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-enforcement.

Of that total, $49.1 million went toward building roads.

Numbers for 2005-06 are still being crunched, but the current and future outlook for impact fee revenues remains grim.

"Definitely less revenue. Without a doubt," said Willie Swoope, the county's impact fee manager.

Projections of $19 million less in gas tax revenue - a portion that is collected by the county on a per-gallon rate at the pump - stumped Webb, who believes people are driving less and spending less money on gas because of soaring gas prices.

Indeed, when figures on this year's traffic counts are released later this month, Webb, a veteran of county government, said there will be something he's never seen before: portions of county roads where traffic volumes actually decreased.

"We had many locations where counts did go down," he said.

Webb will present his suggestions on the county's road program to county commissioners on Tuesday and at a July 10 meeting.

The proposed five-year road program costs - which include design, construction and mitigation costs as well as right-of-way purchases - are now estimated at $543.3 million, down from last November's numbers of $605 million.

More funds from reserves are being spent to make up for the shortfall, Webb said.

The projected gas tax and impact fee revenues make up about $327.7 million of the $543.3 million collected for the road program.

Aside from eliminating planned road projects, tens of millions of dollars in road plans, mostly in non-construction expenses, have been shifted.

For example, $2.17 million in design and right-of-way plans to improve Old Dixie Highway from Yamato Road to Linton Boulevard over the next five years has dropped to $120,000.

Originally, $5.7 million was eyed for right-of-way purchases on 10th Avenue North between Congress Avenue and Interstate 95. That number is now $450,000.

"Shifting of the non-construction dollars will cause significant future delays in the ability to construct those road segments," Webb said.

The dilemma in delaying construction is that costs of roadway materials have spiked in recent years.

Commissioners have toyed with borrowing money to pay for future road improvements, and Webb admitted that possibility has become more real.

"There is a fear. Is it really potentially in our interest to go out and borrow money?" Webb said. What if the county "can't find a funding source later on" for the road projects?

Water board consulting deals OK'd

By ROBERT P. KING

 

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

 

Friday, June 15, 2007

 

ORLANDO — Water managers on Thursday OK'd spreading $350 million worth of consulting work among 60 engineering companies, while hinting that such a massive contracting binge might be their last for a long while.

 

Some of Gov. Charlie Crist's new appointees on the South Florida Water Management District board expressed reservations about the agency's increasing reliance on outside consultants, a trend that accelerated under former Gov. Jeb Bush.

 

 

 

New board Chairman Eric Buermann said he's concerned that so many consultants amount to a "shadow government" that creates questions of "who's in charge." He said he worries that the move toward outside firms can undermine the usual safeguards that oversee government spending.

 

"How organizationally can we ensure that the consultants are consultants and they don't become now the water management district?" asked Buermann, a Miami lawyer and GOP donor, before the board unanimously approved the slate of engineering consultants.

 

Executive Director Carol Wehle acknowledged that the shift to consultants can cost taxpayers more in some cases than relying on existing district staff, and she agreed with Buermann that it probably has hurt staff morale.

 

The engineering initiative divides the consulting work into 104 pieces. Three of the slots will go to Boyle Engineering Corp., a California-based firm with ties to former board member Lennart Lindahl of Tequesta. Another will go to TKW Consulting Engineers, a Fort Myers company led by state Rep. Trudi Williams, a former district board chairwoman.

 

Later in the meeting, Buermann cited a "poster child" for the outsourcing trend: The district's $53 million contract with the Jacobs/MWH Joint Venture, the private entity that helps manage the Everglades restoration. The board voted Thursday to bump the contract to $85 million to handle additional work.

 

The joint venture's managers on the Everglades project used to include Wehle's husband, John, although she has said he severed his ties after she was named executive director in 2005.

 

Buermann said he's not singling out any one company for criticism. But he added: "I'm concerned that you're creating this parallel universe where a lot of money is going to be spent. I want to make sure that the district can maintain control of that."

 

While acknowledging the huge stakes involved, Bush-appointed board member Nicolas Gutierrez cautioned against "going back to the big government model." He said the district should focus on its $11 billion restoration and other projects, not endless reexamination of past decisions.

 

"We can't be paralyzed by introspection," said Gutierrez, a Miami lawyer who is one of four Bush holdovers on the nine-person board.

 

Under Bush, the district faced pressure not to increase its staff, which has hovered just under 1,800 employees for at least a decade despite the agency's increasing workload. Bush and his appointees pushed the agency to outsource work to consultants and engage in "partnerships" with landowners, arguing that taxpayers would save in the long run.

 

Wehle said Thursday the district will consider increasing its staff slightly to handle those demands, at the same time that it plans budget cuts to cope with the tax reductions that state lawmakers are expected to order.

 

Before the vote on the $350 million engineering initiative, Crist appointee Charles Dauray also expressed misgivings about awarding so much work in a single step. District employees conceded that any company that failed to win a contract could file a legal challenge that would halt all the work, perhaps for months.

 

Despite such qualms, the board voted unanimously to approve the initiative, which comes as the district prepares to ramp up its construction of marshes, reservoirs and other Everglades- and water-related projects. Buermann and Melissa Meeker of Stuart each abstained from several specific deals because of ties they have had with some of the engineering companies, including Meeker's former employer, Tetra Tech EC.

 

The 60 companies now are part of a pool eligible to work on water, construction and other projects during the next five years. The district's staff will negotiate contracts with each company before assigning the work. No company is guaranteed any specific amount.

Two projects set to help Dundee water resources  

By Shelly Godefrin

News Chief staff

DUNDEE - As the population of Dundee is expected to grow from 3,500 to 14,000 by 2012, water and wastewater resources will be stretched thin.

Two projects are planned to help alleviate the current problems and problems that might come up in the future.

A new water treatment plant is in the works, as well as a reclaimed water use system project.

The water plant will be funded through the United States Department of Agriculture and the reclaimed water project will be partly funded by the Southwest Florida Water Management District, said Town Manager Charles Saddler.

Both projects are a part of a master plan for water and wastewater.

During Tuesday night's council meeting, the USDA presented a check for $4,618,900 to the town. The money was from a water and wastewater disposal loan for $3,136,000 and grant money of $1,482,900.

"A few years ago, the town did a master utility study to look at water and sewer needs," Saddler said. "We looked at current demand and projected demand."

The master utility study was based on pre-sold water connections with developers and town staff members identified that a new well site would be needed.

"With that, we asked the USDA for a loan and grant to assist us in building a new site," Saddler said.

As a part of the master plan, the town was looking at ways to take pressure off of potable water resources by looking for a way to get reclaimed water.

That's where Swiftmud comes in.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District's Peace River Basin Board's proposed budget for fiscal year 2008 includes cooperative funding projects and these projects are proposed by local governments and are usually funded equally by the Basin Board and the local cooperator.

One of the Basin Board's cooperative funding projects is the Dundee Reclaimed Water Use System Project, which will bring reclaimed water to approximately 1,821 residential customers and several commercial customers within Dundee , said a Swiftmud press release.

The project includes the construction of 18,800 linear feet of reclaimed water transmission main line, a high-service pump station and two 2.25-million gallon storage tanks.

This project will provide approximately 370,000 gallons of reclaimed water per day for irrigation. This reclaimed water is expected to offset the need for potable water for irrigation by 185,000 gallons per day.

The town has submitted this project for Rural Economic Development Initiative (REDI) consideration. REDI funds are available to communities with demonstrated economic disadvantages.

Traditional cooperative funding projects are a 50/50 cost share. REDI projects are a 25/75 cost share.

The total cost is expected to be $4 million.

Because it is a REDI project, the district has agreed to fund approximately $3 million. In 2006, the Basin Board committed $205, 774 in financial assistance to the project and has included $558,090 in its proposed budget for FY2008, including $136,867 in funds from the State Water Protection and Sustainability Trust Fund.

Dundee is responsible for $1 million and any costs that exceed $4 million.

The $1 million is from local contributions, Saddler said.

The reclaimed water project is expected to be finished by December 2009.

The USDA money will go toward water plant improvements and a new water plant and well and storage capacity.

The new plant site is located off Scenic Highway at what was previously the Hickory Walk Citrus Grove. The plant will be known as the Hickory Walk Water Plant.

"We've already started the design and hope to have it online in 16 months," Saddler said.

Proposed millage rate set for Peace River Basin Board The Southwest Florida Water Management District's Peace River Basin Board recently set a proposed millage rate.

The Basin Board met on June 8 and adopted a proposed fiscal year 2008 millage rate of 0.195 mill, which is the same as the current fiscal year.

In the event that a tax reduction is mandated by Legislature during its special session, the Basin Board has authorized the executive director to recalculate its millage rate to reflect the change in revenue prescribed by the Legislature.

The proposed budget for the fiscal year 2008 is $16,755,731, which is an increase of $778,749 from the approved fiscal year 2007 budget. The increase is primarily due to an estimate increase in property tax revenue due to growth in property values.

For the owner of a $125,000 home with a $25,000 homestead exemption, the 2008 Basin Board tax would be $19.50, or about $1.63 per month.

The fiscal year 2008 will run from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, 2008. The Peace River Basin Board area includes Hardee, DeSoto, portions of Polk, Highlands and Charlotte counties.

The Basin Board's proposed budget also includes $4.49 million for the water supply and resource development program, which provides matching funds for the development of additional new sustainable water supplies.

The district's governing board will adopt proposed millage rates for the district's general fund and the eight Basin Boards at a special budget meeting July 12 at the TECO Center at Nature's Classroom in Thonotasassa.

These millage rates will be used by county property appraisers when mailing out Truth in Millage (TRIM) notices to residents.

Two statutorily required public TRIM hearings on the district's total budget will be held in September. The first will be at 5:01 p.m. Sept. 11 at the district's Tampa service office. michelle.godefrin@newschief.com  

Driver ticketed for using biofuel

Vegetable oil sticks him with $1,000 fine

Bruce Henderson, The Charlotte Observer

Bob Teixeira decided it was time to take a stand against U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

So last fall the Charlotte musician and guitar instructor spent $1,200 to convert his 1981 diesel Mercedes to run on vegetable oil. He bought soybean oil in 5-gallon jugs at Costco, spending about 30 percent more than diesel would cost.

