Mountains of homes still listed for sale

BY MATTHEW HAGGMAN

mhaggman@MiamiHerald.com

It's a quiet Sunday afternoon in West Kendall, the third quiet Sunday afternoon in a row that Olga Alvarez has opened her house to buyers.

The carpets are vacuumed, the kitchen scoured, the orange balloons and open-house signs placed on street corners. Three groups came through last week, two the week before. This time, Alvarez is hoping for The One.

At 1 p.m. sharp, she unlocks the door and settles in to wait.

• • • 

The story of housing in South Florida in 2006 was one of waiting -- buyers waiting for the right price, sellers waiting for the right buyer, everyone waiting to see where an uncertain market would go. Now the question is: Will 2007 be the year the market turns around?

The answer lies in the mountain of homes across South Florida with ''For Sale'' signs -- the single biggest indicator of a market out of whack.

If you look only at homes that sold throughout last year, prices on the whole went up 8 percent to $280,000, according to a Miami Herald analysis of sales in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

However, sales are only the tip of the giant iceberg blocking the market. The real story lies in the homes that did not sell.

For every home that sold in each month of 2006, an average of 14 did not, according to Multiple Listing Service data. The number of homes on the market doubled to almost 66,000, as sales dropped to their lowest level in a decade.

The backlog for houses runs all the way from the least-expensive fixer-upper to the luxury mansions. But it's most bloated in the middle range of $200,000 to $499,000, where Alvarez's house falls -- along with 60 percent of houses for sale in South Florida.

Alvarez's broker, Leigh Fortuna, demonstrates the problem as she spreads out a map of the neighborhood, covered by a jumble of dots marking homes for sale.

''The house is priced well; there is just a lot of competition,'' says Fortuna, who works with Esslinger Wooten Maxwell in Coconut Grove. ``Within one square mile, there are 42 other homes for sale that are like us.''

A normal market has six to 12 months' worth of houses for sale. But at the current sales pace, it's up to 16 months in Broward and 18 in Miami-Dade. For condos in both counties, it's more than two years.

Anxious sellers are dangling incentives in front of buyers that effectively lower prices by as much as 5 percent to 10 percent. More than 100 sellers with EWM Realtors alone are offering to pay all closing costs.

But Wachovia Bank senior economist Mark Vitner, who studies Florida, predicts that sales are likely to slide back a bit in the spring after the lure of incentives has run its course.

''We do see the market eventually bottoming out in 2007,'' Vitner says. ``But no way have we hit bottom yet.''

The result: If you're a seller, you may still do fine on price, but don't expect the huge gains of the recent housing boom. Many say the best-case scenario is for sales to inch up and for prices to stay flat or gain slightly -- a trend that could last several years.

Also, don't aim too high. The average asking price for homes in South Florida was down about 13 percent in December from a year ago.

And be prepared to wait.

''When a property is priced right, it will sell over a reasonable time,'' says real estate analyst Michael Cannon. ``A reasonable time can be six months to a year or more.''

If you're a buyer, you have the advantage, but expect to keep your home for at least a few years rather than flip for quick gains. Also, the betting is, houses will recover faster than condos.

''If you want a house, don't pass it up now,'' says Gus Rubio, who heads Coldwell Banker's Miami-Dade operations. ``But when it comes to condos, unless it is something that you are really dying for, you have the liberty to continue looking for a while.''

• • • 

Back at 15962 SW 142nd Ter., 2 p.m. arrives before a single buyer does.

The minutes blink by in green neon on a digital clock on top of the stove. At one point, Alvarez thinks she hears a knock on the door. She jumps up and looks out the window.

Nobody. It's just a noisy neighbor with a rumbling generator who has chosen today, of all days, to pressure-wash his roof.

Alvarez is already throwing in incentives. Fanned out across the kitchen counter are one-page fliers proclaiming in big letters: ''Seller will pay closing costs up to 3%.'' That shaves off $11,700.

And the asking price for the three-bedroom, two-bath house is down from $399,000 when it was listed in October to $389,000. Plus, there's a yearlong warranty.

So far, it's still not enough.

Alvarez is both a victim and a beneficiary of what the recent housing boom in South Florida did to prices. Prices are now the biggest reason homes aren't selling.

Throughout the 1990s, home prices in general went up gradually about 5 percent a year. Price increases in 2006 fell right in line with those before the housing boom.

The difference is that the years in between -- the years of crazy price increases -- lifted the entire playing field so high that many people were knocked out of the game altogether. In January 2002, 48 percent of all houses listed for sale in Miami-Dade were for less than $200,000. Now, it's 3 percent.

The price escalation means that many homeowners like Alvarez still make a tidy profit if they can sell. Alvarez and her husband, Zabdiel, bought their home in 2000 for $147,500. Since then, prices in the neighborhood have more than doubled, and a neighbor sold a three-bedroom house in June for $400,000, county records show.

But it's also harder to sell in the first place because many people simply can't afford to buy.

From 2001 to 2005, the price of a single-family home in Miami-Dade jumped 120 percent to $351,200. Broward was not much different. But wages increased just 17.6 percent in Miami-Dade and 15.9 percent in Broward, according to federal data.

The irony is that if Alvarez sells, she, too, will be priced out of the region.

Alvarez, who arrived from Cuba in 1980 when she was 4 years old, works at insurance giant Assurant. Zab is a decorator for furniture retailer Rooms-to-Go.

But Zab has transferred to a new job with his company in Atlanta. And if Alvarez ever buys in South Florida again, she will be hit with much higher property taxes and insurance costs.

''We'll never be able to afford to live here again,'' Alvarez says matter-of-factly. ``We don't plan on coming back.''

• • • 

It's 2:30 p.m. There's just half an hour left of the open house, and still nobody has shown up.

Alvarez is worried. Two mortgages are out of the question, even if they rent the Miami house out.

The talk turns to people leaving and coming to South Florida. Apart from the cold, Alvarez says, Georgia might not be a big adjustment because three of her friends have moved there in the past year.

Fortuna, the broker, sees the other side of the stream -- people pouring in. She's about to show homes to a Brazilian family relocating to South Florida. After that, a buyer from Antigua is flying in to buy a second-home condo in South Beach. And a Venezuelan family was among those who saw Alvarez's home, although they didn't make an offer.

One of the biggest wild cards in the housing gamble: how many buyers will be out there. And that depends in large part on population changes.

The U.S. Census predicts that in the next decade, Florida will move up from fourth to third place among the most populous states, behind Texas and California.

At the beginning of the boom, the region lived up to its reputation of gangbuster growth. From 2002 to 2005, Florida added more jobs than any other state. It drew more than a million new residents in just three years. And it saw 430,000 new households.

Such numbers are the bread and butter of developers, brokers, bankers and others who tout the promise of South Florida dirt.

But in 2006, the three largest movers -- United Van Lines, Atlas Van Lines and Allied Van Lines -- said that for the first time in years, they had moved more people out of the state than in. The tally: 33,907 out, 29,881 in. Also, declining school enrollment in both counties could be a sign that middle-class families are leaving.

Of course, the appeal of a home in South Florida beckons far beyond U.S. borders. A 2005 Florida Association of Realtors survey concluded that international buyers snapped up 15 percent of homes sold statewide, and probably more in South Florida.

Then there are second-home buyers, who make up about 30 percent of the market nationwide, according to the National Association of Realtors, and probably more in South Florida.

Still, residents buy the bulk of homes. And a Wachovia Bank report on the 2007 housing market concluded that Florida's population growth ``decelerated sharply during 2006, despite a still red hot job market and record low unemployment.''

The biggest beneficiaries, the report continued, are Georgia and the Carolinas, where home prices remain relatively low. For example, Atlanta came in lower than the national average for cost of living, according to Moody's Economy.com latest data for 2005. But South Florida came in more than 16 percent above the average -- higher than New York or Los Angeles.

''Florida won't be a slow-growth state, but it won't be among the fastest-growing states, either,'' predicted James Haughey, director of economics at Reed Construction Data, at a conference last month in Hollywood.

• • • 

It's 2:50 p.m. Ten minutes left for the open house. The phone rings.

''I thought it was the doorbell,'' Fortuna says. She's only half-joking.

