Mass Transit Backers Seek Funding To Get Agency Off Ground

By RICH SHOPES The Tampa Tribune

Published: Jun 6, 2007

TAMPA - Supporters of a proposed regional transportation authority say they'll turn to businesses and local governments for startup costs if they can't get money from Gov. Charlie Crist.

The governor two weeks ago cut a request for $1 million from the state budget that would have paid for an executive director, secretary, legal costs and office space.

That prompted the Tampa Bay Partnership, a coalition of businesses that lobbied to create the authority, to send "A Call to Action" to its 175 company members, urging them to send letters and e-mail to Crist last week to ask him to reinstate the funding.

"Other regions have gotten hundreds of millions of dollars for transportation. Now it's our turn," partnership spokesman Joe Smith said. "This is just a huge opportunity to work together."

The partnership has pushed for three years to create the agency, called the Tampa Bay Regional Transportation Authority, after business executives cited transportation as the No. 1 obstacle to economic growth.

The authority would develop intercounty plans for toll roads, rail and express bus systems.

State legislators last month passed a bill to create the authority, and now all it requires is the governor's signature.

The partnership expects that to happen in the next couple of weeks, even though the funding issue remains up in the air.

If Crist won't come up with startup cash, the partnership and local legislators are running through some backup scenarios.

First, it would ask the Florida Department of Transportation to donate technical assistance to create the authority's regional transportation plan by July 2009, the deadline for the plan.

Don Skelton, secretary for the state transportation district that includes Tampa , said Friday that shouldn't be a problem.

DOT engineers are developing a master plan for roads and transit. The department also can arrange meetings, he said.

Next, the partnership would turn to businesses to donate office space and possibly pro bono legal advice to cut costs further.

At least initially, the authority might have to get by without an executive director and secretary, which shouldn't be a problem, Smith said.

"We may not need them anyway until later on," he said. "You have to understand this funding was for the first year of operation. Next year, we could come back with another funding request."

A spokesman for Crist said the governor vetoed the request because it was made under the Transportation Trust Fund, which pays for bridges and roads, not authorities' administrative costs. Funding Tampa 's authority wouldn't be fair to other authorities that relied on local governments for their startup costs.

The bill's sponsor in the House said he hasn't given up on asking the governor for funding this year. Rep. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, said he might request money from a fund that aids communities.

If Galvano doesn't succeed, he said, he will turn to local governments in areas covered by the authority - Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco , Pinellas and Sarasota counties - and ask them to pitch in.

"If this issue is that important, then we need to show the governor and others in Tallahassee that we support it, and we'll support it by making some independent contributions," he said.

Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at (813) 259-7633 or rshopes@tampatrib.com.

Growth Headed For The Hills?

By KEVIN WIATROWSKI The Tampa Tribune

Published: Jun 6, 2007

DADE CITY - The next 50 years could prove to be a busy time for the Pasadena Hills section of Pasco County .

The region between San Antonio and Zephyrhills is known for its rolling hills and scenic landscape. But with suburbia stretching north from Wesley Chapel and Tampa, county officials worried the best things about Pasadena Hills could vanish beneath haphazard growth.

On Tuesday, planners for the first time revealed to county commissioners their vision for the 22,000-acre region - a vision crafted over the past few months with the help of local residents.

The plan, as laid out for commissioners, sets aside about 12,000 acres of wetlands and development "rural enclaves." The remaining land would be developed by concentrating future growth in about a dozen villagelike centers spread from Prospect Road to Eiland Boulevard .

The scale and scope of the project will mean adding miles of new roads, sewer lines and other utilities to an area largely devoid of them.

That, planners said, will be expensive.

No one offered a price tag for the work, but for the first time planners laid out ways the county, landowners and developers might pay for the new infrastructure.

The most likely way would be to create special taxing districts to draw the funds for construction from the areas that will benefit directly, said Bob Nabors, a consultant hired to analyze the project's financial feasibility.

The region could also benefit from an impact fee created specifically for it and from assessing existing residents to help pay for road improvements.

With no dominant landowner to focus growth, the project could benefit from having several smaller landowners join forces to build a few of the future town centers as a way of inspiring others, Nabors said.

"My experience is, people have a hard time visualizing these concepts," Nabors said.

Nabors was quick to remind commissioners that the financing plan is flexible.

"These are all ideas to generate thinking about how to get from here to there," Nabors said. "They're not set in stone."

The Pasadena Hills plan has drawn little, if any, opposition from residents, hundreds of whom gave their input on what should be done with their area.

Critics from northeast Pasco have blanched at the prospect of adding 45,000 new residents to Pasadena Hills by 2057. Nowhere in the planning process has anyone said how the county will provide water to all those extra homes, Trilby resident Richard Riley said after Tuesday's workshop.

County Commissioner Ted Schrader, who attended the public workshops that helped craft the proposal, praised the document as an example of smart growth that could make Pasadena Hills a place people can thrive at every stage of their lives.

"This is something Pasco County ought to be proud of in the long run," Schrader said.

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

With plan, county can take control of growth

St. Pete Times editorial
Published June 6, 2007

 

Take a look at east Pasco , the portion north of Wesley Chapel's congestion and south of San Antonio and St. Leo. It has hills and lakes, agriculture land and rural homesteads.

Now, take a look into the future. The same area could be 28, 000 homes on 5- and 10-acre lots. It would be cost prohibitive to provide central water and sewer utilities so wells and septic systems, and the accompanying environmental problems, would prevail. The road network to serve all those vehicles driving 10 miles just to get a gallon of milk at the nearest commercial outpost would require eight lanes of traffic on Handcart and Curley roads and U.S. 301. It is the definition of sprawl.

Or, it could grow as much of the county has. There would be 45, 000 homes amid a sea of subdivisions on former farmland that has been rezoned to allow up to three homes per acre. We've seen that already and it is not particularly appealing.

Still better is an area with the same 45, 000 homes clustered among 14 villages amid the pleasing landscapes that draw people there in the first place. Residents would shop and dine and, hopefully, a few of them would even work, at the central business districts within each town center. Instead of walled communities and streets ending in cul-de-sacs, homes would line connected streets leading to open spaces at the edge of each village. The planned grid system eliminates the need for widening existing highways to six and eight lanes.

That is the vision for the Pasadena Hills study area, 20, 000 acres between State Roads 54 and 52 from Curley Road on the west to U.S. 301 on the east. Protecting the rural corridor along Fort King Highway , preserving Lake Pasadena and leaving out three previously approved planned developments in Wesley Chapel cuts the actual planning area to about 10, 000 acres. Developed by Pasco County in conjunction with the same consultants who rewrote the county's comprehensive land use plan, the Pasadena Hills project is an attempt to project 50 years of growth over rural acres already targeted for some development. Most of those immediate development ideas stalled, however, when commissioners declined to amend the existing land use plan.