His reward, from a state that heavily promotes alternative fuels: a $1,000 fine last month for not paying motor fuel taxes. He has been told to expect another $1,000 fine from the federal government.

To legally use veggie oil, state officials told him, he would have to first post a $2,500 bond.

Teixeira is one of a growing number of fuel-it-yourselfers -- backyard brewers who recycle restaurant grease or make moonshine for their car tanks. They do it to save money, reduce pollution or thumb their noses at oil sheiks.

They're also caught in a web of little-known state laws that can stifle energy independence.

State Sen. Stan Bingham, R-Denton, is known around Raleigh for his diesel Volkswagen fueled by used soybean oil. The car sports a "Goodbye, OPEC" sign.

"If somebody was going to go to this much trouble to drive around in a car that uses soybean oil, they ought to be exempt" from state taxes, he said.

The state Department of Revenue, which fined Teixeira, has asked legislators to waive the $2,500 bond for small fuel users. The department also told Teixeira, after the Observer asked about his case this week, that it will compromise on his fine.

But officials say they'll keep pursuing taxes on all fuels used in highway vehicles. With its 29.9-cent a gallon gas tax, the state collects $1.2 billion each year to pay for road construction.

"With the high cost of fuel right now, the department does recognize that a lot of people are looking for relief," said Reggie Little, assistant director of the motor fuel taxes division. "We're not here to hurt the small guy, we're just trying to make sure that the playing field is level."

Alternative support

State policies firmly endorse alternative fuels.

In 2005 legislators directed state agencies to replace 20 percent of their annual petroleum use with alternatives by 2010. About 6,000 of the state's 8,500 vehicles are equipped to use ethanol. The state fleet also includes about 135 gas-electric hybrids.

Few states, however, are prepared to regulate the new fuels, says the National VegOil Board, which promotes vegetable oil fuel.

"State offices do not have the forms to appropriately and fairly deal with VegOil, nor the staff to enforce the nonexistent forms," said director Cynthia Shelton. "So either they tell people inquiring about compliance to get lost, or they make them jump a bunch of arbitrary hoops."

Outraged Illinois legislators this spring quickly waived that state's $2,500 bond requirement when an elderly man was nabbed for using waste vegetable oil.

In the mountain district of state Sen. John Snow, D-Cherokee, home-brewed ethanol was once known as moonshine. But a couple of constituents who made it for fuel have been fined for the same tax violation that got Teixeira in trouble.

Snow has introduced several bills to promote biodiesel, which under state law includes vegetable oil.

"One of the biggest problems in the state is a real lack of information for people who want to use alternative fuels," said Snow's research assistant, Jonathan Ducote. "It's just now appearing on [regulators'] radar."

Speedway sting

Teixeira's story began near Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 14. As recreational vehicles streamed in for race week, revenue investigators were checking fuel tanks of diesel RVs for illegal fuel.

The investigators spotted Teixeira's passing bumper sticker: "Powered by 100% vegetable oil."

"It was like some twist of fate that put me there," he said. "It was like I was asking for them to stop me."

Teixeira says revenue officials are just doing their jobs. But he thinks it's unfair that he was lumped with people who purposely try to avoid fuel taxes.

"Individuals who are trying to do the right thing environmentally cannot and should not continue to take this kind of financial hit," he wrote Gov. Mike Easley.

He'll pay the state fine and apply for a state fuel license.

"I'm ready to get myself legal," he said, "and start using vegetable oil again." 

Cape residents defend Golf Club
Course owners want to change land use

By Pete Skiba
pskiba@news-press.com
Originally posted on June 15, 2007

More than 100 people piled through the doors of La Venezia's ballroom on Club Square on Thursday to voice their opinions about the residential and commercial development of Cape Coral's The Golf Club.

"We are here to make a statement that we all stand together against the land use change," said Mary Neilson, president of the non-profit Save Our Recreation group.

Florida Gulf Ventures LLC, owner of the course, wants the city to change the allowable land uses from single-family homes and parks and recreation to include retail shops, offices, townhomes and condominiums.

The investors want to develop because the course continued losing money after they took over in 2006. The company closed the course last July because of mounting debt.

The company showcased a preliminary conceptual plan at the public meeting that could get it back in the black.

The plan includes a residential village, a retail store area and a mixed use area all surrounded by parks and trails on the 175-acre site.

"This meeting is an opportunity to gather information from the community and explore what they think about what could be in their community," said Kent Carlson, of Ryan Companies US Inc., working for Florida Gulf Ventures.

"There are two things that are needed for a successful development, community support and the market for it. You need both not just one."

Despite the recent housing market slowdown, about 160,000 people live in the Cape and commercial buildings remain under construction — offering retail, office and other business space to serve the growing population.

Many attending the meeting said they preferred the golf course.

“The city is growing so fast one golf course is not enough,” said Cape Coral resident Brian Whitehouse, 65. “The first two things anyone asks when coming to cape Coral, Where do I keep my boat and where is the golf course?”

Trekking to the top of Volusia's highest peaks

By SARA KIESLER
Staff Writer

DELAND -- No sign marks the little grass-covered ridge of land nestled between two big suburban homes on Trail in the Pines Street .

But at 120 feet -- a third of a football field if you could stand one on its end -- it rises above all of Volusia County's natural landmarks like a marshmallow on a mountain.

Stepping to the top, I look down and wonder why I bothered to change from flip-flops into sneakers.

The usual list of climbing gear seems laughable from where I stand, surrounded by turkey oaks and a few scrubby bushes. Backpack? I've got a cute white Target purse. Energy bars? That wasn't even worth five minutes at the gym.

Yet, my reverence for this mini alp, this bite-size cliff, and the fact that it still stands after all these years is worthy of a momentary meditation.

Volusia County 's highest peaks are scattered throughout DeLand, Deltona and DeLeon Springs, the sandy remnants of rising and falling ocean levels a million years ago, says David Griffis, a soil scientist and director of Volusia County 's Agriculture Extension Office. Florida was once under water, but sand accumulated, creating little islands throughout what later became the Florida peninsula.

Neighbors of the peak are bemused by my curiosity. I wonder aloud to members of the Bell family, as we stand outside their landscaped home with the University of Florida Gators flag, "Do people even care that this is the highest point around?"

"Surprisingly, on more than one occasion people come by and say, 'We came to see the highest place in Volusia County ,' " says Debbie Bell.

And though the little cliff is normally just another area for Mike Bell to mow, it becomes a powerful conductor when a storm comes through. The whole family is careful to react and unplug all computers, sewing machines and major appliances.

"TVs, the sprinkler system, cable . . . they used to get hit and just fry constantly," says Debbie Bell. "It's happened enough that when we hear thunder and lightning, we unplug things -- at least the things important to me."

State geologists and a certain bow-tied county property appraiser look at the peaks with a rosier vision.

A large blue, green and yellow map hangs just inside the door of Volusia County Property Appraiser Morgan Gilreath's office, marking the topography, or land elevations, throughout our little slice of Earth.

Gilreath's eyes smile at the map as he reminisces about one similar to it that colored the varying peaks, mostly in the DeLand ridge throughout West Volusia , with blazing pinks and purples.

"That one was almost psychedelic," he says. "But this one's pretty too.

"I say the lines were drawn by God."

Builders often have a hard time working with the slope of a high point , said Griffis, and many simply chose to carve chunks out of the hills when building homes.

"It may not be a disrespect, but (builders are) there to develop a property, so it's much easier to come into an area and to level it for roads or houses," he said. "It is more costly to develop properties that have a slope."

THE 'OTHER' PEAKS

Deer moss, sand pine and rosemary snarl the thick brush between Our Lady of the Lakes Catholic Church and Abraham Zacour's home on Azora Drive . Rising above the city of Deltona , you could probably see Lake Monroe from the 115-foot sandy peak if it was cleared.

News-Journal columnist Ronald Williamson, a lover of land and all things historical, has joined me in my journey up the imaginary mountain. He reaches up and grabs a shrub.

"Wild blueberry," he says, looking out into the scrub bushes. "You might find a dead body here. Sometimes, people do."

This time, my flip-flops won't do. The cliff is steep, especially on the ends where it has been cut into for development.

Nonetheless, my nose still isn't bloody, and I've found no Sherpa to carry my load or lead me up a safe path as the locals on Mount Everest do.

Zacour, the neighbor, says he built his home into the cliff in October 2001 with the hopes it would remain king of the hill.

"We thought it was going to be left higher than the street," he says, taking a break from mowing the parts of his yard not covered in sand. "But that's code; we couldn't build much higher than the house next to us."

Florida 's highest peak is 345-foot Britton Hill, located in northern Walton County .

But according to newspaper articles dated from 1995 to 2005, the peak that gets the most visitors is Sugarloaf Mountain in nearby Lake County . Bicyclists train at the 312-foot peak and, actually, consider it a challenge.

Both peaks are honored with names, unlike those found in Volusia. Geologist Paulette Bond says people have poked fun at Florida 's lack of high peaks for as long as she can remember, calling it flat or saying it has no geology. But they begin to respect it once they need the land for their own use.

"Suddenly, there is a great deal of respect if they are buying a home and have to deal with the sinkhole issue," says Bond, who has worked for Florida Geological Survey for 27 years. "Our response is to just kind of smile and laugh because it's a great land, and, geologically, there is a lot going on. It's just all very recent."

The Everglades , for example, help geologists understand how coal is formed because the plants that shed leaves and die or are deposited in the swamp mimic the small deposits of organic matter that make up coal, she says.

Fossil shells packed with limestone and sand make up the coquina rock formations on the east side of Volusia County , she says. The highest point there is about 60 feet, just south of Halifax Medical Center .

