LAKELAND - For now, the Heartland Parkway, a proposed 110-mile toll highway roughly linking Lakeland and Fort Myers, looks a little like a wide-bodied snake drawn on a map. Its possible routes cut a wide, indefinite swath through some of Florida's most rural land.

What it might mean in reality for the giant cattle ranches, orange groves and isolated small towns west of Lake Okeechobee depends on who's looking at it.

Some environmentalists and planners see a multibillion-dollar boondoggle, a classic "road to nowhere" sprawl creator and habitat killer that should not be built.

The state Department of Transportation sees a needed north-south traffic corridor to ease pressure in "high-growth" Polk County and on Interstate 75, U.S. 17 and U.S. 27. It also sees a new hurricane evacuation route. The road is one of the highways envisioned in the Florida Transportation Commission's New Corridors study. State officials say it is more likely to happen sooner than a proposed east-west corridor that could crisscross it.

And a group of major area landowners represented by longtime state civic and political leader Rick Dantzler sees the future of the seven-county Heartland region, roughly defined as southern Polk, Highlands, Hardee, Glades, DeSoto, Hendry and Okeechobee counties.

Dantzler's group has dubbed itself the Heartland Economic Agricultural Rural Task Force, or HEART. Its chairman is Mark Morton, senior vice president of land investment for Lykes Bros. The famous Florida agricultural company owns 337,000 acres in Glades and Highlands, much of which lies in the path of the road, as it is broadly proposed.

Both men insist that HEART's advocacy for the highway is about more than converting agricultural land into right-of-way payments and lucrative development potential. They see an economic and quality-of-life corridor, with accompanying rail, telecommunications, utilities and wildlife corridors built in, along with tight growth rules - "a whole host of public benefits," as Dantzler puts it.

Beyond vision, Dantzler says his group brings something practical: "an awful lot of land owned by relatively few people." That probably would mean some form of right-of-way donation and greater likelihood of large-scale, multicounty planning agreements.

HEART has sought out environmental and planning groups in the hope of building broad support for the corridor idea. Some, such as the Florida Wildlife Federation, like what they hear from Dantzler and are willing to withhold judgment until more details emerge.

"HEART came together around the idea of a road," Dantzler said. "But now we see it as a chance to organize the growth that's coming. It's the planning of an entire region all at once."

What's Actually Happening?

His office is wrapping up a study of traffic potential for the parkway. The numbers are not final, but Fox said the study will show that potential traffic justifies construction of the road, most immediately for its northernmost portion in Polk County.

If approved, Fox said, construction of the Heartland Parkway would begin in Polk and move south as land and money become available. There's no real time estimate, though advocates have tended to talk about a 20-year plan for the road.

The Polk portion would happen sooner. It would create a large half-circle loop around the population centers of Lakeland and Winter Haven, and include a link to Interstate 4. The proposed loop - about 45 miles - also would tie into the CSX Transportation freight distribution center Winter Haven hopes to bring to a complex on its southeastern fringes, providing a route for the center's heavy projected truck traffic.

In a December letter urging state support for the road, Winter Haven City Manager David Greene wrote, "Many of the approximate one thousand semi-trucks that will enter and leave [the CSX complex] daily will be able to utilize the Parkway."

He added, "Growth is occurring and unless we expedite the process, the suggested corridor may close due to development."

Dantzler echoes that sentiment, suggesting that his group needs a green light in the next year to 18 months to maintain its cohesiveness.

If the financing and politics lined up perfectly, the Polk loop portion of Heartland Parkway could exist within 10 years, Fox said.

The remainder of the route would roll south, roughly straddling the long border separating Highlands, Glades and Hendry counties on the east and Hardee, DeSoto, Charlotte and Lee counties on the west. It would end at State Road 82, just east of Fort Myers.

It Will Take Billions

The central Polk section, the highway's most urban stretch, is likely to cost more than $1 billion, Fox said. Estimates for the entire parkway top $3 billion. As is typical for any large, new project, tolls alone will not cover that cost, Fox said.

But the proposed corridor is one of nine included in the Florida Transportation Commission's study, which aims to identify ways to ease a predicted congestion crunch driven by surges in population and freight traffic in the 20 to 30 years.

With that in mind, Fox expects the state to pay for a preliminary design and engineering study, which would better hone the route and costs of the parkway. No matter what the study shows, building the highway would require a patchwork funding arrangement involving tolls, governments at all levels, land contributions from property owners and other financial tools, Fox said.

HEART's planning and the state's planning appear to be proceeding on parallel tracks. Fox said he has had informal meetings with HEART but is not coordinating with the group.

Everyone seems to agree that growth pressures are increasing for the Heartland counties, as coastal living becomes increasingly expensive - both in cost of land and insurance. Dantzler says some parcels in the area are selling at square-foot prices that are too high to sustain agricultural uses.

And Morton, HEART's chairman, said he fears for the fate of the small towns along U.S. 27 if that road and others don't get relief from freight traffic, which the state says is expected to double statewide by 2020.

U.S. 27 is one of the few viable north-south freight routes not on either coast. "Everything ends up on 27, and it disrupts our small communities," Morton said. "Lake Placid could end up with an eight-lane, divided highway."

A New Kind Of Road?

Dantzler, a former state lawmaker, is its public face and lawyer. It also has retained engineering consultants.

They all have been meeting with environmental and planning organizations. Dantzler said HEART is preparing to release two documents about the Heartland corridor proposal. The first is a list of principles "that will guide the land-use planning of those who participate" in whatever arrangement HEART might make with the state. Those principles could be released in the next few weeks, Dantzler said.

The second is a more detailed vision of the corridor, which HEART will debate and decide upon during a meeting this month, Dantzler said.

Without concrete plans, corridor advocates are left to talk about the project in attractive but general terms.

"We want this to be a prototype, the most environmentally conscious road in the history of the nation," Dantzler said.

•Extensive wildlife corridors and other protective measures, such as fences to prevent roadkill, to protect such species as the Florida panther and black bear.

•Growth rules that would mandate clustering development near the road and broad protection of the rural countryside beyond.

The key element, Dantzler said, will be a legal framework that locks in any commitments by local governments and landowners.

If that is achieved, the Heartland Parkway could become a mechanism for bringing growth to the Heartland region on its own terms and schedule, reversing a long Florida pattern.

"In the past, we've grown and then tried to thread the transportation corridors through existing growth," Dantzler said.

Curiosity And Skepticism

That all sounds good to Manley K. Fuller III, president of the Florida Wildlife Federation. Fuller has met with Dantzler and representatives of HEART and offered them suggestions.

"We don't like new highways," Fuller said. "They tend to be giant growth stimulators. But whether we like it or not, there's going to be more highways built.

"We'd like to see conservation planning totally connected to transportation planning," Fuller said, and Dantzler's vision has the potential to do that. Fuller said he is willing to wait on what emerges from the state and HEART documents before recommending a position on the corridor to his board of directors.

John Ryan, a Sierra Club activist and a member of the Polk County Planning Commission, calls the parkway "a completely unneeded road to nowhere built solely for economic development." He adds, "There's no way in hell that road can be justified on trip rates."

Ryan does agree the concept Dantzler is peddling is better than nothing - if the road can't be stopped. But he also is skeptical that such a plan could be forged and enforced over time.

