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