And all but forgotten is DeLeon Springs' little mound of land near the radio tower off Reynolds Road , overlooking Spring Garden Ranch. Just past a fenced-in yard of hogs and goats on Blueberry Acres Road, it rests in sandy brush with concrete blocks and building materials nearby.

Waiting to be built upon.

sara.kiesler@news-jrnl.com

Oakland Park developer preserves trees, earns 'green' certification

Jerry W. Jackson
Sentinel Staff Writer

June 15, 2007

A sprawling live oak weighing more than 50 tons was carefully uprooted and moved Thursday by Castle & Cooke Florida to a special spot within a new development it is building in west Orange County.

The tree is the largest of dozens of oaks the developer is moving to preserve as work begins on the community, called Oakland Park .

If the giant tree survives the transplant as expected, it will become the focal point of a shady community park, said Matthew Bullion, Castle & Cooke's project manager. The company moved the tree about a quarter of a mile to save it, rather than bulldoze it to make room for a home, Bullion said.

"One like this takes a long time to grow," Raul Guzman said as he supervised the tree-moving process for Valley Crest landscaping company.

A giant crane lifted the more than 60-foot-tall oak onto a flatbed truck for a slow ride to the shore of Lake Brim, a small pond on the property.

The subdivision is the first in Central Florida to earn certification as an environmentally friendly "green" community by the nonprofit Florida Green Building Coalition.

Robin Vieira, director of building research for the Florida Solar Energy Center and a board member of the Green Building Coalition, said Oakland Park 's development plan is strong in many ways, including planned restoration of land along Lake Apopka and the preservation of trees.

In terms of the points needed to earn the nonprofit group's green certification, Oakland Park "maxed out in that [tree] category," Vieira said. "At least 80 percent of their streets will be shaded with native trees."

Guzman said he has probably moved 1,500 trees during his career. Many newer communities in Central Florida, such as Baldwin Park , Reunion Resort and Sugarloaf Mountain , are spending thousands of dollars these days -- an average of about $12,000 a tree -- to relocate valuable specimens.

Trees add value to a development, said Bob Hennen, sales director for Oakland Park . The nearby town of Oakland , where part of the community is located, is known for its regal oaks.

But trees are valuable in a lot of other ways, said Rob Northrop, an urban forester with the University of Florida 's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Trees are getting more respect because people better understand their benefits, from scientific to social. Yet far more needs to be done to save them, he said, especially in cities and suburbs.

"They remove air pollutants that cause asthma and other diseases, and they remove carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that causes climate change. They do that in a way that's very inexpensive," Northrop said. "These are living things cleaning the air."

Trees also produce shade that cools homes and extend the life of streets and roads. They reduce water runoff and perform other services, but their greatest benefit, he said, is the connection that trees have with people, culture and communities.

"Socially, we love them," he said. "Kids play in them; people stop to stand under them and talk to their neighbors. And I think their longevity really touches people. Things just move and change so fast these days, but trees give you a sense of permanence and place."

Oakland Mayor Kathy Stark, who has two towering oaks in her yard, said Castle & Cooke deserves credit for being tree friendly.

"We have a lot of beautiful oak trees. It makes us what we are," Stark said. "I was really pleased that they're trying to preserve the oak trees and weave them into the fabric of the community," though the oaks being moved are technically in neighboring Winter Garden's side of the development.

Sales in Oakland Park , where home prices start in the $400,000s, are scheduled to begin next month from an office now under construction on tree-shaded Oakland Avenue .

Jerry W. Jackson can be reached at jwjackson@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5721.

Bear meanders into neighborhood

By TROY ROBERTS troberts@lakecityreporter.com
Thursday, June 14, 2007 11:56 PM EDT

A black bear injured a horse in the May Fair subdivision off of Branford Highway Thursday afternoon before climbing into a tree, according to wildlife officials.

Shortly after 8 p.m., the bear climbed down from the tree and headed north out of the subdivision. Officials believed the bear would return to the forest.

According to officials, the bear entered the subdivision sometime Thursday afternoon and injured a horse.

“The horse had some scratches to its hind quarters and its right flanks,” said Matt Pollock, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Regional Wildlife Management biologist.

After the scuffle with the horse, the bear climbed a tall pine tree and remained there for several hours.

A bulldog from the area also was missing Thursday night. Officials believed the bulldog may have been involved in a scuffle with the bear earlier in the day.

Pollock said the bear's appearance is curious.

“We're still unsure of where it came from,” he said, adding that the bear could have been displaced by the recent Bugaboo wildfire, although he said it is unlikely the bear would have made it across Interstate 75 without it being reported.

The bear could have just been after food, with a horse trough in the vicinity of where the horse was injured. Pollock said he didn't believe the bear intended to injure the horse.

Pollock said the FWC's plan was to maintain a perimeter and keep people away from the scene of the bear. The area was reopened after the bear's descent from the tree.

Officials did not think the bear had any previous run-ins with people or has caused any trouble in the past. From its perch in the tree, the bear did not appear to have an ear tag, which would have indicated it had been marked by wildlife personnel.

Activist Seeks Hearing On Tortoise Removal At Mall Site

By KEVIN WIATROWSKI The Tampa Tribune

Published: Jun 14, 2007

WESLEY CHAPEL - Land O' Lakes resident Dan Rametta opened a new front Wednesday in his running battle with the developers of Cypress Creek Town Center about the relocation of several dozen gopher tortoises.

Rametta filed papers in Tallahassee demanding a hearing before the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission regarding the agency's approval Tuesday of an expanded permit allowing the Richard E. Jacobs Group to move an additional 40 tortoises from its development site.

That permit clears Jacobs to move a mix of adult and juvenile tortoises found June 2 when crews began digging up what they thought would be 10 adult animals.

The tortoises will be moved to the Alston Tract. Jacobs has set aside that property on the Hillsborough River in southeastern Pasco County to make up for wetlands the company will destroy to build its mall.

Cleveland-based Jacobs plans to build a 1.3 million-square-foot regional mall at State Road 56 and Interstate 75.

The gopher tortoises live between S.R. 56 and Cypress Creek.

Rametta's request will be reviewed by wildlife officials to handle in-house or forward to the state Department of Administrative Hearings, said attorney Ross Burnaman, who filed the request on Rametta's behalf.

Burnaman said Wednesday that he planned to file a second hearing request on behalf of Citizens for Sanity. Rametta sits on that group's board.

Rametta's request is the fourth legal challenge to the Cypress Creek Town Center . Two previous challenges ended when courts ruled the opponents did not have the standing to sue.

The third was dropped after mall officials explained their plans to their opponents.

The filing repeats claims Rametta has made in recent weeks that the developer and wildlife officials aren't following the letter of the law in approving the tortoise relocation.

Rametta says the developer failed to survey its property within 90 days of moving the tortoises to see how the population may have changed.

Rametta also charges Jacobs with "material misrepresentation" for saying the Alston Tract preserve is 300 acres. It is 249.1 acres, Rametta said.

The entire Alston property is slightly more than 300 acres. Jacobs has a conservation easement covering most of the site.

Rametta also repeated his charge that Jacobs did not get all its required permits before beginning work on the site. County and state officials say Jacobs met their requirements.

Jacobs officials had not seen Rametta's challenge by Wednesday afternoon and offered no comment on it.

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

Gophers slow construction

Mayo Free Press

An estimated 19 gopher tortoises have delayed the beginning of the construction of a plant by Maronda Integrated Production Systems, a producer of pre-manufactured roof and floor trusses. The company plans to build a plant in Genoa on approximately 46 acres along US 41, between CR 132 SE and 143rd Ave. When the first phase of construction is complete, the company will hire between 25 and 50 employees. After the other phases are completed within a two-to-four year timeframe, the plants will employ 125 or more people.

Before Maronda could file for the necessary permits for construction, a Phase I Environmental Assessment and a Protected Wildlife Study had to be conducted. A survey of the property for gopher tortoise activity was carried out in April and 33 burrows were found. Gopher tortoises are listed by the state of Florida as a species of special concern.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), without proper management, gopher tortoises are likely to become a threatened or endangered species. Tortoise burrows also serve as habitats for a variety of other wildlife species that are listed as species of special concern or as threatened species.

Due to its protected status, it is illegal to take, harm or harass a gopher tortoise. Anyone who plans any development in gopher tortoise habitat has several options: Avoid development in the area occupied by tortoises; plan development to avoid burrows; mitigate for activities that will probably entomb or kill tortoises by providing similar habitat elsewhere; or relocate the tortoises. The last two options require permits from the FWC.

Dennis Price, Environmental Consultant for Hamilton County Tourism and Economic Development, has applied for an Incidental Take permit and a relocation permit. The Incidental Take permit allows for the “taking”- entombment or killing - of gopher tortoises on development sites if a compensatory amount of gopher habitat is purchased and preserved elsewhere.

According to a formula provided by the FWC, Price calculates there are about 20 tortoises on the site and it will cost the County $26,365.50 to use the Incidental Take permit. He estimates the cost of capturing and transporting the tortoises will be between $8,000 and $12,000, plus a recipient site charge of $1,000 per gopher. Maronda has agreed to pay half of the costs of mitigation or relocation, up to $15,000.

Price said he contacted the FWC, Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD), Division of Forestry, Department of Environmental Protection’s State Park Division, and PCS Phosphate, White Springs asking for a site to relocate the tortoises.

“All of them have suitable property, but none of them were inclined to be of assistance,” Price said. “I thought for sure they would know of some land and be willing to help. I was surprised when they wouldn’t.”

Commissioner Mike Adams said during a board meeting on June 5, “A company is willing to bring jobs to this county and we are being held up by gophers. The Water Management and PCS should be willing to help. We are trying to create jobs and they don’t want to help.”

Mike Williams, Public Relations at PCS Phosphate, White Springs, told the Board the company had moved 85 gopher tortoises from approximately the same area in Genoa to a site they created for the tortoises. He said he did not know the capacity of the area and it would have to be assessed. He added the company would also have to look at other areas on their property where gopher tortoises might have to be relocated.