The resulting Pasadena Hills plan is a much more palatable way to turn old Pasco into new urbanism. There are still plenty of details to finish, most notably: How do you pay for all the infrastructure in an area without a single, dominant landowner?

One idea is the tax increment financing method usually reserved for redevelopment. The county could designate the Pasadena Hills area as its own special district, persuade property owners to commit their land, and then ship back a portion of growing property tax revenues to pay off bonds that financed the improvements.

But even before the nuts and bolts are worked out, the private-sector landowners and public governments (already acquiescence from the city of San Antonio is needed for part of the plan) will need to agree on a long-term collaboration. County attempts at earlier rural protections in northeast Pasco sparked litigation from residents protesting the trampling of their property rights. A repeat would be inopportune.

Here's an idea to help build that collaborative spirit. Drive around south-central Pasco or the U.S. 19 corridor on the west side and ask the interested parties: Is this the legacy you want for east Pasco , too?

Pasco County has plenty of cookie-cutter housing developments occupied by people driving to other counties for employment. Meanwhile, the private sector's experimentation with traditional neighborhoods around town centers is still in its infancy at Connerton and Longleaf.

Mapping out a different long-range plan for Pasadena Hills is smart. East Pasco County will continue to attract new residents because of its proximity to Tampa , and commissioners are wise to define how they want the area to grow instead of waiting for piecemeal developments to land in their laps.

Charlotte leaning toward water wells

By ZAC ANDERSON

zac.anderson@heraldtribune.com

CHARLOTTE COUNTY -- Frightened by the severe drought and intrigued by possible cost savings and better tasting water, Charlotte County officials are leaning toward digging their own wells and not relying solely on the regional water authority to expand.

If they follow through, it would be a major change from last year when the commission was ready to relinquish control of water resources to the regional water authority.

A consultant identified four prime locations for new wellfields during a presentation to the County Commission Tuesday.

The wellfield proposal was embraced by commissioners, who have blamed the Peace River/Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority for water quality problems and wonder if the large regional agency would be nimble enough to quickly develop new sources for overstressed areas such as the Cape Haze peninsula.

But a decision to develop county water sources could have consequences if state officials view the move as a rebuff to their regional approach.

"I think I'm regional and I think our board is still regional, but love starts at home," Commissioner Tom Moore said.

The county currently gets 95 percent of its water from the Peace River/Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority, which draws water out of the Peace River near Arcadia .

The water authority recently began a major plant expansion, and Charlotte County is guaranteed a percentage of that new water.

But county officials said Friday that it makes sense to have alternative sources of drinking water, especially in light of the recent drought, which found the water authority struggling to meet water quality standards.

"When I was pressing for" the water authority "to be our sole provider, we weren't in the worst drought in recorded history," said Commissioner Tom Moore.

Moore was careful with his words Friday, and for good reason.

State water officials have been pushing a regional approach to future water supply issues, and have threatened to withhold grant funding from counties that do not follow that approach.

A spokeswoman for the Southwest Florida Water Management District said agency officials understand why some of the wellfields might be needed.

"We anticipated they'd be doing a project like this because they're quite a distance from the regional system in some places," said Swiftmud spokeswoman Robyn Hanke.

The water authority always will be a major water provider in Charlotte County , said County Administrator Bruce Loucks. But Loucks said there may be some projects that are better handled locally.

"We can move quicker on some of these projects than the water authority can," he said.

And timing is important, especially in growing areas such as the Cape Haze peninsula.

Charlotte Utilities Director Jeff Pearson estimated Tuesday that the Cape Haze area will start experiencing water shortages around 2012.

It will take about that long to develop new supplies if the county starts now, officials said.

"We need to make a decision fairly quickly, and this is something we have control over," Moore said. "There's a lot of uncertainty with the water authority and their history addressing Charlotte County issues is abysmal."

Handling the project locally also could increase water quality. Because the Water Authority's Arcadia plant is designed to treat only surface water, water quality suffered when the Peace River shriveled up during the drought and the authority had to rely on mineral-rich storage wells.

And the well water might actually be cheaper because it would be piped shorter distances and require less treatment chemicals, Pearson said.

"Chlorine's not cheap," he said.

Charlotte 's consultant did not have firm numbers Tuesday on what it would cost to develop the new water sources. That information will be available in about three months when the two-year, $600,000 study is completed.

If the numbers look good, some commissioners want to move ahead immediately.

"I say go for it," Commissioner Adam Cummings said. "The clock is ticking."

Officials: 'No' to paying for study on water sources

Payment may be given later

BY CHRISTOPHER CURRY

STAR-BANNER

OCALA - Marion County Commissioners say they are not ready to help pay for a proposed alternate water sources plan they believe will allow pumping the Ocklawaha River to pipe water to other areas of the state.

"It's like we're buying an axe to cut off our own head," County Commissioner Andy Kesselring said.

The St. Johns River Water Management District asked the county for up to $585,816 over three years to participate in the study to identify future sources for drinking water other than groundwater withdrawal. Those proposed sources include surface water from the Ocklawaha in Marion and the St. Johns River . In a 4-1 vote, commissioners said they wanted to participate in the planning discussions, but will not pay for the study at this point.              

Kesselring dissented. He said the water management district seems to already have concluded the Ocklawaha is a source for future water supply and he is not convinced it should be.

Already, St. Johns officials have discussed the possible construction of an approximately 100-mile pipeline from a point north of State Road 40 on the Ocklawaha to supply rapidly developing areas of Lake and Orange counties with 39.7 million gallons of water a day.

"The design of this whole exercise is an effort to provide water to jurisdictions that are in imminent danger of losing their public water supply," County Commissioner Jim Payton told SJRWMD Assistant Executive Director David Fisk. " Marion County citizens don't have that problem unless you take our water and give it someone else .Ê.Ê. If you'd just leave us alone, we don't have that problem."

Fisk tried to alleviate commissioners' concerns. He said SJRWMD still follows the "local sources first" policy and that means Marion 's future water supply will have to be provided for before water may be transported from here. He also said the district will pay for 30 percent of the alternate sources study even though it is not required to fund it by state law.

It remains to be seen if commissioners decide at a later date to put money toward the study. Commissioners Barbara Fitos and Stan McClain and the county's Water Resources Manager Troy Kuphal said participation might be necessary for Marion to be able to secure future supplies.

"There's a saying, you're either at the table or on the menu," Kuphal said. "I think it's important for us to be at the table in this process from the very beginning."

County Administrator Pat Howard said Marion might not be able to block transfers because water is considered a state-owned resource.

"The law looks at that as not our water and they are not taking it from us," Howard said.

Christopher Curry may be reached at chris.curry@starbanner.com or 867-4115.

