 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Commissioner works to save lighting plan
By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK
© St. Petersburg Times, BROOKSVILLE -- County Commissioner Chris Kingsley was stunned. In recent months, his colleagues had approved ordinances to restrict roadside sales and to force the removal of Brazilian pepper trees. Yet when it came time Tuesday to forward one of his pet ideas, the regulation of new outdoor lighting, the commission chairman couldn't even get a second to his motion to have a final public hearing. "I find it almost bizarre that we wouldn't regulate lighting coming from service stations, but we would tell people they can't put a shed into their back yard," Kingsley remarked as the commission broke for lunch. When commissioners returned, however, Kingsley thought he had found a loophole. Because no one supported his motion, he said, the commission had taken no action. Closure, Kingsley reasoned, was critical. So he asked for consensus to have the second public hearing on June 19, as had been advertised. Commissioner Nancy Robinson became irate. The public hearing was over, she argued, and the commission had decided by its inaction that the ordinance was dead. "I left the meeting with the impression the motion died and would not move forward. There was no indication we would break for lunch and return to it," Robinson said, suggesting that Kingsley was trying to finagle the idea through the back door. Kingsley offered to let Robinson make a motion to not have a second hearing, but she wouldn't bite. The commissioners had split 2-2 on earlier motions on the lighting issue. With Commissioner Diane Rowden absent, neither side would get a majority. After some back and forth, Kingsley eventually said that he would bypass the split board and allow Rowden to decide the issue. Robinson protested to no avail. Rowden, in Arizona tending to family business, laughed when she heard the turn of events. "I'm overwhelmed that I'm given such a responsibility," Rowden said. "I think I need to talk to the administrator and get the lowdown before I make any comment."
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From today's Hernando Times |
