Sierra Club threatens lawsuit over mall

By CHUIN-WEI YAP
Published July 18, 2007

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and developers for the Cypress Creek Mall, a one-million-square-foot mall to fill 56 acres of wetlands (right), have faced a lawsuit from one environemental group, and now the Sierra Club is threatened one as well.
	[Times photo: Lara Cerri]

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Mike Pease] Cypress Creek is the wetland that flows into Cypress Creek Preserve. "If we can make them create wetlands off-site, we can make them re-create wetlands on-site," said Denise Layne, Tampa's Sierra Club representative. "This is a regional water issue, and actually a national issue. This is big potatoes."

WESLEY CHAPEL - The Sierra Club gave notice to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Tuesday that it would sue within 60 days if the corps does not revoke or suspend its permit for Cypress Creek Town Center.

May 15, the corps gave the green light for developers of the 1-million-square-foot mall to fill 56 acres of wetlands.

Environmentalists have sought since then to roll back the decision, capped by the Sierra Club's threat Tuesday.

"The wetlands slated for destruction under the corps' permit have important habitat for threatened and endangered species, like the eastern indigo snake and the wood stork," said Denise Layne, the club's Tampa-based representative. "Such wetlands also provide important services for people like water purification and flood control."

Nearly half the wetlands will be paved for parking lots, Layne said. Environmentalists want the developer, the Richard E. Jacobs Group, to build more parking garages.

The Jacobs Group has said it plans a 2,000-space multistory garage in later development phases, but it declined to further change its site plans, citing consumer preferences and its financial bottom line.

Barry Vorse, the corps' spokesman, said the federal regulators have not seen the lawsuit and declined to comment.

Deanne Roberts, the mall's spokeswoman, was unavailable for comment.

Layne said the 60-day window was intended to give the corps a chance to stop ongoing site work and re-evaluate its permit.

"If they do that, we may not be filing the lawsuit," she said.

The Sierra Club would weigh its options again if corps officials do nothing within these 60 days.

"That's another process I have to go through," she said. "The Sierra Club is serious about this. That's not to say I'm certain we're going to do it, but we're definitely heading in that direction."

An earlier lawsuit against the corps' decision by a Pasco resident, Dan Rametta, and his environmental group, Citizens for Sanity, was filed and then - within a day - abruptly dropped.

It is unclear if the wetlands in question already have been filled.

"If we can make them create wetlands off-site, we can make them re-create wetlands on-site," Layne said. "This is a regional water issue, and actually a national issue. This is big potatoes."

Chuin-Wei Yap can be reached at (813) 909-4613 or cyap@sptimes.com.

[Last modified July 17, 2007, 22:01:27]