Don't Build Dumping Ground Near Fragile Green Swamp

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 26, 2007

The location of a proposed garbage dump in an environmentally sensitive area of east Pasco County is preposterous, as out of whack as the developer's suggestion that the landfill offers an environmentally friendly solution to the growing problem of garbage disposal.

The 92-acre dump planned by Angelo's Aggregate Materials of Largo would be less than a mile from the Withlacoochee River and the Green Swamp . County and state officials have no business permitting a landfill in such a sensitive area. The plan should be rejected.

The 560,000-acre Green Swamp is one of Florida 's most environmentally significant features and home to the headwaters of the Withlacoochee , Hillsborough, Peace and Ocklawaha rivers. The Hillsborough is especially important because it provides most of Tampa 's drinking water.

And the swamp is a major aquifer recharge area. Allowing a landfill so close to this area presents much too great a risk.

Tampa Bay Water, the region's drinking-water supplier, recently concluded that the landfill would not harm public drinking-water supplies because the site is within the Withlacoochee river basin, not the Hillsborough's.

Limited Study

But the scope of the utility's review was limited. The study failed to consider whether the dump, proposed off Old Lakeland Highway near Dade City , would affect private water wells or create other harmful effects to the environment.

The utility says any surface water would flow into the Withlacoochee , as though the river were an afterthought.

The 36-mile stretch of the Withlacoochee that flows through the Green Swamp Wilderness Preserve is an Outstanding Florida Water and requires special protections.

Yet, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which is reviewing the developer's request, has yet to consult with what should be a logical partner - the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

Worse, a district spokeswoman says the agency doesn't expect to be consulted because of an operating agreement between DEP and water managers that gives state environmental regulators the say-so on landfills.

An exception should be made in this case. The Green Swamp is much too important for Swiftmud to sit on the sidelines. DEP should seek its input.

Sinkhole Prone

The developer's representatives have tried to reassure residents that the landfill won't be a typical one, in part because household garbage would be converted to compost and protective liners would be installed.

That's all well and good, but ignores the reality that the area is prone to sinkholes, which makes a landfill risky.

A better alternative for disposing of garbage from a rapidly growing population would be to expand the waste-to-energy facility located several miles west of the Green Swamp . An expansion would cost millions, no doubt. And customers might have to pay a little more for garbage pick-ups.

But Florida leaders should take the long view in making decisions about the urgent needs of today.

Looking through those binoculars, it's hard to see how a massive dump on the edge of the Green Swamp makes sense.

Crist plan on climate criticized by Rubio

By LLOYD DUNKELBERGER

Sun Tallahassee Bureau

July 26. 2007 6:01AM

TALLAHASSEE - House Speaker Marco Rubio slammed Gov. Charlie Crist's climate change initiative this week, saying the governor's effort to lower greenhouse gases and crack down on vehicle emissions could hurt consumers by driving up their utility bills.

"The last thing we need is higher utility bills,'' Rubio said in an opinion piece he wrote for his hometown newspaper, the Miami Herald.

Rather than set limits on greenhouse gases or car emissions, Rubio said he favors a "free-market approach - not European-style big government mandates.'' The House speaker's plan would include making Florida a leader in ethanol production, developing biofuels and providing more tax incentives to industries that use energy efficiencies.

"Instead of adopting measures that will have little if any impact on our environment and make life in Florida more expensive, we need a strategy that encourages environmental conservations, fuel efficiency and energy diversity, while continuing to stimulate our economy,'' the West Miami Republican wrote.

Crist, who staged a two-day energy summit in Miami earlier this month that drew international attention and included an appearance by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, brushed aside Rubio's critique, saying he was "encouraged by it.''

"I'm glad that he recognizes that this is a big, bold initiative that we need to be focused on,'' he said.

But Rubio's opposition could undermine much of the momentum Crist gained in announcing his energy initiative earlier this month. And it again raises the question of how much Crist can reshape Florida 's energy policies through his executive power if he cannot win approval for some of the initiatives in the Legislature.

Holly Binns, a lobbyist for Environment Florida, said she believes there are "a number of pieces'' of the governor's energy package that can be enacted without specific legislative approval. She noted the Department of Environmental Protection is already moving ahead with workshops on the governor's proposals to limit greenhouse gases and curb vehicle emissions - based on a similar limit in California .

