By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

            A proposed RV park that would front State Road 24 in Rosewood next to the Cedars Airfield was given preliminary approval Tuesday by the Levy County Commission despite fierce opposition from neighbors who argued it would devalue their homes and cause light pollution, water pollution, and noise pollution in their quiet community.

            Supporters of the project said the Crane Pond RV Park would be far superior to what was there before, which among other things included a rowdy bar and later a mobile home park when Charles DeCarlo owned it. They said the RV park would bring tourists and economic development to the Rosewood community at a time when the tiny community near Cedar Key could use a boost.

            Commissioners gave preliminary approval on a 3-1 vote to a change of zoning on the property from neighborhood commercial to Commercial 3, a more intense form of commercial zoning, and voted 4-0 to give preliminary approval to a special exception that would allow the 90-unit RV park to locate in a zoning district where it’s not permitted unless the owner complies with conditions and standards approved by the board. The RV Park would be constructed on about 12 acres.

            Commissioner Tim Hodge said he voted against the zoning change because he wanted opponents of the RV park to have their attorneys present when the issue was debated. However, he voted in favor of approving the special exception for the project. Commissioner John Meeks was absent. County officials indicated he was in Tallahassee for the inauguration of the governor.

            The businesswoman seeking to develop Crane Pond RV Park, Amanda Shankland of Shankland and Associates, applied for the zoning change and for a special exception on behalf of the landowner, Marcia Fleming, who will continue living directly behind the RV park if it wins final approval. Shankland lives in the Cedars Airfield subdivision alongside her neighbors who showed up to oppose the development.

            Cedars Airfield is an unincorporated community nestled in a wooded area on both sides of the private airfield. It consists of site-built homes, mostly in the higher price range. Many of the people living there are seasonal residents, meaning they come down for the winter from other states and go back when the weather turns warm. They own their homes.

            Yielding to Aircraft

            The community is centered around a paved airfield. Three dirt roads give the community access to their homes from State Road 24. Signs on the subdivision’s roads say visitors in cars and trucks must yield to aircraft. Homeowner Debi Johnston said the signs are intended to make people aware that airplanes sometimes taxi from the runway across the roads to the homes of the pilot. The drivers should yield to the planes. There are many neatly mowed areas between roads and the runway. The mowed areas give pilots the ability to taxi directly from the runway to their residences.

            Johnston said the Cedars Airfield runway was paved by homeowners last year at a cost of about $15,000. The runway and remaining vacant lots in the subdivision are owned by subdivision developers Doris Hellerman and her associates Fred Miner and Marvin Franks. Hellerman has been a Cedar Key realtor since 1980.

            She said residents of the Cedars Airfield subdivision feared that a decision had already been made before the county commission meeting ever started, but she said she spoke anyway, knowing what was at stake. She said residents have hired attorneys and are willing to fight for the neighborhood.

            “I feel like this is being forced on us, the decision has been made, but I’m still going to talk,” Johnston said.

            Attorneys Miss Meeting

            Attorneys Norm Fugate and Blake Fugate of Williston didn’t attend the meeting to represent their Cedars Airfield clients. LeeAnne Rohrer, a legal assistant for the firm said one of her bosses was out of the state and the other was out of the country at the time of the hearings. She asked for the hearings to be postponed until her clients could be represented by the Fugate firm, but commissioners declined the request, noting that the hearings had been scheduled well in advance and the dates were known to the law firm.

            Some of the residents complained of not being given written notice of the hearings. Brooks asked County Attorney Nicolle Shalley if the county had given residents legal notice. Shalley said county staff handles notices and she couldn’t speak for them. Shalley said she drafts ordinances. County Planning and Zoning Director Stacey Hectus said the county followed established legal procedures in notifying residents of the hearings.

            Apologizing for Mistake

            Johnston and others complained that the original date of the hearing posted by the county at the site of the proposed RV park was incorrect. Hectus said the mistake was corrected within 24 hours. It was also pointed out that the agenda given out at the board meeting stated the commission meeting would be held on Jan. 3 at 6 p.m., which was accurate, but also incorrectly stated the hearings would begin at 9 a.m. that same morning.  The commission broadcasts the audio portion of the commission meetings by way of an internet connection.

            “I want to apologize,” said Commission Chairman Matt Brooks. “The agenda said 9 a.m. and the phone lines would be open at 8:40 a.m. If you’re joining us by phone, I appreciate your diligence if you’ve been with us since 8:40 a.m. Sorry about that. Starting the new year on a good foot apparently.”

            Johnston said Shankland hasn’t purchased the RV park property at this point but she said neighbors of the facility own their land and they bought their homes when the RV property was zoned neighborhood commercial.