Golf courses hit with fines for water usage

Thirteen golf courses have been slapped with fines by state water officials after failing to meet irrigation targets.

BY CURTIS MORGAN

cmorgan@MiamiHerald.com

State water managers have hit 13 golf courses in South Florida with drought-restriction fines, saying they failed to make the water-use cut.

The Country Club of Miami in Northwest Miami-Dade carded the single worst water-use score, reducing irrigation by 0 percent in April, according to figures released Tuesday by the South Florida Water Management District.

The target cutback for each of the 177 courses in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe counties had been 24 percent.

Grande Oaks in Davie , Jacaranda in Plantation , Don Shula's Golf Club in Miami Lakes and nine courses in Palm Beach County also face fines ranging from $1,500 to $6,000 depending on how badly they whiffed.

Country Club of Miami course superintendent Robert Montesino blamed a paperwork ''screw-up,'' not excessive sprinkling.

He said the county-run course had already petitioned to appeal the $6,000 violation notice, which arrived Tuesday in the mail.

The fairways, Montesino said, prove irrigation has been cut dramatically. ''Oh yeah, you can take pictures. It's brown,'' he said.

Overall, golf courses did better than asked on water cutbacks, said Jesus Rodriguez, spokesman for the water district.

Courses typically pump about 2.5 billion gallons in April, but beat the target number by a half-billion gallons, cutting back to 1.4 billion.

''They ought to be, as an industry, applauded for their water conservation efforts,'' said district spokesman Jesus Rodriguez.

It was the second round of fines the district has levied against golf courses.

More than 80 were charged $500 in April for failing to file reports showing weekly water use, which were required when the first drought restrictions went into effect on March 22.

Golf courses aren't the only affluent playgrounds getting dunned.

Owners of some of Palm Beach 's impeccably manicured mansions also have been written up by local police enforcing the strict one-day-a-week watering restrictions in place because of a drought stretching back about 18 months.

James Clark, co-founder of Netscape Communications Corp., received a written warning, then was fined $100 after he was accused of breaking rules on lawn watering.

Palm Beach police also wrote warnings for hedge fund manager Doug Kass and Robert Nederlander, a limited partner in the New York Yankees.

Clark , 63, said he hadn't been aware of the violations and his property manager has stopped watering.

''The lawn is pretty much dead,'' he said. ``Next year, we will have to plant a new lawn if we want one.''

Kass, founder and president of Palm Beach-based Seabreeze Partners Management Inc., was given a warning for hand-watering of some new plantings at the building, said Christopher Brandon, who handles the firm's operations.

Kass wasn't aware of the restriction, he said.

Nederlander didn't respond to phone messages left at his Palm Beach home or his office in New York .

Similar ''blatant'' violations prompted Stefan Ferentz, a Miami Beach guitar instructor, to start videotaping watering violations and post them on YouTube.

''It is an arrogant attitude,'' he said. ``There is an ends-justify-the-means attitude.''

Montesino said the Country Club of Miami shouldn't be lumped in with scofflaws. He said it appears that when the Miami-Dade Parks Department took over operations from a private management firm several years ago, no one looked at the fine print in the course's water-use permit -- at least until the violation notice arrived.

The permit lists the course as 177 acres. The club's two courses actually cover 288 acres, he said.

''I have two 18-hole courses here, that's one of the main issues,'' he said. ``We're in the process of modifying the permit now.''

Steve Matthews of Bloomberg News contributed to this story.

Martin won't require developer disclosures

By Jason Schultz

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

STUART — Prospective land developers in Martin County will not have to shell out more information about who they are before they can get county approval for their projects.

County commissioners rejected a proposal Tuesday to beef up disclosure The changes would have required developers to reveal who is applying for a land change or a rezoning request for a piece of property. Rules require the name of a company making the application.

Martin County 's disclosure process would have been modeled after Palm Beach County , which required disclosure forms after commissioners were found to have voted on questionable land deals.

Palm Beach County requires everyone with more than 5 percent interest in an application or property to disclose their connection.

Local attorneys Virginia Sherlock and Howard Heims suggested that Martin County implement the disclosure requirements after former Palm Beach County Commissioner Tony Masilotti pleaded guilty to federal charges for not disclosing his connection to a land deal in southern Martin County .

"You know why you need this," Heims said. "You could have corporations, and for all you know, one of the principles in your corporation is one of your staff members."

Sherlock and Heims also have said they want Martin County to force applicants to provide more information about those who own the land or propose the development, instead of simply giving the name of their attorney or a vague company name.

"You can't hide behind a corporation,'" Heims said. "You're seeing applications come in under the name of attorneys or land planners."

Martin County Commissioner Sarah Heard, who supported the disclosure requirements, said they would increase residents' trust of public officials.

"We want to make sure we are not sponsoring developments whose owners are terrorism cells or drug launderers," Heard said.

Commissioner Lee Weberman questioned whether such requirements violate state constitutional privacy laws. State laws do enough to govern the issue, and nothing can stop everybody from breaking the law, he said.

"If you have people intent on breaking the statutes, it doesn't matter how many laws you have," Weberman said. "This is one of the most silliest things I have ever seen."

County Commissioner Susan Valliere called Heard's claims about terrorist cells "absurd." Valliere voted against the proposal because she did not see the public benefit. She called the requirements an excuse to harass property owners.

"Justice is supposed to be blind," she said. "I personally do not want to know who owns the property."

County Commission Chairman Michael DiTerlizzi characterized the disclosure requests as a witch hunt against businesspeople.

"I can see where these insinuations are going," DiTerlizzi said. "Some people who are 'anti-everything' say that if you are a businessperson, you must be a developer and you must be crooked."

Fireworks flew between Heims and Weberman after the meeting.

"You're making our case for us about the lack of trust," Heims shouted at Weberman.

 

4,000 homes to be built in Port St. Lucie

By Teresa Lane

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

PORT ST. LUCIE — Despite a prolonged housing slump, 4,000 new homes will be going up west of Interstate 95 on land that started the city's westward expansion long before Tradition or PGA Village became household names.

New owners of the storied LTC Ranch, whose development roots date to 1992 and a developer's plans for 10,000 homes there, told planners Tuesday they plan to build an active adult community where the golf cart, not the car, is king.

Centex Homes unveiled plans for Phase 1 of the 2,068-acre project at a planning and zoning board meeting Tuesday, with a proposed 55,000-square-foot clubhouse with such features as a ballroom dance floor and spa, a fitness center and possibly a small community theater.

Kenneth DeLaTorre of Centex estimated about 2,800 of the 4,000 homes and townhomes on the property west of Glades Cut-Off Road will be restricted to people over 55, a fact that pleased a school district official who sits on the planning board as a non-voting member.

