After four hours of a Levy County Commission Special Meeting a compromise was made that brought no roar of approval. The county court room was jammed with nearly equal numbers of opponents and proponents of a request by the Chiefland Andrews family to develop thirty-seven housing sites on marshland and uplands near the Cedar Key city limits. Cedar Key`s Mayor Paul Oliver and many others spoke in opposition to the request. In response, the Andrews` attorney, George Sandora and many Andrews family friends spoke in favor of the request. Levy County staff members presented fourteen conditions at-tached to approval of the request. The Andrews` attorney then asked to speak after hearing opposition statements on the grounds that he had not had time to read a letter from Mayor Oliver to the County Commission. Mayor Oliver then led off, followed by Commissioner Sue Colson, former Commissioner Cecil Quates, Leslie Sturmer, Greg Lang, Ken Edwards, Jimmy Lawrence, and Margie VanLandingham. Mayor Oliver emphasized the demands that the development would put on Cedar Key fire and police services. He added that Cedar Key Community Redevelopment Agency funds will relieve the County of certain expenses. Commissioner Colson objected to using marsh land unsuitable for forestry for justification of the Andrews` additional housing units under the guise of forestry conservation. Leslie Sturmer pointed out the absence of high water indications on the proponent`s site maps, adding that the tidal marsh is critical for the larval stages of many marine fishery resources. Greg Lang said that the key issue is the use of wetlands to justify extra housing sites. Cecil Quates noted that faulty sewage systems and poor road construction endanger the environment even if designed properly. Margie VanLandingham reiterated that the Andrews proposal only promised information, rather than providing information on dump sites, historic sites, endangered species and more. She also said that the proposal looked like four subdivisions rather than a Planned Unit Development and should be treated as such for development in four phases. Much of the defense of the proposal was testimonial of the Andrews family qualities. In addition, John Hart said that much of the coastline is already protected from environmental impacts. The Andrews` attorney said that the County staff is supposed to help developers meet requirements. Perhaps the most impassioned support of the Andrews` proposal came from George Sandora who cited buttonwood and cypress tree growth in marshlands as examples of forestry in marshlands. He attacked Commissioner Colson`s voting record in Cedar Key as justification for bonus housing units for the Andrews family. Sandora added that approval of a new dock in Cedar Key threatened clam beds with pollution. He closed by saying that charges of failure to supply required application information were merely items not adequately ad-dressed in the application. Rick Cooke, who asked to make his comments after the Andrews` attorney had studied Mayor Oliver`s letter, gave a concise description of how high tides carry water from the Andrews` marshes to clam beds. Cooke said that the property can be developed within the require-ments the Comprehensive Plan. He added that the Andrews family bought the property, and that a buyer should be aware of restrictions on development. Commissioners Sammy Yearty and Danny Stevens asked for legal advice from the County Attorney. Yearty then made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Nancy Bell, to approve one housing site for every twenty acres in the proposal, with five conditions. The conditions go beyond the fourteen conditions recommended by the County staff. The key condition is that the Florida Quality Development requirements for a Planned Unit Development be fully satisfied. The motion passed unanimously. Following the meeting, Commission Chair Lilly Rooks told Cedar Key News that the issue of marshland to justify bonus housing units needs to be addressed by the Levy County Comprehensive Plan. Furthermore, the Final Sketch Plan for the Andrews development will be followed by a hearing on ap-proval of actual platting of lots by the County. | 