Columbia County I-75 & SR 47 Interchange
Development, More Than Just About Publix: A
Complex Web of Politics & FDOT Involvement
September 2, 2025 11:59 pm | 12 min read | updated
Sept 3
Comment for this article posted in the 3-min
version.
County 5 Chairman Tim Murphy presiding over a County
Commission meeting. (Columbia County Observer photo and
graphic)
Read the 3 minute version here.
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – For over a decade, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has claimed to be an economic development driver. What is going on at the I-75, State Road (SR) 47 interchange makes FDOT's claim questionable. A complex web of politics is driving a proposed home for a new Publix supermarket.
Background
Click the original site plan to enlarge it. Notice it
says grocery leased.
During at least the past eight years, there have been two shopping plazas in various stages of thought or development at the I-75 & SR 47 Interchange in Columbia County. One is just south of Harmony Lane, on the north side of I-75, and the other is further south on SR 47, on the south side of I-75.
At times, Scott Stewart, the developer of the south of I-75 proposed plaza, also co-owned the property on the north side which was in development.
The north side property had a planned shopping plaza, which included a Publix supermarket as its anchor.
The north side plaza was embroiled in a local controversy when, in 2022, it was discovered that the developers, Charlie Sparks and Scott Stewart of the Westfield Investment Group, the same Scott Stewart who was also developing the south side of I-75 plaza, had planned an entrance on Harmony Lane. Harmony Lane is the entrance to the PineKnoll subdivision.
Art Butler in the 50ft strip he owns. The strip goes all
the way to the tree line.
On August 19, 2022, County Commissioner Tim Murphy received a petition from the all theresidents of PineKnoll opposing the entrance to the plaza in their subdivision.
Commissioner Murphy never distributed the petition to the other members of the County Commission, nor did he forward it to the County Manager to distribute.
Mr. Murphy’s motives are unclear. However, it is unusual for a county commissioner to ignore a petition from his constituents.
The developers, Westfield Investment Group LLP, whose principals are Charlie Sparks and Scott Stewart (the same Scott Stewart who is developing the south of I-75 plaza), weren't going to change anything about the Harmony Lane entrance until it was discovered that PineKnoll resident Art Butler had previously purchased a fifty-foot piece of property that ran the length of the proposed development. The proposed Publix entrance cut across Mr. Butler’s property, something a title search did not find.
Mr. Butler balked at having the entrance to the Publix shopping plaza on the entrance road to the subdivision and would not give the developers, Sparks and Stewart, permission to go across his property.
Lake City installed City utilities on Mr. Butlers
property. The City never asked for permission.
On January 20, 2022, Westfield Investment Group filed a lawsuit against Mr. Butler, his family, and others, which, in simple English, claimed the Butler purchase didn't count.
On June 24, 2024, RMC Property Group (RMC) purchased the Westfield property for $1.98M.
On July 22, 2024, the Westfield case against the Butlers, et al, was voluntarily dismissed with prejudice. Mr. Butler owned the property. The entrance on Harmony Lane was not going to become a reality.
RMC and Publix have a long-standing relationship and have partnered on specific developments in the past. It is unclear if Publix is aware of the goings on with the Westfield lawsuit, the high-handedness of RMC, and the involvement of Scott Stewart and the Publix fiasco that is ongoing in the land of the infamous good ole’ boy Columbia County 5.
August 21, 2025: Murphy Sets the Stage for Bad Government and Good Ole’ Boy Cronyism
On the afternoon of August 21, County 5 Chairman Tim Murphy delivered a dose of good ole' boy cronyism and the bad government for which the Columbia County 5 are infamous.
Real-time transparency is not something for which Columbia County is noted. The afternoon's intentionally de minimis budget workshop agenda had none of the reports given by the County’s legendary financial advisor Richard Powell or any mention of a presentation by developer Scott Stewart.
While discussing County projects, Assistant County Manager, Co-County Manager, Director of Public Works, and political operative Kevin Kirby announced that another project “got brought up to me post publishing of this agenda.”
Mr. Kirby continued, “We are maybe fortunate enough to get a Publix out on State Road 47 on the south side of I-75 right there. Mr. Scott Stewart is here to explain what his thought process is.”
Chairman Murphy did not ask why Mr. Kirby did not ask to have Developer Stewart added to the agenda, nor did he ask why there was no backup material posted to the County website. All he asked of Mr. Stewart was to give his name to the Clerk.
Mr. Stewart then commanded the room for the next forty-one minutes. He began by telling the County 5, “I need one more help from you folks, and I can pull the trigger and get this all started… A lot of money from all of you has been invested down there. We've invested, so I want to continue that process by need. I need a lift station to put those pipes into use and to get people to come.”
Mr. Stewart's property is across the road (SR47). The
lift station for which he is asking for County money has
been labeled "regional." It is not a very big region.
A lift station pumps poop. It is part of a sewer system. Mr. Stewart cannot build out his shopping plaza without it. He could have asked for money from a bank; instead he asked the County 5 to use taxpayer funds for support.
Mr. Stewart claimed that he will create “about 100 jobs.”
