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Order ensures development's approval

County officials okay a 148-house project, which they had previously denied, after an appeals court ruling.

By DAN DeWITT
Published March 10, 2005

BROOKSVILLE - A court order forced the County Commission on Wednesday to approve a 148-house development on Centralia Road it had previously denied.

If the commission had turned down the subdivision, it could have eventually been held in contempt of the 5th District Court of Appeal, which made the ruling, said Kurt Hitzemann, senior assistant county attorney.

The board also could have exposed the county to another lawsuit from the owners, siblings Janis Moore Tucker and Marshall Moore, who live in South Florida.

"It all would have been ugly and unpleasant," Hitzemann said.

Such legal challenges are an increasing concern for the County Commission, which in recent months has taken a tougher stance on approving new developments. Besides Moore and Tucker, owners or developers of four other projects are challenging such denials in court.

These challenges do not mean the decisions have been bad ones, Hitzemann said.

"Usually the commission does the right thing," he said. "This is the first one we've had the court kick back."

But he also said commissioners should make sure they have firm legal grounds for denying projects, which was the subject of a workshop held for commissioners last month.

Commissioner Jeff Stabins agreed about the need for caution.

"This is kind of a good wakeup call to people who think we can turn things down willy-nilly without any reason," Stabins said.

Despite the warnings of the consequences of denying the project, Commissioner Chris Kingsley voted to do so. He said after the meeting that his lone vote signified his support for previous decisions of the commission and the county's Planning and Zoning Commission, both of which denied the project.

At those meetings, nearby residents testified that most of the nearby land was rural and that they wanted it to stay that way.

But in October, Circuit Judge Richard Tombrink ruled that the county should have approved the rezoning from rural to residential to allow the project. He noted the land is designated as residential in the comprehensive plan. Also, he said, subdivisions have previously been approved to allow a similar level of development on surrounding property.

The appeal court later agreed with Tombrink.

One problem with such decisions, Stabins said, is that it takes the power of negotiation away from the county. It could not, for example, work for a compromise on larger lots that might have satisfied everyone.

Despite the ruling in their favor, Moore and Tucker did agree to changes to make the project more acceptable to neighbors, said Don Lacey of Coastal Engineering Associates Inc., which represented the landowners.

A 25-foot natural buffer will be left on the east and part of the north of the property, and the owners agreed to remove a provision that would have allowed homeowners to keep a horse on the lots, most of which cover 1 acre.

In an unrelated vote, the commission granted zoning approval for a K-8 school south of Northcliffe Boulevard.

The School Board bought the 30-acre parcel in September from landowner Loren Hamm, who died in January.

[Last modified March 10, 2005, 01:14:16]