Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Lawsuit a shock to board members

A resident in Westchase is suing over a $100 "welcome documents package fee" he says he had paid before.

By STEPHANIE HAYES
Published December 11, 2005

WESTCHASE - Board members stared blankly as a bomb dropped - they were being sued, and nobody knew it.

At a Westchase Community Association meeting Thursday night, World of Westchase magazine editor Chris Barrett mentioned, in passing, a small claims lawsuit against the community. It was news to the board.

"I'm a little bit concerned," said board member Mary Griffin, who wondered why Westchase's lawyer Steve Mezer hadn't told anyone about it.

The board didn't know that homeowner Gregory Grant filed a suit in October. They didn't know the case has already gone through a pretrial conference and court-ordered mediation with a lawyer from Bush Ross, P.A., the firm Mezer works for.

"The normal procedure has been that they advise us of what's going on and how the board wants to proceed," board president Daryl Manning said Friday. "In this instance, if they did advise us, none of us were aware."

Mezer didn't return a call Friday afternoon.

Grant, who has lived in Westchase for eight years, moved from one Westchase neighborhood to another - from Glenfield to the Fords - in 2004. Westchase charges a "welcome documents package fee" of $100 to new homeowners.

Grant was not new to Westchase and already had his deed restriction documents.

"My claim is only for $100," Grant said Friday. "I'm not suing for $100 plus my time and interest and all that kind of stuff. I'm just basically saying I don't have to pay this fee. I don't think it's fair."

The board thought otherwise. Manning said it's procedural that everyone who buys a house in Westchase pay the fee. The board turned down Grant's request. That was the last they heard of the case, until now.

Grant said mediation went nowhere, and he's waiting for a trial to start.

Friday, Manning was trying to find out why the association was left out of the loop.

Westchase lawyers are paid by the hour from a legal portion of Westchase's tax-paid operating budget, Manning said.

A cell phone tower may find a home on land owned by Tampa Electric.

Board member Ruben Collazo has been working with Sprint to find a place for the tower, originally planned for the Northwest Mitigation Bank. That's a protected wetland, off limits to Sprint.

Collazo pointed to an existing tower owned by TECO less than a mile from the Shires and Fords neighborhoods in an area filled with tall trees. If the plan flies, a new, taller tower would go in its place.

"No one anywhere is going to see the tower they are going to replace," Collazo said. "It does absolutely no damage to anything. It's a great solution."

Kingsford resident Charlie Gauzza wondered if the tower would still be visible from his neighborhood. He wanted his neighbors to know about the option before the association gave Sprint feedback.

The board will tell residents about the option before it decides to suggest the site to Sprint.

- Stephanie Hayes can be reached at 813 269-5303 or shayes@sptimes.com

[Last modified December 10, 2005, 10:13:05]