Matt Carlton was invited to the microphone by Mr. Stewart. He said he was going to build a Zaxby's on the site. He offered nothing in writing. He said once he begins development, he will be open in 100 days and create 30 jobs. He provided nothing explaining the employee pay and benefits. He told The 5, "It's exciting to be the first business to commit. I'm ready to sign the lease, but we gotta have this lift station.”
Debbie Benefield was invited to the microphone by Mr. Stewart. “Got a minute to chat a little bit?" he asked. She did. She said she works with Scott. Other than that, she didn't say where she was from.
The County 5 was looking at a handout from her. The public was looking at nothing. It was not projected on the screen. She said that based on Publix being located in the plaza, the assessed value of the property would be “about well in excess of $25M.” Ms. Benefield said the lift station would cost about $588k and be a good investment for the County.
Ms. Benefield had nothing in writing from anybody. However, she said she would be meeting with Publix in Orlando at the upcoming ICSC (developers') conference in a week.
Ms. Benefield told The 5, “I'm helping them to maneuver through the project itself. We don't have a final commitment, but it is something that I'm working on.”
Commissioner Ford is the chairman of the County Economic Development Advisory Board (EDAB), a group that talks a lot and sometimes makes recommendations to the County 5. He asked Ms. Benefield if she had been before the board. She hadn't.
Scott Stewart was looking for a three-year tax abatement. The EDAB votes on things like that. It has a scorecard that the board members fill out.
Mr. Ford said, “I just know we have the score sheet. I would like to see the score sheet on this.”
Ms. Benefield said, “Sure. We're trying to get this done, you know, quickly… Scott's ready to pull the trigger…"
Mr. Stewart said he went the grant route through Tallahassee. “You run up the pipeline that stalls out,” he said.
Commissioner Kevin Parnell said, "Publix isn't a done deal yet. Is there a backup plan for another big box grocery store or something?
Developer Stewart said, “That site has been laid out for – It's a six-acre site for Publix. But if they don't go there, something will.” “There's a backup in our mind.”
After more discussion, Chairman Murphy said, “I do know they did resubmit a jobs grant on this, which is sitting in Tallahassee today. There was a RIF (Rural Infrastructure) grant they started off with, but what Mr. Stewart just spoke of -- it falls upon dead ears. It's just that simple. When we got a developer that can't get response, we got a problem."
The County 5 used to require its authorization for staff members to apply for grants. In an effort to be less transparent, it stopped that.
Commissioner Murphy gave his view on Scott Stewart's rush to get a County commitment for taxpayer funding:
"Because of Scott's timeline, that has developed basically overnight in the last, I'm just going to step out there say, last month things have really changed. I know, I stay in contact with Tallahassee. And because I was asked to, and, but at the end of the day, everything was resubmitted, was submitted, resubmitted, resubmitted, and it's sitting there now. But nobody on this board, nobody in this County, can call the governor and say, hey, you need to look at this…I think that's pretty well the way it works."
In the past, Mr. Murphy used to brag about his connections in Tallahassee.
Mr. Murphy explained that he and Kevin Kirby met with FDOT "a couple of weeks ago." Mr. Murphy was not authorized by The County 5 to represent the County, i.e., the meeting was not approved. There is nothing in any rule or the County Charter that allows Mr. Murphy to represent the County willie-nilly. County Manager David Kraus was not advised of this meeting.
About the FDOT meeting, Mr. Murphy explained that the next developer looking to develop the SR 47 I-75 interchange will be on the hook for somewhere between $12M and $15M in road, ramp, and traffic signal upgrades.
Mr. Kirby said of Mr. Murphy’s remarks, “Yes sir, you’re hitting the nail on the head.”
Mr. Stewart followed up, “We don’t have that problem at all.”
Mr. Murphy said a Tractor Supply is also headed to the interchange, but that is not going to make a difference or trigger any additional developer costs.
Scott Stewart talked and talked some more.
Commissioner Ford broke in and asked, “So this whole project hinges on less than $600,000?”
Developer Stewart answered, “The delay of it does, so yeah, I will probably get it done one day. When is that one day? I don't know.”
County Attorney Joel Foreman weighed in with lengthy attorney oratory. Mr. Foreman said about Publix, “He's got Publix potentially on the hook, you know, just waiting, waiting to set the hook.”
County Attorney Foreman did not say if he saw anything in writing.
After 40 minutes, Mr. Murphy said in essence that donating taxpayer funds for Mr. Stewart's private development would be good for the County when it lobbies for more federal and state money to improve the interchange.
Developer Stewart agreed. Then, the meeting moved on.
Econ Dev Advisory Board Meets
The day after the budget workshop, a special meeting was scheduled for the following Friday, August 29.
Following the new County 5 “let’s keep ‘em in the dark” policy, the purpose of the meeting was nowhere to be found until seventeen minutes before the meeting, when the agenda was posted to the County website. Chairman Murphy is responsible for approving agendas.
The meeting convened at 9 am without any regular members from the public present -- they work.
Econ. Dev. Dir. Jennifer Daniels explains the County
score sheet. It didn't make a difference, the board
never filled it out.
