Published: Wednesday, March 28, 2012 at 1:45a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, March 28, 2012 at 1:45a.m.

LAKELAND | Southwest Florida Water Management District officials voted Tuesday to pay nearly $3 million to temporarily flood more property in connection with the Lake Hancock lake-level project.

Approved Tuesday during the monthly board meeting in Sarasota was a $2.3 million payment to Lake Hancock Partners and related enterprises operated by the Rogers family of Highland City for flooding easement over 93 acres on a lakefront parcel south of Circle B Bar Reserve.

Also approved was a $665,000 settlement to William H. and Brandy Lee Stanton for a flooding easement for 35 acres near Saddle Creek north of the lake.

Swiftmud board members also held a closed session Tuesday to meet with the agency’s legal staff to discuss resolution of the remaining five cases that are the subject of eminent domain suits.

Lake Hancock is a 4,519-acre lake at the headwaters of the Peace River whose level is controlled to some extent by a structure on Saddle Creek south of the lake.

Swiftmud officials are building a new structure south of the existing one to raise the lake’s regulated level from 98.7 feet to 100 feet above sea level.

The purpose is to store water to allow water managers to release water downstream to replenish flow in the Peace River during dry periods to help the river to maintain its minimum flow as required by state law.

The higher lake level involved the purchase of land or easements involving 73 parcels around the lake because the new lake level restores the lake’s historic flood plain, permanently or temporarily flooding land and homes there.

Total land acquisition costs for the project have totaled more than $125 million.

Work is under way on the new structure, which replaces a structure installed in the creek in 1963.

Published: Tuesday, December 14, 2010 at 11:36 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, December 14, 2010 at 11:36 p.m.

BROOKSVILLE | Southwest Florida Water Management District officials agreed Tuesday to pay two property owners $2.3 million to purchase 49 acres along Saddle Creek in connection with the Lake Hancock project.

The payments went to Raymond and Mary Lou Shea for a 39.7-acre tract on Winter Lake Road across from Circle B Bar Reserve and to Don and Kaye Crabtree for a 9.6-acre parcel on Saddle Creek Farm Road.

Both were settlements as a result of eminent domain lawsuits.

The acquisition involves a plan to raise the regulated level of the lake from 98.7 feet to 100 feet above sea level.

That will potentially allow water managers to release water downstream to supplement flow in the upper Peace River to meet the river’s minimum flow as required by state law.

The river has not met its minimum flow because of long-term declines in the aquifer caused by heavy water use in the area.

The minimum flows program is an attempt to help the river to recover from past declines.

Without the project, sections of the river could continue to dry up periodically because of its dependence on rainfall.

The established minimum flow for the Peace River at Bartow is 17 cubic feet per second. On Tuesday, the flow was 4.5 cfs.

As of Nov. 1, Swiftmud officials had purchased 7,255 acres and had acquired perpetual conservation/inundation easements on an additional 1,067 acres.

[ Contact Tom Palmer at tom.palmer@theledger.com or 863-802-7535. His blog on the environment is at http://environment.blogs.theledger.com. ]

This story appeared in print on page B3

TheLedger.com

BARTOW

A Polk County jury has awarded a Lakeland couple $1.7 million for property sought by the Southwest Florida Water Management District for the Lake Hancock lake level project.

The award Sept. 2 went to Titus and Angela Weflen, who had a five-acre horse farm on Saddle Creek Farm Road, said John M. LeRoux, the Clearwater lawyer who represented them.

LeRoux said this was the first case involving Swiftmud’s attempts to purchase land around the lake and along Saddle Creek to raise the level of Lake Hancock that has actually gone to trial.

Swiftmud officials had previously settled with 54 property owners for a total of $114.8 million. Additional cases are scheduled for trial later this year, LeRoux said.

THE TAMPA TRIBUNE

NATION/WORLD

TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 1998

BY STEVE HUETTEL of the Tampa Tribune

TAMPA – The last stand for the Suncoast Parkway costs the state a pretty penny: nearly twice the $4.5 million originally offered.

