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COLLEEN JENKINSRealtiCorp wants to fill in 13 acres of wetlands on the site of a proposed Wal-Mart. In return, the company will buy 170 acres to donate to a state preserve.
CRYSTAL RIVER - The developer that wants to build a Wal-Mart Supercenter in the newly annexed portion of Crystal River is seeking federal regulators' permission to fill in some of the wetlands on the site.
In return, RealtiCorp would purchase about 170 acres of mixed uplands and wetland habitat west of U.S. 19 and north of downtown Crystal River, then donate the land to the Crystal River State Buffer Preserve.
The mitigation proposal appears to be RealtiCorp's first step in moving forward with plans for the undeveloped land it owns east of U.S. 19 since Crystal River annexed the area in April.
The land is part of 500-plus acres that were included in the annexation, which RealtiCorp initiated after negotiations for a Supercenter broke down with county officials.
The developer initially submitted its permit application to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in April 2002. The agency subsequently requested additional information and received it June 4.
The updated application outlines RealtiCorp's desire to build both a residential and commercial development on its land east of U.S. 19 and south of W Venable Street.
The commercial development along the highway would include anchor retail stores, such as Wal-Mart, and smaller retail stores, according to the corps' Aug. 13 public notice concerning the permit application.
The residential development would consist of 170 acres behind the commercial property, the public notice indicates.
Annexation critics said Wednesday that the dense development was exactly what they have been warning Crystal River leaders about all along.
"We tried to tell them this is what (RealtiCorp) told you they were going to do with this," said Carl Bertoch, the lawyer who represents Citizens Opposed to RealtiCorp Annexation.
CORA and the county are pursuing legal action to block the annexation.
To construct the commercial buildings, parking lots and stormwater management ponds needed for the large retail outlets and residential subdivisions, RealtiCorp wants to fill in almost 13 acres of wetlands adjacent to U.S. 19.
Those wetlands are described in the Corps of Engineers' public notice as "disturbed, freshwater wetlands" that are home to pond cypress and red maple trees.
But environmental activist Joanne Bartell said the wetlands are connected to a system of underground culverts that empty into the Crystal River and the Gulf of Mexico. They are one of the most important types of wetlands to preserve, she said.
Destroying them in exchange for 170 acres west of U.S. 19 at the northern end of the city would not be an equitable tradeoff, Bartell said.
"This is 12 acres of very significant wetlands," she said.
The 170 acres would "become part of the state-run preserve and (be) managed by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to provide an upland buffer to the waters of the St. Martins Marsh Aquatic preserve," the federal notice said.
Approval from the corps represents just one of the permits RealtiCorp must secure from federal, state and local agencies before it could begin any construction. In particular, the city of Crystal River would have to approve any development plans.
But annexation opponents said the corps would play an important role in the process. Bertoch said the corps tends to focus on the preservation of an overall area. The agency could view maintaining 170 acres in exchange for little more than a dozen as a worthwhile deal.
Bertoch said a nod from the corps of engineers might make the City Council more willing to accept development plans from RealtiCorp. It also would cut off the environmental objections to the project, he said.
However, Chuck Dixon, community development director for Citrus County, said the wetlands mitigation still would not address the county's previous concerns with the Wal-Mart project. The county wanted RealtiCorp to either scale back its development or preserve more land around it in order to have a lesser impact on the wetlands.
"There has to be a demonstrated public benefit to approve a development which varies the design features to accommodate that area," Dixon said. "(RealtiCorp) never agreed to meet that criteria."
The corps' public notice said written comments on RealtiCorp's application would be accepted for the next 30 days. Concerned groups also can request a hearing on the matter.
The agency's decision on whether to issue a permit will be based on received input and an analysis of the probable impact on the relevant wetlands, the public notice states.
Colleen Jenkins can be reached at 860-7303 or cjenkins@sptimes.com