Instead, it's Zab Alvarez calling to check on things. His wife delivers the bad news.

By 3 p.m., the open house is over.

Not one person came.

Fortuna picks up the fliers and packs the papers into her bag.

''By February, it will be sold,'' Fortuna tells Alvarez reassuringly before heading outside to retrieve the open-house signs. ``If not sooner.''

Alvarez is still waiting.

What's so important about a concrete block?

The key ingredient--cement--is more readily available so your house may not cost as much or take as long to build.

Jerry W. Jackson
Sentinel Staff Writer

February 20, 2007

Supplies of key construction material stabilized or increased within the past year, easing concerns about escalating costs for home builders and commercial-construction companies.

Part of the explanation: The slowdown in residential construction nationwide and in fast-growth states such as Florida has reduced demand.

Builders scrambled to find cement, a basic ingredient in concrete, during the boom years of 2004 and 2005. But by the second half of 2006, the downturn in residential construction cut demand just as production was picking up, reports suggest.

"Availability is not an issue anymore," said Edward Sullivan, chief economist for the Portland Cement Association.

Speaking recently during the International Builders' Show in Orlando, Sullivan said concrete has made strides in market penetration for home construction in recent years, rising from about 5.9 percent of new-home construction nationally in 1995 to an estimated 18.6 percent in 2006. Far more Florida homes now are built of concrete, partly as a result of hurricanes and demand for improved energy efficiency.

But Sullivan said a "large overhang" of newly built, unsold homes will have to be whittled down before there is any significant rebound in new-home construction. He said he is forecasting an 18 percent decline in housing starts nationally for 2007.

The U.S. Geological Survey, which tracks production and consumption of minerals and construction materials, recently estimated that domestic production of cement likely set a record in 2006 with about 99.8 million tons. The gray, powdery material is produced at 113 plants in 37 states.

Final year-end numbers still are being tabulated, but "when the dust settles, I think it will show a slight increase in production," said Hendrik G. van Oss, an economic geologist with the agency.

Consumption also was likely at an all-time high of 131 million tons, the agency estimated, but the rate of growth from 2005 was slower than during the three previous years. Year-end stocks rose, by about 1 million tons to 8.5 million tons, and the average price at the mill increased 7.6 percent to $98 per ton. That was about half the 15 percent rate of increase for 2005.

Florida in particular has been "sort of a black hole" for cement consumption historically, absorbing all it can find, van Oss said. But even in Florida, consumption during the final months of 2006 "took a tumble." The one thing that still is supporting demand and prices, he said, is ongoing use of concrete for roads and commercial construction nationwide.

Gypsum, a key ingredient that goes into cement and drywall panels used to form a finished wall, also posted a small increase in production in 2006 as well as an increase in imports. The increase in consumption slowed, according to preliminary estimates, as construction cooled and wholesale prices flattened.

In other recent reports, Ken Simonson, chief economist for Associated General Contractors of America, said material prices should be fairly stable at least through the first part of 2007.

He said the expansion of domestic cement supplies should continue this year, along with more imports from Mexico, and steel also should be more widely available. Plastics for construction are ample, he said, and gypsum prices could even decline by 10 to 20 percent.

Jerry W. Jackson can be reached at jwjackson@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5721.

Sunrise owners seek more time

The developers ask for a delay so they can answer planning questions from the county.

By DAN DEWITT
Published February 20, 2007

BROOKSVILLE - Developers of Sunrise, the largest subdivision proposed in Hernando County in more than 30 years, have asked for more time to answer a long list of planning questions from the county.

The County Commission was due to meet Thursday to decide whether to approve the subdivision as a development of regional impact, a designation that applies to projects in Hernando with more than 1,000 houses.

It will now be considering whether to allow the postponement, which is needed because "the property owners recognize there are planning issues that remain outstanding," Joel Tew, a lawyer representing the owners, wrote in a letter to planning director Ron Pianta last week.

Tew wrote that the owners are confident that they can have the information available before May 9, which is the deadline for development of regional impact approval.

Pianta said his office is willing to try, but it must be allowed enough time to review the information provided.

"There's a lot to do," he said. "The burden is on them to provide the information, and the burden is on us to make sure it's acceptable."

The property's owners - retired mining executive Tommy Bronson, banker Jim Kimbrough, real estate broker Robert Buckner and businessman Hale McKethan - had previously agreed to sell to a group of California investors.

After this group defaulted on the deal in November, the owners said they would continue to seek development approval for the land and either sell it or develop it themselves.

Before the next meeting, they must designate a site for a school and a regional park on the property, which covers 1,386 acres south of State Road 50 and east of Interstate 75, Tew wrote in his letter.

Sunrise, which is planned for more than 4,800 residential units, as well as space for stores, offices and restaurants, is within a 4,800-acre planned development district near the interstate.

Because of this, the county has asked that it coordinate a road network and utility service with other developers in the district.

Dan DeWitt can be reached at 352754-6116 or dewitt@sptimes.com.

SunWest stalls at costly canal

The developer of the Hudson resort is having trouble finding money for dredging, which costs as much as $6-million.

CHUIN-WEI YAP
Published February 20, 2007

HUDSON - A multimillion-dollar canal to the Gulf of Mexico looks set to be the first major hurdle for developers behind SunWest Harbourtowne, a 2,300-acre proposal to develop a limestone mine on Hudson's coastline.

For the developer, Sun West Acquisition Corp., money is a concern.

Sun West needs as much as $6-million to dredge the 21/2-mile, 10-foot-deep channel, said top Sun West executives R. Victor Taglia and Robert Carpenter.

The company is searching for money but is running out of luck at state and federal levels, executives said Monday.

"The channel drives this project," Carpenter said. "The county has pentup demand for public access to deep water."

But for environmentalists, the canal represents a battleground over the sea grass that lines Hudson's coastal marshes and supports its rich ecosystem.

Sun West's developers downplayed the expected environmental damage Monday, saying they had found a path through the marsh that is largely free of sea grass and is lined instead with sand and limestone.

They might have some convincing to do today, when Sun West and county officials hold a public meeting in Hudson to get feedback on the proposal.

"The Sun West mine is going to be a battle for Middle Earth," said Clay Colson, an environmental activist, jokingly referring to the epic war in J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.

The county has a stake in the canal because of its new 312-acre park, across from Sun West's proposed inland marina, that touts public access to the gulf. Pasco got the park and $3-million in exchange for giving up its court dispute with Sun West over the mine's ownership.

Sun West's proposal calls for 2,900 homes, a golf course, a 250-room hotel and convention center, and 33 acres of stores, scattered around five brilliant-blue lakes carved out by limestone mining.

But it is the 32-acre marina and boat lift and its 100-foot-wide canal that have become the focus.

The canal is important because it attracts the kind of boat traffic that makes the project a more financially attractive proposition.

The dredging project could take as long as six months and needs permits from the Army Corps of Engineers and the state Department of Environmental Protection. Sun West is scheduled to make its formal development applications in May.

But so far, the company has not managed to unlock state or federal funds, which emphasize aid for working waterfronts and not private developments. The county has no funds for dredging, Carpenter said.

State Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, had secured state funds for another dredging project in Hernando but said Monday that a private developer in Hudson would not be eligible for the Florida Ports Council matching grant program. Only a port authority in counties with populations of fewer than 300,000 can apply for these funds, he said.

Environmentalists have spoken of threats that the development poses to wildlife, including black bears and the fishing hot spot at Fillman's Bayou off Hudson.

In response, Sun West has designated a black bear corridor, an eagles' nest area and nearly 1,500 acres of green preserve.

Sun West spokeswoman Honey Rand has courted potential environmental opponents, including Colson, Jennifer Seney, Gulf Coast Conservancy trustee Mac Davis and the Sierra Club.

But questions remained.

"I'm extremely doubtful that they can find a path that would avoid some seriously damaging environmental effect," said Davis, who has viewed aerials of the site.

"The inland marina would be dredged through some of the finest sea grass in the state," Colson said. "It's the most devastating thing they could do."

The project's opponents also fear the development's impact on hurricane evacuation routes and existing roads. But Sun West's executives said Monday that they expect most incoming traffic to the resort to stay within the resort, given its range of amenities.

