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Deal brings Oaks development step closer

By DAN DEWITT
Published February 5, 2007

BROOKSVILLE - The city of Brooksville and Hernando County are close to resolving a long-simmering disagreement over Majestic Oaks, a subdivision on Mondon Hill Road east of downtown Brooksville.

The agreement - approved by the County Commission on Jan. 23 and due to go before the City Council in two weeks - required compromise on both sides, city and county officials said.

It appears, though, that the county gave more.

The new agreement allows Majestic Oaks to build 999 houses and 100,000 square feet of space for stores, restaurants or offices. Those are the same numbers the city allowed in a comprehensive plan amendment needed to let the South Florida developer, Avatar Holdings Inc., build the subdivision.

The county had objected to the amendment, saying it violated a 2005 agreement between the city, county and developer that had granted permission for Majestic Oaks. That agreement called for only 600 houses, along with 100,000 square feet of commercial space, which was deemed to be the maximum Mondon Hill - a two-lane county-maintained road - could handle.

The county sued the city in October over the new language in the comprehensive plan, and the new agreement resolves that suit.

The main concession from the city was a phrase that says Avatar can build as many as 999 houses only if its plan meets state concurrency requirements. That's a planning term that means adequate roads will be available to serve the project.

The concurrency requirements would have applied to the subdivision anyway, said Bill Geiger, the city's community development director.

"That's the law," he said.

But Ron Pianta, the county planning director, said the added language makes it clear the law applies to the comprehensive plan change. The county will also have a say in deciding whether the road is adequate, Pianta said.

Previous traffic studies have shown the road could handle 600 houses and 100,000 feet of commercial space, which would put the same number of cars on Mondon Hill as 910 homes.

That is the most houses Avatar could build under its current plan. If it includes commercial and office space, it would have to reduce the number of houses to keep the impact the same, Jake Varn, a Tallahassee development lawyer, said at a meeting in December.

The new agreement, with the language about concurrency requirements, should prevent Mondon Hill Road from being overwhelmed by traffic, said Jeff Kirk, the assistant county attorney who helped negotiate the settlement.

But it is possible, Geiger said, that Avatar could build the greater number of homes. That's because state law recently changed to allow developers to build even on deficient roads if they pay to improve them.

The improvements might include adding turn lanes, signals or the costlier step of widening the road to four lanes. Depending on how much the improvements cost, they might be covered by the project's impact fees, 75 percent of which are scheduled to be paid to the county.

The developer "may pay its proportionate share by virtue of the fact they are paying impact fees," Geiger said.

Dan DeWitt can be reached at dewitt@sptimes.com or 352 754-6116.

[Last modified February 4, 2007, 21:17:43]