Utility Must Meet Growing Demand
Published: Mar 6, 2007
TAMPA - Bob Minthorn gets angry every time the county tells him and thousands of other Hillsborough homeowners to limit lawn watering to once a week.
He is certain there would be enough water if the county stopped approving all of the housing developments that come before the county commission for approval.
"What happened is we're still building development after development," Minthorn said.
But the prospect of slowing development to save water seems unlikely in the Tampa Bay area, even with a state law requiring local governments to factor water availability into the approval process.
In fact, since the law's passage two years ago, Hillsborough and Pasco counties have approved developments that will consume nearly 6 million gallons of water every day, a 10 percent increase over the daily rate in 2005.
Those approvals employ a circular logic that could be considered comical if such a precious resource weren't at stake.
When considering new developments, local officials turn to their regional utility, Tampa Bay Water, for assurances there will be enough water. Tampa Bay Water is obligated contractually to supply whatever amount of water local governments request.
"I don't think anybody with a lick of common sense would say that's the proper way to plan for water, especially when it's clear we have more people than water," said Linda Young, southeast director of the Clean Water Network, a Tallahassee-based environmental group.
"There's no 'No' button here," Young said.
Law Focuses On Supply
Some state and local water officials say it's wrong to link watering restrictions and development approvals.
Conservation measures, such as once-a-week lawn watering, are required during dry periods when rainfall fails to replenish the supply. There is plenty of water for future generations, they say, provided rainfall is stored during abundant periods.
"The public perception is that development is the number one factor affecting our water supply," said Todd Pressman, a developer and board member of the Southwest Florida Water Management District. "But that's not the case. What's affecting the water supply is rain."
But it was growth concerns that led state lawmakers in 2005 to approve a massive growth management bill that included a provision known as "concurrency."
The idea is that local governments cannot approve new development unless the necessary roads, schools and water are in place to serve newcomers.
For the first time, the state was telling city councils and county commissions to deny developments if adequate water supplies weren't available.
The new law had broad support, ranging from environmental groups to the governor's office. So far, though, there is little evidence the legislation is slowing growth anywhere in the state.
"I just don't see a result of the policy change yet, but I feel like we have the tools to make it work," said state Sen. Paula Dockery, a Republican from Polk County who pushed for the water concurrency provision. "I think we'll start seeing a difference in maybe five years," she said.
It's Not The Florida Standard
Don't expect to see any difference in the Bay area.
Because of the unique way Hillsborough, Pinellas County and Pasco County utilities get their water, and the complicated agreement that formed Tampa Bay Water, developments are generally approved without debate over water supply.
"Legally we cannot deny a development because of the language in the agreement," said Bart Weiss, head of Hillsborough's Water Resources Team, a group of officials from the county's various departments that handle water issues.
Forged in 1998, the agreement gives Tampa Bay Water the job of supplying any water its six members say they need.
That means new developments in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties and Tampa, St. Petersburg and New Port Richey are assured of enough water because Tampa Bay Water must agree to provide it.
No other water supply authority in the state has such an unequivocal obligation to provide water for local governments, and no other local governments can rely on another agency to meet their water supply for growth.
"Tampa Bay Water has to meet their demands. Period," said Jerry Maxwell, general manager of Tampa Bay Water.
The agency uses population projections from the counties and cities along with estimates by the state to determine how much water will be needed over the next 25 years. Tampa Bay Water is certain there will be enough.
Eric Draper, head lobbyist for Audubon of Florida, said the seemingly endless supply of water is "a bit of wishful thinking" and may not hold in the future.
"I've got some questions about that. You've only got so much water. You can buy a farm, but that doesn't mean you won't ever go hungry," Draper said.
Leaning On Rivers To Meet Demand
To meet the growing demand, Tampa Bay Water plans to lean on the Hillsborough and Alafia rivers along with the Tampa Bypass Canal.
The utility now taps those sources during rainy seasons, when the flow is high. But planners think they can take more water when there is a medium flow without causing environmental damage to the rivers or to Tampa Bay, where they flow.
Some scientists and environmentalists disagree. Whether on the surface or underground, water in the river basins is all connected, they say. Sticking a straw into the far end of a bathtub will still lower the water level at the other end.
The Hillsborough River, especially its lower 10 miles, is already suffering from increasing withdrawals to serve Tampa's growing population. Looking to the rivers and the bypass canal as a main source of water for growth will affect the waterways and the Tampa Bay estuaries to which they flow.
"Any water I take out of the river basin is water that would have gone to the estuary," said Pete Owens, a biologist with the county's Environmental Protection Commission. "If I divert it to a reservoir it's not going to go where it's historically gone."
The Southwest Florida Water Management District will ultimately decide how much additional water can be taken from the rivers and canal.
The Same Sources
Some people wonder why Tampa Bay Water doesn't concentrate more on developing "drought-free" water sources, such as additional desalination plants.
The utility built a plant near Apollo Beach in 2003, but mechanical failures have kept it from contributing a meaningful amount of water to regional supplies.
"Why do they keep going back to the same sources?" asked Alan Wright, director of the Hillsborough River Technical Advisory Committee, a panel of representatives from different government agencies.
"Everybody's got the same source, but they have different straws in those sources," Wright added. "It all comes back down to we overused our resources and they're getting depleted."
A recent survey of 1,200 residents by Tampa Bay Water showed that 42 percent of the residents in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties think there will be enough water to meet everyone's needs five years from now. About 50 percent thought development was the biggest threat to the water supply.
That perception does not match reality, said Paula Dye, chief environmental planner for Tampa Bay Water.
"I think there are adequate supplies," Dye said.
Pressman, the water district board member, said Tampa Bay Water's foresight in building a reservoir in east Hillsborough and a new treatment plant in southeast Hillsborough assures that the area will have ample supplies for expected population growth.
"If you use all your resources and manage and plan, and you get the money, you can expand and grow your water resources and not hurt the environment," Pressman said.
Minthorn, who owns a home in Gibsonton, and other critics say Pressman's view is Pollyannaish and ignores the realities of a finite resource being asked to give more than it can deliver.
They say the region will continue to drift from one water crisis to another until growth is tightly controlled and tied to a sustainable water supply.
"You can't have unlimited growth and then expect the water to be found somewhere," Minthorn said. "We need real concurrency rules where we're not overdeveloping and creating our own crisis."
Reporter Mike Salinero can be reached at (813) 259-8303 or msalinero@tampatrib.com. Reporter Neil Johnson can be reached at (352) 544-5214 or njohnson@tampatrib.com.
Lobbyist behind push for landowners to secede
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Water managers weren't acting on their own initiative last month when they endorsed a proposal by landowners who want to secede from southern Palm Beach County into Broward County, newly released records show.
The South Florida Water Management District took sides on the controversial annexation only after Justin Sayfie, a lobbyist for some of the landowners, pitched the request in January to board Chairman Kevin McCarty.
Sayfie even submitted the text of the resolution that the board unanimously approved Feb. 15, almost word for word.
The district didn't disclose the resolution's origins at the time, but it later released those records at the request of The Palm Beach Post.
"I think the whole thing smells really bad," said Audubon Society activist Rosa Durando, one of three environmentalists who opposed the vote at that meeting. They said moving the 1,949-acre tract into sprawl-friendly Broward County would fuel development, raise land prices and hamper Everglades restoration efforts, including a reservoir the district plans to build nearby.
