The Times buys 3 magazines on real estate
TIMES WIRESPublished February 14, 2007
The St. Petersburg Times has purchased three real estate magazines to expand its coverage of the Tampa Bay area residential market and to begin in-depth coverage of the commercial real estate market.
Florida's Nature Coast Real Estate/Hernando, Florida's Nature Coast Real Estate/Citrus region and West Coast Commercial Real Estate are distributed at more than 600 outlets locally, with additional copies mailed to investors, brokers and real estate agents.
The magazines were purchased from the family of John Gonzalez, who had operated the publishing business since 1992.
The three magazines are published 13 times a year with a combined print run of 40,000 copies. Offices are in Spring Hill.
When combined with two existing Times real estate magazines - Florida's Fabulous Suncoast in Pasco County and Pinellas Home Search - the group's coverage will include a swath of territory along the west coast of Florida from Citrus County to as far south as Charlotte County, concentrating on the expanding Tampa Bay region.
"We will build on the success of Mr. Gonzalez and his family while also adding Internet visibility for these key advertisers," said Michelle Hatch, the Times classified manager who is overseeing the expansion project.
"This is a natural geographic expansion," said Times advertising director Moya Neville. "We aim to be a full-service advertising and marketing source for those in the vital real estate industry."
Shannon Gonzalez, one of John Gonzalez's children, said, "Since our father passed away last year, we've been striving to carry forward his tradition of quality and caring for each advertiser. We are confident that the Times will maintain these standards. We believe the Times is perfectly positioned to take Florida's Nature Coast Real Estate magazine to the next level."
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. A Times spokesman said the publications are profitable and will immediately add to the company's earnings.
City Backs Car Lot's Expansion
Published: Feb 14, 2007
DADE CITY - Commissioners on Tuesday paved the way for a downtown General Motors dealership to seek a zoning variance to expand across Seventh Street.
The panel voted 4-1 to change municipal regulations so Pasco Motors can ask the zoning board of adjustment for permission to use the former Case Hardware property as a new car sales lot.
Pasco Motors bought the now-vacant property for its intended expansion last year. Then the dealership, at 14341 Seventh St., discovered that city regulations dating to 1973 didn't allow businesses to ask the zoning board for variances.
Tuesday's city commission action creating the regulatory change was the second and final vote and public hearing on the matter. The first vote was held in January, with the same result.
Commissioner Camille Hernandez was the sole dissenter last month and again Tuesday. She said she didn't think the dealership's expansion plans were the right development for that block.
Resident Celestine Bush also spoke against the idea, telling commissioners that a car lot "doesn't go with the rest of the city on that end."
But the majority voted with Commissioner Scott Black, who said keeping the dealership inside city limits brings economic benefits, including sales tax revenue.
The zoning board can vote to approve or deny Pasco Motors' request, or the panel can approve it with restrictions, such as limited operating hours or lighting specifications, City Attorney Karla Owens said.
Reporter Jo-Ann Johnston can be reached at (352) 521-3062 or jfjohnston@tampatrib.com.
Shark overfishing may be reason for decline in attacks Sharks attacking humans was a common sight in the film series "Jaws." In recent years, however, the roles appear to have been reversed.A report issued by the International Shark Attack File, which looked into the number of shark attacks worldwide in 2006, shows that the overfishing of sharks may be the reason for the continued decline of shark attacks worldwide.
"What was nice is that (the report) was absolutely boring and dull," said George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida. "We'd rather be bored than active because it means there are less people being attacked."
According to the report, in 2006 there were 62 shark attacks worldwide, four of those fatal. Of those attacks, 39 occurred in the United States — 23 along the Florida coastlines.
In 2005, there were 61 shark attacks worldwide, 40 in the U.S., showing almost no change over the past year.
Shark attacks happen most often in the U.S. because of the lengthy coastline and because people have more money to go surfing and boating than in other countries, Burgess said.
"Not surprisingly, Florida has more attacks than any of the other states because of its large population and tourists," he said.
In 2006, Florida shark attacks took place in Volusia, Brevard, Manatee, St. Lucie, Collier, Monroe, Indian River and Palm Beach counties.
In fact, a square mile of New Smyrna Beach, located in Volusia County, has more attacks than any place in the world, Burgess said.
The report notes that while the population of the world is increasing, the number of shark attacks has remained steady since 2002.
Burgess said one reason for this is that the shark population has begun to dwindle because of commercial and recreational overfishing.
"Shark populations are in considerable danger worldwide," he said.
A key source of the commercial overfishing is the desire for shark fins in Asian countries, where these fins sell for $25 to $30 a pound, Burgess said.
"Sharks aren't going to stop being overfished until we stop the demand for shark fins themselves," he said. "We need to make cultural changes in the Orient. If we can do that, the demand for the fins around the world will decline."
Some sharks in danger include the whale shark, which is a threatened species worldwide, and the great white shark, listed as a protected species in the U.S., South Africa and Australia.
The smalltooth sawfish, a close relative of the shark, has become so scarce that it has become the first U.S. marine fish to receive federal protection as an endangered species.
"Once these populations have been overfished, trying to get them to recover is a long process measured in decades, rather than years," Burgess said.
The International Shark Attack File is located in the Florida Museum of History, off Hull Road on the UF campus. It is an organization that cooperates with scientists worldwide in investigating shark attacks. The organization also looks into trends involving shark attacks and passes such information along to the public.
To view the International Shark Attack File's report, go online to www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/ISAF/ISAF.htm
Environmentalists vs. bicyclists in Loop debate?
ORMOND BEACH -- There's probably
going to be a tug of war at City Hall on Thursday night.
On one side will be those who nervously -- but religiously --
ride their bikes and run through the scenic Loop as cars whiz by
within inches.
On the other side will be those who also love The Loop, so much
so that they feel a small part of them die every time a tree in the
canopied corridor is toppled for development.
While both sides cherish The Loop, there's disagreement over a
2-mile stretch along John Anderson Drive where the city is
considering road improvements that could include adding bike paths
and sidewalks.
Two of the four alternatives city staffers will suggest at the
6:30 p.m. meeting would require removing 171 trees in the section of
John Anderson Drive between Granada Boulevard and Sandcastle Drive.
That would mean losing 110 palm trees and 61 hardwood trees, such as
oak, cedar, pine and magnolia.
The other two alternatives would leave most trees in place and
cost less, but they would also exclude any new sidewalks or bike
trails.
"There'll be a very huge uproar over that number of trees
coming down," said Joe Jaynes, a former Volusia County
councilman and head of the Ormond Scenic Loop & Trail Corridor
Advocacy Group. "It'd be nice having the sidewalks, but not at
the cost of losing 171 trees."
Jaynes' group is seeking a Florida Scenic Highway designation to
preserve and protect The Loop, said Jaynes, who bicycles the route
with his wife.
"I think it would be a very serious blow to our efforts to
get the designation" if the trees come down, he said.
Jaynes said he hopes the two sides can figure out how to add
sidewalks without losing trees.
Mayor Fred Costello suspects the city has a not-in-my-backyard
dilemma on its hands.
"A number of people don't want sidewalks and bike trails,
but they're for connectivity so the whole community can enjoy the
area walking and biking safely," Costello said.
The mayor said many of the people who fight having sidewalks in
their neighborhoods wind up enjoying them. Costello, who noted he
strongly supports preserving The Loop, said it will be a loss for
the city if the bike paths aren't built.
"If they're not, fewer people get to enjoy it (The Loop) and
it's less safe," Costello said. "Sometimes we have to look
at the greater good of the community. We're not talking about
tearing down The Loop. We're talking about making is safer."
The idea to improve John Anderson Drive goes back about seven
years, when city commissioners discussed heavily traveled roads that
need improvements. John Anderson Drive was discussed in those talks,
and it's now edging toward the top of the road project priority
list.
One of the options city staff members are offering involves full
roadway reconstruction with 10-foot lanes, curb and gutter, and an
8-foot sidewalk/bike path. This option calls for leveling 171 trees
and would cost an estimated $5.2 million.
The second option is similar, with the main difference being
4-foot bike paths separate from 5-foot sidewalks. The cost is a
little higher at $5.4 million.
A third alternative calls for the same elements with no bike
paths or sidewalks. Tree impacts would be minimal, and the price tag
would be about $4.6 million.
The fourth suggestion would involve less extensive reconstruction
and drainage improvements, no sidewalks or paths, and minimal tree
impacts. It would cost about $1.9 million, but city officials warn
that the road would need resurfacing and reconstruction in five to
10 years, while a full road reconstruction provides a useful life
expectancy of 20-30 years.
At meetings later this year, city commissioners will ultimately
decide what will be done on John Anderson Drive.
Cabinet OKs $10 Million To Aid Gopher Tortoises
The Barry's Ranch land is the 10th tract bought by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to protect the tortoises, which are on the state's list of "species of special concern."
The money used to buy the land comes from fees paid by developers who build on property that necessitates the killing of the tortoises. The Cabinet and Gov. Charlie Crist unanimously approved the purchase. Attorney General Bill McCollum asked whether tortoises could be moved to the site rather than "exterminated" in developments. Gary Cochran, the commission's conservation, acquisitions and planning administrator, said that it wasn't immediately likely, though a new rule allows the transport of some turtles if their habitat is disturbed within 100 miles of an existing state refuge.
Cochran said the commission is considering downgrading the survival future of the tortoises to "threatened species," a move that might make it more difficult for developers to build on land where the tortoises are plentiful. In its current status as a "species of special concern," it is illegal to take, move or sell gopher tortoises or their eggs without a permit.
The gopher tortoise, according to the commission's Web site, can grow to lengths up to 15 inches and weigh up to 15 pounds. Its ecological value is its burrows that average 15 feet but can extend up to 48 feet long as deep as six feet underground. The burrows provide shelter for other animals, including mice and snakes.
Cochran said potential sites for gopher tortoise protection are found with the help of satellite imagery for signs of sandy soil and forest cover. He added that Barry's Ranch is an ideal fit because it abuts the Watermelon Pond area that is part of the Florida Forever land preservation program.
Warming heats up hurricane debate
Are rising temperatures creating more-intense Atlantic storm seasons?
Michael CabbageSentinel Staff Writer
February 14, 2007
There's little doubt in Kevin Trenberth's mind that Earth's rising temperatures are causing more intense Atlantic hurricane seasons.
However, a landmark international report on climate change authored by Trenberth and other like-minded scientists has done little to quell the debate over global warming's possible impact on the tropics. If anything, the Feb. 2 report approved in Paris by researchers from 113 countries has rekindled the argument.
The possible effect of climate change on hurricanes has been one of the most hotly disputed subjects among U.S. meteorologists for more than a decade. Only three months ago, a statement by the World Meteorological Organization said "no firm conclusion can be made."
Trenberth and scientists with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are convinced there is a link between "an increase of intense tropical cyclone activity in the North Atlantic" and human-induced global warming.
Well-known hurricane expert Bill Gray and many scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the agency's National Hurricane Center disagree. They argue there is no convincing evidence of a connection so far.
Trenberth, a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, was the lead author of a chapter in the new report dealing with hurricane activity. His position is based on weather observations from recent years and simple logic.
"If there is an increase in sea-surface temperatures, there will be an increase in hurricane activity," Trenberth said. "Sea-surface temperatures have gone up because of global warming."
The previous conventional wisdom was that hurricane activity came in cycles caused by recurring changes in sea-surface temperatures, the atmosphere and ocean currents. One of the biggest factors was thought to be the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, or AMO. Scientists theorized that currents of warm water circulate through the Atlantic like a giant conveyor belt.
During inactive hurricane periods such as the 1970s and 1980s, the belt moves more slowly. However, during AMO warm periods such as the present era, the belt is thought to move faster and transport hotter currents to the area where Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico hurricanes form and intensify.
A 1-degree increase in temperature in the Atlantic can make a major difference in the strength of storms. Scientists still haven't determined why the AMO periodically changes speeds.
Trenberth and a growing number of researchers contend the AMO can't fully explain the recent uptick in hurricane activity and ferocity. They argue that global warming of Earth's oceans is the difference.
Gray and some of his colleagues, including National Hurricane Center science and operations officer Chris Landsea, reply that activity is cyclical and global warming has had no measurable influence.
"The relevant question is whether we are seeing more activity now than we did during the last active hurricane period from the late-1920s to the late-1960s," Landsea said. "What we can tell is the activity is about the same now as it was then, and there is no discernible trend."
The debate between Gray and Trenberth got personal last October.
At the 31st annual Climate Diagnostics and Prediction Workshop in Colorado, the Rocky Mountain News quoted Gray calling Trenberth an opportunist and a Svengali who "sold his soul to the devil to get research funding." Trenberth replied that Gray was no longer a credible scientist and was "one of the contrarians, some of whom get money to spread lies about global warming."
The Paris report's release has yet to change many opinions on the other side. Lixion Avila, a forecaster at the National Hurricane Center, said more research is needed to reach a definitive answer.
"There are good scientists on both sides," said Avila, who noted he is no expert on global warming. "We still are looking for new trends."
Wire services were used in compiling this report. Michael Cabbage can be reached at mcabbage@orlandosentinel.com or 321-639-0522.
Cottondale weighs annexation, residential growth
The commission did, however, move forward in several areas related to growth.
A subdivision is planned that will make the city one-and-a-half times as large as it is now. And it's definite now that Green Circle Bio Energy will open a plant halfway between Cottondale and Alford to the south, bringing 51 jobs.
Currently, there is no large employer or subdivision nearby, and the city's few blocks of business area has mostly shuttered storefronts.
Second and final reading came on an ordinance to annex the city park to the south into the boundaries of the municipality, and to annex, by request of the owner, a 40-acre piece of property. These actions were necessary for the city to be able to annex the 612 acres for the subdivision, because new properties brought into a city must be contiguous.
City manager Willie Cook reported at the beginning of the meeting that a letter had arrived that day from the subdivision developer, asking for annexation. The developer is Lisa Donaldson, owner of Marianna Oaks Golf Course.
Cook said Donaldson also plans to expand the golf course from nine to 18 holes.
Cook also said two other people were asking to have properties annexed, one a 99-acre site, the other a 49-acre site. Both are south of the city limits.
The board took no immediate action on those requests.
The city's consulting engineer Rick Pettis suggested the board have a workshop on its water and sewer capabilities and what it will need to do to provide service to the subdivision. Pettis said the commission need not make decisions at that time, but get the latest information "and chew over it."
Pettis works for Melvin Engineering, which has a contract with the city to prepare a study on the annexation and other future development. The study will include what the city's current systems are capable of handling, what upgrades will be needed, and what they will cost.
Also, Florida Rural Water, of which the city is a member, is conducting a water audit; determining revenue requirements for upgrades; looking into available financing, grants and loans, rates and rate structures; and developing impact fees.
Pettis said he had had discussions with the subdivision developer and it appears that it will be March before the actual request for annexation comes.
He cautioned the city leaders that the development will take up a lot of their time.
"This is going to be very big deal for the City of Cottondale," he said.
He advised that they be careful about committing grants "until you get your priorities set up," and said he had told the developer that the city can't use every grant it has access to "for his project," but "he's going to want you to help him any way you can with the water and sewer."
Pettis also advised the city to look at its planning and zoning regulations and its Comprehensive Plan within a year of any annexation. He said that the land-use designation for any piece of property remains what it was when in the county, even after it comes into the city, until the city takes action.
"You're about to make a significant change," he said. "his is going to be unlike anything Cottondale has seen in scope and size."
Cottondale Police Chief William Watford also had growth on his mind, the increase of violence. He asked to purchase three semi-automatic rifles and was given unanimous approval.
He said he had realized more than ever they were needed when two homicides occurred in January ? the sheriff's wife and first officer on the scene were shot to death and following the shooting deaths of the two assailants, some 100 officers converged to hunt for a third person initially thought to be possibly involved.
Watford said money for the guns was available in two funds the department has. He estimated the cost of each at around $900.
Watford also spoke of the need to start looking at enlarging the police department, now made up of three full-time and two part-time officers.
He mentioned recent overtime hours and said "in the next two or three years.. the growth is going to be more than we can handle."
The war on giant homes
Windermere council votes to rein in owners' ability to build megamansions
Rich MckaySentinel Staff Writer
February 14, 2007
WINDERMERE -- Robert Lazarus knows that his dream home is a 14,000-square-foot, concrete-block monster to his neighbors.
He knows they mock it with names such as the Taj Mahal and McMansion.
Lazarus' 8 1/2-bath, three-story French chateau rising on the coveted shores of Lake Butler is one of the largest in town. Planted on just a half-acre at 836 Main St., Lazarus' home dwarfs his neighbors' houses, which top out with a building size of about 2,000 to 3,000 square feet.
The backlash to the project sent town leaders scrambling to rewrite their building codes in an effort to fend off, if not banish, megamansions from the land of Windermere.
The five-member Town Council voted unanimously to approve its most restrictive building code after a brief public hearing Tuesday night that drew no comment from the public.
The new ordinance goes into effect immediately. It doesn't affect Lazarus' house on Main Street because the project has already started.
But any future homes will have their size tethered to the size of the lots and not be allowed to take up more than 38 percent of the land. The new rules also limit the height of a house to 2 1/2 stories or 35 feet, whichever is smaller.
Mayor Gary Bruhn said the town needs to protect its feel as an Old Florida fishing village of just 2,400 people living on a 1.1-square-mile spit of land amid the Butler Chain of Lakes.
"We need to make sure that new houses are built in character with the neighborhood," he said.
Nationwide, the trend in many upscale neighborhoods has been to build ever larger and larger homes, especially on waterfronts. Builders snap up old, smaller homes and cottages to tear down and plant a starter castle or king-sized dream home.
Statewide, Miami Beach, Atlantic Beach and Vero Beach are among other communities that have passed restrictions that link the size of a home to the size of a lot.
Across the country, other cities are doing the same.
In Evanston, Ill., for example, leaders have limited houses to no more than 40 feet high and no more than 35 percent of the lot size. Wayne, N.J., and Los Altos, Calif., also limit building to a proportion of the lot size.
Lazarus, a custom-home builder, and area Realtors said earlier Tuesday that they think it's not fair to limit the size of houses.
