Drawing A Line In The Sand
Published: Feb 25, 2007
LAND - O' LAKES - On a recent Tuesday afternoon, Kathleen Barksdale stood behind her Dupree Lakes home trying to photograph an alligator basking in the nearby pond.
She and her family were still moving into their new home on Sheer Bliss Loop, but they were already enjoying the wildlife inhabiting the large drainage pond behind their home. They were, however, a little perplexed by the hole dug near the top of the pond's bank.
What the Barksdales thought was an armadillo's work was more likely the home of a gopher tortoise, one of hundreds of burrowing turtles that lived on the former Dupree Gardens botanical park before Beazer Homes turned it into Dupree Lakes.
In developing the land, Beazer got the state's OK to bury the tortoises living on the 468-acre property off Ehren Cutoff, according to records from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Burying tortoises in the course of development is a common practice builders refer to as "pay and pave."
No one at Beazer's Riverview office responded to repeated calls to comment for this story.
The notion that their homes sit atop hundreds of dead turtles shocked the Barksdales and their Dupree Lakes neighbors.
"If people [knew] this was the situation, they'd be upset," said Allen Haikins, who moved to Dupree Lakes two months ago from Pinellas County.
Pasco's recent population explosion has been borne on the backs of gopher tortoises, bread box-sized reptiles that prefer the same sandy soils as housing developers.
Since the state began keeping track in 1991, Pasco's developers and road builders have received 149 incidental-take permits allowing them to destroy more than 4,500 tortoises.
Two-thirds of those permits have been issued since 2002. The recipients are a who's who list of companies building homes, shopping centers and roads across the county.
Beazer, for example, paid state wildlife officials $435,600 in 2004 for permission to bury 351 tortoises at Dupree Lakes. It remains the largest take permit issued in Pasco County.
Pasco isn't unique. State wildlife officials have approved the burial or relocation of more than 87,000 gopher tortoises since 1991. Many of those permits have gone to counties along interstates 4 and 75.
But a pending change in state law could shift the balance of power in favor of the tortoises.
A Step Up In Protection
On Feb. 16, wildlife officials released new management rules for gopher tortoises that will force developers to move the animals rather than kill them. There will be exceptions for in extreme circumstances.
The new plan declares the gopher tortoise a threatened species in Florida, a step up from its current listing as a species of special concern.
"Simply burying them is not going to be acceptable," said Tom Connelly of New Port Richey. He makes a living relocating gopher tortoises from land under development.
The proposed changes are open for public comment through April 4. They will go into effect this summer.
Supporters want to protect gopher tortoises because their tunnels shelter dozens of other animals, from frogs to moths to snakes, which live nowhere else. Many of those creatures are similarly threatened or endangered because of vanishing habitat.
"There's a whole community that would be lost without the gopher tortoise." Connelly said.
The threatened status reflects biologists' assessment that developers are plowing under gopher tortoises faster than the slow-growing animals can reproduce. Tortoise numbers are falling fast, said Joy Hill, spokeswoman for the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's research institute in Gainesville.
Wildlife officials estimate that Florida has 750,000 gopher tortoises, based on how much habitat is left to support them, Hills said.
Although that sounds like a lot of animals, that's not the point, said Hill.
"It's not the number [of tortoises], it's the rate of decline," Hill said. "There's a lot of things that are against them. Habitat loss is just one of them."
Costly Solution
Developers say the new rules could quadruple their costs related to gopher tortoises and could make tortoise-laden properties such as the former Dupree Gardens simply undevelopable.
"The bottom line is that this process will be more cumbersome and much more costly than it is currently," said John Goolsby, the environmental planner for Tampa's Heidt & Associates, Inc., one of several engineering firms that work extensively in Pasco County.
Those costs will be passed directly on to future home buyers and retailers, Goolsby said in an e-mail.
The new rules try to offset the raft of new costs by giving developers financial breaks for moving gopher tortoises to protected areas capable of supporting them. The higher quality the new site, the lower the relocation fees, Hill said.
Moving tortoises now averages $8,000 per animal, about six times the cost of bulldozing them, Connelly said. Buying land or conservation easements on property to house relocated animals will add dramatically to the cost of business, developers said.
Under the rules, developers must give each relocated tortoise at least a half-acre to call its own. That's an expensive prospect for developers moving lots of tortoises in a county with rapidly rising land values.
It's hard enough already to find places to put relocated tortoises, Goolsby said.
"This new process will quickly outpace the recipient site availability," Goolsby said.
Up to now, developers have paid the state a fee to buy tortoise habitat as a way of offsetting the animals they destroy. But state lands now have all the tortoises they can handle, Connelly said.
"We're hoping developers will see this and will decide to set aside land to preserve tortoises shifted from their property," he said.
FWC GOPHER TORTOISE PLAN To read the state government's plans for managing Florida's shrinking gopher tortoise population, go to: myfwc.com/imperiledspecies/plans/draft_gopher_plan.pdf
Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201 or kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com.
Water Study Will Take A YearThe river's potential water yield for Polk and other counties in the Kissimmee River Basin will be determined by a study under way by the South Florida Water Management District. That study will determine how much water will be required to remain in the river to complete the massive restoration project there.
"The quantities will be evaluated based on the natural systems," Duke Clem, the county's water policy manager, told the Polk County Water Policy Committee on Friday.
"What's left will be evaluated for public supply," he said.
The results of that study will not be known for at least a year, he said.
Water from the Kissimmee River figured heavily among the alternatives listed last year in a report prepared by the Heartland Water Alliance, an effort by Polk and three other inland counties to examine their future water needs and possible sources to satisfy those needs.
The study concluded Polk County would need an additional 74 million gallons a day by 2025.
Jeff Spence, Polk's director of natural resources, said the search for water is important for inland counties, which don't have access to desalination.
"We think there's 35 million gallons a day available, but we may be competing with other counties for it," he said.
Spence said the other alternative is the Peace River, but it has little potential because flow in the upper reaches is too low and other utilities have claimed water downstream and are planning to ask for more.
He said Polk County officials are talking with their counterparts in Orange and Osceola counties about allocating available water from the river.
He said they also plan to try to work together to jointly fund projects to get the water from the river to the utility systems that want it.
Local officials estimate the cost of the project, which could involve everything from reservoirs and deep wells to pipelines, could cost $500 million.
Spence said the South Florida Water Management District will not fund Polk's project because the water will be piped outside the district boundaries.
However, officials at the Southwest Florida Water Management District have said they are willing to help finance the project, he said.
Tom Palmer can be reached at 863-802-7535 or tom.palmer@theledger.com.
The grants, which are up to $5,000 each, will help fund projects that provide communities the opportunity to learn about water resources.
This year, Swiftmud gave 49 grants that totaled $171,444. This is the 10th year these grants have been available.
The goal of the grant program is to actively engage adults in water-related issues pertaining to conservation, protection and preservation, Swiftmud officials said. The grants are funded by Swiftmud's Basin Boards, and the program is intended to motivate communities to get involved in water protection through various activities and educational formats.
The following three projects are funded by the Peace River Basin Board, which includes portions of Charlotte, Hardee, DeSoto, Highlands and Polk counties.
The city of Winter Haven will receive $4,000 for the "Be a Better Boater Chain of Lakes City" campaign, which will provide recreational users with information about the area lakes and what they can do to help keep them clean, Swiftmud officials said. The information packet will contain maps of the lakes and canal systems and will list nearby amenities. It will also contain an educational section encouraging responsible boating. Signs will be posted at four popular boat launches to remind boaters of things they can do to protect water resources. The project will reach 15,000 people.
Keep Winter Haven Clean & Beautiful will receive $4,897 for a pet waste station and bag replacement project, Swiftmud officials said. Pet waste stations and disposal bags will be placed in six parks throughout the city. These parks are adjacent to lakes, ponds or ditches. The stations will educate pet owners on the importance of picking up after their pets in an effort to reduce contamination from pet waste entering area lakes through stormwater runoff. This project will reach 10,000 people.
Haines City will receive $2,000 for the "Water and Me" workshop, Swiftmud officials said. This project will show Haines City-area residents that failing to conserve water affects everyone, including local plants and animals. Through classes at retirement communities and appearing at the local Heritage Day event, participants will learn about low-flow irrigation and other Florida-friendly landscaping techniques. Grant funds will be used to purchase faucet aerators, shower timers, drip counters, hot water gauges and water hose nozzles for participants. Approximately 2,000 people will be reached through this project.
Where Should Farm Animals Live?
By GARY PINNELLgpinnell@highlandstoday.com
SEBRING — To James Wood, this should be a no-brainer.
To the Avon Park pig farmer – who’s also a Sebring real estate broker – farm animals should live on land zoned for agriculture. Domestic animals, like cats and dogs, should be the only animals allowed to live in the city. But, of course, the real answer isn’t that easy.
David and Linda Wack live on Schlosser Road, south of Sparta Road, outside Sebring’s city limits. The 10-acre lot is zoned agricultural, so they keep a pig and a cow there.
Next door, Tim Bohan’s daughters ride their horses behind their grandparent’s house. A year ago, the Wacks’ pig squealed and spooked Bohan’s horse. It reared its head and broke the nose of Bohan’s daughter, Laura, 18.
Bohan – whose wife has been a 4-H leader for eight years - complained the pig pen is too close to his in-law’s house. The matter wound up before the county planning and zoning board, and eventually before the county commission in December.
The commissioners agreed with the Wacks and amended the county ordinance regulating farm animals, to allow hogs, sheep, goats, poultry and other animals raised for 4-H and FFA. Normally, farm animals can’t be kept within 500 feet of a residence, or 200 feet of a property line. Paragraph 2A exempts show animals within 100 feet of a dwelling, or 50 feet from a property line.
Wood presented a third side to the argument: that everyone, not just 4-H and FFA kids, ought to have the right to raise farm animals on farm land.
Bohan, a Delta Airlines pilot who flies the Bombay trip – missed the December meeting when the law was changed, and claimed he wasn’t properly notified. Now, he’s taking his argument back to the commissioners.
Bohan’s proposed amendment would allow two animals for five months a year within 300 feet of a neighbor’s residence, and within 100 feet of a property line.