The state Department of Transportation offered Raymond Agia $4.5 million for his pasture in rural north Hillsborough County.

His own appraisers put the value at $7 million.

Three months after making the offer in January 1997, DOT filed a lawsuit to take the land for the Suncoast Parkway, a 43-mile toll road scheduled to open in 2001.

With a deadline looming to get construction under way, the agency signed an agreement Monday to buy the property from Agia and his partners – the last of 639 parcels running from suburban north Tampa through Hernando County.

The price $8.95 million for 72.5 acres.

DOT will get 51 fewer acres than it originally wanted. And under state law, the agency has to pay the $961,000 bill for Agia’s lawyers.

“They were over a barrel,” said attorney Mike Gaines of Clearwater, who represents Agia, a Tampa eye surgeon. “But it was a barrel they made for themselves.”

Agia says the toll road didn’t have to cut through the middle of his property.

But DOT officials cut a secret deal in 1989 that let developers of the upscale Cheval community pick the highway’s path through their land, he says.

That route aimed the road right through the heart of his 328 acres, across Lutz-Lake Fern Road from Cheval. DOT then convinced Hillsborough County commissioners to reject Agia’s rezoning request to build homes on the land.

“They said, “We’re going to prevent you from developing your land.’ It was illegal, it was wrong,” he says.

Officials with the DOT’s Turnpike District, which is building the $507 million toll road, called the settlement a routine business deal.

When a landowner fights in court, DOT can end up paying two or three times what appraisers estimate property is  worth, says Kevin Thibault, production director for the district that runs Florida’s toll roads.

The district wanted to advertise for bids to build the highway through Agia’s property by May 6, open them June 17 and start work three months later.

DOT could have waited “many months” before delays on that section threatened the Suncoast’s 2001 opening, Thibault says. But each month the road is late will cost $1 million in lost tolls.

“That was only a small consideration in the overall compensation,” he says.

Early environmental studies showed the only logical route through sensitive wetlands was through Agia’s land, Thibault says.

“If Cheval never was a player [selecting the route], the alignment would be just as it is today,” he says.

Agia and his partners bought the pasture land in 1979 for $1.2 million, hoping to cash in as Tampa’s suburbs spread north.

Ten years later, they entered a joint venture with a developer from Florida’s East Coast to build 300 homes.

He knew about vague plans for a highway through the area, then called the North Suncoast Expressway, Agia says, and offered to reserve DOT a corridor on either side of the subdivision.

What he didn’t know – and DOT officials didn’t tell him – was that they already agreed on a path for the highway through Cheval.

DOT had no money for the highway, hadn’t mapped out a formal alignment or held any public hearings.

But the agency fought a rezoning on Agia’s land because it would drive up land costs. An attorney for Cheval even sent a DOT official forms for the agency to file an objection with the county, according to a letter Gaines obtained.

County commissioners turned down the rezoning in 1990, only to have the decision overturned in state court. But by then, the Suncoast gained momentum as DOT officials nailed down its path.

“Who the hell was he going to sell houses to when he had to disclose a highway was going through the property?” Gaines asks.

After failing to strike a deal with Agia and his partners, the turnpike district sued last April in Hillsborough County Circuit Court.

But Gaines filed for DOT documents and deposed current and former agency officials about the Cheval agreement.

The two sides held a second mediation hearing April 9. Gaines and Agia were shocked when Jim Ely, boss of the turnpike district, arrived from Tallahassee and sat through the daylong negotiation.

Agia, whose medical partnership owns seven clinics, had the resources and the will to keep fighting. But Ely convinced him that accepting the offer served the public interest as well as his own, Agia says. “Real estate is booming up there. That property is worth much more than they gave me.”

ST. PETERSBURG TIMES

CLEARWATER TIMES

BY NED SEATON

The money will pay for part of Kmart’s parking lot at U.S. 19 and State Road 580. More than half of the total is for lost value.

