Growth panel at work: For some, pass the rubber stamp

By SANDY WALTERS
COMMUNITY VOICES

As a Volusia County resident, taxpayer and activist, I find myself thoroughly frustrated and angered by those few members of the Volusia Growth Management Commission whose predictable voting records cannot help but be seen as something other than impartial public service.

On Monday night, some of those entrusted with making our county's most crucial and far-reaching land use decisions were guided in their decision-making by -- what? Certainly not by the public's best interest, and not even by the legally mandated criteria they are sworn to uphold. Was it fear of lawsuits? Of hurting someone's feelings? Fear of political paybacks? Of standing up for what is right, or, simply fear of "just saying no." Or, dare we even consider the possibility that those couple of members who vote robotically to approve each and every application, do so under the auspices of those who appointed them? Even, on June 11, after having been made aware of the serious negative impacts that, in the state's words, "the land uses in the commercial category will have on the St. Johns River "?

At Monday's hearing, some members of the growth management commission were barely able to disguise their boredom, nor were they able to hide the fact that they were already comfortably settled into their lounge chairs of approval, and no facts or technical information that came before them would disturb that mindset. In fact, as I distributed copies of a relevant letter from the Florida Division of Historical Resources, one member rudely barked at me to make sure I "only used 3 minutes." I wonder if she gave the same reception to those who were wildly beating the drums for the "free road paving" and "free sewer hookups" that a kindly developer was about to bestow on them.

Pass the buck was most definitely the order of the evening. Pass it to the applicant . . . no, to the developer . . . .no, to the state . . . no, to the county --back to ya! -- yada yada. When the music stops, just don't be left holding the hot potatoes of principles or integrity.

Perhaps the legal statement about the commission's responsibility, taken from our county's charter, (yes, the county where we ALL live) should be blown up to poster size and hung on the wall under the American flag, so that in the future, some of the members won't forget that they aren't there just to keep the seats warm. Perhaps they think that long service is synonymous with good service.

To their everlasting credit, most growth management commission members, God bless them, try very hard to understand the issues, and they make decisions for the right reasons, but a few aren't in that class. They act like emissaries sent to a hostile land to quell the natives -- that would be anyone with an opposing viewpoint, and especially those pesky "environmental groups" with their incessant complaining about handing out density increases like Halloween candy.

"Thank God we can ignore all this" was flashing on the foreheads of several commission members that night as they struggled mightily to find ways to excuse, explain or ignore such minor details as overloaded roads; disappearing archeological sites; missing utility agreements; incomplete field data; technical discrepancies; silted water; state regulations and (oh here they go again, I hate it when they keep bringing this up) the MANATEES who, no matter what we do, will try to survive anyway with 500 boat propellers aimed at them.

So what did we learn? We learned that Mr. Developer is "sacrificing" to "donate" a couple hundred acres he can't use. And, Mr. Developer met with all kinds of agencies because he is a nice guy (and possibly also because he was required to). But most importantly, we learned that Ms. City will drop her lawsuit if we approve this project. We did not learn to heed the warnings of Mr. River, who's lived an esteemed fisherman's life for 75 years, of how you make a hurting river worse by stuffing a big marina, a "yacht club," and 250 houses on some open land on its shore. We did not learn that if you bow to bullying and intimidation, don't be surprised the next time the bully comes looking for you. And most importantly, we did not learn that in order to fulfill the public trust placed in you, you really ought to do something more than say, "that's not our job," or "of course we'll change the law for you."

To those growth management commission members who give their time in a conscientious effort, thank you. The watching public can see that they're thinking, listening, trying to be fair, and want to make the best decision possible. The commission needs more like them. Those with other agendas, who fall back on "let somebody else decide," or whose votes are seemingly tied to their job description (city planners?), or those offended when ordinary citizens get too involved in the process, ought to just stay home.

Walters lives in Enterprise .

 

Seminole pay ordinance disputed

Robert Perez
Sentinel Staff Writer

June 15, 2007

SANFORD -- Ordinances that would rein in county commissioners' salaries and make land-use changes more transparent will go before the County Commission in July.

The ordinances, part of a public push to make local government more accountable, are required under county charter amendments approved by voters in November. But some supporters of the amendments question whether the proposed ordinances accurately reflect what voters approved.

The first ordinance would change the way County Commission salaries are set. Now, commissioners' salaries are based on a complex state formula, and annual raises are automatic. Under the proposed ordinance, the salaries would remain tied to the state formula, but increases would be limited to the U.S. Consumer Price Index in any given year.

It also requires the salaries to be approved annually at the same public hearings where the county budget is approved.

But the architect of the charter amendment said the ordinance falls short of the intent. Former County Commissioner Grant Maloy, who tried unsuccessfully to cut salaries during his eight years on the commission, said he wants more accountability for the salaries.

