Developer wins

By John Labriola - After months of controversy over a nearly 5,000-unit mega development that involved allegations of illegal lobbying by a former county commissioner, the Citrus County Commission last week voted 3-2 to approve the Tuscany Ranch project on more than 1,000 acres along Forest Ridge Boulevard and County Road 491 (Lecanto Highway). Commission Chairwoman Rebecca Bays and Commissioners Holly Davis and Jeff Kinnard voted yes, with Commissioners Diana Finegan and Janet Barek remaining opposed. 

The timeline for buildout is 25 years, with 300 units expected to be built per year. 

The developer will widen 1.4 miles of County Road 491 at a cost of about $8 million. Commissioner Finegan said that amounts to a pittance compared to the $192 million taxpayers will pay for the entire widening project.

"To get $8 million from them is a drop in the bucket," added Commissioner Barek. 

The widening of 491 became a major flashpoint of the project after former County Commissioner Ruthie Schlabach, as a lobbyist for The Southern Group, persuaded Chairwoman Bays in March to get the county administrator to secretly sign a $3 million appropriations request to the state legislature to widen 491 on behalf of the developer. The request was withdrawn when it came to light, but the controversy resulted in the county adopting new restrictions proposed by Finegan to prohibit former commissioners from lobbying the county. 

Commissioner Kinnard had proposed an 11-month moratorium on development in May, which would have stopped the project, but he withdrew the proposal following heavy criticism from the Citrus County Chamber of Commerce. 

During the more than six-hour hearing on the project, the commission managed to coax a few concessions from the developer, including a parks and trails master plan, land for a future school and healthcare facility, central fiber-optic service and street lighting, help in funding a new fire station, and the elimination of zero-lot-line homes. 

But residents said the project will still have an enormous impact on traffic.

"It is going to be an absolute nightmare," said John O'Connor of Lecanto.

Of the project's 4,933 housing units, 1,250 will be duplexes, condos, townhouses or apartments. The rest will be single-family homes. The plan also calls for a 120-acre town center with commercial and administrative space, and 20 acres for recreation.

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