NSBNEWS.net video and photos by Sera Frederick 

City Manager Pam Brangaccio spoke frankly with NSBNEWS.net immediately after the July 7 hearing with the Florida Department of Community Affairs in Tallahassee, but unable to answer why the city's planning department under the direction of department head Mark Rakowski (above) and (at left) chief planner Chad Lingenfelter, who worked under him and then continued alone after Rakowski's job was eliminated in December, dropped the ball on final paperwork on  land-use zoning amendments, dating back five years (see attachment for example of the transmittal forms). This fiasco, dating back to when Rakowski was promoted, has grounded 72 community projects a Wal-Mart-anchored shopping center and a 112-room hotel Flagler Avenue.  Lingenfelter has continued in his role  to this day despite calls from the mayor to have him fired .

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Mayor Adam Barringer makes no bones about it: He wants the two city planners identified by the city manager as being culpable for the city's five-year backlog of projects held accountable.

"This borders on criminal," the mayor, who has been in office less than eight months, said Wednesday as he deals with perhaps the biggest crisis in this city's history.

"Perhaps there should be some kind of independent investigation," Barringer added.

One prominent city resident demanded an outside probe after watching NSBNEWS.net's eight video segments covering an emergency meeting in Tallahassee a week ago today between city leaders and officials with the Florida Department of Community Affairs. In that emergency hearing, the city asked, but wasn't guaranteed its belated request  for expedited approvals of 29 land-use amendments for 72 projects to proceed.

After reviewing the tapes from the meeting with the DCA,and gathering other information, it is clear that this whole Developmental Services debacle, which took place over a period of five years, demands that an outside and impartial investigation takes place in order to establish what has truly transpired," resident Robert Tolley wrote to the city in an e-mail Friday.

Tolley, a fixture at City Commission meetings for 10 years, added in his e-mail, "As such, I am demanding that the Mayor request that either the Governors office, or the office of the States Attorney be requested to appoint a special investigator/prosecutor in order to begin and in-depth investigation into these matters, followed possibly by the seating a grand jury."

Tolley concluded, "As a financially responsible party to these events, if you, my elected officials, are unable or unwilling to request this 'outside and independent' investigation, then myself and others will request it."

The mayor told NSBNEWS.net that is something he was already considering, but more immediately at the close of business Wednesday, he was questioning why chief planner Chad Lingenfelter remained employed two full weeks after city administrators learned that nearly three dozen land-use amendments had not been sent to the state over the course of half a decade.

Passage of those amendments are mandated by Florida statute, before the city can issue building permits to a whopping 72 large- and small-scale projects, including a Wal-Mart Supercenter just west of I-95 on S.R. 44 and the 112-room Hampton Inn & Suites on Flagler Avenue.

City Manager Pam Brangaccio, who has yet to take any official disciplinary action, has identified Lingenfelter and former Developmental Services Director Mark Rakowski, as the two city staff members responsible for getting the job done.

All of the projects had been scrutinized on the local and state levels and all the planners had to do was transmit a two-page cover sheet, along with the related documents regarding the projects, for each of the amendments for the DCA to give is final blessing. Lingenfelter, hired four years ago as chief planner, has refused repeated attempts by NSBNEWS.net to comment and shed light on the situation.

Rakowski fired in November through a reduction in staff, sent out an e-mail to local media outlets the day after NSBNEWS.net broke the story, taking responsibility for the planning mess without explaining why it happened in the first place.

Going back five years, the problem originated after Rakowski was promoted to head of the planning department.

The immediate fallout is frightening: The city is caught in the cross hairs of losing tens of millions of dollars in taxes, private-sector jobs and a hoped for economic boost, in particular with Wal-Mart and the hotel.

Defending herself,  Brangaccio, in her 11th month on the job, said it was more important to "clean up the mess" before getting down to brass tacks as to culpability within city hall. But she has promised to fully investigate the situation without being more specific.

The mayor, who won election in November on a platform of economic growth and even unveiled a comprehensive plan for it within 100 days of his victory, was embarrassed that just hours before the June 29 inaugural meeting of his Economic Development Board after NSBNEWS.net learned of the planning debacle, prompting the mayor to say tersely that afternoon, "It's as bad as it can get."

After extensive fact checking and getting sources on the record, including the mayor, NSBNEWS.net posted its story exclusively before 3:30 the following morning.