Despite LTC's early entry into the world of western development in Port St. Lucie, plans for the mixed-use development never got off the ground except for a small industrial park.

A contract dispute waylaid plans for homes in 2003, just as nearby landowners like Core Communities, PGA and G.L. Homes were announcing dreams of building their own mega-communities on vast tracts of farmland west of I-95.

With the court battle settled and Centex paying $110 million for the land last year, developers said they are eager to break ground next spring despite the slumping housing market.

"We think we'll have a unique product to offer the active adult who wants to be surrounded by nature," DeLaTorre said. "There's a lot of lakes and wetlands, and we're going to use that as an attraction."

Three-fourths of the 4,000 homes will be single-family, with the others townhouses and owner-occupied apartments. No price range has been set, but DeLaTorre said value will be a key factor in attracting buyers in a lackluster market.

Previous owners secured the right to build up to 4,000 homes, 2 million square feet of industrial space and 725,000 square feet of retail space. Centex is seeking some changes to the non-residential figures and will present its overall plan this summer.

The developer also must donate 120 acres to the city and school district for a regional park and a school. The proposal will be discussed by the city council later this month.

 Couple requests rezoning to build home

BY JESSICA RAYNOR
FLORIDATODAY

TITUSVILLE — A Titusville couple is asking the city to approve a permit to build a single family home on property zoned for open space.

Peter and Lynn Pearson will appear at the planning and zoning commission meeting at 7 p.m. The two have regularly attended city council meetings within the last several months, questioning the council on the city’s methods for determining wetlands by using seemingly outdated maps.

The Pearsons’ previous attempt to build on the property failed. The city will discuss the issue at its June 26 meeting.

In other business, the planning and zoning commission will discuss naming a street in the Timber Trace apartment project, look at a Tire Kingdom project, and discuss an ordinance that would transfer development rights within the central business district.

Contact Raynor at 360-1016 or jraynor@floridatoday.com

 Impact fee vote delayed as builders ask for time

Joshua Davidovich
Staff Writer

TAVARES - A controversial vote on the first of several proposed increases in impact fees won't happen until at least August.

The Lake County Commission voted Tuesday to delay action on transportation impact fees for 60 days at the request of the Lake County Home Builders Association, which asked for the time to review and challenge the study supporting the fee increases.

"We just received the final report from Tindale Oliver on May 21. We have a consultant on board," HBA president Jim Bible said. "It's just really become known in the last week or two what the significance of the numbers are."

The vote was taken before a standing room-only crowd of builders and others at the county commission chambers in Tavares.

Many were on hand to oppose the proposed rate increases which would make Lake County among the most expensive places in the state to build. If fully implemented, the fee to build a single-family home would become $11,396, up from $2,189. Fees for constructing offices, stores, restaurants, factories and other buildings would also increase significantly, in some cases by more than 400 percent.

Commissioners expressed hope that with the delay, they would be able to vote on both transportation and school impact fees at the same time.

"By then the school impact fee should be ready," Commission Chairman Welton Cadwell said. "By then the special session will be over."

The state Legislature will determine how to provide property tax relief during the special section. How that is accomplished, and to what extent, may affect county revenue.

The initial school impact fee study called for similar fee increases that also would be the highest in the state. Though that study had already been approved by the school board, it is under re-review by the study's authors.

Commissioner Debbie Stivender drew large applause when she told the crowd she opposed the fee increases.

"I came into this meeting wanting to deny this proposal," she said.

Officials had originally hoped to have the fees in place by Oct. 1, the beginning of the fiscal year, but said they may have to delay that until Jan. 1.

Bible said he would deliver a list of homebuilders' concerns to the county commission later this week and hoped to meet with them to discuss the issues before the vote in early August.

"It's not our intention to delay getting something adopted," he said. "We don't want to let this languish."'

Commissioner Linda Stewart waited until the end of the meeting to voice her support for the fees, which she said were being presented in an unfair light.

"I'm rather sick of the grandstanding and scare tactics," she said. "The fact about impact fees is that they are necessary."

County Allows ApplicationFor Stewardship Program

By JIM KONKOLY

Published: June 6, 2007

SEBRING - Highlands County Commissioners voted 4-1 Tuesday to allow the county's two biggest landholders – Atlanticblue and Lykes Brothers – to apply for the state's new Rural Land Stewardship program as a development option.

RLS allows development of a new, self-sustaining town in a rural area if the landowner makes permanent commitments to preserve surrounding areas for conservation and agriculture.

Atlanticblue, which operates the 65,000-acre Blue Head Ranch west of Lake Placid, and Lykes Brothers, which farms on 68,000 acres surrounding Fort Bassinger , now need approval from the state Department of Community Affairs to seek RLS designation.

Spokesmen for both companies said they have no immediate plans for development of a town but want RLS as an option to concentrate development in a confined area while maintaining large portions of their land for agriculture and conservation.

Commissioner Barbara Stewart cast the lone "no" vote on declaring the county's intent to consider the two sites – which collectively account for 20 percent of the county – for RLS development.
Stewart said she supports RLS as a planning tool for rural development and land conservation but wanted more detailed information in the county's letter to the DCA.

Lykes Brothers and Atlanticblue have agreed to pay the county's costs for reviewing their RLS applications. J. Ross Macbeth, county legal counsel, said details of those agreements are being worked out while county officials look into hiring transportation, environmental and planning consultants for RLS review.

Macbeth advised commissioners to invite the cities of Sebring and Avon Park and the town of Lake Placid , plus all organizations involved in rural land use, to review and comment on the RLS applications when they are made later this year.

The DCA has said development of large-scale RLS projects could decrease the amount of development allowed by the state in other areas of the county, Macbeth said.

"How much that (RLS) precludes moving ahead with other development plans is not known," he said.
Mark Morton, senior vice president of Lykes Brothers Land Investments, Inc., said the company has no immediate plans for a new town but wants RLS designation in case such a project becomes viable in the future.

"This (RLS) is a long range planning tool," Morton said. "If there were a market for somebody to want to do a new town, if a new town made sense, we would be able to react to it. And the county would be in a position for lands to be be in conservation and for agriculture lands to be set aside."

Lisa Jenson, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Antlanticblue, said her company views RLS as an important development option but has no immediate plans to develop a town.

Mobile home parks given reprieve from development

 

By Jason Schultz

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

STUART — Mobile home parks cannot be bulldozed into condominiums in Martin County , at least for now, the county decreed Tuesday.

Commissioners unanimously approved a temporary moratorium barring the owners of any mobile home parks from applying to change the use of their land or rezone it in order to redevelop it.

Mobile home parks provide affordable housing for low-income and retired residents. Commissioners instituted the moratorium because owners of several mobile home parks have expressed interest in closing their parks and turning them into more expensive permanent homes and condos.