"Rick's a nice guy with good intentions, but based on experience, we don't see that scenario being played out the way he hopes it will," Ryan said.

Dantzler said he understands that sentiment, acknowledging he often "goes to war with myself" over the idea of a road. But he hopes critics will "hold their powder" until a more specific plan is revealed.

Funds for state roads could drop by $752M

By LLOYD DUNKELBERGER

Sun Tallahassee Bureau

TALLAHASSEE - Some lawmakers and transportation advocates are puzzled by a proposed $752 million reduction in the new state road budget.

The dip in spending for the Department of Transportation was embedded in the $71 billion budget bill that Gov. Charlie Crist proposed last week. The governor's recommended spending plan showed the road budget would drop from $9.1 billion this year to $8.4 billion in the next budget year, which begins July 1.

And although DOT officials have offered an explanation for the drop, some lawmakers say they are concerned, particularly given fast-growing Florida's need for new and improved roads.

''I need to get a better explanation,'' said Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, chairman of the Senate budget panel that oversees road spending. ''It concerns me because any time you show a reduction in transportation spending, that's the wrong message we should be sending to taxpayers.''

Part of the DOT's explanation for the dollar drop is that projects, and the different phases of those projects, vary from year to year.

That means when you compare one year's road projects to projects the next year, it's akin to comparing ''apples to oranges,'' a DOT official told House members Thursday.

But Rep. Rich Glorioso, R-Plant City, was among those dissatisfied with the explanation, noting that he has major road projects in his community that have been delayed.

''I'm having a hard time understanding why our transportation spending in the five-year work program dollars are not continuously going up,'' he said. ''I don't understand how they are going down.''

The governor's aides said Crist is satisfied with the DOT's explanation, although he too was troubled when he first heard the numbers.

''The department describes it as the natural ebb and flow'' of scheduling projects, Lisa Saliba, an adviser to the governor on transportation and economic development issues, told Fasano's committee on Thursday.

But some transportation advocates say they are troubled by the apparent drop in spending.

''I don't think Florida can afford an 'ebbing' transportation budget,'' said Doug Callaway, president of Floridians for Better Transportation, a coalition that includes the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the road builders, businesses, airports and ports.

The transportation group cites a 2003 estimate that pegged Florida's transportation backlog at $23 billion over the next decade just to keep up with growth.

Callaway said he has been assured by DOT officials that no transportation funding - which is largely supplied by the gas tax - is being diverted to other government programs. But beyond that, Callaway said: ''We clearly need to ask the Legislature to go beyond what's been proposed and actually increase Florida's transportation spending.''

The most detailed explanation of the new DOT budget was sent to Callaway's group by Lowell Clary, an assistant secretary at the DOT for finance and administration.

''As you know, the (DOT's) work program is a different set of projects each year so it naturally moves up and down somewhat over time due to very large projects being in one year and not in the next,'' Clary told the group.

But he said the biggest reason for the drop is that this year's budget included a one-time appropriation of $542 million for growth-management related projects that won't be available for next year's road program.

Another factor is that the DOT didn't receive legal permission to increase the bonding cap for the Florida Turnpike projects this year because a transportation bill was vetoed last year.

The combination of not increasing the cap as well as dealing with the rising cost of new transportation projects means the Turnpike will be spending less in the next year, Clary said.

Some lawmakers say they don't see a big problem with the DOT budget. Sen. Dan Webster, R-Orlando, is a veteran of transportation issues. He said that what appears to be a drop in funding is a reflection only of the normal rise and fall in costs that come with fluctuating prices in multi-year projects.

''It's nothing unusual,'' he said.

Rep. Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, chairman of the House Economic Expansion and Infrastructure Council, said his panel would seek more information on the DOT's budget, while warning that lawmakers are already getting signals that next year's budget overall will not be as generous as this year's spending plan.

He said ''meeting the transportation infrastructure needs'' of a state with a growing population and aging transportation system remains a high priority for the House. But he also said ''the budget is just one piece of the puzzle.''

Cannon said House leaders were also looking at broader solutions for the state's transportation needs, including the use of more public-private partnerships for projects and the use of toll facilities.

Cann Finalist for Fla. Road Chief
By Bill Rufty
The Ledger

LAKELAND - Stanley Cann, who heads the District 1 office of the Florida Department of Transportation in Bartow, was named Thursday as one of three finalists for the statewide job of DOT secretary.

Cann was the only one of the DOT's seven district heads mentioned as a finalist for the job.

The Florida Transportation Commission, which started with 23 applicants to replace FDOT Secretary Denver Stutler Jr. who resigned in January, had narrowed the field to seven, whom they interviewed. The commission sent the three finalists' names to Gov. Charlie Crist.

Crist will now select the new secretary of DOT from Cann, interim DOT Secretary Stephanie Kopeloousos and James E. Crawley, vice president of the private contractor DMJM Harris.

Cann, who previously served as secretary of DOT District 6 headquartered in Miami, became the District 1 head in July, 2004 after a sex scandal in the Bartow administrative offices left the secretary's office vacant.

He has been praised by the Polk County Legislative delegation and county officials for his openness and his willingness to try to help solve local road concerns.

"I think Stan would be a breath of fresh air up here," state Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, said from Tallahassee on Thursday. "He understands the importance of local road networks and not just the big intermodal roads. He is very easy to work with and is responsive to local government needs and legislative inquiries; not always a trait found in the past."

Bill Rufty can be reached at bill.rufty@theledger.com or at 802-7523.

Cuts not soothing for road worriers

Gov. Crist's budget plan sets off alarms

By LLOYD DUNKELBERGER and DALE WHITE

H-T CAPITAL BUREAU
dale.white@heraldtribune.com

TALLAHASSEE -- If you are stuck in bumper-to-bumper congestion on roads such as U.S. 301 in Sarasota, you may blow your horn when you hear what the governor and state transportation officials are thinking.

Gov. Charlie Crist's first proposed budget calls for cutting state road spending by $752 million -- more than 8 percent.

The proposed funding cutback comes on top of what one public interest group says is already a $23 billion shortfall the state faces over the next decade just to keep up with growth.

Funding shortfalls are so severe that only half of the 140 state and federal road projects in Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte counties rated as priorities are expected to be completed by 2030.

"It's been a death spiral," said Manatee County Commissioner Joe McClash. "We're just gradually sinking into the ground until one day the average citizen doesn't want to live here anymore because of the traffic congestion."

Crist's plan, which still must be considered by the Legislature, reduces the Department of Transportation's budget from $9.1 billion to $8.4 billion in the next budget year, which begins July 1.

Some state lawmakers, who generally have lauded the new governor, say the proposed cuts in the transportation budget need a closer look.

"I need to get a better explanation," said Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, chairman of the Senate budget panel that oversees road spending. "It concerns me because any time you show a reduction in transportation spending, that's the wrong message we should be sending to taxpayers."

Part of the Department of Transportation's explanation for the dollar drop in Crist's budget is that projects, and the different phases of those projects, vary from year to year. That means when comparing one year's road projects to the next's, it's akin to comparing "apples to oranges," a DOT official told House members Thursday.

The governor's aides said Crist is satisfied with the DOT's explanation, although he, too, was troubled when he first heard the numbers.

"The department describes it as the natural ebb and flow" of scheduling projects, Lisa Saliba, an adviser to the governor on transportation and economic development issues, told Fasano's committee on Thursday.