The situation has rocked City Hall, with accusations being thrown back and forth among officials and residents alike as to who is ultimately responsible. And with that backdrop, opponents of high-profile projects like Coccia are now waiting to see if the DCA will bail out the city with expedited approvals as requested.

At left, former DCA Secretary Linda Shelley, City Attorney Frank Gummey and Planning Manager Gail Hendrickson were among the New Smyrna Beach contingent with Mayor Adam Barringer and City Manager Pam Brangaccio in Tallahassee.

The city even retained the services of former DCA Secretary Linda Shelley to help convey the urgency to her former staffers as she sat at the table with the New Smyrna Beach contingent.

NSBNEWS.net is waiting for costs associated with hiring the foremost planner in Florida in private practice.

Like cities all across Florida, the DCA is dealing with a backlog of projects being pushed for approval before the November elections and Amendment 4, giving residents a much bigger big say as to whether mega projects can be built in their communities.

Though remote, DCA Secretary Thomas Pelham could still say no to shortening the approval process, even with his predecessor Shelley trying to smooth the rough seas.

For Cherie Coccia, the most outspoken of a dozen neighboring residential property owners, who has fought tooth and nail against the hotel, with myriad land-use exceptions for parking, the removal of longstanding trees and other negative impacts, New Smyrna Beach's governance "got what it deserved" for not staying on top of their land-use "experts."

Coccia, who has already retained an attorney and challenged the validity of a parcel of land associated with the hotel that broke this thing wide open, she's ready to challenge any breaks the DCA gives the city.

She, too, was at the meeting, as was an attorney for the developer of the Wal-Mart project. "If they had followed their own procedures to begin with with proper oversight, this wouldn't have happened in the first place."

Cherie Coccia listens in on the intense planning discussions in the DCA's conference room.

It was her inquiries as far back as November as to the lack of public notices and sign-in sheets required at the planning board level, that led to the famous "do overs" that Brangaccio labeled for having to repeat the process.

Back then Coccia insisted that the city leaders could have dug deeper into the planning department's deficiencies. The only fallout of that situation was a reprimand by Rakowski to a planning clerk, even though he later acknowledged he had dropped the ball. Weeks later, he was out of a job after a reorganization of department heads.

At that point, Lingenfelter was an entity unto himself. Just last month, the hotel's developer, David Swentor of South Carolina had finished his 59th appearance before New Smyrna Beach officials, breathing a sigh of relief that with everything in place, he could concentrate on securing his financial backing.

Contacted by NSBNEWS.net just hours before first story was posted online, Swentor was livid, calling the situation "insane."

Fast forward to now, even under the best-case scenario, DCA approvals, if granted, could take at least two to five months, " and as the mayor told senior DCA officials "shovels aren't being put in the ground."

That means several months of delay for groundbreaking on the Wal-Mart project, whose developers have already invested $12 million and were to break ground next month. 

The hotel could held up six months or more, and the United Church of Christ, that was to take break ground on a new place of worship two Sundays ago before an 11th-hour abort by city  after learning of the planning mess could be delayed a year.

And that's not even taking into account the dozens of other projects stalled simply because a planning department head and the chief planner decided on their own not to send back to the state DCA land-use amendments that had already been thoroughly reviewed locally and at the state level, city administrators admitted candidly in their emergency meeting in Tallahassee.

Two days after NSBNEWS.net broke the story without specifically naming these two, Rakowski sent out an e-mail to the local media, apologizing and taking responsibility without offering an explanation as to why. He declined to elaborate any further when contacted by NSBNEWS.net for further explanation.

Asked if he was "falling on a sword to protect Lingenfelter or others," by issuing a public mea culpa on his own terms, Rakowski refused to comment further except to say it was chief planner's task to do what wasn't done.

Brangaccio, herself with the city only 11 months, was not able to justify or explain the actions of the planners, in the last two weeks, either to the mayor, the city commissioners, the DCA or the public, for that matter. City Managers Khalid Resheidat, an interim for four months, John Hagood for three years and Frank Roberts before him were in place. Before Barringer, Sally Mackay was mayor for two years and before that Jim Vandergrifft was the lead elected official. Like Hathaway, City Attorney Frank Gummey has been in place during the length of the planning fiasco as well.

"There's simply no excuses," said Brangaccio on camera with NSBNEWS.net in the DCA conference room immediately after the Tallahassee hearing, regarding the independent actions of the planners from what the city had entrusted them to do.

