Look for evidence, not emotion, in land use cases

Pasco County commissioners shouldn't use political pandering as their rule of thumb in land use cases.

That was the case last week in deciding to uphold an advisory body's ruling prohibiting a gasoline station at Mansfield Boulevard and County Line Road in the Meadow Pointe II development in Wesley Chapel. In picking the politically popular choice, commissioners, on a 3-2 vote, left their legal staff with a nearly indefensible position should the developer, Trout Creek Properties LLC, sue as expected.

Neighborhood residents objected to the planned gas station even though the zoning for the property will allow a convenience store or similar commercial use. They cited noise and traffic concerns and the proximity to the neighborhood clubhouse and nearby school.

The county's staff had recommended allowing the station, through a process called a special exception, if the developer met certain criteria, including a 9 p.m. closing time. The Planning Commission, however, turned down the special exception and the developer appealed to the County Commission. A three-person majority of Pat Mulieri, Ted Schrader and Ann Hildebrand rejected the appeal after hearing the residents' emotional sentiments.

One problem. Sentimentality is not the appropriate litmus test for a quasijudicial board. Commissioners heard no fact-based testimony, nor data from traffic studies, real estate appraisals or similarly scientific methodology to back up contentions the station would be unsafe and lower property values.

The residents may be correct in their views, but they need to bring solid evidence, not emotional pleas, to substantiate their position.

Hildebrand in particular should be cognizant of this. She is the lone remaining board member from a decade ago when the circuit court overruled the commission on a pair of high-profile land use cases. Commissioners, in deciding against a plan to convert the River Crossing Clubhouse to a senior citizen home and a mining permit for a ranch in Odessa, were criticized from the bench for relying exclusively on political considerations.

As a reminder, here's a portion of the 1994 ruling from then-Circuit Judge Maynard Swanson in the River Crossing case:

"The real basis for the (commission's) decision appears to be a political response to the opinion of a very vocal group of people espousing the NIMBY (not in my back yard) principle. This is unacceptable for a governmental board that is required to act in a quasijudicial manner."

In the request for the mining permit, Swanson said a former commissioner showed such bias, she should abstain from voting when he remanded the case back to the County Commission.

Questions of bias also arose in the Meadow Pointe case. Specifically, Dennis Smith, a neighborhood activist and Mulieri's appointee to the Planning Commission, is accused of helping to orchestrate the opposition to the zoning request long before the Planning Commission voted. Transcripts from a Meadow Pointe Community Development District meeting indicate Smith told the residents which tactics to take in pursuing their arguments.

Smith is not a professional politician. Still, he must ensure his actions on the Planning Commission are beyond reproach.

In this case, the County Commission should have remanded the zoning request back to the Planning Commission for additional considerations and required Smith to abstain from voting to avoid any appearance of impropriety.

Instead, Mulieri, Schrader and Hildebrand chose political popularity over proper governing.

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[Last modified July 5, 2004, 21:59:05]