But some transportation advocates say they are troubled by the apparent drop in spending.

"I don't think Florida can afford an 'ebbing' transportation budget," said Doug Callaway, president of Floridians for Better Transportation, a coalition that includes the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the road builders, big businesses, airports and ports.

Callaway said he has been assured by DOT officials that no transportation funding -- which is largely supplied by the gas tax -- would be diverted to other government programs.

But beyond that, Callaway said: "We clearly need to ask the Legislature to go beyond what's been proposed and actually increase Florida's transportation spending."

Crist's proposed budget cut would be just the latest for the FDOT, which manages all state and federally funded roadwork.

When tourism and, subsequently, sales tax revenues dropped after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, former Gov. Jeb Bush and the Legislature started dipping into the state's transportation trust fund to pay for other needs.

And that shifting of dollars compelled mayors, county commissioners and other local elected officials who sit on transportation planning boards known as Metropolitan Planning Organizations to -- again and again and again -- postpone or cancel local projects on the FDOT's to-do lists.

"The work program from the FDOT from the past few years has been devastating for us," said Mark Gumula, executive director of the Charlotte MPO. "We're already way behind the eight-ball."

Keith Drake, a planner for the Sarasota-Manatee MPO, said he can't foresee how much of an impact more budget cuts will have "until you break it down by county."

If the Legislature agrees to the cuts, each district office of the FDOT will have to recommend changes in its work program, Drake noted.

Local officials wonder whether more high-priority and long-delayed projects could get stalled again.

U.S. 301 is an example of one that Sarasota County Commissioner Nora Patterson worries about. "It's still not fully funded but we were getting closer."

The FDOT hoped to come up with enough of the $32 million needed to widen that thoroughfare from downtown Sarasota to the Manatee County line to at least get the project started by 2011. But it could end up having to shift those dollars to a less costly project and postpone the work -- yet again.

When it comes to roads, the buck hardly stops at the governor's desk. Local cities and counties are also falling far behind in road work.

Sarasota County, for example, has $320 million worth of high-priority projects, but only $80 million in funding during the next five years.

In recent years, construction bids have been coming in about 25 percent higher than the engineers' estimate, siphoning off funds for other projects, said Jim Harriott, the county's public works director.

The county commissioners faced some hard realities this week, including extending work on Honore Avenue well into the future. Making Honore a north-south alternative to U.S. 41 and Interstate 75 has long been a priority for the county. But there are only enough funds over the next five years to pay for about 20 percent of the project.
_____

Staff writer Doug Sword contributed to this report

Plight of pedestrians - big roads bad for downtown areas

By Erin Ehrlich
For The Herald

Motorists impatiently speed down narrow State Road 26 in downtown Newberry, trying to beat out traffic.

Drivers get caught in rush hour traffic, aggravating the situation even more.

This is the situation families face when they cross the road to go to Newberry’s Backyard Bar-B-Q. Parents have to grab hold of their children’s hands, fearful for their lives if a car does not stop.

But the problem of pedestrians having trouble getting across the street in downtown Newberry is not unique to just Newberry.

In fact, this problem has become more prevalent throughout the Crescent Communities as more and more traffic clogs the U.S. highways and state roads that intersect most of the cities in the area.

Residents at various locations find themselves having to run and dodge traffic to cross roads, even at crosswalks where the law says pedestrians have the right-of-way.

The case at Newberry’s Backyard Bar-B-Q grew to be such a problem that restaurant owner Rocky Voglio even hired a crossing guard. Voglio said the cross guard barely helped. The guard usually got cursed at or threatened.

Traffic would get congested because the guard would stop cars, and in turn, drivers would actually call the restaurant and threaten to run the guard over if he was to stop traffic again.

“These people think they’re on the Daytona Speedway,” Voglio said.

A blinking traffic light has since been installed and has taken the place of the crossing guard.

The need for such measures is because motorists and pedestrians just don’t pay attention these days, said Dwight Kingsbury, assistant state pedestrian/bicycle coordinator for the Florida Department of Transportation.

It all comes down to being aware and being safety-conscious, he said.

“People don’t observe the laws,” he said.

He said pedestrians and drivers usually go by their own rules of the road simply because they don’t know the actual laws.

“You still have to yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk,” Kingsbury said. “Just because (the light is) green doesn’t mean just go.”

For example, at an intersection where the crosswalk signal shows a solid red hand – meaning “do not cross” – there should be no pedestrian in the crosswalk.

If someone is walking across, though, motorists should still wait until that person is safely across the road before continuing.

However, pedestrians are still subject to traffic laws and should not think these rules do not apply to them, Kingsbury said. This is how accidents happen.

If a pedestrian decides to cross the road at any point other than at an intersection crosswalk, Florida traffic laws dictate that the person should yield to the vehicles.

Kingsbury said as long as any person driving or crossing the road is alert and aware of what is going on, there should be no problems.

High Springs Police Detective Sgt. Gordon Fulwood said the streets are as safe as one makes them.

“You have to pay attention to your surroundings,” he said.

Often, he said, someone is talking on a cell phone, and that causes a lot of close calls.

Fulwood said the biggest mistake a pedestrian can make, even on a crosswalk, is to assume what the vehicle’s next move is going to be.

“Eyes can be deceiving,” he said. “If there are any questions, err on the side of caution.”

Voglio said he has seen people line up like track runners and just sprint across the street, hoping to beat the oncoming car.

This happens every day in High Springs at the intersection of Main Street and Railroad Avenue. The intersection has a crosswalk but no signal.

Drivers getting off of U.S. 441 often go down Main to get through High Springs. Because there is no signal, no light and not even a stop sign, people must dodge cars and decide when they believe it is safe to run – not walk – across.

By law, a pedestrian should be able to cross the road and cars need to stop. This just isn’t the case, though.

In Alachua, at the major intersection of U.S. 441 and County Road 241, the problem of getting across U.S. 441 was solved with a pedestrian overpass.

Alachua Police Chief Robert Jernigan said the overpass discourages people, especially children, from crossing the highway. Adults use the overpass quite often, too, he said.

“I would say it has been a good, preventative action,” he said.

He said the overpass was hit by a crane at one point, but luckily no one was on the bridge at the time. Besides that, he said, pedestrian safety has not been much of a problem in Alachua.

As for crosswalk signals, Gina Busscher, public information director for the Department of Transportation in District 2, said the time on the signal has been calculated specifically to the width of the road.

“It should give you plenty of time to walk across,” she said.

The Department of Transportation sets the signal to a certain number of seconds – generally one second for every 3 feet of road.

Thus, Busscher said, a 4-lane road signal would obviously give more time for a pedestrian to cross than a 2-lane road.

She said if a pedestrian does not get across in the allotted time, or if they are worried they will be hit by a vehicle, that situation usually occurs because they are not aware of the signal.

“If you’re not paying attention, then you’re using up your time [the signal] has given you,” she said.

Busscher explained the signal system as three steps. The solid red hand always means “don’t cross.” The green man is the universal symbol for “go.”

Finally, the blinking red hand – and she said this is a big misconception to the public – means don’t start crossing the road if you haven’t already.

She said the blinking hand often causes unnecessary panic in the crossing pedestrian even though the blinking hand is only to warn others not to start.

The other major misconception is the public’s idea of when the signal is activated.

