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For landowner, ditch is the pits

Drainage work is upsetting her horses and destroying her property, she says.

By ANNE LINDBERG
Published October 12, 2005

PINELLAS PARK - Gail Larson said contractors moved in Monday with steam shovels and began knocking down trees along the ditch bordering the rear of her property at Southern Star Stables.

The contractors are working for Pinellas Park Water Management District.

As part of a $5.5-million project, the district will line the drainage ditch with concrete from 60th to 52nd streets N. When finished, the improved drainage will help relieve any flooding in the nearby Springwood subdivision, PPWMD executive director Richard Kusmierczyk said.

Larson said the trees added charm to her property at 5900 94th Ave. N and shaded the horses from the hot sun. Now the ditch project is just the latest in a 13-year battle between Larson and PPWMD. This time, she said, the noise and disruption are upsetting the horses and her boarders.

"I'm absolutely flipping out," Larson said. "They're destroying my property. . . . They're ruining my place."

PPWMD is an independent taxing district designed to help prevent flooding in mid Pinellas County. The district covers most of Pinellas Park and portions of unincorporated Pinellas, including the Bayou Club and a portion of Lealman. It is run by a board of three members, two of whom are appointed by the Pinellas Park City Council. The other is appointed by the Pinellas County Commission.

Kusmierczyk said the district began negotiating with Larson three years ago about the condition of the ditch, but couldn't agree on how to handle the proposed construction.

As for the horses, Kusmierczyk said, the district contacted experts who said the animals can get used to anything, even the noise of steam shovels and the crack and crash of oak trees being pushed over.

"I understand it's not normal for the horses," he said.

But the district, he said, has put up temporary fencing to keep in the horses and block any flying debris. Workers, he said, have even reinstalled Larson's electric fence.

"I don't believe there's any way for horses to escape," he said.

When construction is done in about three months, Larson's fence will be replaced and new trees will be planted.

But Larson wonders if the replacements will be up to par. And, she said, the trees she's been promised are saplings. It will be years before the shade is restored, she said.

Larson said her disputes with PPWMD began about 13 years ago when the district cleaned the ditch. At the time, the channel was much narrower and her land extended 10 to 20 feet on the ditch side of her fence.

Over the years, erosion has widened the channel so much that, in spots, there's less than a foot of land between Larson's fence and the edge of the ditch, she said. In one spot, the ditch edge is flush against one stall.

Larson said she has lost property because PPWMD allowed the erosion. She said the district has a 10-foot easement on part of her property for maintenance, but contends that easement is now in the ditch because of the erosion. The work that's being done, she said, is outside the easement and on her property.

Kusmierczyk said the district has tried over the years to work things out with Larson.

"We could never come up with anything that she would agree to," he said.

The district, he said, is within its rights because there is a 50-foot right of way. One of Larson's barns, he said, is in the right of way. He also said the channels were there before Larson's barn was. That gives PPWMD the right to be in the channel up to the bank.

"Either way, . . . we have the right to be in there," Kusmierczyk said.

[Last modified October 12, 2005, 00:19:18]