"They won't go back out on U.S. 19," Carpenter said. "We're going to be paying impact fees that are significantly higher than the impact we're going to have."

Chuin-Wei Yap covers growth and development in Pasco County. He can be reached at 813 909-4613 or cyap@sptimes.com.

If you go

Public meeting on SunWest Harbourtowne

On the agenda: The project's developers and county officials will brief the community on ongoing wildlife, water and traffic studies; details on the development plan; and the development's time line. They also want feedback from the community on the project.

When: 6 to 8 p.m. today.

Where: Heritage Pines Country Club, 11524 Scenic Hills Blvd., Hudson, just east of U.S. 19 off County Line Road

Sun West Mine Developers Envision Major Resort

By JULIA FERRANTE The Tampa Tribune

Published: Feb 20, 2007

HUDSON - Developers of the Sun West mine off U.S. 19 and Old Dixie Highway have visions of a major resort, marina and "beach" that would draw visitors from far and near.

They hope to sell plans for what they call SunWest Harbourtowne resort to residents and county officials with an approach they say is different from others in Florida.

"Most developers will take [a map of] property and put buildings on it," said Robert Carpenter, a retired U.S. Army Corps of Engineers commander who now owns a consulting firm retained by Sun West. "Last year, we started identifying areas of environmental concern," he said.

Instead of cramming in as many buildings, golf courses and shops as they could and worrying about environmental laws later, Sun West's developers say they are anticipating obstacles and adjusting to them.

The developers have floated plans with county officials and regulators, advertised in newspapers and in newsletters. Tonight, they are slated to meet with residents, boaters and other concerned parties from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Heritage Pines County Club, 11524 Scenic Hills Blvd., Hudson.

Sun West's owners - Victor Taglia, Gary Grubbs and Tom Hogan - have hired a team of experts to develop plans for 2,900 residential units, a golf course, hotel, conference center, marina, shopping centers and restaurants on 642 acres.

The development would be surrounded by thousands of acres of wetlands, open space and mined lakes.

"The normal way to do this is to go find a marketer, calculate how many millions you can make, get an engineer," Carpenter said.

"He puts it on the ground, and you take that to a regulatory agency. If you can't get a permit, you try to cram it through. Then you modify the plans after you've already invested millions. We didn't do that."

'Green' Building Standards

Sun West spokeswoman Honey Rand said the owners have welcomed suggestions of using "green" building standards and other environmentally conservative measures.

She predicts the resort will "open a whole new realm of tourism opportunities for Pasco."

Because of its size and scope, SunWest Harbourtowne is considered a development of regional impact, which requires extensive local and state review.

Sun West is an active lime rock mine, which has operated for more than 50 years, providing stones for roads such as U.S. 19, the Suncoast Parkway, State Road 50 and Little Road. Permits allow the mine to operate indefinitely.

The mine owners and county officials recently settled a lawsuit involving property rights and since have formed a partnership to build a county park with boat slips, a manmade beach, a bird sanctuary and parking south of the resort.

A shallow canal forms the border between the county and mine property.

Sun West has volunteered to pay for permits and dredging of 2.5 miles of an old canal bed to provide better access to the Gulf of Mexico, Carpenter said.

Manatees are known to inhabit the canal, so a plan must be developed for their protection.

Abundant Wetlands

The mine property, which sits south of Aripeka Road, includes abundant wetlands, at least one bald eagle's nest and habitat for scrub jays and possibly Florida black bears.

The Gulf Coast Conservancy of Aripeka has been concerned about potential effects on bear habitat. Carpenter argues the Southwest Florida Water Management District is addressing those concerns.

Swiftmud has adjusted its habitat priorities in response to the mine development.

In fact, Swiftmud officials recently negotiated a deal with Sun West to swap 1,300 acres Sun West had slated for large homes for 90 acres owned by the district - about two-thirds of which is suitable for building.

Reporter Julia Ferrante can be reached at (813) 948-4220 or jferrante@tampatrib.com

Indian River recoils at St. Lucie road link

By Jim Reeder

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

VERO BEACH — Skeptical Indian River County commissioners said Monday they don't want a road connection to their county from the proposed new town of Cloud Grove in northern St. Lucie County and question the project's effect on their water supplies.

St. Lucie County Commissioner Doug Coward told them his board will consider their comments when it reviews the project, which will bring 12,000 new residences to a 5,000-acre tract 5 miles west of Interstate 95.

"I'm not excited about the connection to Oslo Road," Indian River County Commission Chairman Gary Wheeler said.

Coward said the plan is subject to the approval of his commission. "We can modify it so there is no connection to Oslo Road," he said.

Cloud Grove developers have suggested that they would build a road from their land in St. Lucie County northward to Oslo Road in Indian River County. They said they have no plans for the 1,400-acre section of Cloud Grove in Indian River County.

The developers also plan entrances on Orange Avenue and Indrio Road.

But Cloud Grove will have houses, businesses and jobs so that residents won't crowd St. Lucie's existing roads, said Ernie Cox, head of Florida Land & Development Group. "It will be self-contained," he said.

Wheeler said that may be true in 20 years when the project is complete but not in the early years of development.

"You need residential development before the retail businesses will come," he said. "So people will have to use roads outside the project."

Others agreed with him.

"How are they going to get to the beach and boat ramps and the Indian River Lagoon," Indian River County Commissioner Peter O'Bryan said. "It's not realistic to say they will stay in a self-contained area."

St. Lucie and Indian River County commissioners met at Indian River Community College's Vero Beach campus to discuss the project.

"This is more a development tool than a conservation tool," Wheeler said.

Developers say they can save environmentally sensitive areas on the Adams Ranch by transferring the development rights to Cloud Grove.

The transfer is billed as a way to keep the remainder of the Adams Ranch a productive agricultural business.

But commissioner Coward disputed that approach. "This is the impetus to create urban sprawl out west," he said.

Tom Cowan, a resident of Fly In Ranch, agreed.

"I think it would be a mistake to allow this development in the agricultural area," he said. "Originally, the idea was to keep agriculture west of Interstate 95."

St. Lucie County commissioners will meet with Cloud Grove developers again Friday to discuss how to pay for the new roads and other improvements.

The developers have suggested a special assessment district that would collect money from the landowners to pay for improvements.

"We want to keep this so that existing taxpayers won't have to pay for it," St. Lucie County Commission Chairman Chris Craft said.

History in the making: Bypass on way for Newberry

By Joanna Blaz
For The Herald

NEWBERRY - With an aim to alleviate traffic on State Road 26, the Florida Department of Transportation has narrowed down its possible Newberry bypass routes to five, three of which go through Newberry neighborhoods.

Newberry property and many homes will be affected by a final decision, as residents will have to move or sell their land to make way for the road.

A meeting to discuss the possible bypass routes will be held Feb. 27 at Newberry City Hall from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Comment sheets will be available to the public for any complaints or suggestions they may have.

“Come and tell us what you think about this,” Florida Department of Transportation Representative Debrah Miller said to Newberry residents Monday at City Hall.

She stressed that input from the public is crucial to making the final decision.

The northern routes tend to start near the Gilchrist County line and veer north, crossing U.S. 27 and ending behind Hithcock's Foodway. The southern route also starts near the county line but goes south until N.W. 30th Lane, then heads east, crossing U.S. 27.

Miller presented the proposed alternative routes, one of which particularly caught the attention of a few Newberry residents at the Newberry commission meeting Monday night.

The two most northern routes (as seen in the map), which cut through residential areas, elicited strong comments from residents and commissioners.

“(The route) will be going through an established neighborhood of people who cannot afford to relocate,” said Mae Isler, a former member of the Citizens Advisory Committee. “They are going through neighborhoods where (they) think people are not going to object… (but) we strongly object.”

Many Newberry residents have been working their whole lives for their property, residents said.

“I’ve worked two jobs,” Iza Hill said. “To be able to purchase property, it took hard work. I totally don’t appreciate what I see.”

Many residents expressed concern for not only their own property but also for children who will have to cross the busy street, which can be 4-laned in some cases.

“This is going to be a major highway," Newberry resident Juanita Watson said. "We are concerned about all those large trucks coming through. Any way they go on the north side, it will affect children going to school.”