If you decrease the square footage of a house, you decrease the value of the house, as well as that of the land.
"I know my house caused it [the change]," Lazarus said. "But I don't think Windermere realizes what they're doing here. They're going to hurt property values all over town."
If the rules had existed when Lazarus started building, his house size would have been limited to 7,695 square feet. "If I pay $1 million for the land, doesn't it reason that I'd want to put at least a $3 [million] or $4 million home on the property? Otherwise you're spending too much on the land."
Simon Conway, who owns Picket Fence Realty in Orlando, was perplexed by the rule change.
"Windermere comes up with some strange rules," he said. "It doesn't make any sense. Most of those little homes get sold so someone can tear them down."
Orange County, for instance, has no outright restriction on the size of a house, said Mitch Gordon, a manager in the county's zoning division.
Suzi Karr, owner of Suzi Karr Realty in Windermere, said that new rule is a boon or a curse, depending on which side of the fence you're on.
"If you want to keep Windermere the way it is now, this is a good thing. But if you want to build a large, palatial home, you won't like this."
Rich McKay can be reached at 407-420-5470 or rmckay@orlandosentinel.com.
570-unit development planned
By TODD
WILSON twilson@lakecityreporter.com
The first phase of a planned 570-unit residential
development in Columbia County near the southwest city limits of
Lake City earned an exception to tap into the city's sewer treatment
system Tuesday night.
The Greater Lake City Regional Utility Authority voted 4-0 to grant
the exception to what normally is a non-flexible policy to allow
developments outside the city to tap into the current wastewater
treatment system. The city normally limits new tap-ins to
developments within the city limits because of capacity concerns at
the current treatment facility.
Under the terms of the exception, the authority agreed to allow
Amenity Developers, LLC, to use 62,000 gallons of wastewater
capacity per day in the city's sewer system. The amount was
calculated based on the completion of the first of four phases of
the development project - 208 condominium units.
Amenity Developers is planning a four-phase development during the
next four-to-six years that will see 400 three-story condominium
units constructed, as well as a collection of town homes and a
secluded area of estate lots available for single-family housing
construction. The total gated development will be 570 units and will
be built in the vicinity of Quail Heights Country Club along State
Road 47 and Interstate 75.
Amenity Developers, LLC is made up of partners Andy Moore, Tom Harl
and a third man who refused to give his name. All three were present
at the GLCRUA meeting Tuesday night.
Rory Causseaux, a Gainesville engineer working on the project,
addressed the Regional Utility Authority and described the phases of
the company's development. He said the developers were more than
willing to seek friendly annexation into the city, but the exception
was needed immediately so the project could move forward. The entire
property being considered cannot be conventionally annexed into the
city because one parcel in the middle of the development is owned by
another landowner and, by state law, the city limits cannot surround
a parcel and create an island or enclave that remains outside the
city limits.
Regional Utility Authority Chairman John Robertson pledged City
Manager David Kraus' support in working with the development group
to assist with friendly annexation of the areas where the process is
possible.
“We'll do everything we can to expedite this process,” Robertson
said.
Robertson urged the authority board to approve granting the
exception for the sewer tap with what he called the “ironclad
conditions” that all of the developed units be constructed to use
natural gas water heaters and natural gas heating units - a utility
that will be purchased from the city. He also asked that the deed
restrictions on the estate lots being sold for single-family homes
also require natural gas use. Another requirement is that reclaimed
water be used on the property wherever possible. The board approved
Robertson's recommendations and made it a condition of the approved
exception.
Causseaux said the group now will approach Columbia County officials
to obtain the proper permits needed to begin construction. “If
permitting takes four-to-six months, we could start (construction)
immediately after.”
Causseaux said that by the time the project is completed, the
development group hopes the city will have a new wastewater
treatment plant on-line that is large enough to handle the estimated
171,000 gallons of wastewater generated daily in the development. He
said the developers were planning to install a temporary wastewater
package plant that could accommodate 30,000 gallons of wastewater
per day, just in case the phases of their construction plan move
faster than the on-line readiness of a new city wastewater treatment
plant.
“By Phase 4, we're hoping the new plant will be on-line,”
Causseaux said.
Besides the residential developments, Amenity Developers also is
planning the construction of a championship 18-hole golf course as
part of the project. Members of the development group said the final
details of the project still were being finalized and more
information would be released in the future.
Residents Being Urged To Recycle Cooking Oil
Published: Feb 14, 2007
HUDSON - Cooking oil and grease poured down kitchen sinks is causing problems for the county's wastewater disposal system.
Instead of becoming a revenue drain for Pasco County Utilities in the form of sewer infrastructure repairs, the discards can be recycled, county leaders emphasize.
They have launched a campaign to get residents to drop off used cooking oil and grease at the West Pasco Recycling Center on Hays Road off State Road 52. There is no charge.
The recycling center is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Call (727) 847-8041 for details.
People tend to cook food, drain the oil and pour it down the sink without thinking about the consequences, said Farouk M. El-Shamy of the Pasco County Recycling and Hazardous Waste Collection Centers.
Byproducts from meat fats, butter, oil, margarine, dairy products, poultry and fish can cause clogs, overflows and other problems in sewer lines and in wastewater treatment plants, said El-Shamy, who is leading the oil drop-off effort.
The county regulates and inspects restaurants to make sure they dispose of grease correctly. No such regulations exist for homes, however, so the county is seeking residents' cooperation, El-Shamy noted.
Getting the word out, though, is a "formidable task." He and others have been knocking on doors, distributing brochures at apartment complexes and speaking at homeowners association meetings.
Until now, residents have been left to pour used oil and grease into a can or jar and toss it in the trash. But what's being discarded can be a resource, El-Shamy said.
Cooking oil has been used in animal feed and in manufacturing cosmetics for decades. It can also be used as fuel.
The county hired a contractor to collect oil from the recycling centers to convert it into biodiesel fuel. If the program is successful, additional collection locations will be added throughout the county.
Trump Tower Condo Buyers Sue, Doubt Completion
Published: Feb 14, 2007
TAMPA - Two buyers in the stalled Trump Tower Tampa condominium say it is impossible for developers to finish the 52-story tower by the time their contract mandates. The buyers want their money back and have sued to get out of the deal.
The buyers' attorney, Thomas Long, said his clients don't believe the riverfront condo will be built and feel misled. The fact that the developers don't have financing more than two years after announcing the project, combined with unresolved ownership issues and problems with unstable ground at the site, make it unlikely the tower will be completed by the December 2008 deadline stated in the contract, he said.
In recent months, developers said it would be mid-2009 before they finish construction.
"When you do a high-rise, particularly on land on the riverfront in a marshy area, you better make sure you can build it - before you start collecting the profits," said Long, of the Tampa firm Barnett, Bolt, Kirkwood, Long & McBride.
The developers named in the suit, Tampa-based SimDag LLC and Orlando-based private equity firm Mirabilis Ventures, did not return phone calls seeking comment.
The suit was filed in Hillsborough County Circuit Court on Jan. 31 and says the buyers were lured into purchasing a $1.4 million condo because they believed Donald Trump owned "a substantial stake" of the project.
"Donald Trump has boasted that his partnership with SimDag is more than a licensing or marketing arrangement," the suit states.
Long said his clients, Louis Ricci and Joe Shultz, both of Walton County, near Pensacola, have since learned that the developers paid the real estate mogul for the naming rights of the building.
"If you look at the Web site, it says Trump is a partner," Long said. "Now, we don't know where Donald Trump fits into this deal."
Trump has said that SimDag, the original developer, paid him an undisclosed sum in exchange for naming rights. As part of the agreement, the developers must build the tower to certain specifications and standards of the Trump brand, but no one from the Trump organization is involved in the construction process.
Trump said Monday he is frustrated with the lack of progress at the site, at 111 S. Ashley Drive. Trump has 72 condo projects in various stages of development and said the Tampa project is the only one not moving forward. It is unclear how many are licensing agreements and what his involvement is in those projects.
Trump revealed Monday by telephone that The Related Group, a Miami developer partnering with Trump on three towers in South Florida, wants to purchase or to become a partner on the Tampa project.
Trump tried to buy out SimDag last fall, but the developer instead sold to Orlando developer Mirabilis. SimDag remained as a partner. At the time, Mirabilis said it had also purchased SimDag's Antigua Bay project in Clearwater and planned to buy seven to nine other SimDag developments.
David Hooks, Trump Tower Tampa spokesman, said he was unaware of the lawsuit and could not comment. Trump could not be reached.
Darryl C. Wilson, a professor of property law at Stetson University, said the suit sounds weak on the surface.
"It's pretty difficult for them to get any relief right now because there hasn't been any breach of contract at this time," Wilson said. "You have to give them a chance to fulfill their contract."
The plaintiffs, who purchased a unit through their company, NLR T LLC, made a 20 percent deposit in August 2005. The suit sayshe deposit consisted of $148,200 cash and a letter of credit in the same amount.
Wilson said it may be too early for others to sue, but if these plaintiffs are awarded their money back, "it would certainly open the floodgates for other buyers to follow."
The suit is the latest in a series of issues surrounding the $260 million riverfront project.
SimDag has dismissed two contractors and passed on at least $40 million in construction increases to buyers who have contracts to purchase. Expected completion dates have been pushed back numerous times.
The project is being rebid to subcontractors, and some companies that have completed work say they haven't been paid. Four have filed liens on the property totaling $3.3 million.
Reporter Shannon Behnken can be reached at (813) 259-7804 or sbehn ken@tampatrib.com.
Planners Hear Key Growth IssuesThe meetings held around the county were part of the initial work involved in the periodic evaluation of the county's growth plan to determine how well it is handling current and projected growth needs.
"These six were umbrella issues, but there were a number of components to each of them," Tom Deardorff, the county's director of long-range planning, told the commission.
The process, which is the first evaluation since 1997, is expected to lead to changes in the growth plan.
The six main issues were:
Timing and location of growth.
Preservation of open space, agricultural lands and environmentally sensitive lands.
Water resources.
Transportation.
Sustainable communities.
Planning process.
"We have 13 months to complete the process," said Ana Martinez, the county planner overseeing the evaluation. She said county planners have an additional 18 months to amend the plan.
"Where do you see the biggest change?" asked Commission Chairman John Webb.
"It will be determining where the urban growth boundaries will be and deciding where we guide development," Martinez said.
Webb asked when maps depicting the boundaries would be available for the Planning Commission to review.
"We have no idea," Martinez said, saying the maps will be part of the growth plan revisions that will come later, not part of the evaluation that will be occurring in the next several months.
Martinez said she doesn't envision sweeping changes in the growth plan, but the plan board will re-examine the rules for allowing development in rural areas.
The current regulations allow intense development in rural areas under certain conditions.
Martinez said one of the issues the evaluation will examine will be the criteria and timing for considering such developments.
Commissioner Augie Fragala asked how the changes would be reviewed.
"I'd hate for (planning) staff to sit up there in their offices and decide what people meant (in the growth meetings)," he said.
Martinez said county planners will draft some changes and present them to the public at a series of follow-up public meetings planned in October.
Deardorff said planners can schedule a work session with the Planning Commission before those meetings to go over the issues.
He said other issues are developing in the meantime.
For instance, the Polk Land Stewardship Alliance is seeking money from the County Commission for a proposal to encourage transfer or purchase of development rights in rural areas, which could affect the growth plan language, too, he said.
Tom Palmer can be reached at tom.palmer@theledger.com or 863-802-7535
Mariana
Oaks gets green light After twice voting against Mariana Oaks, Leon County commissioners
decided Tuesday to approve the development on Old St. Augustine Road.
The developers say they hope to start construction within about a
month. But nearby homeowners who oppose it say the legal battle is
just beginning. They're planning to file a lawsuit to block it.
"It's not over by a long shot," said Cheryl Porgal, who
lives on Old St. Augustine Road. "This neighborhood is not going
to lie quietly."
Commissioners approved it with a 4-2 vote. Commissioners Bob
Rackleff and Cliff Thaell voted against it; Commissioner Jane Sauls
was out sick. Chad Henderson, one of the developers, was pleased with
the vote.
"We're looking forward to building a great community for all
to enjoy," he said.
Commissioner John Dailey said the neighbors and developers were
never going to agree. And he wasn't convinced Leon County would
prevail in a lawsuit developers filed after commissioners voted
against it.
"I'm not totally happy," he said. "And I know a lot
of people are not going to be happy with this decision."
The neighbors opposed it mainly because they said there would be
too many homes on too little land. They said the dense development
would be incompatible with the neighborhood. The plan calls for 52
homes on about as many acres.
The developers agreed to meet a number of conditions set by the
county, though many of them were technical and already required
anyway. They did, however, agree to close an entrance on Old St.
Augustine Road once a sister development is built next door and an
entrance is built on Williams Road.
But developers wouldn't budge on the number of home sites.
Margaret Neal, who used to own the land, said she was heartbroken
by the decision. She noted that Old St. Augustine Road used to be the
old route to that historic town. Some worry the development will harm
that rural segment of the canopy road.
"So little of our history is being preserved," she said.
Area residents vow to fight decision in court
Grove project brings two views
Visitors to Miami's landmark Vizcaya Museum would see high-rise condos mixed in with their view of the famous home's gardens if Miami commissioners approve a development.
BY MICHAEL VASQUEZ
mrvasquez@MiamiHerald.com
The view south from Vizcaya's terrace: fountains, elegant gardens and -- someday soon, perhaps -- three condo towers rising as high as 410 feet.
That last part may come as a surprise. But if Miami city commissioners approve a controversial development plan, the wedding parties, quinceañera photo shoots and hordes of casual visitors who have flocked to Vizcaya for years may notice the National Historic Landmark's view has gone a bit more condo.
A proposed 300-unit luxury condo complex on nearby Mercy Hospital land has steadily moved forward at City Hall.
Which makes some historians and Vizcaya lovers furious.
In dueling artists' renderings, museum backers and the condo developer offer competing visions of the future Vizcaya view. In both drawings, the condo towers are visible, but in the museum's version, the towers appear much larger.
' `Yikes' is my only reaction,'' local historian Paul George said of the museum version. ``Absolutely yikes. . . . Your whole sense of Vizcaya is altered because you've got that thing in your face.''
Vizcaya was the winter residence of American industrialist James Deering from Christmas 1916 until his death in 1925. The home's design mimics that of a centuries-old Italian estate -- 34 decorated rooms of 15th through 19th century antique furnishings combined with expansive gardens that mix both Renaissance Italian and French designs.
Boca Raton-based Ocean Land Investments is partnering with developer Jorge Perez's Related Group to build the nearby condos, which would rise on 6.7 acres of prime waterfront land that has been part of the Mercy Hospital medical campus.
The condos, to be sold at prices ranging from $3 million to $15 million, were controversial even before Vizcaya's recent entry into the debate -- some Coconut Grove residents complain the buildings will dwarf their once-bohemian neighborhood.
DOWNSIZED PLAN
Related Group executive Bill Thompson counters that the project has been downsized to appease the community -- from 1,000 units to 300. Two of the three towers have been reduced in height, with only one still the original 410 feet. Thompson says Vizcaya won't suffer at the hands of his project, and calls the museum's architectural drawing grossly inaccurate.
''Vizcaya is in an urban area,'' Thompson said, like New York's Central Park. The fact that part of a high-rise would be visible from a dip in Vizcaya's tree line wouldn't ruin the experience, he said.
As a neighborly gesture, the company promises to add trees to the museum land that would screen some -- but not all -- of its project, known as 300 Grove Bay Residences.
JUST LIKE BRICKELL
North of Vizcaya, Thompson notes, are the towers of Brickell -- modern buildings, visible from a portion of the museum site, that haven't kept visitors from coming.
Condo opponents call the Brickell comparison irrelevant, saying those towers are farther away. What's at stake now, they say, is one of Vizcaya's signature views -- that overlooking its famed gardens.
The City Commission voted 3-2 last month to tentatively approve a key rezoning sought by the developers.
Before the vote, a Vizcaya trustee had told commissioners that the condos would spell ''disaster'' for the museum -- though there were no architectural drawings available at the time. Trustee Max Blumberg spoke on his own behalf; the Vizcaya board still has not formally decided whether to fight the condos.
MORE SCRUTINY
A final commission vote on the rezoning is scheduled for later this month, although additional city approvals are necessary before shovels can hit the ground.
Since last month's vote, the museum has stepped up its scrutiny considerably. So, too, has Miami-Dade County, the museum's owner.
At the request of County Commissioner Carlos Gimenez, the county attorney's office and planning department are reviewing the condo proposal.
''I just consider it my duty to make sure we protect what I consider the crown jewel of the park system of Miami-Dade County,'' Gimenez said. ``Something that should be preserved for generations.''
Miami Herald staff writer Matthew I. Pinzur contributed to this report.
Growth issues await council hopefuls
Overcrowded schools, traffic problems are concerns in District 6.
Residents of the district, which covers Mandarin and stretches up to Baymeadows and San Jose Boulevard, have successfully fought high-rise condominium and commercial projects in the area and won a temporary moratorium on tall buildings.
But traffic problems persist, and parents have complained about overcrowded schools.
Candidates have heard about the issues on the campaign trail as they contend for the seat that Councilwoman Sharon Copeland is leaving after one term.
Rewriting the city's comprehensive plan is a priority for Charles Hutcherson. He said the plan needs to have "teeth" to keep developers in check and prevent the City Council from easily changing it.
In his professional work for the engineering and planning firm Arcadis US, he's working on a transportation study of the Baymeadows area for the city that's intended to alleviate congestion along the corridor. If elected, he said his experience in planning would allow him to bypass a learning curve and jump into the issues right away.
Sean Reichard said it's time to replace the moratorium with a policy that meets the needs of residents and businesses.
"Mandarin covers a huge region of diverse commercial, industrial, residential, recreation and conservation areas," he said. "No single policy could appropriately serve all of Mandarin."
Jack Webb believes an important component is protecting access to waterways. That was one concern with a condominium and marina project that a developer eventually abandoned.
"The perception was access was slipping away and the community had no [voice]," he said.
