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Two county property owners may end up hashing out differences with the state over Suncoast Parkway planning.
By JUSTIN GEORGE
Published November 30, 2004
Two Citrus County property owners who fought the state and won access to meetings where a possible extension of the Suncoast Parkway through Citrus County was discussed soon may enter into mediation to resolve some differences.
In August, Bobby Roscow and Teddi Bierly persuaded a Leon County circuit judge to order the state Department of Transportation to open its Environmental Resource and Regulatory Agency Group (ERRAG) meetings. Representatives from several state and federal agencies attend the meetings to discuss the possible $200-million road project. The public was barred under the premise that the group does not make decisions.
But after the ruling, where Circuit Judge Janet E. Ferris stated the closed meetings violated the state's Sunshine Law, Roscow and Bierly demanded that all plans on the project revert to where they were before the group began meeting in closed sessions.
The state challenged the motion, saying that, perhaps, one meeting could be held where the public could be brought up to speed. Although she would not agree to that proposal, Ferris refused to make the state scrap its work and start over.
Instead, during an Oct. 5 hearing, she seemed to side with the state's recommendation that both sides mediate a solution.
"That's probably the next step," said Ross Burnaman, attorney for Bierly and Roscow.
According to Roscow, Turnpike Enterprise officials asked the state Attorney General's Office to act as mediator, but the office declined last week, saying it could not step into affairs that involved litigation. Now both sides are coming up with suggestions on who else to ask.
Roscow said he's not convinced mediation will work. He doesn't plan to budge from his position.
"We were denied the opportunity to view the process," Roscow said of the meetings. "I don't see how you could spin the wheel back in the time machine and replay it. Unless they come up with something I haven't thought about, I just don't know how you can replay a process that's supposed to be interactive between all participants."
Joanne Hurley, spokeswoman for Florida's Turnpike Enterprise, wouldn't say whether the state firmly holds onto its position. She said the state agency just wants to heed the judge's ruling and come up with a solution to the Sunshine Law violation - something she hoped attorneys would work out before mediation took place.
"It's fair to say that we are treading very, very slowly now, and we're working on this first," Hurley said. "So let's see what this brings. Our focus now is attending to the judge's ruling on the Sunshine violation. When we get some definitive answers there, then we can go forward with the other parts."
If mediation fails, Ferris will resume hearing arguments next year, she has said.
Meanwhile, members of Citizens Opposed to the Suncoast Tollway, or COST, plan to remind the state that all its meetings about the toll road need to remain open. The group will issue that reminder during a Dec. 9 meeting where DOT will present its projects for the next five years. The meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Hernando County Government Center.
Opposition to the toll road continues to mount. The latest group organizing against it is Pine Ridge Estates in northern Citrus County, which has sent all its residents a questionnaire asking whether they support or oppose the parkway, which might be routed through the subdivision.
The surveys were expected back this month, and the Pine Ridge Civic Association is seeking a clear mandate from its residents on how to begin lobbying government officials. Recently, the Pine Ridge Property Owner's Association, which is unaffiliated with the civic association, polled property owners and found that they oppose the parkway 448 to 195, or by a ratio of more than 2 to 1.
The proposed route the subdivision is concerned about is known as "N-1." It would cross County Road 486 near the entrance to Pine Ridge Estates, near Pine Ridge Boulevard. The route would eliminate several dozen parcels and parts of roads and equestrian trails, according to the civic association.
That route, however, is just one of 10 the state and federal government are considering. The feds would also contribute money to the road's construction.
Florida's Turnpike Enterprise is in the midst of a multiyear study to determine whether the parkway that stretches between Tampa and U.S. 98 near the Hernando-Citrus line should be extended north, connecting to U.S. 19 near the northwest Citrus-Levy county border.
Justin George can be reached at 352 860-7309 or jgeorge@sptimes.com
[Last modified November 29, 2004, 19:49:07]
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