Recycler is no-show for zoning hearing

Permits for the Tarpon Springs operation are likely to be harder than ever to acquire now, especially with focused opposition from neighbors.

By RICHARD DANIELSON

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 7, 2001

TARPON SPRINGS -- All Marc Levinson says he wants to do is produce landscaping materials such as mulch, rocks and dirt.

But residents in the nearby Meadows and Forest Ridge neighborhoods have opposed the kind of operation that Levinson has run on his Rainville Road property in the past, and the county has cited him for it.

Now Levinson, 40, has made a mistake that could make it harder to overcome their skepticism.

On Tuesday, Levinson missed a hearing where he was scheduled to explain his proposal to a Pinellas County zoning hearing examiner. As a result, county planners plan to recommend that the Pinellas County Commission deny his conditional-use application for an outdoor recycling facility and not allow him to reapply for six months.

Because Levinson missed the meeting, "we have no basis for making any other kind of report," said Paul Cassel, the county's director of developmental review services.

This is the latest chapter in a story in which Levinson's business at 1515 Rainville Road has run afoul of county rules and prompted complaints from neighbors.

Levinson, who has run Levinson Excavating for about 13 years, said he bought the 6.27-acre property in February 2000. Later he applied for a burning permit from the city of Tarpon Springs to clear debris and brush from his site. After the burning began, neighbors called the Fire Marshal's Office with complaints of smoke, and city officials rescinded the permit.

In December, county inspectors issued three citations to Levinson Excavating for accumulating trash, violating the county's zoning code and operating a solid waste management facility without the necessary permits.

In response, Levinson applied for the proper permit but missed a zoning hearing examiner's meeting in June. County planners recommended denial, and county commissioners agreed but let him reapply.

In the meantime, the county sued Levinson Excavating, contending that the company had not stopped accumulating debris since being cited. In July, a Pinellas-Pasco Circuit judge issued a temporary injunction ordering Levinson to cease operations at the Rainville Road property.

He has, he said Thursday.

"I'm not doing anything right now," he said. "When I get my permits, I will start producing. I've got nothing illegal going on out there."

Levinson said he merely wants to grind trees into mulch, make top soil, screen fill dirt to separate rocks that could be used in landscaping and store some recreational vehicles and boats. The burning, he said, will not be repeated.

It was not his burn, but smoke from a second permitted burn in the area that bothered neighbors, he said. In any case, he said, it's a moot point.

"The burning was not ever to be a permanent thing," he said. "It was just a quick solution to reduce some of the debris that was on the property prior to me buying it."

While Levinson said he missed his hearing in June because he didn't receive a notice from the county, his reason for missing this week's hearing was all his own.

"Basically, I just forgot," he said. "You try to do a thousand different things. I had it on my mind for weeks." The thing that gets forgotten, he said, "always winds up being the most important thing there is."

Levinson can still make his case to the County Commission on Oct. 16, but there's no guarantee how commissioners will respond, Cassel said.

"From now on I will be represented by an engineering firm, so there won't be any more missed meetings," Levinson said. "I do plan to go forward with the plans."

Until then, he said, he will answer any questions about his plans that his neighbors have and promises to cooperate with county officials.

"I'm trying to do whatever they want to do, and I will meet any conditions that the county sets down," he said.

If and when Levinson goes to the County Commission meeting, he will have company. Opponents from the Meadows, a 130-unit community of manufactured homes, bused about 15 residents to this week's meeting. They plan to return for the hearing in October.

"We're going to follow it through," said Lorraine Gould, president of the Meadows Homeowners Association. "We're keeping our eye on his site."

- Staff writer Richard Danielson can be reached at (727) 445-4194 or danielson@sptimes.com.

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