Jim Polatty, the county’s development services director, said Bohan’s request is scheduled to appear before the planning and zoning board on March 13, and on the county commissioner’s agenda on March 27.
He hasn’t decided yet whether he’ll officially endorse Bohan’s request.
“But by and large, we’ve allowed pigs too close to the house,” Polatty said. “That’s always bothered me.”
Polatty likes the recommendation of Louisiana State University, which Bohan brought to his attention: “The ideal pen is far enough from your house so you don’t smell odor, but close enough to be convenient. About 300 feet away is ideal. Be considerate of neighbors when deciding on the pen location, and keep it as far as possible from their houses.”
As for the Wacks, they agree with Wood. “As long as you have ag property, you ought to be able to keep animals on it,” said Linda Wack. Their barnyard does, of course, have a country smell, but she pointed out that Daisy the pig has no odor, nor does the 15-month-old Brangus heifer, Dixie.
Bohan disagrees: “It’s a constant noise and odor issue.”
Plans for towers take a tumble
Downtown Orlando condo bust: 41 projects -- but 15 built or now rising
Jack SnyderSentinel Staff Writer
February 25, 2007
Last year, even as storm clouds gathered over the local and national housing markets, developers marched into Orlando City Hall with plans to add more than 1,600 condominium units to a downtown already brimming with thousands of condos, real or imagined.
As a result, the city center has now attracted more than 40 high-rise and midrise condo projects going back eight years. Yet nearly two-thirds of the towers still exist on paper only.
An Orlando Sentinel survey of the downtown core six months ago found that only 12 of 30 announced projects were finished or under construction. Since then, the number of announced projects has jumped to 41 -- but the number of towers completed or rising out of the ground has crept up to only 15.
"Sometimes it's hard to stop a locomotive once it's left the station," said Jack McCabe, a real-estate consultant in Deerfield Beach who follows markets statewide.
The developer of Eola Place, a 510-unit condominium in the southeast area of downtown, said last month that it was putting the two-tower project on hold after having spent thousands of dollars trying to generate sales for a 196-unit first phase.
Instead, JLJ Properties Inc. of Lake Mary has listed the project's 2.5-acre site with Grubb & Ellis/Commercial Florida in hopes of selling it or attracting a partner for a redesigned, smaller complex.
John Bahng, JLJ's president, said the project's sales center on East Central Boulevard has been shut down. Of the sagging market, he said simply: "It is what it is."
Mike Beale, senior vice president of Florida operations for Highwoods Properties Inc., has also stopped working on the residential portion of his company's Capital Plaza III mixed-use development.
"The condo tower is on hold until we see what happens with the market," Beale said of the 125-unit building. Highwoods is still hoping to start construction this year on the project's office building and hotel.
Market crested in 2005
Housing markets across Florida and the U.S. generally peaked during the second half of 2005. Prices appreciated like rockets soaring from Cape Canaveral, as increasing numbers of investors bought single-family homes, town homes and condos, hoping to quickly "flip" the purchase contracts for sizable profits.
But the party is now long over. Speculators have fled the market, and even though mortgage-interest rates have remained relatively low, other buyers have pulled back in large numbers as well.
McCabe, president of McCabe Research & Consulting LLC, sees the potential for a monumental disaster in South Florida -- a crash so dire, he said, it could take a decade for that overbuilt condo market to recover. He also thinks that region of the state could see criminal prosecutions tied to appraisal and lending fraud, common side effects of an overheated market.
He doesn't see any of that happening in the Orlando area, at least not on the kind of scale possible in much larger, coastal markets such as Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
"Orlando has weathered the correction cycle best of all the Florida cities so far," McCabe said.
But that merely means those Orlando condo towers built or begun during the boom are managing to fill up. More than a score of other projects haven't been able to sell enough units to justify construction financing. And so they wait.
Steve Patterson is president and chief executive officer of Zom Holding Inc., which developed the Waverly, downtown's first luxury-apartment high-rise, and the Paramount, a condo tower on East Central Boulevard now under construction.
Patterson said the Paramount couldn't be launched in the current market.
"Construction costs have outpaced growth in income, and the loss of investor-buyers makes the possibility of much new high-rise development unlikely in the near term," Patterson wrote in a recent e-mail, though he said he expects the imbalance between costs and income to correct itself eventually.
'We remain committed'
David Reed, president of the Reed Cos. of Altamonte Springs, is a partner in the Monarch, a 24-story condo tower proposed for a site on South Street. The company has been actively marketing units from a sales office on the property since September, but no construction date has been set for the 180-unit project.
"We remain committed to downtown, this project, and remain financially committed to the successful completion of this project," Reed said.
Craig Ustler, a veteran downtown developer who also works the sales side through his brokerage, CondoHQ Orlando LLC, sees problems and opportunities in the current market.
"Fundamentals are still good," Ustler, a principal of Ustler Development Inc., said of the area's continuing growth in population and jobs. "There is just not a lot of pent-up demand, like there was in 2005 and early 2006."
Though it will be difficult to launch towers with several hundred units, there are opportunities for smaller, niche projects, he said.
Ustler is involved in just such a development, both as a partner and through CondoHQ Orlando. The 13-story East on Park condo tower at 217 N. Eola Drive is 43 percent sold, he said, and construction of the 43-unit tower should start this summer.
One of the city center's largest unbuilt condo projects is Tradition Towers, which is to rise at 150 E. Central Blvd., site of the exclusive University Club. But according to Steve Walsh, president of Broad Street Partners, the project's developer, construction should begin within the next three or four months.
The twin towers, to be connected by a distinctive sky bridge containing the club, are designed to hold 276 condos.
Walsh conceded that the market has changed a lot since the project was announced in 2005. For one thing, estimated costs have risen $60 million, pushing projected sale prices to $550 to $575 a square foot.
At that rate, a 1,000-square-foot condo would cost $550,000 to $575,000.
Still, Walsh expects the towers to sell out because of their "premiere location" and high-quality design.
A 146-unit condo tower under construction at 101 S. Eola Drive has sold almost 90 percent of its units, according to Chance Gordy, vice president of Real Estate Inverlad Development LLC, the project's developer. Even though many of those sales occurred last year, and not in 2007, Gordy said the company has enough confidence in the current market to at least start designing another tower nearby, at 201 S. Eola Drive.
"It's much smaller, and we feel we can get it done," he said.
Developer: '08 to be better
Many times larger than those projects is City Place, a mixed-use development designed to include 1,200 condominiums -- the single-biggest total now on the books. Despite the size of the project, partner Barry Greer is optimistic about its chances.
For one thing, the developer probably won't be ready to start work on the condos until the middle or latter part of 2008, Greer said. "The good Lord has been awful good to me," he said. "We think the market will be a lot better by then."
The giant development, which would include offices, retail, parking garages and a condo hotel, is expected to be a $500 million undertaking.
"If we didn't believe in the Orlando market long-term, we wouldn't be in this," Greer said.
See which condo towers are done, which are going up and which ones might not. Page A16
Incorporation For Wesley Chapel
Pasco Tribune Editorial Published: Feb 25, 2007
The ongoing hubbub over plans by the Salvation Army to build a thrift store along County Road 54 across from Lexington Oaks underscores the need for Wesley Chapel residents to take stock in their community and future.
They need to seriously consider incorporation.
The issue is not the Salvation Army, a fine organization that should be welcomed, not opposed. Its proposed "family retail store" is targeted for an appropriate place - in a commercial zone along a major highway.
The driving issue is local control. Wesley Chapel residents do not have it. If they did, judging from the concerns of many residents, it's doubtful there would be the proliferation of car dealerships or homes so close to them or such crowded roads.
It's unfortunate that the unincorporated area isn't more attractive. More and more, sprawl and traffic congestion are overrunning what is very much a community, one that deserved far better planning by county officials and more thought by developers. Wesley Chapel doesn't deserve to be typical sprawl extending along both sides of an interstate highway.
But a municipal government, with a charter and ordinances written by residents, could change the landscape, dictating zoning and land use, architectural design, public services and, of course, a tax structure. Granted, county officials say most of the open land in Wesley Chapel is spoken for, but it's never too late to control one's destiny. And it's possible remaining open land could be down-zoned to less intensive or intrusive uses.
There would be difficult decisions to make. Studies show that almost all municipal incorporations result in more taxes. That wouldn't be totally bad because, in most cases, state revenue-sharing funds and state and federal grants could be available.
In addition, community development district fees that many Wesley Chapel residents pay could be enough to cancel the need for municipal taxes. That would depend upon the level of service residents would want and the amount of the fees. And some county taxes still would have to be paid.
Another factor is absorbing any financial obligations of the community development districts. But those assessments can be used to qualify for state revenue-sharing money, according to the Florida League of Cities.
Incorporation would be a major undertaking requiring much energy and work. But some ground already has been laid by a committee of residents and business leaders who studied the possibility four years ago before abandoning it.
Wesley Chapel, with more than 22,000 residents, is still evolving. Residents have to decide whether they want true local control or don't mind putting up with the status quo.
Development code is too weak
Pasco Times Letters to the EditorPublished February 25, 2007
Re: To protect our trees, it's a good-sized stick Feb. 21 editorial
Somebody should pass along the commissioners' alleged newfound stomach for environmental protection to County Administrator John Gallagher and the Development Review Committee since it is they and not the commissioners who approve the day to day development that is systematically destroying this county's environment.
Pasco's Land Development Regulations allow destruction of essential habitat and other environmentally sensitive land as long as the other regulators involved, usually the Army Corps of Engineers or Southwest Florida Water Management District, permit it. In other words, this county accepts the lowest standards any other agency will permit instead of taking a pro-active stance to give increased protection to our local environment.
And unfortunately, as any regular reader of the Times knows, the Army Corps' willingness to devastate this state's wetlands is well documented. At one point the Army Corps went multiple years without denying a single application to destroy wetlands. So the commissioners can cry alligator tears for a tree here and a tree there - not coincidentally after there has been bad press - but if they were really serious about protecting Pasco County's environment, they could do it with the stroke of a pen by putting some teeth into our Land Development Code.
Personally, I think it is time for the voters of this county to demand they do just that. Of course, such action would infuriate the local development crowd, which I suspect is why our code is so weak when it comes to environmental concerns to begin with. Let our commissioners know which side of this debate you come down on, and then watch their votes to see if your interests are being served. By policing their votes and being willing to throw the rascals out is the only way we can reasonably expect change.