"But I think there are definitely some pieces that are going to have to go through the Legislature,'' Binns said. Among them, she cited a proposal that would allow companies that can't meet the greenhouse gas emission caps to trade for credits from other companies that are more energy-efficient.

Binns said it was "imperative'' that the governor and legislative leaders try to find common ground on the energy issue.

"So that we're not drawing pitched battle lines but instead the political leadership in Florida is working together to move forward to meet these goals,'' she said.

In his critique, Rubio said he applauded Crist for his "willingness to spend political capital tackling such an important issue.'' But he said the "government mandates'' sought by the governor "will not only fail to achieve their desired result, they carry actual negative consequences.''

Citing an academic study, Rubio said if Congress enacted emissions caps like Crist is proposing in Florida it could cause consumer utility bills to increase by 25 percent to 50 percent in areas, like Florida , that currently rely heavily on coal for electricity generation.

Rubio also said caps could lead to electrical bills similar to what Europeans pay, about 25 cents per kilowatt compared to the 8 cents Floridians now pay.

Binns, though, questioned the speaker's analysis, arguing that states like Vermont and Oregon that have undertaken energy efficiency plans have actually cut the cost of electricity for consumers.

House Democrat leader Dan Gelber of Miami Beach also rallied to Crist's defense, saying Rubio was using "scare tactics'' to undermine Crist's plan.

"Now is not the time to shy away from sorely needed innovative ideas,'' Gelber said in a statement. "Employing scare tactics to avoid taking actions that are clearly necessary does no one any good. We should be well past ignoring the hard science of global warming that too many have already closed their eyes to.''

New Farm Bill Includes Local Crops

By Gary Pinnell of Highlands Today

Published: July 26, 2007

LAKE PLACID — About 15 years ago, a virus infected the caladium crop of Bates Sons and Daughters.

"We had something we call grassy," said Don Bates, the father in the operation east of Lake Placid . "It puts out lots of leaves, and it knocks down production."

Caladium growers spent $100,000 with the University of Florida researchers to develop a strategy, but without much satisfaction. The professor who was leading the research into the virus left before a conclusion was reached.

Bates was delighted to hear about the 2007 Farm Bill, which was passed unanimously last week by the U.S. House agriculture committee. The Farm Bill is expected to be considered today by the full House of Representatives.

Specialty Crop Funding

For the first time ever, oranges, caladiums and ornamental plants are addressed in the Farm Bill, said Congressman Tim Mahoney, D-Palm Beach Gardens . He represents Highlands County . For instance, specialty farmers can buy crop insurance.

"It's the wave of the future for agriculture in this country," said Ray Royce, executive director of the Highlands County Citrus Growers Association, because it's recognition by Congress that agriculture is more than a few big program crops like wheat, corn, cotton and tobacco.

The 2002 law reacted to pest and disease outbreaks, but provided no money for crop insurance, block grants, mandatory funding, or the purchase of fruits and vegetables.

The Farm Bill is revised every five years, and the 2007 version covers a wider variety of crops – tree nuts, dried fruits, and nursery crops with $2 billion in funding, Mahoney said. He is a member of the House agriculture committee, which wrote this year's version of the Farm Bill.

If the bill passes the House and the Senate and is signed by the president in its present form, it would require the U.S. Department of Agriculture to identify offshore threats and develop action plans when a pest is discovered.

A $350 million fruit and vegetable snack program for schools, soldiers and seniors will be expanded to all 50 states. There is $25 million for fresh produce food safety grants, and $15 million over five years to expand farmer's markets. There is also money for farmers who want to switch to organic production, Mahoney said.

Florida , which is the nation's second largest producer of fruits and vegetables, is going to get more money from the farm bill.

"And some of that will find its way to Highlands County ," Mahoney said.

Finally, money is included to help the production of orange peels and pulp as ethanol, Mahoney said.

"For people who want to invest in ethanol producing facilities, there is a 90 percent guaranteed loan," Mahoney said. The first ethanol plant is expected to open in Hendry County , he said.