She said that simply by standing on the corner, the crosswalk signal will not know there is a pedestrian waiting to cross. One must push the button on the light pole in order for it to be activated.

Although the blinking traffic light is satisfactory for Newberry’s Backyard Bar-B-Q for the moment, Rocky Voglio said he wants to re-hire a crossing guard within the next month or two.

He is thinking about getting an off-duty deputy to work the street and possibly get drivers and pedestrians to garner a little bit of respect for the laws.

Overall, he said, drivers seem to be more aware of pedestrians today.

“[Drivers] are getting better,” he said. “They haven’t killed anybody yet.”

In marketing effort, Alachua pays $2,400 for articles on mayor, city manager

By Ronald Dupont Jr.
Herald Editor

ALACHUA - From a billboard on Interstate 75 to television commercials and magazine ads, the city of Alachua has not been shy about marketing itself.

But two recent marketing efforts raised a few eyebrows when the city paid a magazine to publish two articles in praise of two particular city officials - Mayor Jean Calderwood and City Manager Clovis Watson Jr.

The articles, in which both Calderwood and Watson are highly touted in paid-for stories, cost $2,400 to be published. The money came from city funds.

The articles at first glance appear to have been written or compiled by a magazine journalist but are actually marketing efforts.

But both Calderwood and Watson said there is nothing nefarious about the articles, which ran in the September and November/December issues of the "Good Life Community" magazine.

They said that part of the effort in marketing the city is letting people get to meet two of the key leaders of the city.

"I believe that people like to hear what their community leaders have to say about their community," Calderwood said.

Watson echoed similar comments.

"We always look at ways to market the city and market the community," Watson said. "We want people to move here and people to live here - and know the leadership."

The city's marketing efforts are not unusual, said Richard Lutz, a University of Florida marketing professor. He said many cities, from Las Vegas to Gainesville, market themselves.

But he said he wondered how Alachua officials thought they were advertising the city to outside markets by writing articles about the mayor and city manager.

"It sounds like they're trying to reassure voters instead," Lutz said.

The Two Articles

In the article about Calderwood, the headline reads, "Jean Calderwood, the petite powerhouse of the city of Alachua, never stops!"

The article states that "her concern for the welfare of the residents is evident in the broad range of causes and issues she has championed over the years."

The article then lists many of those causes and issues, then gives details on the city's growth and the mayor's involvement in that.

The concluding paragraph states:

"It is true that good things come in small packages - the dynamic and personable mayor of Alachua proves that. Pound for pound, she has been the best return on investment the voters could have chosen."

In the marketing page about Watson, various people are asked to give their opinion of Watson and his work. Watson is praised by a variety of people, including Gussie Lee, the owner of Lee's Preschool; Bob Bieniek, a broker for Alachua Properties; Dexter O'Steen, vice president of O'Steen Brothers and Jim Brandenburg, the principal of Alachua Elementary.

The concluding paragraph on the page includes a quote from Eric Parker, president of Joe Parker Realty and Parker Land Company.

He says, "Clovis Watson has done an extraordinary job as city manager. Let's talk about jobs. Arguably, this man has helped create more jobs than any other individual that I am aware of in the entire county in the last 100 years."

The Ethical Issue

Of Paid-For Stories

When Alachua officials chose to market the city in a magazine that runs paid-for articles, the city unwittingly became part of an ongoing debate over the ethics behind such articles.

Some magazines allow regular news articles and paid-for articles to run side-by-side without giving a reader any clue as to which articles are paid for and which ones were written on their own merits.

Sometimes, magazines try to give clues to readers on which articles are marketing pieces but those clues aren't always clear.

In the "Good Life Community" magazine article on Calderwood, the phrase "Special To Good Life Community" appears in small type at the bottom of each page.

But in the paid marketing piece on Watson, no such language appears.

Trish Utter, the publisher of the magazine, could not be reached late Tuesday for comment.

Another magazine that allows paid-for articles is "Gainesville Today." But Terry Hevel, the production and operations manager for the magazine, said that readers are given a clue that an article is a paid advertisement when the business's logo, telephone number and other information is included on the page.

"They're like infomercials," Hevel said. "We call them profiles."

But two other magazines, "Our Town" and "Gainesville Magazine," only allow paid articles when the article appears as part of a paid advertisement and the advertisement is clearly marked as such.

"You get a lot of requests for self-promotional articles," said Charlie Delatorre, publisher of "Our Town."

He said the magazine struggled with the idea of paid-for articles for a while until the arrival of Editor Patricia Camburn Behnke. He said after she arrived, the line between "real" articles and paid-for articles became clear.

If a reader doesn't know the difference, "the product tends to lose credibility," Delatorre said.

In "Our Town," any paid-for articles have the words "Special Advertising Feature" put on them.

The same is true with "Gainesville Magazine," which is owned by the Gainesville Sun newspaper.

"If the advertising department creates any ad that could look like a story, it's marked as a special advertising piece," Editor Jacki Levine said. "Our credibility is at stake. The reader has no way to know (if a story is paid for) if it is not marked."

Both "Gainesville Magazine" and "Our Town" also have a policy that only the advertising department can write paid-for articles. The news and feature writers are not allowed to write paid-for articles.

Alachua's Aggressive

Marketing Efforts

Out of all the area's small towns, the city of Alachua has been the most aggressive in marketing efforts.

The first efforts began in the early 1990s when then-City Manager Mark Duchon would work with the Chamber of Commerce to give personal tours to prospective businesses thinking of moving to town.

One such business was Sabine, which ended up moving to the city.

In 1995, the city got a major, unintentional marketing boost when the city was named the best rural town in Florida. Soon thereafter, a sign was placed on I-75, letting motorists know they were entering a city that has been named the best of its kind.

Soon thereafter, efforts between the city and the Alachua Chamber of Commerce were combined, and a billboard on Interstate 75 appeared that advertised the city.

A few years ago, the city hired an agency to create a television commercial and theme song for the city. The city didn't like either, and that "fell by the wayside," Watson said.

But recently, the city stepped up its marketing efforts, particularly with the news that the Wal-Mart and Sysco distribution centers were coming to town to join the Dollar General Distribution Center.

That meant thousands of new jobs, and the city spent $20,000 to market a new bus service to transport people from east Gainesville to the jobs in Alachua.

Then came a big advertising blitz in various media in which the city advertised its day-long Fourth of July event, culminating in a giant fireworks show.

Following that was a television commercial featuring the mayor and city manager.

Soon after that, the articles about Watson and Calderwood appeared in the "Good Life Community" magazine.

Watson said that when people see just how extensive the marketing effort by the city has been over the years, they'll see that the articles on himself and the mayor were the next step in the marketing effort.

"We don't look at ourselves as a little town anymore," Watson said. "We want the surrounding communities to know about Alachua. We have to let them know what the leadership is about."

Mall sure to be issue for Davie voters

Initial approval of a giant shopping and office complex at Shotgun Road and Arvida Parkway sets up a big election issue in Davie.

BY BREANNE GILPATRICK

bgilpatrick@MiamiHerald.com

In a contentious meeting that lasted until after 3 a.m. Thursday, Davie gave the initial OK for development of a lavish shopping and dining complex on land that had been set aside for farming or sprawling home lots.

