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Stall-and-conquer tactic plays well at commission

By JEFF WEBB
Published August 14, 2005

Way back when, the British created a good portion of their empire using the strategy of divide and conquer. They stole the phrase from the Latin divide et impera, which translates to "divide and rule."

In Hernando County these days, a variation of that maneuver is working well. Call it stall and conquer.

The tactic is being exploited by some of Hernando County's most influential development lobbies as they try to protect their interests and outsmart the County Commission.

Earlier this summer, representatives from the builders, Realtors and Chamber of Commerce successfully postponed the commission's decision on raising the impact fees on new construction. The reason? They had not had time to thoroughly review the county's data.

In the interim, their consultant went to work and eventually whittled the county's proposed fee by about 10 percent.

Fair enough. If the county's numbers were not correct, it needed to be pointed out. But the delays saved the builders more than the difference in the fees; it bought them time to pre-pay the fees at the much, much lower rate. Then, after the commission passed the new fees and tried to curb the pre-paying frenzy, the pro-development lobby went to work on having a grace period reinstituted. The commission obliged again.

The latest example of the stall-and-conquer scheme played out Wednesday at the commission's monthly land-use hearing, where several amendments to the comprehensive growth management plan were up for adoption.

The commission, egged on by the same clique that pleaded the impact fee case, rejected the recommendation from its staff to tighten the rules that govern commercial development on the county's major thoroughfares. The goal, planners told the commission, was to limit retail businesses to designated "nodes," or pockets. Doing so would control the flow of traffic and prevent State Road 50 from duplicating the motorized mayhem on U.S. 19 in Pasco County.

But three of the five commissioners disagreed: Chris Kingsley, Nancy Robinson and Robert Schenck. Apparently wiser than the professional planners, those policymakers said they would rather see developers build frontage roads that run parallel to the highway. Never mind that it will cost more to acquire rights of way for those access roads, or that there is no apparent limit on how far they will extend. Nodes are no-nos. Period.

But after making that decision, commissioners cited the late hour (almost 6 p.m., for goodness sakes!) and put off the rest of the comp plan discussion until their meeting this Tuesday.

That was just fine with the stall-and-conquer crowd. After all, they had privately and publicly lobbied for the commission to delay its deliberations until - you guessed it - they had more time to review the proposed amendments.

Of course, the amendments had been the subject of numerous meetings the past two years by a dedicated team of learned volunteers who had given their recommendations to county planners, who then met several times with representatives from the building and real estate concerns.

But they needed more time. And, boy, did they use it well.

By Thursday morning following Wednesday's commission meeting, Jake Varn, the venerable development lawyer and Brooksville native who has taken it upon himself (and perhaps a client or two) to help rewrite portions of the comp plan, had already contacted county planners and set the agenda for a meeting with county planners on Friday. Joining him were Len Tria, who is on the payroll of the builders, Realtors and the Chamber of Commerce, and Commissioner Diane Rowden, who crashed the semi-private confab, as did Pam Ward, a growth management activist. A Times reporter nosed in, too.

So, the public won't get the full picture of what transpired in that room until Tuesday when the commissioners reconvene and take a look at what changes were made to their staff's original proposals. All of them dealt with several crucial issues that will shape the county's growth for at least the next 20 years.

Maybe the changes will be absolutely visionary and will satisfy everyone. Maybe they will be just clever manipulations designed to enrich the special interests of the stall-and-conquer crew. Stay tuned.

If it sounds like I am faulting this group of arm-twisters for doing their best to accomplish their self-centered goals, I do not. They have every right to try.

But anytime a group is given access and voice not available to others, whose opinions may be just as valid or visionary, it amounts to special treatment. If you weren't at that meeting Friday, or can't get your own private audience with the planners before the commission votes on these amendments, you were left out.

Somewhere, a British strategist is smiling.

Jeff Webb can be reached at 352 754-6123 or webb@sptimes.com

[Last modified August 14, 2005, 00:53:19]