CLEARWATER – By the end of the week, the state government is supposed to  cut a check to Kmart for about $3 million.

For that tidy sum, taxpayers get all of a half-acre of Kmart’s parking lot at U.S. 19 and State Road 580.

No blue-light special, that in fact, officials said it’s one of the biggest awards yet in a condemnation case in Pinellas – and for bean counters, it’s a disturbing sign of spiraling costs as the county tries to turn U.S. 19 into a superhighway.

A jury last month sided with Kmart in a 9-year-old case resulting from the county’s decision to build an overpass at the intersection. The project required a chunk of Kmart’s parking lot, and the government condemned the land in 1986. The overpass was finished last year, to the delight of commuters.

The half-acre itself was worth $230,900 the jury decided. That’s about what the Department of Transportation offered. The trouble is that the state – which pays for road projects on U.S. 19 didn’t believe that taking the land and building the overpass would cut the value of the rest of Kmart’s property.

The jury, however, figured the state owed Kmart about $1.6 million for the __ value. That was about what Kmart asked for. But add in attorney’s fees, the interest since 1986 and the cost of the property itself and the total bill tops $3 million.

In hindsight, it would have been smart for the state to simply cut Kmart a check years ago for what the company asked for, lawyers on both sides say.

“They never offered more than $200,000.” Michael W. Gaines, Kmart’s attorney, said last week. “I had begged them to settle the case.”

Attorneys for the state said they couldn’t justify paying Kmart to settle the case, since their experts told them the land value wasn’t hurt by the overpass.

“We felt we were reasonable,” said William McCraig, the DOT’s lawyer. “But it’s a judgement call. Other appraisers just didn’t see those damages.”

The $3 million bill for a half acre is big, even for land along U.S. 19, officials said.

“It’s enormous,” said County Commissioner Steve Seibert, a member of the county’s road board.

Gaines, who specializes in condemnation cases, said it’s the biggest award he knows of for a piece of land that size. McCraig, the state’s lawyer, couldn’t confirm that, but he couldn’t recall a bigger verdict.

Businesses along U.S. 19 have griped for years that overpasses keep motorists zipping along the highway, rather than stopping off to shop. But county transportation planners have pushed for more overpasses in an effort to unclog U.S. 19 the major north-south artery through Pinellas.

In an attempt at a compromise, the government came up with a system of a side road at overpasses to make sure motorists could get to roadside stores. But businesses have been able to prove that they’re still hurt by losing their direct access to U.S. 19.

Officials at the Kmart in the recent case wouldn’t comment on how their business is doing, referring questions to corporate headquarters in Troy, Mich. A spokeswoman there didn’t return phone calls.

Costs for projects along U.S. 19 have been exploding as a result of business claims. Land for the twin overpasses at Countryside Boulevard and State Road 580 – a 1.5 mile project – cost about $30 million, according to state figures. That was roughly half the total cost of the project, including design and construction.

Alarm bells went off last year when the projected land cost hit $70 million for a 1.3 mile overpass over Sunset Point and NE Coachman roads. In November, the county’s road board decided to plow ahead with the overpass anyway.

Board members decided that there were no better options and that traffic would only get worse if they didn’t move ahead. There are four overpass projects on the books right now, and ultimately the plan is to have no stoplights on U.S. 19 from St. Petersburg to the Pasco County line.

Throw in a few more Kmart type judgments, however, and things could change.

“This could send out some real waves,” Seibert said.

The Tampa Tribune

MICHAEL FAY Tribune Staff Writer
Published: November 6, 1994
CLEARWATER — To build the overpass at Countryside Boulevard and U.S. Highway 19, transportation planners needed 16,400 square feet from a Ramada Inn parking lot. They paid $2 million.

The Florida Department of Transportation also bought a strip of land from the Plymouth Plaza office building. It was 258 feet long by 40 feet wide and wound up costing $565,000.