Steve Byle, Leisure Beach
Enough water for new buildings?
According to the people, whose business it is to know just how much water there is, we don't have enough water now and we're in extremely dry conditions. So dry that new water restrictions have been issued for the public.
If there's any truth in this, how is it that hundreds of new homes, condos and shopping centers are being allowed to be built? Where's the water for them supposed to come from?
To put it very simply, if there's not enough water for us now, where's all this water supposed to come from after the new construction is built?
Harold W. Graham, Bayonet Point
Housing permits down 34 percent
By MICHAEL D. BATESmbates@hernandotoday.com
BROOKSVILLE — Single-family home permits in Hernando County plummeted 34 percent in 2006, as the housing slump continues to affect builders.
The county issued 2,787 single-family home permits for all of 2006, compared to 4,271 in 2005, a record-setting year.
The county started off strong in January 2006, with 478 permits.
In fact, the first three months of the first quarter yielded 1,182 permits. But succeeding quarters have seen steadily declining numbers.
• The second quarter: 747 permits;
• Third quarter: 531 permits;
• Fourth quarter: 327 permits.
Perhaps the most glaring statistic of how bad things have become: Hernando County issued 149 single-family home permits in January 2007, compared to 478 in January 2006 — a 69 percent plunge.
The building boom of 2005-2006 was fueled by investors who took advantage of rising appreciation costs and were out to make a quick killing in the market, said Hernando County Building Director Grant Tolbert.
Also, the Suncoast Parkway became a magnet for Tampa builders and developers who suddenly saw a lucrative market in Hernando County, he said.
But the boom was lowered and now builders are rushing to sell off their existing inventories before proceeding with more development.
And that’s not exactly a bad thing, Tolbert said.
“A number of builders have told me that the pace now is more controlled,” he said. “They can actually get workers easier and materials are not shorted.”
Also, many residents say they prefer the slower growth because it puts less strain on local schools and roads, he added.
Tobert is estimating about 100 permits a month for the foreseeable future, more in line with past years.
“I think we’ve bottomed out,” Tolbert said. “But I think we’re going to stay pretty much at this level at least through 2007,” he said.
“If you look at our residential home permits now and compare them to years other than 2005, it’s really not a bad year,” said Dudley Hampton, president of BJH Construction Inc. in Ridge Manor.
The building boom of 2005 was a fluke, he said.
“We won’t see that again, not for a long time — if ever,” Hampton said. “That was just one of those anomaly years.”
Hampton agrees that the slowdown has allowed builders “to catch their breath.” It has also forced builders to rethink some of their selling strategies and perhaps tweak their models to adapt to the changing consumer needs.
“There’s no better time to buy a home,” Hampton said. “Real estate prices have stabilized. We don’t have the wild speculation we had a couple of years ago, although I do think some properties are still overpriced.”
Interest rates are also hovering near a low 5 percent mark and the Feds have indicated they don’t plan on raising them anytime soon, he said.
“The builders have positioned themselves for an upturn in the market and I think they’re going to provide an excellent product in Hernando County,” he said.
Hampton said the signs leading to recovery are favorable.
State legislators are finally taking steps to solve the insurance crisis that has deterred homebuyers, he said.
“I don’t know if that’s the end solution, but they’re taking steps and that’s very helpful,” he said.
He believes residential construction will pick up by June or July this year.
Nationwide, total housing starts declined 14.3 percent in January as builders worked down their inventories of unsold homes, according to figures released Friday by the Commerce Department.
The pace of construction for the month was 37.8 percent below January 2006.
“My expectation is that housing, particularly in Florida, will continue to decrease at least through the second quarter of 2007,” according to Chris McCarty, with the Bureau of Economic and Business Research.
“Home sales apparently stabilized late last year, but the overhang of unsold housing inventory still is quite heavy, said David Seiders, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders. “Builders have been cutting back on starts of new units to bring supply and demand back into balance.”
Seiders expects housing starts to bottom out in the first quarter of this year before making a gradual recovery.
The slowdown in single-family permits nationally may be fueled by the growing interest in more affordable multi-family housing, especially townhomes.
People can enjoy the pleasures of home ownership without paying the price for single-family homes, especially as the appreciation value of the latter increases.
But that interest in multifamily hasn’t reached Hernando County yet, Tolbert said.
“We haven’t quite urbanized to the point where the majority of people are looking to rent apartments or buy condos,” he said.
However, that may change.
Several developers have already received approval from planning and zoning commissioners to move forward with apartment, condominium and townhouse projects.
Coming Tomorrow
Hernando Today will examine the existing home market.
Reporter Michael D. Bates can be contacted at 352-544-5290.
The Hickory Hill campaign
Sierra Properties has been everywhere promoting it's 2,800-acre development.
By DAN DEWITT
Published February 25, 2007
BROOKSVILLE - When Tampa developer Sierra Properties LLC first announced plans to the build the 2,800-acre Hickory Hill subdivision, Mark MacKinlay said he was "really and truly sick" about the idea.
But an early meeting with the developer convinced him to wait before judging the project, said MacKinlay, who lives on 10 acres in the middle of the proposed development in Spring Lake.
But what really left an impression, he said, was a visit from Sierra chairman Bob Sierra at MacKinlay's house on Shirley Drive.
By the time Sierra left two hours later, MacKinlay and his wife, Becky, were convinced that the development was the best use of the land, said MacKinlay, now a leading advocate for the project, which will include 1,749 houses and three golf courses.
"Until that time, we had not made up our mind," said MacKinlay, a retired Florida Highway Patrol lieutenant.
"That visit was what swayed us across. It was extremely crucial."
It is also an example of how Sierra Properties, more than any developer in memory, has taken its case to the community - mailing out thousands of glossy brochures, hiring a Tampa public relations firm, maintaining a Web site, catering meals and holding so many meetings with residents and business leaders that Sierra vice president of operations Sebring Sierra has lost count.
Though opponents of the project dismiss this campaign as "propaganda" and supporters praise it as "education," most of them agree it makes good business sense.
Sierra has recognized that county commissioners often base their votes on public opinion, said Gary Schraut, a Brooksville developer and real estate broker; and when the commission faces a chamber full of potential voters complaining about a project, they usually turn it down.
"Sometimes, because of the atmosphere created by the crowd, the board doesn't even go along with the recommendations of its own planning department," Schraut said.
"Everybody's afraid to say it, but it's true."
Spreading the word
Bob Sierra and Robert Thomas, whose family has owned the land since the 1930s, seemed determined to control how their project was viewed from the time they first proposed it in the spring of 2004.
After inviting neighbors of Hickory Hill to the Best Western motel in Ridge Manor West, they explained Sierra's background as a developer of high-end subdivisions, including Avila in Lutz, and promised that Hickory Hill would be similar. At a separate meeting for residents of Shirley Drive, they said they might eventually be interested in buying their land.
About year ago, Sierra Properties sent out a mass mailing to homes across eastern Hernando - pamphlets that featured pictures of the ranch in its undeveloped state and emphasized the amount of tax revenue the project would generate.
Sierra Properties has also mailed cards to business promoting Hickory Hill's economic benefits. It hired a lobbyist, Tom Barnette, to spread the word of the project in the community and, last summer, public relations consultant Honey Rand.
The company has previously held one meeting for business leaders at Silverthorn Country Club and will hold another at the club on March 8 for members of the Greater Hernando County Chamber of Commerce.
More visibly, the company has pressed its point of view in local newspapers. Sebring Sierra and Sonny Vergara - a Spring Lake resident, former executive director of the Southwest Florida Water Management District and long-time friend of Sierra attorney Jake Varn - have written guest columns in the Hernando Times advocating the development.
Since Jan. 1, the Times has run a dozen letters supporting the project, roughly matching the number of anti-Hickory Hill letters. The public dialogue seems likely to grow even more intense as April 26, the date of the commission's decisive hearing on the project, draws closer.
Rick Carlton, director of financial planning for Hernando Healthcare, said representatives from Sierra encouraged him and his father-in-law, Gary Morton, a government teacher at Central High School, to write pro-Hickory Hill letters.
"It wasn't the development's owners but people who are affiliated with it and who want it to happen," Carlton said.
Maurice Ryman, owner of Complete Technology Solutions, a computer consultant firm, also said he has talked with Sebring Sierra and other proponents of the project. He wrote a letter in favor of the project and encouraged three of his employees to do the same.
One opponent of the subdivision, Shirley Robinson, said she felt the company was trying to silence her voice.
After her letter to the Times appeared in December, a lawyer for the developer sent her a certified letter advising her to "make only truthful statements" about Hickory Hill.
"I interpreted it as intimidating," she said.
Opposition exists
Along with a large turnout of supporters at commission meetings, these letters have created the impression of strong support. But maybe it's only that, said Sindra Ridge, a Spring Lake resident and the leader of the opposition to the project.
Many businesses or families, including the MacKinlays, have sent out more than one letter under the name of different individuals, making it seem as though the backing for the project is more widespread than it actually is.
More importantly, she said, the supporters, "have something they are going to gain. There has to be a profit margin," she said. "John Q. Public, the average homeowners, they are opposed to it."
There's nothing wrong with business leaders favoring the project, said Sebring Sierra, if it indicates it will improve the business climate in Hernando.
"I think it's going to help the overall economy," he said. "We've got supporters across the county."
Carlton, for example, said Hickory Hill will not only bring in more potential hospital patients, but ones who are insured or able to pay their bills. Having more clients, he said, could allow the hospital to provide services - a hyperbaric chamber that helps wounds heal more quickly, for example - that it could not afford with a smaller customer base.
Ryman also see the prospect of more customers for his company, citing Bob Sierra's claim - disputed by a prominent economic development expert - that Hickory Hill residents will move their enterprises to Hernando County.
"I started following it and doing some of my own research," Ryman said. "I saw it would be a good thing for the county."
In some cases the benefits could be more direct.
Soon after the project was announced, Hickory Hill identified Mike Hensley, chief deputy of the Hernando County Sheriff's Office, as a resident who favored the project. But last year he sold his house on Shirley Drive to the Hickory Hill developers for $325,000 and moved to Inverness.
