NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Department of Environmental Protection has issued an order disposing of the petition for declaratory statement filed by Charles E. Strange, Jr., on October 05, 2011. The following is a summary of the agency's disposition of the petition:
The Notice of Petition for Declaratory Statement was published in Vol. 37, No. 42, of the October 21, 2011, Florida Administrative Weekly and sought the agency’s opinion as to the recent Notice of Intent to Issue an Environmental Resource Permit, File No. 09-0302742-001, to the Southwest Florida Water Management District to fill approximately 0.85 acres of freshwater marsh in order to construct a new 425-linear foot tie-back berm with an associated access road and 12-foot wide airboat slide within Potts Preserve in Citrus County. The petitioner also appeared to request the Department to “survey and identify” the location of sovereignty submerged lands and the mean high water line at the location of the proposed project through the Petition for Declaratory Statement. The Department’s Final Order Denying Petition for Declaratory Statement filed on November 18, 2011, stated that a declaratory statement is not the proper forum to resolve property issues and cannot be used to determine whether the conduct of a third-party occurs on sovereignty lands. In addition, the Department’s Final Order Denying Petition for Declaratory Statement stated that the Petition for Declaratory Statement did not comply with the requirements of Rule 28-105.002, Florida Administrative Code.
A copy of the Order Disposing of the Petition for Declaratory Statement may be obtained by contacting: Lea Crandall, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Office of General Counsel, 3900 Commonwealth Blvd., M.S. #35, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-3000, (850)245-2242 or email: Lea.Crandall@dep.state.fl.us.