"We're at the very beginning of pioneering that technology," said Royce.

"This is a big part of what I spent the last seven months working on," Mahoney said.

"Those in the agriculture community are appreciative of the work Congressman Mahoney put forward on this," Royce said, who expanded his remarks to include Adam Putnam, a four-term Bartow Republican.

R&D Dollars

And, Mahoney said, there will be Farm Bill money to research pests and develop cures, or at least methods of dealing with problems like citrus canker.

"There is one invasive insect or disease coming into Florida 's ports every month," Mahoney said.

Bates said grassy is a major threat to the caladium industry. Fifteen years ago, his farm lost an entire variety of caladium to grassy: postman joiner, which displays a deep red with a purplish hue.

"We have three people who don't do anything but walk the fields and destroy grassy plants," he said. "And we don't just throw them in the ditch. We put them in a dumpster. We try to keep grassy down to a quarter of a percent. Because once you hit 5 percent, you may as well kiss that variety goodbye. Next year, it will be 25 percent, then 75 percent. You have to discard all the bulbs, and buy new seed stock."

County Commission OKs Development

County commissioners voted 3-2 Wednesday to approve a controversial development on Gib-Galloway Road .

The decision, which involved a proposed subdivision in a rural enclave north of Lakeland , was the same as the commission's decision May 9. Commissioners reheard the case because a required legal advertisement was not published.

Voting to approve the development were Commissioners Sam Johnson, Jack Myers and Randy Wilkinson. Voting against approval were Commission Chairman Bob English and Commissioner Jean Reed.

Adjacent homeowners James and Erin Abercrombie said after the hearing they planned to sue over the vote.

The couple successfully sued the county over a previous vote to approve development there.

Heated exchange fuels Downtown meeting

By JOHNNA PINHOLSTER jpinholster@lakecityreporter.com
Thursday, July 26, 2007 12:00 AM EDT

The monthly Downtown and Neighborhood Development Committee meeting became heated Wednesday as members questioned the actions and abilities of the committee, as well as lack of information provided by city hall.

Committee member Jody DuPree said much of the information he learned about the planned Columbia Developers' residential and commercial downtown development came from a

newspaper article rather than committee meetings.

DuPree said he was contacted by the Lake City Reporter to give a comment on how he felt about the project, when in fact, he had no knowledge of the project.

“This makes me wonder why I come here,” DuPree said. “What does this committee do? How can we get no information on a project that is happening downtown?”

City Manager David Kraus said the project was handled through the Lake City Community Redevelopment Agency, which is composed of city council members, and did not need to be brought before the committee.

Mayor Stephen Witt said he originally developed the committee as a way for information to be shared between groups, not as a group to approve or deny future development.

DuPree said the same issues are addressed at every meeting and that nothing is ever accomplished or resolved.

Jack Berry, from the Lake Shore Hospital Authority, said the development for downtown needs a uniform plan to follow.

Committee member Michael Lee agreed with DuPree and Berry and said for months council has asked the city to move forward with plans to hire a consultant to help the committee develop a downtown plan.

Kraus said he would immediately get to work on the resolution that must be brought before city council to hire a consultant.

Berry also suggested the committee approve a recommendation to build a dock and gazebo on Lake DeSoto , since the idea has been discussed for nearly 15 years.

Kraus said there was still time to apply for a grant to build the dock and gazebo, and the request would be put on the council agenda for the Aug. 6 meeting.

“If we can't get the grant, fine,” Berry said. “I don't mind asking people for money.”

Resident Sandy Greeley addressed council concerning traffic on Marion Avenue .

“People don't feel safe to cross the street,” Greeley said. “Drivers have no regard for pedestrian safety.”

Greeley said her door was clipped last weekend while she was getting out of her car and suggested that stop signs be put at the intersections that do not have red lights to slow traffic down.

Homeless people, Greeley said, are making shoppers feel unsafe in downtown as well.

Berry suggested the Lake City Police Department put reserve officers on foot patrol in downtown to curb some of the problems.

At council's August meeting a proposed resolution would designate the area from Baya Avenue to Interstate 10 and from Main Street to Lake Shore Hospital as a Brownfield Area. If approved, contractors building within the area could receive tax refunds, funding for environmental issues and apply for grants, Kraus said.

