Officials, developer haggle over lights

The city demands that the developer comply with a previous order.

By DONG-PHUONG NGUYEN Times Staff Writer
Published September 7, 2007

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CORY LAKE ISLES

Does Cory Lake Isles need traffic lights at its entrance?

Developer Gene Thomason says the community doesn't need the lights and won't pay for them.

City officials disagree, however. They are demanding that Thomason comply with a previous order that required his company to pay for lights at the intersection after Cross Creek was widened. That road work, completed months ago, opened up Cross Creek to four lanes. It narrows in front of the entrance to Cory Lake Isles at W Cory Lake Boulevard to two lanes.

Thomason hired two companies to conduct their own traffic studies, which concluded that a traffic signal was not needed and that the city's study was deficient, Thomason's attorney, Keith Bricklemyer, wrote in e-mails to Senior Assistant City Attorney Julia Cole.

At one point, the city said it would withhold zoning permits within the upscale community until Thomason complied with the order.

The two attorneys went back and forth about their studies, and in one exchange, Bricklemyer wrote: "If the City thinks it can overcome our analyses, the court will have to decide."

"They've threatened to take us to court," Cole said. "I haven't seen a lawsuit served. That doesn't mean we won't be challenged."

Bricklemyer did not return a phone call for comment.

Dong-Phuong Nguyen can be reached at 813 269-5312 or nguyen@sptimes.com.