Residents ask judge to reject latest North Port commission decision against contraction

NORTH PORT – Residents who want North Port to shrink its boundaries have asked a state judge to reject the City Commission’s decision at a special October meeting reaffirming its denial of a petition meant to contract the city limits and exclude land west of the Myakka River.

The city of North Port opted to have that special meeting – treated as an extension of its April 29, 2021 meeting in which the commission originally denied the residents’ de-annexation petition – after exhausting several legal options, the last of which was an unfavorable ruling by the 2nd District Court of Appeal.

The city had asked the appeals court to overturn 12 Circuit Court Judge Hunter W. Carroll’s Nov. 15, 2021 decision that sided with the West Villagers for Responsible Government and granted their request to quash that April 29, 2021 decision.

Related: North Port commission again denies resident effort to contract city limits

While Carroll gave the city the option to reopen the public hearing, the commission opted against that.

The West Villagers filed a motion Dec.2 taking issue with that action, because while the hearing was not reopened for further testimony, the commission did hear extensive public comment prior to making its decision.

New hearing or old?

Part of the citizens' argument hinges on whether the Oct. 27 proceedings constituted a new hearing. They contend that because the City Commission did not hear new evidence, the board essentially tried the same case twice.

“Literally nothing has changed ....except how the City has attempted to craft different and contrived reasons to try and support the conclusions in the new Order,” the West Villagers attorney Luke Lirot argued. “Such manipulations smack of bias and bad faith, and cast the entire procedures set forth by the State in creating the rights in Chapter 171 on their ear.”

He also criticized the short turnaround between the appeals court’s Oct. 20 decision and the city’s decision to schedule the special meeting for Oct. 27.

Residents concerned about how the city is run

Members of the West Villagers for Responsible Government – which is mostly made up of residents of Wellen Park – want North to Port de-annex more than 13,900 acres of the city west of the Myakka River because they were unhappy with the way the city was being run. The effort started in the spring and summer of 2020.

They have pointed to projects such as the construction of the $12 million Aquatic Center at Butler Park as an example of frivolous spending.

They have been relying on Chapter 171 of Florida statutes, which allows for such a process.

City Commissioner Debbie McDowell, who made the April 29, 2021 motion to deny the residents’ wishes, made the Oct. 27 motion.

She came prepared with a flash drive that contained her motion – which was several pages long – and read it into the record while the clerk also put the text up on the big screen.

The three main requirements for annexation, according to state law are that they are contiguous, compact, and not located in another municipality.

McDowell cited the city charter requirement that the five commission districts be contiguous and compact as the initial basis to deem the annexed land contiguous and compact because it’s part of North Port’s 5th Commission District.

She also cited testimony from the April 29, 2021, hearing from Hank Fishkind, president of Fishkind & Associates; and Scott Steady, a former attorney with both the city of Tampa and Pinellas County, to establish those two factors.

Both Fishkind and Steady spoke during the Oct. 27 public comment period.

The commission voted, 5-0, to oppose the residents de-annexation petition.

The city has 30 days upon receipt of the notice of the West Villagers’ latest motion to respond.

The citizens can also ask Carroll 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.

While Carroll dismissed an earlier such request last November, it can be filed again.

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: Residents seek to undo latest North Port contraction decision