The 2.5 acres of land and 1,800-square-foot house, built in 1982, is valued at $124,000 by the Hernando County Property Appraiser's office. But Hensley said he sold it near the height of the housing boom, at a price based on a private appraisal.
"I got very close to my appraisal price," he said. "I did not get a sweetheart deal."
MacKinlay acknowledges he may also sell his house to the developer. Bob Sierra "said that if we decided to sell at a later date, he would like the right of first refusal, and that's the way it stands," he said
But that's why he or most other neighbors favor the project. And it is most of the other neighbors, he said, citing as proof the results of the 2006 election. Former County Commissioner Nancy Robinson, who had backed the project, beat eventual winner Rose Rocco in most precincts in eastern Hernando including Spring Lake, where she won 658 to 533.
"Sindra says the people of Spring Lake don't want this, and that's one of the things that really irritates me," MacKinlay said.
Respecting Thomases
He and other supporters said, almost universally, that they would like to see the land remain as woods and pasture. But they respect the Thomas family's right to develop it and think this will happen inevitably. If so, they would rather have the project in the hands of a responsible, high-end developer such as Sierra.
In its marketing campaign, they say, the company has done nothing more than present what many of them called facts.
"He has never told me anything that hasn't been right on the mark," Hensley said of Brent Whitley, the company's vice president of land development, who lives in Spring Lake.
Opponents, however, say the campaign has consistently misstated the facts. It has understated the project's potential environmental damage, they say, and offered a skewed interpretation of the comprehensive plan which they say clearly forbids the project.
"If this is such a great thing for the county, it would be self-evident," said Joe Murphy, an environmental activist from Ridge Manor. "They wouldn't have to spend so much time and money convincing people of that fact."
Dan DeWitt can be reached at dewitt@sptimes.com or (352) 754-6116
Loxahatchee Groves slate must placate eclectic town
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Sunday, February 25, 2007
LOXAHATCHEE GROVES — It would be easier for everyone if things in Loxahatchee Groves were a little more uniform.
Instead, the only consistency in this community is inconsistency.
Along the grid of roads - some paved, most unpaved - we find a retired couple in a cabin-themed home with chickens outside, a mother of two on a manicured 5-acre lot, a nudist resort, an ostrich farm, a wholesale nursery on two dozen acres, the edge of a house obscured by overgrown hedges, equestriennes and scattered, sundry livestock.
In October, residents of this decades-old enclave voted to break away from Palm Beach County's rule and govern themselves, in large part to preserve Loxahatchee Groves' hodgepodge nature.
But diversity can be divisive. Governing it can be doubly so. Still, 10 Loxahatchee Groves residents want a shot at the challenge. On March 13, five will get it when voters choose this new town's legislative slate.
Several issues have risen to the fore in the race to rule, some as basic as whether code enforcement makes sense for this town of 3,400.
"You can go and live in your own little world, and your neighbor doesn't bother with what you're doing," said Howard Voren, a 30-year resident who runs an aviary on his property. "That, by and large, is the biggest reason for living in Loxahatchee Groves."
But some do get bothered. In online forums, they talk about the guy next door's clunker and wonder whether there may be a chance to tidy things under a new town council.
There's always someone to tell the story of one resident's griping over his neighbor's renegade sprinklers or complaints of the crowing roosters across the way.
"That's everybody's biggest fear out there: that it'll be like Wellington, where they'll come in and hit you up for every little thing," said Lee Wright, a Wellington resident who owns 15 acres in Loxahatchee Groves and is part of the landowners association.
Voren says code enforcement is fine as long as there's legitimate cause. Of course, what one person deems legitimate another might not, which Voren admits.
Many residents said the marker might be whether the activity harms the environment or wildlife.
Either way, the town won't have enough money in its initial budget - $1.09 million in 2007-08 - to pay for code officers immediately.
A toll on roads
Roads are another hot spot: whether to pave the dirt thruways, whether to encourage commercial operations on Okeechobee Boulevard, whether nurseries with heavy trucks should pay the lion's share of maintenance on most of them.
Loxahatchee Groves has an estimated 30 miles of dirt roads.
Paved roads typically raise the value of property along them. That has sparked a split between those who plan to stay put till their dying day and those keen on selling, then moving on. Yet others say they want the asphalt to cut down on dust.
Doug Schaper lives on a dirt road and likes it that way. The bumpy ride is part of the reason he moved to Loxahatchee Groves. It makes him slow down and relax.
Paving would just lead to traffic and speeders, he said.
Beyond that, Schaper said, he lacks the extra cash to fork out for asphalt, nor does he believe paved roads would work along the narrow canals unless private property were taken.
"Our road system wasn't set up for them," said Schaper, who was a skeptic of incorporation.
Rick Wagner, who owns the Plant Factory at Okeechobee and A Road, said it seems unwise to nix the idea of putting businesses along Okeechobee, the town's Main Street. The commercial outfits and higher overall density in town would generate greater revenue for the town, he believes.
"Without it, you'll have no taxes," he said.
It also seems unbalanced and unfair to concentrate all new commercial and business activity on Southern Boulevard, a major highway that borders Loxahatchee Groves to the south, Wagner said.
Yet many residents have suggested that, and most of the candidates have said it would be best to keep Okeechobee low-key.
"You shouldn't let the people on Southern get all the commercial and be millionaires," Wagner said.
He suggested density transfers, like those in Boynton Beach's Ag Reserve, in which developers must preserve 60 acres for every 40 they develop and are limited in the number of homes they can build unless they can transfer development rights from another property.
Supermarkets, video stores and restaurants are a few miles away on Okeechobee Boulevard in Royal Palm Beach.
"Why permanently screw up Loxahatchee for a 5- to 8-minute car ride?" asked residents Bea and Charles Dore in a community forum.
Road maintenance is more important than paving, said Voren, , who has the aviary.
The town's several dozen large-scale nurseries pummel the thoroughfares with their weight-laden wheels.
"They're obviously taking a toll on the roads," he said. "Maybe they should contribute more to the upkeep."
Pressures of growth
Loxahatchee Groves is not immune to the pressures of growth that are pervasive throughout South Florida.
Many nursery owners recount tales of developers eyeing their property, even making offers. But Palm Beach County guidelines allowed just one home on 10 acres, one home on five ares in one section, scaring off developers.
Last month Centex Homes rekindled its 2-year interest in the Guest property: 87 acres, with another 130-acre adjoining parcel. The company has an option to buy the farm at 162nd Drive north and Okeechobee Boulevard through 2009.
By and large the new town's candidates have said they support a uniform density of one unit on five acres. That's what Loxahatchee Groves' neighborhood plan calls for.
But skeptics fear large landholders will push for higher density, hoping to cash in.
Having a nursery and selling is a great way to make money in Palm Beach County, said resident Rita Miller.
She was opposed to incorporation because the town charter lacked provisions guaranteeing density would remain low. "The developers are pretty much in charge now," she said.
Incorporation organizers said the town's comprehensive plan would be the place to address density and zoning issues. The town has three years to create its comprehensive plan, a land planning Bible, so to speak. Until then it will follow county rules.
Sky is falling, but spending isn't
Commissioners worry about tax rhetoric coming out of Tallahassee.
By DAVID DECAMP
Published February 25, 2007
NEW PORT RICHEY - Taxpayers might be alarmed by what was not discussed at Tuesday's County Commission meeting.
The governor's tax-cut proposal would cost county government millions in annual revenue, commissioners were told.
Up on the dais, hand wringing began.
We'll have to raise property taxes.
Or cut services.
Commissioners complained about the state ordering counties to take over services without giving them any money to do it.
They lauded themselves for cutting the budget last year - even though what they really did was reduce the increase.
But at no time did any commissioner suggest that county government could be more efficient.
Commissioner Ted Schrader could have spoken for most of his colleagues when, days later, he told a reporter:
"I'd like someone to point out where the waste is," Schrader said.
That attitude chafed Republican activist Gary Willner of Trinity.
"The thing that bothered me," he said, "was they didn't talk about what they could cut."
For the record, Willner stood at the podium last year and lauded commissioners' handling of the budget.
* * *
Last week's discussion about the possible loss of property tax dollars comes after a decade in which county government enjoyed rapidly increasing revenue.
Since 1998, the county has collected 38 percent more per resident in property taxes. And, keeping in mind that property taxes are less than a fifth of this year's total budget the rest coming from sales and gas taxes, utility bills, impact fees and other fees county spending on a per capita basis has risen 76 percent during the decade. The Times adjusted both figures for inflation.
Gov. Charlie Crist's proposal to double the homestead exemption would reduce the county's $1.1-billion budget by less than 2 percent.
However, budget director Mike Nurrenbrock said the cut would be tough. Other county funds, such as impact fees, can only be spent in certain ways. The actual effect would be a 10 percent cut in the county's property tax revenue - the pot of money that pays for policing, libraries and maintaining parks.
Pasco also has been criticized for not investing enough to meet demands from growth. Now, commissioners said, the county could be hamstrung in its efforts to catch up.
All of which prompted the first reactions from county officials:
This could be DEVASTATING.
Commissioner Jack Mariano complained about the state mandates for the county to pay for courts and other justice programs. Mariano said he wants those to stop before a tax-cut plan could be supported.
"The cost of running a government and providing the services that people expect is very expensive," Commission Chairwoman Ann Hildebrand said afterward, noting demands to add services like recycling have risen. "All those things cost money, and those costs have continued to go up."
Not so fast, says Florida TaxWatch. The Tallahassee group, generally regarded as fiscally conservative, found that local governments have raised taxes and money faster than personal income has increased.
TaxWatch spokesman Harvey Bennett said local officials have some legitimate fears that inequities among taxpayers would only shift under the governor's tax cut proposal.
But, Bennett said, their defense of their spending doesn't add up.
"Unfortunately, like kids in front of a Christmas tree, they've not seen three presents under the tree. They've seen six or seven," Bennett said. "Some of those things just aren't mission critical."
Pasco Republican Party Chairman Bill Bunting, who urged a deep tax rate cut for this year, echoed Willner.
But in a nod to the uncertainties of the effects, Bunting - a Crist fan - said he couldn't support doubling the homestead exemption without a guarantee that all homeowners would pay at least some taxes. He said he needed better projections of revenue given Pasco's growth.
