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Suit tossed, neighbors continue to fight mall

The attorney for Citizens Against Cypress Creek Town Center says he will challenge required environmental permits.

By JAMES THORNER
Published January 11, 2006

LAND O'LAKES - Their lawsuit was tossed out of court last month, but antimall activists set on defeating Cypress Creek Town Center are launching attacks on other fronts.

Circuit Court Judge W. Lowell Bray ruled that neighbors known collectively as Citizens Against Cypress Creek Town Center failed to prove that the $200-million, open air mall would harm them uniquely or specifically.

The plaintiffs were Leigh Jefts, who lives about a mile from the mall site in the Enclave neighborhood, and Bob and Shirley Jones, whose land lies across a creek from the commercial property.

They allege the mall would upset the environmental balance of the fields, forests and neighborhoods west of Interstate 75 and State Road 56.

Ralf Brookes, the group's attorney, vowed not only to appeal Bray's dismissal but also to challenge the environmental permits that mall developers need to break ground this summer.

The Richard E. Jacobs Group, the mall's developer, wants to clear more than 50 acres of wetlands to build the 1.3-million-square-foot mall and 600,000 square feet of additional retail.

To do so, the company needs permits from the Southwest Florida Water Management District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Brookes and his group have lobbied the corps and threaten a lawsuit in federal court.

A key issue has been the proximity of Cypress Creek along the southern border of the 500-acre project. The creek is a specially protected waterway that feeds the Hillsborough River, Tampa's main source of drinking water.

Brookes argued that the mall's removal of the wetlands, most of which would become parking lots, would expose the creek to extra pollution.

"The developers think it's more important to have parking spaces than wetlands," Brookes, from Cape Coral, said Tuesday.

Mall developers have rejected pleas to stack parking in garages, saying customers and retailers prefer open lots. As for the threatened wetlands, Jacobs has agreed to buy and preserve wetlands off site, a process called mitigation.

Jacobs officials insist their construction schedule can absorb the legal challenges.

Construction of the more than 100 stores would last about 18 months. The official opening is scheduled for late 2007, though that date could be ambitious.

[Last modified January 11, 2006, 00:41:19]