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Council should table plan to annex parcels

T onight the Brooksville Council is expected to approve a proposal to annex into the city two pieces of property, totaling nearly 900 acres, east of Southern Hills Plantation. The council does so:

- With no idea what the landowners plan to do with the property.

- Against the wishes of the Hernando County Commission, which had requested the decision be put off until two new commissioners were on the board and the council and commission had an opportunity to meet again to discuss the impact it might have on the county's infrastructure.

Those concerns include that the annexation may require amending the comprehensive growth management plan, which designates the sites as rural, and that the county cannot afford to improve the roads that traffic from a residential/retail development would generate.

- With no regard for the pleas from council members-elect, Joe Bernardini and Lara Bradburn, who have requested that the decision be postponed until they are sworn into office two weeks from now. Each has expressed a willingness to work more cooperatively with the County Commission and curb the city government's appetite for expanding the city's boundaries.

The inexplicable determination of three outgoing council members, Ernie Wever, Mary Staib and Joseph Johnston III, to approve this annexation as one of their last official acts is enough to transform the most trusting observer into a full-fledged skeptic. Not only should the public -city residents and those nearby - be concerned about these circumstances, so should the landowners, Bell Fruit Co. and James DeMaria, who could end up in the middle of a court battle between Hernando County and Brooksville.

Without having the County Commission's consensus on the proposed annexation, and not knowing how the property might be developed, it would be irresponsible for the City Council to proceed. That is especially true in light of the costs that taxpayers could incur from a drawn-out legal battle.

The council should table this proposal and continue to review with county planners the impact it will have on the area; there should be a clear understanding of the effects the annexation would have on both governing bodies.

[Last modified November 19, 2006, 23:10:55]