Letter: Commission vote should be “no-brainer”
Dennis C. Stewart
St. Augustine, Fl 32092
Dear editor;
On February 4th, the county commissioners will either vote for a developer or they will vote for the taxpayers. This should be a no-brainer.
A request to terminate the Wildcat/Turnbull Development Agreement (DEVAGRMOD 2013-05) is coming before the commission for action for the second time in three years. The agreement requires the developer to make major road improvements from their entrance to the Outlet mall on SR-16. Taxpayers should not have to foot the cost of improving that portion of SR-16 to accommodate the development, now known as “Encanta”.
When the Turnbull request was denied in 2011, the developer asked to terminate the agreement as part of their rezoning request. It is likely another developer will purchase this property and come before the board in two to three more years; asking for a rezoning request and cancellation of the agreement.
The requirements of the agreement have always been in place. The current owner should have known about them — or learned about them during their “due diligence”. I see no need to release the current owner, nor would I favor releasing any future owner from that obligation because the construction required solely benefits them and their customers.
If this is a show-stopper for this developer, so be it. The county can always come back to the developer, at a future date, to amend the agreement. But, millions of taxpayer dollars can be saved versus allowing the developer to only pay about a half-million dollars into a state fund by denying this request.
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