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Dispute influences commission race

One reason Gary Santti wants to hold office involves a conflict with a neighbor over a dock.

By ANDREW MEACHAM
Published November 18, 2005

APOLLO BEACH - Gary Santti stood before a cluster of residents at the Apollo Beach Recreation Center recently, about to lay out his case for why he should be elected county commissioner.

But first Santti had a question for the 15 members of the Apollo Beach Civic Association.

Had any of them seen articles about a dispute between Santti and his next-door neighbor over a dock?

A single hand went up.

That dock dispute is still unresolved. And it is part of the reason, Santti said, that he has entered the race to take the County Commission seat vacated by Kathy Castor.

"Part of it is that I was getting no action out of the Port Authority," said Santti, 52. Now, he added, "I want a seat on the Port Authority's board."

Santti's fight with his neighbor started in July 2002, when workers were sinking pilings in the water behind the lot next door on Abaco Drive in Apollo Beach. There was one problem: His next-door neighbor, Don Bourdon, did not have a permit.

To Santti, a civil engineer, it looked like Bourdon's dock would be too close to his own. Santti called the Port Authority to complain. Inspectors issued a violation notice because Bourdon didn't have a permit.

Three weeks later, the parties appeared to have reached a compromise. Santti signed off on a permit request - with the understanding, he said, that Bourdon would leave 5 or 6 feet of clearance from Santti's dock.

But that didn't happen.

In March 2003, eight months after being ordered to stop, Bourdon resumed work on the dock and boat lift. He now says it was a mistake.

"I jumped the gun," he said.

Bourdon, 52, blames himself for trusting crew members, who he said assured him he could get the work done and take care of permitting later.

The Port Authority filed a lawsuit against Bourdon, seeking fines and legal costs. Those penalties can be as much as $5,000 a day - a total that would now exceed $5-million.

When Bourdon learned of the possible fines in June, he confronted Santti in his front yard, both men said. Bourdon yelled at Santti and called him epithets.

Santti took out a restraining order against Bourdon, but a week later a Hillsborough circuit judge dismissed the order. The port's lawsuit is still pending.

Santti said he would prefer to put the dock dispute behind him and focus on his commission race. Besides serving on the Port Authority board, he would like to cut down on government waste, reduce the size of the Environmental Protection Commission, and improve sewer services in Ruskin.

"My qualifications are a good selling point," Santti said.

Some neighbors aren't convinced.

Tom Bader, the previous owner of Bourdon's house, described Santti as a hermit who seldom cut his grass and avoided friendly conversation.

"If you cornered him, he would talk to you for 15 seconds and figure out a way to get away from it," said Bader, who owns Brandon Sportcards and Collectibles.

William Rich, a neighbor on Spindle Palm Way, was more reserved in his opinion.

"I don't know that (Santti) will have that much support in this area," said Rich, 75. "He hasn't been that sociable."

Andrew Meacham can be reached at 661-2431 or ameacham@sptimes.com

[Last modified November 17, 2005, 08:14:05]