Lake Hatchineha-area residents take their fight against Creek Ranch development to court
Port Hatchineha residents who have fought for more than a year to stop the Creek Ranch development of 1,826 homes in their rural enclave have filed a petition asking a court in Bartow to overturn the Polk County Commission’s decision to allow the mixed-use planned development.
The Oct. 17 court filing lists three residents living in or near Port Hatchineha, between the namesake lake and the proposed development.
They want the 10th Circuit Court in Bartow to overturn the commissioners’ decision because the decision failed “to meet the essential requirement of law.” They say the development is not compatible with the adjacent environmentally sensitive lands and agricultural uses.
The appeal is not against the developer but filed against Polk County as a circuit civil case and asks Circuit Court Judge Ellen S. Masters to rule on the matter.
“We’re not suing them for a large sum of money,” said Thomas Gill, a resident and plaintiff in the case who wants the land use change reversed. “Money is not our thing.”
Instead, Gill who lives near the proposed subdivision wants Lake Hatchineha Road to remain fee of the volume of traffic he fears would come with such a subdivision, he said.
County Manager Bill Beasley was asked to comment on the case by email Wednesday, but by midafternoon, no response was received.
The development on more than 1,269 acres would set aside 586.5 acres for conservation near other federal- and state-managed environmentally sensitive land, which is adjacent to the headwaters of the Everglades.
The commission approved a land-use change on Sept. 19 for the subdivision, which also included the conservation land and 12.31 acres of commercial property for a possible shopping center. The large subdivision would be along Lake Hatchineha Road in the fast-growing northeast region.
The 3-1 vote came with board Chairman George Lindsey recusing himself because of a business relationship. Only Commissioner Neil Combee opposed the zoning change.
The change from the land’s former land use designation, which had permitted only one housing unit per five acres, now allows single-family homes at a much greater density. Before the commissioners, the project had been narrowly approved by the Polk County Planning Commission by one vote.
Frank Miller, Thomas Gill and Robert Lamar Quinn Jr. are listed as the petitioners in the filing.
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The respondents are listed as Creek Ranch LLC and Creek Ranch Mitigation Bank LLC. State records show the managing member of Creek Ranch as Center State Development 2 LLC in Winter Haven. The incorporation papers were filed by the Creek Ranch developer Harold “Reggie” Baxter.
The court filing by Cape Coral attorney Ralf Brookes said in conclusion that “The Mixed Use Planned Development as proposed is not compatible with the existing adjacent environmental conservation lands and agricultural uses failing to meet the definition, purpose and intent of Planned Development as defined in Chapter 10 of the Land Development Code and constitutes illegal spot zoning and the approval should be QUASHED and REVERSED by this court.”
Brookes said in a phone interview Wednesday that the process for getting a ruling could take three to six months and might include oral arguments, as long as the judge finds cause to proceed. The judge must first review the filing and a transcript of the quasi-judicial proceedings in Polk County that led up to the zoning change.
He said the Creek Ranch property should be part of the Florida Wildlife Corridor, which has been publicized in books and movies and the state Legislature has provided funding for it.
"So we want to try to get this whole area acquired, and I don't think that the owner and applicant is even opposed to selling to the state if he were to get a fair market value for the property, and that process is set up so that they could," Brookes said.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lake Hatchineha-area residents sue to overturn Creek Ranch development
