Citrus: District delays free land decision

District delays free land decision

Crystal River officials say a land donation may ease space problems, but they want to wait for their new superintendent.

By BARBARA BEHRENDT

CRYSTAL RIVER -- With little elbow room in classrooms, nowhere to build more and not even enough paved parking spaces to accommodate existing faculty, staff and student cars, Crystal River High School has been feeling the pinch of growth.

That crunch may be alleviated by an offer of free land donated to the school. But school officials decided this week to slow down negotiations on the donation.

A new superintendent will be sworn in on Tuesday along with another new board member. Carol Snyder was sworn in this week. The delay will allow everyone time to understand the complexities of the deal, which involves the school district getting the land and the property's current owner getting impact fee credits.

Such an arrangement will have to be handled with all the same details as a property purchase, school board attorney Richard "Spike" Fitzpatrick told the board on Tuesday. That means surveys of the property and discussions about what the land would be used for and whether it fits with long-term school construction plans.

Recently a firm related to Steve Tamposi of Citrus Hills offered to donate 140 acres to the school in exchange for impact fee credits which can be used anywhere in Citrus County.

The property offered, which is a big chunk of what was known as the Betz Farm development, includes land surrounding the Coastal Region Library and south and east of the school's existing site. Also included is a 2-acre tract adjacent to the Crystal River Primary School.

The deal has been pushed for several years by Scott Meseroll, assistant principal at the school and an acquaintance of officials with the property's owner, SAT Sr. Limited Partnership.

"It's really great news," Crystal River Principal Craig Marlett said recently. "We toured it the other day and it's a nice piece of property."

Marlett and Superintendent Pete Kelly said it was Meseroll's hard work and a volley of letters he wrote pushing the deal which brought the donation to fruition.

"It's a business deal for them, but it's something that's going to have a large impact on Crystal River High School and the future of . . . that area," Kelly told the School Board in a meeting last month.

There are no specific plans for the land if the deal goes through as proposed. But Marlett said there are some immediate needs at the school. The property would allow the school another access point to Crystal Street, alleviating traffic congestion on NE Eighth Avenue, a residential street.

"Primarily we're going to get that extra access," Marlett said. "Getting in and out of this place is tough. We're awfully land-locked."

Some students at the school have had to park behind ball fields on grassy areas since the paved parking isn't enough to accommodate the current needs. New land would allow new parking areas.

Longer-term plans have not yet been set, Marlett said.

But without more land, he said there is no way that the school could expand without swallowing up more parking or taking over the school's agriculture area. "We have a serious land problem here, no room to grow," he said.

All three of the county's high schools have faced an extra crunch this year due to an extra-large bubble of high-school-aged students moving through the system over the next several years. Enrollments are at all-time highs in each school and school officials are currently working on a rezoning plan to even out the populations.

The district is also in the process of purchasing more land at the Lecanto school complex for future growth needs and possible centralization of the district's transportation departments.

The first two parcels were purchased recently and then the board chose to buy another strip of land and, on Tuesday, still another 4-acre site which would square off the corners of the properties.

Kelly noted recently that the extra land will provide the district with some flexibility in the future even if specific plans still aren't on the drawing board. The portion of the site, which is fronting on Turkey Oak Drive, is actually large enough to build two more schools, he said.

In return for the Crystal River donation, the development company would gain some tax benefits as well as impact fee credits. That means impact fees on a specified number of future residential units built by the developer will be waived.

According to Fitzpatrick, the land would require one or two appraisals. The owner wants to be sure the appraisals total $1.4-million so that they can gain that amount in impact fee credits.

Fitzpatrick has told the board that the deal means that the schools wouldn't pay up front for the land, but would pay in the long run because they don't get impact fees for some future development. But since the school district is getting the land immediately for the current year's value, the deal is a good one.

Marlett agreed.

"It's a good business deal for Mr. Tamposi and it's a great situation for us," he said.