Those are just two of the 26 cases listed in DOT records in which the department and property owners couldn’t agree on the price of land needed to build overpasses and frontage roads for U.S. 19′s intersections at Countryside Boulevard and State Road 580.

They underscore a point: Buying right of way on a heavily developed road becomes a costly proposition in a state that places a high value on property rights.

Final judgment figures don’t include the cost of attorneys, appraisers and expert witnesses to defend property owners when the government files a lawsuit to get land it needs for public projects. Under Florida law, the agency that needs the property picks up those tabs.

In the case of the Ramada, add $555,000 to the final bill.

Originally, the DOT offered $131,000 for the Ramada Inn property, which included some of the parking spaces. A lawyer for the Ramada owners wrote DOT a letter saying his clients wanted to settle for $577,000.

Negotiations fell through and the case went to a mediator who gave the owners the $2 million award. A judge later set the amount for their legal fees.

Attorney S. Cary Gaylord, who took over the case from the lawyer who made the $577,000 counteroffer, says the overpasses hurt the Ramada Inn and other businesses.

“If you’re driving through there you go right past all those businesses,” he says.

To rebut the inn’s claim of business damages, DOT pointed to a Ramada Inn in Huntsville, Ala. That hotel suffered no loss of trade after being put on a frontage road similar to the one built on U.S. 19, a DOT expert witness testified.

Right of way staff for the department accuse some attorneys of dragging their feet when making counteroffers in eminent domain cases. Their theory is that the attorneys are playing chicken — making high counteroffers just before a case is scheduled for trial with the hope the DOT will balk at going before a jury or mediator.

On the other hand, the attorneys say the department could settle many cases for much less than what courts award their clients.

In the Plymouth Plaza case, lawyer Marc Sachs offered to settle — including attorney fees — for $300,000.

The transportation department declined. An attorney for the DOT wrote: “Even if the jury returns a verdict for $200,000 or $300,000, that would still be a victory for the department and a lesson for defense counsels that the money will not be given away — they will have to work for it.”

The jury gave the property owner $566,000.

And that didn’t include $269,000 for attorney fees, $38,000 for appraisals and $21,000 for expert witnesses.

Of course, the department sometimes avoids a drubbing when it rejects a property owner’s counteroffer. That happened when a mediator awarded the Sears at Countryside Mall $1.8 million.

Attorneys for the department store had wanted $6.4 million.

(CHART) Transportation needs vs. property rights Buying right of way for transportation projects can become an expensive proposition in an urban area like Pinellas County. A look at some of the condemnation cases associated with the U.S. Highway 19 overpasses at Countryside Boulevard and State Road 580, above, shows how the money can add up. The grantors are the property owners listed on DOT records. The legal costs are in addition to the awards won by property owners. DOT’s Award to Grantor first offer property owner Legal costs Hinely Associates (Ramada Inn) $130,700 $2 million $551,900 Sears $940,000 $1.8 million $409,300 Countryside Village $186,200 $1.7 million $654,700 Shadow West Apts. 173,600 $1.08 million $450,000 Dan Zohar (Main Street shopping plaza) $40,650 $910,000 $515,800

Source: Florida Department of Transportatio <FILED: NOT RETURNED>n Illustration: PHOTO (C) CHART

(C) (U.S. HIGHWAY 19 OVERPASSES AT COUNTRYSIDE BOULEVARD AND STATE ROAD 580) <FILED: U.S. HIGHWAY 19>

Infobox
(See related stories, same page.)
Copyright 1994 The Tribune Co.

NORTH PINELLAS

TAMPA TRIBUNE

Sunday, November 6, 1994

Buying right of way for transportation projects can become an expensive proposition in an urban area like Pinellas County. A look at some of the condemnation cases associated with the U.S. Highway 19 overpasses at Countryside Boulevard and State Road 580, above, shows how the money can add up. The grantors are the property owners listed on DOT records. The legal costs are in adition to the awards won by property owners.

