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The Rainbow River Ranch

  If you have been following the proposed Rainbow River Ranch development, you may have some questions, as I have.

  First, why did the Dunnellon City Council vote unanimously to have the “deal” go forward? Not one dissenting vote?

  Second, why haven’t the details of the proposed development been published; the number of homes to be built, their exact location along the river, and the location and size of boat docks on a narrow stretch of the river?

  Third, why was the public not notified in advance of the recent meeting held in the State Capitol between the mayor, the developer’s attorney and DCA? Supposedly, the council was not notified until March 3^rd of a meeting to be held on March 9^th.  In my experience, I have never seen government act with such dispatch, and this raises suspicion.

  Finally, the mayor told the City Attorney to “send me the bill” for the junket to Tallahassee. Why wouldn’t that expense be covered by the City, if the mayor was attending the meeting to represent the City? Who exactly did the mayor represent – the City or the developer?

  We would like to give the mayor the benefit of the doubt, as he is, as Marc Antony said, “a just and honorable man”, but we deserve answers to these questions.

  I have written the following e-mail to Ms. Murack, to obtain more information about the proposed development:

Dear Ms. Murack,

  I would like to obtain copies of the proposal for the Rainbow River Ranch development that has been approved by the Dunnellon City Council, including the number of homes, and their locations along the Rainbow River. I would also appreciate any other documents that would be germaine to the discussion of the development.

  My readers would like to be better informed about this important issue, and I would like to make it available to them. If necessary, I will visit your office to pick up the copies of the documents, to save the City the expense of mailing them.

  I look forward to hearing from you.

Cordially,

Robert Randall Burke

Publisher

Dunnellon Online

www.dunnellononline.com

  The following is the answer I received via e-mail from Ms. Sue Koppler, the Assistant Community Development Director for the City of Dunnellon.

To Mr. Robert Randall Burke, in response to your request for copies of the RRR proposal, please be advised that there will be a charge for any copies required at $.15 per page.    I can answer your questions in general, stating that the currently approved Land use has 450 homes on the property as follows: Agricultural, 152 acres; Medium Density Residential, 85 acres; Commercial, 25 acres; Conservation.  This would allow for 32 homes to be built along the Rainbow River.

A revised proposal, however, under Land use Designation Adopted by CPA04-L1 is now being considered by the Department of Community Affairs which would reduce that number to 350 if approved.  We are still in the Land use element so no zoning can begin at this time, however, is the site, which is 259.72 acres, consists of the following proposed uses:  227.72 acres Residential, low density; 18 acres Wetland Conservation; 10 acres Commercial; 4 acres Recreation.  If approved, this change would allow only 23 homes along the Rainbow River.  If this proposed plan is accepted, it will allow for cluster housing, and have zero lot line lots based on style and design of housing for each lot size.  Low Density Residential land use restricts maximum density to 2.5 dwelling units per acre.  Commercial use would be no greater than 125,000 sq. feet (gross floor area).

The primary issues remaining are about boat dockage and walk ways.  The City Council will require the developer to implement an extensive set of environmentally oriented best development practices due to the Rainbow River.  At this time there is no scheduled date for the parties to meet with DCA.

I do have photos and materials, but I didn’t know how detailed you wanted to get.  I hope this information is helpful to you and please contact me for additional details.

Sue Koppler

Assistant Community Development Coordinator

City of Dunnellon

  We applaud Ms. Koppler for her quick and informative response.

  So, Dunnellon, there will be either 350 or 450 new homes in the Rainbow River Ranch development. Either 23 or 32 homes built on the Rainbow River. If the initial plan gains final approval, that would mean 450 homes, with an average of two cars per household (900 cars), and 32 new docks on the Rainbow.

  Ain’t progress grand? We think not.

What do you think? Let us know at:

webmaster@dunnellononline.com

 UPDATE:

  It seems that another clandestine meeting is to take place TODAY, March 28th, between Senator Nancy Argenziano, Mayor Taylor, the developer's representative, and various Dunnellon city workers.
What is on the agenda? Who knows? We weren't even told about the meeting, let alone the agenda!
This is starting to smell like a dead skunk in the road.
The following is a letter I e-mailed to Senator Argenziano last night. I received no reply as yet, but when I do, I will publish it here.