McCarty said he sees no reason for all the fuss, which included nearly a minute of sniping between him and Durando at the Feb. 15 meeting.
The annexation is subject to the approval of the legislature. McCarty said the move won't necessarily increase development because the land would end up in Parkland, an upscale city not marked by dense housing.
"I thought it was pretty innocuous," he said.
McCarty acknowledged it was the first time he can remember the board's voting on a resolution that an outside party had written. But the district's legal staff reviewed it first, he said.
However, the district's records show that the resolution passed Feb. 15 almost exactly matched the wording Sayfie submitted to McCarty in an e-mail Jan. 9.
The final version didn't include most changes the district's staff had suggested, including references to roads that might be needed to reach the land. But it added a statement that the reservoir would not be harmed.
Sayfie said his firm has gotten similar statements of support from both counties and Parkland. The Palm Beach County commissioners endorsed the move in a 4-3 vote Feb. 6, with McCarty's wife, Mary, voting no because of the roads issue.
"We were looking to get support from as many local governments as possible," said Sayfie, a former aide to Gov. Jeb Bush. His clients in the path of the annexation include a company headed by Wayne Huizenga Jr.
Among other reasons for supporting the annexation, Kevin McCarty said it would eliminate the possibility of a road being built from Broward County northward through the planned reservoir. "That's my main concern," he said.
But Palm Beach County commissioners removed that proposed road, an extension of Coral Ridge Drive, from the county's long-range transportation plans in August. No other road proposals in the area would slice through the reservoir, County Engineer George Webb said Monday.
Durando said the Feb. 15 vote reminds her of a similar move in 2004, when water managers quietly allowed Wellington to annex a district-owned filter marsh. In a scheme engineered by then-County Commissioner Tony Masilotti, the village used that property to try to annex and develop adjacent land owned by rock-miner Palm Beach Aggregates.
One difference between the two cases: The district doesn't own any of the land Broward would annex. But the tract includes some land the district had once proposed using for its reservoir.
Durando said she sees another similarity.
"The two worst entities to bequeath land in trust to are Wellington and Broward County," she said.
Legislators seek protection for Myakka River
BY CHRISTOPHER O'DONNELL
"I've fished this river all my life," said Marshall, a Myakka River State Park ranger, as he casts the bait almost 30 yards downriver, seeking out a spot shaded by a line of oak and pine trees. "Fish, hunt and work, that's pretty much my life."
Crane Park, where Marshall often fishes, is owned and preserved by Manatee County. But upstream and downstream, the river's fate is less sure.
Its idyllic beauty has made adjacent land highly prized by developers. The phosphate-rich soil around its headwaters in Manatee County has long been a lure for mining companies.
That's why a pair of local lawmakers has introduced legislation to protect the river from the effects of further development.
Bills filed by state Sen. Michael Bennett, R-Bradenton, and state Rep. Keith Fitzgerald, D-Sarasota, would classify the Myakka River as a Florida "wild and scenic" river.
Currently, only a 34-mile stretch of the river in Sarasota County has that designation. The bill would extend it into Manatee and Charlotte counties, covering the whole of the river from its headwaters at Myakka Head to its mouth at Charlotte Harbor.
The designation does not prevent development, but requires local governments to ensure that development or activities such as boating do not pollute the river or detract from its natural beauty.
After the Sarasota section of the Myakka was declared a Florida "wild and scenic" river in 1985, the county adopted land regulations to limit how close to the shore property owners can build.
"It's the health of that entire river," Bennett said, referring to his bill. "In the 1980s they did a chunk, but they didn't do the headwaters. It's more important that we do the headwaters than the lower end."
The 1985 legislation established the Myakka River Management Coordinating Council, which reviews projects that might impact the river.
But since much of the river's water flows from heavily farmed areas of Manatee County, protection has only been piecemeal.
Conservationists were powerless to prevent tree deaths at Crowley Museum and Nature Center, Myakka River State Park and the Flatford Swamp in 1998 that state water regulators concluded were from farm runoff farther upstream.
"It's pretty inspiring that this is moving forward," said Council Chairman Jono Miller. "Unless we can look at the top end and bottom end of the system we really can't manage things."
Along its 66-mile length, the Myakka reflects the different views of how well Florida's rivers should be preserved.
In Sarasota County, a 14-mile stretch of the Myakka is the heart of one of Florida's largest state parks.
Another 10,000 acres on either side of the river in Sarasota County is owned and preserved by the Southwest Florida Water Management District.
In Charlotte and Manatee, the Myakka's fate has been different.
The western shore of Charlotte's five-mile stretch of the Myakka, one of three rivers that flow into Charlotte Harbor, is lined with homes and roads developed as Gulf Cove years ago by General Development Corp.
In 1994, local opposition defeated efforts to extend the "wild and scenic" designation into Charlotte County.
Commissioner Adam Cummings said he had not seen the bill but believes it may be welcomed.
"My initial reaction is that usually Charlotte County tends to be supportive of greater protection for Charlotte Harbor Estuary and its watershed," Cummings said.
In Manatee, mining companies were able to buy up large tracts of land close to Myakka Head, such as Mosaic's Wingate Creek mine.
The company already has mining permits, but passage of the "wild and scenic" bills could have a significant effect in Manatee, where development has continued to creep eastward from Interstate 75.
The development threatens a number of rare and endangered species that live along the Myakka including peregrine falcons, Bachman's sparrows, southern bald eagles and eastern indigo snakes, environmentalists say.
"There's a number of animals that are threatened and endangered in the Manatee portion of the Myakka River," said Glenn Compton, director of ManaSota-88, an environmental group. "It's good common sense to protect the headwaters of the river upstream."
The Myakka River Management Coordinating Council will discuss the proposal at its regular meeting Friday.
"If we're going to save any river on the west coast of Florida, this is probably the best candidate to work on," Miller said.
Low Lake Levels Not Yet A Concern
By DOUG CARMANdcarman@highlandstoday.com
SEBRING — Well, the lakes are low. Region-wide, they’re unusually low, even for the dry season.
Lake levels within the Lake Wales Ridge, which includes many of the lakes in Highlands County, have averaged 1.86 feet below what is referred to as the minimum lake management level, according to a water resource update from the Southwest Florida Water Management District. This is more than 3 feet lower than it was this time last year.
The MLM level is the five-year average annual low level for the lake recorded at the end of the dry season in late May.
Whether it’s a big deal or not depends on what you’re talking about.
Ecologically speaking, Highlands County Lakes Management Specialist Clell Ford said it is not a big issue, yet.
“It’s a healthy thing for lakes to fluctuate,” he said.
Ford did say that if the rain shortfalls continue into the wet season, it could create a serious impact, adding that he is expecting a further decline of 6 inches to a foot before June.
This won’t help the canals and waterways. Looking at the connector between Lake Jackson and Little Lake Jackson, the impact is rather obvious. This passageway is but a puddle under the southbound lanes of U.S. 27, dead-ending into a sand bar under the northbound lanes.
Recreationally, the local fishermen have been feeling the effects for a while.
Dave Douglass, the vice president of Save Our Source of Florida Lakes in Lorida, said the lowering levels will keep fish in the deep parts of the lakes. This is bad news for shore fishermen.
But he also suggested that there is a silver lining for the those willing to bring a boat out into the deeper parts. With the lack of competition from shore fishermen and the gathering of fish in the deep areas, the fishing would be much better there.
“People sitting and trolling will get fish,” Douglass said. “Fishermen needing something to look at and throw will be crying.”
Those fishing for speckled perch will simply be in tears.
“I don’t know if it had to do with lake levels or not, but speck and perch fishing has gone down hill this year,” said Steve Layton, part-owner of the Keepers Only Fishing Resort in Lake Placid.
North Port bets on water demand
As its growth slows, the city expects to use less water than estimated.
On Monday, the City Commission voted 4-0 to reduce by as much as 2.7 million gallons per day the amount of water the city will reserve with the Peace River/Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority, saving an estimated $12 million in fees by 2014.
"I'm very concerned about this, and I'm very concerned what could happen to our economy if we're wrong," said Commissioner Jim Blucher.
Lowering its consumption prediction is the latest acknowledgment that years of booming growth have slowed and may not return for some time.
While reducing the amount of water the city will have on hand will save money now, it also could come back to bite the city. Taking more than the contracted amount of water from the supplier gets expensive quickly -- the authority doubles its rates for water sold outside the contract.
City officials don't expect that to be an issue based on recent numbers. February could mark a five-year low for house construction permits in North Port. Preliminary numbers from the city show, at the most, 33 permits -- a far cry from the days when the city was issuing hundreds a month.
Developers in annexed areas such as Thomas Ranch have also drastically reduced their projected water needs, from 8,500 hookups by 2010 to fewer than 5,000.
The city has likewise toned down its expected water system expansion. About 10,000 city households depend on wells, and thousands more don't have sewer service.
Hedging the city's risk is its growing water production capabilities. Last year, North Port was granted a new permit to double the amount of water it can take from city sources such as Myakkahatchee Creek.
The new water projections allow for a hospital, but it is unclear what it will mean for drawing-board developments such as the 13,000-home Isles of Athena.
"We will be requiring (developments like the Isles of Athena) to maximize the use of groundwater," said Utilities Director Cindi Mick, who also pointed to the phasing in of major projects as a way to control water demand.
_____
Staff writer Ginny LaRoe contributed to this report.
Relief on tap for Cape Haze
Residents on the peninsula are already suffering from water pressure problems due to drought, lack of local storage capacity and a weak water distribution system.
Without help from the Englewood district, the problem could get worse next year when the Peace River plant is expanded, which may temporarily reduce water available. The plant provides 96 percent of the county's water.
"Every gallon we supply to Charlotte, that's one more gallon from the Peace River that can be put in storage," said Richard Rollo, administrator for the Englewood Water District.
Englewood straddles Sarasota and Charlotte counties.
The water district and the Charlotte utility are working together on a $350,000 pipeline, capable of carrying 2 million gallons per day.
The pipeline will allow water providers to serve each other's customers during emergencies.
"We want to make sure we are prepared to have an avenue for additional water if it becomes an emergency situation," said Charlotte County Utilities director Jeff Pearson.
The pipeline should go online by December.
Rollo said the pipeline will serve Charlotte County up to 250,000 gallons of water a day next year.
Rollo said he hopes that two years from now, the pipeline will supply the county with up to 1.4 million gallons per day, enough for a little over 6,200 households. The Englewood district will be able to supply that much water to the county only if the South Florida Water Management District grants the small utility a permit to build and tap more wells.
Englewood is more likely to get the permit if there is demand from Charlotte County to fill that need, Rollo said.
In addition to expanding the Peace River plant, the Charlotte utility is embarking on a construction project to put in stronger pumps and a bigger pipeline to push more water to the Cape Haze peninsula.
The peninsula's water supply will be strained until the new water main is working, in two to three years.
A 5-million-gallon-per-day tank in Rotonda, which will be working next week, will temporarily alleviate current problems with water pressure.
But that storage may not be enough without Englewood's help if drought conditions persist next year, Pearson said.
And having the connection with Englewood is important for a backup water supply in case of a hurricane or severe drought, Rollo said.
"The more interconnects you have with other utilities, the more reliability you have. It's an insurance policy to some degree," Rollo said.
But the county cannot rely on Englewood to fulfill its long-term water demands.
As Englewood grows and water demand here increases, the district would eventually have to decrease the amount of water it could pass on to the county utility.
"Englewood is going to need all the capacity they can get for themselves in the future," said County Commissioner Adam Cummings.
Twenty years ago, drinking water provided by the city of
Melbourne had the reputation of being among the worst in the
nation. The reason was persistent trouble in treating the water the
city pulled -- and still pulls -- from Lake Washington, which is
part of the St. Johns River. Those troubles were solved through improved treatment, but
"dirty water" complaints are surfacing again, spurring
the city to launch a $45,000 water-quality investigation. The probe is supposed to be completed in four months, but
more should be done to come up with answers sooner. Officials say several factors could be in play, but the main
culprit may be flaws in the 2,100 miles of pipes that carry
water to residents in Melbourne, West Melbourne, several beach
towns and other locations. In all, about 150,000 people use an average of 15 million
gallons of drinking water a day, over an area that covers 100
square miles. At this point, there is nothing to indicate a public health
risk. But turning on the tap and seeing brown water pour out is
certainly enough to give anyone pause. The problems also point to something else: The need for constant scrutiny and maintenance of municipal
water systems as growth continues to put increasing pressure on
them.
March 6, 2007
Our view:
Water worries
Melbourne
should move faster to find, solve cause of tap water complaints
Resident proposes utility
concept
By TODD
WILSON twilson@lakecityreporter.com
Columbia County resident Stewart Lilker said
he was an everyday citizen who wanted to see growth managed more
efficiently than it has been in the past. So he spent several
months attending meetings, listening to government dialogue and
then crafted a plan.
He brought it to the Lake City City Council on Monday night.
Lilker, who said he lives in extreme southern Columbia County
near O'Leno State Park, said the best way to manage the county's
recent growth is through the harnessing of a true regional
utility authority that serves every area of Columbia County. He
unveiled his four-point plan of organization and outlined its
advantages in a one-page written document he introduced to
council members.
Before he began his presentation, Lilker was addressed by City
Councilman John Robertson, who also serves as the chairman of
the Greater Lake City Regional Utility Authority. Robertson told
Lilker that no action would be taken at the meeting because the
city refers such citizen suggestions to its appointed
committees, which then refer the items to the City Council.
Robertson then said the council would listen to Lilker if he
wanted to talk.
Last year the City Council created the Greater Lake City
Regional Utility Authority that has worked to improve utility
service in and around the immediate Lake City area. City Council
members also serve as members of the board of directors. The
GLCRUA also has expressed an interest in partnering with other
government entities to provide utility service to areas
currently not served.
Lilker's plan calls for abolishment of the current board and
authority in favor of the formation of the Gateway Regional
Utility Authority. He asked that the board of directors be made
up of three residents appointed by the City Council; three
residents appointed by Columbia County Commissioners; and one
member appointed by the Town of Fort White. All employees,
including the director, would be hired by the board of
directors, but Lilker advocated keeping the current employees in
place.
“I would ask that you take this very seriously,” Lilker
said. “This would be the utility for the entire county.”