In 2007, Pasco has budgeted to collect $180-million in property taxes, which is $29-million more than last year. Still - thanks to the Save Our Homes cap that limits the tax increases on primary residences - many homeowners will pay less in county taxes, not including property taxes for schools, special districts or mosquito control.
New construction and higher values on nonhomesteaded property - inequities Pasco officials cite in the tax proposals - helped allow the county to cut its tax rate and gather more money.
And there's another threat to the county's intake of property taxes.
Republican leaders in the Florida House have unveiled a plan that would ultimately end property taxes for homeowners and increase the sales tax 2.5 percentage points. The dent in Pasco's spending is uncertain, but the county would lose money.
Not that they are discussing how to efficiently do that - yet.
David DeCamp can be reached at (727) 869-6232 or ddecamp@sptimes.com.
Conservation purchase of river area passes first review by Florida agency.
Officials with the agency responsible for buying land for preservation on behalf of the public agreed last week that a proposal to buy as much as 1,100 acres, known as the Rainbow River Corridor Project, met the agency's first set of criteria and warranted further consideration.
The next step will be for state officials to visit the area, which is mostly along the east side of the popular river, north of County Road 484, said Dan Hipes of the Florida Natural Areas Inventory, which is part of Florida State University, and advises the FDEP on land purchases.
By June, officials from the agency will report about the site to FDEP's Acquisition and Restoration council. The council will then decide whether the land is worth buying and its benefits to the public.
"There is a lot of politics that goes into that and sometimes it has to do with the landowner," Hipes said.
But considering the pristine nature of the river and that the state already owns much of the land in the area, the Rainbow River Corridor Project has a good chance of making at or near the top of FDEP's list of land that should be purchased.
The final step would be to negotiate with land owners for a price, Hipes said.
Among the 1,100 acres at issue, 258 acres immediately north of County Road 484 and east of the river would be of most interest to many Dunnellon residents. That is because the land is owned by Rainbow River Ranch LLC and is at the center of a feud between many city residents and a developer wanting to build as many as 450 homes there.
Rainbow River Ranch owner Gerald Dodd said he would consider selling his 258 acres if the price was right. He paid $7.5 million for the property in 2004.
Pushing the Rainbow River Corridor Project is Rainbow River Conservation Inc., a Dunnellon area environmental group.
"This would provide a lot more protection [for the river] than it has now," said the group's president, Burt Eno. "And it makes sense to buy the land now and add to what the state already owns."
The 1,100 acres, broken into 23 individual parcels, is owned by 12 landowners.
The FDEP would negotiate to buy part of the 1,100 acres if not all of the landowners were willing to sell their property, said FDEP's Dee Ann Miller.
The land acquisition branch of FDEP has $300 million each year to spend on land purchases.
Eno said the 1,100 acres would be a perfect buy for the state because with one purchase, it could expand its existing protected land in the area, stop development along the river and additional pollution and protect wildlife and plants that depend on the river and surrounding area to survive.
Fred Hiers may be contacted at fred.hiers@starbanner.com and (352) 867-4157.
County officials say the need for, and cost of, new roads is so great that developers should pay more.
Impact fee advocates say it's about time.
Critics say people who want to buy a new house or build a new business will suffer - the current fee on a new 2,000-square-foot home of $2,104 could more than double. A fee at the full calculated impact would put Alachua among the top counties in Florida.
But a Gainesville consultant who helps counties develop impact fees, retired University of Florida professor James C. Nicholas, said no one should be surprised.
"The reaction is that people have sticker shock. Well, what do they think happened to the cost of roads? They see what's happened with the cost of land and cement. Did anybody really think that roads would go down in cost?" Nicholas said. "Traffic is going up and up and up. Maybe the Easter Bunny is going to come hippity hop and build some roads."
Impact fees are a way to get developers of new homes or businesses to pay for the traffic their project will create. The fee is typically passed on to the buyer.
When it comes to large-scale stuff - such as the planned SpringHills development of regional impact at NW 39th Avenue and Interstate 75 - proportionate share is another tool.
County commissioners are tentatively set in early May to consider comprehensive plan amendments sought by SpringHills to substantially increase the retail space it can build.
Under proportionate share, a study is done to determine what roadwork is needed to handle traffic from the new development along with general traffic increases in the same area. Costs are then split between the developer and the county.
Recent action by the county indicates a more aggressive approach to getting money from developers may be coming.
"The cost (of roads) is going up," County Commission Chairwoman Paula DeLaney said. "And I think we have had a failure in leadership of not making the decisions that maybe we should have been making all along - that if we had been making we wouldn't have such a huge backlog right now. I think you are going to see us getting tougher and tougher to deal with in transportation."
Alison Cox, president of the Builders Association of North Central Florida, said new homes and businesses will become more costly if impact fees are boosted.
That could price some homebuyers out of the market and lead to higher home costs in general, since some owners of existing homes could increase their prices, she said.
It could also lead to more people buying homes in neighboring counties but working in Gainesville, she said.
"We are always concerned with things that make housing more unaffordable," Cox said. "If you look at the proposed impact fees on businesses, some of them are extremely high. How is a smaller shop supposed to compete?"
The county said keeping up with transportation needs will be difficult without the measures. In 2003, it cost $1.75 million to build a milelong lane of road. County officials estimate that cost now at $6.78 million.
If that is sticker shock for the county, developers said they are shocked when they see the impact fee increases that county planners say are needed.
The current residential impact fee is $1,052 per 1,000 square feet of house. The new calculated fee is $4,348 per square foot. That would add $6,592 to the cost of a new 2,000-square-foot home above the current impact fee.
County commissioners, aware of the potential of impact fees to jeopardize affordability for some buyers, put $100,000 into a fund to help residents who meet income guidelines in buying a new home.
DeLaney believes prospective home-buyers can find something affordable regardless of impact fees - but not necessarily new homes in western Alachua County subdivisions.
"The real affordable housing is always going to come from the used-house market, where you are not paying an impact fee," she said. "Generally, inside the city of Gainesville, there is an awful lot of affordable in resale. And your kids can walk to school there."
Potential impact fee increases on businesses are even higher. A fast-food restaurant now pays $3,814 per 1,000 square feet. The new calculated fee is $166,772 per 1,000 square feet.
Large-scale superstores would also face substantial increases from the current $3,814 per 1,000 square feet to $74,869 per 1,000 square feet.
Under the new calculated rate, a 200,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter - the size of the store being built in east Gainesville - would have to pay more than $14.9 million in impact fees if it were built in the unincorporated area.
The rationale is that those businesses create a lot of traffic that further crowds the roads.
"What we did with our calculations is show the relative impacts of different kinds of uses have," said Growth Management Director Rick Drummond. "That way if you compare the tables, the calculated fees compared to the ones in effect, they are capturing the full impact of some of those retail commercial uses."
But some commissioners also have questions about the how the calculations were determined and whether any consideration is given to how a particular development - a mixed-use residential/retail complex or the new Publix at Haile Plantation, for instance - might ease traffic in some areas.
Among them is Commissioner Lee Pinkoson, who also believes that some of the calculated fees are too high.
"That $166,772 for a fast-food restaurant is absurd," Pinkoson said. "We won't have any with a fee like that."
Drummond added that a recommendation to the County Commission on whether the new fee should be the full calculation or a reduced rate has not yet been formed.
Current impact fees were enacted about two years ago and are reduced from the original calculated fee. Drummond said that is fairly common among counties with impact fees as a safeguard against litigation.
Some believe higher fees are overdue.
Kendra Siler-Marsiglio, president of Women for Wise Growth, said the organization favored higher fees two years ago but agreed to the compromise reduced fees to at least get something.
Siler-Marsiglio said the group intends to participate in the process leading to a commission vote on fees, and favors a tougher stance.
"We would definitely support higher impact fees at this point in time," she said. "If you just look around, development is all around us. You can go outside and see new buildings going up everywhere. That typically equals more traffic. It does impact the community, so development should pay its way a little bit."
So far, proportionate share is being considered only for SpringHills. But there, too, the county is looking to get more money for roads.
A new list of road improvements was developed midstream that is much more extensive than the list that was used in the early negotiations.
SpringHills developer the Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust is now looking at a $58 million bill compared to about $22 million when an initial vote on a comprehensive plan amendment needed for the development was approved by the commission in early 2006.
Drummond said he will present the new list to the commission when it again considers SpringHills. Drummond said he is obligated to give the commission the best available data.
State Department of Transportation Lea Gabbay said the county can use whatever list it wants.
Gainesville attorney Patrice Boyes, who represents SpringHills, believes the county is unfairly changing the roads list in midstream to get more money out of the developer.
Boyes also contends the original list is the only one that has been accepted by the state departments of transportation and community affairs.
"That should be of paramount influence on the County Commission. The developer's traffic study is the only one done according to state standards and held up to scrutiny," Boyes said.
Boyes added that changing the road lists now "is out of bounds. And if it happens on this project, it can happen to any other economic initiative that comes to this community and there will likely be no meaningful development in this community in the future."
But commissioners say they want the full picture of road costs with both SpringHills and development in general.
Several have said they believe measures such as increased impact fees are needed, thought not necessarily at the full rates.
"What I would support is, even if we want to go all the way to the top (fee), that we would do it over a couple of years," DeLaney said.
Cindy Swirko can be reached at 374-5024.
"We are always concerned with things that make housing more unaffordable."
The deal behind Port St. Lucie's downtown
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Sunday, February 25, 2007
PORT ST. LUCIE — At 113 square miles, Port St. Lucie is the second-largest city in Florida landwise, but it never managed to fit a thriving downtown into its vast landscape because of planning foibles and political frailty.
This week, as Port St. Lucie nears a staggering population of 160,000, that wrong will be righted as city leaders descend on the demolished Village Green Shopping Center to break ground on a nearly $400 million project many predict will revolutionize city life more than any single event before it.
"We're building the heart and soul of the city," said Vice Mayor Jack Kelly, whose district encompasses City Center, the planned name for the downtown.
"I think it's gonna be the biggest thing to ever happen in Port St. Lucie."