People need to realize that the community is not finished growing, he said, and promised to involve residents in developing policies.
beth.kormanik@jacksonville.com (904) 359-4619
By Mike Wright
Nearly two years after a Tampa developer bought the coveted Three Sisters Spring property, a plan has now emerged.
An Ocala engineer representing Three Sisters Spring Holding LLC dropped off plans Friday at Crystal River City Hall for 69 single-family homes and 240 multi-family units on the 54-acre property.
The preliminary plate plan includes a passive recreation area designed to protect the springs, the plans state.
The Crystal River Planning Commission will review the plan at its March 1 meeting. Its recommendation goes to the city council for final approval.
Harvey Goodman sold the property off Kings Bay Drive in March 2005 to Harry “Hal” Flowers and two business partners for $10.5 million.
At that time, Flowers told reporters he hadn’t decided what to do with the property but that residential development seemed like a logical fit.
The property sits near Kings Bay Drive and Cutler Spur.
City planning and community development director Kurt Woerner said the city council must approve the preliminary plat and a final plat.
One potential issue, he said, is traffic concurrency. The city’s comprehensive plan sets levels of service for Kings Bay Drive, Cutler Spur and Fort Island Trail at various intersections.
The Three Sisters development could not increase maximum traffic levels on those roadways without road improvements.
Your home isn't selling? Join the club
As Orlando-area housing glut builds, sales take hammering
Jerry W. JacksonSentinel Staff Writer
February 13, 2007
Spring is still more than a month away, but the for-sale signs are sprouting early this year as home sellers hope to elbow their way into an increasingly crowded field.
For Orlando-area homeowners eager to sell now, the numbers have gotten much worse, and the wait for a sale could be much longer.
Orlando Regional Realtor Association members recorded only 1,314 homes or condos sold in January, making it the weakest month for local agents since January 2002. The number of properties for sale in the core Orlando market rose by 1,729 to a near-record 21,266 -- and at January's slow sales pace, that was the equivalent of a 16.18-month supply.
"That's a lot," said Janice Leckart-Smith, who has sold homes for Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate in Orlando for 15 years. "If you get an offer that's halfway decent, take it. If you get an offer after three months and don't take it, it may sit another six months."
Local Realtors have not seen this many months' worth of homes on the market since February 1995, when only 649 houses sold and the 10,527 listings at the time equaled 16.22 months' worth of inventory.
And remember: The Realtors' listings don't include thousands of other homes on the market for sale by owner -- houses such as Bobbi-Jo Borges', whose upscale Seminole County pool home has an $859,000 price tag.
Borges said she has been running a classified ad and advertising on Web sites for about a month, after listing the Oviedo home through a Realtor last year. So far, she has had no offers she thinks reasonable.
"Lots of people are looking, but they're just not serious," Borges said. "I'm about to reduce it to $839,000. I'm getting a little impatient."
Buyers' opportunity
Gary Balanoff, vice president of the Orlando Realtors group, said the local resale market for homes is "definitely challenging" for sellers but offers opportunities for buyers.
"It's about as good a time as we've ever seen in terms of availability -- across every price range," said Balanoff, broker-owner for Re/Max Select in Oviedo.
Balanoff said many listings hitting the market in recent weeks are condos or town homes -- a category with more than an 18-month supply at the recent sales pace. Single-family homes account for about 15 months' worth of sales.
"That's still high," he said. It also requires sellers to be flexible with their asking price and attentive to details, he added, because "if you price the home right and it's in good condition, it will sell."
Leckart-Smith said she has sold about $12 million worth of homes in the Orlando area in recent months, partly by focusing on areas she knows very well -- such as the Orwin Manor neighborhood straddling Orlando and Winter Park.
Spring is a prime season for home purchases, but Leckart-Smith recommended that sellers get professional help in "staging" their homes with decorator touches if possible.
The average time a house spends on the market has crept up to 90 days in the Orlando Realtors' core market, which is mainly Orange and Seminole counties but includes spillover sales in neighboring counties. That's the longest wait time since February 2004, when the average was 101 days -- just before the region went on a two-year sales spree.
During 2005, for example, the average amount of time for a home to sell shrank to about 30 days at one point. And for eight of the 12 months that year the core market's inventory was below 6,000 -- or less than a two-month supply at the brisk sales pace of that time.
A six-month inventory of properties for sale is generally the dividing line between a "seller's" and a "buyer's" market, while 60 to 70 days on the market for the average existing-home listing is considered a comfortable range.
The local Realtors' January report noted that there were 3,648 condos for sale through their Multiple Listing Service, up 12.7 percent from December. Duplexes, town homes and villas accounted for 1,848 units, up 12.1 percent, while single-family homes totaled 15,770, up 7.6 percent.
Condo sales in January were off 47 percent from the same month a year ago, and association members said that's good for renters because units that remain unsold are likely to be leased to tenants.
The median price for all types of homes and condos held relatively steady in January at $249,700. That was up 3.6 percent from January 2006 but about even with the median reported for each of the previous nine months.
The total number of homes sold in January -- 1,314 -- was off by 31.46 percent, the biggest percentage drop since at least the end of 1994.
Balanoff said the average 30-year conventional mortgage rate of 5.91 percent in January was still low by historical standards, another plus for buyers in the market.
Builders dangle incentives
But the competition is intense between existing-home sales and the many new-but-empty homes marketed by builders, he said, and builders generally have more incentives to entice wavering buyers.
For people trying to sell a used home, he said, "You have to compete not only with your neighborhood but [with] the new-home neighborhood down the road."
Jerry W. Jackson can be reached at jwjackson@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5721.
Family Shows Value of Preservation
If this island had belonged to another family, bass fishermen on Lake Kissimmee would have been floating by condominiums by now.Instead, Brama Island's most visible inhabitants are bald eagles.
The island, which is mistakenly called Brahma Island on most maps, has been owned by the Lightsey family continuously since 1948, though a descendant owned the island for a time in the late 19th century.
Cary Lightsey said the name likely derives from a family of one of the previous owners and predates the introduction of Brahman cattle to Florida from India via Texas in the early 1900s.
Zachary Taylor stopped here in 1837 during the Second Seminole War and dubbed it Paradise Island.
The island's size, depending on whose estimate you use - the state's or the Lightseys' - is between 1,000 acres and 2,800 acres, the difference being on the amount of land considered lake bottom added or subtracted from the total.
The Lightseys have a cabin nestled within the island's extensive oak hammock. Besides the cabin, there is not much else besides roads and fences in the way of improvements.
That's pretty much the way it will remain, thanks to the Lightsey family's agreement in 2003 to put the island in a conservation easement by selling their development rights to the state for $3 million.
Cary Lightsey said the deal will allow his family to keep the property in their family and tocontinue the ranching tradition that has sustained them for seven generations.
If you want to understand the importance of this transaction, look at a map of the interior of peninsular Florida.
For one thing, Brama Island is undoubtedly prime real estate.
There are few large islands in any of Florida's lakes with enough high ground to support substantial development.
How many of Florida's 4,500 islands larger than 10 acres are in fresh water instead of salt water is hard to tell. State environmental officials told me they don't keep track of such things.
What is clear that Brama Island is among the largest noncoastal islands in Florida. In size, it rivals 1,870-acre Drayton Island on Lake George, which does contain more than 20 homes.
Brama Island is certainly larger than any of the other islands on local lakes.
Bannon Island on Lake Marion covers 24 acres.
Makinson Island, formerly known as Cypress Island, on Lake Tohopekaliga covers 132 acres.
Most of the rest of the "islands" marked on maps appear and disappear with the rising and falling of water levels.
For instance, Kreamer, Ritta and Torey islands in Lake Okeechobee have a total calculated acreage of 4,150 acres in dry periods when the lake level sits at 12 feet above sea level, but shrink to 440 acres when the lake rises to 16 feet. When the lake tops 18 feet, there's no dry land left there.
The other important thing to know about Brama Island is its place in the regional ecosystem.
That fact was the subject of a recent gathering at the island organized by a group in Tallahassee called the Florida Endangered Species Network.
Biologists explained the need to prevent fragmentation of habitat for the large number of imperiled species that live in Florida, which is one of the hot spots in the United States for rare and endangered species.
They talked about the critical role that large private tracts, typically cattle ranches, play in providing habitat for these species in Central Florida.
Further, they talked about how this particular piece of property fits into a regional corridor that connects ecosystems as diverse as the Kissimmee River Valley and the Lake Wales Ridge.
Finally, they talked about the value of working with ranchers and other owners of large tracts of land to protect species and a livelihood that contributes to the local economy and to the preservation of Florida's heritage.
The Lightseys used this media event to try to get the message out to their friends and neighbors in the farm community that there was value in the path they had chosen.
"I don't know why more people aren't doing this," Cary Lightsey said.
One interesting aspect of this event was that it showed how much the politics of wildlife protection has changed in the time I've been writing about environmental issues.
A joint presentation by environmental and agricultural representatives would have been nearly unthinkable 20 years ago.
Neither side trusted the other, especially on the fringes of both factions. Some farmers thought the environmentalists, in league with the government, were trying to steal their land. Some environmentalists thought the farmers were vulgarians who wanted to chop down the trees and to poison the rivers.
Fortunately, some cooler heads encouraged dialogue and once the two groups got to know each other, they realized they had more to agree on than to argue about.
The simple fact is that it's not practical, desirable or necessary for the government to own every swath of environmentally important land in Florida.
Conservation easements can play an important role in protecting rare species and family farms.
Brama Island is a good example of how it works when it's done right.
Tom Palmer can be reached at tom.palmer@theledger.com or 863-802-7535
Biodiesel gets a
foothold in Marion
"We started using biodiesel, and we've seen trucks run quieter. They have more torque, less maintenance," said Mickey Thomason, Central Region Manager for the Office of Greenways and Trails in Ocala.
The downside? "Fuel economy is not so good and there are some water control issues in the locks," Thomason said.
B100, pure biodiesel, arrives in large plastic crates called totes delivered by Freedom Fuels in Gainesville.
Thomason measures out 5 gallons to top off a tank of regular diesel. He is essentially creating a blend, 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent petroleum. This is the performance blend recommended by the Energy Information Administration, a branch of the Department of Energy.
"One good thing, if any drips on the ground it is cooking oil so it doesn't hurt the environment," Thomason said as he watched the meter. Ten Greenway trucks in this local office are using biodiesel.
"What we need to see next are pumps locally," Thomason said. "We need to develop more alternatives regionally and do whatever can be done to make it compatible and competitive. Using alternative fuel is good for the environment and reduces our dependence on oil from the Middle East."
The Florida Energy Office Web site, citing the U.S. Department of Energy and the Department of Agriculture, cited biodiesel as yielding 280 percent more energy than petroleum diesel fuel while producing 47 percent fewer exhaust emissions.
Plus, biodiesel doesn't ignite as easily as petroleum diesel. It is as harmless as table salt and as biodegradable as sugar.
"Right now if you are using biodiesel you are either mad at the petroleum industry or saying, 'Hey, we need to be more socially conscious,'Ê" said Mark Robinson, co-founder of Freedom Fuels in Gainesville. "There is no war required to use biodiesel. Young people are not fighting to keep oil flowing."
Roger Walters, fleet manager director for Marion County, is close to adding biodiesel to some vehicles.
"We are dead on it. We are going after it. We are looking at using biodiesel. Once we get it, we'll start off light and get the proper stuff," Walters said.
One of the drawbacks, according to Thomason, is the lack of regional facilities to service fleets of vehicles, let alone the general public.
"We're trying not to make a bad jump. There are so many things on the market," Walters said. "The problem is getting the proper stuff [the B20 blend, 20 percent biodiesel, 80 percent petroleum diesel]. Our best option is to buy direct from the ports and have our supplier bring it to us. They are outfitting some trucks now."
Walters wants to start off light because there is an adjustment period. Filters must be changed. Rubber seals on older cars are corroded by biodiesel.
Biodiesel is produced from domestic, renewable resources including any fat or oil such as soybean oil. It is the only alternative fuel to fully comply with the health requirements of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments.
The National Biodiesel Board tracks sales volume in the United States: 500,000 gallons were sold in 1999 rising to 75 million gallons in 2005.
"Biodiesel is not cost effective in Florida at this time. Maybe in a year or two," said William Stephenson, deputy fleet director for the city of Ocala.
"We are looking at ultra low sulfur diesel for our fleet, and doing a feasibility study on budgeting for some electric vehicles for certain jobs like the downtown meter person," Stephenson said. "Alternative fuel and alternative vehicles are a great idea, but it has to be cost effective."
Stephenson said the electric vehicles could be cost effective for certain situations, such as a patrol officer on a school campus or a downtown meter monitor.
"We will most certainly put the request in next year's budget," he said.
Great alternative fuel and vehicle ideas are not yet cost effective across the board, but can you say fun?
City of Ocala Councilman Charles Ruse Jr. can. He bought an electric car a year ago and drives it to work every day.
"It's street legal. Has plates. A new classification called NEV [Neighborhood Electric Vehicle]," Ruse said.
His model is a two-seater Gem. "It's totally electric. Can go up to 35 mph. I live two miles from my office [Ruse is an attorney] and can be there almost as fast or faster than regular driving. It turns on a dime. I like to buzz down to the square."
And is it cost effective? "I don't know. I plug it in to charge it," Ruse said. "It is a great little car."
The Web site for all things biodiesel: www.biodiesel.org.
Pollution questions hound garbage plant
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
FORT PIERCE — St. Lucie County may set its own set of pollution standards, stricter than the state's, that a company must meet while operating a plant to vaporize garbage at the local landfill, county commissioners said Monday.
The discussion came amid one commissioner's skepticism about Geoplasma LLC's environmental claims and the company's admission that it has no data from a similar plant in Japan to show what pollution the local plant will produce.
"This project's environmental benefits are being over-sold," County Commissioner Doug Coward said. "I've been told twice less mercury will be released into the air than from the landfill, but now we hear nobody knows how much mercury it releases.
"Let's stick to the facts."
Geoplasma hopes to build a $420 million plant that eventually will process 3,000 tons of solid waste a day at the landfill by heating it to 10,000 degrees and pulling the molecules apart, instead of merely burning it.
Japan's municipal waste differs from St. Lucie's and would produce different emissions, officials said.
"Our data is based on St. Lucie's municipal solid waste and the projected emissions," Geoplasma President Hilburn Hallestad said.
The idea of setting standards in a contract came from consultants who said they still have not received information they requested about operation of a plasma arc plant that vaporizes municipal waste in Japan.
Geoplasma officials previously said the information is unavailable for competitive reasons, but they admitted Monday that Japanese data differ from what can be expected here.
St. Lucie County commissioners spent nearly five hours Monday reviewing the project's finances, environmental impacts and proposed contract.
The county will bear no responsibility for the plant's cost but probably will reduce property taxes for the first few years and give the company a job growth incentive grant for creating jobs here.
Geoplasma officials said they expect to create 57 to 70 jobs that pay an average wage of $22 an hour.
St. Lucie County has endorsed an industrial development bond issue so Geoplasma can get tax-exempt financing, but won't be responsible if the company fails to the pay the debt.
Geoplasma officials made a major concession in the contract by removing a "put or pay provision." That would have required the county to pay Geoplasma if local haulers did not provide the 3,000 tons per day of solid waste.
Commissioner Charles Grande objected at an earlier meeting that Geoplasma should share the risk, not just expect the county to pay.
The company wants a guaranteed amount of garbage because it hopes to sell electricity and steam produced at the plant.
Instead of the "put or pay" provision, the county will agree that solid waste can be brought from outside the county if necessary.
But first the company will have to start processing garbage already baled and buried in the landfill.
Lawyers will revise the proposed contract before a final document is presented for the commission's approval.
Panel wants diverse opinions for vision of Daytona
DAYTONA BEACH -- Members of a committee
charged with drawing up a vision for the future of the city talked
Monday about putting their arms around everyone in a search for
viewpoints.
Young, old, black, white, single, married, businesses, nonprofits,
new residents, old residents, seasonal residents should be included,
Vision Steering Committee members said as they talked about setting up a
stakeholder group to hear from as many people as possible.
"I want to hear from people who haven't been involved in any
way, shape or form" but were fired up by the last vision process,
said Tracey Remark, a former city commissioner and member of the
committee.
Fourteen of 15 members of the Vision Steering Committee attended
Monday's meeting, with an audience of roughly 70 people, to revive a
stalled effort to develop a blueprint for the city's future.
Public opposition persuaded the City Commission to reject a vision
plan developed last year because of its call for higher density citywide
and little protection for historic properties.
The process has been costly. Taxpayers paid $200,000 to a New Jersey
consultant for last year's failed effort. Performance Consulting will
get up to $110,000 to help with this year's renewed effort.
"I see this as a new beginning," said Anne Yordon, a
committee member. "People are starting to come out, not because
they have a gripe, but because they have a vision."
Gerald Chester, executive director of the Central Florida Community
Development Association, was one of the committee members who talked
about developing a vision that translates into action.
"I don't want to be part of something that gathers dust on a
shelf," he said.
Several committee members said they hope the vision would unite a
divided city.
"I've lived here all my life and I've never seen a community so
divided as we have been in the last 15 years," said Dave Lamotte, a
committee member and manager of Salty Dog Surf Shop.
The Vision Steering Committee's next regular meeting is March 12. The
committee is expected to finish its work by the end of the year.
Missing The Train
Published: Feb 13, 2007
TAMPA - There's plenty of enthusiasm for rail these days, but getting even the simplest system built in Tampa will take a monumental effort and be at least a decade in the making.
Federal money is limited, and dozens of cities are ahead of Tampa in the quest for rail money.
In addition, local governments that typically don't get along must unite behind a single plan that in all likelihood will hinge on a significant amount of local tax money to succeed.
Without each of those components, the region is doomed to repeat the failures of past years, when a fractious effort to land federal money went down in flames.
"Unless we all start talking about a true cooperative approach to transit, I think we are hurtling toward another big disappointment," said Shawn Harrison, a Tampa councilman and chairman of Hillsborough County's Metropolitan Planning Organization.
Even if the city and county agree on a plan, there will be years of waiting for federal money.
The first step will be to get in line at the Federal Transit Administration, the agency that allocates New Starts Program funding to rail projects nationwide.
