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Pinellas County commissioners made the right decision this week when they turned down a developer's request to move existing high-voltage power lines closer to a neighborhood so he would have enough space to build homes.
Developer Tom Freed planned to build two dozen homes on a 9-acre pasture. But high-voltage power lines on 190-foot towers bisected the property. Freed wanted the county to amend the countywide land-use plan in such a way that he could legally move the power lines from the center of the pasture to the northern edge, directly behind homes on Mary Lane in the Sail Harbor neighborhood. The lines would have towered over the homes rather than standing in the distance.
Residents of the Sail Harbor neighborhood north of Lake Tarpon turned out in force for the County Commission meeting Tuesday, demonstrating their vehement opposition to the developer's proposal. They said they feared that having the lines closer to their homes would hurt their property values, and some feared that the lines might somehow harm their health.
The question of whether high-voltage power lines can cause disease in people who live nearby has not been resolved by the medical community, but that was not the primary issue in this case. The issue here was whether it was fair to affect existing property owners for Freed's benefit.
From a broad perspective, that is not a simple question. Governments regularly approve projects that neighbors believe will negatively affect them. What makes those effects okay but not this one?
In some of those cases, the project addresses a community need. Filling that need may be judged important enough to override the neighbors' objections. For example, a property that has become dilapidated or doesn't meet local codes or has become a public nuisance may be redeveloped to the benefit of the larger community. Or a facility such as a hospital or a library, or a public works project, or a business that would provide jobs or attract tourists may be judged to be so beneficial to the community that the objections of nearby property owners are put aside and the projects approved.
None of that was the case with Freed's proposal. There was no overriding community need to be met by the construction of 24 upscale homes in that particular location. Therefore, there was no justification to ignore the valid objections of Sail Harbor homeowners to having the power lines and towers moved. County commissioners were right to vote unanimously against Freed's request.
Freed and his attorney say he was treated unfairly because the county delayed action on his request until county employees could make sure that Sail Harbor residents understood what was happening. The standard notice sent to nearby property owners by the county was full of bureaucratic language and was indecipherable to residents. Freed complained the county changed the rules in midstream.
But the county was right to make sure the public knew what was happening. The county staff is now changing the wording of its notices so residents will better understand them in the future.