After hungering for a central gathering spot for decades, city officials will begin work on an ambitious seven-story downtown that will debut in November 2008 with a palatial civic center, 4-acre outdoor plaza and two four-story parking garages where the decaying shopping center once stood at U.S. 1 and Walton Road.
By early 2009, Jupiter developer George de Guardiola will cut the ribbon on three seven-story buildings anchored by ground-floor retail and with upper-story condos and apartments. Three large restaurants and a five-story Neoclassical office building identical to one in the 100 block of Clematis Street in West Palm Beach will also debut then, giving Port St. Lucie its first visible skyline.
By December 2012, the entire 70 acres bordered by U.S. 1, Walton Road, Village Green Drive and a drainage canal will resemble an idealized old-fashioned downtown with narrow streets, multistory buildings and outdoor cafes almost identical to de Guardiola's signature development, Jupiter's Abacoa.
The end result, experts predict, will be much greater than the sum of its parts.
"It's like putting the heart back into the body," said Marie York, associate director of Florida Atlantic University's Catanese Center for Urban and Environmental Solutions. "It's important to have a public gathering place where people can socialize and feel like they're part of something. What's the alternative but to live in our cocoons and our gated communities looking at our computer screens and living in isolation?"
Residents of the nation's third-fastest-growing city admit they mostly leave town if they want to entertain guests for the night or relax with cup of joe and watch people stroll by. Although Port St. Lucie's new master-planned community of Tradition includes a pedestrian-oriented town square that offers trendy shops and hometown events, it is much smaller than the U.S. 1 site and is too far west to attract many residents east of the St. Lucie River.
Despite the downtown's steep price tag to taxpayers - estimates start at $85 million - city officials say the bigger risk was in doing nothing.
"The people have wanted this a long time," Kelly said. "There's a risk in everything you do, but we investigated and we accepted the lowest risk possible to give the people what they wanted."
De Guardiola, who was criticized in Jupiter when he didn't deliver on promises to bring a hotel and conference center and a variety of home builders to Abacoa, says he's learned from the mistakes he made in that project.
For one, he's not building a glut of retail space before homes - a cart-before-the-horse scenario that left many Abacoa Town Center businesses floundering and prompted the 16-screen movie theater to close last year. City Center's prime location at U.S. 1 and Walton Road ensures tens of thousands of motorists will pass by the downtown each day, a complaint of Abacoa retailers, who are hidden from major traffic on Donald Ross Road.
De Guardiola says he's also learned the value of placing civic buildings in the town square, an element that is largely missing in Abacoa but which serves as the cornerstone for City Center.
The city's promise to build a $25 million, 100,000-square-foot civic center that will attract thousands daily - along with construction of a high-speed east-west parkway that will lead western motorists directly from Interstate 95 to City Center - were key ingredients in de Guardiola's decision to plunk down $22.5 million for 48 acres on U.S. 1 in 2005.
"That was a big piece of the equation," said de Guardiola, who estimates he and his partners will invest and borrow $291 million for the project. "A lot of the success depends on the programs that are offered in the plaza, and we have a lot of experience with that from Abacoa."
The city's parks and recreation department will schedule weekly events in the expansive brick-paver esplanade, where an open-air concert pavilion and an interactive play fountain undoubtedly will attract a steady stream of parents with kids in tow.
Inside the civic center's 20,000-square-foot ballroom, employees can cater a wedding, graduation or conference for up to 3,000 people, while a gymnasium, workout center, art gallery and game room are among the offerings intended to make the center a daily destination for residents.
Assistant City Manager Greg Oravec, who oversees the community redevelopment agency that is paying most of the city's tab using rising property taxes generated inside CRA boundaries, expects a dramatic change in the city's complexion and sense of community once the downtown debuts.
"Initially I think there will be disbelief," said Oravec, noting that the city has never had a building taller than the five-story hospital. "There will be a lot of people walking up to it, knocking on the wood to make sure it's real."
Sociologists say people crave a sense of belonging, and de Guardiola says that's just what his neighborhoods ooze.
"People feel a very strong sense of ownership in these areas, sort of like going to their own living room," said de Guardiola, a native of Cuba who grew up in Coral Gables and spent years developing the village of Wellington before deciding his true passion was building old-fashioned towns where people can walk to get a haircut or vanilla latte.
Interestingly, de Guardiola first worked with the city on an unrelated project less than a mile from City Center in 2002. At the time, partners Jeffrey Lee, Wiley Reynolds and Wilhelm Bing owned City Center and were working to develop a downtown, but the trio was hesitant to raze the rent-paying offices and ultimately abandoned the idea, selling their $6 million investment to de Guardiola for $22.5 million in 2005.
De Guardiola's first project in Port St. Lucie, East Lake Village, is a burgeoning downtown of sorts on Lennard Road. Its multicolored two- and three-story homes and condos are framed by tree-lined streets, wide sidewalks and intermittent parks where families feel safe teaching their children to ride bikes.
"Where we used to live in Ranier Lakes, the speed limit was 30 and cars went 45," said Jeff Barrett, who moved with his wife and three children to East Lake Village a month ago. "We love it here. My daughter learned to ride her bike in a few days because we didn't have to keep stopping for traffic."
A village square and city park with concert pavilion are under construction there, and an urban biking trail winds through the woods to City Center, allowing families to bike or skate to the future downtown.
"I don't know of another urban greenway on the Treasure Coast," de Guardiola said. "I've talked to several environmental groups, and they consider it our version of Central Park."
In addition to building three municipal buildings and four parking garages, the city and CRA agreed to buy six outlying parcels that were not part of de Guardiola's purchase and pay a small share of the road, utility and drainage costs.
Rising property taxes generated by the privately owned buildings in the 1,110-acre CRA are expected to cover the city's $85 million contribution over the next 25 years, although Oravec conceded Thursday that he's concerned the state's push for property tax reform - which could reduce revenue for municipalities - could jeopardize plans to pay for the project.
He even considered delaying Thursday's 9 a.m. groundbreaking because of tax concerns, but City Manager Don Cooper responded in an e-mail: "We have already floated the bonds and let contracts. Which ones do we breach? I would proceed."
City council members will discuss the possible effects from property tax reform at Monday's meeting.
Oravec and Cooper say they've built in adequate safeguards to protect the city in the unlikely event de Guardiola defaults on the deal. If de Guardiola doesn't repay his share of $25 million in special assessment fees for street-level work, the 48 acres would be sold at auction and another developer could step into the role, Cooper said.
De Guardiola's major lender, Fidelity Federal Bank & Trust of West Palm Beach, also would likely claim the property if the developer failed to deliver the buildings he's promised the city.
"You don't rely on one developer," Cooper said. "You create a situation that's attractive to any developer. Once the infrastructure is built, the property value will easily be four times the cost of the improvements. No bank or landowner is going to walk away from that."
Although securing financing for Abacoa's Town Center was difficult because it was de Guardiola's first traditional-neighborhood development, he said he's had little trouble getting a loan of up to $45 million from Fidelity Federal for City Center because of his track record at Abacoa.
His brother, Eduard , who specializes in multifamily projects in Atlanta, is a major partner, and he counts Wachovia Bank and Rendina Cos. of Palm Beach Gardens among his investors.
Mayor Patricia Christensen, who has listened to people complain about the city's lack of identity since 1987, believes the city's investment will be returned threefold in the coming decades as Port St. Lucie spirals toward an eventual population of 400,000.
"For so many years, people would drive through Port St. Lucie and not even realize they were here because there's nothing but strip centers the entire length of U.S. 1," Christensen said.
"We want to be known as something other than a sprawling bedroom community," the mayor said. "Our residents go to downtown Stuart and Fort Pierce now for entertainment. Why shouldn't they be able to go to downtown Port St. Lucie?"
A Pristine Florida Habitat Is Home to Abundant and Varied WildlifeJUPITER
The approach to the launching area on the Loxahatchee River doesn't
promise much of a nature experience at first.
It's a short distance from Interstate 95, the superhighway that cuts through
what's left of coastal Florida's undeveloped landscape. At the moment
there's a construction project under way on both sides of the river to build
a new bridge. It will expand Palm Beach County's Riverbend Park to add an
environmental education center.
But once you leave the construction behind and clear the nearby Indiantown
Road bridge and paddle deeper into the stream lined with bald cypress,
cabbage palmetto and pop ash, the road noise and dust quickly disappear.
You are in another place.
The Seminoles called this river Lowchowhatchee, which means "River of
Turtles."
The turtles are still there. They sun languidly on the trunks of fallen
trees until they're startled by an approaching canoe.
If you want to navigate the upper reaches of this river, which is classified
as a federally designated wild and scenic river - the only one in this part
of Florida - you have to do it under your own power. Motorboats are
prohibited.
Motorboats probably wouldn't be practical anyway. This is a wild river; the
fallen trees are left where they lie unless they totally block downstream
progress.
The path of the stream is sinuous, sometimes curving with little warning. In
places your only guide is to watch the current.
The river is not totally free-flowing.
And there are two log dams, the Lainhart Dam and the Masten Dam.
You can hear the roar of the falling water before you reach either of these
artificial cataracts. The structures, which, strictly speaking, are weirs
rather than dams, were originally constructed in the 1930s by local families
to maintain water levels for farm irrigation in the land around the river's
upper reaches.
Today they are maintained by the South Florida Water Management District
primarily for historic purposes, said Pat Walker, lead planner in the
agency's Coastal Ecosystem Division.
Downstream from the dams, the river eventually changes from a winding,
wild-looking stream to a more open waterway. Gradually, as the river nears
Jupiter Inlet, cypress gives way to mangroves.
The river's watershed covers 107,000 acres - more than twice the size of
Lakeland - draining water from Jonathan Dickinson State Park to the north
and Loxahatchee Slough to the south.
Parts of the watershed historically flowed into the Everglades.
Walker said water district officials are working on a restoration plan,
approved last year, that would reverse some of the impact of 1950s-era
drainage projects that deprived the river of some of its freshwater flow.
The drainage projects allowed saltwater from the Atlantic Ocean to seep
farther upstream from Jupiter Inlet and changed vegetation along the river,
according to studies of the river.
DIVERSE VEGETATION
The vegetation along the river is diverse.
A survey published last year described the area along the river as
containing "some of the last pristine subtropical cypress swamps in
Southeast Florida." It described the floodplain swamp as a place with
"interesting diversity because of the overlap of temperate and
subtropical species."
