signs, they've got a problem. Do they think voters just pick a name off a sign on election day?
Get real and get rid of the yard sale sign collectors. Save the county some money.
-- Dede Payne, Spring Hill
Leaving county to buy gas can cover recycling fee
Editor: Fact No. 1: You do not have to venture far into Pasco County before you can purchase gas five to 10 cents a gallon less than in Hernando County.
Fact No. 2: Hernando County commissioners have decided if your home is in one of three ZIP codes, you will pay $19.20 more in taxes (for curbside recycling) each year than the rest of the homeowners in the county.
Fact No. 3: If you purchase your gas in Pasco County, you may save enough money to pay the tax that is disguised as a fee for mandatory recycling.
Fact No. 4: A tax by any other name is still a tax.
-- Herb Gowans, Spring Hill
Truckers should stay off road until flooding clears
Editor: Will the big rig truckers who travel County Line Road please avoid it until the road opens up and the flooding subsides? I live on Clearwater Drive, and they are tearing up our road and yards.
Please wait until County Line opens up again. We have children who play outside. It's a very dangerous situation right now.
-- Susan Clemons, Spring Hill
Army method would stop County Line Road flooding
Re: Flooding on County Line Road
Editor: A Pasco County official was quoted as saying there is nothing they can do to stop the flooding on County Line Road. Please give me a break.
Dig a trench parallel to the road about 18 inches deep. Lay a heavy piece of plastic sheeting in the bottom of the trench. Cover the plastic with sandbags or just back fill the trench. Continue stacking the sandbags with the plastic sheeting facing the lakeside of the bags until you have a dike the necessary height to hold back the water. Pump the water off the road. Project accomplished. The plastic keeps the water from flowing through the sandbags. This is a method used by the Army Corps of Engineers. It works.
To sit back and do nothing is an irresponsible position for Pasco County officials to take. That lake could be overflowing its banks for weeks or months. To subject the drivers on such a heavily traveled road and the surrounding property owners to such an inconvenience is ridiculous.
It would appear the folks in Pasco are choosing to do nothing.
-- James Bates, Spring Hill
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