Developers and town leaders say The Commons, a 152-acre commercial development proposed along Interstate 75 will generate millions in taxes. And developers early Thursday morning promised to give some of the money to the town before the project is built.

The initial approval also sets up a key issue in races for two Town Council seats, since the project will come up for final approval after the March 13 elections.

Neighboring Weston is dead-set against it, and many Davie residents fear it will degrade the Western-themed town's charm and bring traffic and other urban headaches to their neighborhoods.

''What's wrong with leaving it residential?'' said Warren Niles, president of the Highland Ranch Estates homeowners association. ``Leave the homes on it.''

Town Council members listened to more than six hours of speeches by developers, more than 50 residents and several outside consultants before voting 4-1 to give developers the first permission needed to build at the northeast corner of Shotgun Road and Arvida Parkway.

The required supermajority vote allows Davie Commons Holdings Corp. -- an alliance of Turnberry Associates and Retail Estate -- to request county and state approval for a commercial development on the agriculturally zoned land.

It's likely to be back on the town agenda for final approval in about nine months.

The town's current land use plan calls for no more than one home per acre.

400 AT MEETING

More than 400 residents packed Town Hall Wednesday night, spilling over to watch on a screen outside or on a television in another part of Town Hall. Others lined the stretch of Orange Drive in front of Town Hall, waving hand-drawn signs reading, ''Yay Davie Commons!'' and ''No Stinking Commons!'' at passing drivers.

''We're elated,'' Jodie Siegel, an attorney for Turnberry, said after the meeting. ``It's nice to see the culmination of all your hard work and effort. We have a long road ahead. But we're looking forward to traveling it.''

The Commons would include offices, a 300-room hotel and more than a million square feet of retail -- possibly including stores such as Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Advocates cited estimates that the project would pump $3.5 million a year into the town's budget.

''This town is not going to remain solvent in perpetuity if we don't do something,'' Mayor Tom Truex said.

But some questioned the need for more shopping options, since the proposed site is less than 10 miles from both Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise and Pembroke Lakes Mall in Pembroke Pines.

''Is there a need for another mall?'' 11-year-old Elizabeth Grindell asked the council. ``I think we should use the land for a more useful thing, like a park.''

Developers downplayed the potential traffic impact, claiming it would add fewer cars to local roads than a new housing subdivision.

In exchange for the town's approval, developers will ask that the agricultural exemption on the 152-acre property be lifted beginning in 2008. The change would increase the taxable value of the land from less than $100,000 to about $20.1 million, creating a windfall for the town, Siegel said.

In addition, if the land-use change receives final town approval, developers have agreed to pay $3.5 million per year to guarantee that Davie receives the amount of revenue the project is estimated to generate.

ONE NO VOTE

Councilwoman Judy Paul cast the dissenting vote, saying the project goes against the rural historical character of West Davie.

''I have supported open spaces,'' she said. ``And I'm trying to preserve what's left of our rural lifestyle.''

Weston officials already have said they plan to fight, and hired consultants to speak against the project Wednesday. They argue the project would bring additional traffic to Weston roads without benefit to Weston.

Council members also have said there's no guarantee they'll cast the same vote when The Commons returns later this year.

''I want to see this project move forward,'' Vice Mayor Mike Crowley said Thursday morning. ``It doesn't mean they're going to have my support when they come back around a second time. But I think it's close enough where this council should move forward with it.''

Letter surprises Elgin residents

By MICHAEL D. BATES
mbates@hernandotoday.com

BROOKSVILLE — Losing your home to a four-lane highway on Elgin Boule-vard?

Not to worry.

U.S. Home is there for you.

That’s the gist of a letter that the company sent out to people who live along that highway. But the letter raised some concerns because it was sent to people on both sides of the road, including those who are not in the way of the road.

“As we understand a four-lane highway would have a big impact on the decision you make, we would like to introduce an amazing, prominent community right in your neighborhood,” wrote Howard Vogin, vice president of sales for U.S. Home’s coastal region in a letter sent to homeowners dated Feb. 2.

Vogin then proceeds to tick off the merits of Sterling Hill, near Elgin Boulevard and Barclay Avenue. There are homes “to fit every lifestyle” ranging from the low $200,000s to mid $300,000s.

“U.S. Home also features programs to help you sell or lease your existing property,” the letter ends.

“I was very upset when I received that letter because I think they’re soliciting,” homeowner Anthony Langone said. “I feel it’s wrong.”

Langone’s home is on the south side and not scheduled to be torn down.

He said he has no intention of moving to Sterling Hill.

A county consultant is recommending the county buy up the 34 homes on the north side of Elgin — from Mariner Boulevard east to Village Van Gogh — to make way for a new four-lane highway, to be built in the next two or three years.

County commissioners will discuss the consultant’s recommendation and propose a settlement agreement at an upcoming business meeting, probably on Feb. 27.

The county will pay for an independent fee appraisal to determine the home’s current market value.

If a mutually agreed-upon price is reached, the county and property owner will make the deal.

If a deal can’t be reached, the county will go to court and try to take the property by eminent domain through the condemnation process.

Terry Tegzlaff, whose home is on the north side of Elgin and scheduled to be demolished, said he did not receive the letter. Tegzlaff now lives in Citrus County and has his Elgin home up for sale.

The county’s taking his home actually will benefit him, he said.

As for the letter: “It’s kind of ambulance chasing, just like the lawyers,” he said. “But it is an opportunity for both sides. They’re just putting themselves out there and saying they’re available (to help).”

Langone’s brother, Steven Langone, called the letter a “slap in our face.

“Why didn’t they send letters to us before?” he asked. “Why did they wait until now after all this broke loose?”

U.S. Home’s new home consultant Eric Parks said the letters were inadvertently sent to homeowners who live on the south side of the road. He apologized for any misunderstanding and said he would e-mail Vogin of the error.

“I didn’t know the letter went out until today (Thursday) when a homeowner brought it to my attention,” Parks said.

He said the letter was only meant to help those residents who are affected by the planned road and give them options in relocating.

“It was all in good faith,” he said.

Parks said residents can call him about the letter or U.S. Home at 727-804-7719.

Reporter Michael D. Bates can be contacted at 352-544-5290.

Port St. Lucie to deal with Martin on road

By Teresa Lane

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Friday, February 09, 2007

PORT ST. LUCIE — The western Palm City corridor won't be a road to nowhere, city council members conceded Thursday after months of threatening to prohibit a connection with Port St. Lucie Boulevard near Becker Road.

City council members said they'll draft a proposed pact with Martin County that allows developers in southwest Port St. Lucie to be assessed for road impacts on the corridor and a few other Martin roads as long as future Martin County developers pay their fair share also.

Martin County Commission Chairman Michael DiTerlizzi said he thinks the compromise will be agreeable to his board and will present it in two weeks.

Though Councilman Jack Kelly said the connection means a planned roundabout at Becker and Port St. Lucie Boulevard will fail because of the added traffic, City Manager Don Cooper hinted that major development projects planned for the region could mean redesigning Becker Road anyway.

One of those is a regional shopping mall planned just west of Becker and Interstate 95, slated to open sometime after 2011.

Council members also adopted a years-in-the-making joint planning agreement with St. Lucie County that requires both agencies to share information on major developments planned inside their borders.

Group pushes for pretty stormwater ponds

By NATHAN CRABBE

SUN STAFF WRITER

Fritzi Olson has been successful at getting local groups to adopt beautiful rivers.