            “We did not buy with the understanding that somebody could do a C-3 zoning and put an RV park next door,” she said, noting that Shankland could build an RV park down the road on 20 acres that is ready for an RV park. “I’m asking for an impact study. Do I need to contact Tallahassee or do you guys or Ms. Shankland? I want to know how it affects our roads.”

            The RV park would be developed about 100 yards from the intersection of State Road 24 and County Road 345 in Rosewood.

            Expecting the Worst

            Johnston predicted RVs pulling cars would be traveling down State Road 24 looking for a way to turn into the RV park would cause a backup of vehicles on the highway. She said there would be road congestion. She said she is worried about septic systems polluting the aquifer. She said she doesn’t want to hear the noise from a busy RV Park at night as she is trying to sleep.

            “This is serious I feel this is being forced and pushed. I’m asking you to please slow down. Please let us get our attorneys. Let us make sure all this stuff is addressed. I don’t want to lose $100,000 (value) on this property. I want to know how we’re going to keep our neighborhood safe and secure with people coming and going,” Johnson said.

            Miner said the RV park would be built within 100 feet of his front door.

            “I built my house there in 2010 with the expectation of retiring at some point in the near future. I can’t imagine living there and looking out my front window to see 90 RVs parked,” he said. “I’m wondering what your feelings would be if someone started this thing 100 feet in front of your front door.”

            Supporting RV Project

            Shankland’s spokesman, engineer Wayne Walker of Civil Coastal Engineering said Shankland has no objection to adding privacy fencing to screen neighbors from seeing the RV park. Commissioners suggested adding fencing of some type around the entire facility. Walker said Shankland has bent over backwards to work with county staff to meet all the rules and regulations of the county. He said Shankland cares a great deal about her community.

            Former County Commissioner Lilly Rooks contacted two of the commissioners she served with before retiring a couple of months ago. She called Commissioner Tim Hodge and Commissioner Rock Meeks to let them know she supported the RV park project. Rooks has lived in Rosewood for 44 years across State Road 24 from the proposed RV development. After the meeting, in an interview by phone, Rooks said the RV development would be a vast improvement over what she had seen at the site in previous years.

            Big Improvement

            “What’s been out there in the past has been a restaurant, a bar, and there were some trailers over there. It was horrible. There was fighting all the time,” Rooks said. She said she knows the future owner of the RV park and is confident she will develop a quality RV park.

            “I feel comfortable she will put in something that will be an asset to the community and not drag us all down. Every time I called her, she’s answered the phone,” Rooks said of Shankland. “She lives in that community and she’s going to be available to call.”

            Rooks listened to the county commission meeting by internet. Rooks said attorney Norm Fugate knew about the date of the public hearings but chose not to be there.

            RV Park Needed

            Crystal Sharp, who said she had lived in the Cedar Key area for 40 years, said the property where Shankland plans to develop an RV park was used for an earlier RV park when she was a little girl. She said commercial fishermen that worked in Cedar Key and lived in Rosewood used the laundromat at the former RV park. It went by the name of Odyssey back then.

            She said Rosewood needs shops and businesses to bring tourists to town. She said the RV park would attract tourists. She said too many methamphetamine users in Rosewood have degraded the community. She said it’s no longer as safe as it was when she was a girl. She said she wouldn’t allow her daughter to drive down local roads alone like she did when she was a girl.

            Sharp believes the RV park would be a good start toward attracting businesses to Rosewood and cleaning up the community. She fully supports the project.

            “This will only benefit the community. It’s going to improve Rosewood and Rosewood needs that,” Sharp said.

            Tough Job

            Commissioner Desiree Mills, like her counterpart Commissioner Tim Hodge, expressed the difficulty of weighing the pros and cons of the RV Park project and coming up with a decision. Both are first-term commissioners in the first few months of public service.

            “I want to say this is a difficult job. We’re faced with many things, many residents that are opposing and a few that came out and said positive things,” Mills said. “We’re tasked with sorting through everything.”

            Addressing residents on both sides, Mills said when someone comes to Levy County and buys property and they go through all the steps to do everything required of them, they should be given the benefit of the doubt.

            “You go through all the steps and you have this dream of what you want to do with your property and you do all you can to make it happen. We have a duty to you to have it happen,” Mills said.

            Hodge said he struggled with telling people what to do with their property.

            “I just don’t like the fact that someone’s telling you what you can do with your property. This is tough. This is a tough job,” he said when he voted against changing the zoning to C-3 for the RV park property.

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Board of County Commission Regular Meeting January 3, 2023; Posted January 6, 2023