"Under the current system, they get the automatic raise," said Maloy, who served on the Charter Review Commission that recommended the charter amendment. "They look the other way and say, 'We have nothing do with it.' "

Maloy wants approval of salaries and raises to be done publicly. But the new ordinance makes approval of commissioner salaries part of the budget and not a separate vote, he said.

"I'd hate to see it buried in a 1,200-page [budget] document," he said.

Neither the ordinance nor the charter amendment requires a review of the current salary, which at $79,970 a year is one of the highest for county commissioners in the region.

"There was some discussion [by charter-commission members] about reducing it, but the votes weren't there," Maloy said. "I'm of the opinion that it is too high, but the votes were not there to reduce it."

Seminole County Commission salaries have gone up about 11 percent since 2004 and 83 percent since 1991.

The second ordinance requires anyone seeking a change in land use to disclose the players behind the request.

If approved, requests for land-use changes submitted after Oct. 1 will have to include the names of all parties with an interest in the property. That includes any person, whether a property owner, corporate owner, member of a trust or partnership or part of a group that has a contract to purchase property, who holds more than a 2 percent interest in the property.

Supporters complained that too often the principals in development projects hide behind an attorney or other representative during the land-use-change process.

"I don't think anybody has the right to hide behind an attorney," said Egerton van den Berg, a charter-commission member who sponsored the amendment.

But the disclosure ordinance includes an out. It allows applicants to skip the disclosure if it would "violate the confidentiality requirements of any applicable law or regulation." The ordinance does not clarify what laws or regulations might require confidentiality and does not say how such claims would be verified.

Robert Perez can be reached at rperez@orlandosentinel.com or 407-322-1298

Summit looks at options for 200,000 more Volusia residents

By JOHN BOZZO

Staff Writer

 

DAYTONA BEACH -- Before tax reform, the hot issue was growth.

Residents lobbied to preserve green areas, while property owners argued to keep their development rights.

As legislators grapple with property taxes in Tallahassee , growth will go back on the front burner here Saturday with a summit, sponsored by the Volusia Council of Governments, titled "How Shall We Live in Volusia?"

The goal is to find a better way to plan for the nearly 200,000 additional people expected to live here by 2020. Current rules would allow the population to grow to 650,000, but eat up green space and leave us with concrete sprawl, said Stephen Kintner, Volusia's environmental management director.

"In 20 years," he said, "if we don't change the current direction we're heading, we will be like Broward County ."

A map will be presented Saturday showing core environmental areas of the county to be protected. The map is the result of four years of meetings among local officials.

"That does not mean people who own property on the map cannot develop their property, but they must develop it under the current zoning," said Frank Bruno, Volusia County chairman.

Changes to increase the density of projects would not be allowed in the environmental core, unless construction was clustered on a small part of a large tract.

The goal would be to maintain Volusia's conservation corridor, a swath of nature between Daytona Beach and DeLand, the last remaining major link for a natural wildlife corridor linking South Florida with North Florida .

To limit permitted development in the environmental core, efforts would continue to buy land and development rights.

Another proposed strategy would allow transfer of development rights from open land areas to urban areas. In other words, to save open spaces, cities have to make room for more people.

"We've got to preserve the environmental core, but we can't steal it from property owners," Volusia County Councilman Art Giles said. "With the transfer of development rights, there have got to be cities willing to receive those rights. That's the controversial part for cities. They're going to have to sell this to their citizens."

Daytona Beach Shores Mayor Greg Northrup said transferring development rights could be spread out throughout the county, to limit the impact on any one city.

"It doesn't mean you have to raise your building heights," said Northrup, who chaired the VCOG Smart Growth Committee that developed the proposal. Maybe you could add five units an acre to an area that already has some density for development."

For transfers of development rights to be successful, urban property owners must get assurances they'll be able to use the development rights they buy from rural property owners.

"More than likely, it's going to have to be a voter mandate to transfer development rights," Northrup said. "You have to make sure a city doesn't decide five years from now that it's not going to receive development rights."

City and county leaders hope to get approval Saturday of the conservation corridor map of land to be protected.

In addition, they want to begin talking about how to develop the balance of the county outside the conservation core. That includes identifying more lands to protect and urban areas to redevelop, as well as housing and transportation options to provide.

County and city officials put aside their fight over growth proposals on the 2006 ballot to talk in numerous meetings leading up to Saturday's summit, which comes at a time when the seven-county Central Florida region is working on a similar "How Shall We Grow?" effort.

"We feel we're at a good point to start discussion," said Greg Stubbs, Deltona director of planning and development.

john.bozzo@news-jrnl.com

AT A GLANCE:

HISTORY:

Growth dominated political debate in recent years before tax reform pushed it off the front page.

Remember? Voters approved boundaries to limit urban growth in 2004, only to see courts toss out the vote.