Now she'll see if she has the same luck with ugly stormwater ponds.

Olson is executive director of Current Problems, the Gainesville group best known for the Adopt A River program. The group's latest program, Plant A Pond, recruits community groups for planting vegetation around stormwater ponds to improve water quality.

"It will make them look better and make them worth more than just flood control," she said.

Stormwater ponds have historically been used to prevent flooding, with aesthetics and water quality as secondary concerns at best. Consequently, area ponds are often barren of vegetation and surrounded by fencing.

Plant A Pond is among efforts to change the look and purpose of stormwater ponds.

In Gainesville, Springhill residents successfully pushed for the area around a neighborhood stormwater pond to be turned into a park. In Alachua County, developers are now required to plant native vegetation around newly built ponds.

On the University of Florida campus, a stormwater basin was recontoured and planted with diverse vegetation.

Such vegetation filters and absorbs pollutants from water entering the pond, said Mark Clark, a water-quality specialist at UF. That means water quality is improved before it seeps into the aquifer or flows into other water bodies.

Plants also provide wildlife habitat and give stormwater ponds a purpose for the community beyond flood control, he said.

"They can be so much more," he said.

The Plant A Pond program will provide participants with training and an initial batch of plants for free, Olson said. Participants will be expected to do regular upkeep four times a year for at least two years and report back on their progress.

The effort is in part based on Hillsborough County's Adopt-A-Pond program. The county was the first in the state to encourage groups to plant vegetation around stormwater ponds, said John McGee, the Adopt-A-Pond program coordinator.

Since the program started in 1991, he said, about 300 ponds have been adopted and planted. McGee said most participants are looking to improve the look of ugly ponds.

But he said they eventually get a better understanding of how planting vegetation and reducing fertilizer use in neighboring yards can improve water quality.

"The biggest benefit is people understand how their actions impact the pond," he said.

Already, Gainesville residents have taken action to improve stormwater ponds. The Springhill Neighborhood Association pushed for a pond being built in that neighborhood to be turned into a park.

Vivian Filer, who heads the association, said residents were initially upset that a stormwater pond was being built without their consultation.

They eventually persuaded the city to install a path and other amenities for residents to use, she said.

Olson then helped plant native vegetation around the pond. Filer said neighborhood children can now learn about native plants and how to care for them.

"I think it's just such a great opportunity to do some neighborhood-friendly things," she said.

Olson said the Springhill effort is the prototype for Plant A Pond. She hopes the program will help stormwater ponds become more than just barren ditches surrounded by fences.

"There's no reason they can't help water quality and wildlife habitat and diversity," she said.

Nathan Crabbe can be reached at 352-338-3176 or crabben@gville sun.com.
FYI: About Plant A Pond

Gainesville-based Current Problems is starting a program, Plant A Pond, for community groups to adopt local stormwater ponds. Participants agree to plant vegetation around the pond, improving the appearance and water quality.
Groups commit to maintain the ponds for two years. Participants attend a workshop and are given a manual and the initial batch of plants for free. They are expected to pay for any future plants or work.

State commission approves coal-plant plan
By Bruce Ritchie
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

The Florida Public Service Commission staff Thursday recommended approval of a proposed coal-fired power plant in Taylor County.

The city of Tallahassee is a partner in the proposed 800-megawatt plant near Perry.

Environmentalists say the plant will increase pollution in the region and can be avoided with renewable energy and conservation. The partnership says the plant will use modern technology to reduce pollution.

The Public Service Commission held four days of public hearings in January to determine whether the plant was needed. Environmental issues were not to be considered in the hearings, said PSC Chairwoman Lisa Polak Edgar.

The staff recommendation says the coal plant "will add to electric system reliability and integrity and appears to be cost-effective."

The proposed plant, called the Taylor Energy Center, also will provided needed fuel diversity and will save $899 million for the municipalities who are involved in the project, according to PSC staff.

The commission will meet Tuesday to make a decision on the project, said Anthony De Luise, the agency's director of public information.

He said individual commissioners, in making a decision, will consider the recommendation along with their own review of the evidence.

A Taylor Energy Center spokesman said that if the PSC approves, the partnership will apply in the near future for site-certification from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

Cypress Creek Road Apartments Stalled

By KEVIN WIATROWSKI The Tampa Tribune

Published: Feb 9, 2007

WESLEY CHAPEL - The partnership planning apartments for Cypress Creek Road will have to wait two weeks to learn the project's fate.

Pasco County's Development Review Committee delayed until Feb. 22 further consideration of James and Sylvia Scarpo's plan to turn land they and their neighbors own into a 488-unit complex.

The property is directly north of King Ranch. The ranch owners plan a mix of 548 apartments and town houses next to the Scarpo group's land.

The rest of the ranch, which is north of County Line Road between Cypress Creek Road and Interstate 75, would be given over to offices and other work-related development.

The changes by both Scarpo and King Ranch are being driven by the looming construction of Cypress Creek Town Center, a regional mall, to the north of both properties.

The county wants the Scarpo group to improve Cypress Creek Road, which falls below Pasco's standards.

Those improvements include relocating a set of power lines, which would require the Scarpos to work on part of King Ranch.

Therein lies the problem, said the group's attorney, Jerry Figurski.

King Ranch's owners won't cooperate with the Scarpo group on the Cypress Creek Road changes, he said.

King Ranch attorney Clark Hobby pledged his clients would sort things out with their neighbors.

"There is insignificant right of way to make any improvements from King Ranch south to County Line Road," Hobby said. "In short, they have to work with us to sort this out."

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201 or kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com.

Condo Market Morphing

ORLANDO - The frenzied condominium building boom in Florida's major cities appears to be slowing dramatically, and as a result some developers may scrap their plans while others shift to apartment construction.

At least that's the assessment of some of the builders and developers gathered here at one of the nation's largest annual builders conferences, the International Builders Show.

"There are too many high-end projects in many of the cities in Florida," said Bill Donges, chief executive officer of Lane Co., an Atlanta firm that specializes in developing and managing multiunit projects.

Donges was among the builders and developers who sat on a panel Thursday to discuss the outlook for the condominium and apartment market. Panel members said they expect major condo projects that are under way in Florida's major cities to be completed but for unsold units in those projects to take longer to sell. That could further cool the appetite for starting high-rise condo construction projects, panel members agreed.

A representative from the National Association of Homebuilders, the show organizer, said there still is a demand for condominiums, including the dozens scheduled to open in downtown areas of Florida's big cities this year.

However, panel discussion members said too many developers latched onto the boom and planned more projects than the market can absorb - particularly luxury high-rises.

Developers in Florida cities such as Tampa, where more than 30 condo buildings have been proposed for downtown, likely will scratch more than half of the planned developments or postpone them until the condo market gains steam again, Donges predicted.

"These high-end units will be in the market and will have to be absorbed at some time," he said.

In Tampa, eight condos are expected to open in the downtown core this year. Several are nearing completion, including SkyPoint, Grand Central at Kennedy and Towers of Channelside. The developers have said their projects are nearly sold out.

Panel members noted that many units being built in Tampa are priced for a well-heeled clientele, and that raises an affordability issue.

