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Highlands Today

County Seeks Legal Clarity On Sun 'N Lake

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By JIM KONKOLY

Highlands Today

Published: December 10, 2008

SEBRING - Highlands County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to seek a court ruling that will clarify the longstanding dispute over the election of the five-member board of supervisors at Sun 'n Lake of Sebring.

Commissioners agreed to hire an outside attorney to seek a declaratory judgment on whether state law gives the commissioners the authority to set the rules for a transition from a landowner-elected board to a popularly elected board.

The commissioners action comes while a lawsuit filed by the Property Owners Association of Sun 'n Lake is pending.

That lawsuit is an attempt to reverse the ruling by the Sun 'n Lake board of supervisors, in a 3-2 vote, to accept one study on urban density which keeps the board with three seats elected by landowners and two seats elected by residents.

Two other studies, which would have given residents the majority of the board seats, were rejected by the supervisors.

"I was very pleased with the support of the commissioners," said Dick Miller, a member of the executive board of the property owners association. "And I was very pleased with the fact that they will seek independent counsel because I think we need an objective look at this."
County Attorney Ross Macbeth estimated the county's legal costs at up to $10,000, and the commissioners set the maximum amount at that level.

A ruling by a court is not likely until at least the end of 2009, Macbeth said.

Over the past year, the commissioners had stayed away from involvement in the dispute over election of Sun 'n Lake supervisors, but changed at the urging of Commissioners Guy Maxcy and Jeff Carlson.

"It's time for this board to get involved in this and get this settled," Carlson said.

"We really need to find a way to put this to rest so everybody on both sides can move on with their lives," Maxcy said.

Commissioner Don Bates said that without a declaratory judgment by a court, the commissioners don't have enough information about possibly amending the Sun 'n Lake charter.

The commissioners chartered Sun 'n Lake of Sebring in 1974 under a state law for special improvement districts which no longer exists. Questions have been raised for years whether provisions of that law or another state statute passed in 1989 govern the voting rights of the residents and the absentee landowners.

"The facts are not in dispute," Macbeth said. "What's really in dispute are matters of law."

Macbeth said the core question is whether the 1989 state law restricts commissioners in amending the Sun 'n Lake charter on voting rights for residents and landowners.

Commissioner Barbara Stewart said spending up to $10,000 to settle the basic legal question at Sun 'n Lake is appropriate, since the county has spent at least that much in staff time over the past four years in dealing with this issue.

Highlands Today reporter Jim Konkoly can be reached at 863-386-5855 or e-mail jkonkoly@highlandstoday.com

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