TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

County Ruling Called Unreasonable

ADVERTISEMENT

By JULIA FERRANTE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 5, 2007

HUDSON - A special magistrate who ruled last month that the county commission should have considered more evidence in a review of the Coyote Crossing development now says the board's decision was 'unreasonable.'
County attorneys maintain, however, that the commission does not have to reconsider March's decision - leaving the developer to take the case to court or live with a five-house cap on the 18.81-acre property.
Magistrate Richard E. Davis issued a clarification Monday at the request of an attorney for Coyote Crossing LLC, which petitioned the county to increase the cap from five to 14 houses. A previous owner had agreed to the five-house limit in 2005.

Davis said in the clarification that the board's refusal to increase the cap was based on previous conditions at Coyote Road and Kitten Trail. He says 'a fundamental premise' of the 2005 decision imposing the five-house cap has changed, and therefore the county commission should reconsider the decision in light of those changes. When the cap was approved, Davis notes, a developer would have been able to build access roads from each house. That is no longer allowed under Pasco's comprehensive growth plan.

'It is unreasonable to uphold the commission's five-unit cap when the facts on which the original decision were based have fundamentally changed,' Davis wrote.
County Commissioner Jack Mariano, who represents Hudson, has argued the proposal was incompatible with the neighborhood. The developer and others dispute that assertion, saying the property had been designated for as many as 54 houses but was limited by the 2005 cap.

County planning staff initially recommended against lifting the cap. The planning commission suggested a 10-unit cap. The county commission voted 3-2 to keep the limit of five.

Because the magistrate's recommendation does not specifically address whether the evidence that was considered was 'substantial and competent,' Florida law gives Pasco leaders 45 days to accept or reject the recommendation. If the board disagrees with the ruling, commissioners do not have to rehear the case, Chief Assistant County Attorney Barbara Wilhite said in a letter to the board.

The commission is slated to review Wilhite's recommendation at a meeting Tuesday in Dade City. If the board rejects the magistrate's recommendation, the property owner may file a petition in circuit court, Wilhite said.

Reporter Julia Ferrante can be reached at (813) 948-4220 or jferrante@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT