Developer
reaped millions for biotech park never built
Under
the watch of local government, a
By
Jason Grotto
jgrotto@miamiherald.com
On
a muggy day in June 2005, some of
Donning
hard hats and armed with shovels, they stood in the middle of the shadeless
lot, posing for pictures in front of a large lithograph portraying
state-of-the-art buildings, tidy lawns and streets lined with palm
trees.
There,
in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the country, developer Dennis
Stackhouse promised to build a massive biopharmaceutical park, where
multinational drug companies and prestigious universities would develop
cutting-edge medical advances and
StackhouseMore
than 1,500 high-paying jobs would follow, along with hundreds of
millions in investments and tax revenue -- enough to make it the most
dramatic economic development project ever seen in Miami-Dade.
This
''is exactly the kind of job-producing investment that we have needed in
Liberty City for decades,'' said U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, a champion of
Liberty City and one of the park's most vocal supporters.
Since
then, county leaders have invested millions in Stackhouse's biotech
project, using public money set aside to help the poor.
Here
is what taxpayers received in return: empty lots, dormant earthmovers
and piles of dirt and gravel with no sign of the buildings, the biotech
companies or the high-tech jobs promised to
Instead,
Stackhouse diverted more than $500,000 from the park through double
billings and dubious expenses while paying a bevy of political insiders
to rally support for the troubled project, a seven-month Miami Herald
investigation found.
Among
those insiders: former congresswoman Carrie Meek, who received at least
$40,000 and a free luxury car from Stackhouse to consult on the project
while her son -- U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek -- moved to secure federal
dollars for the developer; and County Commissioner Dorrin
Rolle, who landed thousands in campaign cash
and a $10,000 donation to a nonprofit he runs.
Along
the way, county leaders failed to detect questionable spending,
overlooked chronic delays and neglected to vet the developer's track
record -- even while
POVERTY
AGENCY'S ROLE EMPOWERMENT TRUST HAD OVERSIGHT POWER
Poinciana
chartsAt the center of the county's
breakdowns lies the Miami-Dade Empowerment Trust, a county-funded
nonprofit that oversees the biotech park while holding a 5 percent
interest in the deal.
The
trust was supposed to monitor Stackhouse's spending and file progress
reports and audited financial statements with the county. But it has yet
to produce a single report or track how Stackhouse used the public's
money.
The
first phase of the
Today,
the only progress at Poinciana is the beginnings of the five-story
garage going up in a neighborhood where many families can't afford cars.
Potential cost to taxpayers: $23 million.
Thousands
of pages of court records, county documents, internal e-mails, bank
records and canceled checks obtained by The Miami Herald show the
ambitious plan has placed millions of tax dollars and acres of public
land at risk while setting back the revitalization of Liberty City for
years.
Among
the newspaper's findings:
•
After the county spent millions preparing one of its last open stretches
of public land for development, the trust gave Stackhouse's company
control over half of it for 75 years -- then
allowed him to use the land as collateral for a $4.2 million private
loan while paying just $1,500 a month in rent.
•
A year later, the trust provided Stackhouse's company with a $3 million
interest-free county loan despite the developer's financial record,
which is marred by foreclosures, liens, and a bankruptcy totaling more
than $20 million.
•
Once he had access to the county's money, Stackhouse diverted more than
$500,000 from the project by submitting more than 40 bills to the trust
that had already been paid with the private loan, including construction
expenses, architectural fees and property taxes.
In
one case, he turned in the same $26,000 invoice three times --
collecting a total of $78,000 from the trust.
•
Stackhouse pitched the project to local leaders by claiming
multinational companies and world-class universities would lease
thousands of square feet and employ hundreds of people.
But
most of the tenants touted by Stackhouse told The
•
In fact, the only biotech firm committed to moving into the park is a
But
MediVector is little more than a small
consulting firm run by one of Stackhouse's longtime business partners
from a 300-square-foot office in Cambridge.
''I'm
just so disappointed,'' said Carrie Meek, who acknowledges she received
money, a car and rent-free office space for her foundation from
Stackhouse. ``I saw this project as a great opportunity for the
community.''
Kendrick
Meek said he did not know his mother was provided money and perks from
Stackhouse. The congressman said his mother never approached him about
funding the project with federal dollars and that his support is based
on the community's needs.
''We
want to assist any project that is going to create jobs and
opportunities,'' he said.
DEVELOPER'S
THOUGHTS HE PLACES
Stackhouse
proposalStackhouse defends the project,
saying the park will bring much-needed jobs and investments to
He
denied any wrongdoing and said the double billing could have been a
clerical error.
''If
it were $500,000 -- and I doubt that it is -- what is that? Five percent
of what's been spent?'' he said.
Although
he told the County Commission he had big-name tenants lined up for the
park, Stackhouse told The Miami Herald the list is not firmed up: ``Who
the ultimate mix of tenants are remains to be seen.''
The
trust also defends the project. ''We still feel strongly, 100 percent
behind this project,'' said Chief Executive Officer Aundra
Wallace.
When
fully built, Stackhouse said, the
Yet,
unlike Scripps -- which received $310 million in start-up money from the
state and boasts 11 Nobel laureates on its board -- MediVector,
the park's anchor tenant, has never developed a drug on its own.
In
fact, the company received a $300,000 grant from the Empowerment Trust
in March just to write a business plan.
This
isn't the first time a Stackhouse company has landed county money to
bring the trendy biotech industry to a distressed area of Miami-Dade.
Three
years ago, one of his businesses received $2.2 million from the county
to buy medical equipment for an office building it was constructing in Opa-locka
that he said would lure a biotech firm to the job-hungry city.
The
name of the firm: MediVector.
But
MediVector never moved to Opa-locka,
and Stackhouse used the money instead to help with building costs and
pay down a construction loan.
Now
Stackhouse says MediVector will anchor the
biotech park in
REACTION
TO VIOLENCE BUSINESSES MOVED OUT; NEW ONES DIDN'T COME
Nearly
three decades ago, racial tensions in Miami-Dade erupted in a frenzy of
violence after the acquittal of four white police officers charged with
beating an unarmed black man to death.
In
the aftermath of the May 1980 riot, many businesses packed up and moved
to the suburbs, taking thousands of inner-city jobs with them.
To
reverse the trend, federal, state and local leaders promised to plant a
seed along
The
county spent millions of tax dollars building roads, installing
utilities and preparing the site for development. But to this day, the
After
more than a decade of failed attempts to revitalize Poinciana, the
It
was the trust's largest economic development project, but the poverty
agency never solicited bids to develop the site. Instead, the trust
began negotiations with Stackhouse in 2003 after he came forward with
his own proposal.
Although
there is no record of how the trust evaluated Stackhouse's plan, the
agency spent two years hashing out a deal with him.
During
that time, the trust also began to loosen its purse strings.
In
February 2005 -- three months before signing a formal deal -- the trust
put up $100,000 for predevelopment expenses. Three months later, it
leased Stackhouse 15 acres of county land in Poinciana for 75 years and
became a 5 percent partner in a company controlled by Stackhouse.
''It
was a vision we gave birth to, fought hard for and planned out over many
long days and nights,'' said Wallace, the chief executive officer of the
trust, in a February press release.
A
month after signing the lease, Stackhouse spent $10,000 on the
groundbreaking ceremony, which featured food, music and a large
air-conditioned tent.
OPTIMISTIC
APPROACH FIRST PHASE PROMISED FOR COMPLETION IN 2006
With
the Meeks, Rolle and other prominent county
leaders present, the event generated a flurry of press releases claiming
the first phase of the project -- three buildings and a parking garage
-- would be completed by the fall of 2006 and that more than 1,500 jobs
would follow.
''This
project creates real employment opportunities for our residents in
high-paying fields,'' said Rolle, whose
district includes the park.
Six
months after the groundbreaking, Stackhouse's company secured a $4.2
million loan by mortgaging its lease on the county's land to a Boston
real estate investment firm called Tremont Realty Capital.
Then,
last August, the trust gave Stackhouse's company a $3 million
interest-free loan to help build a 1,500-car parking garage.
As
the trust's point person on the Poinciana deal, Chief Financial Officer
Rodney Carey had the right to review how every dollar was spent on the
park. So did Chief Executive Officer Wallace.
In
fact, under its agreement with the county, the trust was supposed to
file progress reports and financial statements regularly.
But
the trust failed to submit a single report or monitor how Stackhouse
used public funds.
Wallace
defends the agency, saying, ``It's not like we don't know what's going
on with the project.''
Yet,
between August and December 2006, Stackhouse submitted dozens of
invoices to the trust that had already been submitted to Tremont.
The
bills totaled more than $500,000, according to invoices and requisitions
obtained by The Miami Herald.
His
company drew down nearly $200,000 in public money using invoices from
the contractor hired to build the parking garage -- even though records
show the bills had been paid months earlier
with the private loan.
He
did the same thing with $100,000 in architect fees, $15,000 in loan
fees, nearly $60,000 in engineering bills and even $17,000 in property
taxes.
When
asked by The Miami Herald about the double billing, Stackhouse said he
tried to track the invoices and payments but could not determine whether
he submitted bills to the trust that had already been paid.
''I'm
not saying it's not possible,'' Stackhouse said. ``As I sit here this
very second, I don't know.''
Wallace
and Carey, meanwhile, admit they never monitored how Stackhouse used the
private loan -- even though it was secured with county land -- and never
detected the duplicate bills.
Yet
there were discrepencies even with invoices
submitted only to the trust.
In
one case, Stackhouse triple-billed the trust for a $26,000 construction
management expense -- receiving $78,000 without paying the contractor.
Stackhouse
says the bill has since been paid.
The
trust also paid more than $80,000 in overhead expenses and
administrative fees without receipts, invoices or other supporting
documents.
An
additional $75,000 in project funds was drawn down using phony invoices
that Stackhouse's former assistant vice president for administration,
Carolina Misle, said she created on her
computer.
''Dennis
[Stackhouse] would come and ask me to do my magic when he needed
money,'' said Misle, who gathered the
information and submitted the bills to the trust and the private
investment firm.
The
invoices included the logo of Coa-Dal
Security, which was supposedly paid for guarding an empty lot.
But
company representative Mark Coats said the firm has never been paid.
''Not
one copper penny,'' he said.
In
fact, Coats said the company never even submitted invoices to
Stackhouse's company.
To
persuade the county to sign on to the project, Stackhouse said MediVector
would move its headquarters to
As
the driving force behind the project, MediVector
would lease tens of thousands of square feet in the park, according to
tenant lists submitted to the county.
Also
listed as prospective tenants: the multinational drug giant Wyeth
Pharmaceuticals, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an
Australian-based firm called the Brain Resource Company -- key
organizations giving the proposal instant credibility.
PROSPECTIVE
TENANTS 'ANCHOR' FIRM IS SMALL; OTHERS NOT INTERESTED
Double
billingBut in documents submitted to the
county, MediVector says it has just 15
employees -- which means the company would
have to grow tenfold to fulfill Stackhouse's promises to the county.
MediVector's
chief, Api Rudich,
would not comment.
A
spokeswoman for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, meanwhile, spent weeks trying to
find evidence of a deal involving Poinciana before giving up.
''To
the best of our knowledge, nothing formal has been signed with these
folks,'' said Wyeth's Angela Palmari, the
vice president of communications.
MIT's
Center for Biomedical Innovation showed interest in doing research at
the park, but Stackhouse claimed that MIT would employ 75 people and
lease thousands of square feet of office space.
''No,
that is not accurate,'' said Frank Douglas, the center's former
executive director, who resigned earlier this month.
Center
officials now say they won't be involved at all.
Stackhouse
also told the
''It's
not true, I'm afraid,'' said Mimma Mason,
Brain Resource's vice president of marketing.
``Our
head office will remain in
Stackhouse
could provide no documents confirming the company's interest in
''I
never spoke to the Brain Resource Company,'' Stackhouse told The Miami
Herald.
Meanwhile,
he made virtually no progress on the bricks-and-mortar side of the
equation, records show.
The
first phase of the park is slated to cost $125 million, and Stackhouse
has repeatedly told the county he has money lined up to pay for it.
He
told The Miami Herald last November that he had secured $60 million in
tax-exempt bonds -- but records show he applied for just $12.5 million
in 2003 and never got the money.
His
application has since expired.
At
a hearing before the
''We've
already been assured we'd have it, we're past that,'' Stackhouse told
commissioners.
It
turns out the grant is far from a sure thing. In fact, Stackhouse asked
Carrie Meek to go to
Triple
billingDespite the lack of financing, the
County Commission agreed in January to invest $23 million more in the
project by signing on to buy the parking garage that Stackhouse promises
to build in the next two years.
Cost
per space: nearly $15,000.
The
deal was approved by County Manager George Burgess and his top aides --
Assistant County Managers Cynthia Curry and Roger Carlton.
To
ensure taxpayers are not stuck with an empty garage and no other
buildings in place, Burgess and his staff say they put protections into
the contract to make sure the rest of the biotech park gets done.
''This
guy [Stackhouse] is not going to see the first penny of the county's
money until the thing is built,'' Burgess said.
Among
other things, those protections require Stackhouse's company to have
leases for 75 percent of one building and letters of intent for 100
percent of another.
The
county also will put $1.5 million into escrow until the buildings are
completed, and Stackhouse had to sign a personal guarantee that allows
the county to sue him directly if he doesn't get the job done.
But
less than six months later, some of those protections are breaking down.
Stackhouse
turned in the leases and letters of intent in February, but two of the
three documents are signed by Api Rudich
-- the president of MediVector.
According
to the records, MediVector and a company
called the
Yet
the trust's Wallace acknowledges that MediVector
is ``almost like a virtual company.''
The
The
third lease is signed by
The
new rent: $350,000 a year, or four times what it currently pays.
The
$1.5 million the county will keep in escrow is a fraction of the total
cost of the garage.
And
Stackhouse's personal guarantee?
The
Suffolk County Courthouse in
In
1998, Stackhouse told a judge he was insolvent and unemployed to avoid
paying a $225,000 judgment against him.
But
court records and canceled checks show he had been using business
accounts to pay for his son's boarding school and rent on a luxury condo
in downtown
DEVELOPER
QUESTIONED MOST COMMISSIONERS SUPPORT THE PROJECT
By
the time Stackhouse appeared before the
''We've
been burned a couple of times before,'' Gimenez
said.
In
the end, the commission voted 11-2 to purchase the garage, with
''We
will not let you down,'' said Commissioner Rolle.
``We
know it's a good deal for the inner city. We know it's a good deal for
the county.''
Stalled
Developer
Dennis Stackhouse received millions of taxpayer dollars after several
community leaders backed his plan for a
He
had no financing to build buildings, no tenants to fill them, and no
experience constructing the high-tech facilities required by
pharmaceutical companies to test and manufacture drugs.
What
he did have: an all-star lineup of lobbyists, lawyers, consultants and
politicians who drummed up support -- and, in some cases, millions of
public dollars -- for a biotech project in
His
roster includes a powerful county commissioner, a former chairman of the
state House Appropriations Committee, a board member of
As
the biotech park stalled and Stackhouse diverted more than $500,000 from
a county poverty agency through double billing and dubious expenses, he
spent hundreds of thousands on political insiders in
Former
U.S. Rep. Carrie Meek, who has a street named after her just blocks from
the proposed park, received at least $40,000 from one of Stackhouse's
companies, a leased Cadillac Escalade and a 2,600-square-foot office for
her foundation, rent-free.
She
was paid as her son, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, requested millions of
federal dollars for the biotech project, congressional records show.
Lobbyists,
lawyers and consultants took in hundreds of thousands more.
Today,
the
''
Kendrick
Meek defended his involvement in the project, saying he grew up in the
neighborhood and supported the project because he believed it would
revive
He
said "there is absolutely no connection" between his efforts
to fund the project and his mother's involvement with Stackhouse.
''She's
never asked me -- and I will be very clear -- to do any appropriations
on behalf of the biotech park,'' he said.
Carrie
Meek said she is a private citizen and was paid by Stackhouse as a
consultant for the project.
She
said she never lobbied her son on behalf of the developer or had any
role in securing public money for the biotech park.
"I
did not ever discuss the biotech park . . . with my son," she said.
"I have been in public service for over 37 years and pride myself
on the fact that I have maintained my reputation and integrity
throughout my tenure."
Stackhouse
also said Carrie Meek had nothing to do with her son's requests for
federal dollars.
"It's
totally unrelated," he said. "Trust me."
As
a relative newcomer to Miami-Dade, Stackhouse benefited from an
abundance of access and credibility as he moved to secure acres of
public land and millions of tax dollars set aside to fight poverty.
Nothing
helps explain his success more than his relationship with Carrie Meek,
who spent a decade in Congress as one of
Meek
told The Miami Herald that her involvement in the biotech park began in
2003, when Stackhouse approached her to become a consultant. She said
her agreement with Stackhouse lasted until mid-2004.
''I
searched her out,'' Stackhouse said. ``In the inner city, depressed
areas, perception is nine-tenths of the battle. She's like Mother
Teresa.''
In
March 2004, Carrie Meek lent her name to a nonprofit created by
Stackhouse called the Carrie Meek Biopharmaceutical Institute.
Invoking
the name of the former congresswoman from
The
institute was supposed to be a partnership between
But
records and interviews show that the nonprofit exists only on paper,
with Stackhouse as the sole officer.
There
is no building. There are no students. And the institute hasn't trained
a single worker since it was created three years ago.
In
June 2005, Carrie Meek showed up at the park's lavish groundbreaking
ceremony.
''It's
no secret,'' Meek said at the event. ``The primary problem that has
plagued our
Since
then, however, nothing has been built, and the park is months behind
schedule.
Despite
the delays, Meek said she hadn't talked with Stackhouse in detail about
the project since the groundbreaking.
''I
am not involved in the day-to-day, week-to-week work,'' she said.
Then,
in April, Stackhouse approached her about traveling to
During
the meeting, Meek was direct: ``Governor, we'd like to ask you today
whether or not we can count on your support for this project.''
Crist
promised to review the deal and visit
Although
Meek does not appear as a consultant on any document related to the
project, bank records obtained by The Miami Herald show that a
Stackhouse company paid her at least $40,000 between February and
December 2004.
''I
briefly served as a paid consultant for Dennis Stackhouse, advising him
on community needs and issues, community-based groups and problems,''
she said.
For
the past two years, she has had the free use of a luxury car registered
to one of Stackhouse's companies, records show.
Meek
said the car is part of ''an in-kind contribution'' to her nonprofit,
the Carrie Meek Foundation.
Stackhouse,
however, said she needed the car to work on the biotech park.
Records
obtained by The Miami Herald show that he tried to pay for Meek's car
lease with project money from a private loan he received using county
land as collateral. But when he submitted the $3,998 car bill, the
lender refused to reimburse him for the expense.
That
prompted an exchange between Stackhouse's assistant vice president of
administration and the loan officer for the
''This
car is used by Congresswoman Meek, she is part of the BIOPHARMACEUTICAL
INSTITUTE as a tenant and liaison with Jackson Memorial, [Florida
A&M] & [Miami Dade College]. Why would this not be covered under
Public Relations?'' the bookkeeper wrote in a July 2006 e-mail.
The
loan officer provided a curt response: ``I know what it's for -- I can't
justify paying for her car!''
Canceled
checks show that Stackhouse used the biotech park's bank account to make
at least some of the lease payments.
Other
than the private loan, the only source of funding for Poinciana is a $3
million interest-free loan from the Miami-Dade Empowerment Trust, a
county-funded nonprofit poverty agency that is overseeing the biotech
park.
Stackhouse
acknowledged that he used project funds to pay for the car, saying, ``This
was a Poinciana [
Besides
money and cars, a Stackhouse company also provided the Carrie Meek
Foundation with free rent on a 2,600-square-foot office in his building
in Opa-locka, according to rent rolls
obtained by The Miami Herald and interviews with Meek and Stackhouse.
While
Carrie Meek received tens of thousands of dollars and a free car from
the developer, her son moved to secure millions of federal dollars for
the park. In 2004, Kendrick Meek obtained a $72,750 earmark in the
federal budget to fund the park -- six months before the county signed a
formal deal with Stackhouse.
The
congressman helped get a $1 million labor grant for Miami Dade College
in June 2005 to ''train 800 technicians and related workers for the
[Poinciana] Biopharmaceutical Park,'' according to a press release from
the congressman's office.
Then,
in April 2006, he requested $4 million in federal funds for Stackhouse's
project, according to appropriations requests obtained by The Miami
Herald.
Meek
failed to obtain the funds last year, but documents submitted by
Stackhouse to the county since then show that Meek has requested money
again this year.
Meek
said that the requests were handled by his staff and that his mother
held no sway in the efforts to get federal money for the park.
''There's
a lot going on in this office,'' he said. ``It's a staff-driven
process.''
In
Miami-Dade, Meek chaired a county anti-poverty task force that in 2004
loaned a Stackhouse company $2.2 million for the building it owns in Opa-locka
-- where the Carrie Meek Foundation receives free office space.
Kendrick
Meek said that he could not recall details of the loan from the Urban
Revitalization Task Force and that he never played a large role in the
organization. Records from task force meetings show that Meek didn't
vote on the loan and was not present when the loan was approved.
For
more than a year, Stackhouse has failed to make payments on the loan and
now his company owes the county more than $140,000, records show.
In
2005, the same task force awarded a different Stackhouse company another
$3 million loan, this one for the
The
task-force chairman at the time: Anthony Williams, Kendrick Meek's
former chief of staff and now executive director of the Carrie Meek
Foundation.
Because
Stackhouse has failed to deliver a single building for the park, he
hasn't drawn down that money. But the developer is still required to
make interest payments.
To
date, his company owes the county nearly $70,000 in late payments.
Between
the two loans, Stackhouse's companies now owe
Inside
County Hall, no one has been more vocal in pushing Stackhouse's troubled
project than County Commissioner Dorrin Rolle,
whose district includes the biopharmaceutical park.
Rolle
was the driving force behind the county's decision to purchase a $23
million parking garage for the park, although Stackhouse acknowledges
that he has no financing to pay for the buildings to go with it.
Rolle
even asked to move the deal through the commission a month early,
records show. ''The purpose of this request is to fast-track . . . this
project that substantially benefits District 2 and Miami-Dade Community
as a whole,'' Rolle wrote to commission
Chairman Bruno Barreiro in January.
Along
the way, Stackhouse, nine of his companies and three employees
contributed $8,000 to the commissioner's 2006 reelection campaign,
according to records and interviews.
In
May 2006, seven months before Rolle urged
fellow commissioners to support the parking garage, Stackhouse used
another $10,000 in project funds to make a donation to the nonprofit
agency headed by Rolle, the James E. Scott
Community Association.
''We've
been trying to develop Poinciana since I was knee-high to a
grasshopper,'' Rolle later told his fellow
commissioners.
Rolle
did not respond to repeated calls and an e-mail seeking comment.
Stackhouse
also spent more than $100,000 meant for the biopharmaceutical
park on lobbyists in
When
seeking a $20 million appropriation in the state budget during last
year's legislative session, for example, he paid thousands to the
This
time, he had five lobbyists promoting the biotech park -- including the
former chairman of the state House Appropriations Committee, Republican
Joe Negron of Stuart.
Five
months before applying for the money in January, Stackhouse used $10,000
in project funds to contribute to the Florida Republican Party,
according to campaign finance reports.
State
Rep. Adam Hasner, a Republican from
The
Legislature did not approve the request, so Stackhouse applied for a $20
million state grant and asked Meek in May to urge the governor to
support it. The application is pending.
According
to project records, no firm has made more money lobbying, consulting and
lawyering for the biotech park than the
Records
from the Stackhouse company developing the
park show that the law firm has received more than $250,000 in project
funds during the past four years.
As
many as a half-dozen Akerman lawyers have
lobbied state and local leaders, handled lawsuits against the developer,
and even fought a records request by the Miami-Dade Ethics Commission,
which was investigating an Opa-locka city
commissioner whose nonprofit received free rent in Stackhouse's building
while the commissioner voted to give his company tax breaks.
In
all, Stackhouse companies received commitments for nearly $30 million in
public money from county leaders since he began to push the biotech park
in 2003.
That
includes $23 million the
''This
little project that couldn't has turned doubters into believers,''
Commissioner Rolle said after the vote.
Drought
a welcome reprieve for rivers
By
RACHEL SIMMONSEN
Monday,
June 25, 2007
On
land, the drought means shrinking ponds and lawns that crunch underfoot.
For
local rivers, it means relief.
Months
of below-normal rainfall have been a boon for the St. Lucie and Indian
rivers, where toxic algae blooms, unhealthy levels of bacteria and
chocolate-brown water were the norm two years ago.
"The
river really looks wonderful, the best it's looked in years," Kevin
Stinnette, executive director of the Indian Riverkeeper
group, said of the
Things
also have improved in the St. Lucie River, where diminished rainfall and
the lack of freshwater discharges from
Rebounding
salinity levels mean oysters are thriving, and that could improve
clarity even more, said Mark Perry, executive director of the
Salt
levels just right
Organizers
had hoped to launch the oyster program two years ago, but massive
discharges from
Today,
nearly 60 volunteers grow oysters under their docks for about two
months, or until the shellfish are about 2 or 3 millimeters wide. Then a
research specialist from the oceanographic society collects them and
adds them to an oyster bed in the St. Lucie River near
"They're
doing really well, especially in the South Fork,"
Higher
salinity also means rebounding sea grass, particularly in the
Along
with sea grass, fish populations appear to be growing.
"Typically,
when you see a lot of fresh water for an extended period of time, it
kind of pushes fish out toward the ocean," said Jim Whittington, a
biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
With
salinity shooting up in the St. Lucie River, scientists are spotting
more croakers, drums and bait species, Whittington said.
Port
St. Lucie angler Phil Tafoya said a neighbor
caught a 3-foot bull shark off his dock in the
"We're
definitely seeing a lot more fish than we have in years," Tafoya
said.
Celebrating
what's missing
The
benefits of the drought are seen not only in what has returned to the
rivers, but what's missing. Gone are the massive blooms of blue-green
algae that blanketed parts of the lagoon in 2005 and were spawned in
part by lake discharges.
Gone
too are the unhealthy levels of fecal coliform
bacteria, which prompted health officials to warn against touching the
water in parts of the St. Lucie River that year. The DEP's
Ashworth said water monitoring about every month and a half this year
has turned up no excessive levels of the bacteria, which can cause
intestinal illness and infections in eyes and ears.
Still,
the drought hasn't cured all the rivers' ills, activists say.
"It's
going to be a really long recovery process," said Kevin Henderson,
executive director of the St. Lucie River Initiative.
Accumulated
pollutants have created a layer of muck that covers much of the river
bottom, and whenever there's enough wind or boat traffic to stir it up,
"then it's all back to chocolate milk again," Henderson said.
"Until we get the muck sediments removed, we're not going to see
significant improvement in water
quality."
Activists
are counting on Congress to pass the Water Resources Development Act
this year, despite failing to do so for the past several years. If
approved, the measure would include funding to remove about 7.5 million
cubic acres of muck from the St. Lucie Estuary, Perry said.
Activists
also realize the drought won't last forever, and they worry that without
changes to water management policies and facilities, the St. Lucie and
Indian rivers will be harmed once again.
"This
is an anomaly. This is not the norm," Stinnette
said of the diminished rain.
Like
other river activists, he has called for a large, marshy flow way south
of
"My
concern is when we have big tropical systems roll through and dump a lot
of rain in a short period, which is sure to happen," Stinnette
said. "I'm sure that we will be back in the same boat, because
nothing has really been fixed."
Preservation
honoring son reaps award
The
Land Conservationist of the Year turned grief into Forever
Katie
Powalski | Special to the Sentinel
June
24, 2007
HOLOPAW
- What started as a way to honor a life has become a lifelong project
for a local conservationist.
Dr.
William Broussard is being honored with the Land Conservationist of the
Year Award by the Florida Wildlife Federation.
The
recognition is one of 13 the organization gives annually to individuals,
companies or other entities who have worked on behalf of
Broussard
is being credited for the preservation and restoration of Forever
Florida, 4,500 acres of land in Holopaw,
along with educational programs and access he provides for the
community.
"I
just feel like a lot of people don't understand nature anymore,"
Broussard said. "This is the first generation that has not really
been exposed to the outdoors."
Wildlife
Federation vice president and general counsel Preston Robertson said
conservationists statewide are impressed with the amount of restoration
at Forever Florida since it opened in 2000.
I've
been all over the country and was still shocked the first time I
visited," Robertson said. "What Dr. Broussard is accomplishing
as an individual is quite unique. Forever
Along
with his wife, Margaret, Broussard established the Allen Broussard
Conservancy in 1991 to honor their only son, who died of
heart-transplant complications related to several years of treatment for
Hodgkin's disease. Allen Broussard, a biologist who was working on his
doctorate at the time of his death, had wandered the land that is now
Forever Florida as a child and expressed his hope that it could be
preserved.
In
what turned out to be fortunate for the Broussards,
the land next to their own ranch had remained protected because of a
land scam in the 1970s that had divided the largely nonbuildable
land among 500 owners. Since the conservancy's founding, the Broussards
have worked to buy the land from the owners, piece by piece.
"Originally
we approached state conservancy groups to help us, but they were not
interested in getting involved in land that had hundreds of individual
owners," Broussard said.
With
the original funding from their son's memorial fund, more than 8,000
acres in eastern
"We
were happy about the first preserve but still felt like we hadn't
accomplished what Allen had asked for," Broussard said.
"That's when we really started to look at ways to acquire this land
and follow through on our promise to our son."
Both
William and Margaret Broussard have been certified as burn managers by
the state and oversee prescribed, or planned, burning of land as a
natural rejuvenation process.
"We
have to thank our three daughters as well, because they have been
nothing but supportive of our spending their inheritance and our
retirement money on this project," said William Broussard, who
still takes patients as an ophthalmologist at least four days each week.
When
he is not at his
Just
say no to total extraction of
If
you've ever plunged into one of
Florida
's many cool springs on a hot summer day...
If you've ever felt restored by boat or canoe trip down one of
Florida
's many rivers...
If you've ever dived into an underwater cave and
been awestruck by nature's beauty...
If you've ever stood on a riverbank and caught a fish, or been struck by
the glimmer of hundreds of lightning bugs on a summer evening...then you
should know that there's no guarantee that your children and
grandchildren will be able share these experiences.
With
Florida
's population exploding, and the demand for water increasing not just
statewide but worldwide, our rivers and springs are increasingly
vulnerable to human damage.
Yes, rivers and springs go through natural cycles of drought, flood and
everything in between. Because of population growth and increasing
demands for water resources, however, human beings are now in the unique
position to add major cumulative effects of our actions to
long-established natural cycles.
Our rivers and springs are fed by the Floridan
Aquifer, the underground water supply that extends throughout a large
portion of the southeastern
United States
. The aquifer is increasingly threatened by human activity, including
pollution from nitrates that seep into our water from fertilizer and
human and animal waste.
The aquifer is also threatened by the increasing demand for bottled
water. Within a three-mile stretch of the
Santa Fe
River
, there are currently three permits for water extraction, with two more
permits being requested.
The cumulative effect of all five permits, should they become active
simultaneously, would be the withdrawal of over one billion gallons of
water from the
Santa Fe
River
area each year.
Unlike water that is used for agricultural purposes, some of which
returns to the aquifer, water that is pumped for bottling is water that
is totally extracted; no part of it ever returns to the aquifer.
Common sense tells us, and practical experience demonstrates,
that total extraction is not good for the environment. When water levels
fall in the aquifer, wells can go dry or collapse. Springs and lakes can
shrink or dry up. River levels can drop. Where our rivers meet the sea,
saltwater can intrude on freshwater. The resulting changes in the
ecosystems supported by our rivers and springs can, in turn, have
negative effects on plants, animals and humans.
Florida
has more first-magnitude springs than anywhere else in the world. People
come from all over the world to experience our crystal-clear springs and
explore our rivers. All those people spend money at local businesses.
Those of us who grew up here, and those who
visit for a day, a week or a month, all know that what we have here
cannot be replicated. So it becomes our job - perhaps even our sacred
duty - to make sure that our children and grandchildren can have the
same kinds of experiences that we have enjoyed along the river.
How can we help?
First, stop drinking bottled water. There's money to be made from this
product because there is public demand. If demand dries up, requests for
total water extraction permits will dry up as well. If you don't like
the taste of your water, investigate home filtration systems, spend a
little money to put a filter on your faucet or buy a pitcher with a
replaceable filter. If you need to take water in your car, invest in a
thermos.
Educate yourself. Find out what you can do to reduce the amount of water
that you use. Do you really need a large lawn? Maybe your family and
your neighbors would enjoy a native plant garden that attracts birds and
butterflies. Think of what you could be doing on the weekend if you
didn't have to mow.
If your home has a septic tank, make sure it is well maintained. Try not
to use too much fertilizer. Know that permits for water extraction are
issued by the regional Water Management Districts, and permits for water
bottling operations are issued by your local county commissions. These
decisions are political in nature, so you have a right as a citizen to
be involved and to be heard.
Finally, please tell your local officials that you do not want total
extraction of water from our aquifer, our rivers or our springs. Tell
them you don't want springs with only minimal flows; tell them you want
healthy, thriving rivers and springs. Tell them what you're willing to
do to help.
Do these things for the next seven generations of people - people who
will call
Florida
home, or come here to visit - because our water is our greatest
treasure.
Lucinda Faulkner Merritt lives in
Fort
White
and works for an ad agency in Alachua.
Planner
to offer ideas for I-75 alternative
Officials
will hear about routes for north-south alternatives to I-75
By
FRANK GLUCK
These areas, in a 10-county region that includes Manatee,
But actual work, if it comes at all, would likely be decades away.
"This is not a solution for today," said Ming Gao,
a Florida Department of Transportation project manager. "This is
considered a long-range exercise."
Gao will present his findings today to the
Sarasota-Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization, a group of mostly
elected officials who set regional transportation priorities.
The DOT is in the early phases of this New Corridors Study, which is
examining possible transportation alternatives between Hernando and
Another option is widening I-75 to 10 lanes, which the DOT is also
considering.
Both options would require both political
will and considerable funding, no certainty in these days of dwindling
transportation dollars.
Planners are considering a variety of funding ideas, including the use
of bonds, tolling, or some sort of public-private arrangement, said
Michael Howe, executive director of the MPO.
Transportation officials insist there is a need for more roadway.
The population in the study area is expected to jump 80 percent by 2030,
according to the DOT.
Yet an alternate route to I-75 could prove controversial. Some local
politicians worry that such a roadway would drive development farther
east in mostly rural areas and further exacerbate the traffic congestion
problem.
"We really don't want a new corridor to create new development in
those areas," said Manatee County Commissioner Joe McClash.
Developers in
COUNTYWIDE
Contractors
with
Watering
Limits Dry Up Revenue For Utilities
The
Associated Press
Published:
June 25, 2007
WEST
PALM BEACH - Water utility managers are concerned about red ink in their
future as
'Our
average water output is 34 million gallons a day; that is usually what
we sell,' said
In
May, the South Florida Water Management District imposed the region's
most severe water restrictions on record, attempting to cut water usage
by 45 percent. Violators faced steep fines as
Lake
Okeechobee, a backup drinking water source for millions in South Florida
and the lifeblood of the
The
drop in water revenue comes as
A
permanent drop in usage could lead to deferred maintenance, surplus
charges for high-end users and rate increases, utility managers said. No
rate increases have been proposed yet.
'We
do have some cash reserves, and that's what they're there for,' said
Peter Mazzella, a deputy utility director in
Auburndale
CRA Offers Developers a Deal
AUBURNDALE
-- The Community Redevelopment Agency is providing some relief to
developers who want to build residential and commercial projects within
the CRA district.
They will no longer have to pay police, fire and
recreation impact fees in the CRA area.
While city officials will waive the fee, they still
will be able to recoup the cost through the CRAs
coffers.
For instance, if the measure was on the books for
the current budget, the CRA would’ve had to pay the city $14,000 in
these fees.
The waiver will also extend to those who expand
existing commercial buildings or homes or if there is a change of use on
an existing building, said Andy Stewart, assistant city manager.
“The CRA is hopefully going to attract businesses
because of the incentives for the developers not having to pay the
impact fees ,” Stewart said. “The CRA’s
goal is to promote economic development and we view this as a tool.
“The city benefits from this because it also gets
new development within the city limits,” Stewart said. “It might
help a smaller business who wants to open its doors because of the
initial costs of impact fees.”
The CRA boundaries is bordered by Lake Ariana
on the north, Holton Road to the south, Derby Road on the East and King
Street on the west. It also includes the entire downtown district.
This wasn’t the first time the city and the CRA
took this type of action.
In 2002, both groups waived impact fees except for
water and sewer for Coca-Cola to build its new facility on
The CRA reimbursed the city what it would’ve
collected on the deal.
The move is prompted by the
The county’s measure hinged on the city waiving
its impact fees, excluding water and sewer. The CRA will adopt at a
later date an interlocal agreement with the
county for the incentive program.
Board members are excited about the plan.
Mayor Marvin Wiley said the waiver is a great
incentive for businesses, especially mom-and-pop entrepreneurs who want
to open in the downtown area.
“It’s not going to hurt Auburndale because
we’re going to get our money back.”
Merissa Green can be reached at merissa.green@theledger.com
or 863-401-6968.
Firm guidance needed on roads, growth
A St. Pete TIMES EDITORIAL
Published June 25, 2007
When it comes to transportation and sprawl, Charlie Crist says one thing and does another. The governor signed a bill Tuesday making it easier for the state and private companies to build new toll roads. To ease concerns the law will encourage roads to nowhere, the governor accompanied the bill with a statement calling for better efforts to control growth. Yet that was the same day he signed another bill weakening the very laws that control development. Crist is sending mixed messages and managing one of the state's biggest challenges in piecemeal fashion.
HB 985 allows investor-owned companies to lease existing toll roads and build new ones. The state would get a cut. It also would double its bonding capacity, to $10-billion, for new toll projects. This cash-now strategy ensures the public freeways will further deteriorate as a dual transportation system takes root - one for people who can afford to bypass public roads and another for everybody else.
Adding capacity is fine, and toll roads, which meet a niche demand for speed, access and service, should be part of Florida's long-term transit solution. But this law does more than add capacity. It encourages new corridors where none exist and gives the state, through revenue-sharing, a financial incentive to push development into rural Florida.
Environmental groups had asked for a veto. But all the governor delivered Tuesday was a signing statement. He said existing roads were the priority, as was improving "the link between growth management and transportation." That is precisely what this law undermines. Joint ventures with developers could last 75 years, under contractual arrangements that could not only compromise the ability of state and local governments to make sound growth, transit and environmental decisions but lock in those mistakes for generations. The bill's legislative intent was clear: "Foster economic growth and development."
Signing statements cannot rectify statutory language a governor signs. Crist approved a bill that calls for "reduced state oversight" of local planning in some of Florida's urban areas. It creates pilot projects in Pinellas and Broward counties, and in Tampa, Jacksonville, Miami and Hialeah, to fast-track land-use decisions - moves that also counter the governor's stated commitment to growth management.
Crist needs to form a comprehensive policy on transportation and articulate his vision for how Florida should grow in the coming century. His mixed messages make planning difficult and risk alienating people on every side of the development debate.
Growth creating gridlock on roads
Development is supposed to stop when roads get too congested. But politicians and developers are finding exceptions to the rules.
Sandra Pedicini
Sentinel Staff Writer
June 25, 2007
A policy called concurrency is supposed to stop development if the roads are too crowded. But that rarely happens.
Many policymakers argue that concurrency is a failure because it encourages sprawl. In theory, it forces development outward to where roads haven't been congested yet. That "consumes unspoiled land and requires that you have to build roads to get there," said Jon Peck, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Community Affairs, which regulates growth.
There are ways around it.
Some cities have chosen to establish "transportation concurrency exception areas." More than 30 communities across Florida have designated portions of land -- sometimes, huge ones -- as TCEAs.
Even though roads are congested, development can continue as long as planners encourage transportation alternatives such as buses and carpooling and plan for dense development.
Orlando planners say the city's exception area has allowed big downtown redevelopment projects that might not have otherwise existed because, realistically, there's no way to widen the streets.
"All of this high-rise development downtown probably would have had trouble," said Kevin Tyjeski, Orlando's chief planning manager.
The exception area takes up almost half the city limits, but Tyjeski said it makes sense because so much of the city has been densely developed.
TCEAs took hold in 1990s
The exception areas were designed in the mid-1990s after it became apparent that there were many problems with tying development to road capacity, said Tom Pelham, secretary of Florida's Department of Community Affairs.
Among the problems Pelham cited: Traffic-study numbers can be manipulated. Also, policies allow developers to buy their way out by paying for partial transportation improvements.
There are many ways to measure whether roads are too crowded, and different agencies use different methods -- sometimes yielding conflicting results.
What it all means is that despite so many crowded roads, concurrency rarely puts a stop to growth, said Pelham, who was recently in Orlando for his agency's growth-management summit.
While at times project sizes might get reduced, Pelham said, "I think in practice, the players generally find a way to get approval" of their developments.
Proponents of the exception areas say they instead require cities to consider other ways of moving people around besides simply widening roads. Many exception areas are in places where the city is trying to encourage redevelopment, often downtowns.
Widening roads to allow more cars to travel comfortably often isn't the answer in those places, many say.
"The great cities of the world get to a point where the automobile is no longer the preferred method of transportation," said Charles Lee, director of advocacy for Audubon of Florida.
Sanford already has an exception area in its downtown along Lake Monroe. Now the city, along with Seminole County, is trying to create another one along U.S. Highway 17-92 south of downtown, an aging road where officials hope to attract vibrant new businesses.
Altamonte Springs is having public hearings on the exception area it will create for the city's central core. That includes the Uptown Altamonte development of high-rise apartments and condominiums, shops and offices.
Maitland also wants to establish an exception area for the portion of U.S. 17-92 that it wants to redevelop.
There has also been informal talk of exception areas in Tavares and Casselberry.
While many "smart-growth" proponents say it's advantageous to allow parts of cities to opt out of the road-capacity requirements, others say things have gone too far.
Have cities overreached?
Many governments have very small exception areas, but other planners have exempted huge portions of their cities.
In Tampa, where planners say more than 30 percent of the roads are operating at failing levels, one member of the local transportation-advisory board wants the exception area scaled back from its current size of more than 40,000 acres.
"That's a horrible thing," said Margaret Vizzi, a Tampa resident. "All of this development is occurring, and they don't have to pay a bit of attention to traffic."
Cities say they have encountered little resistance from residents or state officials when establishing exception areas. Peck could not cite an instance when the DCA, which oversees growth management, had blocked an attempt for one.
But officials said requirements for exception areas have become tougher since the Legislature enacted a growth-management overhaul in 2005.
Not just anything can get exempted. There are limits on amounts of vacant land and requirements for dense development.
And "you don't just forget about mobility," said Mike McDaniel, chief of comprehensive planning for DCA. Programs must be in place to encourage other modes of transportation, he said.
Putting onus on employers
In Sanford's first exception area along Lake Monroe, commercial developments with 50 or more employees will have to help pay for transit or create a program that details how employers will reduce employees' time on the road. That could include plans for on-site day care or incentives for carpooling.
Still, Sanford principal planner Antonia Gerli said it's uncertain how the city will make sure employers follow their plans. "Those are issues that probably need to be worked out still," she said.
And other goals have not been met. For example, the city was to encourage Lynx to start Sunday service and increase its frequency in the area by 2006, but the service has stayed the same, city officials said.
Many of the roads within Central Florida's exception areas aren't yet over capacity, but they can still be miserable to drive on during the wrong times -- namely, rush hour. And the roads are expected to get increasingly crowded as time goes on. Many more major roads will be over capacity, transportation officials say, unless there are radical changes in planning and more emphasis on alternate ways of getting around.
In Altamonte Springs, where State Road 436's capacity is considered close to a failing level, much of the development in its core commercial and business area doesn't have to meet concurrency standards because plans were approved in the 1980s, before current policies went into place. But having an exception area would likely make approval of land-use changes easier.
In the meantime, other cities are looking at variations on the theme.
In Kissimmee, officials are considering a similar type of district for downtown. Concurrency isn't ignored, but it has a more flexible definition.
City officials must fix transportation problems "with alternate modes of transportation," said Craig Holland, the city's development-services director. "Walking is the big one. Bicycle paths, buses."
Sandra Pedicini can be reached at spedicini@orlandosentinel.com or 407-322-7669.
A
recent editorial in The News-Journal has its heart in the right place, but
its logic backwards.
The Volusia Council of Governments
has endorsed a "Map A" which its representatives believe shows a
"conservation corridor" of "environmentally sensitive lands
[which should be] conserved for future generations." No one disputes
that "Map A" does a good job of identifying these lands.
The editorial (June 19, "Let's
make clear, Volusia, what land's to be preserved"), however, suggests
that Volusia's cities and County Council should not adopt Map A without
first knowing the land use rules which will apply to these lands. For
example, the editorial suggests that because the resolution adopting Map A
agrees to use "smart growth tools" such as transferable
development rights (TDRs) to conserve the lands, then we should not rush
into adopting the map because "TDRs can be very good or very
bad."
This is dangerous logic. There will
always be land use rules for every category of land, and they will be
debated and tinkered with forever no matter what this resolution says.
Let's leave that argument to another day; there is nothing you could put
in the Map A adoption resolution that could prohibit future land use
regulation even if you wanted to, with or without TDRs. But without a map
showing which lands at least should be preserved, there is nothing
to fight over.
Adopting a map which agrees which
lands should be protected is an enormous step, the most important step,
and a step without which all further argument is irrelevant.
Monroe County (the Florida Keys)
made this mistake and they are paying for it. They had
"visioning" meetings in the 80's and 90's, and after long years
of fighting in the courts finally got some good land use rules to protect
environmentally sensitive lands, including a requirement to adopt a map
identifying which lands should be protected. Ten years later there still
is no map. The lesson: Identify the areas you want to protect now, while
you can. It will take years to work out the rules of how to protect
them.
Let's make a big first step and at
least agree on what to protect, and let's do it now.
Morgenstern, an environmental
attorney, is a landowner in Seville and serves on the agriculture
subcommittee of the Volusia County Soil and Water Conservation District.
On the banks of Sisters Creek, Jacksonville
slows down.
Boats drift, insects buzz. White ibises glide
through the sticky Florida heat. "Everything here, 360 degrees, will stay
like this forever," said Mark Middlebrook, president of the North
Florida Land Trust. "It will never change."
Throughout the Timucuan Preserve, smaller
privately owned parcels perforate the federal-, state- and city-owned
natural lands. Middlebrook's group is trying to bridge those gaps.
The group is studying the area and trying to
drum up funds to make homeowners offers before developers do. A similar
effort is taking shape in fast-developing St. Johns County.
In both areas, the goal is to promote
wildlife corridors, keep surface water clean, and capture a piece of
undeveloped Florida for future generations to enjoy.
Money may be a problem, though, as local
governments and nonprofit agencies begin learning how state property tax
reform could significantly affect funding.
St. Johns County Commission Chairman Ben Rich
said land preservation is a concern as areas like the northwest portion of
the county boom with growth.
"When we do have some breathing room in
the budget, I hope this takes precedence," he said.
One area in St. Johns County under the land
trust's eye is Nocatee, a 15,000-acre development situated along the
Intracoastal Waterway.
Greg Barbour, president of the PARC Group,
Nocatee's master developer, said roughly two-thirds of the area near Ponte
Vedra Beach already is in preservation plans.
Setting aside lands in the development helps
boost the quality of life for residents, Barbour said.
In addition to his duties with the land
trust, Middlebrook chairs St. Johns County's land acquisition and
management program. He previously served as director for Jacksonville
Mayor John Delaney's preservation project, which set massive tracts of
land off-limits to developers.
The current division chief for the
preservation project, Nathan Rezeau, said the city supports the North
Florida Land Trust's intentions to protect land.
Middlebrook said the projects in Duval and
St. Johns counties will be taking shape by autumn.
The North Florida Land Trust is a nonprofit
group based in St. Augustine that oversees $867,335 in property assets,
according to information published by the organization. Members say the
plans coming together for the Timucuan Preserve and St. Johns County will
help accelerate the group.
"Government can't do it by
themselves," Middlebrook said. "In the community, people read
about these projects and think they're done, but they're not done and we
could use community support."
david.hunt@jacksonville.com,
(904) 359-4025Living's easy in a place not so far away
naplesnews.com
'Loving Mother Nature to death?'
Debate raging over proposed powerboat restrictions for Everglades park
Originally published — 5:02 p.m., June 23, 2007
Updated — 11:08 p.m., June 23, 2007
EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK — In the summer, the labyrinthine waters of the Ten Thousand Islands are an especially lonely place. Mosquitoes, swelter and deluges drum out all but the most zealous adherents to the backcountry lifestyle.
What awaits those willing to venture beyond cell-phone range is a wilderness that looks much the way it did before the advent of the internal combustion engine and DEET.
To get here, you have to navigate your way through mud-bottom bays and creeks that present myriad unseen hazards, including oyster bars and downed tree limbs. And if you make it as far as Florida Bay, you have to contend with thick mats of sea grass and waters so shallow that even kayaks have been known to run aground.
“It’s heaven on Earth for me,” John Payne, the owner of a vacation home on Chokoloskee, said one Saturday morning while his flats boat skipped through a bay hugged by mangroves.
Could Payne and other boaters be loving Mother Nature to death, though?
That question is at the heart of a fierce debate going on now in bait shacks, public meetings and online discussion forums across southern Florida. The reason for the asking: a historic rewrite of Everglades National Park’s management plan.
The overhaul is the first for the park since 1979. Once implemented in 2009, the plan will guide staffers on ways to enhance visitor experience and environmental protection, top park officials say.
Boaters are most concerned about a set of proposals aimed at shielding sea grass and the sandy bottom of the park’s waters from damage wrought by boat propellers. They also chafe at an idea, advocated by paddlers and written into some versions of the plan, of reserving some areas in the backcountry exclusively for kayaks and canoes.
The four alternatives up for discussion range from a change-nothing approach — the only option gaining wide approval from boating advocates — to essentially closing much of Florida Bay and the Ten Thousand Islands to powerboats.
Alternative D, the most restrictive, would ban motors in waters of 3 feet or less, a prohibition that would cover broad swaths of the shallow bay. The waters would remain hospitable to paddling, poling and trolling with electric motors.
Other provisions would bar boats of 24 feet or greater in length in certain areas while others would prohibit boats altogether in environmentally sensitive areas. Popular fishing areas, such as Snake Bight and Gopher Key Creek, would be off-limits.
“Everyone’s really scared they’re making this their own exclusive park,” said Jim Stoner, a fishing buddy of Payne’s who accompanied him along with a visitor on a tour of the backcountry.
Treacherous going
Every other weekend, Payne, a 45-year-old cattle rancher, makes the more than two-hour drive from Sebring to Chokoloskee, where he owns a mobile home and, more importantly, a boat slip.
His 60-horsepower engine whirred as Payne set a course through the morning stillness of Chokoloskee Bay toward the southeast, to the Lopez River. Mangroves converged at the mouth of the winding river.
Payne steered the boat through the river as if he were on an invisible obstacle course. The obstacles lurking beneath the murky water, though, are very real: sunken tree trunks, shoals and oyster bars.
“We have this thing — some local knowledge is required,” said Stoner, a 53-year-old land surveyor who has been fishing these waters since the Kennedy administration.
“There’s a really big shoal that hugs that bank,” Payne chimed in from behind the wheel, changing tack to avoid the hidden danger.
Inexperienced boaters cause the most damage, veteran boaters and federal officials agree. One of the National Park Service’s proposals calls for boaters to pass a mandatory education course and get a permit before hitting the water.
“This stuff’s not going to work unless you educate the users,” said Rob Clift, a senior marine outreach coordinator with the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association. “It’s very difficult to know where the channels exist and don’t exist unless you’ve been out there for years and know what you’re doing.”
‘That’s the whole park’
More than 200 people crowded a school cafeteria-turned meeting room earlier this month in Everglades City to hear the Park Service’s plan. Park officials had crafted the four proposals based on hundreds of comments culled from fishing guides, environmentalists, paddlers and other interested parties.
Everglades National Park Superintendent Dan Kimball emphasized that park staff wanted more of the community’s feedback. But any public comments would have to come after his presentation in one-on-one sessions with staffers, not voiced for all to hear.
With that announcement, the crowd’s anger quickly transformed from thinly veiled to loudly vocalized. All but a few people complied when a man in the audience asked for an impromptu show of hands of those who support the status quo. Shouts began to rain down on the federal envoys.
“I know it’s a controversial idea,” Kimball said as he discussed the no-motor ban proposal in waters of 3 feet or less. “But it’s not something we just came up with.”
Came a retort from someone buried in the restless mass before him: “That’s the whole park!”
At a subsequent workshop in Dania Beach, park officials, apparently having learned a lesson, gave audience members an open forum to debate the matter.
Some of the plan’s opponents come from high places.
“Leave it alone,” said Rodney Barreto, chairman of the governor-appointed state wildlife commission. “I’m kind of put off when someone’s making a decision who doesn’t even live in South Florida and doesn’t even know what he’s looking at.”
Sea grass: nature’s filter
In the 1990s, when environmentalists sought to rein in swamp buggies in Big Cypress National Preserve, they took to the air.
Aerial photos showed tire tracks criss-crossing the 729,000-acre preserve, transforming thousands of miles of fragile marshes and marl prairies into deep grooves of mud. Such pictures became key evidence in a successful court challenge that ultimately restricted off-road vehicles to designated trails.
A decade later, photos from high above are once again at the center of an environmental debate.
Federal scientists and contractors have snapped scores of pictures showing a landscape that more closely resembles the surface of the moon than one of the world’s most productive estuaries.
“I cannot stress how important sea grass is,” said David Hallac, head of Everglades National Park’s biological resources branch. “The sea grass in Florida Bay is akin to the trees in the forest.”
The vast mats are a nursery ground for marine critters and juvenile fish, including prized species such as the spiny lobster, shrimp, tarpon, spotted sea trout, snapper and snook. Sea grass also helps keep the water clear by knocking down clouds of sediment, Hallac said.
But some boaters are turning the grass into Swiss cheese, inflicting wounds that take years to heal.
“You can see scars all over the place out here,” Hallac said as he projected an image onto a screen at his Homestead office of an arcing white scrape in the bluish-brown water of Snake Bight in northeast Florida Bay.
Scarring tends to be heaviest on the edge of channels, but also can be seen in some of the most remote corners of the park. Many scars form an elongated “V” from where a boater has finally run out of water and abruptly turned around, Hallac said.
The park’s watery jurisdiction forms a nearly 500,000-acre triangle with its three points at Everglades City, Islamorada and Key Largo. The terrain varies from the sandy shoals just north of the Keys to the mud-slathered bottom of the Ten Thousand Islands.
Evidence of prop scarring is much stronger in Florida Bay than in the Ten Thousand Islands because of its clearer water and proliferation of sea grass. But just because damage is unseen doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, park officials say.
“There may be prop scars like crazy out there, but we don’t know,” said Tom IIandimarino, a park ranger based in Everglades City.
Lack of funding and staff have rebuffed efforts to quantify sea grass and bay bottom damage, Hallac said. He is putting together a project to use aerial photos to create a map of propeller-related damage. His current stock of pictures was gleaned from researchers doing surveys of manatees and wading birds.
The most comprehensive survey of boat damage emerged in 1995. The Florida Marine Research Institute report estimated 30,050 acres of Monroe County’s sea grass beds, or about 2 percent of the county’s aquatic plants, bore some level of scarring. More than half of that scarring was moderate or worse, according to the study.
About one-third of the county’s waters lie inside the park, Hallac said.
Some boaters contend Florida Bay faces a much bigger problem: manmade changes in flows. Sloughs and creeks that once gushed fresh water into the bay are now mere trickles, thanks to levees and canals that made southern Florida dry enough for bulldozers.
As a result, the bay is saltier than it ever has been. Many types of sea grasses can’t survive such changes and simply die off. Other, less-desirable types take their place. Restoring the bay’s flows is one of the main goals of the $10.9 billion Everglades restoration campaign.
Death of a town?
Many fishing guides see rough waters ahead if the toughest of the restrictions are put in place.
Once-routine trips through the backcountry to the Lostmans or Harney rivers could become dangerous if flats boats are forced to traverse the rougher waters outside the park boundaries, they say.
“Any type of restrictions that you have, especially the most restrictive they have there, Alternative D, won’t just put us out of business, it’ll kill the town,” said Tony Polizos, an Everglades City guide. “The charter boat business will die.”
Such boats often are equipped with jack plates, a device that allows boaters to regulate the location of their propellers in the water column, Polizos said. That way, boaters can minimize contact with sea grass.
“These vessels are designed to go back into these shallow areas with very little effect on the environment,” Polizos said.
Compromise is in the air. A Keys-based boating group last week proposed what it called “Alternative E,” a plan that would allow powerboats in areas where they can now travel, according to the Keynoter newspaper.
The group, though, concedes it would be best to limit waters of less than 2 feet to be accessible only by paddle or push pole. Flats skiffs would be allowed if their engines are raised, the paper said.
While quiet in the summer, fishing-based tourism in the winter and spring is the lifeblood of Everglades City’s economy, locals say.
“If people don’t come here to fish, there’s not that much to come here for,” said Carolyn Thompson, vice president of Everglades City’s True Value hardware store.
Payne and Stoner are organizing a meeting at 5 p.m. July 6 at the Everglades City School to help put fishermen in touch with comment forms. The Park Service also is looking into holding a second Southwest Florida meeting, this one in Naples some time in July.
“We think the park is managed just fine,” Polizos said. “We have some of the best fishing in Florida, if not the U.S. That tells me what they’re doing is right. If it’s right, don’t fix what’s broke.”
© 2007 Naples Daily News and NDN Productions. Published in Naples, Florida, USA by the E.W. Scripps Co.
Residents concerned about possible development of Cool Springs property.
They got an earful.
The crowd of about 50, which included Rainbow River Conservation Inc. representatives and current and former members of the Dunnellon City Council, objected, sometimes loudly, to any more development in the 48 square miles around the U.S. 41 corridor in county staff's study area.
"If you polled the people who live in Dunnellon, one of the reasons we moved here is the trees, because of the small town," Rainbow Springs resident Jeanie Wolf said. "If we wanted big town, we would have gone to Ocala. Keeping small town small town is a good thing. I just wish we would keep the trees and have it small town. I wonder if people in the government even consider that."
Planning Department's ongoing study recommends almost no new land-use changes for residential development. The skeptical crowd Thursday night wondered if county commissioners would stick to that recommendation.
Even without more development approvals, they voiced concerns about the thousands of vested lots in the area, including Rainbow Lakes Estates and the Cool Springs Ranch property along the Rainbow River. In fact, the possible development of the Cool Springs property if the state does not purchase it through the Florida Forever program, loomed over the entire discussion.
"All we have to worry about is the state coming up with the money and it will all go away," Rainbow River Conservation Inc. member Burt Eno said.
When maps showed plans to widen State Road 40 and County Road 484, the lively crowd rumbled with objections.
"We do not need four-lane roads," Dunnellon resident Evelyn Tyson said. "You're asking for more trucks and people coming through here."
Dunnellon City Councilman Fred Stark and former Council member Mary Ann Hilton each launched lengthy objections to new development when the region's future water supply was already deemed inadequate.
Planning staff did eye two areas for future development. The crowd did not care for either idea.
One was a commercial center planners had in mind for the intersection of U.S. 41 and State Road 40 so Rainbow Lakes Estates residents would not have to head south into Dunnellon to shop. The audience at the meeting wanted that moved farther north toward Rainbow Lakes Estates.
The other potential development spot was an area north of the Dunnellon city limits and south of the abandoned railroad right of way and some of the Cool Springs property. Senior planner Lisa Walsh said it has an urban reserve land-use designation now, which means it is intended for future development. Staff suggested it could go high-density residential development, or up to eight residences per acre.
Marion County has done prior corridor studies to try and map out future development along State Road 326, U.S. 441, State Road 200 and U.S. 27. A study for the Greenway Corridor is also ongoing.
Walsh said there should be another meeting in Dunnellon for public input on the U.S. 41 study before the end of the summer. Then staff will bring it to the County Commission.
Christopher Curry may be reached at (352) 867-4115 or chris.curry@starbanner.com.
Board
wrestles with protection for area's springs
By
Terry Witt
Protecting
the county’s springs is proving to be a Herculean task for the county
planning board.
The
Planning and Development Review Board wrestled with the idea for several
hours Thursday before recommending approval of a comprehensive plan
amendment that would set policies and objectives for protecting the
springs.
A
policy that would encourage homeowners to install expensive
performance-based septic systems instead of regular septic tanks if
central sewer was not available proved to be the most contentious issue.
Some
board members were wary about how much the systems might cost homeowners.
Planners said the price of a single performance-based system could range
from $9,000 to $20,000 or more, depending on the location.
The
board agreed to recommend language to the county commission that would say
the county “prefers” performance based septic systems to protect the
springs. Representatives of environmental groups had urged the board to
require the performance base systems, which produce much cleaner effluent.
“Our
springs are world class assets and this is a chance to protect them,”
said Ron Miller, a director for Save the Homosassa River Alliance.
However,
board members said they wanted more information about the sources of
pollution in the springs. They instructed county staff to attach a letter
to the amendment asking state agencies for guidance on how much of the
pollution springs comes from septic tanks and how much is contributed by
lawn fertilizer.
A
number of agencies, including the Southwest Florida Water Management
District, Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Florida
Department of Community Affairs will review the springs
protection amendment and make written comments. After receiving agency
comments, the springs protection amendment will
come back to the county for another round of local review later this year.
The
Citrus County Comprehensive Plan is the county’s master planning
document. The plan is required by state law and serves as the basis for
all land development rules in the unincorporated areas of the county. When
the spring protection amendment is given final county approval, the county
planning staff will begin development of specific land development rules,
which will also be reviewed in public hearings.
Much
of the discussion Thursday focused on nitrate pollution in the springs.
Nitrates can degrade the water and increase plant and algae growth.
Two
major sources of nitrates in the springs are lawn fertilizers and septic
tanks, said environmental Planner Sue Farnsworth, but she said a study has
never been conducted in
Nitrate
pollution is increasing in the springs as the county’s population
expands. Concern about pollution in the springs or possibility of losing
them is driving the county’s efforts to produce a springs
protection chapter in the comprehensive plan. But the county’s builders
are concerned that the protections could go too far and inhibit economic
growth.
The
Citrus County Builders Association sent two representatives to offer
suggestions and challenge policies they thought might drive off homebuyers
and further dampen the wobbly local construction economy. Randy Clark of
Clark Construction took aim at the policy on performance based septic
systems.
“I
am sure if we have $20,000 septic systems in
However,
Norman Hopkins, president of the Kings Bay Association, said the presence
of noxious algae blooms in
Algae
are harmful to the marine habitat, he said, and some carry toxins harmful
to fish, the endangered manatee and humans. He said the lack of water flow
into the bay is part of the problem. More than three quarters of the
bay’s aquifer spring vents no longer contribute fresh water.
“Our
waters are being fast degraded, as waters are changing from being mostly
fresh to mostly salty, and ecosystems face radical changes,” he said.
Helen
Spivey, co-chair of the Save the Manatee Club, read from a memo prepared
by Robert F. Roscow, an environmental
activist. Roscow said
He
said the Brooksville Ridge, a hilly area through the center of the county,
contributes the majority of water to the county’s coastal springs. He
said the ridge and the springs are one unified system, and “one does not
exist without the other.” He said
“
Roscow
is best known for his lawsuit against the Florida Turnpike Enterprise. Roscow
and Teddie Bierly
successfully sued FTE when a citizen advisory group met behind closed
doors to make recommendations on where Suncoast
Parkway 2 should be constructed. Roscow and Bierly
said the advisory group violated the state’s Sunshine Law. A judge
agreed.
Roscow’s
only criticism of the county’s proposed spring protection plan is that
it is silent on the parkway’s potential impact on what he calls the “ecoregion,”
the Brooksville Ridge and the coastal springs it supplies with fresh
water.
Panel
backs relaxed zoning around nuke plant
By
Terry
Witt
Attorney
Clark Stillwell proposed a comprehensive plan amendment on behalf of
businessman Dixie Hollins that will allow Hollins
to convert his mining land into a low-density subdivision when the mine
becomes inactive.
Planning
and Development Review Board members saw no harm in giving Hollins
the right to subdivide his mine into five-acre parcels someday, provided
he could prove the subdivision could be evacuated quickly. The board will
make that recommendation to the county commission.
County
planners had opposed the plan because they said the five-mile exclusion
zone around the power plant was there to protect the public. The exclusion
zone was intended to keep population levels low in case an evacuation was
ordered in a nuclear emergency.
They
also noted that the five-mile exclusion zone had been part of the
comprehensive plan since 1990. The zone allows one home per 20 acres in
the Coastal High Hazard Area and one home per 40 acres in the velocity
zone on the coast.
But
Stillwell said the county and state agencies had led Hollins
to believe for years that he was entitled to divide his property into
five-acre parcels.
The
comprehensive plan is the county’s master plan for development in
unincorporated areas of the county.
Progress
Energy, the plant’s owner, was neutral on Hollins’
request, saying it was a local government decision, and the Citrus County
Department of Emergency Management also remained neutral, planners said.
Stillwell’s
plan probably won’t benefit anyone else in the five-mile zone because a
developer would need 165 acres of land to be eligible. Most of the zone is
west of U.S. 19 and nearly all of it is publicly owned conservation land
or is zoned for mining. Stillwell tailored his request to his client’s
needs.
County
planners withdrew their agenda item that called for adopting new set of
land development rules to enforce the five-mile exclusion zone policy in
the comprehensive plan.
In
other business:
*
Stillwell withdrew his request for a comprehensive plan amendment that
would have allowed land zoned for mining to be used for other commercial
and industrial purposes.
Planning
board members were skeptical about converting former mining land to such
uses as incinerator sites.
Stillwell
said the issue can be studied at the same time county staff develops its
comprehensive mining ordinance. He noted that the county was once a major
mining area, but many mines have been abandoned or converted to other
uses, including subdivisions.
No
school, no
Development
must not be ‘irresponsible’
David
Donald
Staff
Writer
LADY
LAKE - No new school, no new development?
The
"I
think it's something that we have to address in good conscience,"
said Mayor Max Pullen. "If we approve growth and then our schools
become overcrowded because of it, we're hurting our kids."
Commissioners
directed staff to schedule an Aug. 1 public hearing to consider a
moratorium on residential development.
Town
Manager Bill Vance said the area is experiencing rapid commercial growth.
With that growth comes job, he said. However,
he said, many who work in
He
said the town wants residential developments to attract that workforce,
but approving any developments without constructing schools first would be
irresponsible
"We
don't have enough school space for the children and we cannot allow
growth, especially housing growth," said Henryka
Presinzano. "Where are the children going
to go? We have to have the school first."
The
commission is weighing heavily on a recommendation earlier this year from
The
town commission has been working closely with the
"They
(school board and county commission) have stated they like the way we've
handled it (school)," said Pullen.
There
are plans for a school on 40 acres on
"I
think at this time we need to stay with the status quo and make sure we
get the school up and running," said Ty
Miller. "We stand for responsible development and if we didn't do
that we wouldn't be responsible."
Plan
May Squeeze Citrus Shippers
By
Kevin Bouffard
The
Ledger
The
proposed rule makes permanent a citrus canker quarantine the USDA imposed
under a temporary rule issued Aug. 1. The quarantine prohibits all fresh
citrus shipments to other citrus-producing states and territories, notably
"It
appears we're not back into the citrus-producing states, and that's
disappointing," said Jay Clark, the president of
About
11 percent of
The
quarantine's impact falls more heavily on growers of tangerines and
"specialty citrus," such as tangelos. About 70 percent of them
are sold as fresh each year.
The
quarantine hits
Polk
is also the home to four of the state's top 11 packinghouses, including
industry leader Dundee Citrus Growers Association, the Haines City Citrus
Growers Association, Ben Hill Griffin Inc. in Frostproof
and Hunt Bros. Cooperative in Lake Wales.
The
temporary and permanent USDA rules ban fresh citrus shipments to
The
federal government also has banned
During
the 2005-06 season, the last unaffected by the quarantine, Florida
packinghouses shipped 1.1 million cartons of fresh citrus valued at nearly
$14.6 million to the other citrus states, according to the Citrus
Administrative Committee in Lakeland, which regulates the fresh industry.
That
represented 5 percent of 22 million cartons shipped that season. Citrus
states accounted for 6.3 percent of all domestic shipments in 2003-04.
Most
of those shipments went to
Richard
Kinney, the chief executive of Florida Citrus Packers in Lakeland, the
fresh shippers' trade group, declined to discuss the final USDA order
until he and other officials had more time to study it.
Kinney
said the Packers's reply to the proposed rule
would contain "sound science and risk analysis."
That
indicates the group will question the USDA's own risk analysis to support
the rule.
Its
analysis found that even a reasonably strict inspection regime at a
packinghouse would allow 633,152 pieces of canker-infected fruit into
citrus states, according to the proposal published in the Federal
Register. Of that amount, 2,135 pieces of infected fruit would reach a
citrus producing area.
"Although
the available evidence suggests fresh citrus fruit is an unlikely pathway,
that evidence is not currently sufficient to unequivocally conclude
that fresh citrus fruit cannot serve as a pathway for the introduction of
(canker bacteria) into new areas. Therefore, unrestricted movement of
citrus fruit from quarantine areas was determined not to be scientifically
justified."
The
USDA will accept comments on the proposed rule until July 23. After
considering comments, the agency plans to enact the rule on or before Oct.
1.
Kevin
Bouffard can be reached at kevin.bouffard@theledger.com
or at 863-802-7591.
Deadline
Nears As Property Owners Fight Gas Pipeline
By
Jim
Konkoly of The
Published:
June 22, 2007
SEBRING
—
The
pipeline, which airport and economic development officials say will boost
industrial development and bring in jobs, is not in jeopardy. But a delay
of several months in starting the project,
could cost the county $1.5 million in lost federal grants for other
projects in 2008.
Corbett
Andlay, the county's consultant for the
federal Community Development Block Grants, said the county will lose the
chance to apply for two block grants of $750,000 each for 2008 if the
pipeline project is not completed by April.
The
county has a $750,000 block grant for installation of the natural gas
pipeline, and the project must be completed by April in order to seek new
block grants, Andlay said. Applications for
the 2008 block grants must be filed in April, he said, and they cannot be
filed until the pipeline project is finished.
On
Tuesday, county commissioners delayed voting on taking right of way for
the pipeline after
County
Attorney J. Ross Macbeth said the county has the right to take right of
way on
Fred
Trippensee, the husband of Commissioner
Barbara Stewart, said the county has not mowed along the frontage of his
10-acre citrus grove, and therefore has no no
right-of-way claim.
Trippensee
said he will seek legal counsel and asked the commissioners to refrain
from taking right of way on the south side of
Mowing
on the side of roads in front of different citrus groves could spread
plant diseases and devastate the groves, Trippensee
said.
John
Strang represents Gapway
Groves on the north side of
Elius
Nortelus, assistant county engineer, said
Thursday he is trying to schedule a meeting for Monday with the three
property owners along
"We
hope to resolve any issues that they have" about the right of way for
the gas pipeline, he said.
A
Boon To Industrial Park
Three
manufacturers at the airport commerce park –– E-Stone USA Corp., Funder
America, and Hancore Inc. –– want to
switch to natural gas for their industrial processes, Louise England,
executive director of the Highlands County Economic Development
Commission, said.
manufacturers.
"We
have other prospects (for the airport commerce park) that need natural
gas,"
Erik
Treudt, project manager for the Sebring
Regional Airport Authority, agrees.
"Without
question, for the type of manufacturing facilities we would like to
attract, natural gas is the fuel of choice," Treudt
said. "A natural gas pipeline certainly would enhance the
attractiveness for businesses locating here."
Bob
Swain, attorney for the airport authority, said construction of the
pipeline is expected to take four to five months.
Using
Delays
in obtaining right of way of several weeks would leave time to complete
the project so that it doesn't jeopardize 2008 block grants, he said. But,
Swain said, designing a new route for the pipeline could make it hard to
finish the project by the end of March.
"It
would be very challenging to redesign the route of the pipeline and still
have timely completion of all aspects of the project," Swain said.
Compromise
may untangle citizen initiative petitions
By
EILEEN ZAFFIRO
PONCE
INLET -- At the beginning of Wednesday's Town Council meeting, it appeared
residents were about to get a step closer to facing two very similar
ballot measures.
Now
it's possible those two proposed ballot questions could be consolidated
into one compromise measure.
One
ballot query is being led by Kimberly Comfort, the 41-year-old daughter of
Councilman Gary Comfort. She's trying to give people the power to create
or rescind local laws regardless of Council members' opinions.
Her
effort calls for a minimum of 10 percent of voters to sign petitions to
kick-start the process that would allow residents to craft a new law or
kill a newly passed one they didn't like -- whether Council members liked
the idea or not.
Three
of the five Council members are behind a similar measure, but their
version calls for 20 percent of voters to sign petitions before any new
laws are passed or killed.
With
a large amount of confusion possible at the polls in November if both
questions make it onto the ballot, resident Russ Boner offered an idea at
Wednesday's meeting: come up with a compromise measure that calls for a
minimum of 12 or 15 percent of signatures.
Mayor
Nancy Epps pointed out the full circle the discussion has made since
April.
"We
got here because we turned down Councilman (Gary) Comfort's idea of 15
percent," Epps reminded everyone at the meeting.
Councilman
Tony Goudie liked the idea, and Comfort was
glad to see his original proposal back on the table.
"I
do not look forward to the confusion that will be caused if we have two
questions with almost the exact same wording," Comfort said.
Councilman
Jim McCormick maintained his opposition to the initiative and referendum
idea, regardless of details.
"I
don't think we need either one," McCormick said.
Epps
agreed to consider a compromise, but with concerns.
"I
think citizen initiatives should be very hard to pass," Epps said.
"I'm not in favor of dropping it to15 percent, but if it'll relive
tensions I'll allow for negotiations."
But
a compromise isn't going to happen unless Kimberly Comfort agrees to drop
her petition drive. She said she could live with the 15 percent threshold,
but some of the wording in the Council members' measure bothers her.
She
wants capital improvement projects to be fair game in the initiative and
referendum process, and she'll only back off if state law says that
illegal, she said.
She
also wants to be able to challenge amendments to the town's comprehensive
land use plan, and says that will be a deal breaker if Council members
disagree.
Town
staff and Kimberly Comfort will try to hammer out a measure that would go
before the Council at their July meeting.
"I
can only consider the actions to date of the majority of the Council not
to be an attempt to legislate good law, but rather an attempt to introduce
a poison pill designed to confuse the electorate in a devious, yet
obvious, attempt to frustrate the citizens' petition," she said.
She
said she was "particularly offended" by the Council's proposed
ballot question including a provision that says the Council's version will
prevail even if it receives fewer votes than the citizens'measure.
Comfort
needs at least 253 people -- 10 percent of registered voters -- to sign
her petition to get the measure on the ballot.
So
far she said she has 158 signed petitions.
Decision
On Ranch's Future Use Delayed
Published:
Jun 22, 2007
On
Thursday, the county's Development Review Committee, led by Pasco County
Administrator John Gallagher, delayed for a week consideration of a change
to the county's long-range land-use plan that will let the Starkey Ranch
move forward with development. The change still must win approval from
county commissioners and the state. The committee will take up the issue
at 9 a.m. Thursday at the
The
land-use change is the first in a series of approvals the Starkeys
must get during the next year as they work to transform 2,500 acres,
including the family's homestead, into a community built along
grid-pattern streets with a major commercial center next to one of the
county's busiest commuter routes.
The
property is what's left of the former 16,000-acre ranch owned by Jay B.
Starkey, the grandfather of Frank, Trey and Laura, who are seeking to
develop the property.
Most
of the former ranch was set aside as the
The
overall development proposal remains under review by county and regional
planners. It envisions about 4,300 homes, a town-center-style downtown
with about 600,000 square feet of retail and office space, a movie theater
and an industrial park mirroring work now under way across S.R. 54 at the
The
proposal is a larger version of Longleaf, the Starkeys'
original attempt at retro-looking traditional neighborhood development,
which emphasizes garages on alleys and homes with front porches. Crosland,
the company developing the new phases of Longleaf, has signed on to
develop the new project.
With
homes built on grids surrounding village centers, the project also echoes
recently released long-range plans for developing the Pasadena Hills area
between
Trey
Starkey said the community will favor pedestrians over cars, unlike more
conventional communities filled with cul-de-sacs and street-facing
garages.
"What
we're trying to emphasize is the pedestrian is king," Starkey said.
The
family has an as-yet-unnamed grocery store on the hook and is looking for
other retailers willing to take a chance on something other than
conventional strip centers.
"We
haven't really put it out there yet," Starkey said.
Every
day thousands of commuters take
"The
grocer wants to come in now," Starkey said.
Reporter
Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813)
948-4201 or kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com.
Alachua
County
Forever
shifts its focus to land management
By
NATHAN CRABBE
Sun
staff writer
Alachua
County Forever is getting a lot of help from its friends.
The
county land-conservation program is expected to soon run out of money to
buy properties. So the program is shifting toward managing land and making
it publicly accessible.
"We
knew we were going to transition into stewardship when we were done
buying, and this year we're going to be done buying," said Ramesh
Buch, director of Alachua County Forever.
Buch
said the program will rely on partnerships and volunteers to help. Already
about 6,000 of the 11,000 acres of
Alachua
County
conservation land is being managed by partners at no charge to the county,
according to figures provided by the program.
A
Friends of Alachua County Forever group has recently formed and will be
used on efforts such as building trails and running educational tours, Buch
said. Group members are expected to help prepare for this fall's opening
of the nearly 2,000-acre Mill Creek Nature Preserve, located at the
intersection of county roads 241 and 236 north of Alachua.
Some
group members are also discussing another ballot measure to pay for more
land acquisition. But getting existing conservation land open to the
public is a crucial first step, said Robert "Hutch" Hutchinson,
project manager for the nonprofit Alachua Conservation Trust and a key
player in the first Alachua County Forever drive.
"They
want to see that the first version of it worked," he said.
Voters
passed Alachua County Forever in 2000, authorizing a property tax funding
$29 million in bonds to buy conservation land. The measure allows up to 10
percent of the money to be used to pay for initial improvements to the
land.
But
because of the feverish real estate market of recent years, Buch
said buying as much land as possible was decided to be the best use of the
money.
"This
was the window of time where if we didn't buy it, we were going to lose
it," he said.
He
said the county's general fund has mainly been used for land management.
That figure has slowly risen from about $30,000 to $75,000 in the most
recent year, but Buch said proposed state
budget cuts would make further increases difficult.
He
said the program will continue using partnerships to leverage funding.
Alachua County Forever has been able to use $36 million in outside funds
to buy land beyond what the bonds would allow,
an approach Buch said could also be applied to
land management.
Buying
land is only the beginning of conservation, said Sandra Vardaman,
land conservation biologist for
Alachua
County
. Managing land means everything from kicking out squatters to removing
vegetation that fuels fires and forces out native species, she said.
"We've
had poachers, we've had campers, we've had looters - in addition to the
invasive plants," Vardaman said.
But
Buch said limited funding makes it crucial to
seek partnerships and opportunities to make money off the land. Kanapaha
Prairie Ranch, part of a tour Thursday by county officials, is an example
of how partnerships can work.
Alachua
County Forever had identified the property as environmentally significant
but had problems buying it. The nonprofit Conservation
Fund and nearby homeowners stepped in to make the purchase.
Now
the nonprofit leases the land to a local cattle rancher for a nominal fee.
Neighbor Lisa Gearen said homeowners don't
have the money for restoration, so the rancher deals with invasive plants
and monitors the property.
"He's
the eyes for us," she said.
Buch
said cattle ranching wouldn't work on most county lands, but there are
other ways to fund land management. Hunting leases and selling forest thinnings
to the timber industry are among the ways being discussed.
Volunteers
are also expected to help with the hard work of land management.
Hutchinson
said if the public wants access to conservation land, it's only fitting
they should take part.
"If
that's the case, people ought to be willing to go out there to do the
work," he said.
Nathan
Crabbe can be reached at 352-338-3176 or crabben@gville
sun.com.
Police
Examine Payoff Worries In Rezoning Bid
Published:
Jun 22, 2007
A
police spokeswoman wouldn't talk about the investigation Thursday other
than to say it involves land development.
But
City Councilman Tom Scott said city legal staff members told him last week
that they were uncomfortable moving forward with a hearing to rezone
property on
Scott
said lawyers wanted to hold off "because there was a pending
investigation that there was a request for money in support of that zoning
request."
MetLife
wants to develop the site near the
Breslin
said MetLife, the New York-based insurance company whose real estate
investments total about $40 billion, is not under investigation. He would
not say whether the company was the source of the complaints.
The
investigation appears to be broader than the MetLife project.
Councilman
Charlie Miranda said he has heard of at least one, and perhaps as many as
four, instances where developers were approached for money in exchange for
support.
Ed
Turanchik, who develops low-cost housing in
"We
were being viewed as a potential victim," Turanchik
said. "The questions were about extortionist behavior. That was the
thrust of it."
Turanchik
said the call from police was unexpected, and that he has gathered from
others in the community that the issue is about whether community groups
or residents are asking for money from developers.
Mayor
Pam Iorio said she received information about
two weeks ago about what she would only describe as "possible
wrongdoing."
"I
immediately brought it to the police department for investigation," Iorio
said.
The
support of residents and neighborhood associations is key
for developers to win support from the Tampa City Council for their
projects. City council members think twice about approving development
requests when the community is vehemently opposed.
Bill
Duvall, past president of Tampa Homeowners, an Association of
Neighborhoods, said he didn't know about the investigation but would be
disappointed if someone asked developers for money.
"It
makes all of us look a little questionable, doesn't it?" Duvall said.
Developers
generally pitch their projects to neighborhood associations, whose boards
vote on whether they support the proposals. That vote sends a strong
signal to the council.
At
a city council meeting Thursday, Miranda proposed two changes to the
city's ethics code.
He
wants to add a provision that would forbid people from threatening or
coercing anyone with a matter pending before the city to pay or promise
anything of value in exchange for support.
Another
provision would require people appearing before the council to disclose
whether they are benefiting from the petitioner or developer.
"During
recent council meetings, I have felt uneasy not about the zoning itself,
but about the side agreements," Miranda said. "You have three
types of zonings: good zonings, bad zonings and bad zonings that are good
because of money.
"When
we start knowing there are side deals, we are heading into darkness,"
Miranda continued. "This cannot continue."
He
said he didn't like a deal in the works between the West Tampa Community
Development Corp. and developer Ken Morin, who has offered the group
$750,000 to put toward helping first-time homebuyers and for home repairs
in West Tampa.
Morin
withdrew a portion of the grant after Miranda raised questions.
The
council on Thursday unanimously agreed to have the city's legal department
work on Miranda's suggested changes to the ethics code.
"The
intent is to keep the zoning process as pure as possible," Scott
said. "We have an element that appears to be extortion. We want to
make sure whatever we do has no cloud over it."
The
city attorney's office declined to comment.
Reporters
Jose Patino Girona
and Chris Echegaray contributed to this
report. Reporter Ellen Gedalius can be reached
at egedalius@tampatrib.com
or (813) 259-7679.
Springhills
developers are suing county
The
developers of Springhills filed suit late
Thursday afternoon against Alachua County, alleging that meetings were
held in violation of Florida's open meeting laws and that the county tried
to get the developers to pay for more road improvements than it should.
The suit was also filed against the North
Central Florida
Regional Planning Council.
The lawsuit asks the court to vacate the County Commission's denial of a
comprehensive plan amendment sought by Springhills,
said Bruce Goldman, attorney for Springhills'
owner, the Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust.
"PREIT is disappointed that litigation regarding the future of the Springhills
project has become necessary," company Vice Chairman George Rubin
said in a written statement. "The company had expected to build a
wonderful gateway to the
Gainesville
community, presenting a mix of uses including a sophisticated town center
with something for everyone. The company has been welcomed into more than
50 communities in 13 states. We have made a large investment in
Alachua
County
and as a new corporate citizen and taxpayer in the community had expected
to participate in an open and fair process with respect to our recent
development application."
Rubin added the lawsuit is necessary to protect the company's shareholders
and procedural fairness.
The suit had been anticipated by county officials because of the public
records requests the company has been making since the denial May 3.
Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut said Thursday evening she believes a lawsuit
is the wrong approach to take.
"I think this is unfortunate. If they have any desire to come back to
this community in the future, this is not the way to win friends,"
Chestnut said. "I would think that if they plan to try to come back
that they would try to have a meeting of the minds with the citizens that
opposed the development and the commission, and see if there is some
common ground."
Springhills is a development of regional
impact, commonly called a DRI, at Interstate 75 and
NW 39th Avenue
. DRIs are so large they affect services, the
environment, traffic, housing and the economy beyond their immediate
location.
The company in 2003 applied for a comprehensive plan amendment to
substantially increase the amount of commercial space it can build for a
total of 1.5 million square feet. That would make it larger than the
Butler
Plaza
complex at 1.2 million square feet.
In January 2006 the commission first considered the changes. At the time
the estimated road improvements were about $40 million, with Springhills'
proportionate share being about $22 million.
Commissioners voted to approve the amendment so it could be reviewed by
the state Department of Community Affairs. The county and the company were
to try to reach agreement on splitting road costs.
In mid-2006 a new traffic analysis by the Regional Planning Council and
the county stated that road needs would be much greater than anticipated.
Meanwhile, a group opposed to the changes formed. Traffic was a major
concern of both the group and the county. The county contended it would
cost $120 million to improve roads in the area to handle added growth,
pegging Springhills' share at $58 million.
After considerable negotiations, Springhills
offered to front $91 million for the improvements if the county would
later reimburse it for $33 million.
Commissioners, facing uncertainty about state-mandated budget cuts, said
they could not commit to paying their share of the road costs or
reimbursements. Commissioners voted unanimously to deny the changes.
One issue in the suit is the revised road costs. The suit alleges the
county violated the company's due process rights by its participation in
and reliance on the Planning Council traffic study. Statutory requirements
bind the county and the Planning Council to the initial traffic study, the
suit contends.
The second primary issue involves informal commission meetings that are
often held during the weeks in between formal, official meetings.
General notice is given that an informal meeting will be held, and they
are frequently covered by the news media.
The suit contends adequate notice was not given of meetings at which Springhills
was discussed. Company representatives were not present at the meetings,
the suit states.
"We are contesting that secret meetings were held in violation of the
state Sunshine law and that we were required to make improvements to roads
to which we had no significant or adverse impact," Goldman said.
"We are working to vacate the decisions that the county made."
County Manager Randall Reid said Thursday night he believes proper notice
of the meetings was given.
"To my knowledge all meetings were posted. Other than that I can't
comment on litigation," Reid said. "(The suit) is not a surprise
due to the number of public records requested. We operate as transparently
as possible."
Cindy Swirko can be reached at 352-374-5024 or
swirkoc@ gvillesun.com.
Oakstead
project gets okay
The
county's top planners give a thumbs up after
the developer eases traffic concerns.
By
CHUIN-WEI YAP
Published June 22, 2007
LAND
O'LAKES - The entrance to Oakstead on State
Road 54 used to be flanked by two monument signs amid a sea of manicured
greenery.
It
won't stay that way for long. The western side of
The
eastern side is about to join in.
A
much heftier 21-acre office project got its green light Thursday from the
county's top staff planners.
Tentatively
called the Oakstead Commerce Centers East and
West, the parks are being built by Kevin Howell, a
At
142, 000 square feet, the new Oakstead
Commerce Center East is slated to produce 49 single-story buildings, a
mixture of restaurants, offices and stores.
Oakstead
neighbors had been nervous about cars piling onto
Among
their top concerns was whether cars would tie up the road while trying to
make a U-turn on the boulevard after exiting the office park.
A
series of meetings in recent weeks between Howell, his engineers and the
neighbors resolved these concerns. John Witmer,
chairman of Oakstead's community development
district, told county officials he was happy with how the developer
handled their concerns.
Others
acknowledged that they could live with the new commerce center, but
pointed out that they couldn't really force any real changes, since the
driveways had won approval five years ago. This latest round of approval
is only for the park's site plan.
"If
someone has a larger car, like a
Cyment
said the CDD has other issues with the developer, including sidewalks and
bicycle paths.
But,
as far as the commerce center goes, "I think we've dealt with most of
the issues, " Cyment
said.
Their
mixed feelings are a coming-of-age story with echoes all over the county
and state, as developments get older and more crowded, as community
management shifts from developers to residents, and as commercial
neighbors cram in, chasing homes.
Don't
expect the flood of office space to end.
Howell
has at least six properties between
And
bigger projects, like Ashley Glen in
Chuin-Wei
Suburban
sprawl threatens Lake Okeechobee
BY
KELLI KENNEDY
Associated
Press
Growth
management must play a stronger role in Everglades
restoration, especially in the rapidly growing counties north of
Those
nutrients will cause plants like cattails, that would not normally grow, to
take over the area, she warned.
Rising
land costs also are impacting the state's ability to buy privately owned
land needed for
''Some
of those sites if we don't move now could be targeted for development,'' Wehle
said.
Her
agency met with the Department of Community Affairs and the Department of
Environmental Protection in
One
likely plan will be stricter rules for granting permits to developers, Wehle
said. In rapidly growing
''If
not handled properly, it could generate a lot of runoff that could adversely
effect the quality of water in the
There's
also a need for more adequate water storage areas, the agencies said.
''If
we have the right growth management protection in place, we could actually
store more water north of the lake, do a better job of having that water
treated before it comes to
By
HECTOR
Thursday,
June 21, 2007
There
may be uncertainty now about what, if anything,
should be built on the county-owned Mecca Farms site, but ideas on how to
use the property in the meantime continue to bubble.
County
waste managers earlier this month identified
At
an authority meeting Wednesday, in which county commissioners sat as its
board of directors, commissioner and authority Chairman Jeff Koons
presented the concept as a potential economic benefit to the county while
meeting the need for fill.
"Fill
is very, very valuable," Koons said.
"They got fill. We need fill."
The
authority needs between 3 million and 6 million cubic yards of fill between
now and 2020, and it currently has 300,000 yards set aside, which is enough
for the next several years, said Ray Schauer,
the authority's director of engineering and public works.
Fill
is used daily to cover garbage piled onto the landfill, to reduce odor and
vermin, Schauer said.
The
authority has gotten some of its fill previously by dredging lakes and when
the county built
Authority
and county officials said the idea of using fill from
When
The Scripps Research Institute was planned on Mecca Farms - known by the
name of its former owner, a grower - roughly 250 of its 1,920 acres was
considered for a flow way to nourish the
While
those plans were scrapped and Scripps moved east, the county will try to
incorporate the flow way into whatever happens at
"I
don't know what the environmental or permitting issues will be, if
any," Weisman said.
Governor
Gov.
Charlie Crist said Wednesday he signed a bill to
let private companies build and operate toll roads because it would help end
congestion on
The
new law drew opposition from environmentalists who argued it would increase
urban sprawl by encouraging the construction of unnecessary roads. Other
critics said it would mean higher tolls.
The
law will allow the state to lease existing toll roads, except for
Developer
betting Alachua will get new I-75 interchange
By Ronald Dupont
Jr.
Hig Springs Herald Editor
ALACHUA
– With a developer betting that an Interstate 75 interchange will be built
at
The land, owned by
Developers said that the land would hold roughly 500,000 square feet of
commercial space, or roughly three times the size of a
Alachua Mayor Gib Coerper
said he understood why
Coerper said the DOT may very well expand the
U.S. 441 interchange first – before building another interchange in
Alachua.
But Gerry Dedenbach, of the firm Causseaux,
Hewett & Walpole, said that commissioners
need to realize how long the process takes for land to be rezoned, for
surveys to be completed and for construction plans and site plans to be
drawn up.
Dedenbach, who was representing
“We
don't need to wait five to six years and see if the demand is there,” he
said.
The developer also requested that other land WACO owns – 34 acres at the
southwest corner of County Road 235 and 110th Avenue – be rezoned to
industrial. The developer pointed out that the land is bordered by the
distribution center complexes on two sides.
But two residents pointed out that the land also borders homes on the other
two sides and asked that the land be considered as a buffer zone between the
homes and the distribution centers.
Resident
Michael Canney said he was not happy that
“
The commission voted 4-1 for rezoning both parcels of land, with Coerper
dissenting.
The full, 29-page report to the city commission about both parcels of land
can be found HERE.
Developer
wants to build neighborhood near distribution centers
ALACHUA
– The same developer that sold the land for the Wal-Mart and Dollar
General distribution centers wants to build
hundreds of homes so close to the centers that people could almost walk to
work.
The Alachua City Commission gave preliminary approval in the first of many
steps for as many as 472 homes to be built on the south side of County Road
235 at the CR 235A intersection.
The homes would be adjacent to the
The 22-page report given to city commissioners about the rezoning and
planned neighborhood can be found HERE.
While
In fact, Alachua city commissioners, in giving their preliminary vote, kept
referring to Savannah Station and said they hope the new development would
have many of the same features.
In a related matter, Mayor Gib Coerper
pointed out that if the proposed development does get built, a sewer line
would be extended to the development and in front of
Coerper
said the city may want to begin discussions with the
Development
plan for Micco is devastating
Palm
Bay City Manager Lee Feldman's plan for developing the south side of Micco,
which includes a new interchange for Interstate 95, will harm far more than
the environment.
His
attempt to soften the horrendous impact of devastation upon the environment
obfuscates the undisclosed plan that will tragically affect tens of
thousands of residents, and millions of precious native animals, trees and
plants.
For
developers, the I-95 interchange is critical for the planned
Without
dissension, a county commission meeting last year revealed the parkway,
partially supported by developers, provides an extensive means for
developing traffic far to the north and south.
That,
in turn, would serve as a fertile corridor for virtually unlimited
development.
Problems
with developer-planned exploitation include:
Increased
muggings, home invasions, killings, drug marketers, traffic congestion with
injuries and fatalities, poisoned air and water, noise, flooding by water
runoff, tighter water restrictions, higher taxes, and so on.
The
worst invasive animals to
Leonard V. Becker
Interchange
could alter Hills design
Needed
acreage might limit commercial space
Robert
Sargent | Sentinel Staff Writer
MINNEOLA
- A large interchange on
The proposed interchange could have to handle up to 60,000 vehicles a day to
accommodate tremendous impacts from the Hills and surrounding developments
in that part of south Lake County, according to preliminary estimates from
the Turnpike Enterprise. That is nearly twice as much
traffic as what currently files through a busy interchange at the
turnpike and State Road 50 east of Clermont.
Hills landowner and project developer Family Dynamics Inc., formerly known
as the Gregg Family Land Co., had planned for the new interchange in the
middle of nearly 4,000 proposed homes and about 3 million square feet of
retail outlets, offices and industrial buildings. But Family Dynamics did
not expect it would take up so much space -- roughly 178 acres for a large,
partial cloverleaf with long on- and off-ramps.
The
developer initially said the road project could reduce the amount of planned
commercial and industrial development -- a key part of the Hills that
Minneola officials had hoped would create local jobs along with all of the
development's homes.
"If this is what we end up having to give the Turnpike [
If the turnpike needs more space, some city officials say the Hills should
reduce some other part of the development.
"The employment center is more of what we need," Yeager said.
Major changes to the Hills plan could force the development to go back
before the council, which granted preliminary approval with a split 3-2 vote
in October despite concerns about the impact on roads, schools and public
services.
On Wednesday,
"I think we could come up with a plan,"
Yeager said it may be too early to know exactly how the interchange will
affect the Hills. When completed, possibly in 15 years, the huge development
is expected to generate up to 105,000 vehicle trips a day for all of the
area's roads.
Add to that impacts from the nearby
The Reserve at Minneola is planned for 689 homes, and Founders Ridge aims
for 963 homes. Black West in Clermont is planned for up to 1,300 homes, and
Bella Collina is building more than 800 homes.
The future development compounds growth in south
Traffic also has grown -- much of it packs S.R. 50 each weekday as motorists
head toward the turnpike east of Clermont in
One of two interchanges at U.S. Highway 27 has about 6,000 vehicles a day --
the other has 10,000. A relatively new interchange that opened in early 2005
at County Road 470 has about 800 trips a day.
Robert Sargent
can be reached at rsargent@orlandosentinel.com or 352-742-5909.
Proposed
amendment pits builders against voters
Addressing the monthly meeting of the Marion County Builders' Association,
Douglas Buck of the Florida Home Builders Association said the proposed
Florida Hometown Democracy amendment could cause gridlock in the voting
booth and stall development.
"The citizens of
But organizers of the Hometown Democracy movement say the proposed
constitutional amendment is a way to return control of growth to voters, not
special interest groups.
Florida Hometown Democracy is working to get enough petition signatures to
get the proposal on the ballot in time for next year's presidential
election. Co-founder Lesley Blackner said
Wednesday afternoon her organization now has about 400,000 signatures out of
a total of 611,000 required.
The FHBA is one of several business organizations opposed to the Hometown
Democracy amendment, and wants to get local chapters such as the
"It's extremely important that this association pay attention to this
issue," he said. "If it hits the ballot.
the din is going to be huge. We're going to have
to make an argument that this is not the way to proceed."
Concern about the Hometown Democracy amendment prompted the FHBA to support
last year's Amendment 3 which now requires a 60-percent majority to approve
amendments to
"We were the major funders of Amendment 3,
trying to raise the bar," Buck said.
Blackner, reached by telephone later, questioned
the FHBA's motives.
"Why are they so afraid of people voting?" she said. "No one
is entitled to a comprehensive plan amendment. These are political
decisions. Too many of [
Voters could have trouble understanding the proposed amendment itself, Buck
said.
"The average citizen, it is difficult for them to understand what they
are voting for, yes or no," he said.
Buck called the proposal "a simplistic solution to a complex
problem," adding that "wacko environmentalists" and others
are likely to vote for it.
Blackner doesn't agree with opponents' claims
that the proposed amendment could stall the building of schools, road
improvements and other infrastructure, and believes voters should decide if
such improvements are necessary.
"The comprehensive plan should reflect the public interest, and if the
public doesn't want them, it shouldn't be rammed down their throats,"
she said.
Rick Cundiff
may be reached at
rick.cundiff@starbanner.com or at (352) 867-4130.
Ag
Department Keeps Canker Quarantine
By
Kevin
Bouffard
LAKELAND
-- The U.S. Department of Agriculture declined to lift a
canker quarantine on fresh citrus shipments out of
Florida
, according to a final rule it published today.
The USDA had imposed the quarantine last year under a
temporary rule, and
Florida
citrus officials had hoped for changes that would allow it to ship to
California
, previously a major market for fresh
Florida
citrus.
Read more in Friday's Ledger.
Complex
Planned Atop Freed
Slaves
Cemetery
Published:
Jun 21, 2007
DARBY
- Developers are looking to build homes on a former tomato farm in
north-central
In
an e-mail to Pasco County Administrator John Gallagher, Jeff Cannon of
Gallagher
and the rest of the Development Review Committee will consider a rezoning
request for Pine Ridge Estates that will let the developer build 300 homes
on the property.
The
cemetery, which is on county maps, covers just more than two acres of the
475 acres that ETR plans to develop.
County
maps show the cemetery near the southeast corner of the Pine Ridge property.
Designs
for the subdivision call for building more than three dozen homes atop the
cemetery site.
Cannon
says previous landowners slowly eroded the integrity of the cemetery by
parking farm equipment on it. A lone headstone is visible on the property
now.
"This
is a truly historic cemetery," Cannon wrote to Gallagher.
Cannon
runs a Web site dedicated to researching
Pine
Ridge Estates is proposed for land straddling
County
officials have recommended the DRC deny the developers' request to rezone
the property, but for reasons other than the presence of an old cemetery.
County
officials say the proposal is out of line with the property around it and
with the county's long-range plans. They say the developer hasn't met the
county's standards for the type of project proposed.
And,
lacking public water and sewer, the property is too close to Cypress Creek Wellfield
to make 300 septic tanks environmentally feasible, county officials told the
DRC.
Also
on the DRC's agenda today are:
•A
request by the developers of Wiregrass Ranch to vary from the county's rules
on the size and location of neighborhood parks within subdivisions
•Denial
of permission to de
velop
a paintball field near the southwest corner of
•Development
plans for 49 one-story office and retail buildings in front of the Oak-stead
development in Land O' Lakes. The complex would encompass 142,000 square
feet
•A
change to the county's long-range plan to allow development of Starkey Ranch
in
Reporter
Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813)
948-4201 or kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com.
Well field sale set in motion
Pinellas
wants to sell and
Pasco
wants to buy the 12,500-acre Cross Bar Ranch property.
By
CHUIN-WEI YAP
Published June 21, 2007
LAND
O'LAKES - The Pinellas and
There's
no telling yet how much the Cross Bar Ranch well field might cost, but
Tuesday's
resolutions supporting the sale reinforce
In
the 1970s, Pinellas had sought inland groundwater for its future drinking
needs, said Pick Talley, Pinellas utilities director. The purchases in part
contributed to the regional water wars.
"But
we have a regional water authority now," Talley said, referring to
Tampa Bay Water,"... and it really isn't necessary for Pinellas to own
land in
Tampa
Bay Water now pumps an average 22.5-million gallons a day from Cross Bar's
17 wells to help meet the region's water needs. Pinellas also built an
education center on the property in 2003, to provide classes and guided
tours so
It's
hard to tell how much the land would cost.
"We
plan to get appraisals," said Rene Wiesner
Brown, who manages
Pinellas
spent about $12.9-million to buy the land in pieces through the 1970s and
1980s, but that's not today's value.
Last
year, a similar purchase of the 5,100-acre
Florida
Forever's governing board meets in August to consider the Cross Bar funding
request, Brown said. It is likely to ask for further discussions and
studies.
"
Also
on Tuesday,
The
Pasco Palms property, owned by Frank Darabi,
sits opposite
Chuin-Wei
Starkey
plan a nod to patriarch
The
grandchildren want to develop places where people can still walk into town.
By
CHUIN-WEI YAP
Published June 21, 2007
Fatherless
at 10, he always wanted to be a cattleman. He snagged his first 10 acres in
By
the time he died in 1989, he had parlayed that into 16,000 acres of
Now,
the last 2,500 acres are poised to transform
On
the northeastern corner of
More
than half of the proposed Starkey Ranch is set aside as conservation land,
linked by a network of trails. The family is
going before the county's top staff planners today, partly to preserve the
most sensitive wetlands from any development.
Laura
Starkey is taking the lead on what's tentatively called the
"The
community-based side of it is providing opportunities for people to interact
with the land, to learn from it, enjoy it and touch it," she said --
then laughed and corrected herself: "Not
touch it too much. Just to the degree that people are connected with
nature."
The
siblings are partnering with Crosland to develop the ranch's proposed town
center, a 250,000-square-foot
With
Frank Starkey's involvement in the antisprawl
New Urbanism movement, and with Longleaf as a model, it's no surprise that
Starkey Ranch is envisioned as a compact "traditional
neighborhood," with street grids, front porches and downtown centers
within walking distance.
"The
big thing about traditional neighborhoods is that it dethrones the
car," Trey Starkey said. "We take care of the pedestrian
first."
That
sets the siblings up for a potential squabble with county traffic planners,
according to county documents.
The
county wants to extend
But
more than a year's worth of government review lies ahead.
The
Starkeys are going before the
They
still have to secure a regional planning permit, pass rezoning hearings and
get the
"The
best-case scenario is we have the shovel in the ground at the end of
2008," Trey said.
Chuin-Wei
Yap can be reached at 813 909-4613 or cyap@sptimes.com.
River
problems chronicled online
Activists
list specific instances of
St. Johns River
pollution
By
Steve Patterson, The Times-Union
Jacksonville-area
environmental activists have documented hundreds of violations of federal
clean-water laws involving the
The
project makes it easier for people to track water pollution in their own
neighborhoods.
"I'm
very happy that they can look at specific sites, permit holders, and see
what is going on in their specific area," said Quilla
Miralia, executive director of the Public Trust
Environmental Law Institute of Florida, based in
The
St. Johns Riverkeeper and the law institute
compiled records of 298 clean-water violations from files of the Florida
Department of Environmental Protection. Those occurred in
The
state agency enforces federal clean-water laws.
The
documents show that water pollution happens routinely and contributes to
some of the river's biggest problems, the head of the Riverkeeper
organization said.
"I
guess generally there's a problem with the permitting system," said
Neil Armingeon, who said sewage treatment plants
and other places holding state and federal permits had chronic problems.
Armingeon
said people from his office and the law institute spent hundreds of hours
examining state permit files, using a scanner to record electronic images of
important reports. Those images are included in the report posted on the Riverkeeper
Web site. The address is www.stjohnsriver
keeper.org/compliance_report.asp.
