DEBARY, Fla. – Volusia County Public Schools says it will pursue “all available legal remedies” to get a school developed on a piece of land in DeBary, despite threats of legal action from the city.
In a scathing letter sent to the city last week, attorneys for the school district disagreed with the city’s interpretation of state law in its objection to building a K-8 school on the property along Spring Vista Drive near Shell Road.
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The school district purchased the land last month for $8 million, despite city officials’ insistence that the 19-acre parcel couldn’t properly handle a school.
“It would require significant road improvements; they would have to use eminent domain for residents’ front yards and businesses’ entryways,” said DeBary city manager Carmen Rosamonda at the time. “There are hundreds of millions of dollars of commerce that occur in that industrial park there.”
Last week, city officials said they would pursue legal action against the school district to stop the school from being built and issued a cease and desist letter to the district. Rosamonda said the school district’s insistence on building a school there when the city was against it violated Florida law and the city’s comprehensive plan for future land use.
In the letter the school district’s attorneys released, they argue the DeBary council’s argument goes against the whole concept of a comprehensive future land use plan.
“Under your interpretation of the Comprehensive Plan the ultimate determination of whether a planned school could be developed would be placed within the discretion of whoever comprises the City Council at any given time, and the goal of consistency in future land use decision-making would be circumvented,” the attorneys wrote.
At the end of the letter, the attorneys took their criticism a step further.
“Let’s be honest here, your motives in attempting to intercede in the development of this K-8 school are purely financially driven and bear no correlation to what is in the best interests of the children of your community, the parents of those children, the businesses that support your city or the common good of our community as a whole. You have maligned the School Board and its leadership without cause or any basis for doing so. Your sole focus is your tax rolls and while this property will be removed from your tax rolls, your actions could not be more shortsighted,” attorney Theodore R. Doran wrote.
“Your actions belie the true focus of your self-serving financial greed. When the school is built, and you have long since left your position with City, you will be remembered for having been on the wrong side of history,” he added.
You can read the full letter below.