Editor




Dear Senator Argenziano,

  I am the publisher of a new website called Dunnellon Online, serving Dunnellon and the surrounding area. I understand that you will attend a meeting tomorrow on the proposed Rainbow River Ranch project to be built on the old Cubbage property adjoining the Rainbow River.

  I wanted to contact you to voice my concerns about this development, and the manner in which it has been advanced. While this property is within the City Limits of Dunnellon, the proposed project will impact everyone who lives and works in the area, and will have a deleterious effect on the Rainbow River. The Dunnellon City Council has voted unanimously to approve the project, but this must be understood in light of the fact that only 525 people voted in Dunnellon’s last council election, a minute representation of the thousands of area residents who will be impacted.

  There are two proposals, actually. The original proposal called for 450 new homes to be built. When this received some objections, the developer reduced the number to 350 new homes. In addition, the plan calls for either 32 or 23 homes to be built on the Rainbow River, depending on which plan gains final approval.

  With your record on environmental and water issues, I don’t think I have to remind you of the fragile nature of the Rainbow River. There are many of us here who are dedicated to it’s preservation, but unfortunately, we are not on the Dunnellon City Council. We feel that this “deal” has been advanced and approved in a rather shady manner, with little or no citizen input. Meetings have been scheduled on very short notice, and not advertised in advance, as required by statute, practically assuring little or no opposition to the proposal. A prime example of this is the meeting tomorrow, which is virtually secret. I would not have known of it without the input from a concerned citizen who, like myself, opposes the project. This entire proposal has been handled in a like manner. I feel that you should be aware of this when you attend the meeting.

  While we are aware that development is inevitable, we believe that it must be controlled and properly planned. The Rainbow River is a national treasure, and belongs to all Americans, not just the few who will benefit from this project. Dunnellon, for that matter, is a unique little town, which will be negatively impacted by this particular development.

  I urge you to consider the objections of those of us without representation on the City Council, who nonetheless want to preserve the character of Dunnellon, and the pristine nature of the Rainbow River.





Cordially,





Robert Randall Burke

Publisher

Dunnellon Online

www.dunnellononline.com

 

UPDATE:



  We have received NO REPLY from Senator Argenziano, which is not surprising in light of her behavior at the meeting. This bastion of envionmental protection apparently has nothing but contempt for the Rainbow River, or the people of Dunnellon. For a blow-by-blow account of the meeting, you can visit Ron McAndrew's website, listed in Dunnellon Online's Links page.

  This situation would be comical, were it not so tragic. A small cadre of individuals have stacked the deck in favor of The Rainbow River Project, and the flora, fauna and wildlife of the Rainbow will pay the price. Well, the deck may be stacked, but the game is not over yet.

  We at Dunnellon Online intend to explore every avenue possible to stop this wholesale rape of our river. We are contacting the appropriate state and federal environmental agencies, the State Attorney's Office (to review possible violations of The Florida Sunshine Law), the Governor's office, and any agency that may have some control over the preservation of the Rainbow River.

  Why? You may well ask.

  Because the Rainbow River does not belong to these well-connected individuals. It belongs to every American citizen who may want to someday leisurely float down it's twisting path carried by it's placid current. It belongs to the otter, the heron, and the hawk. They cannot fight for it, but we can; and we will.

Stay tuned for the next update.



Editor

 

UPDATE:

  Still no reply from Senator Argenziano. That's OK. We are very patient.

  We will keep trying to get a response from OUR state senator on this important issue. Please stay tuned.

UPDATE: April 7th, 2006

STILL no reply from Senator Argenziano. We are sending out homing pigeons to her office to see if they will be accepted. Of course, we are just a small website from a small town, so we don't have the clout necessary to get  the senator's attention.

  That's OK. We will continue to wait for her reply. We are patient. Perhaps if we speak louder....

HELLO. SENATOR ARGENZIANO!!!!! ARE YOU THERE?????

Please stay tuned. We will let you know if OUR  REPRESENTATIVE deems it important enough to respond to her constituents.