Lilker's plan asks the cities of Lake City and Fort White to
sell all of their utility assets for their appraised value to
his proposed Gateway Authority. Another part of his plan called
for the Gateway Authority to make payments in lieu of taxes to
the city, county and town, based on accepted governmental
accounting principles.
The president of Columbia County Now, a citizens advocacy group,
Lilker said his presentation did not reflect the views of the
organization and he was speaking as an individual. He said he
was simply fed up with the lack of cooperation between
governmental groups - mainly the City of Lake City and the
Columbia County Board of County Commissioners.
“Sometimes I don't think they see the forest for the trees,”
he said of both groups of elected officials.
Lilker also said he was simply introducing the plan. “I have
no interest in being on the board” of his proposed Gateway
Regional Utility Authority.
“I think the future of Columbia County hinges on properly
managed growth,” Lilker said. “One of the major issues we
need to address is a regional utility authority. Fort White will
be a hub of development and they can't afford to be
overlooked.”
City Council members studied Lilker intently during his
presentation, but said nothing once he was finished. He said he
planned to get on the agenda for the upcoming Greater Lake City
Regional Utility Authority monthly meeting, as well as next
week's meeting of the Columbia County Board of County
Commissioners.
Crist signals break with past on roads
Gov. Charlie Crist doesn't embrace Jeb Bush's Future Corridors plan for new toll roads.
By MICHAEL VAN SICKLER and SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
Published March 6, 2007
TALLAHASSEE - A plan to build a series of massive expressways across rural Florida is getting a cool reception from Gov. Charlie Crist, who said Monday the state instead needs to expand existing roads.
Embraced by Crist's predecessor, Jeb Bush, the Future Corridors project seeks to remake rural parts of the state with new toll roads that would help accommodate future growth. But Crist said Monday the state needs to "prioritize and have roads where the people are and where we need them. Right now, that's South Florida, southeast Florida.
"I want us to expand I-75 south, I-95 south down to Miami and then I-4."
Since becoming governor in January, Crist had been publicly mum about Future Corridors. Even top transportation officials said they didn't know if he supported the plan.
On Sunday, the St. Petersburg Times published a story about one of the project's nine roads, a proposed 152-mile toll road between Polk and Collier counties called the Heartland Parkway. It reported that state Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, controlled companies that owned land along the proposed route and had helped form a group that is now pushing for the road.
Asked whether he is concerned that a lawmaker with a financial stake in the area had helped lobby for the road, Crist said: "Yes, that's why I haven't jumped on it. They've been talking to me about it for months."
"They," he clarified, are representatives of HEART, which stands for Heartland Economic, Agricultural and Rural Taskforce. It represents large landowners from Central Florida. During a Friday interview, Alexander said he hasn't been involved with the group since 2005, but did help get it started.
One of his political consultants sits on the HEART board, as does a longtime business associate. Alexander said he asked Rick Dantzler, an attorney for a company that Alexander partly controls, to represent HEART.
Alexander couldn't be reached Monday, but Dantzler said J. Charles Gray, an Orlando attorney, had met once with Crist after the November election to discuss the Heartland Parkway. Dantzler said Crist spoke another time with Gray on the phone.
Dantzler said this was the first he had heard of Crist's opinion about Future Corridors and the Heartland Parkway.
"This is a complicated project," Dantzler said of the Heartland Parkway. "All we're doing is asking people to keep an open mind."
Crist has yet to name a successor to Bush's secretary of transportation, Denver Stutler, who had endorsed the Heartland Parkway. The state is moving ahead with further studies of the road.
But the man Crist tapped to head the state's growth management plans said Future Corridors in general is the wrong approach.
"Our concern is that we approach these from a comprehensive land planning perspective and then determine the appropriate transportation, not the reverse," said Thomas Pelham, secretary of the Department of Community Affairs. "Once transportation is locked in, that will be a magnet for development, and it will be too late."
Michael Van Sickler can be reached at 813 226-3402 or mvansickler@sptimes.com.
Noise drives residents near turnpike to call for wall
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
A couple of weeks ago, Paul Sacher was on the lanai of his Century Village condominium, talking on the cellphone to his son in New York.
"He asked me, 'Are you at the Daytona 500?' I said, 'No, I'm calling you from outside.''"
That's how bad the roar of the 18-wheelers, high-performance motorcycles and other traffic on Florida's Turnpike has gotten, said Sacher, whose home is less than 150 feet from the highway.
Sacher's downstairs neighbor, Nicholas Cino, has sealed the inside of his bedroom window with drywall and leaves storm shutters up year-round to block out the noise. He covered other windows with plastic.
"With the amount of traffic that goes by here, forget it," Cino said. "It goes through the whole building. It's impossible to sleep at night."
In June, Century Village residents will find out whether they will get a noise wall. The barrier would be built at the same time the turnpike is widened to eight lanes, a $184 million project scheduled to start in 2015.
Sacher's wife, Fran, said neighbors, who are in their 80s and 90s, may never see the day.
"We can't live in the future because we don't know what the future is going to bring us," she said. "We live in the present and we need relief right now."
The turnpike authority understands the situation but has never built a sound wall years ahead of related highway improvements, spokesman Joseph Hansen said.
Communities are eligible for a sound wall if noise levels reach 66 decibels or higher. Sixty-five decibels is equal to a normal conversation 3 feet away; 70 decibels is equal to a vacuum cleaner 10 feet away. A wall can reduce sound five to 10 decibels. Several hundred people in the buildings abutting the turnpike would benefit from a 22-foot-tall barrier.
Looking for someone to take up their cause, residents contacted State Rep. Susan Bucher, D-West Palm Beach, who said she will make sure noise studies are accurate and a wall will go up next to Century Village if required. But it appears that the only way to expedite a wall would be to move up the entire project.
"The fact is they bought their places with the turnpike in place," Bucher said. "There's no way to build a wall before the project comes in line for funding. I'd like to tell them we can do that, but it's not going to happen."
Residents don't dispute the need to expand the highway to keep up with growth. Traffic has been increasing about 8 percent a year and is expected to rise another 64 percent by 2030 - from 66,900 to 109,600 vehicles a day just south of Okeechobee Boulevard. But the state needs to recognize how this affects those who live nearby, residents said.
A few years ago, a thick vegetative barrier provided some protection from the noise and sickening fumes. But the state took down the easily toppled Australian pines and hurricanes Frances, Jeanne and Wilma wiped out other trees and bushes.
Trying to be a good neighbor, the turnpike filled in the gaps with oaks and cabbage palms, Hansen said. The effort was insulting, Fran Sacher said. It will take years for the trees to mature and block highway pollution, she said.
Paul Sacher wants transportation officials to consider a temporary wooden wall until a permanent concrete barrier can be built. He recalls such barriers in New York, where he was a toll collector for the state's Thruway Authority. But the turnpike never has had temporary walls.
Because of the racket from traffic flying by, Fran Sacher said she has to go into the bathroom to have a telephone conversation and can't hear the television if the windows are open. It's not fair to people who are on fixed incomes and can't afford to run their air conditioners all the time, she said. "We feel we're entitled to live in a healthy environment," she said.
Randall Borchardt, president of the Northampton section, said he has suggested to local real estate agents that they market the homes to the hearing-impaired. He doubts anyone else would be interested.
"We have people who came here to retire and live out their last days in peace and quiet," Borchardt said. "They may have peace, but they don't have any quiet."
Use southern bypass route, Newberry residents tell state
By Joanna BlazFor The Herald
NEWBERRY -- A southern route was the preferred choice of five routes proposed for a bypass for State Road 26 in a meeting with Florida Department of Transportation representatives Tuesday night, as more than 100 residents attended and were encouraged to voice their opinions.
The FDOT has been conducting a study to widen State Road 26 in Gilchrist and Alachua counties in order to meet the Florida Intrastate Highway System standards and to alleviate traffic in Newberry.
The aim of the meeting was for FDOT representatives to get public input on the project and for residents to express their concerns and look at charts and maps that the FDOT had displayed at the Newberry Municipal Building.
Five routes were presented at the meeting. The four northern routes faced more opposition than the southern route because they cut through many residential areas, and residents could potentially be forced to move if the northern routes are chosen.
Many residents expressed concern on this issue.
“I’m in favor of improvement,” said Booker T. Hunt, a funeral home owner. “I’m not for improvement that will take my property away.”
Newberry Mayor John Glanzer agreed.
“The (northern routes) would be devastating to the community as a whole,” he said.
Since the announcement of the five routes at a Newberry City Commission meeting Feb. 12, many residents have been motivating others to come voice their opinions to the FDOT. One of these residents was Mae Islar, a former Newberry city commissioner.
“I’ve always made decisions on what’s best for the town,” Islar said. “Our business and residential areas should be left untouched.”
Residents such as Eleanor Dixon and Linda Sampson had already expressed their concerns to city commissioners prior to Tuesday's meeting with the FDOT. Sampson and her sister Dixon wrote a letter to city commissioners, a letter of which she read excerpts at Tuesday's meeting.
“I strongly oppose a bypass road that would not only destroy property but would also change the city forever,” Sampson read. “(It would) displace elderly, increase traffic and produce environmental and health problems.
Sampson was referring to the northern route. Dixon agreed.
“It seems to me that the southern route would make the least impact,” said Eleanor Dixon. “I’ve heard several people say they will be directly impacted by (the northern route). I just don’t see them being relocated to an environment they would be comfortable in.”
A couple of residents expressed concern that the project still does not have any money set aside for it..
“I’m not here to take issues with the fact that there’s five choices here," said property owner and local resident William Karelas. "What most people don’t understand is that this is only funded to the point of study. What I’m concerned about is that…all these property values will be messed up.”
District Planning and Environmental Manager Bill Henderson of the FDOT said there are still other projects ahead of the State Road 26 project that need funding.
“When we get the funding, it would still take about five years,” he said.
Many residents reminded others that this project could take a while.
“These projects are still not funded,” said Lewis King, a Newberry resident. “The longer that they wait, the more it will impact Newberry… This could affect our grandchildren.”
Debrah Miller, a FDOT project manager, said that since the proposed route is 22 miles long, it will be done in segments and will be built east to west.
The representatives conducting the study will review written comments that were submitted at the meeting.
“One of the most important things is getting public input, and that’s what we were here for tonight,” he said.
“We’re looking for good comments… People who have lived here for awhile might bring up things we didn’t know were here.”
The final decision for a route is expected to be reached the summer.
Polk's Commitment to Nature Has Improved |
Environmental preserves dot the Polk County map today.
They're a tribute to public support for environmental protection
and a well-run local acquisition and management program.
The great thing about them is that they will remain as preserves
forever.
Nature preserves in Polk County didn't always have that kind of
permanence.
I recently was leafing through Lake Region Audubon Society's
premiere conservation yearbook, published in 1964.
Contained in the booklet was a list of local wildlife sanctuaries.
There were 11 of them totaling more than 7,000 acres - the sizes
of some of the tracts weren't listed - primarily designed to
protect wading bird colonies. In addition, the booklet described a
1 million-acre network of bald eagle protection areas in
cooperation with the owners of private ranches in Polk, Osceola,
Highlands, Okeechobee and Glades counties.
Some of these preserves were open to the public and some were open
only to Audubon members through leases or other special
arrangements with the landowners.
You will look in vain for many of these preserves today.
There are a couple of exceptions.
Tenoroc Fish Management Area, which was established as an Audubon
sanctuary in 1959 because of a wood stork rookery there,
eventually returned to private hands. It was donated to the state
in 1982 to become a state park, but that idea never worked out and
the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission took over
management instead.
Another is Saddle Creek Park, which Audubon turned over the county
in a land swap for property farther south on Saddle Creek.
Others are a tossup.
Panther Point, which is on the south end of Lake Hancock, was once
the home of a wood stork colony. Today the property is owned by
the Southwest Florida Water Management District. Depending on how
events play out, it will either be the site of an environmental
and recreation complex or the route for a new superhighway to fuel
Bartow's economic-development ambitions.
The sites of other former Audubon preserves are now within
proposed developments in the Lakeland area or remain out there in
the expanse of mined phosphate lands whose future is always up to
the current owners.
Even one of today's popular environmental preserves could have
proceeded along a different path.
I learned recently that in the 1980s county officials visited the
land where Circle B Bar Reserve is located on Lake Hancock because
it was on a list of possible sites for new county parks.
If that had happened, some of those oak trees might have been
cleared to make way for ballfields. Polk County certainly needed
more places for ballfields at the time and still does, but this
site is special the way it is.
So, the next time you visit one of the county's environmental
lands sites, you should look around and appreciate what your tax
dollars have provided for you and for Polk's environment.
By the way, if you haven't visited any of the sites and would like
to know more about where they are and what kind of experiences may
await you there, go to the county's Web site at www.polk-county.net
and follow the links to Natural Resources.
NATURE FESTIVALS COMING
If you'd like to learn more about the local environment and have
some fun, check out three upcoming events.
The first is Lake Region Audubon Society's Nature Faire, which
will be March 17 from 9 a .m. to 1 p.m. at the Street Nature
Center, 115 Lameraux Road, Winter Haven.
The second is the Chain of Lakes Festival on April 7 from 8 a.m.
to noon on Lake Silver in Winter Haven.
Finally, the Water, Wings and Wild Things Polk Naturefest 2007
will be held at IMC Park in Bartow on April 14 from 10 a.m. to 2
p.m.
All three are free, open to the public and are family-friendly
events with all kinds of educational exhibits, crafts and other
fun activities.
Tom Palmer can be reached at tom.palmer@theledger.com
or 863-802-7535.
Ethanol Plant Technology Reduces Odor, Backers Say
Published: Mar 6, 2007
Charles Rosenberg of South Bend, Ind., has been living downwind of an aging ethanol plant for 23 years. The foul smell from the plant has caused his eyes to water and nose to burn on occasion.
"It literally seemed to be burning the mucous membranes in my nose," said Rosenberg, who lives a few miles away from the plant operated by New Energy Corp.
Improvements in technology have tempered the stink, but occasionally the plant, built in 1984, emits an acrid, nose-curling smell strong enough to keep people indoors, Rosenberg said.
Equipped with new technology, today's ethanol plants do a better job of burning off harmful emissions and foul odors. As a result, proponents contend that emissions from new plants are odorless or emit a smell like baked bread.
"We have the best available &hellip technology to control any points of odor sources," said Bradley Krohn, president of EnviroFuels, which plans to begin construction in May on Florida's first ethanol production plant, an $80 million facility at the Port of Tampa. "The facility is designed as a low-odor facility."