Competition for those dollars is fierce. The funding pool for New Starts, although growing - $5.4 billion in 2007 versus $4.9 billion a year ago - is not keeping pace with requests from cities and transit agencies across the country.
"The FTA is adding more money, but the backlog is very deep. It can't keep up," said Art Guzzetti, policy director at the American Public Transportation Association, an advocacy group in Washington. "Communities are finding that they're running out of room for rights of way, and they're looking around and seeing that rail works."
As a result, projects are scrutinized closely, and cities and agencies wait years before hearing whether projects are approved.
Those approvals don't pack the financial bang they once did. Twenty years ago, the government paid up to 80 percent of construction costs for local rail initiatives. In most cases today, it's a 50-50 match.
The transit administration had only a handful of applications to pore over 20 years ago, when rail talk in Tampa was in its infancy. That's vastly different from the nearly 100 projects in the FTA pipeline now awaiting determination.
Of the projects in line, about 25 will get money, transit administration spokesman Paul Griffo said. The most money awarded to a single project generally tops out at $500 million, far less than what the city hoped to get the last time around for a system projected to cost $1.5 billion to build.
Just getting onto the transit administration's list of eligible projects can take a couple of years. Then it's two to six years of planning and engineering before the agency cuts its first check for construction.
Mayor, County Working On Plans
Tampa and Hillsborough County need to unite behind a plan before pursuing federal funding, and so far there are few signs that will happen.
County commissioners are figuring out whether they want a rail system, more buses and roads, or a combination of all three. They formed a task force three weeks ago to come up with transit options. Its recommendations are due in six months.
Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio isn't waiting to get started. She wants to build a rail system based on a six-year-old plan created by Hillsborough Area Regional Transit.
In September, the mayor asked the county's Metropolitan Planning Organization, composed of city and county leaders, to re-examine the HART proposal, called the Tampa Rail Plan.
That plan would have had passengers zipping along a light rail system connecting downtown with the University of South Florida, West Shore and Tampa International Airport.
Adding to that plan, the mayor wants possible extensions to St. Petersburg, Lakeland, Brooksville and Bradenton.
The planning organization is set to start working in about a week and take about a year. At the end, the mayor will know which details of the HART plan are applicable today and whether further analysis is needed.
If the study is complete, she can begin the process of applying for federal money, assuming the regional lines come later.
But before doing that, she'll need support from enough county commissioners to put the local funding question to voters. County voters would be asked whether they want to pay a higher tax, likely a half-cent sales tax, to build and maintain the system.
This was where HART's quest for federal money derailed the last time. A majority of commissioners did not support a voter referendum to raise local tax dollars, and because no action was taken the Federal Transit Administration dropped HART's funding request in 2005.
First Try Went Down In Flames
The decision was a rebuke to HART and signaled a dramatic shift in the local political climate from the time the transit agency started developing its rail plan in the mid-1990s to the time that plan was submitted to the transit administration in 2001.
"There was a lot of heated debate, some of which got personal," said Scott Paine, an associate professor of political science at the University of Tampa and a former Tampa councilman. "The argument was that it was too expensive, nobody will ride it, and it won't work."
Opponents charged that the local matching tax dollars were based on optimistic assumptions that New Starts would shoulder at least half of the $1.5 billion total cost. They wanted assurance about the transit administration's commitment before asking local voters to step up.
Supporters countered that the transit administration wouldn't cut a check until the local funding question was resolved.
There were other arguments, too, chiefly that HART's system provided no benefit to commuters outside the city limits, and that any rail plan should begin from a regional perspective that includes unincorporated Hillsborough, and Pinellas and Polk counties.
Supporters, however, said it made better sense to establish a system where it would get the most use. A regional plan could come later.
"There was a lot of posturing by opponents as well as advocates," Paine said.
Phoenix, which broke ground two years ago on a 20-mile rail system between Mesa and Tempe, took a different approach from Tampa's when it went knocking on the transit administration's door.
The city and its suburban counterparts decided to marry city interests with those of Mesa and Tempe before applying for federal money. In effect, they quelled local and regional sparring before it started.
By the time the cities brought the funding question to voters in the form of a sales tax referendum in 2000, "there had already been a lot of cooperation up front, in just having this vision put to the voters," said Marty McNeil, spokeswoman for Valley Metro Rail in Arizona.
Three years after that referendum, the transit administration approved the Phoenix plan, and two years later ground was broken. The transit administration is giving Phoenix $587 million; locally, $765 million is being funded by a sales tax.
The first trains are expected to start rolling late next year.
In contrast, HART didn't resolve the question of local funding when it submitted its application in 2001 or in subsequent years when the transit administration was considering its proposal. Opponents on the county commission wouldn't let that happen. They were successful in ensuring the question was never put to voters.
Suburbs Must Get On Board
Five years ago, HART estimated the local taxpayer share at $750 million. County commissioners see that as a huge sum, particularly for suburban commuters who might not ride the system.
That makes the mayor's plan a hard sell without some routes providing access to the suburbs, said Commissioner Brian Blair, a former member of HART's board of directors.
"I couldn't vote to give one community all the benefits of a large sum of money at the expense of other communities. And you're talking a lot of money," he said.
And if suburban voters won't back it, Blair said, he will have a tough time asking them to pay for it.
"It's extremely important that folks in Apollo Beach, Wimauma, Sun City Center, Town 'N Country and Carrollwood see some type of benefit if it's going be voted upon to help the constituents of Hillsborough County," he said.
Blair backs the concept of connecting the city and suburbs. The county task force studying transit options supports that idea, too.
And Harrison, chairman of Hillsborough's Metropolitan Planning Organization, supports a system that combines city-suburban interests.
"It's just a nonstarter for us to keep talking about new taxes for mass transit in the city of Tampa when it's got to be approved by the county commission to go to a referendum," he said. "That does not mean this is dead on arrival, but you have to be smart in how you approach this."
Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at (813) 259-7633 or rshopes@tampatrib.com.
Work In Progress
SALT LAKE CITY AREA
Opening: 2008
Project length: 44 miles (commuter rail)
FTA funding: $489 million
Local match: $122 million
DENVER
Opened: 2006
Project length: 19 miles (light rail)
FTA funding: $525 million
Local match: $354 million
PORTLAND
Opening: 2009
Project length: 8.3 miles (light rail)
FTA funding: $334 million
Local match: $223 million
PHOENIX
Opening: 2008
Project length: 19.6 miles (light rail)
FTA funding: $587.2 million
Local match: $765 million
PITTSBURGH
Opening: 2011
Project length: Two 1.2-mile tunnels (light rail)
FTA funding: $254 million
Local match: $87 million (includes $72.5 million from state)
DALLAS
Opening: 2010
Project length: 21 miles (light rail)
FTA funding: $700 million
Local match: $706 million
Leave Wal-Mart to Spring Lake
St. Petersburg Times Letters to the Editor Published February 13, 2007
Re: Wal-Mart, other forces are bad fits Jan. 31 letter to the editor
I would ask letter writers Doug and Holly Sheffield what's wrong with new development in the Spring Hill community? As a Spring Lake resident, I've read numerous letters to the editor about how the proposed Hickory Hill housing development will benefit our community. I find that the majority of the letters in favor of the proposed development are from readers who don't even live in the Spring Lake community, e.g., Spring Hill, Wesley Chapel, etc.
Think of all the benefits that a new Wal-Mart will bring. Residents living nearby won't have to drive their cars, and can simply walk across the street, thus saving gas. The crime rate will probably go down in your area because of the lights from the parking lots. And, finally, when you need that new golf club or new golf balls, you can drive your cart from the course to that new Wal-Mart.
All joking aside, I believe we will agree that the residents living in the area should have a voice as to future developments that effect their community -without outside opinions.
Lori Lee, Brooksville
How much water will we sacrifice?
I have been reading all letters to the editor pertaining to the proposed Hickory Hill project and I am confused about which side is presenting the straight facts about the impact that a community this size would have on Hernando County.
It seems to me that the Southwest Florida Water Management District, with all its warnings about the dangerously low levels of our water supplies, should be the key figure in the disallowance of the Hickory Hill project. What, if any, is its input to this confounded dilemma?
How much more are we to cut back on our vital consumption of this precious water supply? Lawns and landscaping be darned; if necessary we can live without them. It's the living beings who need to survive.
Come on, Hernando County residents, let your voices be heard!
Dick Smith, Spring Hill
City gives eastside Wal-Mart final OK After years of debate, a Wal-Mart Supercenter has cleared all the approvals required by the Gainesville City Commission and could open by the end of the year.Without any discussion, Gainesville city commissioners gave unanimous final approval to a plan that would bend NE 12th Avenue to the south to accommodate the proposed 206,000-square-foot supercenter, which would be located off Waldo Road. With the unanimous vote, Wal-Mart can now build a supercenter.
"Awesome," Commissioner Rick Bryant said as the vote was finished.
Construction on the Wal-Mart could begin by the end of March and it could be open in time for Christmas shopping, said Gainesville attorney Ron Carpenter, who is representing the Bentonville, Ark., retailer.
Commissioners and residents have been largely supportive of the supercenter proposal and have said they hope the store will bring more retail to the east side. The eastside store is the fourth Wal-Mart Supercenter the City Commission has considered in recent years and thus far the only one approved.
The first two proposals would have put the store at the corner of NW 53rd Avenue and U.S. 441. Commissioners rejected that plan because of environmental concerns about the headwaters of Hogtown Creek, which are on the site. A Home Depot is now being constructed on the site and part of the land is being set aside for conservation.
A third proposal, by former City Manager Wayne Bowers, would have swapped the city's Northside Park to Wal-Mart in exchange for the 92-acre NW 53rd Avenue property. The 32-acre park would have been used as the site of the supercenter while the other site could have been preserved. Commissioners rejected that idea.
"Wal-Mart is just excited to work with the east Gainesville community," said Quenta Vettel, a local Wal-Mart spokeswoman.
Jeff Adelson can be reached at (352) 374-5095 or adelsoj@gvillesun.com
Berry bad news for farmer
By MORGAN C. MOELLERmmoeller@hernandotoday.com
For most people, the weather is nothing more than a conversation starter — some small talk when you run out of things to say. But for Dan Ebbecke, the weather dictates his ability to make a living. For the blueberry farmer, warm weather means his blueberries ripen faster. A cold night means staying up until 2 a.m. to safeguard his crop. And a hard freeze can mean losing the berries — and his income — for the entire season.
So Ebbecke checks the weather at least three times a day, closely monitoring Mother Nature’s moods.
This year, what he’s seen is a bit unusual.
In Tampa Bay, the month of January tied record high temperatures of 83 degrees, the likes of which haven’t been felt since 1991, said John McMichael, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Ruskin.
Walking through his 11 acres of blueberry bushes, Ebbecke can see evidence of the unseasonably warm weather. Where small white flowers should be hanging, blueberries are already turning from green to violet.
The bushes shouldn’t have started flowering until last week. This year, they started flowering in early January.
“We’re three weeks to one month ahead (of season),” Ebbecke said.
That means crops that should be coming in the first week of April could come in sooner — and that’s not a good thing.
Florida blueberry farmers try to time their crops to fall strategically between the blueberry seasons to the south in South America and to the north in Georgia, said Dr. Stacy Strickland, regional special extension agent for the agricultural extension office. To get the best prices, they need to come in strong after the South American crop supplies peter out, but finish before the Georgia crop starts putting out berries. If there’s any overlap, the market tends to be saturated.
“If Chile comes in late and Georgia comes in early, it would push down our prices,” Ebbecke said.
Now he’s playing a waiting game.
If there are normal, cool temperatures in February and March, the blueberries aren’t likely to come in too early, Ebbecke said. In fact, if that’s the case, his plants could produce better quality berries because of the extended ripening period.
But the further along the ripening fruit is, the more at risk it is during a late-season freeze.
So if there’s a hard freeze that Ebbecke’s freeze protection systems can’t beat, he could lose his whole crop.
The National Weather Service gives him a 50-50 chance.
“For the next 90 days the temperature has an equal chance of being above or below normal” for the Southeastern United States, McMichael said.
Ebbecke’s trying to stay positive.
“I don’t think it’s going to be super early,” he said. “I think it’s going to be close to on time.”
On Thursday bees buzzed about in the mid-morning light pollinating the tiny white flowers that still hung from some of the bushes. Ebbecke fingered a bunch of berries.
“Oh yeah, they’re gonna be big, fat berries,” he said. “I can tell by looking at them.”
But high-quality blueberries — even coupled with high demand — won’t ensure Ebbecke and other local farmers a high price for their fruit.
Blueberry farming has become such a burgeoning business that supply may soon outweigh demand, Ebbecke said.
“The demand is growing, but the supply is outgrowing the demand,” Ebbecke said.
There was a time Ebbecke could get $40 per flat, or 3.5 pounds of berries. This season, he’s hoping to make $18 a flat. But last year he didn’t even get that.
And he’s not the only one suffering. Other Hernando County farmers are feeling the same pressures as competition throughout Florida and Latin American countries grows.
Larry Davis, owner of Spring Lake Blueberries, said Chilean farmers are planting blueberry varieties that allow them to elongate their season. He’s also heard that people are starting to grow the berries in Mexico.
Davis, who’s been in the business for about six years, said he’s seen his returns drop dramatically.
In 2005, a flat sold for an average of $25. Last year, flats sold for an average of just more than $15. Like Ebbecke, he’s hoping to at least make $18 per flat this year.
“I still made a heck of a lot better money than I would going to work for somebody,” Davis said. “Now if it gets down to $12 a flat … then that’s going to put a little different picture on things. Then there’s not going to be a whole lot of money to be made.”
Ebbecke knows he can’t survive as a blueberry farmer with just 11.5 acres in production. “I would have been happy to stay a niche farmer,” he said. “But I recognize that if you don’t get big you have to get out. The golden days are over. We’re in the silver years, and soon it will be bronze.”
So he’s getting big — or at least bigger. He’s expanding his farm from 11 acres to 31.
Davis knows he has to do something, too. But he doesn’t have the room to expand. So he’s trying to get more efficient instead.
“Once you reach one more berry than what’s out there for demand, you’re going to see a drop in the price no doubt about it,” he said.
Reporter Morgan Moeller can be contacted at 352-544-5229.
Remove waterfront dwellings, build lower-risk insurance pool
JAMES PETTICANPublished St. Petersburg times February 13, 2007
Politicians proclaim and experts expound on the high cost of homeowners insurance, and as the babble goes on, the rates get even higher.
Our high rates are not the problem. The real problem is too much insurance and too many people being fiscally sheltered by others.
All we need to do is eliminate all insurance for structures built too close to the beach (experts would work out the actual distance) and structures built on or near floodplains of lakes or rivers.
That way, those of us sensible enough and, perhaps, unimaginative enough, to build on high, dry land would not have to subsidize, through higher rates, those who build "sand castles" because the view is just "so beautiful."
Everyone would still be free to build on or close to beaches or floodplains but would have to supply evidence of sufficient personal worth to enable them to self-insure.
They might post a bond with the state or county or use other means to guarantee their post-hurricane solvency.
That would relieve the state of any responsibility to clean up their mess at government expense.
Meanwhile, the rest of us could enjoy lower rates because high-risk property would no longer be on insurance company ledgers.
No, we don't get to see the sunset over the bay or gulf from our homes, although we can by driving there now and then.
Meanwhile, we sleep better at night, knowing that those who like to take risks are still free to do so but not at our expense.
All of us would, of course, still have to contend with wind and rain, but not with flooding and storm surges.
We might need earplugs for a while to drown out the protests of the waterside dwellers, but eventually, common sense would prevail.
Sounds good to me.
Retired journalist James Pettican lives in Palm Harbor. Guest columnists write their own views on subjects they choose, which do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper
Developer Wants Mired Trump Tower
Published: Feb 13, 2007
TAMPA - Facing $3.3 million in construction liens, the stalled Trump Tower Tampa may have a new suitor with experience in the Trump brand of condominiums.
Donald Trump, who has repeatedly expressed frustration at the lack of progress at the riverfront site, is encouraging the acquisition and says the new company can turn the project around.
The Related Group, the Miami-based developer building three Trump projects in South Florida, wants to buy the development rights to the 52-story riverfront project at 111 S. Ashley Drive, Trump said by telephone Monday.
"Out of my 70-plus developments, this one in Tampa is the only one not moving," said Trump, who sold the naming rights for the tower to a local developer. "But I think it will be successful in the end. I'd like to see it be a great success."
Trump Tower Tampa was announced more than two years ago and quickly generated a waiting list for reservations to purchase, but Tampa-based SimDag LLC has struggled to get it off the ground. Plagued by rising construction costs, problems with unstable ground, and trouble lining up financing, SimDag in November sold the $260 million project to Mirabilis Ventures LLC, an Orlando-based private equity firm. SimDag remained as a partner.
Trump had tried for months to buy out the project but was outbid by Mirabilis. He said Monday that the Orlando company may choose to partner with the South Florida developer or may decide to go it alone.
Representatives for SimDag and Mirabilis did not return phone calls. The Related Group declined to comment.
The Related Group is building Trump Towers in Sunny Isles Beach and plans to break ground this spring on Trump Hollywood in Hollywood, Fla. Trump said he is working with the company to build an additional condo tower in West Palm Beach.
David Hooks, spokesman for Trump Tower Tampa, confirmed that "discussions are under way this week among SimDag, Mirabilis, Related and the Trump Organization."
"We need to settle the ownership issue before moving forward with the next step," Hooks said. "The new development program is being finalized."
As for the liens, Hooks said, "those are all going to be satisfied."
Meanwhile, the project is being rebid to subcontractors, and some companies who already completed work say they haven't been paid.
Henry Lewis, president of the City Blue Print in Tampa, said SimDag hasn't paid him since June. Lewis said his company printed construction plans on Trump Tower as well as two other SimDag projects, Plaza Channelside and Antigua Bay in Clearwater.
Mirabilis also acquired the Antigua Bay project in November, and representatives said then that plans were under way to purchase seven to nine more of SimDag's luxury condo projects.
Lewis says SimDag owes him $32,000.
