Joe McClash v. Pat Neal.
On the same side of the political fence in 2004-05 — when the developer was looking to sell 114 acres to Manatee County and the commissioner sought to protect what is now Neal Preserve — they’ve been on opposite sides in a yearlong battle waged by McClash against development permits sought by Neal.
In the most recent battle, Tampa attorney Douglas Manson, of Manson Bolves Donaldson, filed a motion Oct. 2 for Neal’s land trust, asking a McClash appeal be transferred to the 2nd DCA in Polk County.
Cape Coral attorney Ralf Brookes brought the appeal in the 5th District in Volusia County on behalf of McClash, the Florida Institute of Saltwater Heritage, Suncoast Waterkeepers and Sierra Club.
The appeal seeks to overturn a Southwest Florida Water Management District Aug. 25 decision that granted Neal a permit to fill about an acre of wetlands, cut and remove mangroves and build a sea wall as part of a four-home project.
Manson’s reasons for the request include convenience of the parties and because the property at issue — 3.46 acres on the shoreline across Manatee Avenue West from the Neal Preserve — is located in the 2nd District.
In an Oct. 7 response, Brookes objected to the transfer motion, stating the venue was directed by the Swiftmud order.
Once the procedural questions are resolved, the two sides will fight over whether the Swiftmud governing board made the right decision — to issue the state permit.
The decision overturned an administrative judge, Bram D.E. Canter, who held the project was not in the public interest.
The ALJ heard three days of expert witness testimony and wrote in his ruling there were “significant, adverse cumulative effects on the conservation of fish and wildlife, fishing and recreational values and marine productivity of Anna Maria Sound” — the decision to be touted by Brookes.
On the other side, Neal’s attorneys are expected to argue his project has met the public interest test for the wetlands permit through the mitigation determined by Swiftmud.
— Kathy Prucnell