Common sense must prevail

Oops, they did it again. Members of the Tarpon Springs City Commission have put themselves in a pickle by voting 3-2 Tuesday that a concurrency certificate in Wal-Mart's site plan had expired.

The certificate is required to assure that the infrastructure can handle the development. Wal-Mart plans to build a Supercenter along U.S. 19 in proximity to the Anclote River. There appears to be some confusion whether Wal-Mart was granted a 10-year extension back in January 2005 for the project's certificate. A concurrency element typically expires after one year.

Several environmentalists have spoken out against the project and have been searching for any way possible to prevent the store from being built.

What is truly puzzling is that commissioners went against recommendations of the city attorney and planning director who said the concurrency certificate is valid. Furthermore, City Attorney James Yacavone warned that such a vote would expose the city to a lawsuit, which he believes they could lose. So why would three commissioners vote to essentially guarantee the city would not only be sued, but likely lose and have to pay damages to Wal-Mart?

When the initial site plan was approved in 2005, only two of the five current commissioners were on the board. At least two of the commissioners who voted Tuesday have been tied to the group that is opposing the development. It's a disgrace that Commissioners Peter Dalacos and Susan Slattery did not recuse themselves from the vote.

We can only hope cooler heads will prevail and commissioners will ultimately realize they are gambling with taxpayers' money.

That's something a good government working for the people should never do.