He
said the number of repeated violations at the same locations show that the
state's penalties for pollution need to lead to concrete solutions.
A
DEP spokeswoman, Jill Johnson, said agency employees will be reviewing the Riverkeeper
report today. Johnson said Wednesday that she couldn't address the report's
conclusions.
The
online report recommends that DEP make more information available online,
and that there should be less lag time in recording permit violations. It
also asks the Florida Attorney General's Office to review whether state
environmental officials are following public records laws.
OrlandoSentinel.com
Effort
to annex riles residents
Cards
mailed to 6,000 property owners say they must sign agreements allowing
annexation by
Sandra
Pedicini
Sentinel
Staff Writer
June
21, 2007
Mixed
in with the magazines, bills and coupons that arrived in the mail last week came
a surprise for many
Cards
sent to more than 6,000 property owners said they must sign agreements
allowing their properties to one day become part of
The
cards went out to unincorporated neighborhoods all around
Many
people who got the cards want no part of
Residents
have been furiously calling elected officials, all the way up to the
governor.
"I've
never seen so many people upset," said Stan Bessmer,
a community activist in
The
cards said "all property owners" must sign agreements, but
Mayor
Bob Goff acknowledged
In
1991,
But
when Barbara Lipscomb started as city manager earlier this year, she
realized that
She
wanted that changed, she said, so the city began presenting new water and
sewer customers with annexation agreements that property owners must sign.
Lipscomb
said other property owners who bought their homes since 1991 may have to
sign the agreements "at some point." But she doesn't know when
that will be. If they refuse to sign, Lipscomb said Monday, it could mean
the end of their city utility service.
People
who have owned their homes since before the rules went into effect would be
exempt, as would some
Cecelia
Height didn't realize when she received her notice that she was exempt
because she has owned her home since 1986.
"I'm
relieved this does not affect me, but it was just so heavy-handed and done
so poorly," she said. "I was very upset, and I remain very
concerned about it."
City
officials have been flooded with calls, prompting them to put more
information on their Web site, www.casselberry.org.
Just
because someone signs an agreement doesn't mean they'll be annexed anytime
soon, Lipscomb said. She noted that in some cases, it may not be in the
city's best interest to annex. But in a mailer she sent out to residents,
Lipscomb acknowledged she wants
Residents
of the Tanglewood homeowners association called
a special meeting Monday night to talk about what has been happening.
"I
guess mainly it's just the perceived address," said Justin Westerfeld,
treasurer of the Tanglewood Area Civic
Association. "
Lipscomb
pointed out that many other cities require annexations and annexation
agreements from unincorporated property owners who sign up for new water and
sewer service.
But
the situation is a little different in
Seminole
County Commission Chairman Carlton Henley said he doesn't think
"It's
coercion," said Henley, who met with Lipscomb on Monday about the
issue.
"We
took the position it may require a class-action suit against the city if
they attempt to cut off water to those houses they've been serving all these
years," he said.
Commissioners
were already miffed about
Sandra
Pedicini can be reached at spedicini@orlandosentinel.com
or 407-322-7669.
Sebring
Suspends Annexations
The
proposed superexemption does not apply to
commercial property. Therefore, the market and taxable would be identical
values for tax purposes. There will be a required rollback of millage
rate for counties and cities for 2007.
By
Mandy Sheets of
Published:
June 21, 2007
SEBRING
— City officials say they don't want any new residents until they know
exactly how their budget will be affected by the superexemption
proposal.
The
Sebring City Council denied annexation at Tuesday's meeting of two new
developments that would have brought 250 homes into the city.
If
voters pass the Florida Legislature's superexemption
proposal on the Jan. 29 ballot, municipalities will receive significantly
less money through property taxes for the 2008-09 fiscal year.
City
officials said they doubt their ability to provide basic services with the
money they would receive from property tax if the proposal passes.
"Why
would we want to annex anyone if this (superexemption
proposal) passes?" council member Jeff Carlson asked. "There is a
huge discrepancy between the amount of taxes we collected before and what we
will receive now."
Michael
Swaine, city attorney, said because the city's
budget will be stretched thin if the proposal passes, annexing more
residents would only put a higher burden on current residents.
City
officials examined dollar amounts for a 76-home development planned for
Based
on the superexemption proposal, property owners
would pay tax on 75 percent of their property value on homes less than
$200,000.
With
the current tax system, the city would receive $71,630 for the development.
Under the superexemption, the city would collect
only $20,995.
"We
cannot give adequate fire and police protection with that amount of
money," council member John Griffin said.
This
particular project has already been approved at the county level, so it can
proceed without annexation. The city will still provide water and sewer
services and has the option of annexing the development at a later date.
Dale
Polston, project engineer of the second
development, said his project will now be delayed about four months because
he will have to apply for permits through the county.
This
development, slated for 67 acres on
"There
is no question we could provide services based on the old calculations, but
I question our ability to do that with the new numbers," Hoffman said.
Rainbow
Springs property owner sues Marion County
BY
CHRISTOPHER CURRY
STAR-BANNER
On
Monday, a property owner identified in court records as Deborah Techentin
sued
The
lawsuit alleges the commissioners violated state law and county code with
the vote. Specifically, it argues that the vote conflicted with a provision
that commissioners have the power to levy assessments for road improvements
when 51 percent of the landowners in an area sign a petition of support.
"That's
a requirement," said Richard Bennett, a
But
County Attorney Thomas Wright pointed to another section of the county code
which states: "The board shall retain the authority to create
improvement areas without a landowner petition."
Wright
said that gives the
The
county's contracted bond counsel, Chris Trabor,
said much the same during the May 29 public hearing to establish the MSBU.
"The
bulk of our clients do not have the petition process," Trabor
said during the meeting. "It is not legally required under
The
lawsuit states that petitions were sent out to 1,408 property owners in late
2005. According to the county's Municipal Services Taxing Unit Department,
477 responses in favor of the assessment and 449
responses in opposition were received by the Dec. 20, 2005, deadline.
But
the lawsuit alleges that county staff should have counted 17 petitions
postmarked on Dec. 20 but received after that date. During the May 29
hearing, MSTU Director Myra Tedder said the
deadline was to have the petitions received, not mailed out.
The
lawsuit alleges those petitions would have added 14 property owners in
opposition to the assessment and three in favor and tipped support below the
51 percent threshold in county code.
The
"We'd
just be faced with the same thing at the end of all that," Commissioner
Jim Payton said. "Let's just move on with it."
The
assessment would fund a $1.4 million project to pave about 21 miles of
roads. Assessments for property owners would range from $950 to $1,100 per
lot.
Christopher
Curry may be reached at
chris.curry@starbanner.com
or (352) 867-4115.
County
Approves Impact Fee Hike
By
Tom
Palmer
The
Ledger
BARTOW
- Construction prices are going up and so are impact fees, the
Commissioners approved a resolution that, for the first time, imposes an
across-the-board 3.3 percent indexing increase to make sure the fees will
pay for the projects they're supposed to fund.
The vote affects impact fees for roads, the jail, ambulance service,
libraries, parks, fire and police. The school impact fee, which is based on
the amount of state funding coming to local schools, will have to be
calculated separately and will be considered at the July 11 commission
meeting.
The changes will increase impact fee revenue by more than $1 million.
Wednesday's vote didn't come quickly.
Commissioner Jack Myers, a consistent impact fee critic, tried
unsuccessfully to scuttle the increase, citing recent news of the slump in
building permits and the perennial argument that the fees stifle home
ownership.
But commission chairman Bob English said that argument was short-sighted.
"What's the point of having a plan if you don't fund it?" he
asked, referring to the county's long-term capital plan to expand roads,
parks and other public infrastructure to keep up with growth.
Myers argued that lowering the impact fees would stimulate more
construction.
English said the current building slump had nothing to do with impact fees.
"Construction's down nationwide," he said, arguing the trend is
market-related.
English
said construction costs and land prices probably have more of an effect on
the price of a new home than impact fees.
Commissioner
Randy Wilkinson said he didn't want
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.
Martin
residents want growth protections
Thursday,
June 21, 2007
STUART
— For many, Wednesday was a chance to brag
about
For
others, it was a day to vent about the need to do more to protect residents,
the poor, wildlife, the boating community and the environment.
around
paving some more," said Stuart resident Giovanna Gallottini,
one of more than 150 residents who attended a public workshop on what's
right, and what's wrong, with the county's planning for growth.
County
officials hired a consultant to evaluate the county's comprehensive growth
plan to see if it needs to be changed. The state requires counties to
reevaluate their plan every seven years.
Most
of the discussion Wednesday centered on a recommendation in an earlier
unrelated consultant's study that suggested the county should allow
clustered pockets of homes on rural land where the plan currently only
allows one home per 20-acre lot. Commissioners did not implement the
recommendations of that study.
Residents
on Wednesday said they did not want to see the "evaluation and
appraisal report" to be used as a way to change the plan to allow
clustering, which opponents say will cover the county in urban sprawl.
"I
don't trust that at some point in time the clusters won't all just meld
together and become one big cluster," said Jensen Beach resident Lisa
Berry Klausmeyer.
Consultant
Lorraine Tappen of Fort Lauderdale-based Calvin
Giordano and Associates stressed that her study has no connection to the
earlier clustering study.
Several
other residents said they didn't want the plan to allow any more population
growth than it already allows over the next 15 years, regardless of how many
people want to move to the county in the future.
But
business owners and land planners said that the county's strict growth rules
and all of the impact fees are making it tough to run a business and even
tougher to find an affordable home.
"We're
not doing enough to attract high-paying jobs for our kids," Mark Mathis
said. "If we continue with this 'shut the door behind us' attitude, we
won't be able to build a house for them either."
Dave
Dew, chairman of the Martin County Democratic Party's executive committee,
suggested making the plan do something to protect mobile home parks from
redevelopment to preserve affordable housing. But Erica Kubia,
a planner for a law firm that represents developers, suggested that the plan
needed a better way to provide affordable housing than mobile homes.
Other
residents suggested making changes to the plan to protect palm trees, gopher
tortoises and wetlands, and to protect waterfront property from being
developed into condominiums.
Tappen
said the consultants would return for more public hearings in August and
September and again next year before commissioners
vote on the study in October next year.
Gopher
tortoises now protected;
developers
must relocate the animals
By
Mallory Colliflower
For
The Herald
Gopher
tortoises throughout the state can sleep a little more comfortably in their
underground homes beginning July 30.
Developers
seeking to bulldoze land to make way for new homes must now relocate any
tortoises that are living burrowed beneath the ground, thanks to a new
policy voted on by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) on June
12.
Florida
Fish and Wildlife Commissioners voted June 12 on the interim policy that
will remain in effect until more permanent regulations can be put into
place.
Until
this new policy, developers simply had to pay a “take fee,” which gave
them leeway to blindly plow over any tortoise holes in the building area,
trapping and ultimately killing the animals inside.
Now,
the policy will mandate that developers locate the tortoise holes and
relocate the animals “in a way that ensures long-term survival,” the
policy states.
The
issue of “take fees” gained attention in the Crescent Communities after
coverage by the High Springs Herald incited environmental groups to take
action, and the process has been a long one.
After
successfully lobbying for the state status of the gopher tortoise be
changed from “species of special concern” to “threatened” one year
ago, organizations like the Gopher Tortoise Stakeholder Group have met with
the FWC to compose a “management plan” to address the growing
problem.
The
new policy is a culminating result of that plan.
“We’ve
listened to our stakeholders on this issue and have developed a policy we
believe meets the needs of both Floridians and wildlife,” said Greg
Holder, head of the gopher management team at the FWC.
The
policy affects developers who apply for incidental take permits after July
30 and any who still have pending permits before that date.
This
past Monday, at the Alachua City Commission meeting, developers bringing
plans before the city were asked what they were going to do with the
tortoises on the property.
Those
developers said they would do whatever the law tells them.
The
issue has struck a chord not only in the environmental community but also
with local residents who are breathing a small sigh of relief.
“I
am just so thankful that somebody finally listened,” said High
Springs resident Cindy Norden, who has
written several letters to the editor on the topic. “These tortoises are
the most peaceful, lumbering creatures you’ve ever seen.”
Norden
has befriended the tortoises that live on her property, so much that they
will gently approach her and eat food from the palm of her hand.
“They deserve to be here,” Norden said. “They deserve to be here more than we do.”
Another hurdle falls for Hickory Hill
The state says the project complies with the county's comprehensive plan.
By DAN DEWITT
Published June 21, 2007
BROOKSVILLE - The state has removed one of the last obstacles to the Hickory Hill subdivision, finding it in compliance with the county's comprehensive plan.
"I considered all of the facts that were laid before me and ultimately concluded that the amendment was appropriate," said Mike McDaniel, chief of comprehensive planning for the state Department of Community Affairs.
McDaniel informed the county of his decision this week in a letter to County Commission Chairman Jeff Stabins. It says the department has upheld the commission's vote on April 26 to approve the comprehensive plan change allowing the development, which includes 1,750 houses and three golf courses on a 2,800-acre ranch in Spring Lake.
Sindra Ridge, a member of the Hernando Alliance for Open Land Conservation, said Wednesday she was puzzled by decision but that the alliance had not yet decided whether to challenge it.
If the group wants to file an objection with the state Division of Administrative Hearings, it must do so within 21 days, DCA spokesman Jon Peck said.
In making his decision, McDaniel agreed with two of the main arguments of Hickory Hill developer, Sierra Properties of Tampa.
Its representatives had said the development would create a transition zone between the heavy development expected near Interstate 75, on the east side of the property, and rural Spring Lake to the west.
Alliance members contended the ranch was not a transition zone because the 4,800-acre planned development district near the interstate is still mostly farmland.
McDaniel said he looked at the future use of the district, which includes "8,500 dwelling units ... 9.8-million square feet of industrial, 7.8-million square feet of commercial and 880 hotel rooms."
He added, "This is just an estimate, but in any event there is a lot of development rights on the adjacent property."
Likewise, he said Sierra had shown a need for more residential land to accommodate the county's future growth. A planner for the alliance has said the developer overstated the need by manipulating population statistics using calculation methods different than those normally used by the DCA.
McDaniel said Sierra's methods were "professionally acceptable."
"It certainly appeared there was a need within the planning time frame," he said.
McDaniel made the decision without consulting either Charles Gauthier, the DCA's director of Community Planning or its secretary, Tom Pelham, who had both removed themselves from judging Hickory Hill's request. Gauthier helped develop the plan for the subdivision while working as a private planning consultant and Pelham previously worked in the same Tallahassee law firm as Jake Varn, who represented Sierra.
The DCA also passed on a chance to object to the development agreement for Hickory Hill that the commission approved with the change to the comprehensive plan.
"We've considered our option to challenge and decided not to," Peck said.
Sebring Sierra, the developer's vice president of operations, said DCA's approval was a testament to the support of members of the community.
"We're extremely pleased that we've passed this big step in the process of making Hickory Hill part of Hernando County's future," he said.
County Commissioner Diane Rowden, who cast the only vote against the project, said the state's ruling defied common sense.
When the county last re-wrote the plan, it created new protections for rural property in Spring Lake, she said; also, the dense growth McDaniel cited is "on paper only. There is no development district."
Dan DeWitt can be reached at dewitt@sptimes.com or 352754-6116.