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Storms tried to delay bar, court told

A former building official testifies she asked him to delay a certificate of occupancy for the proposed Valrico bikini bar.

By KEVIN GRAHAM
Published December 16, 2005

TAMPA - As a top Hillsborough building official, David Ford said he got a late-evening call earlier this year from County Commissioner Ronda Storms.

He said Storms asked him for a "favor."

Could he delay a certificate of occupancy for a proposed bikini bar in Valrico? Storms asked, according to Ford's testimony Thursday in federal court.

He told her the bar wasn't ready to receive the certificate, one of the final documents a business needs before it opens.

"Can I ask why you're asking this?" Ford recalled.

Storms' response:

"She said no," Ford testified.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Mary Scriven told lawyers in the case she wants to know more about Storms' "working to derail" the certificate as part of a hearing to decide if the county is stalling the opening of the controversial bikini bar at 1602 E Brandon Blvd.

Whether Storms ends up being called to the witness stand remained an open question Thursday. Scriven did not specify how she expected the lawyers to respond.

Storms, reached later Thursday, declined to comment, refusing to let a reporter even tell her what was said in court. County Administrator Pat Bean also declined to comment, saying it would be inappropriate since there is ongoing litigation.

Under the county charter, commissioners aren't allowed to interfere with sound government decisions. They're supposed to set broad public policy direction and leave the task of directing the county staff to the county administrator.

County Attorney Renee Lee said she had heard "bits and pieces" of the story Ford told in court. She came to Storms' defense, calling it a misunderstanding.

"It seems rather harmless to me," Lee said. "When I spoke to (Storms), she said she was inquiring. Her contact was more of an inquiry vs. a direction."

Lee said Storms told her that she merely wanted to know whether Ford had planned to issue a certificate of occupancy the following week.

"I think it'll be cleared up," Lee said.

Ford was the director of the county's Development Services Division. He left the county post in October and is now working for a private engineering firm.

When asked whether, if the conversation took place the way Ford described it under oath, Storms violated the county charter, Lee paused.

Then she said, "The power to direct staff is vested with the county administrator. I don't have all the facts, so I would not make any conclusion that there was any violation of the county charter."

Luke Lirot, an attorney for the bar's owners, Gemini Property Ventures, had called Storms to testify at the hearing, but county attorneys filed a motion on Monday to keep her from testifying, arguing that everything she said was in the public record.

In a hearing Tuesday, Lirot agreed to withdraw the subpoena and use instead the records from County Commission meetings.

Last month, Lirot filed a motion on behalf of Gemini Property Ventures seeking a preliminary injunction against the county.

The motion asked the judge to force the county to issue Gemini a certificate of occupancy so it could open the bar.

Apparently, the county did issue a certificate of occupancy in September.

But it soon rescinded the certificate, saying that the bar's parking spaces were too small.

The bar has been in place since 1966 and is grandfathered in with certain county rules. Gemini has argued that the 17 spaces they have in its parking lot are enough, according to the grandfather provision.

Jamie Rand, the Gemini principal, has filed an appeal. It's scheduled for a hearing with the county in February.

There had also been some debate regarding how much money Rand and his group could spend on renovations to the bar, before they are subject to tougher development rules.

Attorneys said the limit was 25 percent of the property value. In this case, around $90,000.

The county hired a third-party consultant to inspect improvements to the bikini bar. He testified in court that Gemini had spent more than $157,000 on upgrading the outside of the bar alone.

Scriven said she may throw out his testimony, however, because he couldn't give specifics about how he evaluated the work at the site.

The judge also scrutinized his testimony because he relied to some degree on inspectors at the site to tell him what additions had been made, without verification.

The hearing resumes this morning at 11 in Scriven's courtroom. She has told attorneys she wants to hear more about Storms' involvement with the certificate of occupation, and whether the 1960s county code that has been cited in dealing with the bar's parking lot has been misinterpreted.

Times staff writer Jennifer Liberto contributed to this story. Kevin Graham can be reached at 813 226-3433 or kgraham@sptimes.com

[Last modified December 16, 2005, 00:53:08]