Controversy erupts over land for Deltona safety complex

Commissioner threatens to sue over $7.57 million purchase

By Al Everson
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Aug 25, 2008 - 12:36:19pm

Tropical Storm Fay finally moved off Deltona, but the Southwest Volusia city faces another kind of storm.

This one is a storm of controversy, brewing in the city that's becoming known for bitter disputes over public policy.

By a 4-3 vote at its Aug. 18 meeting, the Deltona City Commission approved spending $7.57 million to buy land on Deltona's north side for a long-anticipated public-safety complex. However, the decision may be challenged in court.

The vote was split with the same division that has marked other key decisions since last year's municipal election: Mayor Dennis Mulder, Vice-Mayor Michael Carmolingo and Commissioners Janet Deyette and Paul Treusch on the winning side, and Commissioners Michele McFall-Conte, Herb Zischkau and Zenaida Denizac on the other side.

The vote was to buy about 19 acres west of the intersection of Howland and Catalina boulevards for a new fire station, a law-enforcement headquarters, an emergency-dispatch center and an emergency-management center. The land is in two parcels owned by The Cavallaro Group Inc.

This is the latest episode in a story that began in the fall of 2007, with the commission's decision to buy 18 acres nearby for $2.5 million.

That pre-election action was canceled earlier this year, as a majority of the commission, led by Mayor Dennis Mulder, set its sights on the Cavallaro property instead, even though it commanded a price three times greater.

The Cavallaro property is subdivided into seven parcels, and the city is buying two of them. One plot of less than 2 acres, is to be the site of the fire station; the larger 18-acre piece a short distance away is to be the site of the law-enforcement and emergency complex.

The purchase price of $7.57 million was developed from two appraisals ordered by city officials.

Larry Cavallaro, president of the Cavallaro Group, had marketed the land as the site of a sort of town center, with retail stores, restaurants, offices and other commercial uses. He deemed it a perfect place for public-safety facilities.

The idea of a town center resonated with some citizens.

"If you get some visitors, where do you take them for entertainment at night? You take them to Orlando, or you take them to Daytona," said George Goehring. "It's time to become a city."

"These are things citizens need," Ed Alvarado said. "Push this through. Make this happen."

The appraisers, commissioners learned, had set values for the land based upon its anticipated commercial potential — complete with a rezoning, water and sewer lines, streets, a traffic signal, stormwater control, etc. — rather than its current undeveloped condition.

Lee Lobban, an appraiser of Diversified Properties Specialists Inc., of Titusville, told commissioners the value had been determined "under the hypothetical condition that they were pad-ready."

Lobban's estimate of the value of both parcels was $7.59 million.

Another appraiser, Robert Beaumont of Orlando, put the value at $7.585 million.

However, not all the property is zoned for commercial activity, Commissioner Denizac noted.

"We are being asked to pay a price when the land is not rezoned," she said, noting some of the land is zoned residential. "How can we justify paying more than the appraised value?"

Cavallaro defended his proposal in an eight-page letter he read aloud to the commission.

"[T]he property that the City Commission so wisely chose not to close on was priced as raw land. It is unimproved land with environmental and developmental issues," he said. "Our property, on the other hand, will be delivered to the City 'pad-ready.' What that means is this: all surveys, environmental studies, traffic studies, geotechnical studies, earthworks calculations, consulting, permits and applications and engineering and design will have been completed."

Cavallaro said he was "appalled and disappointed" by some of the statements and suggestions surrounding the proposal to sell his land to the city, including claims he and Mulder have a "partnership" in the deal.

"There is no partnership between Cavallaro and Mulder," Cavallaro said. "If so, someone needs to prove it or cease and desist from these accusations."

Commissioner Zischkau said the price for the land is too high, and the city acted improperly by not allowing sufficient time for public review of the appraisals. He voted against the $7.7 million deal, and promised he would sue to void the transaction.

"I'm suing the city because the commission majority, the four who voted for the Cavallaro contract, have violated Florida Statutes Section 166.045," Zischkau told The DeLand-Deltona Beacon. "My lawsuit will be to protect the citizens of Deltona the same way that people sue directors and officers of a corporation in a shareholders' derivative suit."

The portion of the law cited by Zischkau refers to a 30-day period for public comment about a pending land purchase by a local government.

That period is supposed to come "before a contract or agreement for purchase is considered for approval by the governing body of the municipality," Zischkau wrote in a letter to Deltona City Attorney George Trovato.

Zischkau, who is also a lawyer, said the comment period began July 23; 30 days had not elapsed when the commission voted Aug. 18.

"If the Commission acts before the expiration of the 30-day period for public comment, their action may be invalidated by the circuit court, and such action in knowing violation of the public records law, cited above, would result in personal liability for you and the Commissioners taking such action," Zischkau warned Trovato in the Aug. 1 letter.

In spite of Zischkau's threat to sue, Trovato said he believes the City of Deltona "absolutely" stands on good legal ground. Further, Trovato said, the deal will not be closed until Cavallaro installs the infrastructure necessary for commercial development.

"We don't close until they've done all the work," he said, adding the terms of the contract must be fulfilled by Dec. 31, 2009.

Currently, the main station of the Deltona Fire Department at 1685 Providence Blvd. houses the offices of senior officers and fire inspectors, as well as the city's public-information personnel and an AM emergency radio station.

The Volusia County Sheriff's Office, which provides police services in Deltona under contract, used to occupy the old library building next to the Fire Department, but last year relocated its substation to a storefront in the Deltona Plaza Shopping Center at 1200 Deltona Blvd.

Deltona's voters will decide Nov. 4 whether to establish a city police force, rather than relying on the Sheriff's Office. Proponents of the public-safety complex say the complex would serve either a new city police department or the Sheriff's Office.

Former Deltona Fire Chief William Godfrey estimated the facility would enclose about 48,000 square feet, and would cost approximately $10.5 million.

— al@beacononlinenews.com

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