Commissioner Randy Ogburn noted that Nancy Oliver (Executive Director, Tourism and Economic Development) told the board Williams had said PCS had no room for the tortoises and there was nothing they could do. Williams replied, “I don’t think we do. I don’t have the final answer.”

When Charlie Houder, SRWMD Deputy Executive Director, spoke to the Board, he said it has not been the policy of the District to accept gopher tortoises from other landowners. He offered to meet with Price and a representative from the FWC.

“If they find any acceptable land, the District will look at the plan. If there is any way possible to help the County, we will,” Houder said. Then he added, “We don’t know if we have land available or not. We have not done gopher surveys across our ownerships.”

Adams noted the county could not wait six months to a year for the District to conduct a survey. “You’re passing the buck and we’re going let the people know the district is not willing to help the county with the commission (FWC) to relocate the tortoises.”

Commissioner Lewis Vaughn pointed out the county’s taxpayers paid ad valorem taxes that helped fund the SRWMD. “Look at all the land along the river they have bought and preserved, but we can’t put the tortoises on it. I have a problem with that.”

“The taxpayers of this county have bought thousands of acres of land and we can’t find room for the gophers. We have a real problem - as poor a county as we are, to have to spend $30,000 to move the tortoises,” Commissioner Leon McGauley said. “We have all this public property that’s supposed to be preserved for conservation of animals and we may be forced into killing some animals that you could simply let loose in the woods and they would survive. There’s something wrong with that.”

Price has located a pre-approved site in Walton County where the gopher tortoises can be relocated.

“We don’t want to carry them where they’re not used to being,” Adams said. “We want to keep them here in the county.”

County Coordinator Bob Poor suggested the County should set aside some land for future use as a gopher tortoise relocation site. “This will happen again. Maybe we could set the precedent for other counties - get the public land managers together to set up some type of plan. If the county doesn’t get prepared, it’s going to get tough.”

Vaughn told Houder, “Now that you know there’s a problem, it would be nice if the district would take the lead since you own property in all the counties in this area.”

Gopher tortoises catch a break

Developers no longer will be allowed to pave their burrows with them inside.

By CRAIG PITTMAN
Published June 14, 2007

 

MELBOURNE - For 16 years, the state's wildlife agency has issued permits allowing developers to bury gopher tortoises alive, suffocating them and all the other animals that use their burrows as a home.

On Wednesday, the agency's board voted unanimously to end the practice, condemned as inhumane and immoral by animal advocates.

"This is long overdue," state wildlife commission Chairman Rodney Barreto said. "What we've done here is wrong, and it's time we made it right."

The commissioners also shot down a proposal to allow homeowners to kill alligators under 4 feet long that turn up in their pools or carports, rather than calling for professional trappers. And they approved moving manatees one step closer to being taken down a notch on the endangered species list.

But the topic that kept the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission talking most of the day was the lowly gopher, known in Depression-era Florida as the " Hoover chicken."

Since 1991, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has issued 2,900 permits allowing the death of an estimated 94, 000 gopher tortoises. Now the tortoise population has declined to the point where biologists say it should be classified as threatened by extinction.

Tortoise burrows also provide a home for about 300 other species. Those, too, were suffocated to death when the burrows were sealed up and paved over.

Development representatives said nobody really wanted to suffocate thousands of tortoises. But paying to move the tortoises to another location was more expensive than buying a permit to suffocate them.

"There's no one out there that hates gopher turtles and wants them all dead," said Central Florida real estate broker Doug Doudney, chairman of the Coalition for Property Rights. "It was simply a matter of practicality."

Developers asked the state to grandfather in anyone who already had a permit to kill tortoises or was on the verge of getting one.

Over the objections of environmental groups, the state agreed to grandfather some people who have already applied for permits, on a case-by-case basis. But it told its staff to strongly encourage everyone to move the tortoises instead of kill them.

Wildlife agency officials presented a draft plan for increasing protection for the tortoise, including a revamped permitting program that requires relocating tortoises instead of killing them.

Some prodevelopment advocates fretted that that might increase the cost.

"This is kind of like communism -- money is coming out of the hands of the people and it's going over to the state," said Merritt Island real estate broker Dolores Kane.

The commission made short work of a proposal by its staff to allow homeowners to go ahead and kill alligators smaller than 4 feet long that turn up in suburban back yards and driveways. The change was opposed by the state's professional gator trappers, who warned about the consequences.

"Even a little alligator's got 80 teeth," said professional trapper Bill Robb. "I don't think people should be dabbling in that."

Commissioners also voted unanimously to approve a controversial draft plan for managing manatees, leaving just one more step before the popular marine mammal is taken off the list of endangered species.

The draft plan calls for the state to come up with a new way to count the number of manatees within the next three years and review whether all the new boating speed zones that have been imposed are working. It does not call for getting rid of any of those zones, however.

Boating groups praised the commission staff for coming up with a plan they supported, but environmental activists complained that it was just "a plan of plans," lacking in concrete goals for how to stop the rising number of manatee deaths due to boat collisions. Boat-related deaths account for about 30 percent of all manatee deaths.

The plan "does a good job of telling you what's wrong, but it does a terrible job of telling you how we're going to fix it, " said Pat Rose of the Save the Manatee Club.

While conceding the plan was not perfect, Commissioner Richard Corbett of Tampa said that the board couldn't wait to make a decision. "We'll revisit these things if we're in error," he said.

The final vote on changing them to merely "threatened" is scheduled to take place in September, in a meeting in St. Petersburg . That vote would also ratify the final version of the management plan.

Manatees are still listed as an endangered species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, but federal wildlife officials are considering dropping them to "threatened."

 

Giant mall clears new hurdle

Work on Pasco Town Centre could start within six months if the County Commission says yes.

By CHUIN-WEI YAP
Published June 14, 2007

 

SAN ANTONIO - For more than a decade, the cattle ranch on the southeastern corner of State Road 52 and Interstate 75 was a developers' mirage.

At least two developers explored and later ditched plans for a mall there. Brokers say this kind of location shopping is common practice among commercial developers.

But things changed in 2002, when the Shailendra Group, an Atlanta developer, went on an acquisition spree, spending at least $11-million to amass 945 acres for what's now called the Pasco Town Centre project.

On Monday, it secured unanimous approval from the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council for a development there that includes 2-million square feet of stores, 1.7-million square feet of industrial space and 1.7-million square feet of offices.

The council's signoff is a necessary precursor to the county's final approval. The project is tentatively scheduled to go before the County Commission on July 10.

"If we get the final approval, we would probably start construction within six months, " said Ron Weaver, the attorney representing the Shailendra Group.

Weaver had no new anchor tenants to announce, but the Chelsea Property Group has signed up to put 120 stores there. Chelsea is the same group that brought high-end outlet malls, with brands like Barneys and Salvatore Ferragamo to Orlando and Ellenton.

Chelsea had wanted to launch by 2008 but recently delayed its plans. The group completes only one or two such malls in a year, and its spokeswoman said it was too late to open the Pasco version in 2008.

The Shailendra Group has big dreams.

Expected to generate more than 11, 000 jobs and $81-million in tax revenue over 20 years, Pasco Town Centre would be the county's single biggest "employment center." That's planner-speak for an area with special density allowances targeted at economic development.

At 2-million square feet, the proposed outdoor mall would dwarf even Cypress Creek Town Center at Wesley Chapel, which has slightly more than 1-million square feet.

In the past, Weaver has said the site would have a bigger pull on Hernando and Citrus counties than malls farther south.

Pasco Town Centre, expected to build out in 2020, also includes nearly 2, 000 homes and 640 hotel rooms. The Shailendra Group is donating $1.7-million to build affordable housing there.

With that kind of density, expect major road works.

Planners and developers are working with a price tag of $460-million worth of road improvements, Weaver said.

Specific changes so far are still on the drawing board.

Weaver said a flyover and noise buffers for I-75 at State Road 52 were being discussed. But Bijan Behzadi, a state Department of Transportation engineer, said that corner may not have enough space for a flyover.

What could emerge, though, is a "loop ramp" in the northwestern corner of the interchange, Behzadi said. That's the kind of cloverleaf road that allows drivers to join the interstate without stopping to make a turn.

That section of I-75 and SR 52 also would expand to six lanes, Behzadi said.

Chuin-Wei Yap can be reached at (813) 909-4613 or cyap@sptimes.com.

Hialeah Park on endangered list, group says

WASHINGTON --

(AP) -- Parts of New York City 's fabled waterfront are disappearing faster than the Brooklyn accent of ''dese, dem, and dose.'' A preservation group wants to do something about it, declaring the area one of the most endangered places in the country.

The group warns that development could destroy the 1925 Hialeah Park race course in Florida ; hotels stretching west along Route 66; and historic tribal lands of the Kashia Pomo Indians in Sonoma County , Calif.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation on Thursday placed the industrial waterfront of Brooklyn on its list of 11 most endangered historic places.

It is the 20th year the trust has sought to save distinctive examples of architecture from the wrecking ball.

In New York , a frenzy of residential development threatens to devour much of Brooklyn 's working-class waterfront.

''These buildings represent Brooklyn 's industrial heritage and they shouldn't be lost for that reason,'' said the organization's president, Richard Moe.

Moe said city planners and developers should try to adapt the warehouses to residential lofts, much like the trendy Manhattan neighborhood of Soho .

The Municipal Art Society is particularly upset over the destruction of a Civil War-era ship repair dock still in use until it was dismantled to make way for a parking lot for an IKEA store.

Also on the trust's list are huge swaths of seven East Coast states where the federal government is trying to spur the construction of power lines to improve the aging electricity grid.

The government says local authorities have stymied high-power transmission lines for so many years that Washington need to step in to reduce the threat of sweeping blackouts like the one that struck the Northeast in 2003. Small towns along the proposed paths of these lines are fighting the decision.