Kraus said areas that would fall under this designation would essentially give the city another tool to help with development of the downtown area.

Police raids target developer of failed Liberty City biotech park

BY JASON GROTTO

Dozens of state and federal law enforcement agents raided the South Florida home and office of Dennis Stackhouse, the Boston developer under criminal investigation for his role in a failed $250 million biotech park project in Liberty City .

Officers from the Miami-Dade Police Department and the FBI seized files and copied computer hard drives from the developer's headquarters at 780 Fisherman St. in Opa-locka on Friday, The Miami Herald has learned.

Hours earlier, police and federal agents searched Stackhouse's waterfront condo in Fort Lauderdale as part of a wide-ranging probe into the biotech park deal, including whether the developer drained more than $500,000 from the project through double billings and fake invoices.

Reached on his cellphone Wednesday afternoon, Stackhouse, 64, refused to comment. The Miami-Dade state attorney's office, which is leading the investigation, also declined to discuss the sweeps.

The searches and seizures come a month after a Miami Herald investigative series revealed questionable spending and chronic delays in the highly touted biotech park, which was supposed to create thousands of high-paying jobs in a blighted area of Miami-Dade.

County officials immediately pulled the plug on the biotech park project, broke ties with the developer and vowed to recover public land and millions in poverty money given to Stackhouse's company.

Investigators are now examining whether Stackhouse improperly tapped into a $3 million, interest-free loan his company received from the Miami-Dade Empowerment Trust, a nonprofit created by the county to manage federal funds from one of the largest poverty programs in decades.

While prosecutors piece together Stackhouse's financial dealings, local officials face a drawn-out battle to recover the money and nearly 15 acres of land provided to the developer's company for the project -- one of the most ambitious economic development ventures in county history.

The trust loaned Stackhouse's company the $3 million without collateral -- then gave the developer two three-month extensions on the loan, which was supposed to be paid back in February.

The trust's CFO, Rodney Carey, granted Stackhouse's company the first extension in August as the developer worked to finalize a deal with the county to purchase a $23 million parking garage in the park.

The County Commission approved the deal in January, but Stackhouse approached the trust again in May asking for another three months to pay back the money.

In a May 3 letter to Carey, Stackhouse said he needed to make changes to the contract approved by the commission.

''Substitute language was agreed upon by all parties,'' Stackhouse wrote.

But Assistant County Manager Roger Carlton -- who oversaw the garage deal -- said that isn't true.

''Stackhouse did want to make changes, but we were never able to reach a successful outcome,'' said Carlton , who was fired by County Manager George Burgess on Monday.

Yet Carey granted the developer the second three-month extention in May. The loan is now due Aug. 23.

In recent weeks, the county embarked on what promises to be another challenge following the fallout from the botched deal: wresting control of county land leased to Stackhouse's company for 75 years so he could develop the biotech park.

The land is encumbered by a $4.2 million leasehold mortgage from a Boston real-estate investment firm and by nearly $1 million in liens placed on the property by one of the project's construction companies.

Invoices from that firm are among dozens Stackhouse used to draw down hundreds of thousands of dollars from the trust -- even though the bills already had been paid, The Miami Herald found.

Stackhouse received another $75,000 using invoices his former bookkeeper said she created on her computer, according to interviews and requisitions. In all, the newspaper found more than $500,000 in double billing and dubious expenses.

''If it were $500,000 -- and I doubt that it is -- what is that? Five percent of what's been spent,'' Stackhouse told The Miami Herald when confronted in June.

Officials Approve Growth Plan Change

County commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday to approve a change in the county's growth plan to set up a system to require school capacity to be considered in development decisions along with roads and utilities.

The change, which also must be approved by 15 of Polk's municipalities, will take effect March 1.

Wednesday's vote sent Polk's proposal to state planners for review. A final vote is scheduled for Nov. 20.

Action on an agreement between all local governments will follow in January.

Today's letters: Revise zoning rules to protect us

St. Pete Times Letters to the Editor

Published July 26, 2007

Revise zoning rules to protect us

I have two questions to ask of those who are in charge of running Hernando County and seeing to it that we have the infrastructure to be able to move comfortably around as needed.