Still, community apprehension remains over exactly what odors the ethanol production process will emit as dozens of new plants are being planned or built nationwide to produce billions of gallons of the biofuel each year to reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil.
Doubts Of Odor Linger
Residents of the tony Harbour Island and Davis Islands neighborhoods of Tampa, which are about three miles from the site of EnviroFuels' planned plant, are among those concerned about how odors may affect their lives - and property values.
"I don't want a bad smell affecting my home," Harbour Island resident Bill Wagner said.
He was one of about 12 people who attended a community meeting recently to air concerns about the biofuels plant. Wagner, a lawyer, said the information EnviroFuels provided was assuring, but he still has doubts.
"Three miles is a good long distance," he said. "But the proof is in the pudding."
The plant is expected to produce about 44 million gallons of ethanol from corn, which EnviroFuels expects to sell statewide. That's just a fraction of the amount of gasoline Florida motorists burn annually - about 8.6 billion gallons.
A plant similar in design was built in Hopkinsville, Ky., in 2004. Hopkinsville City Councilman Charlie Henderson said the plant has not triggered any complaints about odors.
"It burns everything coming through that stack," Henderson said. "That steam is pretty much odorless."
That contrasts with the Gopher State Ethanol plant in St. Paul, Minn., which opened in 2000 but was shut down permanently in 2004 after residents there complained of foul odors and health issues such as headaches, nausea and shortness of breath.
Steve Tyndal and other officials with Port Manatee, about 20 miles south of Tampa, have stood downwind of an ethanol production plant and know firsthand of the overwhelming stink that can radiate from such a facility. The odor was caused by what's known as wet cake, a byproduct of the production process.
"It was just a pungent odor," Tyndal, director of trade development and special projects, said of the smell emanating from the ethanol plant in Stanley, Wis.
Tyndal and other Port Manatee officials visited the area last year when the port was considering a proposal from EnviroFuels to build facility on port grounds. The deal, which fell apart during lease negotiations, would have included measures designed to prevent offensive odors from affecting nearby neighborhoods.
Wet Cake Would Be Dried Out
The measures would have prohibited the plant from making wet cake, the foul-smelling byproduct of ethanol production. Second, it would have required the plant to shut down if the port received a specific number of complaints.
"When we saw and smelled the wet cake, we knew that might be a potential problem for us at Port Manatee," Tyndal said.
Wet cake, which is a byproduct of breweries and other distilleries, as well as ethanol plants, can be used as feed for cattle or dried and sold as a distiller's grain for livestock.
EnviroFuels' Krohn said the Tampa facility plans to dry the wet cake, thus removing the offensive odor.
"The drying process is contained, so the wet cake cannot be exposed to the ambient environment," Krohn said.
What's more, the ethanol plants in South Bend and St. Paul were equipped with old technology and shouldn't be compared with the facility planned in Tampa, Krohn said.
The offensive smells from ethanol production have been significantly reduced through improvements in thermal oxidizers, which work like incinerators. Modern-day thermal oxidizers dry the wet grain and burn off the odor more efficiently, experts say.
As public officials and the ethanol industry sort out controlling odors from production facilities, they seem to agree that such plants can be new economic engines for communities.
For example, the EnviroFuels plant planned for Tampa will create about 40 full-time jobs with annual salaries averaging $52,500, Krohn said. In addition, the plant could create about 700 spin-off jobs in such sectors such as agriculture and transportation, Krohn said.
Florida does not produce ethanol or grow any crops dedicated to ethanol production, but that will change soon, said Jay Levenstein, Florida's deputy commissioner of agriculture. Last week, the state awarded $15 million to renewable energy projects, including four new ethanol production facilities.
Demand For Ethanol Growing
U.S. ethanol consumption rose from 4 billion gallons in 2005 to 4.5 billion gallons in 2006 and is expected to keep growing. There are 114 ethanol plants nationwide and 78 plants proposed or under way, according to the Renewable Fuels Association.
In addition, the Bush administration has launched an initiative to replace 20 percent of U.S. gasoline consumption with ethanol by 2017. Florida lawmakers will consider a bill this session that requires all gasoline sold in the state to include a 10 percent ethanol blend by 2012.
If that happens, more ethanol plants will be built in Florida, Krohn predicted.
"We will be consuming 10billion gallons of gasoline by 2012," he said. "A 10 percent blend represents a 1 billion-gallon ethanol market."
The transition to ethanol is barreling ahead as U.S. auto makers carry out plans to boost the production of "flex-fuel" vehicles that can run on E85 fuel, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.
Proponents of ethanol, which is made from domestic feedstock, such as corn and barley, say increasing its use will improve national security by reducing oil imports from countries hostile to the United States. The Tampa plant would use corn as its feedstock - consuming about 17 million bushels a year.
Concern about air pollution and global warming is another factor behind the increasing use of ethanol, which burns cleaner than gasoline. A 10percent ethanol blend can cut tailpipe emissions by as much as 30 percent, experts say.
Blake Casper, EnviroFuels' financial backer, said ethanol is at the center of the government's plan to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign crude.
"Our dependency on oil is real," said Casper, who owns 48 McDonald's restaurants in the Tampa Bay area. "We should keep in mind what's going on in the world around us when we debate the pros and cons of this plant."
Usage Of Corn To Rise
Most ethanol is made from corn. Last week, the U.S. Agriculture Dept. said it expected that 50 percent more corn will be used in ethanol production this year compared with 2006.
Ken McCauley, president of the National Corn Growers Association, said any odor emanating from the plant proposed for Tampa would not be offensive.
"I've smelled ethanol plants all my life," McCauley said. "It's a unique smell that's kind of sweet."
The proposed plant also is facing opposition from port tenant PEL Laboratories, a neighboring business that has sued EnviroFuels in Hillsborough Circuit Court to block construction. PEL claims emissions from the plant would disrupt PEL's environmental testing of soil and water samples.
"The construction and operation of EnviroFuels' business will put PEL Labs out of business," the lawsuit says.
EnviroFuels' air permit from the state allows it to release as much as 50 tons of "volatile organic compounds" such as benzene each year, according to the lawsuit.
Last month, however, port commissioners voted 4-2 to extend by six months EnviroFuels' lease option to build the plant. Barring an injunction from a state court, company officials expect to begin construction in May.
"This project is fully developed, and it's ready for construction," Krohn said.
Reporter Russell Ray can be reached at (813) 259-7870 or rray@tampatrib.com.
Neighbors muster against treatment plant's smell
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
PORT ST. LUCIE — Residents who live next to the city's second-largest sewage-treatment plant discovered years ago they were snookered into thinking the plant would treat only water, but after years of keeping their windows closed and hoping for a shift in the winds, a vocal group is demanding action.
Calling themselves Neighbors of Westport, or NOW, about 30 residents of Sawgrass Lakes and neighborhoods adjoining the gated community are meeting weekly to hawk petitions and explore how they can regain the sanctuary they knew before the Westport Wastewater Treatment Plant was expanded eightfold to treat up to 4 million gallons of sewage daily.
Even that is a mere shred of what Westport is poised to become in the next decade, city utility records show. The city already is working to expand the plant's tanks and basins to handle 6 million gallons of waste daily, and engineers are designing a network to raise it another 4 million gallons. That would bring it close to its build-out capacity of 12 million gallons of raw waste daily.