The proposed East Coast corridor includes large parts of Virginia , West Virginia , Maryland , Pennsylvania , New York , New Jersey , and Delaware .

It is unclear where new lines would go up. Opponents fear the construction could despoil the historic battleground at Gettysburg , as well as the Piedmont area of Virginia and upstate New York .

Other areas named to the most endangered list were el Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail, N.M.; H.H. Richardson House, Brookline, Mass.; historic structures in Mark Twain National Forest, Mo.; Minidoka Internment National Monument, Jerome County, Idaho; Philip Simmons' workshop and home, Charleston, S.C.; and Pinon Canyon, Colo.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a private, nonprofit group founded in 1949. It has compiled a ''most endangered'' list since 1988.

 

Do you know when and where your City Council is meeting?

A Times-Union investigation finds evidence of Florida Sunshine Law violations

By BETH KORMANIK, The Times-Union

Hours before a Jacksonville City Council meeting last June, council leaders Kevin Hyde, Michael Corrigan and finance Chairman Daniel Davis met for breakfast at an Avondale diner.

Hyde, a lawyer, described the gathering as a "client breakfast" on his calendar. Davis simply listed the location. Corrigan revealed the topic of discussion as "finance/budget."

City Council Public Notification Procedures

PUBLIC NOTIFICATION

Suppose two City Council members decide to meet about an issue that affects you. Unless you have special access to City Hall, you probably wouldn’t know the meeting happened, let alone what’s discussed.

What the law says: Florida law requires ‘reasonable’ public notice for meetings that involve two or more members of the same board or commission and where public business is discussed. ‘Reasonable’ generally is considered to be at least 24 hours. Meeting notices should be prominently posted in a public place and include an agenda or at least the topic. The council has no policy on public notification but follows some general practices.

What the council does:

-- Mail room: A paper copy of the meeting notice is placed in a media box located past two levels of security inside the mail room on the fourth floor of City Hall.

--List-serv: A notice also is sent electronically on a city e-mail list-serv that no one outside of the city can access. A Times-Union request to add a reporter to the list-serv was denied.

What the council doesn’t do:

-- Bulletin boards: Several bulletin boards in the City Hall atrium display meeting notices for other boards and commissions -- but not the council.

-- Web site: Nor are the meetings listed on the councilÕs Web page.

An example

Councilman Richard Clark filed public notice of a Feb. 5 meeting with Councilman Ronnie Fussell the previous afternoon, a Sunday. City Hall is closed Sundays. They met at a local Starbucks and discussed the upcoming leadership election. Clark said he forgot to file notice and posted one as soon as he remembered.

What the council says

Council President Michael Corrigan: He sees nothing wrong with the method of public notification. ‘If the public wants to know, they can just as easily call down and say, 'Is the councilman having a public meeting about this?’ ‘But he wondered how far the city should go. ‘Where do you stop? I don’t think there’s ever satisfaction. If we put public notices on our Web-based system, someone will say, 'You should e-mail me.’ It’s always going to be something else.’

Tuesday: Corrigan introduced sweeping legislation that includes changes in the public notification process.None of them recalled the meeting a year later, yet they all insisted they did not talk about city business. If they had, it would be a violation of Florida 's open meetings law.

But this much is known: Three of the most powerful members of the council met. No public notice was filed. No written record was kept. The law requires both when two or more members of a board gather to discuss the public's business.

And it was not an isolated occurrence.

The Times-Union examined the daily calendars of all 19 council members from June 1, 2005, to Dec. 1, 2006. The computer-assisted analysis documented 307 scheduled meetings, excluding committee and full council meetings. Forty-seven calendar listings dealt with specific items of city business such as the Cecil Field referendum, city contracts and downtown traffic but were held without prior public notice and without a written account of the proceedings.

Another 77 meetings had no notice or minutes but the calendars don't reveal a purpose. Council members later said the get-togethers were for lunch, prayer sessions or political events, but in most cases public business was not discussed.

The remaining 183 meetings were publicly announced, though written accounts of the proceedings exist for only one-third of those meetings, the analysis showed. Ten of the 19 council members kept no notes at all, while others provided no useful information.

The Times-Union also uncovered flaws in the way the council provides public notice for specially called meetings. Regular council and committee meetings are posted online. There was no council-wide policy for announcing other meetings, although the council is now considering one.

Notices generally are e-mailed to a list-serv available only to city employees - not the public. A hard copy is set aside for the news media in a mail room, an area not intended for the public.

Other boards and commissions post meeting notices on publicly accessible bulletin boards in the City Hall atrium. But council members rarely use it, according to their aides and observation over several months.

State Attorney Harry Shorstein, made aware of the newspaper's findings, said he will bring the matter before a grand jury. The panel, which meets today, will decide whether to launch an investigation.

And, after months of denials, Corrigan this week acknowledged "mistakes" by the council and proposed an ordinance with changes to ensure compliance with the Sunshine Law. He wants the new rules approved by the time 10 new members join the council July 1.

'City Hall west annex'

Every council member had at least two questionable meetings on their calendars.

About two-thirds of those meetings involved council leadership - Hyde, Corrigan or Davis - who gathered so often at The Fox Restaurant in Avondale that Hyde jokingly dubbed it "City Hall west annex."

The city's ethics codes forbid holding public meetings at private locations, and numerous state attorney general opinions also discourage meeting off city property.

Violations of the Sunshine Law are a serious matter. Officials can be removed from office, jailed for up to 60 days and fined up to $500 for intentional violations. They also could face civil lawsuits. Dozens of officials around the state have been punished under the law, according to the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information at the University of Florida , which tracks Sunshine Law prosecutions. The center's database includes no violations from Jacksonville for the past 30 years.

"If the citizens aren't fully knowledgeable about what's going on, they don't have the ability to hold their government to the highest standards of accountability," said Sandi Copes, spokeswoman for State Attorney General Bill McCollum. "A remedy would need to be sought as soon as possible."

Jacksonville General Counsel Rick Mullaney worked with council leaders to draft the new ordinance.

"This is not optional or some place where a good excuse is good enough," he said.

Councilwoman Gwen Yates had the best record of her colleagues, with only two questionable meetings on her calendar. She also kept written minutes in six of the eight meetings she called. Yates said she reserves her questions and comments for meetings the public can attend.

"It's all in fairness to the constituents and the taxpayers," she said in a recent interview. "You're making decisions that affect their lives. So it's only fair they have an opportunity to be a part of the process."

The public does not always have that opportunity.

Take the breakfast gathering involving Corrigan, Davis and Hyde.

If budget and finance issues were discussed, as Corrigan's calendar noted, the meeting would be subject to the Sunshine Law, said Barbara Petersen, a lawyer and president of the First Amendment Foundation.

In separate interviews nearly a year later, all three councilmen denied discussing city business during the meeting. Yet Corrigan could not explain why he listed the topic as "finance/budget" on his calendar.

They each said the meeting came two days before Corrigan and Davis were installed as council leaders and speculated that the discussion focused on the ceremony. It also happened two weeks before Mayor John Peyton proposed the city budget to the council.

"We're not dumb enough to sit there and discuss matters, nor would we," Hyde said. "If we wanted to break the sunshine, we would do it in a way that did not involve eating in a public restaurant with a bunch of people we know, because we're all there together pretty much every morning."

Hyde's records make it difficult to verify his claims that he does not mix public business with private meetings.

The Times-Union obtained his calendar from the council secretary. It showed five entries listed as "client meetings," "client breakfasts" or other "breakfasts."

Those entries were blacked out in a version provided by his office in response to an open records request. The public records law allows officials to redact private information.

However, other council members' calendars show that Hyde was scheduled to meet with them at those times. Hyde said no one on the council is a client.

Hyde acknowledged the get-togethers in an interview. He said "client breakfast" was meant to indicate that the meeting did not involve city business.

Mullaney, the city lawyer, said items involving city business should not be redacted.

"If somebody turns over something to you in which they have taken out something that's legitimately a public record, that's a public records violation," he said.

Reasons for meetings often were vague on members' calendars.

Councilwoman Mia Jones listed a "luncheon get together" Oct. 17, when she really was meeting with Davis and mayoral aide Adam Hollingsworth. Davis indicated only that he was meeting Hollingsworth for lunch.

But the true purpose was a strategy session on how to defeat the controversial ballot initiative to convert Cecil Field into a Navy jet base, Davis and Jones acknowledged in separate interviews with the Times-Union.

Neither considered it a public meeting.

"The way I looked at it, I didn't see it coming back to the council," Jones said. "It was in front of the people. The council had already voted."

Petersen said the meeting should have been open to the public.

"Just because an issue has been voted on doesn't mean it won't come back again," she said. "They need to be very careful when they're doing this sort of thing. If two members of the council are meeting, provide notice and take minutes. How hard is it?"

Written records

Ten of the 19 council members ignored the requirement to keep a written record of their meetings, while others kept accounts that were virtually uninformative. Several members made tape recordings, which do not meet the legal threshold.

Minutes do not have to be verbatim transcripts, but the Attorney General's Office advises officials to provide summaries that accurately reflect the proceedings.

"Unfortunately, we do not have minutes nor were any of these sessions recorded," Councilwoman Pat Lockett-Felder's aide wrote in response to a Times-Union request of minutes for the two meetings that she called. Lockett-Felder said she isn't sure why there were no written record of the meetings.

So did many council members, who said the city's attorneys never advised them that minutes had to be written.

"That's news to me," Jones said.

The widespread lack of minutes could show a disregard for the law, Petersen said. That matters because penalties for intentional violations of the Sunshine Law are more serious than unintentional violations.

Although some notes gave descriptions of what took place - Davis provided more than 500 words of description of a tour of Cecil Field - others provided no useful information.

Here is how Councilman Lad Daniels summed up a May 1, 2006, meeting with Davis : "The purpose of the meeting was to have a preliminary discussion regarding the 2005-06 budget." It virtually repeated word-for-word the subject stated in the public notice of the meeting. Daniels said he thought the notes were fine.