Prices for condo units in projects planned for Tampa have ranged from $200,000 to more than $1 million, with the majority of sold units priced at more than $300,000. That's more than the median price of a single-family home in the Tampa Bay area.

Donges said his company wanted to jump into Tampa's condo market and was planning to build one at Kennedy Boulevard and Hoover Street. But as the market slowed, the company decided to build a 210-unit luxury apartment building on the site.

Steve Patterson, chief executive officer of Orlando-based Zom Inc., also sat in on Thursday's panel discussion. He said his company, which historically has been an apartment builder, converted many of its projects to condominiums in recent years and got into condo tower development.

But the company is changing its strategy now and focusing on building apartments, converting some condos back to rental units and trying to build more affordable apartments.

In Tampa, the company has focused on apartments, including the Arbors at Carrollwood and Arbors at Fletcher Island.

The apartment-to-condo conversion trend has been white hot in the Tampa Bay area, where several high-end apartment complexes near the city were converted to condos. As the median priced single-family home jumped from the low $100,000s in 2000 to about $230,000 in 2006, converted condos in suburban areas offered an affordable alternative to some homebuyers.

In all, more than 28,000 Tampa Bay area apartment units were purchased for condo conversions in the past 2 1/2 years, according to New York-based Real Capitol Analytics, which tracks real estate trends.

With so many condo conversions in suburban areas, there is a demand for affordable work-force housing, Patterson said

"We're faced with having to pay these high land prices and construction prices and still build affordable" units, he said. "We're going to have to push the limits on rents and accept bare minimums on returns." Many of the converted condos are sitting empty, and investors who fueled the conversion boom by buying up blocks of units are struggling to sell or lease them.

"The conversion started with Class A apartments, then the conversion craze moved down. Apartments that were built in the 1970s were converted," he said. "That eliminated many affordable units."

Brit investors find dream homes aren't

50,000 More People

“We had 7,400 people during snowbird season, and we’re under 3,000 year around,” said Mick Grosh, assistant general manager of the housing development, north of Sebring on U.S. Highway 27.

So when he heard the latest Highlands County population estimates – that we’ll grow more than 50,000 people in 10 years – Grosh wasn’t surprised.

“That’s probably a reasonable guess,” Grosh said. He looked at the reports for driveway permits in Sun ’n Lake, a unincorporated community of 3,230 homes, filled mostly with retirees.

In 2002, only 15 driveway permits were issued, he said. In 2003, the number jumped to 70; then 121 in 2004, 89 in 2005, and 211 in 2006. And so far this year, permits for new driveways are averaging one per day.

And the demographic is changing too, Grosh thinks. Sun ’n Lake started as a golf course community for retirees. Now, he says, “People are bringing children with them. The houses with five and six bedrooms are selling the most.”

The U.S. Census Bureau estimated Highlands County had a population of 95,496 in 2005, a 9.3 percent increase from the April 1, 2000 head count.

Don Hanna, a planner for Highlands County, used the University of Florida’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research 2006 estimate of 96,672 to project a winter population of 117,206.“That’s a 20 percent increase,” Hanna said.

“I would say that’s low,” said Mike Willingham, executive director of Sebring Airport Authority and an economic developer who is familiar with population estimates. “I’d say the number ought to be more like 35,000 to 40,000. But that’s just my guess... I base that on the roadways during this time of year, the occupancy of the hotels and restaurants, Wal-Mart, you name it.”

Sebring is attracting more vacationing and residential tourists, and it’s also getting more in-migration from coastal cities to escape the congestion and traffic, Willingham agreed with Grosh. “Younger people with families are moving here to work. No question about it.”

The Highlands County Profile 2006-2007 predicts 155,300 permanent residents by 2025.

And because property values have doubled or tripled in Highlands County during the past 10 years, Willingham predicted Florida’s most rural counties, like Hardee and DeSoto, will see more growth in the next 10 years.

Others aren’t as sure. Marty Roepstorff, utilities director for the city of Sebring, says sewer and water use in Highlands County’s largest city remains consistent.

“We don’t seen a significant increase in pumpage,” Roepstorff said. The number of meters read goes up and down throughout the year, without a significant upward trend in the winter.

“Fifty thousand people sounds awful high,” said Highlands County Commissioner Edgar Stokes. When the commissioners were deciding whether to pass impact fees, Stokes studied how many deeds were recorded and how many building permits were sold.

“The number of deeds recorded has fallen,” Stokes said. “We knew it was just a buying frenzy.

“We thought we were growing like crazy,” Stokes said, “but we weren’t.”

He produced the Highlands County Profile 2005-2006, and compared its projections with the University of Florida’s Statistical Abstract 2005.

The abstract projects low, medium and high categories. He believed Hanna is using the highest possible growth category.

Florida’s Department of Community Affairs used similar reasoning for limiting growth in Highlands County, said Hanna.

Hanna’s boss, Development Services Director Jim Polatty, wrote a memo to DCA, pointing out that high and low categories existed because of the uncertainty of precise medium growth categories.

“Historically speaking ... two-thirds of all (67) county forecasts should fall within the Low and High forecasts,” he wrote.

Hanna projected a population increase of 50,000 during tourist season – the six coldest fall and winter months – over the next 10 years.

“It doesn’t really surprise me,” said South Florida Community College President Norman Stephens.

“Snowbirds – I use that as an affectionate term,” he said, “are at the heart of the cultural programs we put on here. We set our schedule for them. We don’t want to have a program too early, or too late.”

The life-time learners program designs classes to attract visiting senior citizens, including aquatic exercise. During the spring and summer, buffets are suspended at the college-operated Hotel Jacaranda. A Sebring restaurant, Sweetie Pye’s, closes in the summer.

The county grew 3.5 percent between 2004 and 2005, from 92,057 to 95,496, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates.

Stephens divided the 50,000 estimated increase into 10 years, and realized it would mean only a 2 percent increase per year.

Move These Houses, Expert Says

Home builders should offer incentives or slash prices to sell off hundreds of thousands of vacant new houses glutting markets nationwide, housing experts warned Wednesday at the International Builders Show in Orlando.

In addition, until the new home inventory is gone, builders should hold off constructing more homes, said David Seiders, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders.

"I'm telling builders that we absolutely have to move these houses" before the real estate market will rebound, Seiders said.

The Tampa Bay area is among the places with an oversupply of new homes on the market.

There were 4,606 vacant new homes in the Bay area at the end of the fourth quarter of 2006, an increase of 1,700 from the same period a year ago, according to housing research firm Metrostudy.

Tony Polito, a Tampa-based director for Metrostudy, said the Bay area is faring better than the rest of Florida, which has an average of a four-month supply of new homes for sale. Inventory in the Bay area is at 2.8 months, he said, meaning it would take that long to sell all the homes at the current sales pace.

Nationwide, economists estimated home builders constructed about 600,000 more homes during the past three years than the market could absorb.

The number of homes under construction is dropping, and builders are offering incentives, such as free upgrades and discounted prices.

Polito estimates it will take three to six more months to work through the inventory in the Bay area.

Economists from mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac predicted Wednesday at the builders conference that the housing market will see more drops in the number of sales and prices in some markets, but that the cool-down will bottom out later in the year and a gradual recovery will begin.

"But that doesn't mean we'll bounce back to 2005 levels," said Frank Nothaft, chief economist for Freddie Mac. "Absolutely not."