Although residents acknowledge the sewage plant was operating before they bought homes, they point to misleading sales brochures handed out by former developers touting the state-of-the-art "water treatment" plant that operates next door.
The initial phase of the project was developed by Mark Soverel, who died in January 2002, and later phases were built by myriad home builders.
Although residents could explore legal action against the misleading salesmen, they say, a more urgent need is to clean up the air around their homes.
"The quality of life is being ruined out here," said Bill Atkinson, who has collected nearly 2,000 petition signatures demanding that the plant be closed, like the one on St. James Drive. "Some nights the smell is so bad you can't let your children out to play. How do you tell them that's progress?"
Although city officials believed the Westport plant had enough land and buffer to protect future neighbors from odors, neighbors say that's clearly untrue. Sometimes the foul smell happens on a bright sunny morning, and other times the stink creeps beneath door seals late at night.
Always, Atkinson said, he's afraid to plan a relaxing night on his lanai for fear the horrid smell will drive him back inside.
Interestingly, Atkinson and neighbors first contacted reporters three years ago to complain about the smell, then decided not to seek publicity for fear that their concerns would drive down home prices.
Three years later, he said, values have fallen anyway, in part due to concerns about the expanding plant.
City officials said it will be impossible to close or move the Westport plant, already the city's second-largest and set to become one of only two regional plants in the city.
Crews already closed operations at Northport and are working to decommission the aging Southport Wastewater Treatment Plant and send its flows hurtling toward Westport, on Darwin Boulevard.
"Plants start to smell if they're reaching capacity or if they're operated poorly," City Manager Don Cooper said. "From what I can tell, that one has been operated properly and it's not over capacity."
City Councilman Christopher Cooper, who lives less than a mile from the plant, said crews are researching which odor-control system to install at the plant and already have addressed neighbors' concerns about how the plant looks.
A dirt entrance road soon will be paved to reduce noise, and more trees will be planted this summer once the 6 million-gallon expansion is completed to mask the plant from its lakefront neighbors.
"While I am sympathetic, they didn't do their due diligence to see what they were moving in beside," Cooper said.
"These remedies come at a great cost to the city's utility. To take a brand-new plant and shut it down is not economically feasible."
Neighbor Brent Mahieu is angry that the city council is shuttering two other sewage plants in residential areas and not Westport.
"They're just shifting the smell from their back yards to ours," Mahieu said.
Members of the group will meet again tonight in the gated community's clubhouse.
Developer Builds Home Over Sewer LineFor now, work has stopped on the house in the Vista Hills subdivision of Eaglebrooke south of Lakeland while the county considers developer Mark Brown's request for a utility easement along the edge of a county environmental preserve. That would allow Brown to relocate the 36-inch sewer line at his expense.
Commissioners, who are scheduled to decide the issue at Wednesday's regular meeting, learned the details at Monday's agenda study session.
Commissioner Sam Johnson proposed the variance a couple of weeks ago at the request of Brown, who is building the home for Vincenzo Marconi of Weston, according to county records.
"I don't see it as a significant matter," Johnson said Monday, arguing the county regularly grants exceptions for all kinds of things.
But this request involves a county environmental preserve, Lakeland Highlands Scrub, and that makes a difference, said Commissioner Jean Reed, who said she had received calls from residents concerned about the decision.
In a Feb. 26 letter to commissioners, Sierra Club activist Marian Ryan said the proposal needs some research to find out what happened, what the implications are to county land and whether there are any reasonable alternatives.
Ryan asked commissioners to consider adopting a policy in the county's development regulations to deal with similar requests in the future.
Building Director John Hall said there is a stop-work order on the home's construction until the matter is resolved.
Commissioner Randy Wilkinson said it appeared the builder "was trying to see if he could get away with something."
Brown, who did not attend Monday's meeting, disputed that. "I'm not trying to get away with anything," he said, explaining he reported the problem as soon as it turned up during a survey of the floor slab and is trying to work out a solution.
Wednesday's vote sends the issue to Florida Communities Trust, an arm of the Florida Department of Community Affairs that contributed half of the $3.2 million to purchase the 551-acre preserve in 2001.
FCT has a written policy concerning requests like this. It requires that there be no reasonable alternative and that the impact is minimal and, if the request is to be granted, FCT requires some sort of mitigation, said Jeff Spence, Polk's director of natural resources.
In addition, Spence said Brown will have to reimburse the city for the cost of relocating the utility line out from under the house. He said the line will remain on the lot, but Lakeland is requesting a 10-foot maintenance easement, which will encroach into the preserve.
Augie Fragala from Powell, Fragala and Associates told commissioners that the land development code was 75 to 80 percent finished.
Fragala said the code includes approximately 38 pages. He said the reason why it took so long to go through the code was the fact there are different types of uses for single-family homes and districting issues that arose.
Fragala said he is updating the code to make it more appropriate for the 21st century and so the code won't be as arcane as the previous land development regulations.
Commissioners also received the annual audit report from G.T. Nunez and Associates.
During the Community Redevelopment Agency meeting Monday evening, the board looked at proposals related to the city's streetlight project.
The board also discussed information about a possible CRA director. The information was brought to the board by city commissioner Jennifer Cone.
jessica.levco@newschief.com
New development proposed for downtown FWB
KARI
C. BARLOW
2006-09-06
FORT WALTON BEACH — It’s all about the parking.
That’s what a group of Atlanta developers are saying about their plans to build The Landmark Center on the corner of U.S. Highway 98 and Perry Avenue.
Emerald Coast Partners wants to transform the nearly 2-acre parcel with outdoor cafes, retail shops, brick walkways and condos with views of Santa Rosa Sound.
But the broadest version of the project, which could reach as high as four stories, hinges on the city’s approval of a four- to five-story parking deck
“The parking (deck) is really the solution,” said Bruce Houle, a partner in Emerald Coast Partners. “If you want to have the retail and restaurant tenants down here, you’ve got to have access to parking.”
Emerald Coast has proposed that the parking deck sit adjacent to the 1.4-acre parcel, which stretches north to First Street. The structure would sit on top of what is currently a city parking lot.
Houle and partner Phil Weener have discussed the parking deck with city officials and say they’re hoping for some kind of public-private partnership.
“I can give the city a great location if they cooperate,” Weener said. “The city needs to understand that they need a facility down there that offers non-fee parking.”
If an agreement is not reached on the parking deck, Emerald Coast plans to keep the development at one level, Weener said.
“If they can get the parking, it’ll be a tremendous site,” he added. “If they can’t, we’ll still bring great retail to downtown Fort Walton Beach.”
Weener said he envisions national chains.
“You definitely need restaurants on that first level,” he said. “A GAP would go really well there. An Old Navy would go really well there.”
The time is right for a redevelopment project of this size, said Jim Dowling, president of Fort Walton Beach MainStreet.
“I think it’ll add vitality to the area,” he said. “It extends business hours.”
Dowling said the project would help raise awareness of the city’s intent to bring a mix of offices, retail, restaurants and residences to downtown.
Houle said The Landmark Center will be inviting and appeal to both tourists and locals.
“It’s going to have some incredible curb appeal,” he said. “We’re going to have streetscaping all the way down Perry Avenue.
“One of our goals is to make this more of a destination than a pass-through area.”
Houle said portions of the project’s brick walkways will be engraved with donors’ names, with proceeds going to a local charity.
