TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Tallahassee\u2019s local governments are building a new park, roads and developments in the city\u2019s Northeast, but conservationists say they\u2019re breaking a promise to protect the forest.<\/p>\n
The northeast land is owned by Leon County Schools, while the Apalachee Land Conservancy owns the easement. In order to start building, local governments are using eminent domain, a process in which the government forcibly takes land or a public good.<\/p>\n
The purpose of the new roads and developments is to fix the constant traffic on Centerville Road that are a product of new schools and new housing developments.<\/p>\n
The Centerville Rural Community Association (CeCRA) is now suing Blueprint, a joint city-county board, because they say the governments promised them in 1999 to keep the 50 or so acres as a conservation easement and to act as a buffer between development and a rural way of life.<\/p>\n
Randie Denker, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, said it brings the community\u2019s trust into question.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I think it\u2019s a terrible message to the public. When a government agency makes a promise to a citizen or a group of citizens and then just says, \u201cWell, we don\u2019t care to uphold that any longer. How can any citizen trust them or enter any kind of an agreement or deal with them?\u201d Denker said.<\/p>\n
More Tallahassee news:<\/p>\n
Dr. Scott Hannahs, a former chief scientist at FSU, knows that promise very well. He says he\u2019s been attending development meetings about the northeast since the early \u201890s.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a loss, not just of a few trees, but of the animals who live here, the wildlife, it\u2019s all going to be pushed out into people\u2019s homes and across roads and killed,\u201d Dr. Hannahs said.<\/p>\n
Blueprint\u2019s plans, found on their website, call for a two lane road – though the conservationists say they\u2019re leaving room to expand it to four.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s a dangerous idea to put eventually a four-lane highway right through an elementary school. I think that\u2019s unsafe and I don\u2019t think that\u2019s good urban planning,\u201d Denkers said.<\/p>\n
The CeCRA lawsuit is really about getting a seat at the table and recognizing that the association has standing to challenge the new road. <\/p>\n
The blue line in the above document that stretches from under I-10 north past Roberts Elementary School is in phase 2 and still under final design.<\/p>\n
The decision on whether the new road will be built and its format will come later, likely after more intense negotiations. <\/p>\n
Tune in to Eyewitness News at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. for the full story. This article will also be updated this evening with all the details.<\/p>\n
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