BROOKSVILLE — John Henry sat in the second row of the County Commission chambers on May 10, next to his wife, Pamela, and looked like he wanted to be back at his workspace, creating the art he loves.
He’s a world-renowned sculptor who moved to the area two years ago. His abstract works in metal adorn the campuses of universities and he’s said to be an inspiration to artists and students alike.
But the 79-year-old who’d rather create than argue has been caught in a dispute with some neighbors who say their rural lifestyle is being severely disrupted because the work needed to create those works of art also creates a lot of noise and dust. Workers ride atop lifts that one neighbor said enable them to look into neighboring properties and disrupt their privacy.
John Henry speaks to the County Commission on May 10. Neighbors of the famed sculptor said his work was disrupting their lives.
Henry thought he was moving to a place where he could do what he wanted on his land, but instead found code enforcement unleashed on him and has had to endure sessions in the County Commission chambers, where members of the Planning and Zoning Board and — on May 10, the commission — struggled to find a solution that would satisfy both sides.
Planning & Zoning Director Ron Pianta said, “The reason we’re here is the Planning and Zoning Commission denied the application (for a special exception use permit) and when it was on the board agenda for correspondence of note, the board pulled the agenda item and came to a consensus by motion to review this petition, and to review the previous decision, modify it or reverse it.”
Commissioner John Allocco asked why they need the special exemption, and Pianta said they require a permit by the county.
The location is Spring Lake Highway just north of the Pasco County Line, said Omar DiPablo of Planning and Zoning.
Attorney Joseph Mason was representing adjacent property owners John and Margaret Bast, who have been complaining about the activities on Henry’s properties.
John Bast insisted it’s not personal, but it’s “some area that looks like a junkyard,” he said. “I think his projects are inappropriate for our neighborhood.”
Margaret Bast said that Henry moved in around June 2020, and “that’s when everything started.”
There was noise from a generator, welding, pounding on metal and cranes on the property, as well as sandblasting and overspray into houses.
She said employees would yell over the sound of cranes running, with “foul mouths,” to communicate.
The Basts have lived there since 1998, she said, and they keep their property neat, but the “eyesore” next door has cut the value of their property.
“This is an industrial operation,” said Jerry Maddox, who knows and has visited the Basts. “I think we have a bad, bad usage of land here.”
While other speakers backed up the Basts in their complaints about noise and contended that Henry isn’t running an art studio but almost a commercial-industrial operation, others said the noise wasn’t continuous, wasn’t that bad and that agricultural operations can generate even more noise at times than Henry’s work.
Speakers in favor of Henry were advised not to repeat over and over his skills and recognition as an artist but stick to the matter at hand.
Several admitted that there is noise and dust on occasion, but it’s not continuous.
Beth Putnam said people have to expect noise in an agricultural community.
“It’s not like it’s a junkyard,” she said. “It’s not like they’re going to let their property look like crap.”
Ken Rollins, an art museum director, said he knows the Henrys and said John Henry is an internationally recognized sculptor.
"Big Max" is an example of the kind of work that John Henry creates.
“Let John continue to make his work in this county,” he said.
Natalie Kahler of Brooksville Main Street was among those who said the area should be proud to have an artist like Henry living here.
“The county will benefit from letting John Henry do what he’s doing,” she said.
Nearby resident James Lassiter said he hasn’t seen all the “horror stories” Henry’s opponents talked about, and he is there during the day.
“I hope we will let this man keep his property,” Lassiter said.
The extent of the job ahead for the commission was obvious. Commissioner Jeff Holcomb asked, “How do we find a way?” because sworn testimony ranged from people saying they heard no noise to hearing noise all day.
For more than three hours the discussion went around and around, and Holcomb and Commissioner Beth Narverud suggested granting Henry a special exception until June 2023, a deadline by which time he’d have to be finished with such work on his land.
Allocco, who said he has seen Henry’s works in person, said it’s awesome that he’s in this community, but the photos the Basts put in evidence weren’t doctored.
“There’s no way that I can make this work,” he said. “That’s where my struggle is.”
When it finally was time to vote, a vote for the special exception failed 3-2.
County Attorney Jon Jouben said they could approve the exception but with a deadline.
Allocco said since Henry’s in the middle of a large project, they should give him time to finish, and that maybe if his neighbors knew of the end date they’d go along.
Henry was given a chance to speak, and said his studio was outside because of the size of the work he was doing. Materials do arrive by truck, he said, “but we don’t have trucks backing in there every day.”
There’s not enough space inside to store the materials, Henry said. “You have to store the stuff outside.”
Commission Chairman Steve Champion told Henry that he needed to compromise because he could end up with his request rejected, and then have no further recourse.
Henry questioned if his neighbors could see a crane, for example, and cannot be seen from the road. The photos might represent one day.
Henry said it might take a year for him to finish, but “I’d like to have 18 months,” he said.
“Sir, please understand that we’re caught between a rock and a hard place,” Champion said to Henry. “We’ve got you guys, who are for this; we’ve got your neighbors, who are against this; and we have to decide what’s best.”
The motion that finally passed 5-0 was that Henry’s work would end on May 31, 2023.
Outside the chambers, Mason, representing the Basts, said it was up to the public to decide if such a nonconforming use should be allowed and didn’t seem happy that Henry got a year to move things.
“It’s good enough for now,” Henry said outside the chambers. “I think we’ll have to revisit this thing at some point.”
If he had known that “this kind of thing might happen, I might not have come here,” he said.
Members of the Sheriff’s Office pose with county commissioners on May 10. The commission passed a resolution in support of law enforcement.
In other action
• The commission voted 5-0 on a resolution proclaiming the county to be supporting all law enforcement.
The commission also voted 5-0 on a resolution declaring May 15 to 21 to be “National Public Works Week,” and the month of May to be “Drug Court Month,” “Mental Health Month” and “Water Safety Month.”
• After a very long and passionate debate in which a deputy had to be called into the chambers to maintain order, the commission voted 4-1 to approve a master plan revision and rezoning for a development at the northwest corner of Grand Entrada Boulevard and Broad Street.
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