1. How can we allow Wal-Mart, or any other entity, to move in and build at a site that will ruin our being able to drive because we do not have the roads to sustain the traffic in these areas? We need controlled growth, and zoning from two decades ago does not apply today.

2. There are many towns and counties that do not allow Wal-Marts or other large stores to be built in their areas, so why do we have to be saturated with them every few miles? We have enough and do not need to add to our congestion and inability to get out of our housing developments.

Our quality of life is quickly going down the tubes, thanks to those who do not have the forethought to see what is happening. We have been a knee-jerk-reaction county and it must stop. Don't tell me it was approved for this type of zoning in 1983, etc. The entire world changes daily and stricter codes need to be enforced here, as is in the rest of our great nation. If you think nothing can be done regarding zoning passed years ago, take your heads out of the sand now.

Once these commercial buildings are built in congested and residential areas there is no knee-jerk reaction that can help our county officials protect the future for all of us

A. Waller, Spring Hill

Signs mark edges of Green Swamp

July 26, 2007

LAKE COUNTY - In order to cut down on guesses about where the largest, and arguably the most important, ecosystem in Central Florida is located, the Lake County Department of Public Works put up six markers along county roads that read "Entering the Green Swamp Heart of the Floridan Aquifer."

The signs were erected along county roads 474, 561, 565A, 565B and 565.

"These new roadway markers will be a big help allowing motorists to know where this important region is located, and we're pleased to put them up along all our busy roads," said David Hansen, manager of the Lake County Public Lands Management Program, on the county's Web site.

Unfortunately, one of the signs -- on County Road 561 at the Palatlakaha bridge -- was stolen shortly after it was installed. All that's left is the unadorned metal pole that held it up.According to the Southwest Florida Water Management District, the 807-square-mile Green Swamp is a large expanse of poorly drained flat terrain, where the groundwater is close to the surface. The Green Swamp lies within the counties of Lake, Polk, Pasco , Hernando and Sumter . Much of the area is a mosaic of wetlands, mesic flatlands and uplands, subject to seasonal flooding.

For more information about the Green Swamp , go to lakecountyfl.gov and click on the interactive Green Swamp presentation courtesy of the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

Katie Powalski and Mark Pino of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report.

Tax cuts stall river-saving reservoir

By ROBERT P. KING

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Thursday, July 26, 2007

State-ordered tax cuts are forcing delays in one of the state's top environmental priorities: a long-awaited effort to protect the St. Lucie River from polluted runoff.

The South Florida Water Management District has postponed issuing a $250 million contract to build a runoff-capturing reservoir near Indiantown, saying too much uncertainty exists about how possible changes in the tax system will affect the agency's budget.

Water managers said they hope it's just a snag.

"I think it's a very important project," district board Chairman Eric Buermann, a Miami lawyer, said Wednesday. "But on the other hand, where do you cut? Are we going to say we're not going to save people from hurricanes or we're going to let everybody flood?"

Board member Melissa Meeker of Stuart said she's not giving up on the reservoir. "That's a discussion we're going to have," she said.

Some environmentalists expressed disappointment at yet another delay for the long-suffering river, which also was supposed to benefit from a $1.2 billion Indian River Lagoon restoration plan that has languished in Congress since 2002. Others said the impasse fulfills their warnings about the tax cuts' likely effect on the district's billions of dollars worth of restoration projects.

"It's unfortunate that the legislature is so short-sighted about these budget cuts," said Jacquie Cohen, Everglades policy associate for Audubon of Florida.

Supporters say the cuts offer relief after years in which the district and other agencies refused to cut tax rates while property values soared as much as 30 percent a year. Gov. Charlie Crist and the legislature OK'd the changes in June.

The changes start with a required 3 percent reduction in the district's property tax revenues below what it collected last year. (The district also can collect additional taxes from new construction). The staff has factored those cuts into a $1.2 billion budget proposal it is preparing to send to Crist, who has the power to veto it.

The immediate cuts will save the owner of a typical $250,000 home about $12 in taxes to the district next year. The district still will have its second-largest budget ever, including $549.5 million in expected property tax income - $3.5 million less than last year, but $104 million more than two years ago.

