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Crystal River 'is at its best,' Farley says

The newest council member sees a bright future but only if it remains a city and retains its tough controls on all types of development.

By ELENA LESLEY
Published December 25, 2005

CRYSTAL RIVER - Jim Farley has a message for the residents of Crystal River.

"We're nothing like the stories you've heard," he said of the city's beleaguered council members.

Yes, the council may have a history of incompetence and squabbling, he admits. But since the beginning of his term last fall, Farley said the group's tenor has improved dramatically.

"Sometimes stories like (those about the council) perpetuate themself," the former police chief said. "In the more than six years I've been involved with the city, it's never been better run than it is now."

During a recent interview, Farley looked back on his first year as a council member. He attributes the council's success in large part to City Manager Phil Deaton, who took up his position in early 2005.

"He's such a professional," Farley said.

Though he has only been an elected official for a short period, as Crystal River police Chief Farley had to attend every council meeting for several years.

"I got the chance to see the dynamics," he said. "There was tension, an ideological split between some members."

Farley had never been interested in politics, but when members of the community started suggesting that he run against incumbent Kitty Ebert, he took on the challenge.

Many voters already knew Farley from his work as police chief, community service and local theatrical roles (Dracula, Buffalo Bill Cody).

"I had name recognition, so I decided not to knock on doors," he said.

Farley was elected in November, and became the council's only new member. Incumbents Susan Kirk and John Kendall won re-election.

From the start, Farley and the others faced one of the council's most publicized debacles: annexation of 520 acres to the city's south. RealtiCorp, a South Carolina developer, had approached the council after negotiations to build a Wal-Mart Supercenter on the property fell through with the county.

The city annexed the land in 2004.

During his campaign, Farley voiced his opposition to the annexation, and continued to speak out once he was elected.

In July, a circuit judge ruled the annexation illegal.

"The decision had been ill-advised and not planned well," Farley said.

While the council was trying to untangle itself from the annexation mishap, members confronted a different issue: dissolution.

The pro-dissolutionists "sold people a bill of goods that taxes would be cheaper, the services would be just as good," Farley said. "I think the movement's kind of died. I never felt there was enough support for that."

City Attorney Anthony Perrone has recently said the city can be dissolved only one of two ways: by an act of the Legislature, or by the City Council itself. Nonetheless, dissolutionists say they will continue their fight.

"I don't know why someone would want to do this when the city is at its best," Farley said. Residents need the city's tough regulations if they want to control development in Crystal River, he added.

Farley called a proposed resort hotel on Pete's Pier the city's "major league issue." After having lived in South Florida, which Farley described as "one enormous megalopolis" for years, he doesn't want to see Crystal River lose its charm.

"The time shares would change what Crystal River is forever," he said. "The reason why people live here would be gone."

Farley said he is adamantly against building six-story condominiums on the marina. He has a different vision for Crystal River, one that is gaining momentum throughout the community.

"I want a destination with that Old Florida Cracker look," he said, "a mix of restaurants, bistros and shops of all kinds."

He suggested the city could benefit from mixed-use developments, particularly those built in Florida architectural styles.

Farley said the developers interested in Pete's Pier may come back with a new proposal, but the city won't bend any regulations for them. To construct the resort hotel, the city would have had to make a good number of allowances.

As the council member looks forward to the next three years, he said he'll keep pushing for sensible development in Crystal River.

"This is a little bit of paradise," he said. "We don't want to lose that."

[Last modified December 24, 2005, 23:42:16]