All five of the residents who spoke in opposition to the northern routes agreed that the southern route option, which bypasses central Newberry and travels mostly through vacant land, would be a better option.

“(With) the southernmost route, established regions are not affected,” Isler said. “The two most northern routes go right through the community. That’s just tearing the community up."

Commissioner Lois Forte agreed: “The most logical way to do it is the southern route.”

The southernmost route completely bypasses the downtown area (as seen on the map on Page XA), but there are concerns that the southern route may be affected by sinkholes.

Residents also said that implementing one of the two northern routes might even defeat the purpose and add more traffic.

“You will add more congestion,” Isler said, referring to the northern route that goes through her neighborhood.

Making a final decision on a route may take several months, but some Newberry residents said they recognize the urgency of the issue. Residents mentioned that the idea of a bypass for State Road 26 has been tossed around for decades.

“The longer we wait, the more the city’s going to grow,” Newberry resident Lewis King said.

The final results will be presented at a public hearing in late summer.

Property Insurance Policy Cuts To Resume

By JEROME R. STOCKFISCH The Tampa Tribune

Published: Feb 20, 2007

TALLAHASSEE - The reprieve enjoyed by homeowners who didn't have to worry about nonrenewals and cancellations of their insurance policies is coming to an end.

The state Office of Insurance Regulation on Monday ordered insurers doing business in the state to file new and lower homeowner rates by March 15.

That moves up the previously expected timetable by a couple of weeks. But state officials said Monday it also means that by filing for the new rates, insurers will have fulfilled the intent of an emergency order by Gov. Charlie Crist preventing nonrenewals or cancellations and freezing rates while a new law mandating the lower rates takes effect.

That means that once they submit new rates, companies will be free to drop policies and to proceed with their plans to drop homeowners who had been sent notices before Crist's Jan. 30 order.

But Floridians shouldn't fear being dropped en masse by their insurers as Crist's order expires, said Sam Miller, executive vice president of the Florida Insurance Council.

"If anything, this clarification might give companies more certitude about what's going on in Florida," Miller said. "Some companies that were reluctant to take on some new business, it might help."

On Monday, the insurance council dropped a lawsuit it had filed in Tallahassee seeking to overturn Crist's emergency decree after the Office of Insurance Regulation "clarified several important issues," Miller said. "We no longer saw the need to continue our lawsuit."

Plans To Drop Policies Will Proceed

The insurance council had been particularly miffed that Crist's order was interpreted by state regulators to mean that even those policyholders notified before Jan. 30 of an impending nonrenewal or cancellation could not be dropped.

Those plans can proceed once insurers file for new rates.

It could not be determined Monday how many customers held impending cancellation notices affected by the Crist decision. It also was unknown whether customers who will be dropped will get a new 100-day notice required by state law or whether the time that passed between their original notice and Crist's order applies to the 100-day cancellation window.

Though it was widely thought that major provisions of the law wouldn't kick in until May or June, Monday's order in effect ends Crist's emergency freeze with the March 15 rate filings.

Amount Of Rate Cuts Coming Soon

Monday's developments came when the Office of Insurance Regulation said it would by March 1 have the parameters for how much insurance premiums should fall. Last week, the office announced it had hired a pair of insurance industry experts to calculate the "presumed factors," or parameters, which could be expressed as percentages the regulators expect rates to drop.

The office ordered insurers to incorporate the factors into rate filings on or before March 15 effective for policies written or renewed on or after June 1.

The discount was mandated by legislation passed in a January special session of the Florida Legislature. Lawmakers intended to combat runaway homeowners rates and a slew of nonrenewals and cancellations.

In the special session, lawmakers expanded the state's exposure in its hurricane catastrophe fund to provide a backstop known as reinsurance to the insurance industry. The reinsurance, which kicks in with major disasters, is made available at rates significantly cheaper than in the private markets. The savings must be passed along to consumers, according to the new law.

Insurers To Start 'Shifting Exposure'

Crist took office in January with tough talk against the insurance industry. The governor had the day off Monday; an aide said the OIR order simply provides guidance to the industry on how to move forward.

But it appears the temporary reprieve on nonrenewals and cancellations is just that.

"That was the idea of the emergency rule, to put a stop on cancellations while OIR computed the presumed factors for savings and until those could be incorporated into rates," said Jonathon Kees, spokesman for the Office of Insurance Regulation. "That is serving its purpose."

After they file for the new and lower rates, insurers would be expected to "resume normal business operations," Kees said, including "shifting exposure accordingly."

That raises the prospect of homeowners dropped this spring and summer having to find new coverage on the eve of the hurricane season.

Miller said he's confident the legislation will help stabilize the Florida market.

"Our efforts were all about that," he said.

Reporter Jerome R. Stockfisch can be reached at (850) 222-8382 or jstockfisch@tampatrib.com.

Hybrids Could Save Our Citrus

By SUSAN SALISBURY
The Palm Beach Post FORT PIERCE - With names such as B4-78 and SF14W-62, they sound like jetliners.

But they're actually the names of newly developed hybrid citrus fruits.

Someday the tangerine, orange and grapefruit hybrids showcased and sampled at the recent Indian River Citrus Seminar in Fort Pierce could have fancy names like the Supersweet Valencia or the Tango Tangerine instead.

But the most important thing about them right now is that some experts and government officials think at least a few of the more than two dozen new fruits presented at the seminar by U.S. Department of Agriculture and University of Florida researchers could hold the future of the Florida citrus industry.

"There's a real interest among growers in new varieties," said Greg McCollum, a research physiologist based at the USDA's Fort Pierce lab.

And consumers, too, some say. A perfect new variety would be one that's disease-resistant and consumer-friendly: seedless, tasty, easy-to-peel and not so juicy that it drips all over the place.

Both UF and the USDA could release as many as a dozen new varieties, such as a seedless Valencia orange and a seedless Fallglo tangerine, in the next year or two. That will signal a big change because Florida has not had a new citrus-fruit variety introduced to its groves since 1989, when the amber sweet orange debuted, said Calvin Arnold, director of the USDA Horticultural Research Lab in Fort Pierce.

Before they had to deal with citrus canker, which is now endemic, and citrus greening, which was detected in 2005, growers wanted researchers to test new varieties for years and years. They wanted to make sure there was no risk in planting them, whether it was low yields or disease problems, Arnold said.

Today they're clamoring for fruit that resists the two bacterial diseases, and they can't get it fast enough. "Now there is an urgency. The growers are willing to take on more risk," he said.

There's also a lot of interest in new orange varieties that could extend the juice season because they ripen earlier or later than existing varieties and offer superior juice quality, said Jude Grosser, a cell geneticist at the UF Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred.

"That's my favorite," Grosser said, pointing to the SF14W-62 Valencia slices available for sampling at the citrus seminar. "It's done extremely well on all the taste panels. Valencias are more canker-tolerant than other orange varieties."

Peter McClure, a district manager with Evans Properties, a Vero Beach-based citrus grower, said early maturing Valencias, which ripen six to eight weeks earlier in the season, interest him.

"It would be great to have a variety to fill the gap between the early varieties and the Valencias," McClure said.

Barney Greene, a partner in Greene Groves and Ranch Ltd. in Vero Beach, was curious about a red-fleshed pomelo, similar to a grapefruit, that Grosser said is canker-resistant.

"Canker-resistant isn't enough. It needs to be immune," he said.

Researchers say they are still at least a few years away from varieties that don't get canker at all.

In the meantime, growers are working on ways to get their hands on fruit advances faster.

Florida Citrus Packers, a trade group representing 90 percent of the state's citrus packinghouses, formed the New Varieties Development and Management Corp. last year.

Executive Director Peter Chaires said that there has been a disconnect between research and developing marketing strategies.

"We need to be able to connect the market research and market knowledge and the horticultural knowledge of growing citrus in a viable business with the scientific research. Up to now, there has never been that," he said.

He said the varieties available for tasting at the seminar were just a sampling of the possibilities.

"We have over 15,000 unique mandarin varieties in research groves between different breeding programs," he said. "That is part of the reason we formed our organization now."