But here's where the uncertainty kicks in: On Jan. 29, voters will decide whether to enact sweeping changes to the state's property tax system. If it passes, homeowners then will decide whether to swap their homestead exemptions for a larger "super exemption," at the cost of giving up their existing protection from assessment increases.

Nobody knows what voters or homeowners will decide - or how those decisions will affect the district's taxes.

"This is a very complicated estimate to make," district Budget Director Doug Bergstrom said. "We're going to spend time between now and probably next June doing it."

Meanwhile, the district had expected to seek proposals this month from companies interested in building the $250 million reservoir. But the tax cuts also limit the district's ability to borrow, and the reservoir is one of several projects the district has planned to finance by issuing $1.8 billion worth of debt on Wall Street.

"We are being very cautious about moving forward with that contract until we understand the whole impact," said Jeff Kivett, engineering director for the district's Everglades projects.

He said the staff originally hoped the board could OK a construction contract in October, but now it could be delayed until after the referendum. The board will make the final call, he said.

The district already has spent at least $196 million in land and engineering costs for the 3,400-acre reservoir, which eventually is supposed to be accompanied by a 6,300-acre filter marsh. Completion had been scheduled for December 2009.

L & L Acres plan wins county OK

July 26, 2007

Seminole County - Despite complaints from residents that the county will lose one of its few remaining pristine parcels, county commissioners Tuesday unanimously approved a development plan for nearly 117 acres best known as L & L Acres.

Development plans for the property between Markham Woods Road and Heathrow Boulevard , on the south side of Lake Mary Boulevard , call for 130 homes and condominiums as well as a retail component.

While some spoke in favor of the development, others said the county should try to buy and preserve the property. County Commission Chairman Carlton Henley said the county inquired about the parcels in the past, but the price -- about $30 million -- was simply too high, he said.

Robert Perez of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report.

Council scraps plan to develop 206-acre site

Having cut KB Home from the deal and disagreeing about a new developer, members want a fresh start.

Adrian G. Uribarri

Sentinel Staff Writer

July 26, 2007

MINNEOLA

Saying they want a clean slate on a 206-acre site, City Council members have revoked an agreement with the developer that backed off as the area's home-construction market went into a steep decline.

Based on a meeting this week, council members don't plan to pick a new developer without a thorough reassessment. The earliest a new agreement could gain approval is October, and council members aren't crazy about the only proposal, from the Canadian Metrontario Group. The developer put up Palisades Country Club, west of the city.

"We have told them outright from the beginning that they needed to start over," council member Sue Cordova said Wednesday. "They came back with 99 percent the same plan and didn't address our concerns."

In July 2006, the council annexed the property owned by former Lake County Commissioner Claude Smoak with the expectation that KB Home would develop it as a medium-density residential community.

KB also planned to build a two-lane road from U.S. Highway 27 east along the southern boundary of the proposed site, with access to two new elementary schools.

Smoak signed onto the deal, but after waiting seven months from approval, KB never signed the contract and ultimately decided not to develop the land. The company pulled out in time to avoid its first payment of $10,000.

In April, the council scratched KB from the agreement and waited for a new developer to step up. But after several meetings, Metrontario's plan failed to sway a majority of council members. They thought its initial proposal to pack 678 homes on the site -- compared to 485 by KB -- was too dense.

Now, Smoak and the developer must start from the beginning.

At Tuesday night's meeting, council members scrapped the plan altogether, citing major differences between the KB and Metrontario proposals.

Smoak, who pleaded with council members to allow Metrontario another presentation, was miffed. He stepped up to the lectern, gripping it with visible unease.

"What have you just done?" he asked council members.

Smoak and a developer would have saved money and time by adopting similar measures of the existing agreement rather than drafting a new one, Cordova said.

Council member Ed Earl said he doesn't blame Smoak for trying to move things along -- "I would do the same" -- but he said the landowner shares responsibility for the annexation of his land, and that the city should now act carefully before approving a major development.

"He asked us to annex his land," Earl said. "This is the only good thing that came out of KB backing out of this deal. The city has control over what goes on this property."

Adrian G. Uribarri can be reached at auribarri@orlandosentinel.com or 352-742-5926.