Remember? Proposals to give the county more power over cities to limit growth failed in the 2006 election after opposition from cities.

WHEN:

Members of the Volusia Council of Governments are sponsoring a "How Shall We Live in Volusia?" meeting at 8 a.m. Saturday at the Willie Miller Instructional Center Auditorium on the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical-University campus.

The meeting is open to the public, but seating is limited. For information call (386) 226-0422, ext. 32.

WHAT IT MEANS:

· Core environmental land will be protected.

· Density in urban areas could possibly be increased.

WHY:

Volusia County 's population is expected to reach 650,000 people by 2020, an increase of nearly 200,000.

 

State wants swampland off market

Some counties, such as Volusia, want to buy property from owners who have been duped and preserve it.

Kristen Reed
Sentinel Staff Writer

June 15, 2007

Swampland is still for sale in Florida .

In fact, it is the same swampland that was sold more than 40 years ago. But this time, as state investigators look into real-estate fraud, they are trying to get the land off the market entirely.

In Volusia County , the state Attorney General's Office is investigating three companies for selling wetlands in a 25-square-mile "ghost subdivision" known as University Highlands.

The state would like to break the cycle of scams by getting the land in the hands of a county conservation program.

And Volusia Forever, a county land-acquisition program that preserves and restores environmentally sensitive areas, would be happy to purchase all 16,000 acres.

"This is not a developable area -- for the most part," county spokesman Dave Byron said. "Volusia Forever is interested because the land itself does have an environmental value."

Byron said only a "very small number" of lots -- which have been broken up into 1.25-acre and 2.5-acre parcels -- are high and dry or abut a road and are developable. The county doesn't want those.

The rest is too low and would work best for water recharge.

So far, the county has acquired 813 acres for more than $258,000 and has heard from the owners of another 120 acres about possible sales.

Similar efforts by private parties and local governments have succeeded in parts of Brevard and Osceola counties, where sales of "paper subdivisions" ran rampant.

The land at University Highlands , east of DeLand and south of U.S. Highway 92, has been used in the past for logging. From the air, it looks like nothing more than a patch of woods.

There are no roads or utilities running through the area.

But sellers proclaim it as a great investment, within an hour of theme parks and beaches.

James Kelly's land sales are the latest to come under state investigation.

Kelly of Ormond Beach allegedly told potential buyers that development had already begun in the area and that they could build a home there, records show.

State investigators think as many as 190 people bought his properties.

Officials last month seized computer equipment, documents and luxury vehicles from his home.

False claims prohibited

While it is not illegal to sell worthless land, sellers can't make false claims about the property. They also must be registered with the state to divide large parcels into smaller lots.

Kelly would not comment about the pending investigation, but his attorney said Kelly had never been told by the county that the land could not be developed. County officials told investigators they would never permit it for building.

"He has never sold land knowing it could not be built on," Daytona Beach attorney Peyton Quarles said. "And he's always informed prospective buyers that they should check with the zoning department before they decide to make a purchase."

But investigative records show that the previous owners of the wetlands told Kelly it couldn't be built on. Kelly told them he was interested in buying as much of the land as possible, records show.

State officials say they have seen a resurgence in land schemes in recent years with the use of the Internet to advertise and lure buyers.

The Attorney General's Office goes after sellers for civil infractions and works with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation to seek criminal charges.

The state also is looking into two other firms operating in Volusia. It has no other open investigations in Central Florida .

Byron said officials in Volusia have been contacted by other state agencies about land scams but would not elaborate.

In the past, sellers found to have sold land illegally have been forced to buy back the property or pay hefty fines.

$2.45M in deposits

Records show that in January 2005, Kelly bought 200 acres in University Highlands from two sellers for a little more than $100,000. In the months that followed, between March and November of the same year, he deposited 69 checks totaling more than $2.45 million into his bank account for parcels he sold.

Investigators say Kelly's land was sold for many times what it was worth and that when buyers called to complain about their worthless purchase, Kelly didn't return their calls.

Kelly's attorney said his client has never used any "high-pressure" sales tactics and has refunded money to buyers who have changed their minds.

Kelly has since shut down his Web site because the state's investigation has hurt business, Quarles said.

Quarles said he will fight the forfeiture of Kelly's property because he does not think the state had legal grounds to seize it.

"That's a major source of disagreement," Quarles said of the crux of the case. "There's a big difference in the positions of the parties."

Kristen Reed can be reached at kreed@orlandosentinel.com or 386-851-7924.

Nuclear plant gets initial OK

For the Chronicle

BRONSON — The Levy County Planning Commission on Monday gave Progress Energy its blessings to use more than 3,000 acres of county land for construction of a nuclear power facility.

All five commissioners gave a thumbs up to convert the land use from forestry/rural resi-dential to public use, cracking open the door for Progress Energy to take its pursuit to the next level.

