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Homeowners pleased by ruling in utility poles case

By CHRISTOPHER GOFFARD
Published January 19, 2005

TAMPA - More than a year after they sued to rid their neighborhood of large metal utility poles, residents of Egypt Lake won a modest legal prize Tuesday in their battle against Tampa Electric Co.: a trial date.

Hillsborough Circuit Judge Claudia Isom set aside a two-week block in mid September for a jury to hear the case.

It was unfavorable news for Tampa Electric, which has tried repeatedly to scuttle the lawsuit before it can reach jurors. Plaintiffs have complained that the utility has engaged in stall-and-delay tactics intended to skyrocket the price of pursuing the suit.

"It's definitely a victory," Bill Shaw, one of the plaintiffs, said of the trial date.

The ruling came after a Tuesday morning hearing in which the judge, as well as lawyers on both sides, tried to navigate a case of uncommonly dense procedural thickets.

Attorney Paul Antinori represents a group of 68 Egypt Lake homeowners, while Orlando attorney John W. Dill represents another five whose lawsuit has been consolidated with the first group's.

The utility's lawyer, Mark Buell, argued that there is no evidence that the electromagnetic fields generated by the poles are dangerous. He said the plaintiffs' cases should be tried one by one because they may have separate claims as to liability and damages.

"I think they all have to be tried separately, each individual house," Buell argued, eliciting muted noises of disbelief from the Egypt Lake residents in the audience.

But such a move, Antinori countered, would result in "Pandemonium," with dozens of trials resulting in possibly different outcomes. "It would be horrific," said Antinori, who said the poles are "offensive, intimidating, gigantic, obnoxious" as they tower over the "hapless souls" beneath.

The controversy started in the summer of 2003, when Tampa Electric, a subsidiary of TECO Energy Inc., began installing the poles along Kirby and Sitka streets, some of them 125 feet high. The utility did not give notice to residents, many of them blue-collar workers and retirees.

Residents feared damage to their property values, a possible heath risk and what they viewed as an aesthetic assault on their quiet neighborhood.

In court Tuesday, Antinori said he doesn't have to prove that the poles are a health hazard. The mere fact that neighbors perceive them as such makes them a nuisance under the law, he said.

Antinori, who is representing the homeowners without charge, said he feared that a "quagmire of confusion" hung over the court, thanks to the utility's lawyer. "I apologize for Mr. Buell for confusing you," Antinori told the judge. "And shame on him for confusing you."

If it was intended as a joke, Buell's smile could not be discerned.

After much back-and-forth over how to proceed, the judge agreed to a trial date for the consolidated suits. During the trial, a jury will decide whether the poles amount to a nuisance.

If the jury says yes, the judge must then determine whether to order that the poles be removed. Should the judge refuse to do so, the plaintiffs could seek legal relief in another way - by asking a jury to compensate them financially for damages.

If they seek damages, Dill, the Orlando lawyer, plans to bring in some 100 more residents who live near the poles to seek compensation.

"We're very encouraged the case is now set for trial and we're moving forward," Dill said.

The judge set the trial for September 12-23. The plaintiffs' lawyers want one day to be set aside for the judge and the jury to tour Egypt Lake to see the power poles. Buell, the Tampa Electric lawyer, said that even if a jury finds the poles a nuisance, it would be illegal for a judge to order them removed, since financial compensation would be an option.

"The things they are requesting are without precedent in the history of American jurisprudence, which is the removal of power poles," Buell said. "A nuisance has to do something. It has to disturb you at night. It has to drop dust on your vehicle. It has to shake the foundation of your house. It has to be more than "I think it's ugly,' which is all they've really argued."

Christopher Goffard can be reached at 813 226-3337 or goffard@sptimes.com

[Last modified January 19, 2005, 00:32:23]