Neighbors battling apartment proposal

By SAM BHAGWAT

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Thursday, July 26, 2007

The elderly residents of Dudley Homes near Greenacres have long looked up at a 13-acre patch of trees and foliage across the canal on the north border of their subdivision. So when they heard in late May that a planned development would replace the greenery with three- to four-story apartment buildings, they got up in arms.

The issue goes before county commissioners for the second time this morning.

Anger mounted in recent weeks when residents heard that the county and the developer should have notified them of the plan two years ago, when an earlier version was under consideration.

"We could have had a chance to do something" then, said Vinnie Monteferrante, vice president of the Dudley homeowners' association, who spearheaded opposition with the president, John Hart.

Dudley 's outrage has simmered down during the past couple of weeks, as developer Land Design South has made several accommodations. But the parties still remain at loggerheads.

"They wished us luck tomorrow," Hart said Wednesday. "We'll see."

Although residents don't want anything in their wooded back yard, they especially fear a noisy complex that would overshadow their quiet, ground-level condos. And they're afraid that new development, originally proposed for rent rather than sale, would bring more crime.

But the height of the buildings is central to the planned development. The developer noted that it has played by the rules. And some sympathetic county commissioners emphasize the importance of providing housing for workers priced out of Palm Beach County .

Plans to build on the property have been under way for four years, when an application was submitted to the county. In 2005, when county commissioners approved that project, there was little stir, partly because, Hart and Monteferrante contend, both the county and the developer failed to tell nearby residents what was happening.

The county mailed notices to only a quarter of nearby Dudley residents, and no one who lived on the canal, closest to the new development. Meanwhile, Land Design South told county officials it would notify neighborhood associations, but members of Hart's group said they never got notices.

Two years later, anger over the lack of notification stirred residents to action.

With around half of the largely snowbird population gone, Monteferrante and Hart gathered more than 300 signatures opposing the development. Monteferrante asked how it would attract the middle class whom workforce housing targets, and she brandished a report chronicling the past six months of crime near the proposed development. A handful of burglaries and assaults. A stolen car. And a rape.

"Why would teachers want to live there?" she said.

At a meeting June 28, county commissioners said they sympathized with residents' concerns about improper notification, but Commissioner Mary McCarty said that even if the two sides sat down to discuss their differences, commissioners still probably would approve the plan.

That wasn't enough for Dudley residents. They threatened to demonstrate on nearby Purdy Lane in wheelchairs and walkers.

Since then, they've met with commissioners Jess Santamaria and Jeff Koons, as well as numerous times with Land Design South.

When Koons asked whether planting trees would help, Monteferrante said Dudley residents still would be able to see the development through the trees. Land Design South offered to add barriers and switch buildings, so a three-story building would overlook Dudley instead of a three- and four-story building. Hart said that was good, but they still didn't want the project built.

The argument is not new.

"Every time something comes up, we could have more workforce or afforable housing, the neighbors object," Commissioner Burt Aaronson said at the June 28 meeting. "Where are we going to put them?"

Timeline of development

August 2003: Developer Land Design South submitsapplication to build 99 apartments.

April 2005: County commissioners approve proposal, 20months and six rounds of revised documents later. Few nearby residents are notified of the proceedings.

December 2006: Land Design South scraps the plan and proposes a new one using theworkforce housingprogram to add 41 apartments while saving $600,000 on development rights.

June 28, 2007: County commissioners see new plan, hear Dudley opposition, decide to postpone consideration until today.

Off-road trail plan scaled back

By Bruce Ritchie

DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

The U.S. Forest Service has scaled back its proposal designating where off-road vehicles are allowed in the Apalachicola National Forest .

Forest managers say there now is a maze of more than 1,700 miles of trails through the forest. More than 18,000 acres have been closed to off-road vehicles since 2004 because of forest damage, agency officials say.

The new "preferred alternative" calls for 142 miles of off-road vehicle trails compared to 224 miles proposed last December. No trails would be allowed east of Springhill Road or south of State Road 267, the Bloxham Cutoff.

Some vehicle-riders are concerned that the proposal will limit their access to the forest.