Corrigan said he was looking into buying tablet-style computers so council members could take notes during a meeting and immediately file them as minutes.

Off-site meetings

Some council members acknowledged discussing city business during private meetings but don't believe they broke the law.

After Corrigan named Richard Clark to chair the Audit Committee last July, they met to discuss its meeting schedule.

Corrigan and Clark said meetings about "committee procedures" don't need to be publicly advertised.

But Copes of the Attorney General's Office and Petersen of the First Amendment Foundation said the councilmen should have met in public.

"If they're discussing issues that fall under their responsibilities as officials, that would be subject to sunshine," Copes said.

Said Petersen: "A meeting to set an agenda or a meeting schedule could arguably be public business, [especially] if it's one of the committees that has great public interest," she said. "I'd be very careful."

The locations of many of the scheduled meetings also raised flags.

Jacksonville 's ethics code requires public meetings to take place in government buildings, not restaurants, coffee shops or bars where council members have met. Multiple opinions from the State Attorney General's Office also discourage public meetings from taking place at restaurants.

Mullaney's office even suggests to council members that they not meet in their private council offices because of the "chilling effect" it could have on the public's comfort in attending.

Under Corrigan's proposal, meetings would be held only in public places such as conference or meeting rooms.

Even if the public had full access to City Hall, Hyde said in a recent interview that people probably do not want to attend most meetings between council members. He said people elect officials to represent their interests and not consult them on every issue.

The argument didn't sit well with Petersen.

"Who are they to say?" she said.

"It's not up to a government official to decide, 'They're not going to come, we don't have to worry about this.' Even if just one person shows up, that's what the law says they have to do."

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

Role in cell tower plan is questioned

By DOUG SWORD

doug.sword@heraldtribune.com

SARASOTA COUNTY -- Sarasota County Commissioner Paul Mercier raised the specter of a conflict of interest when state Rep. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, recently asked the commission to approve a huge cell tower for a company owned by the son of another state representative.

There were entirely too many Tallahassee connections involved in the case for Mercier's comfort. Besides Galvano, there was Charlie Dean Towers , a Tampa-based company owned by Charlie Dean Jr., the son of state Rep. Charlie Dean Sr.

The senior Dean is in the midst of a special election for a state Senate seat.

And there was Verizon Wireless, which Mercier noted dropped its petition to build a nearby cell tower the day before the commission heard Dean's petition for a 195-foot tower.

"I'm not saying there's anything wrong here," Mercier said, "but it just makes me feel uncomfortable when a state senator's son (Dean Sr. is favored in his June 26 Senate race) is here represented by a representative that serves on the same committees."

And both members "get money for donations for their politics, get donations for their lobbying efforts. And then Verizon withdraws at the last minute and yet they make donations. I just don't understand. It's a squirrelly swirly thing here we're looking at."

The executive director of Common Cause Florida , Ben Wilcox, an occasional critic of lawmakers' ethics, sees nothing wrong with Galvano representing another lawmaker's son, even if it is before a local government facing a critical vote before the legislature.

"The Legislature, it's expected to be a citizen Legislature," Wilcox said. "They're expected to have outside employment" since they are not paid a full-time salary by the state.

Galvano described Mercier as "a good man" who is frustrated with state lawmakers poised to reform local property taxes. Sarasota County estimates the current state proposal would cut its budget by about $40 million and possibly cause layoffs of county employees. Mercier and other county commissioners have been to Tallahassee frequently in recent months to argue against steep cuts.

"I don't even represent a square foot of Sarasota ," Galvano said. As for his work as Dean Towers ' attorney, Galvano said Florida has a part-time Legislature and its members have other jobs.

"It's a citizen Legislature. That's how we operate."

While county commissioners unanimously turned down Dean Towers ' request last Wednesday to build a 195-foot cell tower near Fruitville Road east of Interstate 75, Galvano noted that he won approval for the same company last year to build an equally tall tower off Clark Road .

A major difference this time was neighborhood resistance to the project that drew dozens of opponents, Galvano said. Since Dean's and Verizon's proposed towers were near each other, they had sparked "double the resistance" from neighbors.

Both projects were criticized at a May hearing of the Sarasota County Planning Commission and Verizon probably dropped out because of that opposition, Galvano said.

An attorney for Verizon, Laura Belflower, told county commissioners that her client objected to Dean's tower, noting that it was "speculative" since it had no agreements from any companies wishing to use it. Counties typically only approve cell towers on an "as needed" basis and allowing construction of towers before they are needed would set a precedent and lead to many more applications from other companies, she said.

Dean Jr. did not return a phone call made to the number he provided to county commissioners. Dean Sr. said he did not know his son had applied to build a cell tower in Sarasota County .

But he thought the complaint of fellow Republican Mercier was unwarranted.

"You mean you've got a county commissioner that is so powerful and awesome that people who have a license in the state of Florida to practice law can't practice in front of him because of an issue he perceives?"

Water district downplays family ties

By ROBERT P. KING

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Thursday, June 14, 2007

For more than two years, Lennart J. Lindahl has co-owned vacation property in Virginia 's Blue Ridge Mountains with the husband of Carol Wehle, executive director of the South Florida Water Management District.

Today, Lindahl's engineering firm is set to win a place at the table when the district doles out a $350 million smorgasbord of consulting work to dozens of companies.

How much business will any one company receive? That decision will be up to Wehle's staff.

Lindahl is the son of Lennart E. Lindahl, who served on the district's board for six years until he resigned abruptly last month, citing his history of life-threatening heart trouble. The father was still on the board when district executives reviewed the company's proposals earlier this year, with the name "Lindahl" displayed inside the spiral-bound volumes.

And the elder Lindahl has had his own dealings with the company, Boyle Engineering Corp., which bought out his Palm City engineering firm early last year. But he says he owns no stake in the company and doesn't stand to gain a cent from Boyle's success.

District lawyers say the relationships have passed ethical scrutiny, and Wehle and the elder Lindahl say they've taken extreme steps to separate their personal lives from business at the $1.4 billion-a-year district.

Meanwhile, the son has pledged in writing to give up his stake in the Virginia land "to remove any further negative perception."

The elder Lindahl and others at the district insist they are honest people who have followed all ethical requirements.

"I am not sure where you are getting your theories, but in my humble opinion, they seem to insinuate wrongdoing where there is none," district General Counsel Sheryl Wood wrote Wednesday in response to questions about the relationships.

Even so, newly appointed board Chairman Eric Buermann has asked an outside law firm to examine the vacation-home issue. That question arose about a month after an unrelated story in April, in which The Palm Beach Post reported that a district employee who signed off on a golf course permit was sharing a home with the consultant on the Palm Beach County project.

And the Lindahls aren't the only example of public and private interests meeting in the $350 million engineering initiative.

Of the 60 companies set to split 104 pieces of the lucrative work, one - Tetra Tech EC - had new district board member Melissa Meeker on its staff until this week. Meeker, an environmental consultant from Stuart, said she plans to abstain from any votes involving the company.

Another company, TKW Consulting Engineers, gave a job five years ago to Wehle's youngest daughter. The company is led by Trudi Williams, a former district chairwoman who is now a state legislator from Fort Myers .

If the board OKs the actions today in Orlando , the 60 companies would become part of a pool eligible to work on water, construction and other projects during the next five years.

The district's staff would negotiate contracts with each company before assigning the work. No company is guaranteed any specific amount.

Boyle applied for seven slots in the program and got three, dealing with civil engineering, construction management and full-service engineering. Under district rules, board members played no role in judging the proposals and were forbidden to talk to the employees who selected the firms, spokesman Randy Smith said.

The elder Lindahl calls potential conflicts the inevitable result of a successful career in the same fields the district oversees. State law requires board members to have "significant experience" in such subjects, including farming, engineering, the environment or finance.

"What do you want to have - idiots on the board?" he said. "If you have competent people who are the kind of people who you would entrust with handling billions of dollars, then those people have friends, business associates, family members."

The real question is whether people act ethically in handling such conflicts, he said, adding that he has.

"I sleep at night," he said.

Wehle said much the same thing in an interview last month. After the board appointed her to the district's top job in April 2005, she said, she's taken the extreme step of recusing herself from all contracts, permits and personnel decisions in the nearly 1,800-employee agency.

"I have a tremendous number of friends who work for engineering firms," said Wehle, who receives $187,803 a year.

The younger Lindahl could not be reached for comment this week.

But in a June 6 letter to a district-hired law firm, he wrote that he has known Wehle's husband, John, "since I was a teenager." He said he jumped at the chance to join John Wehle and district manager Jack Maloy - another longtime acquaintance - in ownership of a vacation home in Nelson County , Virginia .

The trio bought the vacant land for $24,500 from the younger Lindahl's parents in January 2005, according to Virginia property records. They later took out a $150,000 construction loan on the property, the records indicate.

District counsel Wood has said that under state ethics rulings, joint ownership of vacation property poses no conflict as long as it produces no income. But the younger Lindahl wrote in the June 6 letter that he will end the issue anyway by selling his share to Maloy and John Wehle.

"In my experience, it has always been better to do more than what is necessary," he wrote.

In documents submitted to the district, Lindahl identified himself as the water resources director for LBFH Inc. - the Palm City company his father founded, now owned by Boyle. He also described himself as "principal-in-charge," a term that generally means an owner of the company.

Meanwhile, his father has a three-year consulting contract with Boyle through a separate company he founded, Retaw Advisors LLC. ("Retaw" is "water" spelled backward.) The deal is intended to allow the elder Lindahl to assist the "integration" of the companies and requires Boyle to provide Retaw with office space, according to a district legal memo.

Even so, the district's lawyers advised the elder Lindahl in February that he could stay on the board while Boyle pursued a contract with the district. Among other reasons, they said the elder Lindahl doesn't stand to profit from Boyle's success, and his son doesn't own more than 5 percent of the company.

The lawyers said Lindahl would have to abstain from any vote affecting the company. He said he was prepared to do so - but then "my ticker took care of that."