County Economic Development Director Jennifer Daniels introduced the meeting: "As most of you know, Mr. Stewart addressed the Board of County Commissioners last week on a request for a project he's working on out on 47. Economic development has been working with him closely on it for quite some time. We've submitted a couple of grants in order to fund some infrastructure that's going in out there. Those grants to date have not yet been awarded, and it's becoming a little time sensitive, as he's working with several companies that are looking to make commitments to move in there.”
He's asked to address this board to give you guys some information on the project, what he's looking to bring in, and make a request for an incentive.”
Mr. Stewart then replayed the substance of his presentation of August 21, with a couple of new twists.
Developer Scott Stewart addressed the Economic
Development Advisory Board. Interestingly, Mr. Stewart's
layout (see just aboove the microphone) shows a WAWA,
which is going somewhere else.
He said, “I wish I could say that it's been my goal all along to put a Publix down on that site (his site), but it really hasn't been. We worked with another developer on the north side of the road to get Publix on the north side of that up in that area.”
Mr. Stewart did not mention the name of the developer, although RMC was involved in 2022.
Mr. Stewart was also working with his then partner, Daniel Crapps, in another LLC.
Mr. Stewart continued, “We worked with them for quite a while, and we helped them with the site plans and all that kind of stuff. And then we ran into some hurdles up there with some land ownership things. Then they bought the land and proceeded. And we went down on our side, and they're going to put a Publix on their side.”
As mentioned earlier in the article, on June 24, 2024, RMC Property Group (RMC) purchased the Westfield property for $1.98M.
Mr. Stewart continued, “Then they ran into some strong resistance from DOT on requirements for the interstate and all that. So that whole project just kind of went, Arrh, it stalled up there.”
With the “North” development tied up in litigation, Mr. Stewart said he redid his plan “about a year and a half ago, starting from scratch.”
No one on the County 5's advisory board asked any questions about who owned what and who worked with whom. Commissioner Rocky Ford chairs the advisory board.
Mr. Stewart went on and on. He explained that Zaxby's is interested in locating in his development, but again appeared before the County without any written documents to verify his remarks.
Mr. Stewart explained that Little Caesars will be bulldozed and rebuilt. He said that McDonald's is interested in development, again without any documentation. He claimed that Waffle House and Huddle House are interested – no documentation.
He said, “I designed this whole project with quality stock here, and that's been a couple year journey. It wasn't there in the beginning, because they were going to go on the north side. Then that thing kind of stalled, and it fell through. They won't go there. It can't go there, because if they want to, if anybody wants to go to the north side, anybody with more than one business, the DOT says you have to put in new licensed turn lanes, and that's between $5M and $8M, so that thing would just stop the show.”
Debbie Benefield takes the stage
Debbie Benefield came with a wish list, but no
verifibale committments.
“Hi, I'm Debbie Benefield. I'm an agent with Brockford Realty, and I've been involved with this project since its inception.”
Ms. Benefield explained that she had several meetings with Publix, and emails went back and forth – none were produced.
Ms. Benefield said she met “face-to-face” with Publix on Tuesday, and it went well.
Ms. Benefield added, “The conversation ended up being not, do you want to be here, but, but honestly, does Publix want to take on the project themselves, or do they want a developer to build it for them and lease it back to them?”
Ms. Benefield again mentioned that McDonald's was interested and added Taco Bell to the list.
Ms. Benefield mentioned that Ellianos (the franchise coffee drive-through) was committed. She left out that Mr. Stewart owned the franchise.
After twenty-five minutes, the Scott Stewart presentation was finished.
There were opinions – it’s great – it’s wonderful – it’s local – it’s no problem.
Recently, Commissioner Rocky Ford discovered the word "regional." He pronounced the poop lift station "regional." It was designed to service the Scott Stewart development – not exactly regional.
Forty minutes into the meeting: Why are we here?
Columbia County never disappoints.
Forty minutes into the meeting, Jeff Simmons, EDAB member, former FPL executive, and former Chamber of Commerce bigwig, asked, “Can I just get a clarification about what this board is being asked?”
County Economic Development Director Jennifer Daniels explained that the County has partnered with Lake City when it comes to utilities. “We have offered to match the $370k with the City to go towards the lift station.
Ms. Daniels then went over the County's incentive score card, reminding the board, "He's just asking that this board consider a three-year incentive in order to make this project happen."
Commissioner Ford said, “I’m in support of this project.”
Commissioner Ford, chairman of the North Florida Water Utility Authority, which was formed to handle Columbia County's utilities, was silent about the conflict of giving away County-funded utilities to Lake City.
There were a few more comments. Nobody filled out the incentive scorecard, which was the purpose of the meeting.
Then, Jeff Simmons motioned, "I move we give him [Stewart] three years [tax rebate]. There was a second, and without any more discussion, the motion passed unanimously.
Scott Stewart, the local developer, got his tax rebate recommendation.
Added to the County’s utility funding, Mr. Stewart received around a million dollars of public funds for his private development.
Epilogue
Unless RMC Properties does something, and FDOT does what it had done in other communities, fund interchange improvements, Scott Stewart – the County's home boy – is lined up to make quite a score.