Canoeing the river, you'll see red maple and cinnamon fern, which are
familiar plants in Central Florida, and coco plum, which is not.
Ferns are everywhere, with giant leather ferns towering over the smaller
species such as swamp fern.
SFWMD's Walker said the vegetation has changed since the 2004 hurricanes.
"We lost of a lot of canopy and the ground cover came alive," she
said.
On some of the tree trunks and branches above the river, the large epiphytic
bromeliads are hard to miss.
"This has also been a good year for bromeliads," Walker said.
DIVERSE WILDLIFE
While turtles and alligators laze along the river's bank, birds are busy
among the trees and undergrowth.
This is winter, so migratory songbirds like robins and yellow-rumped
warblers are everywhere. Catbirds call from somewhere unseen. A
red-shouldered hawk perches on a cypress branch, resting between hunts.
Farther on, the high-pitched, haunting call of a pileated woodpecker breaks
the silence, followed by the low-pitched tapping of its bill against a
bug-infested tree trunk.
The official bird list at Jonathan Dickinson State Park includes 140
species.
But some of the Loxahatchee River's biological diversity isn't readily
visible from a boat on the river's surface.
"One of the most interesting things is the diversity of fish,"
said Albrey Arrington, director of water resources for the Loxahatchee River
District, a special district created by the Florida Legislature in 1971 to
protect the river from pollution and overdrainage.
"The Loxahatchee is a coastal river, where you see snook, mullet and
flounder," he said, adding that, because the river is in a subtropical
area, it also has fish species from the Caribbean, such as mountain mullet.
The river contains unusual fish species such as the bigmouth sleeper and the
opossum pipefish, the latter of which has been studied for protection by
federal wildlife officials because of concerns about habitat loss and water
pollution.
There are oyster beds and very healthy seagrass beds near the river's mouth.
And manatees journey up portions of the river.
"It's a great intact system," Arrington said.
HISTORY AND PREHISTORY
People have been visiting the Loxahatchee River for millenia.
Archaeologists have found the remains of prehistoric Indian camps along
the river that date to 3000 B.C.
By the time Florida was on its way to becoming a state and recorded history
of the area had begun, the Seminoles were the dominant tribe.
The Battle of Loxahatchee occurred Jan. 24, 1838, near present-day Riverbend
Park. It was a decisive battle for American forces during the Second
Seminole War and opened the way to white settlement of the area beginning in
1842.
Settlers found the river a convenient transportation route in the early
days.
Logging of pine and cypress began in 1891 and loggers floated logs downriver
to sawmills.
Early settlers grew pineapples in the uplands not far from the river.
According to a local history of the river, a school boat plied the river in
the early 20th century, picking up the children of settlers along the river
and transporting them to a spot where they could walk to the local school.
Land near the river that had been a federal reservation since the Seminole
wars became World War II's Camp Murphy, where soldiers were trained in the
new technology called radar and where other troops practiced amphibious
landings.
After the war ended, the military base became Jonathan Dickinson State Park
in 1947, named in honor of the victim of a 1696 shipwreck on Jupiter Island.
Today the river is protected by other public land, much of it purchased by
the South Florida Water Management District.
The agency's Walker said the river has gone from being the commercial and
transportation route it was in earlier times to a popular recreation
destination.
"It's a very connecting element for all the residents," she said.
Tom Palmer can be reached at tom.palmer@theledger.com
or 863-802-7535.
UF professor advises Bush on ethanol
Friday was a big day for alternative fuels at the University of Florida.Lonnie Ingram, a UF professor and expert on ethanol, spent the morning at the White House talking with President Bush about the potential of alternative fuels. On the same day, the university also received a $2.5 million state grant to develop a pilot plant designed to supply power and refrigeration with alternative or conventional fuels.
Ingram was among a small group who met with Bush Friday to discuss alternative fuel sources, including cellulosic ethanol, which can be derived from nonedible portions of plants like stems and leaves.
In Bush's most recent State of the Union Address, he set a 10-year goal of reducing gasoline consumption by 20 percent, and his guests at the White House told him that was achievable with the right resources, Ingram said.
"Bush began by telling us how committed he was to reducing our dependence on foreign oil, and he thought cellulosic ethanol would be a major part of reducing that dependence," said Ingram, director of the Florida Center for Renewable Chemicals and Fuels.
Ingram, who has worked with ethanol for more than 20 years, was recommended for the meeting by officials with the U.S. Department of Energy. Ingram sat directly to the right of Bush during the meeting, and said he used that opportunity to tout Florida's potential to be a key player in the alternative fuel market.
"I told him Florida produces more biomass than any state in the country," Ingram said. "Florida could lead the country."
The meeting also was attended by Bush's senior presidential adviser Karl Rove and by Samuel W. Bodman, U.S. secretary of energy.
"I was very impressed with how knowledgable he was about the area," Ingram said of Bush. "And he had very specific questions about how to reduce the cost and how to (commercialize alternative fuels)."
After the morning meeting, Bush headed to the South Lawn of the White House to discuss his energy goals with reporters. He referred to guests like Ingram as "people on the leading edge of change," according to a White House transcript.
"We're going to be driving our cars using all kinds of different fuels other than gasoline," Bush said, "and using batteries that will be able to be recharged in vehicles that don't have to look like golf carts."
Back in Gainesville, UF officials celebrated news that the university will receive $2.5 million to build a pilot plant designed to provide power, refrigeration, air conditioning, heating and water.
The plant could run on conventional fuels or biofuels like ethanol.
Bill Lear, the project's principal investigator, said the power system will be small enough to fit in a closet but powerful enough to support the energy needs of an apartment complex or hospital.
The system that UF is developing would serve to supplement large power plants, Lear said.
It could be particularly useful in emergencies like hurricanes, because it wouldn't lose power with the rest of a grid, Lear said.
"You'd have many places that didn't lose power at all (in a hurricane)," he said. "So if you're in an affected area that lost power, you don't have to wait for ice to be trucked in from Arkansas."
Jack Stripling can be reached at 374-5064 or Jack.Stripling@gvillesun.com
Jackson County Floridan
According to a board staff report, the applicant, Zaxby's Restaurants in Valdosta, Ga., has requested to build a 3,185 square-foot restaurant and a 192 square-foot ice house facility.
The proposed site is an undeveloped 1.67-acre lot located at 4235 Lafayette St., next to Sherwin Williams.
Zaxby's is a fast-food chicken chain with about 350 locations through out the Southeast, including a location in Dothan, Ala.
It's menu includes buffalo wings, french fries, Texas toast, and chicken fingers; and serves Coca-Cola beverages.
In the staff report, the board confirmed that the developer's proposals are compliant with the Marianna Comprehensive Plan. The board also approved of a variance requested by the developer that calls for a larger driveway than the city's land development code normally allows.
Under the code, driveways are not supposed to exceed a width of 25 feet. The developer requested a variance "based on safety issues with patrons entering and exiting the site from Lafayette Street, primarily during peak hours."
The planning and zoning board will also address its propose ordinance No. 942.
In a memo from planning and zoning director Kay Dennis, the ordinance is relative to "ensuring necessary public facilities are available, concurrent with the impacts of development."
It means that, if transportation facilities are needed to serve a development that is creating new traffic, facilities will be "in place within three years after the local government approves a building permit or its functional equivalent."
As the memo read, the proposed transportation concurrency management system would only apply to non-residential development or residential developments of 10 or more units.
The memo referred to the Proportionate Fair-Share Program, which would "create public/private partnerships to mitigate impacts associated with development on transportation facilities."
The board's approval of the Zaxby's development order will allow the development proposal to go before Marianna City Commission, as will the proposed transportation concurrency ordinance.
The next commission meeting will be held Tuesday, March 6 at the city hall.
A draft of the management plan, released last week, sets goals of relocating 4,000 tortoises and protecting 25,000 acres of tortoise habitat every year through 2022. Builders would pay permit fees starting at $500, funding tortoise habitat acquisition and management.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission last year proposed declaring the gopher tortoise a threatened species, launching the development of the plan. Commissioners are scheduled to vote on the plan in June.
But both tortoise advocates and developers say the plan has flaws that first must be addressed, from a delay in ending the burial policy to the high cost of relocation permits.
"Compliance with the regulations should be as cheap and easy as possible," said John Wooding, a biologist relocating tortoises for the Oakmont development on Parker Road south of SW 24th Avenue in Gainesville. "If you price things too high, you're encouraging people not to comply."
Alachua County's comprehensive plan already encourages developers to relocate tortoises, and Oakmont is an example of how the policy works. Wooding is helping move tortoises to a 46-acre fenced preserve in the nearly 1,000-home, 556-acre development.
He said the new system would have required the developers to pay $216,500 in permit fees - in addition to the cost of moving tortoises and the loss of money from setting aside the preserve.
The gopher tortoise is called a keystone species because its burrows are also used by 350 kinds of insects and animals. Because those burrows are located on uplands prized for development, they often lie in the path of construction.
Under the state's current system, developers pay a fee allowing them to bulldoze over burrows and consequently entomb gopher tortoises. The state has permitted nearly 80,000 tortoises to be buried since 1991, including at least 129 in Alachua County, according to wildlife commission figures.
Permit fees have paid for the acquisition of about 11,000 acres of existing tortoise habitat, including the nearly 1,300 Barry's Ranch property in southwest Alachua County. Gov. Charlie Crist' Cabinet approved that $10 million purchase last week.
The new system shifts away from protecting existing habitat as a way to mitigate the loss of tortoises. Instead, the system would mean tortoises get moved to habitats where they might thrive that currently lack the animals.
Ray Ashton, who operates a gopher tortoise preserve near Archer, said the plan is a good start but he favors a different approach. Instead of charging for permits, he said, the state should require developers to protect an amount of land equal to what they're developing.
He wants a system that gives tax incentives for protecting tortoise habitat and keeps conservation money in counties.
"Conservation begins at home," he said.
He also said the state should act in June to eliminate tortoise burials except in emergency circumstances. The plan wouldn't eliminate burials right away, phasing out the program during the next few years.
Because establishing places to relocate tortoises takes time, there will need to be some sort of transition period, said Joan Berish, biologist with the wildlife commission.
