Charlie Dean's 'barn' surfaces at county commission meeting

Submitted by Robby Douglas on Tue, 03/10/2009 - 2:06pm.

This structure sits on a 25-acre parcel of property east of Inverness that is owned by State Sen. Charlie Dean.

The issue was raised by Hernando resident Jeff Huff, who said he first read about it in the local newspaper.

"It's got a kitchen, bathrooms and bedrooms. There's no way it's a barn," Huff argued.

"It is agriculturally exempt property," said Gary Maidhof, Director of Development Services. He said the issue would be better addressed at the state level, and not the local area. "The state statute specifically exempts this structure," he said. The statute is more broad than allowed under the state's Farm Act, which is a different piece of legislation, Maidhof said.

Dean's property is along the Withlacoochee River, east of Inverness.

Another resident, Bob Schweickurt, referred to dean as "the messiah," and claimed that Dean "went to the top" by meeting with Maidhof one-on-one, and then Schweickurt asked that the matter be looked into. Commissioner John Thrumston suggested Maidhof meet with the Schweickurt, but Schweickurt later called for a State Attorney General's opinion on the legality of Dean's building. He also invoked the Freedom of Information Act, and asked the county for copies of communications between Sen. Dean and the county.

Maidhof said the Legislature changed the statute at the behest of the Attorney General who was in office at the time the original statute was re-drafted, the end result being the statute was actually made more broad that it previously had been.

"This is a product of the state Legislature," Maidhof said. "It clearly needs clarification, he said. "It's clearly a gray zone. It's not a matter of having a pig in your house. It has to be for agriculture."

Commissioner Thrumston said Dean is being dragged through the mud needlessly, and that in a conversation he had on Tuesday morning with Dean that the senator said he nothing to hide. Thrumston said the county didn't do due diligience when it heard of the issue, and that the county never contacted the senator to clarify the issue. Thrumston said that wasn't fair to the senator.

See video:

Charlie Dean's Barn

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Of course it's not a barn.

Submitted by Bike Commuter on Tue, 03/10/2009 - 7:11pm.

Of course it's not a barn. It's the "Poker Palace". That's where Senator Dean and his cronies all hang out and play poker. It's not a barn---and he should have had to pull permits to build this house.

Maidhof and Dean tried to pull a fast one and got caught. The county went after The Freezer restaurant for code violations---why is Dean different?

A barn doesn't have plumbing, bathrooms, a kitchen, and two bedrooms. That's a house.

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Barn? or Luxurious River Resort?

Submitted by Concerned Citizen on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 9:10am.

I happen to pass by this pad rather often on my trips down the river....when I launch at the 44 boat ramp the place is just down stream a ways on the left:)

If he were to open those bay doors on the barn you just might see a really nice red and silver motor coach in one bay and a really nice boat in the other. Both requiring the need of the high bay doors for access.

Of course, I don't want to get into a head butting match with a state senator so I can't commit to that being what I have seen there, If Dean says there is farm implements in those stalls then by George that must be what's in there.

I can't say I've seen any pipes dumping raw sewage right into the river so there must have been a septic system installed on this low laying river front property to accommodate the amenities Dean felt the need to install in his barn, right in the watershed that Swiftmud so diligently manages in to preserve the quality of what eventually becomes our drinking water.

Anyone thinking he is trying to hide a Luxurious River Front Resort by pretending it's a barn just to evade Citrus Counties sky high Environmental Impact Fees or to build a resort on low laying waterfront property where one may not even be able to be permitted to build a residence, is just being anti-republican....

Leave Dean alone, he's one of Citrus County's "good'ol boys" just tryin to tend to his cows....