Survey Plots Locations Of 79,000 Urban Trees

By Tom Palmer
tom.palmer@theledger.com

Seventy-nine thousand trees.

That is the size of the urban forest in city parks and other public property in Lakeland, according to a recent urban forestry survey.

I had no idea I would encounter this astounding number - I hadn't really thought what the number might be - when I followed up on a press release we received earlier this year about Lakeland's receiving a $170,000 grant to inventory its trees. The money came from the U.S. Forest Service and the Florida Division of Forestry.

The tree survey itself was interesting. I spent part of one afternoon with one of the arborists from Davey Resources Group, an Ohio company the city hired to do the work.

The survey is quite detailed. It involves an examination of the condition of each tree and its size. The location of each tree is noted, using geographic coordinates. The species is also noted.

The 79,000 figure includes trees and spots where trees could be planted, according to Brian Dick, Lakeland's assistant parks superintendent.

The survey is part of a bigger project involving Lakeland's urban forestry management plan.

I was curious about this because most of my experience with trees is in wild areas. If a tree falls in the woods, it's usually no big deal and simply part of the ecology. It provides food for the bugs and opens a sunny spot to give the next generation of trees a chance to reach for daylight.

If one of Lakeland's trees falls, it could damage a car or a sidewalk or take out a section of a power line, so in urban forestry there are different considerations.

Another aspect is putting in the right tree in the right place.

For instance, all new developments in Lakeland are now inspected to make sure no one plants a large tree species, such as an oak, under power lines. The city can ask homeowners to move trees they plant under power lines if they're a species that could cause problems.

That regulation reduces the chance of power outages and reduces the homeowner complaints when tree trimmers have to do some major pruning in front of homes.

This is also the reason most of the new tree plantings along city streets are low-growing species such as crape myrtle.

Another interesting result of the tree survey was the diversity. Lakeland's public forest contains 223 species.

Dick said the philosophy is to avoid planting too many trees of the same species because sometimes a monoculture, a large group of plants of the same species, makes a section of forest more vulnerable to species-specific tree diseases, said as Dutch elm disease.

Another principle of urban forestry, unlike commercial silviculture, or the art of cultivating a forest, is to stagger the plantings so the trees are different ages. The main benefit is that it prevents a situation where a large number of trees reach the end of their lifespans at the same time and have to be removed, leaving a big hole in the forest canopy.

The other thing the survey showed was the presence of some problem exotic trees, specifically Chinese tallow and Brazilian pepper. The survey also found some less-aggressive exotics - at least in this part of Florida - such as Australian pine, camphor, carrotwood, chinaberry, ear tree, golden rain tree and melaleuca on public lands.

The plan is to remove Chinese tallow and Brazilian pepper, because they do spread aggressively, and to avoid planting those or any of the invasive exotic species on city property.

For now, the counting and protecting of trees is confined to public property.

Apparently the political will doesn't exist yet to pass an ordinance as they have in cities such as Gainesville and Tallahassee to protect trees on private property from being indiscriminately removed.

However, city parks officials now sit in on meetings with prospective developers and discuss the advantages of preserving trees - particularly large, attractive trees - though if the developer wants to cut down the tree, there's nothing they can do about it.

The place to deal with this issue is in the development regulations, but that requires public support, which so far has not surfaced in any organized way.

There has been a lot of discussion about visioning as a way to build consensus to improve conditions in our communities. Perhaps if the kind of urban forest canopy the community wants were part of the discussion, things might change.

TORTOISE RULE COMMENTS

State wildlife officials have finally drafted a plan to treat gopher tortoises better than they have been treated in the past. Now they're looking for comments.

The management plan is proposed in connection with plans to increase protection for this familiar but increasingly uncommon reptile by reclassifying it as a threatened species, which is one step below endangered species status.

Gopher tortoises live in dry upland areas. They are a keystone species whose burrows provide protection for a variety of other creatures ranging from Eastern indigo snakes to gopher frogs. Protecting its upland habitat will also benefit other creatures, such as the Florida scrub-jay, and a number of rare plants.

The 121-page draft management plan is on the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Web site www.MyFWC.com. Comments will be considered when the commission considers the plan when it meets June 13 and 14 in Melbourne. Comments are being taken through April 4.

TRAILS MONTH

Take a hike.

After all, this is Florida Hiking Trails Month.

Florida contains more than 4,000 miles of trails - including several miles of trails here in Polk County. They're great places to get some exercise and to get to know nature.

The observance was initiated by the Florida Trail Association, a private group of hiking enthusiasts who maintain many of the trails throughout the state.

For more information about Florida trails and activities, visit www.floridagreenwaysandtrails.com. For information about the Florida National Scenic Trail and the Florida Trail Association, visit www.florida-trail.org.

Tom Palmer can be reached at tom.palmer@theledger.com or 863-802-7535

Money set aside to save old oak trees

By NICOLE SERVICE
Staff Writer

BUNNELL -- The Flagler County Commission decided that it was worth going out on a limb to save three old live oak trees Monday.

In a 4-1vote, commissioners decided to set aside $1 million from the Environmentally Sensitive Land Fund -- if needed -- to purchase the 3.49-acres containing the oaks, believed to be "older than the United States of America."

Vice Chairman Jim O'Connell voted against the proposal, saying he thought the county tree ordinance was enough to protect the sprawling oak trees, which a recent survey determined range in age from 200 to 400 years old.

"It's not that I am opposed to saving the trees," he said. "I just think we have protected them."

However, several residents at Monday night's meeting disagreed. They said even though the oaks have been declared historical and cannot be removed, the protections don't guarantee their safety.

The property owner is asking $1.65 million, and the property is appraised at $1.3 million. The owners have plans to build offices on the site, but county leaders and residents said the development would be so close to the trees' root lines that it would slowly kill them.

As a part of their motion, commissioners told their staff to go to Flagler County cities to see if they are willing to pay part of the money to buy the property wedged between State Road 100 and Briarwood Path.

They also told their staff to go back to the owners and try to negotiate one more time to purchase only 1.31 acres where the trees are located for about $500,000. However, Fred Lewers of Palm West Home Realty Inc., which represents the owner, wrote in a recent letter to County Administrator Doug Wright that the commission either buy all of the land or trade the parcel for property the county acquired from Hammock Dunes that is now part of the Malacompra Greenway.

Commissioners said no to the land swap, but talked for more than an hour about the benefits and concerns of buying the parcel Monday. They also listened to residents and schoolchildren about why the trees needed to be saved.

"These trees should be an expression and metaphor for your interest in conservation in this county," Flagler Beach resident Allen Ferver told the commissioners.

Commissioner George Hanns, who had long been a proponent for the trees, and Chairman Jim Darby both spoke fervently about protecting the trees.

"If those trees go because we sit around talking about this for another six months, then others are going to follow," Darby said. "Are we willing to stand our ground and fight for our nature?"

Hanns agreed.

"It's amazing that something that old is still alive," he said. "I have no problem going out on a limb on this one."

nicole.service

Officials pitch new fees to cover refuge costs

BY JIM WAYMER
FLORIDA TODAY

Hunting, fishing and bird watching might grow a bit pricier at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Refuge officials have proposed a $5 weekly pass and $20 annual pass to fish the refuge or drive down Blackpoint Wildlife Drive to bird watch.

Duck hunters would have to pay $15 for each day they hunt the refuge, up from $12.50 a day.

The proposed fees are part of a new plan to manage the refuge during the next 15 years. The public has until Monday to comment.

The new fees for Blackpoint and for fishing would take effect within two years of the plan's approval, expected later this year. The duck hunting fee increases could take effect as soon as next fall.

The proposed fees are buried on page 79 of the plan's 96-page "appendix G," also entitled "Visitor's Service Plan."

Refuge officials estimate they would generate $639,000 a year from the three new fees. The fees are necessary, they said, because of recent years of budget cuts.

"Funding is going to be a challenge," said Dorn Whitmore, a ranger at the refuge. "We can not continue to do more with less, so we may have to scale back."

The fees to drive Blackpoint would pay for routine maintenance, enhancement projects, and partially cover the cost of hiring visitor services staff. The refuge plans to hire a part-time fee collector. The fee would cover one vehicle and all its occupants. Most refuges in Florida charge entrance fees, but not Merritt Island because NASA owns the refuge roads and its workforce uses them.