*Grantor Hinely Associates (Ramada Inn)  | DOT’s First offer $130,700  |  Award to property owner $2 million

Grantor Sears  | DOT’s First offer $910,000  |  Award to property owner $1.8 million

*Grantor Countryside Village  | DOT’s First offer $166,200  |  Award to property owner $1.7 million

*Grantor Shadow West Apartments | DOT’s First offer $173,600  |  Award to property owner $1.08 million

Grantor Dan Zohar (Main Street shopping plaza)  | DOT’s First offer $40,650  |  Award to property owner $910,000

THE ORLANDO SENTINAL

by Vicki Vaughn of the Sentinel Staff

A developer and the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority reached an out-of-court settlement Monday over compensation for a right-of-way through Hunters’ Creek, a 4,000-acre development in south Orange County.

The authority will pay American Newland Associates, owner of Hunters’ Creek, $18.75 million and $800,000 in interest to build the southern connector through the mixed-use development.

American Newland filed suit against the authority in 1991, saying construction of the Greeneway section would make it “difficult or impossible for Hunters’ Creek to successfully market the remainder of the project.”

Negotiations over compensation centered on two appraisals: one done for Hunter’s Creek stating that the value of the project is$25.2 million, and one done for the authority that put the value at $12.865 million.

J. Christy Wilson III, a lawyer for American Newland, said, “my client found the amount acceptable and agreed to the settlement.” He declined to elaborate.

The 22-mile southern connector, which will be built between the Beeline Expressway and State Road 536, is under construction and expected to be completed by mid-1993.

THE TAMPA TRIBUNE

By DIRK LAMMERS Tribune Staff Writer

TAMPA –

David won a round against Goliath on Thursday. So said an attorney for the Hillsborough County property owners who won a $2.19 million jury award in their fight with Florida Power Corp., which is trying to clear a 44-mile corridor for 125-foot electrical transmission towers.

The award is three times what the utility had offered as compensation for land along the path of a 500,000-volt transmission line that will stretch from Kathleen in Polk County to Lake Tarpon in Pinellas County.

“”You’re talking about two individuals going up against one of the two biggest utility companies in Florida,” said Marc Sachs of the Tampa firm Brigham, Moore, Gaylord, Wilson, Ulmer, Schuster & Sachs.

He said his clients, Robert and Earl Diez, were ecstatic with the verdict.

“”I think it sends a clear message that they should be more realistic and more fair with property owners,” Sachs said of Florida Power.

Company spokesman Rick Janka said that although Florida Power was unhappy with the decision, at least the jury rejected the $3.3 million amount the Diez family and Wayne Jennings had sought.

“”We’re disappointed with it of course, but it was better than it could have been,” he said. “”This is just a milestone to reach in many steps to get this power line built.”

The utility had offered the Diezes and Jennings $712,000 for land it wants to buy for the corridor and as compensation for adjacent property affected by the transmission lines. About 1,600 acres were involved. The corridor follows the path of existing transmission lines but will require some 90 feet of additional easement.

The lawsuit decided Thursday was only the first in a series of condemnation actions between Florida Power and landowners. Jurors in the four-day trial before Hillsborough Circuit Court Judge J. Rogers Padgett deliberated about four hours.

Continuous legal battles have put the now $50-million project about $20 million over budget and more than a year behind schedule, Janka said. Florida Power officials have said they need the 500,000-volt line as a source of backup power to avoid blackouts in Pinellas County.

Residents have been fighting the route of the transmission line since it was proposed in 1984.

Opponents of the line have said they are worried about radiation emitted from the lines, which would pass within 100 feet of 400 homes in north Hillsborough County. Florida Power officials have said evidence of such health risks is inconclusive.

Attorneys for both sides in the trial were reasonably close on how much the utility should pay property owner for land on which to erect the towers. However, they strongly disagreed on what would be fair compensation for the negative effects on property adjacent to the 125-foot tall structures.

Florida Power’s attorney argued that land more than 300 feet from the path was not affected, while attorneys for the landowners said an arbitrary line could not be drawn.