The elder Lindahl said he sought the legal opinion to resolve all questions.

"As you can see from that opinion, it was a lot of due diligence and was not taken lightly," he said.

Growth blueprint: Business as usual

By MITRA MALEK

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Thursday, June 14, 2007

A "deadline" passed; meanwhile, county and state planners are still working toward a resolution on the sector plan.

That's arguably better than a judge deciding the fate of a crucial growth blueprint for Palm Beach County 's central-western area.

County commissioners adopted the sector plan in August 2005, but the state still hasn't signed off on it.

As things stand, the Florida Department of Community Affairs is reviewing the county's latest revision of the sector plan - its sixth submission so far. The county and state must let an administrative law judge know by July 16 whether they have reached a settlement.

If they haven't, they can ask for more time - that's most likely what the county would want. There's also a chance the state will say it has reached the end of its negotiating rope, leaving a resolution to the judge.

That almost happened several months ago, when county planners were scrambling to get direction from county commissioners on changes to the plan.

At that time, county planners stressed a May 1 deadline, the date by which they had to let the judge know where they stood on a settlement. A sense of urgency had surrounded the date because state planners hadn't seen enough movement from the county to continue negotiations, county officials said.

But on April 18, county commissioners voted to make some changes to the sector plan. That was followed by an April 24 settlement conference followed between county and state planners. That's when the state asked for the sixth revised submission of the plan.

Meanwhile, Palm Beach Gardens , Royal Palm Beach and West Palm Beach on May 29 became new intervenors in the sector plan settlement.

"We want to have a seat at the table," said Alex Hansen, West Palm Beach senior planner.

The city doesn't have specific concerns with the plan but wants to make sure potential impacts on its residents are evaluated, Hansen said.

Royal Palm Beach does have a concern: traffic.

"We want to know that the county is properly planning for it," said Assistant Village Manager Ray Liggins. "What we realized with Callery was that they were not necessarily looking at all the impacts."

The trio of municipalities conducted a study showing Callery-Judge Grove's recent proposal for a 10,000-home "town" would trigger a staggering $1 billion in road improvements. Commissioners shot down the project on May 15.

Under commissioners' April 18 revisions, 12,931 homes could be built on several large lots within the 85-square-mile sector plan area: 5,909 homes on GL Homes' Indian Trail Groves; 4,708 homes on 3,923-acre Callery-Judge Grove; 1,546 homes on EB Developers' property next to Indian Trail Groves; and 768 homes on Lion Country Safari.

The sector plan calls for a unit per 1.25 acres, or 1.2 units per acre if developers meet clustering and open space requirements.

 

Council OKs Project Recommendations

By Tom Palmer
The Ledger

BARTOW - Central Florida Regional Planning Council members unanimously approved recommendations Wednesday for the review of the proposed Clear Springs project.

Clear Springs is an 18,069-acre parcel inside and adjacent to Bartow that stretches from the east side of the Peace River to Agricola Road and from County Road 640 to Bartow Municipal Airport.

The proposal is to develop the property over the next 20 years into a mix of residential, industrial, commercial and agricultural uses.

Those uses will include 11,108 homes and apartments, 5 million square feet of research facilities and 21 million square feet of industrial.

The recommendations approved Wednesday outlined issues ranging from environmental protection and water supplies to compatibility with the rest of the city that should be addressed during the evaluation of the project by local officials.

The council's recommendations will be forwarded to Bartow and state planning officials as part of an alternative planning procedure called an "optional sector plan."

That process requires a developer to submit an overall plan, rather than breaking the project into phases, such as occurs under the traditional development of regional impact process, which is the way most large developments are reviewed.

"You need to know what the big picture is; what it will look like at buildout," said Georgianne Ratliff, senior vice president at WilsonMiller, a Tampa planning consultant involved in the project.

Much of the property was mined for phosphate before Clear Springs purchased it in 1999.

The issues laid out in the council's recommendations include:

Documenting the condition of the property in the aftermath of mining, including its suitability for development, sinkhole potential and hydrology.

Investigating the quantity and quality of the site's water resources.

Formulating a plan to provide land for schools and parks on the site, including dealing with policies against locating schools on mined land.

Ensuring there is range of housing types to provide housing for employees of businesses that locate at Clear Springs.

Evaluating the development's fiscal impact.

Developing a plan to document the transportation impacts and how the development's proposed road system fits with other planned roads and affects wildlife corridors along the Peace River .

Addressing potential conflicts with Bartow Airport .

Coming up with a proper "urban form" that will make Clear Springs consistent with other parts of Bartow, which contains a number of historic buildings, and will be consistent with environmental features such as rivers, lakes and creeks on the property.

"This is the beginning of the process," said Pat Steed, the planning council's executive director.

Bartow City Commissioner Pat Huff, a member of the planning council, said he likes what he has seen so far.

"I personally think it's a good idea," Huff said, adding he thinks proposals for reservoirs on the property may help the development's and Bartow's water supply prospects.

Clear Springs' Ratliff said more public meetings will be planned as the project progresses.

Clear Springs officials also plan to seek annexation into Bartow of the southwestern 6,000 acres in hopes of consolidating the review under one government agency. No date has been set for that action, they said.

Tom Palmer can be reached at 863-802-7535 or tom.palmer@theledger.com. Read more views on the environment at http://environment.theledger.com and more views on county government at http://county.theledger.com

Residents sign petition for building controls

BY CHRISTOPHER O'DONNELL

PARRISH -- Future commercial development in the village of Parrish could restrict long strip malls, tall signs and bright night lighting.

Manatee County commissioners on Tuesday voted unanimously to ask county staff to look into establishing guidelines for the village after being presented with a petition signed by more than 170 village residents.

The petition showcases buildings such as the new Manatee County Rural Health building on U.S. 301 that residents say reflects the rural character of Parrish. It also highlighted Ellenton Commons, which includes Butterfield's Restaurant and Leslie Wells Realty, as an example of strip malls residents do not want in Parrish.

The signatures were collected by a group of longtime Parrish residents, including Joe Whidden and the Rev. William "Brother Bud" Gillett.

"We want to have a better and more beautiful Parrish with the finest and most beautiful buildings," Gillett told commissioners.

The group met after hearing about Parrish Plantation, which includes almost 140,000 square feet of office and retail development at the southeast corner of U.S. 301 and State Road 62. Commissioners approved the project in May.

Guidelines for both commercial and residential development in the Parrish area already are stricter than the county standard. Passed by the county in 2005, the North Central Overlay mandates that developers build farther back from the road and include more landscaping.

But strong opposition from some business owners in Parrish meant that the village of Parrish was omitted from the overlay.

According to the petition, the new guidelines would not apply to existing businesses.

The residents have asked the Parrish Civic Association to work with the county on their behalf.

"I think this is significant," said Ben Jordan, the association's president. "This is the first time they have had any people in Parrish speak up about what they want."

Whidden said he is optimistic that commissioners, who in the past have complained that Parrish residents were divided about what they want, will act on the petition.

"I don't think there has been a consensus in the past," Whidden said. "Some officials thought that the people of Parrish wanted to be left alone."

Marion Building Department to cut 15 positions
Official: Slowdown in home construction causing the layoffs.

BY CHRISTOPHER CURRY
STAR-BANNER

OCALA - Marion County announced Wednesday that it will lay off 12 Building Department employees as the slowdown in residential construction continues to affect the local economy.

In total, the Building Department will eliminate 15 positions, 11 of them inspectors, and cut staff to 82. Three of the eliminated positions already were vacant.

Building director John O'Connor attributed the moves to the slowdown in residential construction. The department is funded through the money it generates in fees for licenses, permits and inspections.

The number of permits for new home construction issued in May was 12 percent greater than the number issued in April. Still the May figure was down 68 percent from the 596 permits issued in May 2006.

"It is very difficult to cut jobs," O'Connor said in a news release. "But we are committed to being appropriately sized for the amount of work we have to service. With the current level of building activity in Marion County , we had to take a long look at our personnel numbers.

"We are still performing a high volume of inspections each day, but the construction which generates the most inspections - new homes - has been trending down since last November," he went on to say.

The staff reduction will cut $200,000 from the department's budget in the last three months of the 2006-07 fiscal year. O'Connor said the department has added about five to 10 new positions annually during the residential housing boom of recent years.

"Now that the construction has slacked off, we just can't keep people on staff," he said.

Building Department spokeswoman Tracy Gale said department administrators hope the positions can be restaffed if construction activity picks up again significantly. She said each employee let go will stay on the payroll through June 29, and the county will work to assist them in finding them new jobs.

Gale said the county still sees a heavy volume of permit applications and inspection requests for room additions, roofing jobs, sheds and spa installations. But she said those jobs require one or two inspections, while construction of one new home usually requires 10.

In neighboring Lake County , the slowdown in residential construction led the Building Department to lay off 14 employees in April.

Ocala City Manager Paul Nugent said the city's building department has no layoffs planned at this time. Because the vast majority of home construction during the last few years' residential boom occurred in unincorporated Marion , the city has not had a need to add inspectors, Nugent said. Commercial and retail construction is on the rise in the city and that has kept Ocala 's inspectors busy, he added.

Christopher Curry may be reached at chris.curry@starbanner.com or (352) 867-4115.

POSITIONS ELIMINATED

11 inspectors
1 investigator
1 customer service representative
2 plans examiners
Source: Marion County
Building Department

HITTING HOME

Other local manifestations
of the downturn:
Hanson Roof Tile will soon stop manufacturing and convert to a distribution center. The jobs of nearly 60 employees are at risk.

Pulte Homes, developer of Fore Ranch, has cut its local work force by 16 people - a 15.7 percent drop - bringing the total to 86.

Biomass plant gets city's OK
By Julian Pecquet
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

The city of Tallahassee has a contract for a new biomass plant. Now all that's missing is some garbage to make it work.

On Wednesday, city commissioners approved a 30-year contract with Green Power Systems for a 35-megawatt plant that would produce electricity by heating garbage to produce a gas that's then used as a fuel source.