A voluntary donation tube at Blackpoint generates about $6,000 each year. Refuge officials estimate that even if the drive's 127,000 annual visitors drops by 20 percent, the new fees could generate about $250,000 a year. By comparison, Canaveral National Seashore charges a $3 per person or $35 per year entrance fee.

The refuge currently requires anglers get a free annual fishing permit to fish the refuge. New fishing fees could raise an estimated $426,000 to help offset the cost of hiring another two full-time law enforcement officers to patrol the refuge's new pole and troll zone in Mosquito Lagoon. That would bring the total to four law enforcement officers.

Current duck hunting fees generate less than $10,000. The new fees could bring in $15,675.

The 311-page management plan also includes strategies for how to monitor and protect wildlife species.

"We need more information. We want to partner. We want to do more studies," Whitmore said. "Wildlife impacts are going to continue to occur.

The refuge has more than a million visitors annually.

Contact Waymer at 242-3663 or jwaymer@flatoday.com.

DIRT MINE BOOM

State money is encouraging landowners to dig pits to collect water for irrigation. But critics are worried that dump trucks hauling the fill dirt along rural roads.

CHARLOTTE COUNTY -- Salty farm irrigation runoff has been polluting Punta Gorda's drinking water supply for years. Now regional water managers think they have a solution: Dig more dirt mines in Charlotte and DeSoto counties.

But the strategy raises questions about whether officials are eliminating the problem or potentially creating new ones.

The water managers are offering tens of thousands of dollars to rural landowners willing to dig pits, sell the dirt and use the resulting reservoirs to irrigate citrus groves.

By substituting the reservoir water for the salty well water that many farmers currently tap, the Southwest Florida Water Management District hopes to preserve a drinking water source for thousands of people.

"We've got an immediate issue with water quality," said Eric DeHaven, an official with the district, an agency that controls water use across a 16-county area. "We need to put in solutions that directly address that."

But the plan has put the district, nicknamed Swiftmud, in conflict with local officials who are considering stricter dirt mining rules.

They're worried about the huge volume of dump trucks hauling dirt along rural roads. They're concerned about the potential for the reservoirs to spur waterfront development in far-flung locations, creating suburban sprawl.

Swiftmud's plan also underscores environmentalists' long-standing complaints about the district's ability to balance resource protection with rising water demands.

For years, critics have argued that Swiftmud could have solved the Punta Gorda water supply problem -- and many others -- by cracking down on farm pumping.

Instead, the district has spent millions trying to keep water flowing and repair environmental damage -- all at taxpayers' expense.

Too many farmers in east Charlotte and parts of DeSoto County are using low-quality, salty well water to irrigate their groves.

The ground-water pumping has polluted Shell and Prairie creeks, which Punta Gorda uses for public water supplies, with high salt levels. And it has worsened the stress on ground-water supplies across Southwest Florida.

The district has spent several years trying to address the problem, in part by plugging wells with bad water quality.

But now, water managers are aggressively pushing the money-for-reservoirs plan to farmers in Charlotte and DeSoto. The average landowner can get up to 75 percent of the $280,000 cost of pumps, pipes and conservation equipment. In exchange, the landowner must farm at least another five years.

Some farmers also can collect up to $450,000 from the federal government under a U.S. Department of Agriculture program for priority areas, which include Shell and Prairie creeks.

Water in the reservoirs comes from rainfall, not the deep underground aquifer that provides much of the region's supply.

By shifting the farm irrigation to the reservoirs, the district hopes to not only solve salty irrigation runoff problems but also reduce stress on overpumped ground-water resources.

Charlotte and DeSoto are attractive for dirt mining for the fill for building homes, businesses and roads throughout the region because they have less restrictive mining laws.

But Swiftmud's sales pitch to farmers has caused a dirt mining boom.

Last year, Charlotte and DeSoto saw a 300 percent increase in applications for commercial dirt mining. Of more than 60 mines operating or awaiting permits in the two counties, DeHaven said 10 can be directly linked to Swiftmud's extra efforts.

DeHaven figures his program is the impetus for many more mines, though it's hard to keep count because farmers often start digs before asking Swiftmud for money to convert them into reservoirs.

When officials in Charlotte and DeSoto became alarmed by the surge in mining requests, DeHaven worked to persuade them not to make the laws so strict that they slow progress on the man-made lakes.

Commissioners in Charlotte fear the money in mining will add unmanageable traffic in the short term. Looking to the future, they worry that farmers will sell their land for lakefront residential development when their contracts with Swiftmud expire.

Each mine generates an average of 500 truckloads of fill each day, drawing complaints from residents along the haul route.

Small sites generate up to 100,000 cubic yards of fill or roughly 6,000 truck loads. Each load is worth up to $165, generating nearly $1 million split by the property owner, excavator and hauler.

The new waterfront property created by the mines can tempt developers. But some county leaders object to the idea of subdivisions so far from the county's developed core.

"When you see all of these excavations popping up all over the place, it's not uncommon for them to later show up as applications for residential development," said County Commissioner Adam Cummings.

Farmers say those worries shouldn't stop legitimate agricultural operations from taking Swiftmud's incentives.

"There's some bad blood because there are some farmers who have gotten these permits and take advantage of the situation today," said Wesley Brumback, one of several citrus growers in east Charlotte County.

DeHaven contends that a residential development would be better for the region's water supply than the status quo.

"Anything that could happen out there that would eliminate the use of the wells will be a positive thing," DeHaven said.

In contrast, environmentalists have argued that Swiftmud doesn't have to permit water use for farms or development if it harms natural resources.

Still, DeHaven wants Charlotte and DeSoto to speed up permitting for the mines and reservoirs.

DeSoto is willing to accelerate permits only on mines for less than 100,000 cubic yards of fill per landowner, said County Administrator Craig Coffey.

DeSoto, like Charlotte, has had an increase in dirt mine applications. After years of receiving no more than two or three per year, DeSoto had 17 last year. The county imposed a moratorium in December while rewriting its codes.

The Charlotte commissioners are just starting to consider more restrictive rules.

Cummings said Charlotte should treat farmers differently from property owners who only want to mine dirt. But he's wary of making concessions for Swiftmud projects.

One potential Swiftmud project on a Neal Road farm would excavate 6.5 million cubic yards of material over 100 acres.

Generally, a reservoir needs to take up 5 percent of a farm to provide enough water for year-round irrigation. Any reservoir proposals exceeding that figure, Cummings said, should be looked at with high scrutiny.

"It's unlikely that you are going to need a reservoir that covers half your property," Cummings said.
_____

Staff writer Victor Hull contributed to this report.

Public vote proposed on Newberry Village

By CINDY SWIRKO

Sun staff writer

An opponent of the proposed Newberry Village mix of homes and shops submitted a formal settlement offer Monday in which he agreed to drop his legal action if the county lets voters decide if the project should be approved.

Tallahassee attorney Ross Stafford Burnaman gave county officials a copy of the offer on behalf of his Gainesville client, Brad Stith, at a meeting Monday between the parties involved in the matter.

"I think it's pretty likely that the public would vote to deny it," Stith said after the meeting. "The development would mount a big campaign, but we have nearly a thousand signatures on a petition and we really haven't canvassed anywhere except a few of those neighborhoods nearby. I think we would get a lot of support."

Newberry Village is a proposal for 900 residences, 240,000 square feet of retail and 27,000 square feet of office space on Newberry Road at Fort Clarke Boulevard.

Developers will provide shuttle service to The Oaks Mall at peak times to ease traffic impacts. Riders can take Gainesville Regional Transit System buses to work or campus from the mall.

The Alachua County Commission voted for a comprehensive plan amendment that would allow the development. However, a sizable number of nearby residents or those who must travel on Newberry Road oppose the project.

Meanwhile, the state departments of Community Affairs and Transportation have concerns because of the potential traffic impacts.

The state found the county plan amendment not to be in compliance with state laws. Stith joined in by filing a legal challenge.

Meeting Monday were Stith and other opponents, representatives of the state and county and developer New Urban Works of Miami.

Stith proposed a voter referendum to rescind the commission ordinance granting the plan amendment. Stith will drop the suit if voters agree to keep the amendment.