The new home market is suffering in part because of the record number of existing homes on the market, economists said.

More than 34,000 existing homes are on the market in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, according to local real estate trade groups.

The slowdown in building and the need to move the inventory of new and existing homes is good news for some, Nothaft said. It has gotten tougher to afford a home because of the record price increases since 2000, he said.

In the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metropolitan area, the median sales price of an existing home in December was $230,800, up 3 percent from the same month in 2005, according to the Florida Association of Realtors. In December 2000, the median sales price was $108,200.

New Mall's Neighbors Plan Apartments

WESLEY CHAPEL - As Cypress Creek Town Center gets closer to construction, its neighbors are moving to remake their property more in the regional mall's image.

A group of landowners along Cypress Creek Road has asked Pasco County to rezone 29 acres to allow construction of 488 apartment units.

The property is on the west bank of Cypress Creek. The mall will be on the east bank.

The Development Review Committee will consider the rezoning proposal at 1:30 p.m. today in Dade City.

James and Sylvia Scarpo are joined in their proposal by Carlyle and Judith Wolding and Randall and Diane Sherman. The three couples own abutting properties along Cypress Creek Road.

Just to their south, the owners of King Ranch also have proposed turning their property into a mix of commercial and residential uses.

King Ranch is south of the regional mall site, between Cypress Creek and County Line Road.

Mall developer Richard E. Jacobs Group plans to extend County Road 54 south across their property and King Ranch to County Line Road.

As part of their proposed project, the landowners will have to make several improvements to Cypress Creek Road and County Line Road. The list includes:

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Development Review Committee consideration of apartment project on Cypress Creek Road

A Leon County project that was billed as a way to save a threatened creek is raising concerns among some residents that it could end up damaging the environment.

Last year, the county began construction on the Black Creek restoration project, which will move a stretch of McCracken Road out of Black Creek. Since then, some residents have raised concerns that the destruction of forest land is too much for what should be a small connector road serving only a few hundred cars a day.

"It's a lot bigger than anybody thought it was going to be," said Susie Howell, who lives off McCracken Road. "I wonder where all the animals are going to go."

But County Commissioner Cliff Thaell, the lead commissioner behind the project, said plans for two 11-foot lanes of road and three stormwater ponds haven't changed from what was presented to the public.

"I don't know why (residents) would be surprised," Thaell said. "You can't cut a road through a property without cutting down some trees."

Kim Wood, the project manager, said a little more than 100 trees that are more than 12 inches across were taken down, plus an uncounted number of smaller trees. The project will add 344 trees and 5,000 underbrush plants where the old road now runs, she said.

Efforts to restore Black Creek began several years ago because residents were concerned that the creek fills with sediment every time it overflows and washes over McCracken Road, which is a dirt road.

Residents opposed the idea of paving McCracken because they like the slow speed limits and the area's rural feel, said Edith Sheeks. Instead, in 2003, they backed a plan to move the road and let the wetland revert to its natural state. The county bought 70 acres of land, assessed at $533,000.

Over the following few years, the county worked on permitting and design, said Tony Park, the county's director of Public Works. Last November, county commissioners voted to move forward with a $1.8 million construction contract. Work should take about a year.

"I feel very strongly that this whole thing was a mistake and is very damaging to our quality of life and our environment," she said.

But Howell and several others started worrying more after seeing the trees come down.

"We just have concerns that other parts of the environment are being impacted," said Kelly McGrath, who moved into the neighborhood recently.

Andy Bruggner, who lives off Miccosukee Road, said he's seen at least four crashes at the curve near his home in the five years he's lived there. He hopes signals at the new intersection will have a calming effect on traffic.

"It'll slow them down a bit," he said. "At times, it gets to be a racetrack out here."

Fern fuels fears over control of refuge

Oppenheimer Report

THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT

Global warming likely to hit hard in Americas

If you listen to some of the experts who issued a much-awaited United Nations report on global warming in Paris last week, it sounds like rising oceans will soon make their way to your bedroom and force you to hop out of bed in the middle of the night.

It sounds a little bit far fetched, but many scientists say that climate changes will have a greater impact -- and closer to home -- than many of us think.

Earlier this week, after more than 500 leading scientists from 113 nations issued the preliminary findings of a U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, I called several authors of the report to ask them what can we expect to happen in the Western Hemisphere if global warming continues at its present pace.

The U.N. report said that world temperatures will rise by two to 11 degrees this century -- mainly because of the massive U.S. burning of fossil fuels and the rapid deforestation of the Amazon forest -- and that this will cause oceans to rise by seven inches to two feet over the same period of time. The report did not give regional forecasts. A more specific report is due out later this year.

So, based on these general projections, I asked Osvaldo F. Canziani, co-chairman of one of the panel's groups, in a telephone interview, what we can expect to happen in this part of the world.

Canziani said we will see a 1- to 2-centigrade rise in temperature over the next two decades, which will cause havoc in several countries:

• Rising oceans will cause severe flooding in U.S. coastal areas, Caribbean beach resorts, the Gulf of Mexico and the Rio de la Plata Basin. This could affect major cities, such as Buenos Aires and Montevideo.

• Glaciers in the Andean mountain range of Peru, Colombia and Ecuador will melt at an increasingly faster pace, creating water accumulations that will cause flooding and mudslides. This will pose great danger to many mountain villages.

• Meantime, deforestation of the Amazon as Brazil and its neighbors destroy huge jungle regions to, among other things, expand their booming soybean exports to China, will reduce rainfall in much of South America. This will lead to more forest fires and a greater shortage of water in many areas.

• Shifting air currents, in addition to deforestation, will make rainfall levels drop in some areas and increase in others. Rainfall will drop by up to 20 percent in Mexico, Central America, northeastern Brazil and southern Chile, while it will increase by up to 15 percent in South America's Rio de la Plata Basin stretching through Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.

Most experts agreed that poor people in the region will suffer the greatest losses because they tend to live in more exposed areas and in more fragile homes and often lack quick warning systems.

''In Latin America, politicians haven't realized the seriousness of this issue yet,'' Canziani told me.

Critics of the U.N. report say there have been many previous U.N. apocalyptic warnings that turned out to be wrong, and that it's far from certain that global warming is caused by fossil fuel emissions, as the U.N. panel concluded. They point out that there were periods of global warming thousands of years ago, long before humans began driving Hummers.

''The panel's report is not conclusive,'' says Israel Ortega, a spokesman for the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. ``The debate is just beginning.''

My opinion: I agree that U.N. scientific panels are not always right. In the late 1970s, U.N. climate experts were predicting an imminent Ice Age and worsening famines in India.

But common sense tells me that something weird is happening. Over the past few years, we have seen extreme weather conditions in the United States, the first hurricane along Brazil's coast and golf-ball-sized ice cubes falling on usually balmy Buenos Aires. The weather is going crazy. So it may be time to focus our energies on climate changes, before the water starts rising under our beds.

Post script: The Venezuela Information Office, which according to its website is funded by the Venezuelan government, says I incorrectly stated in my last column that a new ''enabling law'' will allow President Hugo Chávez to, among other things, call a referendum to change the Constitution and allow his indefinite reelection. Indeed, Chávez has repeatedly said he will do that, but this is unrelated to the new law

Myregion.org looks at suspect poll data

110-Mile Tollway Could Reshape Rural Central Florida