News
County clamps down on frontage road violators
By Michael D. Bates | Hernando Today
Published: November 22, 2012
BROOKSVILLE - Commissioners agreed Tuesday they would clamp down on business owners who fail to construct a frontage road on their property.Published: November 22, 2012
For many owners, the road is a requirement of their rezoning because of increased traffic congestion.
County Commissioner Dave Russell cited a storage facility owner along State Road 50 and Wiscon Road who has been told repeatedly by the legal office that such a road needs to be built.
The road would extend the existing frontage road that parallels SR 50 and would allow people to access the 7-Eleven, the new attorney's office and Century Storage without backing up traffic.
"We've done this with more than one developer and, in most cases, we don't have a problem," Russell said. "When we tell them to put the frontage road in, they do it.
"But if you get people flouting the conditions of their development order and the ordinance, it's going to cause some real problems," Russell added.
Hernando Today contacted the storage company but there was nobody there who could discuss the road situation.
The absence of such a road is creating access problems at the site, Russell said.
"We need to set an example because we've been very lenient in terms of allowing people to go ahead and build on their property and not put in a frontage road," Russell said.
County attorney Garth Coller said he has a "pretty thick file" on the company so there has been plenty of advance notice.
The county could place a lien on the offender's property for failure to comply.
County Commissioner Nick Nicholson said the county needs to proceed on all non-conforming commercial business owners who have violated the terms of their zoning agreement by not paying for frontage roads when deemed necessary.
County Commission Chairman Wayne Dukes also instructed staff to look into closing some of the frontage road "gaps" along U.S. 19, especially as traffic on that road increases.
Dukes said frontage roads were built years ago that led out to U.S. 19, but there remain areas where the road stopped suddenly without being connected.
Nicholson thanked Dukes for bringing the matter up and said it was a concern he's had for years.
"Let's fill the gaps in," Nicholson said.
Also at Tuesday's county commission meeting:
Last year, FDEP determined that the contractor violated a permit condition while working on the Hernando Beach channel dredging project.
Nick Nicholson, also sworn in this week as commissioner, said he has declined the county's health insurance to save taxpayers money. As a 100 percent disabled veteran, Nicholson said he has no need for the insurance.
The state determines the salary for county commissioners and it is determined by population and county size. Hernando County commissioners make $60,906 annually.