With a lot riding on a certificate of occupancy, experts for Crystal River and the county lock horns.
By JUSTIN GEORGE
Published May 4, 2004
Citrus County officials rebutted testimony given by an independent building official contracted by Crystal River to contest their work.
Gary Maidhof, county Development Services director, said Port Orange chief building official Joseph Crum may not have reviewed all paperwork needed to make a sound judgment on whether the certificate of occupancy the county granted Rodger and Renee McPheeters was valid or not. County officials maintain that it was.
In the end, a judge may decide who was right.
"My building staff reviewed a copy of your letter, and it is their belief that you may not have received sufficient documents to fully evaluate the project," Maidhof wrote in a April 28 letter.
He was responding to a memo Crum wrote for Crystal River questioning the county's work. "Since your letter will play a key role in a judicial review and a subpoena for your testimony and deposition is likely, I felt it appropriate to provide you with a complete copy of the file," Maidhof wrote.
The McPheeterses used the certificate of occupancy to move into a strip mall they own and that is part of about 520 acres Crystal River annexed last week. A Wal-Mart Supercenter has been proposed in the annexed area.
The annexation has been opposed by county officials, who contend that the project could ruin wetlands. They also think the project could hurt a water-rights agreement and public airport. The county, among others, is considering a lawsuit.
"This annexation has been quite controversial and it is highly likely that litigation by one or more affected parties will be filed as a result of its adoption," Maidhof said in his letter.
By moving into the strip mall, the McPheeterses, who also opposed incorporating the land into the city, were poised to force Crystal River to send the annexation to a public vote by state law. As the only residents in the annexed area, the couple would cast the only two votes.
But City Attorney David LaCroix contested the legitimacy of the McPheeterses' unusual home. After much thought, he said, the couple did not have legal occupancy. His opinion paved the way for the City Council to annex the land April 26 by a 4-1 vote.
His opinion was partly based on Crum's analysis. Working for the city, the Port Orange building inspector said he found several problems with the McPheeterses' certificate of occupancy:
There should be some separation between the couple's storefront and where they live in case of fire.
The home doesn't have adequate windows or doors to serve as a fire escape.
No tub, shower or washer-dryer hookup were planned, as required.
Much of his findings contained caveats. Although the McPheeterses' "home" lacked certain details, such as fire sprinklers, Crum couldn't say for sure if Citrus County required them.
But the things Crum said were missing, such as fire-safety requirements and a shower, were located on the second page of the McPheeterses' plans - a page that Maidhof thinks Crum never saw.
"He rendered an opinion and that opinion differed from my staff and I felt it appropriate since this was likely to go to litigation . . . that if and when this winds up in court, we're both working from the same page, so to say," Maidhof said Monday.
Maidhof speculated that Crum may have gathered the McPheeterses' plans by fax during a public records request. If he did, Maidhof said, a fax might not have included the pages of the plan drafted on 8- by 14-inch paper. Faxes typically transmit 8- by 11-inch sheets.
Crum and Crystal River City Manager Susan Boyer did not return phone calls made to their workplaces Monday.
