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Neighbors Say EPC Buried Wetland Case

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By SUSAN M. GREEN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 29, 2007

Updated: 09/27/2007 07:44 pm

RIVERVIEW - The fill dirt covered a mucky patch on the banks of Lake Grady for so long that saplings took root and grew into trees.

But neighbors say that doesn't mean the wetland shouldn't be restored.

Daniel and Celina Jozsi say Hillsborough County's Environmental Protection Commission shirked its duty to protect wetlands when officials agreed to less than full restoration of a boggy area that was destroyed in January 1996 to make way for a house on the lake's edge in Shadow Run.

'What a farce this has been in trying to get the government to do its job,' Daniel Jozsi said last week, after county commissioners sitting as the EPC board declined to order the wetlands restored. He said he and his wife have spent three years and $40,000 on litigation and related costs, trying to get the EPC to follow through on a January 1996 citation and resulting settlement that required restoration of the soggy soil.

Andrew Zodrow, an EPC attorney, said mistakes were made in the environmental agency's handling of the case. But he said that doesn't mean the agency didn't fulfill its mission.

'Our wetlands rule allows wetlands impacts when necessary for reasonable use,' Zodrow said.

He said allowing a property owner to build a pool and a house, even a large one, is considered reasonable use. He and Jozsi said site plans show a construction footprint of about 4,000 square feet.

Zodrow said most of the environmental damage in 1996 stemmed from silt getting into Lake Grady, and that adverse effect has long since disappeared.
County commissioners voted Sept. 20 to uphold a hearing officer's ruling that supported EPC action requiring removal of an unspecified amount of fill, removal of nuisance plants and the planting of wetland vegetation on the lake's shore.

The case began in January 1996, when previous owners were cited for filling wetlands on the west side of their 1-acre lot without a permit. A hydrologist estimated then about half of the lot was protected marsh, based on tests of soil buried beneath 4 feet of fill.

The owners signed a consent order agreeing to restore the wetlands. But Zodrow said the case was put on hold because those owners told EPC they were pursuing legal action against the parties that sold them the lot.

When James Winterroth of Land O' Lakes, bought the property in 2003, an EPC staff member erroneously issued a letter saying corrective action had been closed out, when no corrective action had been taken, Zodrow said.

After the error was discovered, Winterroth and the EPC agreed to a settlement that allowed the wetlands to remain covered by fill, Zodrow said.

The Jozsis, who bought their lot on the east side of Winterroth's parcel in 2000, appealed the EPC action, saying it did not protect the wetlands and would worsen flooding problems on their property.

Zodrow told commissioners during that the Jozsis failed to prove they would be injured by the EPC action or demonstrate environmental harm and thus had no standing to continue with their appeal before a commission-appointed hearing officer.

Daniel Jozsi said after the meeting that his property has been soggy since he moved in, but no water has gotten into his home. He said he fears even more dirt will have to be brought in to allow a home to be built next door and building over the old wetland, which may have absorbed some of the water flow, could make the ground saturation worse.

He said he doesn't object to construction next door, but he believes the half-acre of natural uplands provides adequate room for a house.

Helga Sanchez, president of the Shadow Run Homeowners Association, said other homeowners have had to comply with rules requiring them to avoid altering wetlands. She said there are 11 vacant lots on the lake with wetlands.

'The unequal enforcement of wetland regulations by the EPC will set a dangerous and damaging precedent,' Sanchez said.

'Other homeowners were forced to downsize their residences, reconfigure their residences,' she said. 'They were unable to build pools.'

The Jozsis said last week they hadn't decided whether to continue a legal fight against the EPC's decision.

Reporter Susan M. Green can be reached at (813) 865-1566 or sgreen@tampatrib.com.

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