"You have to have places to put these tortoises," she said.
Ashton said there are about 185,000 acres of private tortoise preserves in the state, including the Nokuse Plantation in the Panhandle. The 53,000-acre plantation has shown tortoises can be successfully relocated when the property is properly managed and fenced to keep tortoises from wandering, said Matt Aresco, the plantation's conservation director.
He said both private preserves and public lands should be available for relocation.
"There's certainly going to be plenty of places to relocate tortoises," he said.
Under the plan, developers would pay fees for relocation permits as well as bear the cost of relocation. The permit fees would start at $500 for properties with 10 or fewer tortoises, but rise up to $9,200 per tortoise under certain circumstance.
Builders are concerned about the costs of the plan as well as the difficulties of relocation, said Steve Godley, a biologist representing the Florida Home Builders Association.
"It puts all the burden of tortoise conservation on the backs of current developers and not those who caused the problem to begin with," he said.
He said builders are also concerned about the precedent set for relocating protected species. Wildlife advocates also say relocation isn't the only answer to stopping the decline of the species.
"Gopher tortoises need to be protected where they live," said Lauren Macdonald, Florida director of Defenders of Wildlife.
Macdonald said she's still reviewing the plan, but supports relocation as an option only when existing habitat can't be protected.
Berish said the plan isn't set in stone. She said the public comment period, which runs until April 4, will provide ideas to change the plan before commissioners vote in June.
"That's why we're putting the plan out for public comment," she said. "We're trying to hone and refine these things."
A California development group got approval of a land-use change from Agriculture 2 to Residential this week from the Jackson County Planning Commission, over the objections of several residents pleading conservation and country life.
Chad Taylor said the proposed development acreage is "perhaps the largest most vulnerable spring basin in Jackson County next to Jackson Blue Spring Basin."
He and others asked the commission to deny the land-use change.
"If I had wanted to live in town, I would have built in town," said Rusty Lawrence, whose namesake road borders the property in question.
"I don't want a subdivision in my back yard," he said.
"The change would and could forever have an adverse impact on my quality of life," said John Turner, who said his property is within 600 feet of the land in question.
Turner submitted his comments in writing as did Chad Taylor, who spoke on behalf of himself and the Apalachicola Riverkeeper organization.
Taylor asked for the commission to wait on the land-use change request until after the county's Comprehensive Plan is updated, calling the plan "fatally flawed." He said the acreage up for development has sinkholes and caves and is located in a springshed.
However, commission chairman Mack Glass reminded the speakers that the approval was for a change of land use only, not for any specific development.
Asking to change the designation for four parcels to Residential was Marianna Real Estate Development LLC. The group is planning a subdivision and annexation into the City of Cottondale, with the city providing water and sewer.
The development would also have an 18-hole golf course and a "neighborhood commercial" strip.
The parcels are between the current nine-hole Marianna Oaks Golf Course and the Cottondale City Limits, about four miles west of Marianna. They are a total of 436 acres at the southeast corner of Lawrence Road and U.S. Highway 90, two miles from Cottondale.
The property is also adjacent to Moore Road, just south of U.S. 90.
The Cottondale City Commission is working to expand its utility service to the area and talking with other landowners about annexation. The city recently had second-reading and approval of annexation for a piece of private property and one of the city's parks.
Any land annexed must be contiguous to the municipality, and landowners must ask for or agree to annexation.
The county's Community Development director told the commission at its meeting that she found the Marianna Real Estate proposal "consistent and compatible" with the county's Comprehensive Plan. Director Joan Schairer said the application states that from 600 to 1,000 homes are planned.
The potential could be 1,744 homes, she said.
Schairer quoted the developer as being committed to getting water and sewer from Cottondale. But she said that without commitment from Cottondale as well, her staff could only support the development if it had its own central water and sewer systems.
Schairer said she had spoken with the state's Department of Community Affairs, and DCA may consider the development one of regional impact. A DRI requires more investigation.
A representative of the developer's engineering consultant, who is also working as an intermediary with the City of Cottondale, said the city plans to make a commitment. Melvin Engineering's Joseph Alday said the city is in the process of creating a structure for impact fees.
"Neither of us can move forward until that is done," said Alday, referring to the city and the developer.
The planning commission voted 3-1 to approve the land-use change, the no vote coming from Bruce Christmas.
Residents' remarks ...
Turner said the land has at least three caves, large amounts of exposed limestone, sinkholes and other depressions, and development would require bringing in dirt or bulldozing around low areas to build the land up.
"When this is done, a cave, a sinkhole or a natural limestone watercourse that allows water to flow to the underground aquifers will be covered up, and the natural flow of the water will be stopped," he said. "The underground water system in this area flows to the Spring Lake water basin."
Septic tanks would be detrimental, plus, he said, the property is home to gopher tortoise, turkey, red fox, deer and the large-bill redheaded woodpecker.
"I certainly don't want to see 1,400 units. I'd like you to walk the property, just look around and you'll see," Turner said.
Alday replied that extending the city water and sewer system to the proposed subdivision would be better than many individual septic tanks, and the development has to be large enough to warrant the extension.
"It might help end (urban) sprawl adjacent to Cottondale," he said.
Alday said the developer has had a biologist on site and would allow for wildlife and natural preservation through buffers. But planning commissioner Jan Poller questioned the developer's knowledge of the site "because there's nothing in your report about caves."
Alday said a thorough survey would be done if the land-use change was approved.
Taylor presented a topographic map along with his remarks and noted the development "is likely in the springshed for the Spring Lake cluster of springs" with "sinkholes, exposed limestone bluffs, caves and at least one very large surface feature known as a river trace."
He said that feature was indicative of an underground river and "all indicative of highly vulnerable groundwater natural resources."
Taylor said Spring Lake is a major tributary to Dry Creek and it to the Chipola River and it to the Apalachicola River and Bay, "and the decision you make ... is of regional significance."
He suggested a special review by the Northwest Florida Water Management District before a vote, "so you can appreciate the magnitude of your decision and get it right."
During the discussion, Christmas said he had grown up in the area in question and was not ready to vote.
"I'm more in the middle," he said.
When the question was called, he was the only one voting no.
Renar partly finishes project
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 23, 2007
STUART — Martin County commissioners won't have to decide Tuesday whether to buy back the southern part of the controversial Renar River Place development in Jensen Beach: They no longer have the option.
Renar Development received certificates of occupancy for all 32 units of the project's first phase, south of Pineapple Drive, on Wednesday afternoon, four days shy of its deadline to finish the entire project, according to County Building Official Larry Massing.
The company bought the land from the county in 2004 and has until Sunday to finish its two-phase development, which calls for 53 condominiums, a parking garage and an arts studio.
The county can buy back any part of the project not completed by the deadline for the original price of the land plus 10 percent, County Attorney Steve Fry has said.
The certificates of occupancy for the 32 condos take the first phase off the table. But that still leaves the project's second phase in question.
County commissioners are slated to discuss the project at their meeting Tuesday. The board had considered making a decision earlier this month but held off at a county planner's advice so they could see whether Renar completed the first phase before deciding whether to buy the second phase for about $488,000.
At least two of the commissioners said they're undecided about what to do: Chairman Michael DiTerlizzi said he wants to go out to the Renar property on Monday to assess the first phase before voting on what to do with the second phase, which has "all the public benefit" because of the proposed parking garage and studio.
Commissioner Lee Weberman said he would have a hard time killing the second phase of the project unless there's evidence of some procedural mistake in the development process. He wants to hear public comment.
Commissioner Sarah Heard, meanwhile, said it would be a "good deal" for the county to buy back the property for the second phase because "anything that we add to it adds to more traffic impacts." The first phase is too big and out of character with the surrounding area, Heard said, though she doesn't blame the developer.
"I think Renar River Place, to the best of their ability, tried to give the county what was asked of them," Heard said. "We really can't blame Renar."
Commissioners Susan Valliere and Doug Smith did not return calls Thursday.
Renar owner Renee Doss has argued that the county doesn't have the right to buy back any of the property because it has caused 817 days of delays, pushing the deadline for the second phase to 2009. The county attorney's office has repeatedly turned down Doss' request for deadline extensions.
Doss said she will let commissioners make the first move on the fate of the second phase.
"Right now the ball is in their court," she said. "I don't think the ball should be in their court, but I'll leave it there for now."
After saving 35,000 acres, county hopes to do more
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 23, 2007
WEST PALM BEACH — Two voter-approved bond measures aimed at protecting environmental and agricultural lands have resulted in the preservation of more than 35,000 acres in Palm Beach County, according to the county's Environmental Resources Management Department.
And while the bond money, totaling $250 million, ran out this month, there is hope that expansion of the state's Florida Forever Land Acquisition Program could enable land preservation to continue.
"It was a fantastic program," said Richard Walesky, the county department director, of the 1991 and 1999 voter-supported bond issues.
Walesky said increasing the Florida Forever program's funding from $300 million to a $1 billion a year, which some environmental groups are lobbying for, would allow the county to further pursue preservation.
"It's a substantial amount of land" that could still be bought for greenways, corridors and trail systems, he said.
The $150 million in bond money approved in 1999 included $100 million to buy and preserve land in south county's Agricultural Reserve.
The county bought 2,356 acres there and leases 1,782 acres to farmers; the other 574 acres are co-owned with the South Florida Water Management District.
Since the 1991 bond, the county received state matching funds totalling $65.6 million through various programs that helped with the land preservation.
Herb Zebuth, a resident of The Acreage who has served on county committees that recommended land purchases, said the county's environmental department was instrumental in producing a successful program.
But he admitted he was "disappointed" with efforts to preserve land in the Ag Reserve, saying high land prices and development pressures hindered attempts for more conservation.
"We were able to acquire much less land than we anticipated," Zebuth said.
EPA wants close look at Peacock wetland issues
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 23, 2007
WELLINGTON — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is behind the grand jury inquiry into whether Palm Beach Polo improperly filled in wetland in 2005, an indication of the seriousness of the investigation.
"When a case is either a repeated or flagrant violation, we forward it to the EPA," said John Studt, chief of the Army Corps of Engineers south permit branch, whose office grants approvals for any wetland work. "They have a number of enforcement tools that the corps doesn't."
Studt de