"We need low income housing," said Susan Tower , a resident of the Bloomfield Meadows park in Hobe Sound.

Bloomfield Meadows park owner Art Palma is evicting residents such as Tower because he wants to redevelop the park into condos. Tower said the moratorium is needed because lower-income residents like her deserve a place to live in the county.

"People who live in parks are not white trash or poor people," she said. "I work every day, so I don't consider myself a poor person."

Some mobile home parks in the county's seven community redevelopment areas will not have to follow the moratorium. Mobile home parks in Rio and Port Salerno have zoning classifications that allow them to redevelop into residential and commercial projects, County Planner David Quigley said. Redevelopment areas in the county's old downtown areas are designed to use tax revenue to revitalize the areas.

Commissioner Doug Smith supported the moratorium but said it may not do much to help low-income residents because it does not stop a park owner from evicting residents and closing a park, only from trying to redevelop it.

"This won't stop an owner from dissolving a park," Smith said.

Quigley agreed that Palma could continue to evict residents even with the moratorium but he could not do anything with the park during the moratorium except put mobile homes in it.

The moratorium bars any new applications for at least 15 months, Quigley said, and commissioners will use that time to create ordinances to preserve mobile home parks or create affordable housing.

Terry McCarthy, Palma 's attorney, said the developer would go ahead with his plans to evict residents and close the park. Palma may reopen the park with newer mobile homes or he may wait out the moratorium so he could pursue his original plans to develop condos, McCarthy said.

Commissioners have proposed solutions that would require owners who redevelop mobile home parks to build more mobile homes elsewhere.

"In the end hopefully we'll have some solutions for housing," said Commissioner Lee Weberman.

Resident Debbie Cooper, reading a letter for Indiantown mobile home park resident Art Madsen, said elderly retired residents living in mobile homes deserve to be protected as an "endangered species" just like rare animals.

"Suddenly they have become expendable and the land is getting sold out from under them," Cooper read from the letter. "They do not have as much protection as a tree frog or a turtle."

 

Fertilizer laws to get hearing

By PATRICK WHITTLE

patrick.whittle@heraldtribune.com
SARASOTA COUNTY -- The county could enact new, tougher fertilizer laws on July 11.

That is the date of a public hearing for Sarasota County 's proposed fertilizer law, which would be one of the strictest in the state.

According to county records, the ordinance would:

Prohibit residents from using fertilizers that contain nitrogen or phosphorous between June 1 and Oct. 1.

Create a fertilizer-free buffer zone within 10 feet of any body of water.

Create a "no-mow zone" within 6 feet of any body of water.

Require completion of a training course for all professional fertilizer applicators.

Require rotary fertilizer spraying devices to include a special shield.

County leaders have spent more than a year crafting the new law.

County Commissioner Jon Thaxton said the law, if approved, is a move in favor of the county's water quality. Phosphorous and nitrogen, two of the main ingredients in fertilizer, can cause harmful algal blooms.

"There's no way we're ever going to be able to restore the bays to the state which they were before" the widespread use of fertilizers, Thaxton said. "We're shooting for the best that we can get."

The county's proposed law takes some cues from an ordinance passed by the city of Sanibel in March. Like the Sanibel ordinance, the county's proposed law prohibits the use of fertilizer on "impervious surfaces" such as driveways.

Sanibel and Sarasota are two of several localities that have worked to create local fertilizer laws. The state House and Senate have also approved a state law that would help create minimum standards for fertilizer.

The county's proposed law also encourages residents to use slow-release fertilizers rather than quick release fertilizers that are prone to wash down drains.

The county commissioners added an exemption that allows residents to use fertilizers in the rainy season on "damaged, diseased or new landscaping."

The commissioners capped the use of nitrogen at five pounds per 1,000 square feet per year.

The commissioners also put a 2 percent cap on the amount of phosphorous that can be used in fertilizer blends.

Fertilizer industry representatives have expressed concern that Sarasota 's law could force companies to pass the cost of compliance on to consumers.

The ordinance states that a strong law is necessary as "part of a multi-pronged effort by Sarasota County to reduce nutrient leaching into runoff."

Good roads don't come cheap

By JOHN DAVIS

john.davis@heraldtribune.com

NORTH PORT -- Experts are telling North Port's leaders the city will have to charge people more for upkeep if it wants to stay ahead of maintenance on hundreds of miles of roads and the city's massive drainage network.

This is the latest proposed fee increase in North Port , which is dealing with budget cuts after years of massive revenue growth.

In the past, the City Commission has been reluctant to increase city taxes and fees, even when experts and city staff recommended it.

But North Port is relying on almost $6 million from its savings to stay afloat this year. And City Manager Steven Crowell has said the city is likely facing a second year of deficit spending, since it has seen growth slow to a crawl in the past year.

Today, two consulting firms will tell city leaders that North Port will have to increase its road and drainage fees to keep up with the costs. Commissioners could vote on the fee today, but they say it is not likely, meaning the road fee will be added to a list of budget decisions now facing the commission.

"It's a difficult thing for people to see and us to do," said Commissioner Fred Tower of increasing fees.

According to Public Works Director Branford Adumuah, if North Port wants even a modest repaving program, the city might have to more than double the road tax next year.

Today, Adumuah will likely recommend an increase of about 30 percent for most homeowners, who now pay the city $120 a year for repaving.

"We're going to advance slowly," said Commissioner Richard Lockhart of the road fee proposal.

Last month, the consultant Government Resources Group recommended that the city increase garbage pickup fees to $300 next year for residents, up from the $209 residents now pay.

The commission has yet to make a decision on what next year's garbage fee will be or whether the whole department will be turned over to a private company.

This month, the commission will also talk about whether to go through with a planned increase in construction impact fees. Beginning in October, the impact fees the city charges to build a house will go from $6,861 to $9,809, but with the massive slowdown in home building, city leaders are rethinking the plan.

The city is spending $13 million on an unprecedented road repaving and drainage rehabilitation program that will cover about 130 miles of roadway. The city has hundreds of miles of roads and drainage networks left to rehabilitate, but is short of the money to do it.

Lake Wales approves annexations

 

 

By Shelly Godefrin

News Chief staff

LAKE WALES - The Lake Wales City Commission approved on first readings eight annexations at the meeting Tuesday night.

The annexations total approximately 914 acres and more than 90 percent of the property is proposed for residential development.

Of the remainder, 47 acres is city property proposed for the expansion of the Rapid Infiltration Basin site for final effluent disposal from the wastewater treatment plant.

Eleven acres is proposed for commercial or industrial development and a 9-acre site on Hunt Brothers Road next to the new soccer fields is proposed for construction of a church.

Other plans for property includes a business park development and a real estate office facility.