Assistant County Attorney David Schwartz said the offer will be reviewed.

"I would like to continue to have the discussions we were having that were not concluded and see if there are other settlement possibilities," Schwartz said. "At some point, we go back to the (County Commission)."

Gainesville attorney David Coffey, who represents New Urban Works, could not be reached for comment. The company agreed Monday to rework some traffic data for renewed consideration by the state.

Cindy Swirko can be reached at 374-5024 or swirkoc@gvillesun.com

County plots housing plan

Proposal offers builders incentives for offering affordable homes

BY SCOTT BLAKE
FLORIDA TODAY

Ryan Duckworth is a lifelong Brevard County resident. He works as a firefighter/paramedic in Cocoa Beach, where he helps protect the community.

Yet the 33-year-old says he can't afford to buy a house on the Space Coast.

He's looked for a single-family home on Merritt Island, but has found the asking prices too high -- from about $180,000 for homes built decades ago to about $230,000 for newer models.

County officials had people like Duckworth in mind when they crafted a proposed ordinance designed to create "affordable" housing for people earning $48,120 a year or less, and "workforce" housing for people earning $56,140 a year or less in unincorporated areas of Brevard.

But some local experts say the incentives for builders that are part of the county proposal up for a hearing today don't go far enough in helping middle-income people like Duckworth swing a deal for a house.

Duckworth's job pays him about $43,200 a year. When considering the increased cost of homeowners' insurance and property taxes, he said, a single-family home in a decent location is beyond his financial reach.

"It's been an uphill battle," said Duckworth, who is living with his parents on Merritt Island.

The proposed ordinance, which will have its first public hearing today at the Brevard County Government Center in Viera, offers various incentives for developers to voluntarily build affordable homes for people with various levels of low and moderate income, as defined in the ordinance.

The ordinance would apply only to unincorporated areas of Brevard, but county officials hope it serves as a model for local cities and towns to eventually adopt.

New approach

The county and some cities and towns already have programs that provide financial assistance to low-income people looking to buy homes. But the new ordinance takes a different approach: providing assistance to homebuilders.

However, it's more likely the measure will help someone buy a modest dwelling like a townhouse in a lower-priced unincorporated area, rather than a single-family home in a more popular area such as Merritt Island or Viera, according to county housing officials and local real estate professionals.

"We knew we couldn't throw enough money at the problem to make it go away," Sam Dettra, the county's housing supervisor, said about the rise in housing prices.

Local housing prices have more than doubled in the last decade. In December, the median sales price of an existing single-family home in Brevard was $205,100 -- down 13 percent from $235,300 in December 2005, but up 261 percent from $78,600 in December 1996, according to the Florida Association of Realtors. At the median, half the homes cost more and half cost less.

Dettra said the proposed ordinance begins to chip away at the affordability problem.

The proposal has 11 categories of incentives -- from permit fee and impact fee refunds and deferrals, to increased building densities and other financial and regulatory assistance.

Depending on how many of the incentives come into play, officials estimate it could decrease a builder's construction costs for a house by several thousand dollars to potentially $50,000 or more.

In return, the builder and the county would settle on what would be a reasonable sales price for the house that would make the project both financially feasible for the builder and affordable for the buyer, Dettra said.

In addition, the builder would agree to sell that unit to a buyer of a certain income level, as detailed in the ordinance.

Attract and retain

Franck Kaiser, chief executive officer of the Home Builders & Contractors Association of Brevard, who was part of a task force that helped craft the ordinance, said a thrust of the proposal was to "generate more affordable housing for the professionals who need it" to help area employers attract and retain employees.

However, buyers under the program should not expect too much, local real estate professionals said.

For example, prices for a new single-family home in Viera currently start at about $250,000, according to Jerry Connery, sales manager for Viera Realty.

So, if a builder qualified for $50,000 worth of incentives under the ordinance and dropped the sales price accordingly, the reduced $200,000 price for the buyer still would result in a monthly mortgage payment of about $1,250, according to Sue Pierce, principal broker of Integrity Home Loans in Melbourne. That's based on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage with a 6.5 percent interest rate.

The $1,250 mortgage payment assumes the buyer made a down payment of 20 percent or more.

If the down payment is less -- a likely scenario for a first-time homebuyer, the mortgage payment would rise to between $1,700 and $1,800 a month, because the buyer then would be required to have property taxes and mortgage insurance bundled into the mortgage payments, Pierce said.

More costs

That may not be affordable for someone earning the median income in Brevard -- especially considering there will be a homeowners' insurance premium on top of the mortgage, property taxes and mortgage insurance.

A more likely scenario for buyers under the program would be a small townhouse or condominium in a less expensive area of the county.

And that may even be a stretch for low-income earners, which the county defines as a single-
person household making $32,100 a year or less.

"For someone making $30,000 a year, you're talking about a $100,000 to $125,000 home for them to afford it," Pierce said.

Contact Blake at 242-3644 or sblake@floridatoday.com

Would you pay to pitch hay?

Some farmers are turning to tourism to boost the bottom line, but not all are convinced

JASPER - Rick Palmer, a retired mechanical engineer, had been living at McCulley Farms for the last three months.

He and his wife, from Palm Bay, bought about 10 acres west of the former poultry farm and were camping in an RV until they finished building a house on their land. A newly minted horse rider, Palmer took to helping the McCulleys around the 92-year-old family farm.

"This is where we decided we wanted to retire," Palmer said. "I went from pushing papers to pushing horse manure. That's right, I've worked my way to pushing manure and [I'm] loving it."

For city folk like the Palmers, rural living has become an alluring escape. For farmers like the McCulleys, that could mean big bucks.

T.C. McCulley, who owns 400 acres near where the Suwannee and Withlacoochee rivers meet, has transformed his poultry houses into horse stables and his pastures into campground. The campground is open year-round, but twice a year since 1999, the family hosts a weekend trail ride through the farmstead and nearby Twin Rivers State Forest. For $90, they provide meals, entertainment and guided rides. Extras like covered stalls, electric hookups, hay and feed can up that cost to about $150 for the weekend, McCulley said.

About 300 trail riders attended last fall, McCulley said, and the list keeps growing.

McCulley is one of a handful of farmers in Florida who have embraced tourism as an alternative source of income. One day, he hopes it will be his primary money maker.

Across the country, farmers are turning to agritourism enterprises, from overnight stays to cornfield mazes to pick-your-own produce stands. In Georgia, for example, The Rock Ranch (a 1,250-acre cattle ranch owned by Chick-fil-A mogul S. Truett Cathy) opened to the public in 2006 after offering campgrounds and private tours to schools and businesses for nearly a decade. Adam Pugh, the ranch's marketing director, said the ranch is primed to focus on tourism in the years to come - with plans for a pumpkin patch and Christmas tree farm. Pugh insisted, however, that the primary goal was not to profit but to entertain and educate families in a rural setting.

Not all farmers are so lucky.

Under the guise of "Original Florida," 15 North Florida counties received a $2,000 grant from Visit Florida to provide classes to area farmers on how to turn their farms into tourist destinations. Visit Florida is the state's official tourism agency. Potential targets range from soft shell crab farmers to crop growers. Topics covered include financing, marketing and - the biggest stumbling block - managing liability insurance. The idea is to tell (and sell) the American farmer's story while earning some income to supplement his or her operations. Nearby agritourist farms include Conner's A-Maize-ing Acres in Hilliard and Bulls-Hit Ranch and Farm (which makes potato chips) in Hastings.

The final class of the three-part series was Feb. 7 in Live Oak.

"Farmers in the state of Florida have woken up," said Linda Landrum, the North Florida agent for the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. "Why shouldn't we get a piece of the tourism pie?"

Some leery of inviting visitors

Attendance at the classes was steady, said Harvey Campbell, executive director of the Columbia County Tourist Development Council.

"We want to make them understand that what they do has a wow factor, that it is interesting," he said.

But farmers need more than a wow factor; they need money.

"The only people who are still farming on a large scale are wealthy enough not to worry about selling their land," said Mike Thomas, founder of the Thomas Honey Co. in Lake City.

