Wastewater capacity remains the dominant issue coming before the Brooksville City Council in recent months, with the moratorium on permits leaving developers unable to complete planned projects. Representatives for Majestic Oaks, which is attempting to build a sports academy at Brooksville Country Club, once again went in front of the Council at a Nov. 18 meeting, pleading to be given top priority once wastewater capacity limitations allow for further development. That attempt failed, as it did back in September, with the short-handed Council unable to even second a motion leaning one way or another.
“We feel like we’ve just been slighted somewhat,” Bob Gomez, consultant for Majestic Oaks, told the Council. “In the sense that when we went to (the Planning and Zoning Commission) a while back in ’22, we were told at that time that we had an active utility service agreement.”
Gomez went on to say that based on the information provided at that P&Z meeting in 2022, along with City staff speaking at other public meetings, private meetings with City staff and even a letter received 11 days before closing on its property confirming that the 2005 utility service agreement remained active, the owners of Majestic Oaks spent millions of dollars purchasing property for the development.
The City has since informed Majestic Oaks that the agreement has expired. David Hainley, the City’s community development director, said the staff member who spoke at the 2022 P&Z meeting was given incorrect information. At this point, the City’s hands are tied, as the capacity doesn’t currently exist and the decision is made at the state level.
“We spoke with the Department of Environmental Protection, as well, and we’re roughly at 70 percent capacity as we speak now,” said Richard Weeks, Brooksville’s public works director. “So when we hit 75 percent capacity, the DEP is going to stop accepting any kind of permits. So they’ll deny the permits that go through.”
Majestic Oaks acknowledged that there isn’t enough capacity to do any building now, but the developer would like top priority once the capacity exists. According to Gomez, the project is two years away from needing to pull a wastewater permit and at that point, the wastewater situation should be at least headed toward a resolution.
There are currently three developments exempt from the wastewater moratorium: Cloverleaf, Leyland Preserve and Southern Hills/Liberty Landing. Majestic Oaks stated it would like to be fourth on that list.
Weeks cautioned the Council that giving Majestic Oaks priority would cause issues with other developers similarly seeking some sort of exemption.
Over the course of a 45-minute discussion, the Council found itself at a stalemate. It was handcuffed by the absence of two Council members, Vice Mayor Christa Tanner and Jody Young. It was announced that Tanner was unable to attend because she had given birth to her daughter Campbell over the weekend.
That left Mayor Blake Bell, along with Thomas Bronson and David Bailey. It was Bell who had asked for the Majestic Oaks issue to be included on the agenda, but as the mayor operating the meeting, he was unable to second any motions. Meanwhile, Bronson and Bailey were on opposite sides of the discussion.
“This is not something that’s going to go away, whether it’s the Majestic Oaks or Disneyland or whatever. This is something we’re going to have to fix one way or another,” Bronson said. “I trust these people not to push it until we get the capacity. And this is a school. This is something to better education. We don’t have a private school like that, this type of style that’s going to be a better education for our kids in the future. This isn’t just a suburb.”
Further complicating matters, this was the final meeting before three newly elected council members take over the seats of Bell, Bailey and Young. That made Bailey unwilling to commit to any long-term decision.
“I don’t want to be the reason why the sewage plan overfills. I’m not going to second it because of that,” Bailey said. “If you want to reopen it when the new Council comes in, then it’ll be on you all.”
With no motion to approve or deny, the discussion was eventually ended, leaving Majestic Oaks still without a spot on the exemption list as frustration amongst developers continues to mount.
“The last thing we want is (wastewater) coming out of the plant. Because if we get into that situation we are going to be dealing with the state of Florida. The DEP will step in and we will be in that bad spotlight,” Weeks said. “The City of Brooksville will be in that spotlight. We’re trying to avoid that. And again, we’re getting very close. It just takes time, it does. And it takes money.
“With the new connection fees that we’re going to establish, developments coming in like Majestic Oaks will pay for expansion. They’ll pay for whatever we need. But it’s one step at a time to be able to obtain the money for the expansion that we desperately need.”
