NSBNEWS.net videos by Sera Frederick
New Smyrna Beach officials drove to the state's capital to make their pitch for expedited approvals on an array of massive community-project applications, including a Walmart Super center near Interstate 95 and a hotel on Flagler Avenue, some dating back five years that sat in the city's planning department unfinished. NSBNEWS.net broke the original news and was the only media outlet to go to Tallahassee to cover the Wednesday morning meeting between NSB officials and those with the Florida Department of Community Affairs.NSB News' exclusive coverage of the meeting is presented gavel to gavel without cuts in the eight video segments above.
TALLAHASSEE -- Like the Clint Eastwood spaghetti western, there's the good, the
bad and the ugly of New Smyrna Beach's planning debacle in the wake of the municipal
delegation's meeting earlier today with the Florida Department of Community Affairs.
The good: The Walmart Supercenter, though prevented from breaking ground next month after already having invested $12 million in land purchases on S.R. 44, just west of I-95, is expected to sail through once the state receives the final paperwork from the city. Groundbreaking could begin by fall.
The bad: The United Church of Christ was to have broken ground July 4, but that process could be delayed for several months because proposed amendments that supported it are flawed because the city failed to send up its proposed updated Evaluation and Appraisal Report, also called an EAR, which outlines changes to the city's comprehensive plan, the blueprint for development.
That was two years ago, and because it deals with water and transportation issues, it has to be signed off on by the DCA before proposed land-use amendments for some of the projects are approved, which is why the church, in particular, goes to the back of the line.
The ugly: The proposed 112-room Hampton Inn & Suites on Flagler Avenue, the cornerstone of revitalization on the beachside, not only will be delayed several months, but nearby residents opposed to it are threatening lawsuits if there are any shortcuts in the process.
The DCA learned that 29 proposed comprehensive plan amendments affecting 72 large- and small-scale projects had not been sent back to the state agency for final approval, even though the preliminary work had been done in most cases, dating back five years. Ultimately, it's up to DCA's top administrator to sign off on bailing out New Smyrna Beach.
The 90-minute session dealt mostly with technical issues related to an array of land-use amendments and whether questions had been answered on water and transportation aspects of some of the larger projects.
Finally, after more than an hour of both sides speaking in legalese, Michael McDaniel, DCA's chief of comprehensive planning bluntly asked: "Is there a reason the city hasn't been submitting the adopted amendments or is this a staff problem?"
City Manager Pam Brangaccio placed the blame directly on the Planning Department, specifically naming former Development Services Director Mark Rakowski and a current planner, which she didn't identify at the hearing, though she later named Chad Liegenfelter, a planner assigned those tasks under Rakowski.
Brangaccio said the planners did not follow proper procedure and neither her office nor the City Attorney's Office were aware of the situation going back five years.
"There's no excuse," said Brangaccio, adding she's only been on the job "11 months."
On June 30, the day after NSBNEWS.net broke the story on the city's planning debacle, Rakowski, who was let go by the city in November in what was described as a cost-cutting move, issued an e-mail to the local media stating, "As the former development services director I accept responsibility for the oversight. I apologize to the City of New Smyrna Beach for the errors and will assist the
community in any way I can to correct the problem."
Rakowski did not elaborate and wouldn't comment further as to why when pressed by NSBNEWS.net.
Even though City Attorney Frank Gummey attended the hearing in Tallahassee, along with Planning Manager Gail Hendrickson and Mayor Adam Barringer, Brangaccio brought with her the services of former DCA Secretary Linda Loomis Shelley, who was able to clarify the finer points of the city's problems.
But it's Shelley's successor, Thomas Pelham, who has the final say whether the DCA will fast track New Smyrna Beach's backlog.
Mayor Adam Barringer asked McDaniel and other senior-level DCA staffers to impress upon their boss the urgency, with which New Smyrna Beach needs to get back on track and get the glut of stalled projects moving again.
"Coming just into this, trying to get my head around it, "I'm spinning too, asking how could this happen?" said Barringer, elected in November on a platform of spurring economic development.
Then speaking of several citizens seated behind him, including an attorney for the Walmart project, Jim Morris, and a citizen opposed to the hotel, Cherie Coccia, who has already retained the services of an attorney, Barringer said the stakes are high: "I know their clients are chomping at the bit. We certainly have a liability out there for not doing our jobs."
The DCA's McDaniel assured the New Smyrna Beach contingent his agency will do a "straight up review. It's unfortunate this passage of time. We'll do a straight up review."