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County looks askance at decision on nursery
By JOSH ZIMMER, Times Staff Writer KEYSTONE -- For more than a year, Hughes Nursery insisted it could run both a nursery and landscaping business from its Tarpon Springs Road site. And for just as long, Hillsborough County officials said the 30-year-old company was operating illegally. Hughes had to store its heavy landscaping equipment somewhere else, specifically in a commercial zone, they said. The controversy, driven by a disgruntled neighbor who saw his corner of old Florida disappearing and a feisty business that doesn't want to pay higher taxes, appeared headed for resolution last month when the case went before Margaret Tusing, a land use hearing officer. But at least one top county official, Department of Community Improvement director Don Shea, is unsatisfied with Tusing's decision. This week Shea said that Tusing may have misunderstood the extent of Hughes' landscaping operations. The County Attorney's Office is reviewing the case, Assistant County Attorney Julia Mandell said. "I think that what she (Tusing) said is based on what she was told" by Hughes' attorney, Marcus Vernon of Clearwater, Shea said. At issue is a question about a vital enterprise in these tree-loving communities: When does a business that exists to preserve Florida's natural beauty cross the line into an area considered disruptive and undesirable? In her July 29 opinion, Tusing rejected the county's longstanding position on nurseries -- that the land development code prohibited them from operating landscaping businesses from agricultural zones. Hughes argued that delivering the trees and shrubs and planting them at the job sites is a logical part of its nursery business. Shea, who oversees code enforcement, said Hughes was doing more than simply planting new vegetation. "We had clear evidence they were in the site-clearing and land development business," he said. "We had investigators follow them to where they do their work. They certainly weren't doing tree nursery work." In her ruling, Tusing clearly states Hughes cannot engage in site clearing. Vernon said the ruling would save other nurseries in Hillsborough from being charged unfairly, as he said his clients were. He presented research showing that dozens of nurseries across the county do the same thing. Controversy trailed Hughes almost from the time it relocated from Pinellas County. Neighboring landowner Richard Dugger resented losing his tree buffer and relative quiet. Now president of the Keystone Civic Association, he started complaining to both Community Improvement and Planning and Growth Management about the noise, as well as alleged violations of the company's site plan. Planning and Growth Management eventually charged the company with violating the plan, including illegally dumping trees in an unpermitted ditch of Tarpon Springs Road. Hughes, facing fines, continued to fight the county's interpretation. On appeal, Tusing gave Hughes the decision it was looking for : The company doesn't have to move its landscaping operation, and the on-site noise does not not violate the land development code. -- Josh Zimmer covers Keystone, Citrus Park and the environment. He can be reached at 269-5314.
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From the Times |