Already heavily scrutinized in the public for her $120,000 base salary, Brangaccio still has to convince the City Commission and angry taxpayers that her new budget proposal with its 6 percent tax increase, should win adoption later this summer.

Brangaccio said the budget is easy compared to salvaging dozens of projects, including a church that was prevented from breaking ground earlier this month, and for now, an indefinite delay on Wal-Mart that was to break ground in August.

All that was needed before this planning house of cards collapsed was for the planners to send up final documents -- a series of two-page checklists with accompanying documents in three packets -- one by e-mail and two by postal mail -- to the DCA for the green light of being "in compliance."

That was the last precursor to issuance of building permits, if no last minute challenges of the DCA were mounted by development opponents.

The sole project with that possible scenario was and remains the beachside hotel.

What NSBNEWS.net discovered two days after breaking the story wide open through a series of public records requests that not only were these forms not filled out, but none of the necessary background paperwork were even assembled for 29 land-use amendments as well a proposed seven-year comp plan update that impacts some newer projects -- 72 in all -- where tens of millions of dollars have already been invested by developers for land acquisitions.

And the city has spent as yet non-calculated thousands of dollars in legal notices and dozens of public hearings over the five-year period with top administrators -- city manager and city attorney.

There's also the salaries for the planners, six figures for Rakowski, and nearly that for Lingenfelter, both at planning and zoning board and city commission hearings, testifying as "expert witnesses" as to the viability of proposed projects and how they fit into the  land-use and zoning jargon that ultimately, the elected commission has the responsibility to vote on, before projects are sent to the state.

At right, DCA officials as shown here were perplexed as to why the planning fiasco happened. The state agency is not responsible for lapses or ineptness caused by municipal staff or elected officials.

are perplexed  The DCA is charged with ensuring municipalities comply with a host of environmental and land-use issues, including water and transportation aspects to ensure state statutes are adhered, before signing off on projects that could adversely impact a community.

City elders swear only Rakowski and Lingenfelter were aware of the situation -- as some critics of city hall are now characterizing as a secret government within a government, in a state where open government is paramount -- both in policy and decision-making.

The mayor is not the only one clenching his teeth.

Jim Hathaway, the senior member of the City Commission the last 16 years said he's "embarrassed and stunned."

A seething Hathaway didn't mince words: "All those hearings where they stood before us and swore (through an oath) that everything was in order -- they just bold-faced lied to us! Somebody needs to get fired!"

NSBNEWS.net has filed daily requests with City Attorney Johnny Bledsoe whether any reprimands have been placed in Lingenfelter's personnel file and as of 4:45 p.m. Wednesday, the file was empty of any discipline-related communication to the employee.

NSBNEWS.net has made numerous attempts to get Lingenfelter to speak on the circumstances and his role in it, but he's refused to return telephone messages and requests for comment through co-workers and the city manager.

Brangaccio has reiterated repeatedly to NSBNEWS.net that her administration is working diligently to investigate the situation as well as come up with an immediate checks and balances system so "this will never happen again."

As of the close od day Wednesday, the only publicly-acknowledged system was a checklist developed by veteran planner Gail Hendrickson, named planning manager in March, who at this point is the last to sign off on things being done, no different than the authority Rakowski had, though he had no such checklist.

The city manager said Hendrickson had no role in the planning screw ups, and like everyone outside of Rakowski and Lingenfelter, was not aware of the mess until two weeks ago.

Brangaccio told NSBNEWS.net immediately after the DCA hearing in Tallahassee that she has no doubt there was gross negligence on the part of the two planners, but added she would not be boxed into revealing in the media at this point, what disciplinary action she would take, including termination as has been asked by at least two of the city's five elected officials.

Through it all, the mayor said he finds it "incredulous" that Lingenfelter remains employed with elected leaders over the last two decades trying to erase the city's image as unfriendly to developers for the sake of "saving the charm."

The city manager has the final say on discipline, though ultimately, she answers to the City Commission.

At left, Mayor Adam Barringer makes his pitch to state officials to get the backlog of projects back on track.

Barringer was frank in saying that if Lingenfelter is not gone soon, the whispers of cover ups will grow louder. "How can I as mayor in good conscience have someone swear before the commission and the public that he is an expert after all of this?"

"How can I as mayor in good conscience have someone swear before the commission and the public that he is an expert after all of this?"

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