North Port appeal contends circuit judge applied incorrect law in ruling

NORTH PORT – Attorneys for the city of North Port filed an appeal of Circuit Court Judge Hunter W. Carroll’s decision to grant a writ of certiorari from the West Villagers for Responsible Government, as part of the citizen group’s effort to separate from the city.

The petition, which was filed electronically with the Florida Second District Court of Appeals on Wednesday, is asking the appeals court to quash Carroll’s decision. Carroll issued his original decision on Nov. 15 and rejected a motion for rehearing on Dec. 29.

In November, Carroll also denied a writ of mandamus filed by the West Villagers, seeking to compel North Port to process a petition submitted following the April 29 decision, calling for a referendum on a contraction of the city’s boundaries, but he did so without prejudice, so the residents could file it again at a later date.

Related: North Port will appear ruling on contraction petition

Earlier: Developers drop suit against resident group after ruling against contraction

Attorneys for the Florida League of Cities and Wellen Park developers had expressed interest in filing amicus briefs to offer additional thoughts for the appeals court to consider.

Luke Lirot, the attorney representing the West Villagers for Responsible Government, said Thursday that he opposed that addition.

“We felt that would complicate things, increase the expense of our effort to try to resolve these matters,” Lirot said.

He informed them via email that “the geographic characteristics of the land in the North Port action are entirely unique as it involves the provisions of Sec. 171.043, as it pertains to ‘contiguity’ and other characteristics, thus limiting any applicability our case may have in other contexts.”

He added, “We prefer not to have to deal with anticipated efforts to distract any reviewing court from the trial court’s proper application of statutory construction as it deals (with) ‘feasibility.’”

“They’re going to ask anyway,” Lirot said.

He also cited the additional cost that would fall on his clients if the additional parties are included.

“We’ve got citizens – trying to scrape together what contributions they can – against developers and governmental entities with unlimited budgets,” Lirot said.

Developers tried to file a preliminary injunction against the contraction process, but Carroll ruled against them in January 2021. They later dropped pursuit of the case in May after the April 29 public hearing before the city commission.

The Florida League of Cities has not previously expressed an interest in the case.

Residents contend city has not been managed wisely

Members of the West Villagers for Responsible Government are seeking to have the city contract its boundaries to the Myakka River and de-annex roughly 8,448 acres of land west of the river.

Those residents, who live primarily in the West Villages section of Wellen Park, contend the City Commission has not managed the city wisely, so they petitioned for de-annexation.

Most of the area in question involves developments associated with Wellen Park, though there are other commercial parcels and the large-lot Myakka River subdivision of Lake Geraldine.

The 54-page petition, filed by the city’s outside counsel, essentially hinges on the question of “whether the circuit court applied incorrect law.”

Carroll, in his Dec. 29 order, asserted that on April 29, when the North Port City Commission rejected a petition designed to force the city to remove land west of the Myakka River from its boundaries, the board based its decision on whether it should be done, instead of whether it can be done.

In his original ruling, Carroll cited four of the commission’s five reasons for denying the petition and added that specifically those dealing with public health and safety, contraction not being in the best interests of the city, and the issue of fiscal neutrality dealt with whether contraction of the city limits “should” be done rather than whether it “can” be done, as called for in state statute.

He said the city was attempting to compress two separate parts of state law, one which determined whether contraction can be done, with another part, which covers whether it should be done.

He called the city’s attempt to compress those steps improper.

The petition filed Wednesday argues that Carroll narrowly defined the concept of feasibility by excluding consideration of the financial impact of de-annexation. Attorneys asserted that Carroll’s interpretation could not be considered in harmony with the rest of the statute, “and reaches an absurd result – all without providing any additional due process benefit to West Villagers.

In the early 2000s, the city of North Port embarked on the process of annexing a portion of what was then known as the Taylor Ranch, in part to increase its economic base. The bulk of the original city was pre-patted as small residential lots by General Development Corp. when it was first founded as North Port Charlotte.

While the early development in the annexed area, which is encompassed by the West Villages Improvement District, has been residential development, those commercial aspirations are starting to be realized through the construction of Downtown Wellen – a city center being built around an 80-acre man-made lake.

Earlier: Downtown Wellen could spark commercial real estate in North Port

North Port spokesman Josh Taylor said there was no need to comment further at this time since the matter is in the appellate court’s hands.

Lirot, who was in court on an unrelated case Wednesday, said he had not had time to completely review the 54-page filing or the 3,255-page appendix.

The next step would involve Lirot filing his response to the city’s appeal, as well as a court determination on the two amicus briefs if they are filed.

Earle Kimel primarily covers south Sarasota County for the Herald-Tribune and can be reached at earle.kimel@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription to the Herald-Tribune.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: North Port files appeal of circuit court ruling in Wellen Park case