The Planning Commission listened to a number of expert consultants give testimony on behalf of the electrical giant that already has a nuclear facility in neighboring Citrus County .

The projected benefits to Levy County — jobs, tax money and boon to businesses — weighed heavily with the planning board members’ decision.

The recommendation now moves the plan on to the Levy County Commissioners, who will discuss the topic in the near future.

“It’s a great first step, but it’s the first of many steps,” said Buddy Eller, Florida Commu-nications Manager of Progress Energy. “It’s a long process.”

After local and state government, Progress Energy must take the plan to federal agencies for approval.

Some of the commissioners had concerns about the amount of water usage and ar-chaelogical and historical value of the land.

Progress Energy trotted out several consultants, who talked about how the proposed plant would not have a negative impact on the environment.

Doug Durbin of Biological Research Associates, a environmental firm out of Tampa , shared results of an ecological site evaluation. He pointed out that much of the 3,132 acres have been already disturbed by silviculture — or tree farming.

Durbin stated there would be little impact on plants and animals. While 39 percent of the land is wetlands, he pointed out that the cypress swamps have been harvested of their trees.

Progress Energy plans to use two sources — the Cross Florida Barge Canal bordering Cit-rus County and ground water from the Upper Floridian Aquifer.

Water from the Barge Canal would be pumped in via pipeline.

This water will be used for the cooling towers.

Ninety-nine percent of the total water used by the plant would come from this source. Approximately 60 percent of the water drawn from the canal would be discharged back into the Gulf of Mexico .

The other 1 percent would be well water. Danny Roderick, a vice president with Progress Energy, said the water taken from the aquifer would compare to the amount of water used by two golf courses in the area.

Claude Lewis is a staff writer for the Chiefland Citizen.

 

Populations of 20 birds declining

BY SETH BORENSTEIN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON -- The populations of 20 common American birds -- from the fence-sitting meadowlark to the whippoorwill with its haunting call -- are half what they were 40 years ago, according to an analysis released Thursday.

Suburban sprawl, climate change and other invasive species are largely to blame, said the study's author, Greg Butcher of the National Audubon Society.

"Most of these we don't expect will go extinct," he said. "We think they reflect other things that are happening in the environment that we should be worried about."

Last month a different group of researchers reported that seven species had dramatically declined because of West Nile virus. The species harmed by West Nile are different from those listed in the new study -- except for the little chickadee, hard-hit on both lists.

Many of the species listed as declining in the new study depend on open grassy habitats that are disappearing, said Butcher, Audubon's bird conservation director.

While these common birds are in decline, others are taking their place or even elbowing them aside. The wild turkey, once in deep trouble, is growing at a rate of 14 percent a year. The double-crested cormorant, pushed nearly to extinction by DDT, is growing at a rate of 8 percent a year and populations of the pesky Canada goose increase by 7 percent yearly.

Many of the birds that are disappearing are specialists, while the thriving ones are generalists that do well in urban sprawl and all kinds of environments, Butcher said. In a way, it's the Wal-Mart-ization of America 's skies, he said.

"The robins, the Carolina wrens, the blue jays, the crows, those kinds of birds, are doing just fine, thank you," Butcher said. "They really get along in suburban habitats -- most of them even like city parks -- so they are not as susceptible to the human changes in environment."

But nothing matches the take-over ability of one invading bird.

"Right now the Eurasian collared-dove is conquering America ," Butcher said. A dove-like bird that first entered Florida in the 1980s, it now is the most prevalent bird in the Sunshine State and is in more than 30 states.

"Soon you'll be seeing Eurasian collared-doves in any city in the world," he said.

Some of the declining birds, such as the evening grosbeak, used to be so plentiful that people would complain about how they crowded bird-feeders and finished off 50-pound sacks of sunflower seeds in just a couple days. But the colorful and gregarious grosbeak's numbers have plummeted 78 percent in the past 40 years.

"It was an amazing phenomena all through the '70s that's just disappeared. It's just a really dramatic thing because it was in people's back yards and (now) it's not in people's back yards," said Butcher.

For the study, researchers looked at bird populations of more than half a million which covered a wide range. They compared databases for 550 species from two different bird surveys -- the Audubon's own Christmas bird count and the U.S. Geological Survey's breeding bird survey in June. The numbers of 20 different birds were at least half what they were in 1967.

Today there are 432 million fewer of these bird species, including the northern pintail, greater scaup, boreal chickadee, common tern, loggerhead shrike, field sparrow, grasshopper sparrow, snow bunting, black-throated sparrow, lark sparrow, common grackle, American bittern, horned lark, little blue heron and ruffed grouse.

The northern bobwhite and its familiar wake-up whistle once seemed to be everywhere in the East. The bobwhite had the biggest drop among common birds. In 1967, there were 31 million of this distinctive plump bird. Now they number closer to 5.5 million.

