Development Issues Dominate Commission Meeting

A citizen's petition in regard to the function of the Historic Review Board (HRB) and discussion of a newly proposed 359 dwelling unit development just outside the City's limits dominated the March 7 Commission meeting. Other agenda items addressed included finalizing cemetery management practices, a brief report on modification of the building moratorium and finalizing denial of a challenge of a Building Official decision. Not on the agenda, but briefly discussed was the clammers parking lot on Hodges Avenue. Also, before adjournment, the proposed Buckeye Technologies pipeline for pulp mill waste was discussed.

Robert Whitener, who has a house on First Street, asked the Commission to bring back the Historic Preservation/Architecture Review Board, "into the subsequent certificate process," regarding the Cedar Key Hotel Holding, LLC development on Second Street. In a three page Memorandum of the Record, Whitener alleged inconsistent interpretation of the need for a recommendation by the HRB to the Commission regarding development plans. At issue was a scale model of the development, originally promised by the developer, then judged too expensive, and the Commission going ahead without a recommendation from the HRB. He further suggested that there were possible violations of the Florida Sunshine Law.

A proposed 359 dwelling unit development know as Marsh Harbor P.U.D. on forty acres along State Route east of the Number Four Bridge elicited a unanimous chorus of objections from several Commission members. It will be the subject of a hearing at the Levy County Court House, April 11 at 6:30 PM. Mayor Paul Oliver suggested that citizen objections can head off the development. Commissioner Sue Colson objected to the plan, saying that the propose sewage treatment system in only appropriate with densities of one unit in twenty acres, adding that 359 units would negatively impact travel, schools and emergency services. Commissioner Vanessa Edmunds pointed out that the Levy County Planning staff claims that only 27 units can be justified. Commissioner Pat O'Neal noted that part of the development is under water. The Commission directed its staff to prepare a position paper in opposition to the project.

A progress report on expansion of the clammers' parking lot on Hodges Avenue indicated that the City has one lot under contract adjoining the two lots now used by the Cedar Key Aquaculture Association in conjunction with the Anchor Hole gated launch site. Mayor Oliver asked whether all clammers could use the parking lot. City Attorney David Coffey said that CKAA membership could not be required for use of the lot. However, a post-meeting inquiry suggests that only CKAA members would have a key to the gate at the launch site.

Kevin Hipe, a member of the audience, asked for an update on a Commission response to the Buckeye Technologies proposed pipeline to transport pulp mill waste to the Gulf. Commissioner Sue Colson said that a March 9, 7:00 PM meeting at the Cedar Key Lions Club will include a representative from the Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection as well as a representative of the Clean Water Network. The DEP is currently giving tentative approval to Buckeye's pipeline plan.