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Liaison's role in deal triggers grumbling

Some residents say working for Manatee Bay Associates is harming the reputation Anne Madden made for herself.

By ANDREW MEACHAM
Published January 27, 2006

RUSKIN - The smiling woman who would save Ruskin stood before the packed hearing and told residents why she works for a large developer.

"I don't need the money, but my husband won't let me work for free," Anne Madden said.

When some in the audience grumbled, her voice grew steely.

"There is nothing about me that is for sale," she said, "and the majority of the people in this room know that."

Some aren't so sure.

Ruskin residents are wondering why Madden, a longtime business owner and Planning Commission member, would work for a controversial developer after toiling for community causes for so many years.

To most residents, Madden is better known as the bubbly owner of the Blue Ibis gallery on U.S. 41.

"It almost feels like somebody in our community betraying us," said Ruskin resident Anita Jimenez, an opponent of the project.

If hiring Madden was meant to smooth over the developer's relations with Ruskin neighbors, it hasn't worked so far.

In fact, some say it's increased the animosity between residents and Fort Lauderdale developer Manatee Bay Associates.

No development has divided Ruskin quite like this one.

The fight over the proposed 180-acre project has pitted neighbors who want to protect Ruskin's rural way of life against developers, who pitch an upscale community that would enhance the area's reputation.

Developers also want to build another 67 units on 13 acres nearby.

Neighbors object because they say all the buildings would threaten wildlife and conflict with the Ruskin Community Plan.

In an interview, she said neighbors who question her motives should know better.

"The reason I am speaking for the project is not because I'm an employee," she said. "I am an employee because I believe in the project."

The wife of an Army intelligence officer, Madden, 47, spent five years in the Netherlands, where she worked on a master's degree in international relations, planning on a career in the State Department. Her master's thesis centered on the economy of Limburg, Holland, where she lived.

The couple moved to Bloomingdale in 1992. A year later, Madden opened the Blue Ibis gallery on U.S. 41, known for Florida wildlife and landscape paintings.

In 1997, Madden and her husband, David, moved to Ruskin. She served on the Planning Commission and Metropolitan Planning Organization, stepping down in November.

"We live under a system of government that requires participation," Madden said. "In order to fully participate, you need to find out how it works."

In December, Madden sold the gallery after 12 years. She said she won't miss the six-day work weeks or property taxes that increased annually. The taxable value of the property rose from $195,000 in 1993 to just under $830,000 this year.

A notorious early riser - she gets up at 4:30 a.m. without an alarm - Madden said she was ripe for another project after leaving the Planning Commission.

She became curious about the developments and began asking questions, she said. She heard presentations by developers at the Ruskin Chamber of Commerce and began contacting Richard McGinniss, general manager of Manatee Bay Associates, with more questions.

After Madden left the Planning Commission, McGinniss asked her if she would like to take a job as a community liaison for his development company, she said.

"Anne had been somebody who encountered our development, and over the course of time we gained a lot of respect for her," McGinniss said. "When she became available, we said, "What better person to hire?' "

She started work in January, about a week before the zoning hearing. Before that, she had never spoken publicly either for or against the project.

Madden also said she never heard zoning petitions as a planning commissioner about the property.

Asked how much she's being paid, Madden replied: "I honestly don't know. I am not motivated by money."

She said she considers her new position a full-time job.

Wade Clark, who's known Madden for years, said he could not understand why Madden had taken the developer's side against overwhelming opposition from neighbors.

"It's Anne's business," Clark said. "But why she would come in and support somebody after the fact who is going totally against the (community plan) guidelines is beyond me."

Clark said he didn't believe arguments that the project will not violate Ruskin's community plan.

"If they hired me and paid me a lot of money, I could say that," Clark said. "Would you believe me?"

Mariella Smith, head of the southern Hillsborough Sierra Club, said Madden is representing a project that will create more crowded housing south of Shell Point Road.

"Anyone working to promote this development is working to sabotage the Ruskin Community Plan," Smith said.

The developer withdrew an earlier proposal that would have stocked Riverton with 538 units instead of 360, then backed off from a plan to develop as much as 500,000 square feet of commercial space.

"That proposal was withdrawn because of massive public opposition," Smith wrote in an e-mail in the Times.

To Madden, the earlier retreat shows that the developer has tried to accommodate the public.

At the zoning hearing, she contradicted a county planner who characterized other homes in Ruskin as "traditional suburban."

"I think they're ugly tract homes," Madden said of housing east of the project. "I think there are some really ugly things going on in Ruskin, and this developer has tried to do something better."

The planned development benefits both the developer and the community because projects typically come with lengthy conditions by the county, Madden said.

"I try to be honest and fair," she said.

She added: "My husband's opinion is the only one that matters to me outside of my own."

Andrew Meacham can be reached at 661-2431 or ameacham@sptimes.com

[Last modified January 26, 2006, 09:02:05]