"Things we all think of as familiar backyard birds ... they appear in books and children's stories and suddenly some of them are way less familiar than they should be," said John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell ornithology lab, who was not part of the study.

Gainesville officials question ' Urban Village '

By JEFF ADELSON

Sun staff writer

Development in east Gainesville and in the city's downtown could be hindered by the development of a massive " Urban Village " planned for the area near SW 34th Street , city commissioners and planning officials worried Thursday.

Concerns voiced during a City Commission workshop on the issue were some of the strongest criticisms yet raised of the plan, which is being developed jointly by officials with Gainesville , Alachua County , the University of Florida and state transportation planners.

The pedestrian-oriented Urban Village , which could put up to 61,000 residents on about 300 acres west of SW 34th Street and north of SW 20th Avenue , has been on the drawing board for years. Developers are already coming to planning officials with proposals that would fit into the general concept of the village, which would likely be targeted toward students and young professionals.

But Commissioner Jack Donovan, a member of the committee of city, Alachua County and University of Florida representatives charged with developing the plan for the area, said he called Thursday's meeting to discuss concerns about the timing and scale of the project. Donovan said he worried the project might drain potential interest away from projects in the city's downtown and eastside while allowing for more development in the unincorporated county that would not annex into the city.

"I thought we should talk together and make sure that as the ball kept rolling farther and farther down the path we were OK with it rolling farther and farther down the path," Donovan said at the start of the meeting. "I myself have stopped being OK with it."

Four plans have been put forward for setting out the land use and zoning in the area. The plans range from a proposal to leave the area as is, which would allow up to about 5,600 residential units and 272,500 square feet of shopping, to a plan that could include up to 30,600 residential units and more than 1.17 million square feet of retail space.

Though planners have contemplated an urban development in the area since residents recommended one a decade ago, the scale of the potential projects has grown rapidly since a team of UF students drafted a conceptual plan for the area a year ago.

"As it moved forward it became a feeding frenzy for density," Alachua County Growth Management Director Rick Drummond said.

If developed to the full extent of the "density maximization" plan, the area would have an average of twice as many residential units per acre as Union Street Station and would have more retail space than Butler Plaza .

The highly dense development is designed to use mass transit to alleviate congestion, but mass transit requires enough riders to make the system feasible, said Gainesville Community Development Director Tom Saunders. Planners have contemplated dedicated bus lines and potentially a light rail system by the time the area is fully built out around 2050.

But developing a pedestrian-oriented community could cause problems for other areas of the city, Saunders said.

"How do you put enough density there so that it's a walkable density but doesn't compete with the projects in the city's core?" he asked.

Transportation planners are now working on a fifth plan that is expected to allow for more development than is currently allowed on the property but would include an average density less than that of Union Street Station.

Thursday's meeting was not set up to allow commissioners to take action and it is unclear whether the board would have opted to do so. However, other commissioners said they shared some of Donovan's concerns.

Commissioner Craig Lowe raised concerns about the congestion in the area, noting that while the Urban Village proposal would call for gridded streets to disperse traffic, other roadways in the area were not set up that way. The roads in the area are already over capacity, Lowe said.

Gainesville Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan and other commissioners also questioned whether the Urban Village would draw significant interest from developers or potential residents. Hanrahan said growth may happen with families rather than in the potentially stagnant population of students.

Unwanted $10 million Florida road may lead to Alaska congressman

 

By PHIL DAVIS

Associated Press Writer

 

 

 

ESTERO, Fla. (AP) -- An unexpected $10 million congressional earmark might seem like money from heaven for a fast-growing county needing billions for transportation improvements, but that's not the case with Coconut Road .

 

No local public officials asked for the earmark, which specifically calls for a study on connecting Coconut Road to Interstate 75 in southwest Florida 's Lee County . The congressman who represents the area says he didn't ask for it, either. But U.S. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, sent the money anyway and made it clear it could only be used on Coconut Road .

 

"It just came out of the sky," Lee County Commissioner Ray Judah said.

 

Then last week, The New York Times reported a Michigan builder who threw a $40,000 fundraiser for Young in Florida two years ago owns thousands of acres of undeveloped land that would become a lot more valuable if Coconut Road were extended and connected to the interstate.

 

Judah and other members of the county's Metropolitan Planning Organization are scheduled to discuss the $10 million earmark again on Friday. The News-Press of Fort Myers reported Thursday that the national controversy surrounding the money may push officials to reject it.

 

The Metropolitan Planning Organization, made up of 15 local elected officials, had considered connecting Coconut Road to I-75 in long-term plans, but twice pulled it - even after Young's appropriation. The organization was rebuked by Young when the members suggested applying the $10 million to more pressing I-75 projects.

 

Young's response, in effect: Use the $10 million for Coconut Road or lose it.