Second readings for the proposed ordinances will be scheduled for the next meeting June 19, along with the first readings of ordinances assigning future land use and zoning map designations.

In other business, the commission has put to rest an issue that's been a topic of meetings for at least two months.

The issue was first broached at the Feb. 20 meeting, when it was made known that the contract for preventative maintenance and repair of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning equipment and controls for the city was erroneously awarded to Gill's Heating and Cooling. The award should've been given to the actual lowest bidder, Natural Air Heating and Cooling.

At the March 21 meeting, the commission decided to rescind the bid and put it up for a rebid.

On April 4, Natural Air Heating and Cooling Systems threatened to sue the Lake Wales City Commission for rescinding the bids.

The decision by the commission at the April 4 meeting was to rebid the contracts.

Tuesday night's meeting brought forth yet another decision with the maintenance contract.

The commission decided to reject all bids received on May 8 for preventive maintenance and direct the purchasing agent to prepare a request for proposals.

Commissioner Jack VanSickle met with city staff because he has expertise in evaluating these types of contracts and he recommended that all of the bids be rejected.

"This is a methodology of arriving at a fair evaluation of the bids," said Mayor Alex Wheeler.

During talks about the issue, it was decided that preventative maintenance would be done in-house and in August, a city staff member will attend a 49-week air conditioning, refrigeration and heating technology class at Traviss Career Center in Winter Haven .

"We're trying to improve the process," said City Manager Tony Otte.

Jonathan Carson, president of Natural Air Heating and Cooling, said that he was glad that the commission knows what the contract evaluation was.

"I understood it from the beginning and I tried desperately to earn your business," Carson said. "The end result now, because of my persistence, you guys are now saving quite a bit of money."

The commission unanimously agreed to reject the contract bids and adopt the procedure for maintenance repairs.

michelle.godefrin@newschief.com

 

Bunnell annexation 'alive and well and moving forward'

By LAUREN SONIS
Staff Writer

BUNNELL -- Flagler County 's largest city -- area-wise -- may soon nearly double in size.

City commissioners voted 5-0 Tuesday night to approve an ordinance that would add 42,329 acres by voluntary petition to Bunnell's roughly 75 square miles.

If commissioners approve the ordinance on second reading, scheduled for 7 p.m. June 19, that would make Bunnell about 145 square miles, about 30 percent of Flagler County , according to city estimates.

"Everything is going wonderfully," Elbert Tucker said outside City Hall. Tucker, who owns some of the land, later said, "The annexation issue is alive and well and moving forward."

He said he does not know of anyone who has plans for development.

The potential annexation, running northwest of the city's current boundaries, would be the third large annexation in two years for Bunnell.

In 2005, the city annexed 10,500 acres extending five miles south of downtown.

And in 2006, Bunnell annexed 37,000 acres south of the 2005 annexation, down to the Volusia County line.

Bunnell's community development director Mick Cuthbertson said the city has more than 2,500 people in the current boundaries, according to the University of Florida 's Bureau of Economic and Business Research.

While Cuthbertson does not know how high the population would jump if the city annexes the proposed properties, he doubts it would be much because the land is mostly agricultural.

Agricultural zoning has taken a hot seat in Bunnell's annexations. The city recently hired planning consultant Roger Wilburn to work on a future land-use map amendment that could help Bunnell meet state standards for growth management involving the 10,500 acres annexed in 2005.

Department of Community Affairs regional administrator Mike McDaniel met with city officials in January and raised concerns about urban sprawl and the city's agricultural zoning, which allows people to build one unit per acre of land.

While city officials and landowners have said most of the land would remain open, McDaniel said the department didn't want people to come in and develop however they wanted.

City Manager Richard Diamond said Tuesday afternoon the policies Wilburn develops for the 2005 annexation could apply to other annexations.

And Diamond said if the city approves the newest annexation, there would not be much demand on services because the additional population would be so small.

"But it will increase the demand for services, there's no question about that," he said.

Diamond said there is potential for development, and the question is whether the tax base would cover the cost for additional services.

For now, Palm Coast remains the most populated city in Flagler County . Jennifer Ingels, long-range planning manager for Palm Coast , said as of May 1, the city had 73,060 residents. As of May 8, Palm Coast measured 66.46 square miles, and there have been small annexations since then, she said.

The county is 845 square miles with 89,075 residents, said Flagler County spokesman Carl Laundrie, who referenced the University of Florida 's Bureau of Economics and Business Research.

lauren.sonis@news-jrnl.com

 Development will be harmful to city

By St. Pete Times LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published June 6, 2007

The Dade City Commission will vote Tuesday, June 12, regarding annexation of 60 acres south of the city. The developer wants to put 360 units on this property. Approximately 30 percent of the parcels are wetlands, resulting in the remaining land having nearly 9 units per acre. The county zoning maximum is 5.8 per acre.

The impact of this development upon the city will be extensive. First, the entrance will be on U.S. 301, accessible from the north only, the exit will be right turn only onto U.S. 301. This clearly will result in hundreds more cars making U-turns. This is presently the most congested section of road in the town.

The development will not be able to contain its runoff in holding ponds, thus requiring the city to pump extensive volumes of water into a system that presently is overloaded and has in the past flooded sewage into Hester Lake, and ultimately into the Withlacoochee River.

The developer, out of the goodness of his heart, has persuaded the city to "give" more than 3 acres to the development, thus relieving the city of any potential liability. Potential value of this gift is possibly over $1-million.

It appears that one cannot only get the keys to the city, but a gold MasterCard at the same time.

Patrick Lawhead, Dade City

Preserve meeting has telling details

County hears options for ballfields May 23, story

I wish to thank St. Petersburg Times staff writer Theresa Blackwell for her concise reporting of the May 22 County Commission meeting regarding the fate of Brooker Creek Preserve. It was heartening to see a packed room of residents who sacrificed a work day to be heard and support the rightful future of the preserve.

There were some telling reactions to offers and alternative solutions. First off, Commissioner Susan Latvala's dismissal of Tarpon Springs Mayor Beverley Billiris' offer of land for the ballfields. Apparently, 3 miles is too far to travel for those soccer-starved kids from East Lake .

I also found it odd that there was any discussion with regard to the water blending plant, considering it appears to be a foregone conclusion that this facility is being built on preserve land. It is already shown on the county Web site !

And while I don't care if there's a soccer field for every child in East Lake, the county can't afford to lose more natural resources to meet that end. I take issue with the last speaker at the commission meeting who damned all pro-Brooker preservationists because we didn't appear to be inclined to bear audible witness to the decibel-breaking, teeth-grinding screech of children at play. Odd but true, there is a segment of the human population that is not a parent or grandparent. It is not remotely pleasurable, delightful, or even entertaining to be subjected to that noise.