"This has been going on for a long time, and we're tired," Lewis said. "I call and they don't call back, and when I do talk to them, they always have a different story."
While Lewis is waiting to get paid, the developers are already ordering work from another blueprint company. Cory Deermont, vice president of Tampa Reprographics & Supply, said his company received an order from SimDag late last week to print 75 copies of the new construction plans.
Deermont said he was told the project would be rebid. "Costs have gone up, so I don't think they can hold contractors to old prices," Deermont said, noting that he has always been paid promptly by SimDag. .
The first general contractor for the Trump project, Dallas-based Turner Construction Co., was dismissed in April and filed a $1.2 million lien against the property two months later. Case Atlantic Co., which installed foundational support pillars on the property, filed a $1.9 million lien in October and two smaller contractors, Finke Bros. and L.R. Penny & Associates, filed liens of $97,000 and $2,500 respectively in January.
"I had to file to protect my rights," said Rodney Finke, co-owner of the site preparation company. "I hope they'll get their act together, take care of whatever problems they have and pay us."
Finke said he has been paid for work he's doing on other SimDag projects, but Lauren Penny, owner of the survey company, said that company hasn't.
Penny said a lien is also being filed against Antigua Bay in Clearwater. Payment for work on both projects is more than 90 days late, Penny said.
"We've done a lot of work for [SimDag] and they're terrific," Penny said. "I feel terrible, but the situation is at such a point I had to file to protect myself."
Construction deadlines have been pushed back multiple times. The last completion date, announced in October, is mid-2009.
In the past two years, SimDag has parted ways with two contractors and passed on at least $40 million in construction increases to buyers with reservations to purchase units. Condos originally sold for $700,000 to more than $6 million.
Rebidding the project now raises questions about how much more it will cost developers to build the tower. Some Trump buyers have been asked to pay tens of thousands more to offset rising costs. Some paid; others dropped out.
Now that most purchase agreements have been converted to hard contracts, those prices can't be changed.
Reporter Shannon Behnken can be reached at (813) 259-7804 or sbehnken@tampatrib.com.
Crist proposes advocate for endangered panthers
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published February 12, 2007
NAPLES - Gov. Charlie Crist wants to hire an advocate to manage an increasing number of complaints about run-ins between people and the rebounding population of the endangered Florida panther.
Crist's budget proposal unveiled Feb. 2 includes about $231,000 for a state panther campaign, including a $37,567 salary and a $26,211 vehicle for a panther advocate. The Legislature must approve the position.
In recent years, panthers have rebounded from the brink of extinction, from roughly 30 to about 100 on the southwestern edge of the Everglades.
But the big cats have been blamed for killing emus from a zoo and goats and dogs from rural back yards. Documented panther attacks on livestock jumped from two in 2004 to six in 2006. Biologists also are reporting more panther deaths on Florida highways.
Warnings about keeping children close after dark and caging livestock have triggered concern in fast-growing southwest Florida, where development is pushing up against the panthers' remaining 2.5-million acres of habitat.
Residents "are quite understandably concerned," said Layne Hamilton, manager of the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuges in eastern Collier County.
"We have a lot of new people moving into this county," Hamilton said. "We have to find out a way to reach out to them."
A look through a spotting scope revealed scores of cranes flying above the prairie. But the seven rare whooping cranes seen around the park in recent weeks were nowhere to be found.
Yet there were no complaints from the more than one dozen birders on the tour, led by Bubba Scales of the Wild Birds Unlimited store in Gainesville. The group was treated to a variety of birding sights from dive-bombing swallows to a slow-moving bittern.
Cranes were the main reason for the trip, sponsored by Friends of Paynes Prairie. A drop in water levels allowing hikers to access the inner prairie has also attracted hundreds of sandhill cranes.
"They're concentrated in the prairie right now because the conditions are good for them to be here," Scales said.
Sandhill cranes are long-necked, gray birds, each with a patch of red on their heads. Florida is home to a resident population and also gets an influx of migratory cranes, wintering here before heading north in February and March.
A subplot of the tour was the presence of the sandhill crane's relative, the endangered whooping crane. The giant white birds were on the verge of extinction in the 1940s and today just several hundred remain in the wild.
The population took a hit Feb. 2 when 17 juvenile cranes were killed in the storms that spawned tornadoes in Central Florida. The group was in an enclosure in Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge near Crystal River when the storms hit and apparently drowned the birds, said Joe Duff, co-founder of Operation Migration.
The group uses an ultralight aircraft to help the birds make their migration to Florida from the north. He said the presence of adult whoopers on Paynes Prairie, outside their typical territory farther south, was good news for the species.
Two whooping cranes appeared on the prairie in mid-December and another five showed up in early January, said Tally Love, a tracking intern for the International Crane Foundation.
The whoopers were initially spotted from the Alachua Lake Overlook trail, said JulieAnne Tabone, park services specialist at Paynes Prairie. But she said the birds have been reported more recently on trails throughout the park.
"It's impossible to miss the whooping cranes when they're in sight," Tabone said. "Nothing compares in size to the whooping crane."
The whooping crane is the tallest North American bird, measuring about five feet in height. While whoopers have been seen on the prairie a few times in the recent years, Tabone said this was the first instance they have stayed around for so long.
Birders trying to get a glimpse should stay 600 feet away, said Richard Urbanek, biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The officials don't want the birds' behavior influenced by humans.
"We don't want people to get too close to them," he said.
While whoopers didn't make an appearance on Sunday's tour, the group saw a variety of other wading birds.
The secretive American bittern was seen moving stealthily in aquatic vegetation along the La Chua Trail on the north side of Paynes Prairie.
Tree swallows swooped across the path, giving an up-close view.
While the sandhill cranes were the main attraction, they were mostly heard and not seen in close proximity.
The cranes' resonating bugle sounds echoed across the prairie throughout the morning. Scales said the birds have a long trachea that creates the trumpet-like call.
The migratory group have been known to start leaving as early as the first week of February and generally leave in the greatest numbers in March, he said. So the tour was timed to take advantage of seeing the cranes before they depart.
"I would hate to have a sandhill crane tour and get out here and they're all gone," Scales said.
Nathan Crabbe can be reached at 352-338-3176 or crabben@gvillesun.com.
State Asks How To Manage Alligators
The meetings follow a Web-based survey that was conducted last year and comments at the agency's monthly meeting in Key Largo. Responses showed Floridians' attitudes varied on alligator regulations.
Some thought the state was too restrictive in their approach to alligators, some thought the regulations were too lenient and some thought they are adequate. "These meetings will enable us to discuss and receive additional feedback regarding four key areas of alligator management: public safety, recreational harvests, commercial harvests and conservation," said Harry J. Dutton, FWC's alligator management program coordinator.
The St. Petersburg meetings and topics will be: Feb. 27, alligator conservation; Feb. 28, public safety; and March 1, alligator hunting, each from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve, Lake Maggiore Environmental Education Center, 1101 Country Club Way S.
The Orlando meetings and topics will be: March 27, public safety; March 28, alligator hunting; and March 29, alligator management, each from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Florida Department of Transportation, Lake Apopka B Room, 233 S. Semoran Blvd.
For more information, go to MyFWC.com/gators/input.html.
Tom Palmer can be reached at tom.palmer@theledger.com or 863-802-7535.
Clustering pros, cons to be aired in face-off
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Monday, February 12, 2007
STUART — After nearly two years of angry public hearings, television commercial campaigns and a movie, the final showdown on Martin County's heated study of its development rules could be within sight.
County commissioners Feb. 20 will debate the final recommendations of the $528,000 study conducted by the Orlando-based firm Glatting Jackson. Martin County paid the firm in 2005 to study the county's rules for developing vacant land, such as the limit of one home per 20-acre lot in rural areas, and to suggest changes.
According to a copy of the final study report released by the county Thursday, the consultant recommended allowing a different form of rural development, called clustering, and giving builders the option to develop dense pockets of homes if they preserve 60 percent of the land as open space.
The consultant also recommended allowing developers of rural land to build up to twice as many homes as they would be allowed to build now if they preserve environmentally sensitive land targeted for government conservation.
Tim Jackson, one of the consultants performing the study, has said these density bonuses would amount to only 2,800 more homes at the most in rural Martin County and would preserve about 56,000 acres.
Critics of the study and the clustering recommendation say it will cover the countryside in urban sprawl.
"We think it's extremely bad for growth planning," Martin County Conservation Alliance Chairwoman Donna Melzer said of the final study report. "It's just got some real awful things in it."
Melzer, who distributed a video opposing the study last year, said she plans to organize opposition to the recommendations at the commission hearing.
"If we've got anything to say about it, people will be screaming at the commissioners, telling them to reject this," she said.
Another group, Guardians of the Martin County Comprehensive Growth Management Plan, is running anti-clustering commercials on television.
But supporters of the study said commissioners should not make any final decisions on the recommendations now.
"I don't think it's thumbs up or thumbs down like in the Coliseum on the 20th," said Mary Dawson, director of the Friends of Martin County and a supporter of allowing clustering.
Dawson suggested that commissioners conduct a follow-up study, applying the Glatting Jackson recommendations to specific pieces of land in Martin County.
"I think they should take it under advisement and factor it in their thinking and keep working on it," she said.
Cities seek a new center
Central Florida communities are pushing the growth of compact, pedestrian-friendly downtowns.
Sandra PediciniSentinel Staff Writer
February 12, 2007
Central Florida has downtown fever.
Suburban cities where downtowns never naturally evolved are working with developers to mold what they hope will become vibrant town centers. Cities that already have them are seeking ways to revitalize or add to them, and at least one city is trying to create an entirely new downtown.
Even within larger cities, such as Orlando, developers are creating commercial centers as a focal point within their communities.
The idea touted behind these places: Live, work and play all in one spot. It's the exact opposite of the type of planning -- or lack of it -- that resulted in suburban sprawl.
And governments are taking an active role in these new town centers, selecting developers and providing incentives, such as building roads and park improvements. Many are modeling them after private efforts, such as the downtown in Celebration, a neotraditional community developed by Walt Disney Co., and Winter Park Village, an open-air complex of stores, restaurants, a multiplex movie theater and a small apartment complex.
Cities may want downtowns to achieve a sense of identity, but market forces are at work, too.
"It's not important for them to do it as a civic gesture, although it probably has some value as that," said John Norquist, president and chief executive of Congress for the New Urbanism, a nonprofit group that encourages the building of such compact, pedestrian-friendly communities. "It's important because that's where retail's going. Shoppers want . . . an enjoyable social experience. They want to be in real places."
Baldwin Park Development Co. managing director David Pace describes the village center as "really, the central shopping district." The first phase of Winter Springs Town Center is exactly that -- a shopping center that, like the one in Baldwin Park, is anchored by a Publix grocery store.
When Oviedo Mayor Tom Walters discusses plans for a new downtown, he talks not so much about creating a sense of place but something that can "bring economic development to the city's core." Oviedo's project is unusual in that the city already has a downtown, albeit one that is small with a handful of stores. The new one, to be anchored by an amphitheater and park, is planned for about a mile down the road.
The key, experts say, is to strike a balance -- not offer more retail than the market can handle and bring in other attractions, from movie theaters to parks to libraries, that will give people something to do other than shop.
Robert Gibbs of Gibbs Planning Group, a retail consultant who has worked on projects including Winter Park Village, predicts that half the town centers under construction will be distressed centers in a decade because of competition. To stay successful, he said, a town center "should be a 24-hour, active place, where people go and they don't feel like shoppers or consumers, but they feel like citizens when they're there."
Many of the town centers will have office space -- Gibbs suggests that should make up about 25 percent of the development, so there will be enough workers to help support the retail.
Some, such as Winter Springs and Maitland, also will incorporate government offices in their downtowns, though Altamonte Springs' City Hall lies two miles from the city's new Uptown Altamonte, and Oviedo's new downtown will be a block away and across a divided highway from its City Hall.
However, the attraction needs to remain after the 9-to-5 crowd calls it a day.
"You need to have nightlife. If not, the place is like a tomb after 5 or 6 o'clock at night," said Britt Beemer, a retail analyst. "You've got to create a buzz."
That's what several cities are trying to do. Altamonte Springs holds many events, including its signature Independence Day festivities, at Cranes Roost Park -- now the centerpiece of Uptown Altamonte. Winter Springs also stages many community events at its new town center.
Similar activities are being sought for the planned amphitheater in Oviedo's new downtown, and Oviedo and Winter Springs are competing to open a library in their town centers.
At downtowns that are more in the planning stages, such as the one in Maitland, it's a little more uncertain what the round-the-clock draw will be.
Another crucial component of the new downtowns: residents.
For people who live in the town centers, the idea is supposed to be that whatever they need can be within walking distance.
But how many people actually do live and work in the same spot, or do most of their shopping within the town center, is uncertain.
"It's just that you have the opportunity to do it," Norquist said. "People want to buy in a walkable neighborhood, even though they may not, deep down inside, be intending to walk all that much."
Winter Springs' first phase has been criticized for encouraging people to park their cars in an expansive parking lot set behind rows of stores and then come in through back entrances rather than stroll around and peer into storefronts.
Other communities have struggled, too. Retailers have complained that things haven't been buzzing at Orlando's Baldwin Park, where construction of the retail fell behind schedule.
Some cities are struggling simply to get something off of the ground. The original developers of projects in Casselberry and Maitland backed out. The one in Casselberry blamed a soft real-estate market; Maitland's cited a litigious atmosphere.
"I think some of them are working better than others," Norquist said. "We haven't reached perfection yet."
Sandra Pedicini can be reached at spedicini@orlandosentinel.com or 407-322-7669.
Governor Crist Could Resurrect High-Speed Rail Project
Former Gov. Jeb Bush's attempts to kill the high-speed rail project for Florida may have ended in failure.Gov. Charlie Crist is expected to consider filling the vacancies on the Florida High Speed Rail Authority that Bush refused to appoint. Toot toot.
Opponents have consistently accused the former governor of being aloof and arrogant and his actions, at least in trying to kill the high speed rail, might have tended to back up that claim.
Bush turned on a friend who had given him moral, financial and tactical support in the years between his 1994 loss to Democratic Gov. Lawton Chiles and his eventual victory in the race for governor in 1998 because of the high-speed rail issue.
C.C. "Doc'' Dockery of Lakeland had been an early and loyal supporter.
But Dockery did something Bush didn't like.
He spent $3 million of his own money to get an amendment on the ballot in 2000 to mandate that the state build a high-speed rail system after Bush ended an earlier bullet train project.
Fifty-three percent of the voters approved it.
Bush didn't like it and tried to stop it at every turn.
He appointed members to the High Speed Rail Authority he knew to be opposed to the bullet train idea or who at least had not taken a position.
Some turned in favor of the system once they were on the authority.
Bush said it would cost taxpayers enormous sums.
He had an outside group and the help from then-Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher to get enough petition signatures to put the issue back on the ballot.
The amendment to remove the mandate from the state constitution passed in 2004.
The governor thought he had won.
He even wrote a letter suggesting that since that the amendment had been removed, the authority should dissolve itself.
Well, they couldn't do that because the authority had been created by the Legislature and not the executive branch - separation of powers and all that.
The Legislature never did dissolve the authority and the authority members went about finishing up plans for the initial route from Orlando to Tampa and then went into hibernation waiting for a new governor.
Now about all that money; authority members said they only wanted the $70-plus million annually that had been approved but never appropriated in the DOT budget.
Fares would take care of the rest of the expenses, which would be up to the private operator of the train system, they said.
The nine-member Florida High Speed Rail Authority is made up of members appointed by the speaker of the House, the president of the Senate and the governor.
When his appointees' terms ran out, Bush did not appoint replacements.
Now that Crist is in office with a decidedly different style, the authority members and high-speed rail supporters say they see the strong possibility he will bring the authority back to full strength - and they can again start the first leg of the rail system.
DEMOCRATS? WHERE?
Democrats have yet to talk about potential candidates for three Florida House seats that will be open next year while Republicans already are having a free for all.
This space has almost turned into the weekly which-Republican-is-running-for-what-Florida-House-seat.
So far three Republicans have been mentioned for the District 65 seat held by Rep. Marty Bowen, R-Haines City, when she leaves in November 2008 after term limits cut in.
Two people also are mentioned prominently for District 64 when state Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Lakeland, leaves at the same time.
But now for the latest rumored candidate for Ross' Florida House District 64:
Lakeland City Commissioner Gow Fields is rumored to be very interested in the seat.
Fields is black and a Republican and is well connected to the Republican kingmakers in the county.
He likes to downplay his projects on the commission while privately lining up the big guns to get things done, and it is likely he would do the same in a race for the Florida House.
Too early for all this talk about elections still at least a year and a half away you say?
Not in this day and age.
It is the early candidate who gets the money.
But you can't officially collect that money until you open a campaign account.
So far, amid the talk and the private question, "If I run will you …" no candidate has opened an account for either seat.
The only two candidates with districts in Polk to have open campaign accounts for the 2008 election so far are Rep. Seth McKeel, R-Lakeland, who hasn't yet served in his first regular session after being elected last fall, and Republican Mike Horner of Kissimmee, who wants Rep. Frank Attkisson's District 79 seat.
Attkisson, too, will run into term limits next year.
Ledger Political Editor Bill Rufty can be reached at bill.rufty@theledger.com or 863-802-7523.
Camp's old-timers worry bigger will be bitter
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Monday, February 12, 2007
PAHOKEE — You can call this way of life boring, the quarters too close, but the people camped along Lake Okeechobee will disagree.
Most of them, anyway.
They'd prefer you call it serene, "speck"-laden or a steal. They have water and sky and friendly neighbors.
"We know what's here," said retiree Mae Hill of upstate New York.
More to the point, they know what's not.
No Cartier to shop at or cineplex to sit in. There's only one local restaurant, maybe two. Until a grocery opened just over the dike in Pahokee, food shopping meant a 20-minute trip.
All of that's just fine with them.
For nearly two decades, the simple things have brought Hill back to the lip of Lake O atop a yellowed patch of grass where she parks her compact Challenger RV. There are a couple of dozen snowbirds like her who long ago set up camp in Pahokee's marina complex and faithfully returned each year when they grew tired of turning on heaters in their home states.