 

U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV, R-Fort Myers, followed up with a January 2006 letter warning county officials of sending Congress an "unintended message ... that our region is willing to reject scarce federal resources." Mack also said rejection might keep the county from getting federal money for other important projects. Jeff Cohen, Mack's chief of staff, said this week the congressman now supports any decision local transportation officials make.

 

Mack invited Young to southwest Florida to discuss transportation issues with local leaders in February 2005, a meeting that helped secure $81 million in federal support for crucial I-75 widening projects in the growing region. Reporters at the Naples Daily News and News-Press of Fort Myers soon discovered the unusual $10 million Coconut Road earmark.

 

Last week, the Times connected Young's appropriation to Daniel J. Aronoff of Bloomfield Hills , Mich. , whose companies own thousands of acres that would increase in value if Coconut Road connector were built. During the 2005 visit, Aronoff hosted a fundraiser that brought in $40,000 to the congressman's campaign.

 

Aronoff did not return phone messages left at his Bloomfield Hills, Mich. , offices on Thursday.

 

Joe Mazurkiewicz, who served on the county's transportation planning board when he was mayor of Cape Coral , said discussion at the fundraiser focused only on I-75 expansion. He said Young's added earmark was a surprise. But he said the study is needed because development already under way increases the need for interstate access in the area.

 

"Why would we not use the money when we have it now?" Mazurkiewicz said.

 

Young, who gained national attention for securing $200 million for a bridge project linking an Alaska island community to its airport, lost his influential post as chairman of the House Transportation Committee when Democrats took control of Congress in January.

 

Young's spokeswoman responded to an interview request by faxing several pages of articles and editorials supporting the Coconut interchange, including one from Florida Gulf Coast University President William Merwin who called the project "vital."

 

The spokeswoman declined to comment further on the issue.

 

Don Scott, director of Lee County 's Metropolitan Planning Organization, said a two-year $800,000 interchange justification study would begin next month unless the organization's board votes Friday to abandon the interchange idea.

 

Connecting Coconut Road to I-75 could cost as much as $40 million and remains a low priority compared to the interstate widening project, Scott said. He said connecting Coconut Road east of I-75, where Aronoff's property is located, would face a series of regulatory hurdles, including concerns about sensitive wetlands in the path of the road. A recent study found the wetlands are a vital part of the region's water supply.

 

"It's possible, but I don't know if it's probable," Scott said of the interchange.

 

But Judah said Aronoff could use the interchange to justify zoning changes or even move to get the land annexed into nearby Bonita Springs with different development rules. Current zoning rules allow only one house per 10 acres on the land.

 

"I want to see those environmentally sensitive lands protected," Judah said.

 

The Florida Times-Union

June 15, 2007

Grand jury will meet again on Sunshine

By BETH KORMANIK,
The Times-Union

A Duval County grand jury was presented with information about possible Sunshine Law violations by the Jacksonville City Council but it will be about a month before the panel decides whether to take action, State Attorney Harry Shorstein said Thursday.

A Times-Union investigation uncovered a deeply flawed system of public notification, dozens of meetings about public business held without public notice or written minutes and several meetings in private places, a violation of the city's ethics code.

Shorstein said the panel did not reach a decision during Thursday's session but likely will when it meets again in about a month. At least 12 of the 21 grand jurors must agree to start an investigation, he said.

Earlier this week, in anticipation of the Times-Union story, council President Michael Corrigan introduced an ordinance to ensure compliance with the law. The changes include expansive public notification, mandatory written accounts of meetings and an annual compliance audit.

The council's Rules Committee will consider the measure at its meeting Monday, and the council will hold a public hearing about it this month.

beth.kormanik@jacksonville.com (904) 359-4619

Panel limits snook catches to one a day

BY JIM WAYMER
FLORIDA TODAY

Florida took away that second snook Thursday, and shrank the keeper size limit.

Anglers on the state's East Coast now can keep only one snook a day, effective Sept. 1, when snook season reopens.

For many frustrated fishermen at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting Thursday, the snook issue is the one that got away.

About 100 people turned up for the final day of the two-day session at the Radisson Suite Hotel Oceanfront in Melbourne . Twice as many showed up Wednesday, when the commission banned "entombment" of gopher tortoises and moved ahead with a plan to downlist the manatee to threatened this September.

But the sleek silver sport fish with a characteristic black stripe drew nearly as much passion.

"That slot limit means we'll have to fish harder," Dave Hewitt, an angler from Fort Pierce , said after the vote didn't go his way.

He worries more snook would die as a result. Fishermen would need to hook and throw back more fish to catch one within the new size limit, Hewitt said.

Commissioners shrank the size limit from between 27 to 34 inches on the Atlantic Coast to between 28 to 32 inches, and from 27 to 34 inches on the Gulf Coast to 28 to 33 inches.