Kathleen Finnerty, Largo Brooker Creek

 

Let's keep pristine land

Land was set aside for a preserve at Brooker Creek. This decision was official, and we citizens expected it to be binding. Any action that changes the preserve changes the spirit of the meaning "preserve" and is not the desire or the intention, nor does it have the approval, of us citizens.

Greed and corruption have depleted our natural resources. Inappropriate use of natural resources has caused the extinction of plants and animals. When will we stop?

Years from now, do our county commissioners want to be known as the persons responsible for the loss of this preserve by beginning to allow the preserve to be used for other purposes? Are they going to be the example for destruction or the example for preservation?

Now is the time to stop all destruction of pristine land. Now is the time to curtail development.

Do we really need that golf course (condominium, new mall, bridge, etc.), or does someone just want to sell some land for a good price? Who benefits? The few or the many? If many, then allow it. If only a few, preserve it for the future of all life currently using it.

Should we rebuild on land that has to be replenished after a natural process such as a storm? Let's get smart and stop the destruction of the land and start conservation of all natural resources.

Susan E. Tanner, Seminole

Wetlands figure into South Daytona condo plan

By WILLIAM COVERT
Correspondent

SOUTH DAYTONA -- A condo developer has substantially changed plans for the Malaga project on South Ridgewood Avenue to accommodate wetlands at the site, adding more public access, a park and an elevated walkway over the environmentally sensitive lands.

At the May 16 meeting of the Land Development Regulation Board, board members reviewed a revised proposal from Malaga Investments of Daytona Beach, regarding the 3.4-acre parcel at 3109-3115 S. Ridgewood Ave. , near the former Sandy Point Progressive Sports building.

Assistant City Manager/Community Development Director John Schoch told the board the riverfront Malaga project was approved by the City Council in May 2005, but since then the site plan was revised because of wetlands in the northeast corner of the property.

After negotiations with the Army Corps of Engineers and the state Department of Environmental Protection, Malaga enlarged the size of the protected wetlands, reduced the buildable portion of the site and moved the project closer to Ridgewood Avenue .

Also, the developer has pledged to acquire the vacant McBride property on the south side to develop into "parkland" for public use and public access to the shoreline walkway, which will travel over the wetlands and along the river.

Schoch told the board the developer had done his best to reconfigure the site, including reducing minimum unit size from 1,500 square feet to 1,178 square feet.

"These proposed changes are reasonable and they will result in a more attractive project," he said.

"However," he added, "the city would still like to find a way to increase the building setback off of Ridgewood Avenue and to minimize impacts on neighbors to the south."

Thomas Wright, an attorney for South Daytona resident Val Fiano, expressed concerns about the project's setbacks, or distance from other structures and roads, and about increased density.

City Attorney Scott Simpson replied that the density had not increased, and the McBride property would be totally dedicated as a park for public use.

Board member Shawn Goepfert voiced a concern that with a building height of 184 feet, the condo would tower above Ridgewood Avenue , since it was now only 60 feet from the sidewalk.

Malaga Investments owner Felix Amon countered that he had opened up as much space as he could between the multiple buildings in his project, as well as incorporated aesthetics, a more Mediterranean design and public access.

The board voted 5-2 to recommend approval of the project to the City Council, with Goepfert and Rick Sita dissenting.

City Manager Joe Yarbrough said the item would not be on the agenda for the next council meeting on June 12, but that city staff was receiving the changes well.

"They acquired the land to provide access to the wetlands, which effectively reduced the density and gives the public a chance to have access to the river and the wetlands," he said.

Rather than seeing Malaga 's move as a compromise with the city, Yarbrough said, "I think it enhances the development and is a complement to the community."

Judge orders Yankeetown government to respond

By Jeff M. Hardison

BRONSON — A judge on Monday ordered Yankeetown officials to respond within 30 days to a lawsuit accusing them of refusing to produce public records.

An action filed May 20 in Levy County civil circuit court accuses the government of Yankeetown of “willfully and knowingly” refusing to produce public records, which is in violation of Florida Statutes requiring public records to be accessible to inspect and/or copy by any person.

Circuit Court Judge David Glant ordered the town to respond to the accusation within 30 days “to show good cause why this court should not grant the relief Petitioner seeks.”

The petitioner is Izaak Walton Investors (IWI), a developer that wants to build a few marinas, a dry dock, and residential and recreational living facilities along the Withlacoochee River .

Attorneys for IWI are seeking a writ of mandamus for injunctive relief to force Yankeetown officials to comply with public records laws and compensation for their client’s attorney fees. Mandamus is an order from a judge to a government to abide by the law.

As part of the action, the developer asked Judge Glant to advance the cause on the court docket. Izaak Walton Investors wants the town to be enjoined from continuing to fail to comply with public records laws.

The suit seeks this case to be decided by a jury trial.

The accusing party says the town has failed, as of May 20, 2007, to produce records that were sought as follows:

n On March 31, 2006, IWI sought “… all zoning official records; and all Planning and Zoning files related to B’s Marina , Yankeetown Marina, Riverside Marina and Izaak Walton-owned property.”

n On Oct. 13, 2006, IWI requested copies of 12 categories of public records, which were never produced.

n On Nov. 17, 2006, IWI made another request, and the majority of those documents were never provided.

n On April 4, 2007, IWI requested “… a copy of the agenda, handouts and memoranda provided for the Town Council meeting of April 2, 2007; and a copy of the tape recording” of that April 2 meeting. Those records were not in the plaintiff’s hands as of May 20, according to the suit.

IWI also noted it had requested town budgets, but had not been provided with those.

Yankeetown Mayor Dawn Marie Clary said she believes the town will prevail, because the town has records of it providing copies of materials requested by IWI. She said the law allows the town to ask for payment for copies in advance of providing them, and IWI has not paid that money in advance.

The developer contends it has been precluded from seeing those records.

When complete, the proposed IWI work would include three projects next to the Withlacoochee River in Yankeetown. The construction of the marinas, restaurant, resort and residential projects promises to include between $50 million and $60 million worth of construction.

The main developers are Peter Spittler and his partner Jim Sherwood of Gulf to Bay Developers of Clearwater.

This action is one of four active suits against the town and various individuals by IWI. Three other cases were dismissed completely.

On May 2, Judge Glant dismissed a lawsuit against individuals in Yankeetown but he gave attorney Lewis 20 days to amend the suit. As of June 4, that amended suit had not appeared and would therefore be beyond the 20-day limit.

Jeff M. Hardison is a reporter for the Chiefland Citizen.

 

Crystal River site giving up its secrets

By BARBARA BEHRENDT
Published June 6, 2007

 

CRYSTAL RIVER - Spread beneath the towering oaks and magnolias is a lush rolling lawn that backs up to the sparkling Crystal River .