Motorcycle riders would only get about 57 miles of trail compared to about 370 miles they were using prior to 2004, said John Wheeler, vice president of the Tallahassee Trail Riders motorcycle group.

"It is going to be an unsatisfactory system," Wheeler said. "It is going to have such heavy use there is going to be continued problems with it."

Forest Service officials said the agency is proposing more trails than are in other national forests in the southeast region.

"We have plenty of opportunities for people to ride," said Denise Rains, an agency spokeswoman. "What we are offering is a natural setting for people to ride."

Some vehicle riders also criticized the earlier proposal. Some environmentalists said it provided too much access for vehicles in sensitive areas.

Todd Engstrom, president of the environmental group Friends of the Apalachicola National Forest , said Wednesday he had no comment. He said his group is developing a position paper on the proposal.

Riders of all-terrain vehicles and motorcycles prefer different types of trails. Jeeps and off-highway trucks likewise enjoy challenging dirt roads but are restricted to 1,606 miles of designated forest roads under the proposal.

Some trails proposed in December were not in the preferred alternative because of their proximity to nest trees for endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers and ponds with flatwoods salamanders, said Dave Harris, a forest planner with the U.S. Forest Service.

Trails east of Springhill Road were eliminated because they are close to striped newt ponds. Closing that area south of Tallahassee also creates a more secluded area for visitors who aren't riding motorized vehicles, Harris said.

The new Forest Service proposal follows workshops held in Tallahassee last month by national vehicle-user groups.

Mike O'Lary, representing off-road truck drivers on the Web site www.florida4x4.com, said he doubts the agency listened to vehicle users. He's concerned that off-road trucks will be restricted to wide forest roads that are not challenging.

"They closed a substantial amount of the trails we submitted as desirable for four-wheel drive recreational use," he said.

The public will have until Aug. 24 to comment on the six alternatives in the environmental assessment. A decision is expected in September, Rains said.

The Forest Service has scheduled an open house for July 30 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Fort Braden Community Center , 16387 Blountstown Highway in Leon County .

Contact reporter Bruce Ritchie at (850) 599-2253 or britchie@tallahassee.com.dith

Amendment could bring balance

By
The Times-Union

Recently, a couple of letter writers have "connected the dots" between undocumented meetings and decisions on development projects in Jacksonville.
I agree with those who think that there is a direct correlation between Florida's Government-in-the Sunshine Law violations, "green room" access by developer lobbyists and the resulting decisions the City Council makes on development projects in Jacksonville.

There were projects like Freedom Commerce Centre, Black Hammock Island and other developments where developer access to council members may have steered decisions on these projects. It was access citizens did not have.

Citizens voiced opposition at every public hearing and planning analysts attested to the negative environmental impacts of the projects, yet the projects were still approved.

In regard to Black Hammock Island, inappropriate conversations by council members who advocated for the approval of development at Black Hammock Island were raised as an issue during these deliberations.

But Sunshine Law violations are yet another indication that our process of making decisions on development is not working.

There are typically 55 to 60 amendments to our Comprehensive Plan (the blueprint for land use now and into the future) to support development projects each year.

The City Council rejects almost none of them, often despite considerable citizen opposition.

Will increased compliance with the Sunshine Law effect a balance between public vs. developer input? That remains to be seen.

However, there is another way.

The Florida Hometown Democracy constitutional amendment (www.floridahometowndemo-cracy.com) would require that before a Comprehensive Plan change can be approved, citizens must vote on the project, after council members give it their "rubber stamp" approval.

This essentially would put the citizens in charge of the places where they live.

An example is the Cecil Commerce Center referendum, a complex issue for Jacksonville that allowed citizens to weigh in.

Registered voters can download a petition from the Web site to support putting this amendment on the 2009 ballot.

Will citizens always say "no" to Comprehensive Plan changes for development projects?

Hopefully not, but we think it will bring more balance to the decision process.

After all, taxpayers endure the traffic congestion, school overcrowding and higher taxes long after the developer has taken his money to the bank.

JANET LARSON

Jacksonville Beach

Guest columnist: Have you tried to speak your mind about growth at a public meeting lately?

By ROSS BURNAMAN guest columnist

Wednesday, July 25, 2007