The technology is new. Only one similar plant exists; it's in Japan and only produces 8 megawatts.

But city officials pitched the contract as a risk-free deal.

"If energy isn't produced, if the project doesn't perform as expected, we won't have any expectations of purchase," said David Byrne, the city's director of energy services.

The agreements drew kudos from environmental activists, including one Leon County resident who has long been critical of the city for getting involved with a proposed coal plant in Taylor County .

"I think you're going in the right direction," Jim Walker said. "And you should be recognized when you're being innovative."

The plant is expected to be up and running by October 2010.

The next step for the plant is to get the garbage it needs to work from Leon and surrounding counties.

"We have to get the waste stream," said Paige Carter-Smith, a consultant working for Green Power Systems. "It's just a matter of getting the garbage."

Fill work at lake protects water supply

Boaters' illegal bypass channel dropped level of Lake Washington

BY RICK NEALE
FLORIDA TODAY

Like a reverse heart operation, barge crews are clogging and blocking a bypass artery around the Lake Washington weir to protect the water supply of 150,000 people across central Brevard County .

Workers are filling in an 800-foot channel carved by renegade boaters through the lake's uninhabited northwestern outskirts. The breached embankment leaked so much water -- up to 300 cubic feet per second -- that a mandatory emergency was nearly declared last April.

The St. Johns River Water Management District is dumping roughly 4,500 cubic yards of sand in total -- about five barge-loads a day -- to fill the breach.

The 4,632-acre reservoir serves as the primary source of drinking water for roughly 52,000 households and businesses in Melbourne, Indialantic, Satellite Beach, Indian Harbour Beach, Melbourne Beach, Palm Shores, Melbourne Village, West Melbourne and some unincorporated areas.

Rarely if ever are the alligator-inhabited wilds surrounding the Lake Washington weir -- like a dam that lets some water through -- glimpsed by these utility customers. Here, behind a new $300,300 sheet-piling barricade, a large crane unloads and spreads the sand atop the illegal channel. This $258,201 sand-fill undertaking started last week and should wrap up next month.

"Airboats came through and made a path, and the boats followed the path. And when there was high water, it wasn't a problem," said Ralph Brown, project manager. "But when the water level fell, the boats prop-dredged the channel."

Enlarged by erosion, the marshy channel grew to 40 feet across at its widest point. Depth hit 5 feet in spots, he said.

"(Water) was ripping through here," he described.

Last spring, this aquatic hemorrhage dropped the lake level to a mere 11.57 feet above mean sea level. A water emergency is automatically declared at the 11-foot threshold, slapping restrictions on washing cars, filling swimming pools and other aqua-activities.

Melbourne 's last water emergency was declared in 1987, during a severe drought.

As of Tuesday, lake depth stood at 12.84 feet, according to water district records.

Brown said 1 foot to 1.5 feet of muck and topsoil eventually will be hauled atop the bypass channel, letting the site re-vegetate and blend in with the surrounding marsh.

At the breezeless concrete weir earlier this week, turkey buzzards picked apart a pair of fish carcasses on the shell-dotted riverbank. Hundreds of orange-winged butterflies fluttered around the bypass channel, congregating in clusters atop freshly dumped sand.

Just downstream from the dam, the St. Johns River resembled a puny parking-lot puddle -- only about 6-feet across and 1.5-inches deep. A handful of mudfish lurked at the bottoms of the deeper pools.

The sand-transporting barge is visible from Lake Washington Park . Propelled by two 27-foot boats with twin 371-cubic-inch motors, the barge can carry about three dump trucks' worth of spoils trucked over from the Crane Creek dredging project in downtown Melbourne .

Each voyage to the weir takes about two hours.

"The gators have been following us. I don't know if that's a good or a bad omen," joked Thomas White, a Beyel Brothers Marine Towing captain who pilots the barge. "They're not even scared of us anymore."

Contact Neale at 242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com.

Demands on roads pressing

Citrus is gone and homes are coming -- now what?

Robert Sargent
Sentinel Staff Writer

June 14, 2007

GROVELAND -- More than three decades ago, the state began planning for a road to get trucks through the vast citrus groves between State Road 19 and U.S. Highway 27 north of this city.

Construction crews built part of County Road 478 -- also known as Cherry Lake Road -- but much of the project was left unfinished. Years later the county paved over the remaining series of clay paths.

Most of the citrus trees are now gone. But more and more vehicles are using the roads as residential development creeps in.

That area could be filled in the next decade or so with thousands of proposed homes. So county officials are looking at ways to rebuild the connector to better handle enormous growth.

The Lake County Public Works Department will hold a public meeting today to present a new transportation study that will look at future traffic demands. Discussions begin at 5:30 p.m. at Minneola City Hall , 800 N. U.S. Highway 27.

Nearly 8 miles of two-lane roadway along Cherry Lake and East Apshawa roads -- some with sharp turns, crumbling shoulders and aging asphalt -- will need significant improvement as Groveland and Minneola expand, Public Works Director Jim Stivender said.

"If we're going to be expecting the two cities to be growing in that area, we'd better be planning an east-west route to handle traffic," Stivender said.

Possible improvements include new pavement, shoulders and extra lanes.

Stivender said the western part of Cherry Lake near S.R. 19 could be redirected through a massive new residential development planned at Cherry Lake Tree Farm. The proposal from farm owner IMG Enterprises would redevelop about 1,000 acres to build about 3,300 new homes. Also proposed are 190,000 square feet of commercial and retail businesses and 150,000 square feet of office space.

Aside from that project, Groveland expects to have about 7,000 future homes in the area. The Estates of Cherry Lake and Cascades are building about 2,000 homes.

East of there, Minneola also is planning for huge growth, including the Hills of Minneola -- a sprawling development planned for nearly 4,000 homes and about 3 million square feet of retail outlets, offices and industrial buildings.

The city also is looking to annex the Sugarloaf Mountain development, which is planned for 2,200 homes.

West of Groveland, Mascotte also is looking to grow. That city recently reached a settlement with state planners over development proposals that would allow as many as 4,000 new homes -- enough to triple the size of the city.

Robert Sargent can be reached at rsargent@orlandosentinel.com or 352-742-5909.

Commute is lonely -- but options are limited

Jay Hamburg and Sarah Langbein
Sentinel Staff Writers

June 14, 2007

Kim Spencer would love to be among the nearly 5 percent of Americans who use public transportation or the 11 percent who carpool to work.

Despite $3-a-gallon gasoline and a couple of valiant efforts, the Seminole County woman just can't seem to fit a carpool into her busy life, which stretches from home in Winter Springs to her job near Orlando's tourist strip.

"My main concern is getting to and from work each day in the time frame I have to do it in," said Spencer, who works at Lockheed Martin and often needs to make stops for errands after work.

So, instead, she is part of the 77 percent of Americans and 80 percent of Floridians who commute alone in cars or trucks, according to a study released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The figures show that in Florida and across the nation, the number of drivers commuting alone has increased by about 1.5 percent since 2000.

The notion that soaring gas prices would have so little impact on commuting habits surprises some transportation experts.

"If you asked us five years ago what we thought of $3-a-gallon gas, we'd all be saying that everyone would be walking," said Alan Pisarski, a Virginia-based consultant who has studied commuter behavior for the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences.

Pisarski said commuters have gradually acclimated themselves to the increasing prices and seem to be taking more pains to save gas. Instead of making several trips between home, work, store, school and extra activities for the kids, they try to get them all done in one fell swoop.

With suburbs still spreading across the nation, it's often hard for workers to find buses or trains to bring them within walking distance of their job. And with neighbors heading off to work in different directions, it's not easy to organize car pools.

"In many cases, there's not that many other options," Pisarski said.

Spencer's employer offers its workers seven Lynx vans for morning and evening commutes.

"I tried to get on one, but they're all full," Spencer said.

Even so, Spencer, like many commuters, needs access to quick transportation for doctors' appointments or other errands.

The Lynx bus agency has 56 van pools in service, and there are 12 groups on the waiting list for one, spokesman Matthew Friedman said. The agency's van program, which depends on funding from supporting partners, is expected to roll out 15 more by early August.

Although Lynx ridership has been growing steadily during the past six years, only 1.7 percent of commuters in the Orlando area use public transportation. And that's third-best in the state.

The greater Miami area led with 3.6 percent of workers using public transit. Gainesville was second at 2.9 percent. Tallahassee was fourth at 1.5 percent.

Although a high price at the pump may not change the way most people commute, it could affect the way they choose their next home, condo or apartment, said Steven Polzin, an analyst at the Center for Urban Transportation Research at the University of South Florida .

"People will think twice about living two counties away from work," said Polzin, who analyzed the census data to get figures for Florida cities.

Although workers cannot change the way they commute, Polzin said, families with two or more cars might change the way they use their cars. "There will be the question of: "Am I going to use the big SUV, or am I going to use the smaller sedan?'"

The highest use of public transportation was in New York , at 54 percent. Boston had the most walking commuters at almost 13 percent, and Portland , Ore. , had the most biking commuters at 3.5 percent.

In Florida , those who walk to work decreased slightly since 2000 to 1.6 percent. But those who work at home increased from 3.0 percent to 3.6 percent.

With no better options than driving alone to work, Spencer has honed her commuting skills.

She has tested various routes and times for her trip and knows the side streets in case congestion threatens to stall her 35-minute trip.

"You have the 6:30 [a.m.] crowd, and you have to go 85 or 90 [mph] with them," she said. "The 7 o'clock crowd, they're not so rushed. I like the 7 o'clock crowd."

But at 7 a.m., it's nearly certain that she'll get stuck in traffic.

So she usually hits the road at 6:30 a.m., and as cars go zipping past her on State Road 417, it reminds her that there ought to be a better alternative.

"I don't feel really safe out here," she said.

Jay Hamburg can be reached at jhamburg@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5673. Sarah Langbein can be reached at 407-420-5020 or slangbein@orlandosentinel.com.