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Longtime former Dunedin city attorney John Hubbard dies

 
NP 149773 - - DELIVER TO: 11/8/2002 - - CAPTION INFO  Dunedin city attorney John Hubbard  - - photo by- Handout  Story By: tucker SCANNED BY:  - - RUN DATE:
NP 149773 - - DELIVER TO: 11/8/2002 - - CAPTION INFO Dunedin city attorney John Hubbard - - photo by- Handout Story By: tucker SCANNED BY: - - RUN DATE:
Published May 21, 2015

DUNEDIN — John Hubbard called himself a tree-hugger, but his devotion ran far deeper than that. As Dunedin's city attorney for nearly four decades, he helmed an evolution that saw the city become a haven of green in a heavily developed county.

Mr. Hubbard, 74, died peacefully Saturday night with his family by his side at his tree-lined home bordering Dunedin's Hammock Park. He had retired in 2011 after 37 years as the city's attorney.

"You would be very hard-pressed to find any single individual who has had more impact in making Dunedin what it is today than John," said former Dunedin assistant city manager Maureen Frea­ney.

She called Mr. Hubbard an amazing mentor, a treasured friend, a respected ethicist and a rare individual whose vision for the city became "so much of what people love about Dunedin."

Born in Iowa, Mr. Hubbard grew up in a small town in New Jersey and could often be found in the woods. He spent summers with his grandparents in Dunedin, where he caught his first fish and experienced the magic of Old Florida.

In the late 1960s, after graduating from the University of Florida law school, he enlisted in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. In 1973, he returned to law and took on the city of Oldsmar as his first municipal client. He began representing Dunedin the next year.

A typical city attorney offers legal opinions and helps write ordinances. Often, the advisory role has little influence. Under Mr. Hubbard's command, however, the job became a source of public power. City leaders dubbed him the "sixth commissioner" on a board of five.

"John, in my mind, was a giant in Dunedin history," said City Manager Robert DiSpirito. "We really will not see the likes of him again. … John was a larger-than-life intellect and personality both."

Mayor Julie Ward Bujalski called him "a staunch advocate for the city," especially its parkland. "He created a lot of the rules and regulations that made Dunedin what it is today," she said.

During Mr. Hubbard's tenure, the city banned billboards, created landscaping rules and fined developers who cut down trees without replacing them with new ones.

In a landmark case, he prevailed at the U.S. Supreme Court in defending impact fees that require builders to pay utility costs that otherwise would burden taxpayers. His victory against unbridled growth won him an "anti-development" label from builders who said he was stuck in the past.

"I considered the criticism an absolute compliment," Mr. Hubbard told the Tampa Bay Times upon his retirement. "I quit worrying about my popularity a long time ago."

Instead, he focused on his vision. When it came to what he believed was right, he said, he refused to bend.

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"Some people believe you should put a condo on everything," he once said. "I believe in trees."

Mr. Hubbard also coached politicians on the ethics of public records. Through his private practice, he steered millions of dollars to public use. And after retiring, he represented children in the courts through the guardian ad litem program.

Those who knew Mr. Hubbard remember his healthy sense of humor and unvarnished advice.

"John will really continue to be an inspiration," DiSpirito said.

"His influence — and these aren't just words, I really believe them — will continue, for many, many years to come."

Beyond work, he enjoyed murder mysteries and woodworking, fishing and nature. His daughter Wendy Noun said the only thing Hubbard loved as much as his city was his family.

"He let us be who we are, my three sisters and I," she said. "He always wanted to know what he could do for us and not what we could do for him."

Freaney said Mr. Hubbard's mission was "standing up for what was good and right for all citizens, no matter the path."

He could not have made the choices he did, she said, without courage, vision and passion.

"He just saw that vision for what it could be," she said.

Claire McNeill can be reached at cmcneill@tampabay.com.