HERNANDO -- Sal Fariello started as the lone voice of the MiniFarms News, a newsletter calling for the dissolution of the homeowners association in his rural community of Crystal Hills Mini Farms. 

That was one year, two homeowners association presidents and three lawsuits ago. 

Last week Fariello was the loudest voice in a room of nearly 50 residents saying the association should step aside and county government should step in to repair the development's 71/2 miles of nearly impassable dirt roads. 

"We've got a war on our hands with our own government, and they're looking to stick it to us," Fariello told the crowd of neighbors gathered Wednesday evening at the Italian Social Club building on County Road 486. 

"Why is it we are the stepchildren, the bastard children of Citrus County and we have to fend for ourselves?" he asked. 

The dirt roads are a major problem in the mini farms, a rural pocket of 192 lots across County Road 486 from Citrus Hills. The post office has threatened to stop mail delivery to homes there, and residents fear an ambulance could get stuck in the sand. 

"I drive a Ford Escort, and if I don't drive 40 mph, I'm stuck," said Fariello's wife, Vera. 

The homeowners association used to collect money to maintain the roads, but Fariello sued the group last year, saying it was created without residents' approval and is therefore powerless. 

In the fracas about the group's legitimacy, Fariello also sued several of his neighbors for libel and defamation. 

Fariello's solution to the community's road woes: a lawsuit against Citrus County, arguing it must maintain the dirt roads because they are open to -- and used by -- the general public. 

He points to several court cases, including an 1886 decision in Minnesota and a 1903 ruling in Indiana, that hold local governments responsible for publicly used roads. 

The county begs to differ. 

"The county's ordinance calls for no roads to be accepted unless they are built to county standards and maintained for three years by the developer," County Administrator Richard Wesch told the Times. 

"The upshot of that is so the rest of us citizens of Citrus County that pay taxes based on a county-maintained road do not have to foot the cost to maintain roads that do not meet county standards." 

The controversy among Fariello, the county and the homeowners association has polarized this otherwise laid-back neighborhood. 

Craig Gavin, the previous association president who has been sued twice by Fariello for libel and defamation, was thrown out of the community meeting Wednesday night after a shouting match erupted. 

"Mr. Fariello is costing people a whole lot of money for nothing more than his own ego," Gavin said before an off-duty sheriff's deputy led him out the door. 

Tom Turitto, leader of the Crystal Hills Mini Farms Landowners Coalition, vowed to stop paying dues to the homeowners association, which he says has no legal authority. He dared the association to place liens on his home so he could "run every one of them into the ground." 

"You see all the people here?" Turitto asked. "The (homeowners association) board doesn't have a leg to stand on." 

P.J. Moore, president of the homeowners association, said residents can recall the board members and install new ones if they are unhappy with the group. 

"I don't know what brought this on, but it's causing an awful lot of problems in the neighborhood," Moore told the Times Friday. "The board was elected by the property owners to collect dues and maintain the roads. In the past year, most of the money coming in has been used to defend the board in the lawsuits." 

The county could pave the roads if homeowners are willing to pay an assessment, Moore said. The county has a limerock road paving program, and commissioners may approve an open-graded asphalt paving program Sept. 10, but only for private roads where homeowners agree to pay for the work. 

"They think if they get rid of the existing board and break up the (homeowners) association, the county's going to walk in here and take over the roads and maintain them for free," Moore said. "I think that's a folly. If we want the county to take over these roads, we're going to have to pay, which I think is only fair." 

Neighbor Stan Shyer offered a compromise Wednesday evening, at least for the short term. If Shyer can persuade the homeowners association to collect dues voluntarily, instead of using liens to force homeowners to pay, Fariello will drop his lawsuits against the group. 

Then residents can present a united front to the county. 

"All of our board directors are not cut out to be the devil," Shyer said. "They're damn nice people." 

"I'm trying to solve the situation so we can get rid of the lawyers, get the county in here and get back to being a civil community, which we used to be," he said.