But a grassy hill tucked away in one corner hides what could have been an upscale neighborhood for royalty hundreds of years ago.

For 16 centuries American Indians trekked to what is now known as the Crystal River Archaeological State Park . They traded goods, held ceremonies and buried their dead.

Soon many of those ancient secrets could be revealed thanks to technology previously reserved for architectural, engineering and manufacturing.

Virtual map

In recent months, University of South Florida archaeological researchers Lori Collins and Travis Doering have used computers, a Global Positioning System and laser scanners to create a virtual map of the Crystal River site.

"While Crystal River is a really important site, very, very little work has been done on it, " Collins said.

During one visit, she sat in a truck watching as the results of a laser scan unfolded, filling her laptop screen with a blizzard of dots. As the minutes ticked by, the dots assembled into the shape of the adjacent landscape. Doering adjusted the equipment on the nearby mound to make the next laser sweep.

The laser scan provides the texture of the landscape while the high-definition GPS plots the geographic features in their global location.

Every indentation and slope of the land appeared on the screen, creating a virtual blueprint of the knoll. Where the naked eye sees a rolling field, laser scan images showed walkways, foundations and mounds.

The scanning also protects elements of the site. One of the most popular features at the Crystal River park are two limestone markers known as stelae. One, which was erected about 440 A.D. shows the crude outline of a man's face.

3-D puzzle

But time is threatening to wipe it out forever. By laser scanning it, "at least we'll have it preserved, kind of a time freeze of it the way it is now, " Collins said.

"The laser scanning itself is a very good interpretive tool and, more than that, an archival measurement of the structures themselves because over time they change, " said state park manager Nick Robbins.

He knows. Years ago his father managed the site, and he has in his own lifetime seen the deterioration in features of the stelae.

On another recent weekend, Collins and Doering brought a short-range scanner to the Crystal River site again, training it on the stela with the face carving. Doering explained to students helping with the project how to adjust the scanning device to measure each section of the large rock.

Nearby, Collins sat on the pavement with other students gathered around her. Piece by virtual piece, the details of the stela displayed onto her screen. Then she began assembling the pieces correctly - like a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle.

Barbara Behrendt can be reached at behrendt@sptimes.com or 352 754-6117.

Clear Springs hosts plant grand opening
BARTOW - More than 300 people turned out from all over the world for a grand tour of the new Clear Springs Distribution Center at a grand opening on Tuesday. The former Florida 's Natural Growers facility at 6105 Spirit Lake Road in Bartow is now considered one of Florida 's most state-of-the-art packing and distribution facilities for fresh fruits and vegetables, including blueberries.

Dorn Wenninger, vice president of Clear Springs, guided the tour through the 100,000-square-foot facility, explaining each phase that the blueberries go through. From the time the growers deliver the fruit to Clear Springs, each berry is graded, cooled and packaged before being distributed to stores throughout the United States marked proudly with a "Fresh From Florida" label.

"We have a grower room where we have complete transparency," said Wenninger, pointing to windows where workers are in the packing house with thousands of blueberries on conveyor belts. "Growers can see everything that we're doing at all times. We don't want to hide anything. We want the growers to come in here at all times and watch their own fruit going through. There is a computer in the corner where they can go online and look up everything about their fruit, from the time it enters our facility until the time it's sold. They can check on their fruit 24 hours per day by logging on to our server, as well."

The facility has an 18,000-acre farm in Bartow where planting has begun. Currently, there are 150 acres of blueberry bushes in the ground and producing fruit. The farm is 10 to 15 minutes south of the packing facility, and the public is welcome to view it. This is the first year the plants have produced, and Clear Springs was able to harvest its own fruit. Blueberry plants are known to produce berries for up to 10 years or longer.

The tour included a glimpse into the packing room where the berries are sorted and packed into clear plastic clamshell containers and labeled by weight with a bar code for safety and tracking. The code allows for tracking the package once it leaves the facility and also provides the date it was packaged as well as the grower. State-of-the-art infrared cameras examine every berry before it is packaged. As the berries go up the conveyor belt, the camera will spot and cause the machine to reject berries that are soft, green or flawed and not suitable for packaging. The rejected berries are sold to outside plants that use them in the making of products such as yogurt. There is also a size grader that separates the jumbo berries from the smaller fruit.

The facility has refrigerated airlock chambers to ensure the cooling process isn't disturbed as people enter and exit. Special cooling devices keep the berries at their ideal temperature to ensure freshness. The state-of-the-art cooling device can cool 12 pallets down to 34 degrees in only 20 minutes. From there, the berries are held in cooling chambers, which are hermetically sealed.

Clear Springs has 33 growers for blueberries, ranging from small single growers with up to two acres who deliver their fruit to the facility in their own cars to massive 100-acre farmers who pull up in a freightliner and drop off berries. Blueberry season goes from the middle of March until the end of May.

"We're very lucky to have blueberries right now," said Wenninger. "Normally in Florida , the blueberry season would have finished three or four weeks ago. In the beginning of the year, Florida had a lot of frost, so it allowed for our beautiful long season."

Visitors were treated to a video presentation of the new facility before the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Charles Bronson, Florida agriculture commissioner, spoke to the crowd about the importance of what Clear Springs has to offer.

"People are getting more concerned about food safety," said Bronson. "Look at what's happening in China . Look at that one small spinach farm in California last year. When you have the type of process going on like you have here, you have a higher standard of food safety. I'm happy to see that 'Fresh From Florida' sticker on these berries. Agriculture is what keeps us all alive."

Jerry D'Amore, vice president of Clear Springs, reminded people that the impressive facility they were touring started with just one person.

"At times like this, you get caught up in the spirit of a new facility," said D'Amore. "But look back. It was one man's vision. One man's commitment."

Stanford Phelps, a Wall Street investor with no experience in produce, came up with the concept of Clear Springs and acquired the property from Florida 's Natural Growers for an undisclosed sum.

Terry Atchley, director of operations, was introduced by D'Amore as "The man of the hour" for taking the facility and turning it into an operating phenomenon in only six months.

"This was a major undertaking, but we had a heck of a team working on this," Atchley said. "We're real proud. Especially since we were told by two different engineering groups that this wouldn't happen, so that's why we're so proud. Fortunately, we were able to prove them wrong and they were big enough to come to us and admit they were wrong. So, today is a real accomplishment."

At the end of it all, Jura Zibas, president of Clear Springs, officially cut the red ribbon to kick off the official grand opening.

"In this room there are dozens of farmers, husband and wife teams, and family units," said D'Amore. "We really, really appreciate our growers. We would not have a business without you. These are people who know what they're doing and let us represent their crops. I want to say thank you and tell you that you're my heroes."

You may learn more about Clear Springs Distribution Center by going to their Web site at www.clearspringsco.com.

diane.nichols@newschief.com