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Alliance to keep fighting 4-story motel

After hearing Commissioner Gary Bartell explain why he voted yes, the Save Our Homosassa River Alliance voted to explore legal action.

By BARBARA BEHRENDT
Published July 21, 2006

HOMOSASSA - Still stinging over last week's County Commission approval of four-story resort motel rooms at the Homosassa Riverside Resort, the Save Our Homosassa River Alliance is exploring legal options.

The vote to move forward with the fight came late Wednesday after the alliance heard from County Commission Chairman Gary Bartell, who was part of the 3-2 majority.

Long considered an ally by the alliance, Bartell attended the special meeting to explain why he believed he had no choice but to vote yes.

For nearly an hour Bartell defended his decision, explaining that many issues raised by opponents of the expansion did not apply to the resort.

There were no plans to increase boat docks. The density was not increasing on the already commercially zoned 6-acre resort site. And because of the uniqueness of the Riverside Resort property, the commission vote was not going to open the floodwaters to high-rises along Citrus County's coastline, Bartell explained.

The key choice for commissioners was to decide whether to grant approval for buildings that were three stories over parking with less coverage of the site or two stories over parking with more coverage of the parcel.

"I know it's a very emotional issue," he told about a dozen officers in the River Alliance. "It has created conflict in our community, and I just want you to deal with the facts."

The River Alliance has opposed the project on a number of fronts. It argued that traffic would be heavier than a study showed, that more boat traffic would be generated by the larger facility, and that the density of the development would increase beyond acceptable levels.

But its main focus was on the height of the buildings, which will house new motel suites.

The alliance has argued that the new development rules approved for old Homosassa by the County Commission last year, rules that apply in the area known as the Old Homosassa Overlay District, would not permit buildings taller than two stories over parking.

Gail Oakes, managing partner for the resort, proposed - and received approval for - three stories over parking.

She had argued that she would cover less of the ground with taller buildings, thus providing more green space on the property.

River Alliance member Ron Schultz, former Citrus County property appraiser, said Bartell was familiar with the process that created the overlay district and that Bartell should have known that four-story buildings in the neighborhood were not what Homosassa residents wanted.

Bartell said he knew that. Still, the language in the overlay plan was ambiguous. In fact, the language states that buildings could be two stories over the first living floor, which some interpreted as three stories over parking.

In the county's Land Development Code, buildings up to 50 feet in height are allowed. Oakes plans to build her four-story buildings shorter than that.

Bartell also assured the organization's leaders that all other aesthetic, parking, lighting and other standards in the overlay plan will have to be met by the resort before it can get a permit.

He urged the River Alliance board to work with him to get the language clarified so there could never be another confusion about what the community wanted.

"I'm a friend of the River Alliance," he said.

Bartell also tried to answer questions raised by alliance members about his family's connection to the resort. Bartell's daughter works for Oakes, and his son worked there briefly as part of a work-study program.

As soon as he saw the resort project was moving through the approval process, Bartell said, he asked the county attorney whether he had a conflict of interest and should recuse himself from voting.

County Attorney Robert "Butch" Battista responded that Bartell had no conflict and must vote.

Bartell's explanation prompted some sharp exchanges from alliance members, as did comments by his wife, Joanne, who complained that River Alliance board member Jim Bitter had wrongly accused her of soliciting a letter in support of the resort expansion from businessman Lewis Ranieri.

Bartell and his wife said they didn't appreciate attacks on their family and untruthful statements about their motivations.

"It's a small community," Mrs. Bartell said, noting that many of the people in the meeting room Wednesday night had known each other a long time.

"We just want everything on the table," alliance member Winston Perry said.

After Bartell explained his rationale for approving the project, River Alliance president Priscilla Watkins formally asked Bartell to reconsider his vote.

Bartell said he could not.

"I cannot break the law because you want me to break the law," he said.

He and his wife left soon afterward, and the organizations members discussed the issue among themselves.

They ultimately voted to pursue their concerns about the project and were slated to talk to their attorney about their next step.

Barbara Behrendt can be reached at behrendt@sptimes.com or 564-3621.

[Last modified July 20, 2006, 19:27:56]