Publix - the harbinger of doom

http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/southeast-volusia/2010/11/08/samsula-project-stirs-up-county-council.html

Samsula project stirs up County Council


By WILL HOBSON, Staff writer

November 8, 2010 12:05 AM

Posted in: Southeast Volusia Tagged:Volusia County Council Accusations of backroom deals and bowing to the "good ol' boy network" have been thrown around Volusia County Council meetings this year as members have debated a possible Publix grocery store in Samsula.

The proposed commercial development on a 9.6-acre tract will be back before the council Thursday and, if previous arguments are any indication, it could get interesting.

The property in question, formerly a farm, sits on the corner of Pioneer Trail and Airport Road, just outside New Smyrna Beach and Port Orange. It's also just outside the Samsula Local Plan Area a rural spot in which development is restricted.

Boca Raton developer Sheldon Rubin has been trying to put a small shopping center on the land for four years, and got approval from the County Council, by a 4-3 vote, on July 8.

Council members Jack Hayman, Pat Northey, Joie Alexander, and Carl Persis approved the change; Chairman Frank Bruno and Council members Andy Kelly and Josh Wagner opposed.

County staff recommended denying the change because the land isn't contiguous with either the city or unincorporated community and is so close to the Samsula plan. Staff acknowledged, though, that the area will likely develop in the near future.

"I don't think there is any dispute as to what the future likely holds for this area," Deputy County Manager Mary Anne Connors told the council. "The question before you is whether or not we accelerate to that future, and acknowledge what it will be?"

Several residents spoke in favor of the development July 8, arguing that they have to drive 20 minutes or more for their grocery shopping.

Developers Mori Hosseini and Jerry Johnson both came to the following council meeting, along with Port Orange Mayor Allen Green, to ask the council to reverse its decision. They argued the development would open the floodgates to sprawl and poorly planned growth in the rural area.

Hosseini's Woodhaven development is nearby in Port Orange, and Johnson's Venetian Bay development is nearby in New Smyrna Beach. Both men say they have had talks with Publix to move into their developments, but they are restricted by city development guidelines that would keep a grocery store hundreds of feet from the street. Rubin can offer Publix a spot 70 feet away from the street, thanks to looser county restrictions.

Hosseini called the proposed development a "strip center," "the cheapest way to develop," and said Publix would likely eschew Woodhaven for Rubin's development if the county's approval stood.

"That would take away everything we have done, and millions of dollars that I have invested, for the good of the community," Hosseini said.

Hayman felt Hosseini and Johnson were being hypocritical.

"What I hear you saying today is the only good developments are big developments," Hayman said. "And that the small economic developer doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell."

"That's not what I'm saying," Hosseini replied. "You need to look at the total developability of the land. . . You have the capability of doing something better for your community than building a strip center."

Rubin said Friday he understood why Hosseini and Johnson were opposed to his project, but felt concerns of sprawl were countered by the good his development would do for residents there.

"They are trying to do everything to stop me so they can get more," Rubin said. "Am I bothered? Yes."

Johnson said he feels it's unfair that he has to live by a stricter set of rules than Rubin.

"I think they should play by the same rules. . . That piece there would be out of character for Pioneer Trail road," Johnson said.

Hosseini and Johnson are among those who have filed formal petitions against the development, and the council will hear Thursday at 1:30 p.m. about settlement proposals. If that doesn't produce a result, the next item on the agenda is a hearing to rescind the land-use change the council approved July 8.

Persis has said he has changed his mind (he voted in favor July 8) which, if the other votes stay the same, would mean a defeat for Rubin. Persis said he drove down to the area after his first vote and realized it was more rural than he thought.

The continued hearings have produced some nasty arguments in council chambers this year. Hayman accused County Manager Jim Dinneen on July 8 of reneging on an agreement with Rubin and then, realizing he had worded his accusation incorrectly (and implied a violation of Florida's Sunshine Law), Hayman apologized.

He later explained that he thought Dinneen had agreed that staff would recommend approving the land-use amendment. Dinneen denied making any kind of agreement.

Alexander, who voted for the land-use change, was upset when she discovered the council had voted to schedule a hearing to rescind the July 8 land-use change in her absence. Wagner suggested it at the Oct. 7 meeting, when Alexander and Hayman, who also voted for the change, were absent (Alexander was representing the council at an event, Hayman was out after a surgical procedure).

The motion passed 3-2, the same three council members in the minority July 8 held the majority Oct. 7.

"To me and to many others it smacks of that 'good ol' boy' a long time ago kind of stuff," Alexander said during the council's Oct. 21 meeting. "I get angry even thinking about it."

That comment spurred an emotional outburst by Wagner (Hayman's argument with Dinneen in July prompted a similar response from Wagner), and Alexander apologized. Then Andy Kelly got into the fray, arguing with Bruno because he felt the chairman didn't handle Alexander's outburst properly.

Hayman said last week he hopes the different factions can come to some kind of settlement, but Johnson said he doesn't see how there can be any kind of settlement that would allow Rubin's development to go forward.

Publix management would not confirm it has talked to any of the warring developers, saying only that it doesn't have a signed contract with anyone in that area. The solution to all of this sparring, most council members said, would be a joint land-use planning agreement between the county and the two cities.

"And Publix," Hayman said, "is just sitting back and smiling, I imagine."