Proposed annexation law change shelved for Legislative session. - Sarasota Herald-Tribune
NORTH PORT – A proposed change to state annexation laws that some residents feared would derail their effort to contract North Port's city limits was shelved indefinitely by state lawmakers last week.
The legislation would have modified Chapter 171 of Florida statutes to require the consent of owners of undeveloped property – in addition to voters – in any move to contract a city's boundaries.
A public records request made through the Florida Center for Government Accountability showed a lobbyist for the Florida Homebuilders Association helped write that legislation.
The effort to change the state law on annexations died with the close of the 60-day legislative session's final day for regular business last Friday. The Legislature adjourned Monday after extended one day for final approval of the 2023 fiscal year budget.
The citizens group, West Villagers for Responsible Government, commissioned Sarasota paralegal Michael Barfield to request the records. Members of the group 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.
John Meisel, chairman of the West Villagers for Responsible Government, expressed relief that the proposed law was back-burnered.
“Based upon the feedback we got from state legislators, both in the House and Senate – who were incredibly impressed by our call to arms and communications via email to them – they now have a better understanding of what was trying to be accomplished,” Meisel said.
The emails also established a direct link between resident efforts to contract North Port city limits and SB 1876 and CS/HB 1401, but they also noted that the legislation would not impact that ongoing issue.
“There is a de-annexation dispute in Sarasota County involving landowners in the City of North Port,” Dane Bennett, director of governmental affairs for the Florida Home Builders Association wrote in a Nov. 22, 2021 email to state Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka, R-Fort Myers. “Some residents would like to de-annex, but other landowners do not because they have certain entitlements with the city, vested rights, prior contributions to infrastructure. "
“A suit is pending. This language is NOT retroactive with respect to that case but would ensure that large property owners are treated equitably in the future,” he added. “This case brought to light how large property owners are disenfranchised in the de-annexation process.”
The legislation got as far as the House Public Elections and Integrity Committee as CS/HB 1401. If it became law, it would have required consent of the owners of more than 50% of the total area of property – in addition to city voters – for a de-annexation to be approved, providing that more than 70% of a parcel eyed for removal from a city is owned by entities who are not registered electors of that area.
Earlier in that email, Bennett said he wanted to set up a phone call between Persons-Mulicks and Mattamy Homes Chief Legal Counsel Leslie Candes.
The Senate bill was introduced by Sen. Keith Perry, D-Gainesville.
Other emails released note conversations between Perry’s legislative assistant Keenen Vernon and Bennett, as well as between Vernon and attorney Benjamin Stearns of the firm Carlton Fields, who wrote an amendment to the House bill mirroring that of the Senate bill.
While landowners have a say in the annexation process, due to a 1976 amendment to the annexation statute, which was established in 1975, there was no similar accommodation for landowners in the de-annexation statute.
The residents seeking to separate from North Port live primarily in the West Villages section of Wellen Park.
They 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.
If the city contracts its boundaries, developers could lose entitlements granted through negotiations with the city, since the land was annexed in the early 2000s.
Currently an appeal by the city of North Port is before the Second District Court of Appeal, asking it to quash a decision by 12th Judicial Circuit Court Judge Hunter W. Carroll that directed the city to reconsider its April 29, 2021 decision to reject the residents’ petition to contract the city’s boundaries.
Carroll issued his original decision on Nov. 15, 2021 and rejected a motion for rehearing on Dec. 29, 2021.
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.
The appeals court has twice denied the developers’ request to file an amicus brief in that case, though the court did allow the Florida League of Cities to file one.
Meisel observed that those briefs, combined with the email trail on the now shelved legislation, show that both the city of North Port and Mattamy Homes have continued to be active in their attempts to short-circuit the residents’ attempt to follow state statutes as they try to separate from the city.
“There’s no doubt in our mind," Meisel said, based upon the engagement of Mattamy’s attorney and the lobbyist from the Florida Builders Association – as well as the Florida League of Cities, "that both North Port and Mattamy were complicit in the genesis and origination of this proposed legislation, in my opinion.”
Earle Kimel primarily covers south Sarasota County for the Herald-Tribune and can be reached at [email protected]. Support local journalism with a digital subscription to the Herald-Tribune.
source: https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/2022/03/15/legislation-will-impact-contraction-process-but-not-efforts-to-shrink-north-port/6875582001/
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