A man who has owned a portion of Morrison Pond for decades seeks rezoning, but some say the pond is archaeologically significant.
By CATHERINE E. SHOICHET
Published January 19, 2006
[Times photo: Stephen J. Coddington]
John Grannan, 58, owns property on Morrison Pond in Lecanto. Grannan is concerned about another property owner's request to rezone a portion of the pond from medium density residential to general neighborhood commercial, a move which Grannan fears will result in a portion of the pond being filled.
LECANTO - Morrison Pond is only a short drive down a dirt path off County Road 491.
Beside it sits what historians say is the oldest home in Lecanto - a cracker cabin built in the 1860s by homesteader John Pike Morrison.
Now a Miami man who owns property next to the pond and part of the pond itself wants the county to designate his part of the pond as commercial land.
But county staffers have recommended that the county's planning board deny the zoning change because the property, they say, is historically and archaeologically significant.
According to a draft report compiled by environmental planner Sue Farnsworth, relics found at the site "span a wide range of cultural occupation."
The site is listed in the Florida Master File of the the Florida Division of Historical Resources, Farnsworth wrote.
"This is definitely an archaeological site . . . of local significance," Farnsworth said Wednesday. And she said it might also be worthy of national recognition.
In his 1999 archaeological study of the county, Gary Ellis said the site may be eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.
The 3-acre property in question is owned by Ronald R. Sabel of Miami.
Sabel owns a total of about 7 acres off County Road 491, just north of State Road 44 and across from the Lecanto Post Office. Four of those acres are already zoned for commercial use.
But the portion county planners are evaluating is zoned medium density residential.
"I've had the property for 30 years. I never knew it was an archaeological site," Sabel said when reached on his cell phone Wednesday afternoon. "I mean, everything in Florida is an archaeological site."
The 67-year-old retired police officer said he's not a developer. He bought the land 30 years ago and thought maybe he would move to Citrus someday.
"I drove up there and saw the big beautiful oak trees. You just fall in love with it," he said. "There's a lot of charisma up there. Lecanto's a beautiful place."
But now, Sabel said he's decided to sell the property. And he wants to increase the amount of commercial land he can offer to potential buyers.
Pointing to a 1937 aerial photograph of Lecanto that shows the pond, Farnsworth said she has received several phone calls from residents concerned that the project would negatively affect the site's historical value.
Between 1957 and 1960, roads were cut across the top and east of the pond, and during the 1970s Citrus County Mosquito Control dredged silt from the spring at the west side of the pond, according to Farnsworth's report.
That, Farnsworth said, is when artifacts began to surface.
During the 19th and early 20th centuries the pond was used as a watering hole for the cattle and other passersby, she said.
John Grannan, 58, who owns property on the pond, said he worries that whoever buys the property will fill in the pond, paving over old Citrus to make way for the new.
"I wish the county would buy all of this land," he said. "I feel like I'm in a constant state of grieving about the loss of my community."
Geoff Greene, 57, who also owns property on the pond, said he's worried about drainage problems new construction might cause. He said he'd like to see the county take a greater interest in the site.
"This would be a wonderful park," he said.
Sabel's application is slated to go before the Planning and Development Review Board in a workshop Feb. 2 and a hearing on Feb. 16. The County Commission will have the final say.