Thomas and his daughter, Kathie Cullum, have toured school children through their apiary but are considering dropping the activity due to high liability risk. The possibility that a visitor might sue if he or she is stung is not high, but it's there, Cullum said. Cullum doesn't carry liability insurance because the farm hasn't really considered school field trips as a source of income.

"You can't spend money on something you're not making any money on," Cullum said.

AGRITOURISM: WHAT IS IT? From pumpkins to tree farms Also called agritainment, agritourism marries agriculture and tourism by inviting the public to a farm or ranch to participate in various agricultural activities. Agritourism activities include bed and breakfasts, bird and wildlife viewing, Christmas tree cutting, cornfield mazes, farm tours, for-fee fishing or hunting, hay rides, petting zoos, pick-your-own produce and wineries. Visit a farm Here's where the find the farms in this story on the Internet: Conner's A-Maize-ing Acres: www.connerscornfieldmaze.com McCulley Farms: www.mcculleyfarms.com Thomas Honey Co.: www.thomashoney.com The Rock Ranch: www.therockranch.com FARMING BY THE NUMBERS 63 million The number of Americans per year who visited farms from 2000 to 2003 2.1 million The number of U.S. farms in 2002 1.9 percent The percentage of the U.S. labor force who worked on a farm 1,445 The number of farms in Northeast Florida in 2002, much of which were smaller than 50 acres Sources: 2002 Census of Agriculture, Travel Industry Association and United States Department of Agriculture

Cullum, who has been managing the farm since 1996, also says she can't afford to supervise visitors for too long, especially during the height of the season between March and July.

"We're pressed for labor," Cullum said. "I can't afford to pay more because we compete on an international level. It's hot, sweaty and dirty. You get bee stings and splinters. You can't hire people to do this kind of work when they can make the same amount of money waiting tables."

Although farms and ranches make up about 41 percent of the total acreage of the United States, less than 2 percent of the employed labor force works on them, according to the 2002 Census of Agriculture, a survey published every five years, and the USDA. There were 2.1 million farms in 2002, about 60 percent of which had sales of less than $10,000 during the year.

As an alternative revenue generator, Cullum developed the company's honey bottling business (which is all done by hand) about eight years ago, growing it from 10 55-gallon drums a year to 135 drums a year. She also sells beeswax candles and birdhouses made of old beehives.

There is no storefront at the Thomas Honey Co., and the tours are free.

"I do enjoy it, showing the farm and telling stories," Cullum said. "But it's an option, not a solution. I don't think it's a money maker."

Tourism leads farm's revenue

Betty Jean Conner didn't think anyone would visit a cornfield in Hilliard - let alone pay for it - when she and her husband opened one in 2003.

"Little did we know," she said.

Like the McCulleys, the Conners used to grow chickens. When Tyson Foods pulled out of the Conners' longstanding contract two weeks before Christmas in 2002, the family had to think quick. They considered turning the hen houses into horse stables, like the McCulleys, but rejected the idea in favor of a cornfield maze.

They distributed fliers to local schools and charged $5 per student. With admission, students received a handmade T-shirt. Conner recalls working shifts with her husband, Eddie, to make the T-shirts.

That first year, 6,000 people came. Last year, 18,000 came.

Needless to say, they no longer give away the shirts.

According to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, agritourism will play a significant role in American farming through education and entertainment.

The Conners' cornfield is open to the public about two months during the fall, during which they employ about 40 people. They follow a curriculum and give a short lecture, but there also is a hay ride, cow train and a cannon that shoots corn.

Now, tourism is the Conners' chief revenue generator, second to raising cattle.

Conner says opening her farm to the public was a business decision. Keeping it open was a public service.

"I wouldn't ever say it's a get rich quick [scheme]," Conner said. "It's a lot of hard work. But it's very rewarding - some of these children have never touched a cornstalk, let alone anything else on a farm."

alison.trinidad@jacksonville.com,

(904) 359-4268

Growth is luring national retailers

Shoppers will soon be able to skip those long trips to Tampa or Port Richey.

MICHAEL KRUSE
Published February 18, 2007

 

Port Richey? North Tampa?

Who needs 'em?

Not us. Not anymore.

The Coastal Landing development across from the Wal-Mart Supercenter on State Road 50 is looking like the epicenter of Hernando County retail. The new, 18-acre, 151,000-square-foot shopping area is set to have a roster of retailers that includes anchor stores Marshalls, Michaels, Petco, Panera Bread, Linens 'n Things and Old Navy.

These are the kinds of national biggies that until now have meant drives down U.S. 19 to Gulf View Square mall in Port Richey or down the Suncoast Parkway to Westfield Citrus Park in Tampa.

Even with the relative residential slowdown, Hernando is still growing, and retail follows rooftops - as county business development director Mike McHugh likes to put it, "heads in beds."

"When you get to certain population levels, you start showing up on the radar screens of more and more retail and restaurant folks," SunTrust Bank/Nature Coast chief executive Jim Kimbrough said.

"You name it," he said, "and it's all starting to appear on that strip."

"These retailers, these are all places Hernando countians have been chomping at for years," Brooksville Coldwell Banker broker Gary Schraut said. "They've just been doing it in Pasco County. The more they can shop here, the less people have to drive to Pasco and Tampa."

"We're going to pull in that Citrus County market, too," longtime Realtor Jeanne Gavish said. "I believe hordes of people from Homosassa and Crystal River will come down here. That 50 corridor is going to be the main hub for retail."

Not everything is ready to make a home in Hernando.

The Starbucks said to be coming to the new Publix plaza in Brooksville is still just talk. The R.J. Gators that was to come to SR 50 fell through, said Jim Samuel, the restaurant chain's vice president. And a major bookstore? Forget it. Not Barnes & Noble, not Borders, not even Books-A-Million.

But 2006, of course, was the year Carrabba's finally came to the county, and the Italian food chain opened on SR 50 in the fall to much fanfare and long waits for tables.

Holiday Inn Express opened one hotel on SR 50 and another one on U.S. 19.

And the Greater Hernando County Chamber of Commerce added an average of about 30 members a month, said Pat Crowley, the executive director - and most of those were small business owners. So the retail boom isn't just huge national names.

Now, early in 2007, maybe the move-ins aren't arriving at the frenzied, exponential rate they were at this time a year ago, but Hernando's population at the beginning of the year was about 167,000, according to monthly estimates from the county's Planning Department. That's still up nearly 70,000 from the 1990 census and almost 40,000 since 2000.

McHugh's office calls Hernando the geographic center of Florida and bills it as the "Business Gateway to Tampa Bay."

Coastal Landing might as well be at the center of that center. New Plan is the development company in charge, and the market profile study on its Web site shows why these folks are building here: In the 5-mile radius from Coastal Landing, the population in 2000 was 46,866 and 60,119 in 2006. It's projected to be 72,786 by 2011. The median household income has risen and is expected to continue to do that.

The other day at the building site, there were men in hard hats, dirt movers, steamrollers, backhoes, bulldozers, tall piles of dirt and the skeletal concrete block walls of Old Navys and Petcos and Paneras to come.

Linens 'n Things is one of the nation's biggest, most popular home accessory stores. It's scheduled to open in June.

Petco is a leading pet food, supplies and services outlet, and the one in Hernando will have a full grooming salon. It's scheduled to open in August.

"We've got a huge team working on finding new locations, and we definitely like to get into growing areas," Petco spokeswoman Rachel McLennan said. "We want to get in there so we can serve all those people moving into the area."

Also at Coastal Landing: Old Navy is the top seller in the Gap clothes conglomerate, Michaels is the world's largest arts and crafts store, and Panera is a growing chain of cafes.

"And we are currently speaking with other national tenants that have expressed an interest," said Stacy Slater, a spokeswoman for New Plan.

"They're smart," Gavish said, "and they have people with sharp pencils who study this. They have numbers they have to meet in order to justify breaking into a market area."

"The population," Tommie Dawson Realty broker Buddy Selph said, "we've just gotten to a critical mass to the point where those stores can be supported now."

So what does this all mean on the ground in Hernando?

It means fewer drives down 19.

It means fewer tolls paid on the Parkway.

"It means," Gavish said, "I don't have to travel to New Tampa for Panera Bread anymore."