Opponents of the new, stricter rules tried to argue the snook is doing just fine. Many wore shirts adorned with pictures of snook or light-green stickers on their chests, arms and baseball caps that read "No new snook regs."

They said mangrove destruction from coastal development and algae blooms caused by stormwater runoff decrease snook numbers far more than fishing.

The commission already limits fishermen on the Gulf Coast to one snook, but Atlantic Coast anglers had been allowed to keep two.

"A lot of people here today don't like it, but our job is to protect," said Richard Corbett, a wildlife commissioner from Tampa . "I think we just have to accept that our job is to do something unpopular."

Commission Chairman Rodney Barreto agreed.

"This is not a difficult decision for me," Barreto, a Miami resident, said. "It's a fish that we need to protect for the future."

Kathy Barco, a commissioner from Jacksonville , cast the sole dissenting vote. She questioned the accuracy of state biologists' snook stock assessments and computer models.

"I just don't think we needed this drastic an action this fast," Barco said after the vote.

State biologists say protecting more large reproductive-size snook could guard the population against future dips and avoid an eventual shutdown of the fishing industry. They told commissioners that snook populations are stable in Florida but lack a buffer in their numbers to prevent declines within the next several years.

Commissioners also moved ahead with a similar tightening of the redfish size limit and a possible one-month period in the fall when fishing would be prohibited. But there's no timeline for approving those changes, which they plan to reconsider in either December or September.

Some speakers at Thursday's meeting had asked commissioners to hold off on the new snook rules until more data and better enforcement of current regulations.

"I'd like to see the commission endorse more undercover law enforcement," said Ron Rincones, a fishing charter captain from Valkaria.

Others pleaded for more state money to prevent snook mangrove and seagrass habitats from degrading.

"When I start talking about snook, my hand shakes," said Rodney Smith, publisher of Coastal Angler Magazine in Satellite Beach . "There's no better fish to catch."

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

 

Saving the coral

Up close and personal, divers witness devastation

 

David Donald

Staff Writer

 

Local divers enoy the state's beautiful coral reefs, but see that they're in trouble - up close and personal.

 

Chad Patterson, co-owner of C & D Divers in Mount Dora , ventures to South Florida each month to enjoy the clear coral-filled water.

 

He recently returned from a trip to the Dry Tortugas, 70 miles west of Key West .

 

Patterson, a diver for 25 years, said pollution is a big factor in the disappearance of many of the reefs. 

 

"There are a lot of sick and healthy reefs out there," he said. "The deeper you go the healthier the reef."

 

The pollution leads to the proliferation of algae, which coats many coral reefs, said Patterson. He also said the recent El Nino weather patterns may have killed off many of the sea urchins that feed on the algae. The urchins are just now starting to return.

There are many areas in South Florida where pipes shoot treated water and run-off into the ocean, said Patterson.

If conditions worsen and the reefs completely disappear, many divers may seek other, more pristine, areas to visit. These would likely be in the Caribbean, said Patterson, leading to a detrimental effect on many South Florida economies.

 

Paterson said divers contribute substantially to the local economy by purchasing charter boats, hotel rooms, food, gas, and air for their Scuba tanks.

 

Foreclosures soar, hurting minorities

Foreclosure rates are rising quickly in South Florida , and borrowers in low-income, minority neighborhoods have been hit the hardest.

BY MONICA HATCHER

mhatcher@MiamiHerald.com

 

It's Sunday afternoon in the Bunche Park neighborhood of Miami Gardens . An ice cream truck trolls for customers among the children riding their bikes, as the scents of laundry detergent and barbecue drift in the air.

 

But beneath the picture of domestic calm, this small neighborhood is being ravaged, as house after house is lost to foreclosure.

 

Amid a weakening housing market, foreclosures in South Florida are mounting with staggering speed -- they have tripled in Miami-Dade County and more than doubled in Broward County from this time last year. Since January, lenders have started to take over nearly 9,000 properties in Miami-Dade and close to 8,000 in Broward, with thousands more foreclosures pending from 2006.

 

Florida is still slightly below the national average for the percentage of loans in foreclosure, according to numbers released Thursday by the Mortgage Bankers Association. But that's changing fast -- Florida outpaced all but Nevada in new foreclosures from January through March.

 

The surge is due, in part, to speculators now saddled with souring investments, but also to borrowers who got high-priced loans during the boom. Among the hardest hit are the residents of low-income, largely minority neighborhoods like Bunche Park , where Michelle Mincey's family home was scheduled for auction May 31.

 

Mincey, 50, says her parents struggled to keep up after another property they owned burned to the ground several years ago. Now the household of eight, including five children, is waiting for eviction. Mincey doesn't know where they will move.

 

''It could be today, it could be tomorrow,'' she said. ``We're on borrowed time, and the sad thing is we're going to be split up.''