But their brigade has dwindled, death stealing some in their twilight years.
It's unclear whether the next generation of retirees will continue the tradition, for one reason: the marina's swanky redevelopment and higher rental prices. After a long run of handling the marina by itself, Pahokee in 2001 partnered with a private company to redo and run it.
The effect already is apparent: Only half of the 85 spots were occupied in late January. During years past - until Everglades Venture Co. took over operations - the place was so packed that some campers doubled up in lots and others hunkered down in parking areas.
City leaders say they're aware of the vacancies. It doesn't bother them much, though, because they believe the $12 million redevelopment ultimately will pave the way for Pahokee to rise beyond its chronic condition of poverty and attract more visitors.
Higher lot rental rates haven't yet affected the old-timers: Everglades Adventures RV & Sailing Resort agreed to keep down the regulars' prices, currently about $380 a month. But those who haven't been coming steadily for at least a dozen years pay $615 a month.
"They're going to price themselves out of here," said snowbird Cathy Nordstrom, one of the newcomers. The Minnesota native, 65, and her husband don't plan to return.
The old-timers talk about the resort's upscale construction in conflicted terms. Like a long-standing yet languishing couple considering a breakup, they're nervous that change won't bring anything better, but every now and then, they believe it might.
They don't want loud tourists, the flashy kind, who'll wear high heels to the pool being built to overlook the lake. Or haughty diners who'll look down their noses at fishermen who stop by the tiki bar and waterside restaurant.
On the other hand, the planned horseback riding might be nice.
Until it all materializes, though, they'll stick to their old comforts. On an unseasonably cool January afternoon, Hill and Cathy McPhee sat face-to-face in folding chairs, an Upwords board between them. This is their daily ritual. It starts at 1 and lasts till 3, always behind Hill's RV.
"If you're a shopaholic, this is not the place to be," Hill said.
Mary Duncan, the third in their crew, is missing but soon to come. All three ladies are in their 70s.
This season marks Duncan's 19th year at the campground. Twelve years ago she buried her Yorkshire terrier, Buttons, on her site. Word is her husband, "Slick," wears the figurative title of captain of the old-timers. A fisherman, he's among those who come here angling for speckled perch - "speck" or "crappie" to those in the know.
Bad luck sent the two Tennesseans to the campground in 1987. They took a wrong turn on their way to Okeechobee and wound up here. But it was love at first sight for Mary: The Pahokee complex is the only direct-access waterfront facility on the shores of Lake O. Didn't matter that the place was fully booked, leaving the couple stationed in the overflow area for two weeks.
Back then the campground was dense with trees. Now the Australian pines poke up randomly near the waterline, looking like forlorn cacti in a desert. Storms took many of the others, making for less privacy these days. And the wind blows strong off the water here, a blessing to some, frustrating for others.
For Bill Liston, the steady, moist stream coming off the currents means easier breathing. The retired machine shop foreman from Michigan has emphysema. His motor home is stationed a dozen paces from the Duncans'.
Liston and his wife, Pat, have been coming here since 1991. Before that they tried camping on the state's east and west coasts, but both spots felt too crowded. Then one of their daughter's neighbors near West Palm Beach suggested the Pahokee campground.
Speck fishing is a big part of what's kept Bill Liston coming back, but the stock hasn't been so flush this year. So he's taken to a new hobby while Pat spends days crocheting and reading: walking his 6-month-old golden retriever, Brandon, along the paved dike edge that rises between Pahokee and Lake O.
From there, he can see straight across the lake, a stretch so vast that the sky cuts off the water before it reaches land again. Next year, it likely will look the same. But by then the construction should be completed. That's what will determine whether this decades-old wintering community shrinks more or yields to a different trend.
End of the simple life?
Pahokee leases its campground and marina from the state. It then subleases the property to Everglades Venture Co., which is redeveloping Everglades Adventures RV & Sailing Resort, paid for in part by the city and grants.
Coming in August: a restaurant, tiki bar, pavilion and pool.Still years away:an amphitheater, petting zoo and horse rental area. Under the development plan, the city gets 25 percent of the resort's revenue or $32,000 a year, whichever is greater, but not until the operation is profitable. The company assumes any losses. Co-owner Jim Sheehan said he expects the resort to turn a profit next year. The company gave the city $32,000 in 2006.
Current rental costs: Longtime winter customers pay $380 a month to rent lakefront lots that fit RVs. But rates for newer customers are $615 a month from January to May and $435 a month during the rest of the year. The rates include water, sewer and electricity. They don't include taxes.
How does this compare with the Belle Glade campground? The Belle Glade campground, which sits along the rim canal leading to Lake Okeechobee, charges $93 a week plus tax for the same services. Hurricanes damaged most of its 350 lots, leaving only 25 open now - all filled - along with several others that lack sewer and rent for less. All 350 lots should be available by the end of March. Deborah Conran, who handles Belle Glade's campground reservations, said about a dozen people currently staying at Pahokee's campground intend to come to Belle Glade as soon as vacancies open.
City Mulls Annexation That County, Residents Oppose
Published: Feb 12, 2007
PORT RICHEY - County commissioners don't want the city to annex nearly 10 acres of coastal high hazard wetlands.
Residents in the area don't favor it either.
Now it's the city council's turn to tackle the issue.
The board will discuss the proposed ordinances allowing annexation, rezoning and land-use map changes at its 7:30 p.m. Tuesday meeting at city hall, 6333 Ridge Road.
The 9.928-acre site is at the western end of Limit Drive, less than a mile from its intersection with U.S. 19. The property includes 7.66 upland acres within the wetlands on the north side of Wigwam Creek near the Gulf of Mexico and is owned by Ski Lakes LLC, a Lutz-based firm headed by David Boger.
The developer won approval from the city's Planning and Zoning Board in September to make the property part of the city and to rezone it to allow for a multiuse condominium and retail development.
But Tuesday, county commissioners voiced unanimous opposition, citing concerns over access, environmental impacts, traffic and utilities.
Sam Steffey, Pasco's growth management administrator, outlined his reasons in a letter signed by commission Chairwoman Ann Hildebrand and sent to Port Richey Building Official Ed Winch.
The letter says that changing the land-use classification from coastal land to planned use development "is not an appropriate residential density."
Only one dwelling unit per 40 acres is allowed under the coastal land classification. The planned use development allows 18 units per acre.
Chief Assistant County Attorney Barbara Wilhite said Pasco officials have never allowed the kind of development Ski Lakes LLC is proposing in a coastal high hazard area.
Meanwhile, "there are a lot of angry people who are concerned about what's going on out there," said attorney Randy Love, whose client, Cynthia Rathbone, lives next to the site.
"We think the annexation and rezoning and application is fraught with danger, both from the environmental standpoint and coastal high hazard area standpoint," Love said.
County Commissioner Michael Cox, a former Port Richey mayor, said he's familiar with the site and opposes what's planned there.
"What they're proposing to develop should not be developed out there," he said. "It can't support what they're proposing."
Although the zoning change would allow more buildings, Boger has said he isn't interested in taking advantage of it.
BY RICK NEALE
FLORIDA TODAY
To date, 106 property owners have signed a petition protesting Harbor Gardens Condominiums, a proposed 60-foot waterfront building off U.S. 1 near Sarno Road.
The structure overlooking Elbow Creek would exceed the area's 40-foot zoning height limit. And many residents believe the building would fit poorly in their neighborhood.
"Let's hold off on the Miami Beach look as long as possible," resident Sally Fairchild wrote in a letter to city officials.
Earlier this month, the Melbourne planning and zoning board recommended denial of a conditional use permit for the 60-foot building. The city council could cast a decisive vote on Feb. 27.
The developer, Harbor Gardens LLC, owns three acres off the east side of U.S. 1, immediately south of the Eau Gallie Harbour Club Condominiums and Waterline Marina. This property includes the long-abandoned Boathouse Discount Marine facility.
The Palm Bay corporation wants to build 60 housing units, including 10 two-bedroom and 50 three-bedroom dwellings, on five floors atop a parking level. Plans also call for a swimming pool, deck and clubhouse.
Some neighbors worry the project would exacerbate congestion on U.S. 1, which already averages 55,570 vehicles per day, city records show. But Jack Spira, Harbor Gardens LLC managing partner, disagrees.
Spira said the Florida Department of Transportation would likely approve a new turn lane, leading to a common entrance shared by the proposed building and Eau Gallie Harbour Club.
"We feel the project will abate the traffic situation. It's really a benefit, and we hope to talk to their board of directors (this) week," he said.
Spira said some petition signers live nowhere near the condominium site. Others, particularly in the Ballard Park neighborhood, believe the 60-foot building would block views of sunsets, he said. But he estimated those homes are 400 to 500 feet away.
Technically, the property has been slated for condominium construction for years. In September 2004, the council approved a previous owner's plan for a 54-unit building that would be 40 feet tall. That never materialized, though an aging sign on U.S. 1 still proclaims, "Riverfront Condos Coming Soon!"
Harbor Gardens LLC acquired the site, then added an adjoining one-third acre lot in August for $720,000, Brevard County Property Appraiser's Office records show. That lot housed the Ink Doktors tattoo parlor, which moved two doors down.
Contact Neale at 242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com
Developer: 'Vote' to bring Target to Citrus
By Jim HunterCitizens petition their government for things all the time. In a little different twist, a commercial developer is suggesting that if residents want to help seal a deal that would bring a Target store to Citrus County, they could sign a petition saying they really want the store.
The store is planned for a regional shopping center at the corner of County Road 491 and County Road 486 on the southwest corner of the intersection. It would anchor a 43-acre, 300,000-square-foot center that will have three other "junior" anchors and 30,000 square feet of other retail shops.
However, the center would need an increased capacity on the two roads that bracket that location -- meaning four-laning it. Those two roads are next on the list for widening by the county, but funding determines the timing of those improvements.
Gulf to Lakes Associates, marketing the commercial property for owner Black Diamond, has been negotiating with the county and the developer of the center, Crosland of Charlotte, North Carolina. Getting right-of-way along the commercial corridor of C.R. 486 could expedite the road widening and is an important part of the ongoing negotiations between county officials and Crosland and Gulf to Lakes.
Developers can sometimes donate land or help pay for necessary infrastructure improvements and get impact fee credits that make it feasible for them.
Mike Wiggins, Senior Vice-president of Retail Development for Crosland, said his company has been working for two years to get Target to anchor the center. Such stores often require a higher density within a certain amount of miles, Crosland said, but he added that studies have been done that show 80 percent of the population of the county is within 30 minutes or less to the center. The agreement with Target has gotten down to the final part of the process, with Target officials coming for a final site review at the first of the month.
So, Wiggins said, a petition of residents who want a store would help show Target officials that residents would indeed support it.
"Consider it a vote for Target -- that there are a lot of open arms waiting for them in Citrus County," Wiggins said.
Residents can print a form off the Internet site at: citruscountyfl.com, sign it and mail it in to be included on the petition. Some businesses are expected to have the form, but there was no list as of Friday.
Wiggins said another reason for such residents’ "votes" is to show citizen support to the county commission, which has to approve any development agreement worked out between Gulf to Lakes, Crosland and the county’s Development Services Division.
Gary Maidhof, the County’s Development Services director, said Friday that negotiations have been very productive. He said everyone understands what needs to happen to make things fall into place.
One of those is the traffic study they will do in the next month or two, Maidhof said, which will be the key factor in determining whether the developers can balance their resources with the county’s needs and timing to make it all work for everyone.
Other elements being discussed for a development agreement include sewer and water, he said, as well as design, landscape buffering, parking, traffic access management, traffic signaling, drainage and pedestrian access. The talks have come up with the idea of a shared drainage area, which also could be a location for a county sewer lift station.
Maidhof said he thinks that they can come up with a development agreement that he can take to the county commission for consideration.
County's first Target, if approved, will create almost 400 jobs
CATHERINE E. SHOICHETPublished February 12, 2007
LECANTO - A proposed Target store in central Citrus would create nearly 400 new jobs, according to an economic study the company released last week.
The store would also pour $26.6-million into the county's economy and provide as much as $10-million in labor and benefits, the study says.
Crosland Inc. plans to include a 132,000-square-foot Target to anchor a retail center at the southwest corner of County Roads 486 and 491.
But the deal wouldn't be final until early March, when Target Corp. officials are slated to visit the property, Citrus development services director Gary Maidhof said.
Meanwhile, county staffers and representatives of the developer have met several times to hammer out details of a possible agreement. County commissioners will have the final say.
They're waiting for one key thing, Maidhof said: a traffic study.
That could take as long as eight weeks, he said.
"We need to understand their traffic impacts to determine how much of an expansion must occur on nearby roads," Maidhof said.
While consultants complete the traffic study, Inverness lawyer Clark Stillwell, who is representing the developer, said he planned on writing the agreement.
"We'd like to start the public hearing process maybe as soon as May, maybe even April," Stillwell said.
But still it could be months or even years before Target comes to town.
"You would see the Target being built when the roadway improvement projects are done," he said.
County commissioners are slated to discuss one of those projects - the widening of CR 486 between the Black Diamond service road and Forest Ridge Boulevard - at their meeting Tuesday.
The discussion is scheduled for 1:50 p.m. at the Citrus County Courthouse, 110 N Apopka Ave., Inverness.
Stillwell said he sent copies of the economic study to county commissioners and leaders of the Economic Development Council.
Several county staffers received a copy of the study last week.
About 160 of the roughly 400 full-time jobs the store would generate are connected to constructing the Target. About 230 jobs would be connected to the store once it opened, according to the study.
Target operates about 1,500 stores and employs more than 338,000 people in 47 states.
Marketing materials describe the store as an "upscale discounter," known for selling stylish items in big-box stores.
The closest Target stores to Citrus County are at least 30 miles away in Ocala, Spring Hill and the Villages.
Stan Olsen's Gulf to Lake Associates Ltc. owns the 44 acres where Crosland wants to build.
Catherine E. Shoichet can be reached at 860-7309 or cshoichet@sptimes.com.
Dunnellon council member resigns
By Jim HunterA second member of the Dunnellon City Council has resigned in less than three months. Jim Patterson, who held Seat 5, resigned Thursday, citing lack of time.
Patterson was the last remaining member of the previous council. Former Mayor John Taylor, a voting member of the council who had served as mayor for eight years, had resigned in mid-November 2006 because of council action in a controversy about a city permit for tree removal. One council member didn’t run for re-election and two incumbents were defeated in the December elections.
It will be up to the council to entertain nominations for Patterson’s replacement for the remainder of the term, City Manager Ed Ericson said.
Ericson said he had no insight into Patterson’s resignation, but added it is always a loss when anyone with experience in city affairs leaves. He said he didn’t always agree with Patterson about issues, but he always found Patterson to make decisions based on the facts as presented.
He said the council could pick a replacement as soon as tonight, but that would be up to the four remaining members.
As to what he expected tonight, he said that after a 3-2 vote on his firing at the last meeting, “I don’t even know if I’ll be here.”
If the council replaces Patterson tonight, the whole council will then have been changed in three months.
Patterson said in his resignation letter he had fought long and hard to win a seat on the council and had always strived to do his best as a council member, but added, “I now find it in the best interest of the citizens of the city of Dunnellon, its great staff so vital, so key to the daily operations of our great city, without who we surely would be lost, to resign as a council member Seat No. 5.
“I find I no longer have the time to serve our citizens in the capacity they truly deserve,” he wrote.
He said in the letter he had originally intended to make his resignation announcement at Monday’s regular council meeting, but he felt it was in the best interest of the city to do it immediately.
That also would allow, he noted, the council to immediately begin to look for a replacement.
Contacted Friday, he said he had no other comment than what was in his resignation letter. Patterson has a successful garage door business in Dunnellon and served on a number of city boards through the years.
The council has recently been embroiled in a controversy about a plan to develop Rainbow River Ranch, on land along the east side of the Rainbow River. How it would be developed in relation to the river has been a contentious debate for some time.
The owner, Gerald Dodd, is the second to propose development on the land and has preliminary approval, but he has not yet submitted any development plans.
He applied for a permit to remove trees on the land late last year and began to do so, but some individuals and members of the Rainbow River Conservation Inc. alleged the tree cutting being done along the Rainbow River was illegal.
The city inspector and some state agencies brought into the controversy found the work within the limits of the permit.
After the December elections, a new council majority voted to rescind the permit. After having warned them not to take such action, Taylor resigned and the city inspector subsequently resigned. The owner of the land proposed for development sued the city. In closed session, the city council recently decided the matter should go to the Code Enforcement Board for due process. That meeting will be March 19.
Glut of area apartments driving rents lower
RealFacts, a California firm that tracks rent in apartment complexes of at least 100 units, reported the average rent here slipped from $936 to $928 in last year's final three months.
Several landlords blamed the drop on the high number of investment properties on the rental market. Lack of tenants has also played a role, as occupancy fell from 97.8 percent at the end of 2005 to 92.3 percent at the end of 2006, according to RealFacts.
Renting in Southwest Florida is still significantly more expensive than two years ago, when RealFacts placed the average rent at $780.
But landlords such as Al Holmes, who manages the 66-unit Baltic Apartments on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Sarasota, say the real estate market will need to pick up before rents can increase. The market is so saturated with $1,000-and-up rentals that landlords can't charge higher rent, he said.
"So many investors have bought them and they can't sell them and they put them on the rental market. In North Port they've got a super glut," Holmes said. "This is very typical of investors. They're not landlords. They've been forced to be landlords."
RealFacts' data doesn't account for hundreds of single-family homes that have hit the rental market in the past year.
But Chris Bates, a spokesman for RealFacts, said it is clear Southwest Florida's rental market is "in flux."
There is hope, Bates said. While occupancy is down from a year ago, the figure rose almost half a percent between the third and fourth quarters of 2006.
Bates said Southwest Florida's landlords could read that statistic as a new trend: renters are sitting in apartments, watching property values and for-sale prices fall, and contemplating buying.
"Looking at these numbers, I would say owners were just a little slow in figuring out that their occupancies were going down as much as they were," Bates said. "Buyers aren't necessarily buying. They are staying in apartments and waiting."
The Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice market's average rent is still higher than most of the rest of the state. The region is the third-most expensive of 11 metropolitan statistical areas in Florida. Only Miami and Naples are more expensive.
The trend in Southwest Florida falls in line with a statewide trend. A RealFacts list of more than 40 Florida cities shows that rent is up and occupancy is down compared to a year ago in the vast majority of locales.
Like in Sarasota, Bradenton and Venice, rent slipped in many areas at the end of 2006.
Rent has slipped so much in cities such as Fort Myers and Fort Lauderdale that average rent is lower now than a year ago.
Gerri Holmes, wife of Al Holmes and secretary of a local tenant-land coalition and a local landlord association, hopes that scenario doesn't unfold in Sarasota, but anecdotal evidences suggests it is possible.
"When we have our meetings we ask our landlords if anybody's got vacancies. And it seems to be that everybody's got at least two vacancies," she said.
Many landlords have turned to technology to find tenants. Gerri Holmes owns a Web site called www.landlordsonline.com that serves as a resource and pseudo-support group for landlords. Other landlords advertise on Web-based apartment guides.
Renting is a necessity for some investors who need money to help pay the mortgages on investment properties that won't sell.
John Stone, owner and broker of Vantage Realty in Palmetto, told the Herald-Tribune last year that some newer communities in Manatee County displayed "a classic case that someone's trying to help with the cash flow."
"You'll see a 'For Rent' sign and a 'For Sale' sign on the same yard," Stone said.
With so much inventory, it only makes sense that rents have dropped.
"The supply is more than the demand. Some people are being a little more cautious about buying, so they are turning to the rental market. And there are certainly a lot of rentals out there," Stone said.
Indeed, occupancy in the Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice market is ranked eighth out of 11 statistical areas in Florida. Only the Melbourne, Fort Myers and Naples statistical area had lower occupancy rates, according to RealFacts.
RealFacts' average rent for Southwest Florida -- $928 -- is the middle point for apartments of all sizes. The firm's numbers show the biggest dip in three-bedroom, two-bath apartments, which were $12 less expensive in the fourth quarter of 2006 than the third quarter. Studio apartments fared the best in Southwest Florida. Studios averaged $19 more per month in the fourth quarter compared to the third, RealFacts said. The units have increases in rent by almost 11 percent from a year ago, according to the firm.
But even with a few positive signs, Southwest Florida landlords need to react quicker to the drop in rent unless they want to lose money, said Bates, the RealFacts spokesman.
"Certainly that decrease in rent is owners finding out that there is a decrease in occupancy," Bates said. "And they need to do something about that."
Everglades Skyway concept has broad support
BY LARRY LEBOWITZ
llebowitz@MiamiHerald.com
It is, on its face, a highly unusual coalition: hard-core environmentalists arm-in-arm with tourism boosters and the development interests that dominate most chambers of commerce.
But the Everglades Skyway isn't your garden-variety transportation pipe dream: replacing 11 miles of Tamiami Trail from just west of Krome Avenue to an area near the ValuJet crash site memorial with a signature bridge -- and a view unlike any other.
''You have to admit it, it's a pretty rare day when the environmental community is banding together with the business community, the chambers of commerce, to promote a road project or a bridge,'' said Jonathan Ullman of the Sierra Club and the brains behind the Build the Skyway coalition. ``But that's what's happening here.''
Environmentalists love the Skyway concept because it would help restore the historic sheet water flows into Everglades National Park, 10,000 Islands and Florida Bay that have been stopped by the veritable dam that is the Trail.
Tourism boosters envision the Skyway as a one-of-a-kind, concrete-and-steel attraction that is a mini-version of the Blue Ridge Parkway or the 30-mile stretch of Interstate 10 over the Atchafalaya swamp in Louisiana.
And the construction, engineering and development community would have more than 300 million reasons to support the skyway.
COMPETING PRIORITIES
But there's nowhere near enough money set aside to do it. It's the same old transportation song-and-dance: not enough cash and too many competing priorities.
The current U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plan to rebuild the 11-mile stretch of Tamiami Trail is decidedly less romantic -- and, at $128 million, vastly cheaper -- than the pie-in-the-Skyway.
''There's no doubt that the Skyway is the environmentally preferred alternative,'' said Corps project supervisor Dennis Duke. ``It's a matter of money. If Congress says they want a bigger bridge, then we'll build a bigger bridge.''
More than a decade in the making, the Corps is planning to build dual bridges -- a one-mile span near Krome and a two-mile span near the ValuJet memorial separated by eight miles of slightly wider, higher, improved roadway.
The Corps' last cost estimates for the dual-bridge plan is more than two years old -- and concrete, steel and labor costs have shot through the roof during that period.
A new estimate is due in 30 to 60 days, said Dennis Duke, Everglades project supervisor for the Corps. Duke said under the current timetables, the 36-month construction project could break ground in March 2008.
Which is why time is growing short for the Build the Skyway coalition.
Ullman is hoping that a united South Florida front could persuade legislators to consider any number of options -- including a toll road -- to give the Corps the money to finance the other eight miles of bridges.
The coalition leaders recently briefed the new speaker of the Florida House, West Miami's Marco Rubio. If the enviros were hoping to have enlisted a powerful local champion for their cause, they better rethink their strategy.
''It will just go into the whole budget conversation,'' said Rubio spokeswoman Jill Chamberlain. ``It will be on the table if somebody puts it on the table, along with everything else.''
POLITICAL WILL NEEDED
Doesn't exactly sound like a ringing endorsement.
North Miami Mayor Kevin Burns, who has pushed the skyway alternative as a member of the county's Metropolitan Planning Organization, realizes that the Skyway is going to need a patron saint in either Washington or Tallahassee.
''There's got to be the political will to do this,'' Burns said. ``It's a once-in-a-lifetime signature bridge. We could do something great here.''
Got a commuting question or an idea for a future column? Contact Larry Lebowitz at streetwise@MiamiHerald.com or call him at 305-376-3410.
City rejects loading dock proposal, while developer throws in towel on trees.
Three Seas Development has cleared most of the land to make way for a 78-room, three-story Hampton Inn, a 200-seat Farmhouse restaurant and an 8,784-square-foot retail complex off U.S. 441. Construction is expected to begin in March.
During the meeting, Rogers suggested that trees removed from the nearly eight-acre parcel be replaced by trees from a tree farm. The developers would either donate the trees to Belleview to plant where the city sees fit or buy trees from a tree bank in the city's name. Rogers didn't think they would have space at the complex site to replenish roughly 74 trees cut down for the project, as the city required.
Commissioners Michael Goldman and Ken Nadeau voted no.
"I'm not going to be cornered into making a reckless decision," Goldman said.
Goldman and Nadeau argued that the city's code doesn't provide for what the developer wants and gave several reasons why they didn't want to go along with Rogers' plan.
For starters, the city doesn't have a tree bank designed for developers to put money into a fund set up by a government entity in exchange for cutting down trees. Second, the two commissioners were not pleased that Rogers didn't provide them with a map or site drawing to explain what the company wanted to do.
"We didn't get any information about their plans," Nadeau said.
Commissioner Christine Dobkowski, one of three commissioners who voted in favor of Rogers' suggestion, thought the engineer's proposal was a sound one.
"We could use that money to the city's advantage to plant trees where we see fit," Dobkowski said.
On Wednesday, Rogers said the development owners met with him and they decided to go ahead and plant the trees on the property after all. The reason for doing so, Rogers said, was because city commissioners didn't give him a clear understanding about what they wanted to do.
Some of the alternatives commissioners discussed were planting trees on residents' properties or planting them elsewhere.
"All we wanted to do was, instead of planting the trees on the property, just give them the trees and let them do what they wanted to do," Rogers said.
Rogers also proposed changes to the dimensions of some loading spaces, to 16.5 feet by 19 feet at the restaurant, and 12 feet by 19 feet at the retail stores. Commissioners denied that request. Nadeau said the developer should abide by their ordinance, which calls for 10 feet by 60 feet, with a 12-foot vertical clearance.
Rogers was successful in asking that the hotel not have a designated loading space.
Austin L. Miller may be reached at 867-4118 or austin.miller@starbanner.com
Growing Pains
The state population is predicted to double by 2060, with growth spilling
into rural Northeast Florida counties. Will they be ready?
Business at her Macclenny eatery, Calendar's Deli and Pizzeria, has picked up to the point that she's had to extend hours. It's a sign of growth in rural Baker County.
But if several big-ticket developments come through, replacing wooded land off U.S. 90 with thousands upon thousands of houses, her twin 15-year-old sons could find themselves wading through a flood of new students at school.
"One thing I've always enjoyed about being in a small town is all the teachers know your name," Faudree said. "The kids have the opportunity to be more than a student."
During the next 50 years, development could erase that small-town feel, according to a study released by Tallahassee-based growth-management group 1000 Friends of Florida. Urbanized land in Baker County is expected to increase by almost 400 percent because of spillover from a built-out Jacksonville, the study said.
The recorded population in 2005, 24,343, is expected to grow to 44,421 by 2060, but not everyone agrees with that projection. Baker County Manager Joe Cone said he thinks the county population could easily triple within 25 years. In a county with a $21.8 million budget, virtually no sewer service, hundreds of miles of unpaved roads and a hospital with only 25 beds, the potential for an influx of new residents has everyone thinking.
"As scary as this may seem with the major changes we're going through," Cone said, "if you look at it from a planning and management standpoint, it's really an opportunity."
Urbanizing Florida's open spaces and small towns is a familiar concept in the growing state.
Before James Darby moved to Flagler County and took the helm of its County Commission, he was a young man in Miami watching development poke at the Everglades. With developers eyeing the countryside he now represents, he said he thinks it's important to strike a balance between economic development and environmental impact.
"As long as we try to keep a reasonable balance, I think we'll pull it off," he said. "What the builders understand is this makes their product better by preserving a quality of life."
That's not always the case, said environmental writer and documentary film maker Bill Belleville, who has given lectures on the topic recently in Fernandina Beach and St. Augustine. He commended the state for developing a comprehensive growth-management plan. He just wishes everyone would stick to it.
"Unfortunately, we are a state driven by growth and
development," he said, "which means builders and Realtors and
developers have a huge amount of power and they use it."
Flagler and Baker counties are among eight rural areas identified by the 1000 Friends of Florida study as projected to undergo the greatest change by 2060.
The study projects a state population burst of 18 million people - doubling the number of residents here now, at the rate of more than 900 people each day - as development swallows 7 million acres, or about one-third, of Florida's farms and open land. Almost 11 million acres of conservation lands would remain protected.
Northeast Florida's population is projected to more than double, going from 1.5 million to 3.5 million. Duval County is expected to run out of building space after 2040, and that will send droves flocking to Nassau, Clay, St. Johns and Baker counties, the study says.
Charles Pattison, 1000 Friends of Florida's president, said his group commissioned the study as a wake-up call to state and local leaders.
"It's like this was the U.S. in 1830 and people were thinking we'd
never get enough people to fill this country," Pattison said.
"We think it can show people you can have growth and do it
responsibly."
For now, Dennis Markos isn't sure which way to turn.
As the chief executive officer of Baker County Medical Services, he's the top administrator for Ed Fraser Memorial, a 25-bed hospital in Macclenny that could either thrive or go broke depending on who moves to town.
Word has it some of the massive developments - Cone said developers are talking about 7,000- to 10,000-home self-sustaining communities - could be marketed exclusively to senior citizens. To Markos, that means Medicare. A lot of it.
The deeper meaning is even more services rendered for a mere 25 cents on the dollar reimbursement, he said.
"Twelve thousand Medicare recipients would bankrupt this hospital," he said.
Markos said the hospital is in the black, able to pay cash for new equipment, but floating a bond issue big enough for a new building is out of the question. The current structure isn't even a decade old, Markos said. Another factor: Growing bigger means competing with regional hospitals that have deeper pockets and well-established names.
"We're on the edge of a medical community," Markos said. "Our thinking has to be outside the box."
Tricky business
In embracing growth, counties are presented a chicken-and-egg scenario.
"The downside is you don't get the tax base until after the units are sold. Infrastructure isn't funded for several years," Darby said. "You just don't pump money into something that hasn't happened yet."
Baker County School Board member Patricia Weeks said the board has been in discussions with Macclenny and county officials over how to get the most out of developer impact fees, the money paid up front to offset the public cost of new building.
About 4,800 students attend Baker County schools. Until there are more firm plans for development, school officials say they're not sure how that's going to change.
Weeks said there has been talk of dividing up schools based on classes being held for certain grades in order to keep within class-size guidelines. School officials also are planning to build additional space at the high school, she said.
Jails, roads, water lines
Growth can be a juggling act, leaving elected officials to scramble for money to build everything from jails to roads to water lines. Christopher Holley, executive director of the Florida Association of Counties, said his group offers classes to help the public sector cope.
"Some of the commissioners we talk to aren't prepared," Holley said. "There's no silver bullet to stop people from moving to Florida."
Because of a recent lull in the housing market, planners say they're getting a breather to brainstorm.
"We're going to have to keep up with the pace," Darby said. "We need to use this slack period to pull our resources together."
Keeping green
Through the Florida Forever program, the state recently acquired a 4,500-acre tract in Marion County and 2,200 acres in the Panhandle that's being eyed for parks, Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Sarah Williams said. Information published by the program says it has acquired more than 1 million acres throughout the past five years.
"Our challenge is to make sure that growth is done responsibly," Williams said.
A similar plan took shape locally in 1999, when former Jacksonville Mayor John Delaney unveiled a $312 million plan to preserve 20 square miles of undeveloped land in the city. Environmentalists praised the initiative.
State Rep. Will Kendrick, R-Franklin County, chairman of the House Committee on Conservation and State Lands, said it's important that the state has plans for the Forever Florida land.
"We're using public tax dollars. We want to make sure they're public uses," he said. "We shouldn't be buying just to prevent growth."
Kendrick said growth causes a lot of debate probably best resolved at the local level.
"When we do something in Tallahassee, it's going to affect different parts of the state differently," he said.
Growth: What lies ahead for Florida
A study by 1000 Friends of Florida was sponsored in part by The St. Joe Co., Florida's largest private land owner and one of the state's biggest developers, major agribusiness A. Duda & Sons, and The Nature Conservancy. Full details can be found at 1000friendsofflorida.org.
Duval built out around 2040
Here are the key findings of the 1000 Friends of Florida report:
Baker, Flagler growth leaders
The study identified Baker and Flagler among the top eight counties undergoing the greatest transformation within the next 50 years.
Increase in urbanized area by county
Baker 390 percent
Desoto 890 percent
Flagler 390 percent
Glades 1,490 percent
Hardee 1,430 percent
Hendry 510 percent
Osceola 390 percent
Santa Rosa 370 percent
What counties are doing to manage growth
Here are some examples of what Northeast Florida officials said they are doing in an effort to prevent growing pains.
Clay County
"We've seen a slight decrease in new housing starts, but growth is still rapid," County Manager Fritz Behring said.
He said managing growth is a hot issue between the School Board and County Commission. Dialogue has started between the two governing bodies to develop new ideas on everything from class-size guidelines to builder impact fees.
Duval County
Jacksonville officials are rewriting the zoning code, but Susie Wiles, spokeswoman for Mayor John Peyton, said day-to-day management is key in the ongoing decisions about how to grow the city.
"It's not looking for new tools or bells and whistles. It's doing the best job you can with what you've got," she said.
Nassau County
Commission Chairman Jim B. Higginbotham said the commission has been meeting with planning officials twice monthly to try to tighten up the zoning code and streamline the permitting process for builders.
"We're hoping within six to eight months we'll have it so if people want to build something, we can give them a whole book. That's been needed for a long time," he said
St. Johns County
"Depending on who you talk to, we have between 70,000 and 120,000 houses approved to be built," said Interim County Administrator Waldemar J. Kropacek, describing an issue that had residents voting out county commissioners last fall. "We're trying to play catch-up in providing the infrastructure, particularly new roads."
david.hunt@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4025
Can Crist be sold on huge toll road plan?
MICHAEL VAN SICKLERFuture Corridors would be the state's biggest road project ever. But new Gov. Crist has yet to sign on.
Published February 11, 2007
TAMPA - If built in its entirety, it could be the biggest, most expensive transportation project in Florida history.
Called "Future Corridors," it includes nine separate proposed routes that would zig-zag across more than 1,000 miles of the state's rural landscape.
Supporters say the project, still in the planning stages, is a necessary and practical measure to brace Florida for the next 50 years of growth.
Critics call it a throwback to the 20th century highway mentality, one that would pave over much of the state's remaining countryside.
In the coming months, Gov. Charlie Crist will decide its fate.
The new governor so far is publicly mum on Future Corridors, a project promoted by his predecessor, Jeb Bush.
Before Bush left office last month, his chief transportation official called Future Corridors a "significant milestone" the state should pursue.
But the planning manager for Florida's Turnpike Enterprise, Randy Fox, said he's not sure what Crist will do, or if he even knows about Future Corridors.
Fox said it's "absolutely a possibility" that Crist might scrub the project altogether.
For now, the idea is in an embryonic phase.
Working with state, regional, and local officials, including landowners and developers, the Department of Transportation has identified nine routes for potential toll highways.
The corridors include space for utilities and mass transit, such as freight and passenger rail. Construction would not begin for at least another five years, DOT officials say, as the viability of each route will be tested in the next few months and years.
Two routes spill into Alabama. A third juts into Georgia.
West-central Florida would be the most criss-crossed region in the state. Six corridors skirt or cut across the region, including a proposed 150-mile corridor linking Hernando to Charlotte County and a 170-mile route from Hillsborough to Duval County.
Another route, a 152-mile corridor from Collier to Polk County, is already drawing considerable attention.
Florida Trend magazine, an affiliate of the St. Petersburg Times, reported last year how a nonprofit group called the Heartland Economic, Agricultural and Rural Taskforce, or HEART, is lobbying the DOT to build the road.
HEART represents some of the major landowners in that region and helped map the proposed corridor, even naming it the "Heartland Parkway," the magazine reported.
One of HEART's attorneys, Rick Dantzler, said the Heartland Parkway is a pragmatic way to prepare a rural region for a population surge.