 

IN THE STREETS

 

In Bunche Park , cardboard signs tacked on light poles offer reverse mortgages to the elderly and foreclosure rescue services to others. Piles of furnishings dot the streets, the evidence of evictions.

 

This ZIP Code, 33054, has one of the highest loan-delinquency rates in South Florida . The main reason lies in subprime loans, once touted as a blessing and now the curse of poor neighborhoods like this one.

 

Earlier this decade, financial institutions -- protected by fast-rising property values -- eagerly loosened lending standards and gave about $1.3 trillion in subprime loans to borrowers with less than stellar payment histories. Florida homeowners are shouldering about a tenth of that debt -- more than any other state except California , according to data from First American Loan Performance.

 

Roughly 23 percent of loans in Miami-Dade are subprime, and 18 percent in Broward. In areas such as Miami Gardens , home to Bunche Park , it's more like 66 percent.

 

TEASER RATES

 

Many subprime loans start with teaser interest rates, which lenders jack up over time. Others require little verification of income or assets. Interest rates are often three to six percentage points higher than usual, making these loans more expensive for borrowers and among the most profitable for lenders.

 

The loans offered a shot at homeownership to people who would otherwise be locked out. But subprime borrowers also have a far greater likelihood of falling into foreclosure.

 

''Some lenders try to find creative ways just to get the owners in the house, and they succeed,'' said Julene Wade, program director of Harvest Fire Homeownership Program, which conducts classes for new buyers in Miami Gardens, ``But there are other factors that come into play -- just living and surviving. Lenders don't consider [that borrowers have to] put food on the table, and that property taxes and insurance are going to kill them.''

 

In Bunche Park , Latanya Stepherson's family is next on the list.

 

The Stephersons took out a subprime loan on their three-bedroom home on Northwest 157th Street about a year ago and fell behind. The courts have set a foreclosure sale. The Stephersons have until Wednesday to resolve their problems or find a new place to live.

 

''You see it all the time. People are moving out,'' said Stepherson, 19, a college student.

 

Three doors down from the Stephersons, another home purchased with a subprime loan is in foreclosure and has a date on the auction block June 28.

 

Bunche Park and other largely minority neighborhoods tend to have a high percentage of subprime loans, according to a report by government-sponsored Fannie Mae. In South Florida , the ZIP Codes with the highest concentration of subprime loans are also home to large numbers of blacks and Hispanics.

 

These borrowers are far more likely to get high-cost subprime loans than whites with the same credit profiles, according to a review of 50,000 subprime loans by the Center for Responsible Lending last year.

 

Bunche Park is a magnet for foreclosure because so many older people live there, says Miami Gardens Mayor Shirley Gibson. The neighborhood was set aside after World War II for black soldiers and their families, many of whom own their property mortgage-free.

 

During the housing boom, the equity in their modest homes grew exponentially. Now, Gibson says, she hears of children and other relatives who tap into their inheritance early and don't make payments.

 

`HEARTBREAKING'

 

''It's heartbreaking, because what are you going to do? We can't get in the home and tell the grandmother not to let her child take the home,'' Gibson said.

 

That's the story of Cheryl Whitlow, who has lived in her home for 26 years. In July 2006, a nephew asked her to sign some papers.

 

She did. Now he has borrowed $100,000 against her house, which is tied up in legal proceedings. She hopes to get it back and prevent foreclosure.

 

''They wouldn't give me my glasses,'' said Whitlow, 62. ``He said he came to help me, but all he wanted was the house.''

 

Directly across the street is the home where Mincey grew up. The family could barely make the interest-only payments. They tried several times to refinance but owed $172,000 on the little three-bedroom house, more than the home is worth. Nobody would touch it.

 

Now Mincey's mother, Pearl Varner, 72, will lose the house where she lived for 40 years. Mincey says.

 

``She's having a hard time letting go.''

Revenue loss may rub out road work

By HECTOR FLORIN

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Friday, June 15, 2007

The slowdown in home construction and higher gas prices could erase long-planned new roads.

County Engineer George Webb - projecting as much as $100 million less over the next five years in gas tax and impact fee revenues - is suggesting the county scrap six major road projects and postpone numerous other road plans.

The engineering department's plan eliminates three construction projects around the Northlake Boulevard and Seminole Pratt Whitney Road intersection - the road that just two years ago was envisioned as a key access into The Scripps Research Institute at Mecca Farms.

The revenue forecast, which is part of a twice-a-year update to the county's five-year road program, changed swiftly just over the past seven months.

Money projected from impact fees - a cost usually handed down from a developer to the owner of a new home that pays for growth-related services - is $81 million less over the next five years than what was envisioned last November.

"We're not getting new development approvals," Webb said. "I don't think we had the slowdown figures" projected when the road program was last updated.

According to the latest figures available, from 2004-05, the county collected $99 million in impact fee revenues over a 12-month period, money that goes to new schools, roads, parks, public buildings and law-enfo