"What we see is an opportunity to use the corridor to organize the growth that's going to come, whether we want it or not," said Dantzler, a former Democratic state senator from Winter Haven.
In exchange for the road, landowners would agree to preserve large swaths for natural habitat and develop smaller areas, he said.
"You'll get haphazard growth without the corridor," he said. "What we're trying to do is prevent the Heartland from going the way of other parts of Florida."
But critics say Future Corridors is not only a project pushed by those who stand to benefit, but a poor substitute for sustainable growth management.
"There's no question that the motivation behind this is to open up the state's interior lands for development," said Charles Lee of Audubon of Florida. "We're not asking the governor to kill the corridors initiative, but we are asking him to put the dog back in the lead and let the tail follow. Right now, roads and transportation are leading planning in this state."
Future Corridors is slated to be financed by public-private partnerships, otherwise known as P3s. With state and federal lawmakers loathe to raise gas taxes - which paid for the interstate highway system - such partnerships are becoming an increasingly popular financing alternative. Several states are considering or have just completed P3 arrangements in which private companies build, operate and maintain old or new roads. In exchange, these companies, many of them foreign-owned, collect tolls at higher rates, operate concessions and in some cases develop along the roads.
The concept of Future Corridors has been endorsed by the Florida Transportation Commission, whose nine members oversee the DOT and are appointed by the governor. In September, after endorsing Future Corridors, the commission strongly urged the DOT to consider paying for it with private financing.
Days before he left office on Jan. 2, Bush's DOT secretary, Denver Stutler, filed a Future Corridors "action plan" that outlined how the project should move forward.
He recommended creating a statewide advisory group; developing financial strategies for the project; including the project in DOT's work program; and paying for the further detailed study of three corridors, including the Heartland Parkway and the Hillsborough-to-Duval route.
"We believe that planning future corridors is not just a transportation issue," Stutler wrote in a Dec. 29 letter to Bush. "It's really about our future quality of life, the competitiveness of our economy, and the sustainability of our environment."
Until they hear otherwise, state officials are using Stutler's action plan as a guide for planning Future Corridors, said John Taylor, a DOT administrator in Tallahassee.
Still, Taylor said he doesn't know what Crist thinks.
"I have no knowledge of his position," Taylor said. "I haven't read anything that states what Charlie Crist thinks about this project."
Vivian Myrtetus, a Crist spokeswoman, said Future Corridors hasn't come up yet in policy meetings with the governor.
But one of Crist's key appointments is beginning to voice doubts.
At a Jan. 20 Everglades conference, Crist's secretary of the Department of Community Affairs, Thomas Pelham, said the plan deserves another look.
"I know there's a great deal of concern about the corridors program," Pelham said. "I hope to have an opportunity to revisit it. One of my first instructions to the staff was to immediately begin looking into the corridors program and its implications."
As the new head of an agency that oversees the state's growth management, Pelham said Future Corridors is the wrong approach.
"It's a further indication that the tables have been completely turned," Pelham said during the meeting. "Land-use planning should be driving growth management; transportation should not be driving land-use planning."
Pelham couldn't be reached for additional comment.
Frank Jackalone, director of the Sierra Club's Florida office, called Pelham's comments the highlight of the conference.
But he said a better indication of where Crist stands on Future Corridors will be who he chooses to replace Stutler.
"Is Crist going to hire someone who thinks like Tom Pelham or is he going to have an opposite approach at the DOT, and then decide between the two?" Jackalone said.
"This is the big question."
Times staff writer Craig Pittman contributed to this report. Michael Van Sickler can be reached at mvansickler@sptimes.com or 813 226-3402.
Lobbyists zip through X-way cash
Records show little oversight and no bidding on lucrative contracts.
Dan Tracy and Jay HamburgSentinel Staff Writers
February 11, 2007
Consensus Communications has been paid $288,000 as a federal lobbyist for the area's toll-road agency during the past four years. Yet the Orlando company never has signed a contract or had to compete for the work.
Another lobbying firm employed by the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority -- Southern Strategy Group of Tallahassee -- is paid $174,000 a year to represent the authority to Florida politicians and bureaucrats. The firm's 2006 post-legislative report to the agency consisted of a 352-page document downloaded from a state Web site. The dearth of documentation and detailed reports makes it difficult to assess the effectiveness of the authority's team of lobbyists, collectively paid $318,000 a year.
A public-records request by the Orlando Sentinel for correspondence between the authority and its lobbyists since 2003 netted a couple of dozen e-mails, 50 one- to two-paragraph memos, two generic legislative reports, a bound presentation to the board in January 2003, some letters of support for a planned interchange and copies of federal-grant applications.
But expressway officials say the lobbyists are worth the money they've been paid and have helped land millions in grants for the authority.
Expressway Executive Director Mike Snyder said the lobbyists -- who report primarily to him -- have not generated much documentation of their work, but he said his agency is pleased with their efforts.
"I haven't felt the need for it [paperwork]," Snyder said. "I know they are working. I know they are doing things."
The lobbyists, Snyder said, act as the "eyes and ears" of the authority in Tallahassee and Washington They talk often with him, he said, keeping him abreast of bills that might affect the agency.
And Consensus Communications, he said, helped secure a $10.4 million federal grant to help pay for a proposed interchange at Boggy Creek Road with the authority's State Road 417 toll road.
But Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty, the new authority chairman, said he wants more oversight of the agency's lobbyists and more competition for the work. He promised changes, saying that all lobbying contracts will be put up for bid by summer. They had been routinely granted one-year extensions.
"Certainly there needs to be more visible communication between the lobbyists and the board," Crotty said.
Critic questions need
Ron Book, one of the best-known and most outspoken lobbyists in Tallahassee, said government clients often want detailed information about his activities on their behalf.
One of Book's many clients, Miami-Dade County, demands weekly reports during the session and monthly updates after the session.
"They want to know what we did for them," Book said.
He called Southern Strategy a solid, respected lobbying firm as well as a potential competitor for some clients. But he said he was surprised by the size of its fee from the expressway authority, given that the agency wasn't involved in any major legislative initiatives.
"That's a high-end battle fee," Book said. "That's for a war."
Southern Strategy lobbyist David Rancourt referred questions to Snyder, who credited the group with three major accomplishments: helping stave off attempts to make the authority part of an overarching statewide toll system; winning a state law in 2002 that allowed the agency to issues its own bonds, rather than going through the state; and pushing the Wekiva Parkway and Protection Act in 2004 that aims to balance the need to complete a beltway system around Orlando while shielding environmentally sensitive lands.
"They know the ropes," Snyder said about Southern Strategy. "They know the people."
But Lou Treadway, a former Orange County commissioner and a member of the bipartisan CountyWatch, which advocates for open government, questions why the Orlando agency even has lobbyists. The authority, he said, did not have them when he was a member in 1986-87. He also wondered why the expressway paid its lobbyists more than either Orlando or Orange County paid theirs.
"Orlando and Orange County have a lot more at stake in legislation than a little dinky organization called the expressway authority," he said.
Although the expressway authorities in Tampa and Miami also have lobbyists, the very legality of such agencies hiring lobbying firms is now in dispute.
The state auditor general reviewed the accounts of the Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority and announced late last year that the agency did not have the statutory power to hire contract lobbyists. It recommended the toll-road agency assign a staff member take over the duties.
The Tampa authority disagreed and continues to pay for outside lobbyists. The auditor general has no enforcement powers.
Orlando expressway attorney Scott Glass said the auditor general's opinion is flawed and does not pertain to the Orlando agency.
2 prime lobbyists
The authority has two prime lobbyists: Southern Strategy, led by John Thrasher, the former Republican speaker of the Florida House; and Dennis Foreman, a former federal Treasury Department attorney based in Washington.
Southern, which has worked for the authority since July 2002, is paid $12,500 a month. It also has a subconsultant, John Johnston of Tallahassee, who is paid an additional $2,000 a month.
Foreman, the federal lobbyist, was hired in February 2003 and gets $6,000 a month. He hired Consensus for $6,000 a month, making the contract worth a total of $12,000 per month.
Unlike Johnston, who is listed on Southern's contract with the authority, Consensus or the company's main contact -- Tre' Evers -- does not appear on any contract with the agency.
That situation prompted an e-mail exchange in August 2003 between two expressway authority employees -- one in contracts, the other in accounting -- who were puzzled about the agency's relationship with Consensus.
"I am not aware of any direct agreement with Consensus Communications, if you learn of anything different, please let me know," read one of the e-mails.
Evers said authority officials told him in 2003 that he did not need a contract because he was a subcontractor. He said he works hard for the agency and spent more than two years negotiating with politicians to get the Boggy Creek money.
"That's a pretty good return on investment," Evers said, comparing his fee with the $10.4 million grant.
The agency also was in line to get another $1 million federal grant late last year, but the appropriation died when the Republicans failed to pass a budget and the Democrats took over, Evers said.
Most spend less
The scarcity of records to support invoices such as those for the lobbyists has been an ongoing issue at the expressway authority. Two years ago, the Orange County Comptroller's Office reviewed agency books and recommended tighter oversight of contractors. Most recently, the authority was criticized for its lax management of a $1.7 million marketing consultant and is locked in a battle with the former contract holder over an alleged lack of billing records.
The authority is in the midst of another comptroller audit, this time because it was revealed in August that the agency had paid $107,500 to anti-toll activist Doug Guetzloe -- payments approved by former Chairman Allan Keen without the knowledge of other board members. Local governments, such as Orlando and Orange County, as well as other state transportation agencies, including the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, MetroPlan and the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority, appear to seek considerably more documentation from lobbyists as a way to monitor the work and assess performance, a survey by the Sentinel found.
Orlando and Orange County, for instance, typically receive personalized reports before, during and after state legislative sessions. They also have at least one in-house staff member who travels and visits politicians with the contract lobbyist in Tallahassee and Washington.
"We're close-knit," said Kathy Russell, who manages the lobbying team for Orlando. She estimates the city lobbyists usually are involved with 100 bills each session in Tallahassee.
The Sentinel's survey also found that almost all of the other governments and agencies spend less on lobbying than the expressway authority. The only exception was the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, which has an operating budget more than five times larger than the expressway authority's and which deals much more frequently with federal officials.
GOAA, which employs four lobbyists, including Consensus Communications, often goes after grant money from the federal government for everything from building runways to repairing hurricane damage.
Since 2002, the airport has won more than $148.7 million from the Federal Aviation Administration, including more than $13 million in 2004 for hurricane repairs.
Dan Tracy can be reached at 407-420-5444 or dtracy@orlandosentinel.com. Jay Hamburg can be reached at jhamburg@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5673.
Faced with injustices, we prefer distraction
St. Petersburg Times editorialPublished February 11, 2007
While the focus in recent days has been on the Super Bowl and the latest rounds of American Idol, a few items of national and local interest have escaped the attention they are due. It's bad enough that they have not sparked any concern, they have barely been noticed.
That, in itself, is cause for alarm.
In no particular order, then:
- Exxon Mobil just reported its profit for last year: $39.5-billion. On revenues of $378-billion.
Try to digest those numbers. This may help.
Let's say Exxon Mobil were its own country (and since it answers to no one, it might as well be). Viewed as gross domestic product, or purchasing power, its revenues would rank the company as No. 17 among the nations of the world. Ahead of such lightweights as Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, Egypt, a dozen European nations and most of Asia.
The profit was a record for a U.S. company, by the way, topping 2005's obscene peak of $36-billion. That mark was set by, you guessed it, Exxon Mobil.
Now, I have no problem with a company being successful. It's the goal of capitalism. But Exxon's appalling profits, and *those of its fellow oil companies, came during a year in which prices at the pumps rode an artificial roller coaster, topping $3 a gallon at times.
These high prices directly impacted the financial health of the American workers, making a tough challenge to feed and shelter their families even harder.
The oil execs and their shareholders pocketed billions and laughed at the plight of ordinary Americans. And no one says a word of protest as the profits climb into stratospheric levels.
Where is the outrage?
- Here's a scorecard for a single week in Iraq. Sunday, Jan. 28, 23 civilians killed by bombs, including five girls who died when their school was mortared; Monday, 36 killed by bombs; Tuesday, 58 killed by bombs; Wednesday, 43 killed by bombs; Thursday, 62 killed by bombs; Friday, 73 killed by bombs. The week concluded with a truck bomb on Saturday that claimed 121 souls.
That was just one unremarkable week of civilian slaughter. We have become so numb to the carnage that the dozens of innocent deaths every day no longer register. Even the rising number of American casualties fails to impress.
Make no mistake, our leaders triggered this fiasco. And we do not even acknowledge the depths of despair that we have unleashed.
Where is the outrage?
- On the local scene, the story is much the same.
A woman was in court Feb. 2 to be punished for causing an auto accident two years ago that claimed the life of a local artist. Lorie Norris was still recovering from a previous crash when she veered across U.S. 41 one morning in 2004 and collided head-on with another car. The passenger in that auto, the vibrant Anita Roy, was killed.
Besides the physical and psychological afflictions from the previous crash that should have kept her off the road, Norris also had a string of citations for erratic driving on her record. But she drove that day, and Anita Roy lost her life.
Certainly, Norris never intended to kill anyone that morning. And, in court, she showed a tremendous amount of heartfelt remorse for her victims. The judge in the case, Ric Howard, apparently took that into account and gave Norris a reduced sentence, three years in prison plus probation.
Three years in prison is no picnic for anyone, especially a 42-year-old woman with physical and psychological issues. And I'm not saying that she deserved more time behind bars. It was, Norris' attorney said, a fair sentence.
But it raises this question: Would Norris have received such a "fair" sentence had she been a young man and not a middle-aged woman?
This is not a theoretical exercise. Lives are in the balance.
William Thornton, now 18, is serving 30 years in prison because he drove a car that skidded into the path of a vehicle driven by an impaired driver. Tragically, the driver and his passenger were killed; Thornton was seriously injured.
Thornton had no prior arrests, was not drunk or high, and the road he was on lacked the proper traffic signs. Three state agencies recommended leniency; Judge Howard gave him the max.
Adam Bollenback, another teenager, is serving a 10-year term in prison for stealing beer. Jason Hill, 19, had consensual sex with his underage girlfriend, apparently with her family's approval considering that they allowed him to live in their house. He will spend the next 10 years in prison.
Neither Bollenback nor Hill killed anyone. Like Norris, Thornton did not intend to hurt anyone. There were other punishments available and appropriate. But the same mercy that Howard found for Norris was not available when the young men stood before him.
The scales of justice are not even close to being balanced.
Where is the outrage?
The list goes on:
- Utility companies charge a fee for a hurricane fund and then, when a storm strikes, are allowed to soak the customers a second time so that investors can maintain their profits.
- Corporate execs are being paid more in one day, or in one hour, than their workers make all year.
- The new federal budget cuts programs for the poorest Americans while raising taxes on middle-class families (through the alternative minimum tax) so that the richest people in the country can keep their undeserved tax cuts.
We should be howling at these injustices. The media should be full of stories detailing the fleecing of the public. Americans should be incensed.
But, wait, a blond Hollywood bombshell just died of mysterious causes. A disturbed woman astronaut took a cross-country drive to settle some romantic score that apparently existed only in her mind.
The public is thus distracted.
Where is the outrage?
Florida Lawmakers Warm Up To Energy, Climate Challenges
Published: Feb 10, 2007
TALLAHASSEE - The scenario, presented in easy-to-read charts, graphs and boldface print, was bleak.
Stronger hurricanes. A minimum sea level rise of 10 inches by 2075. Hundreds of millions of human ecological refugees. Up to 35 percent of today's biodiversity extinct. More heat-related deaths in Florida. More infectious diseases.
"If you're not at the table for climate change, you're going to be on the menu," Stephen Mulkey, a climate-change expert at the University of Florida, told the Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida this week.
Florida, which gets mediocre grades for its energy and climate policies compared to the rest of the nation, may be warming to the idea of taking a seat at that table during the next legislative session. Lawmakers are looking at mandatory greenhouse gas reductions, renewable energy mandates, and incentives for wind and solar power.
The dire warnings in last week's report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that global warming is "very likely" a result of human activity, however, has helped spur a change of heart in Florida, where lawmakers acknowledge they lag behind.
"As I stand here, I am more hopeful than I have been in 15 years on global climate change," Mulkey said Tuesday.
More than 20 states - not including Florida - and the District of Columbia require power companies to produce a certain amount of electricity from renewable resources. Florida also is not one of the 35 states that have a policy to encourage electricity customers to create their own energy through wind and solar devices.
Other states ahead of Florida include California, which has a law regulating vehicle emission standards for greenhouse gases. Twelve other states have adopted those standards but are waiting on the result of an automotive industry lawsuit before implementing it.
As the nation's fourth most populous state, Florida is in a position to have an impact.
"I think there's a significant commitment from the governor, legislative leadership on down in putting Florida on the map," said Susan Glickman, a consultant for the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. "I predict there will be meaningful legislation."
Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, a member of the Century Commission and the head of energy policy in the Senate, last year proposed a nickel-per-month fee on electric meter readings to pay for alternative energy research. He said he couldn't get a hearing in the House because lawmakers there viewed it as a tax.
Specific bills have not been filed for the legislative session that begins in March, but Bennett and his House counterpart appear to have a shared vision.
Bennett and Rep. Bob Allen, R-Merritt Island, are working toward renewable energy standards, decreased greenhouse gas emissions and reversing policies that discourage individual investment in wind and solar power. They both want to increase funding for renewable energy research, saying Gov. Charlie Crist's $68 million energy plan is a good starting point. Both also want to change building codes to increase energy conservation.
Bennett and Allen are open to the idea of requiring utility companies to produce a certain amount of power - 3 percent, for example - with renewable energies. Florida produces its power almost exclusively by using coal, natural gas and petroleum, which contribute to global warming, as well as nuclear energy.
Both legislators want to help unlock the potential solar power of the Sunshine State by having a statewide net-metering law. That would enable people to place solar panels on the roof of their homes, and then get credited at retail electricity price for excess electricity they produce and send back out into the grid.
Two utility companies - JEA and New Smyrna Beach Utilities - offer that incentive. Most power companies have resisted the move, saying it costs them money and may be dangerous for their workers.