Emerald Coast has not yet submitted final site plans to the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency.
Atlanta-based architects Reece, Hoopes and Fincher are designing the site both with and without the parking deck, Houle said.
Tentative plans have Emerald Coast breaking ground on the project within the next 12 months.
Daily News Business Editor Kari C. Barlow can be reached at 863-1111, Ext. 439.
Builder Says Probe Won't Affect Tower
Published: Mar 6, 2007
TAMPA - The private-equity firm that bought out Trump Tower Tampa in November is under federal investigation, authorities confirmed Monday.
"Nobody has been charged at this point, but we do have an investigation open," said Steve Cole, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Tampa.
Cole would not elaborate on the type of investigation, but The Orlando Sentinel reported Saturday that some former Mirabilis officials said they had been questioned recently by investigators from the Internal Revenue Service and that records have been subpoenaed by federal prosecutors.
Dan Cence, a Boston-based communications consultant working for Mirabilis, said the investigation involves Presidion Solutions, a company that provides human resource services, including the handling of payroll and taxes for client companies. Mirabilis is cooperating with the investigation, he said.
Mirabilis specializes in distressed companies, Cence said, and works mainly with human resource companies. When dealing with distressed companies, Cence said, "you get warts and all."
The company took control of the stalled Trump Tower Tampa project from Tampa-based SimDag LLC in November but has yet to secure financing or start vertical construction on the downtown riverfront site.
SimDag officials and Donald Trump's office told the Tribune on Friday that a New York hedge fund is negotiating to provide financing for the tower.
John Reich, president of SimDag's construction division, said the Mirabilis investigation won't affect those negotiations. "I've been told this has nothing to do with the Trump project, and we're moving forward as planned."
Reporter Shannon Behnken can be reached at (813) 259-7804 or sbehnken@tampatrib.com.
Three groups bid to build tunnel to Miami-Dade port
Three teams of international construction giants with major banking support are vying for the rights to finance, design, build, operate and maintain a new $1.2 billion tunnel at the Port of Miami-Dade.
The teams hoping to win the coveted job submitted reams of financial, engineering and background information to the Florida Department of Transportation's Miami office before the 2 p.m. Monday deadline.
A technical review team will pore over the bids for several weeks and file a ranking report by mid-to-late April.
The three finalists are:
• The Miami Access Tunnel team headed by Bouygues Travaux Publics, S.A., a French tunneling concern, and their Canadian financing partners, Babcock & Brown Infrastructure Group US.
• The Miami Mobility Group headed by three major construction firms: ACS Infrastructure/Dragados of Spain, Odebrecht Construction of Brazil and Parsons Transportation Group of the U.S.
• FCC Construction/Morgan Stanley is headed by the Spanish FCC Construction firm and the U.S.-based Morgan Stanley investment bank.
There is no guarantee that any of the three will get to do the work. The state has committed to repaying upwards of $600 million to the tunnel concessionaire over a 35-year period.
But Miami-Dade and Miami officials are still working on their half of the deal.-- LARRY LEBOWITZ
Exline linked to builder's $50,000
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
WEST PALM BEACH — Former City Commissioner Jim Exline accepted $50,000 from a real estate developer seeking approvals for a development in the city, according to his defense attorney.
Exline, 42, who resigned Jan. 19, plans to plead guilty Wednesday at an initial court appearance to one count of knowingly filing a false tax return, his attorney, Robert Gershman, said Monday.
The U.S. Attorney's Office has scheduled a news conference for today to announce its case against the former commissioner.
While Exline faces one charge with a potential three-year prison sentence and a $250,000 fine, he has been cooperating with prosecutors.
"I don't think the government's investigations are over," Gershman said.
Exline's tax fraud admission - on top of former City Commissioner Ray Liberti's 2006 corruption conviction - is certain to add more heat to a March 13 mayoral election already boiling from grand jury allegations that "pay-to-play" politics rule the development scene in West Palm Beach.
The Exline plea also casts attention on the real estate broker and developer who paid him the $50,000 in October 2004 and on the jeweler through whom the payment was made.
The criminal information against Exline identifies the developer only as a real estate broker with whom he was affiliated.
State records show that in 2004, Exline worked as a real estate salesman with Sansbury Realty. The brokerage is owned by former County Administrator John Sansbury, a politically powerful developer and lobbyist.
Sansbury could not be reached for comment at home late Monday.
Once an urban planner for the city, Exline was appointed to a vacant commission post in 1999, then was elected three times.
According to Gershman, the federal information filed against Exline cites an unnamed developer who agreed to pay him $50,000 for "past and future real estate commissions and land planning services" related to an upcoming development in the city. The information does not identify the site but says it was in a section outside Exline's commission district.
"Exline worked as a land-use and planning consultant and was a licensed real estate agent," the information states. "Exline affiliated his real estate license at a West Palm Beach real estate brokerage firm prior to October 2004. The owner of that real estate brokerage firm, who was also a land developer and businessman," hired Exline to handle land development work, including meeting with city staffers on land-use and planning issues related to the contemplated development, from roughly that month through May 2005, the information continues.
Exline directed that the developer pay the $50,000 through a jewelry store, the information states without naming the store. The check was written Oct. 7, 2004, and deposited by the store owner. The proceeds were given to Exline.
Exline, in his 2004 tax filing on April 9, 2005, falsely listed his adjusted gross income as $39,671, when in fact it was $94,984, prosecutors say.
According to Gershman, Exline paid the approximately $15,500 he owed in back taxes and penalties before going with his attorney to prosecutors last June. He offered to resign shortly thereafter, but he remained in office at their request for a few months longer, presumably to allow time for the federal investigation to progress, Gershman said.
Prosecutors declined to talk about it.
Exline was unwilling to comment Monday night, his attorney said.
Until now, the former commissioner would not disclose the source of income for which he was about to be charged.
"I was going through my divorce, and I didn't disclose all my income," Exline said in January.
The business ties between Exline and Sansbury were detailed in a story published in August by The Palm Beach Post. The story said that in October 2004, Exline and Sansbury brokered the sale of a building on Evernia Street to the owners of a jewelry business. The price was $1.82 million. Sansbury let Exline keep 100 percent of the commission: $36,400.
Months before the sale, Exline voted with the city commission to annex some of Sansbury's property on Okeechobee Boulevard, a move that eased development. Exline, who transferred his real estate license to another firm after being questioned about Sansbury, said he voted on the annexation because he had no idea he would be involved in the deal that brought him the $36,400.
Florida law prohibits a city official from voting on matters "which he or she knows would inure to the special private gain or loss of any principal by whom he or she is retained or to the parent organization or subsidiary of a corporate principal by which he or she is retained."
"I had not done this deal, had no anticipation of doing this contract," Exline said last summer. "There was nothing that I shouldn't have done."
Collina plans raise concerns
Nearby residents say the developers had promised a high-end retail experience, not discount shopping.
Robert SargentSentinel Staff Writer
March 6, 2007
CLERMONT -- Newly submitted site plans for Plaza Collina offer a more detailed vision of how the mega-shopping complex could be developed along busy State Road 50 near the Orange County line.
County officials approved the 142-acre project more than a year ago, although they have been waiting for months to see what kind of commercial buildings would be put there. The venue is planned for about 1.2 million square feet of stores, restaurants and offices in what would be one of Central Florida's biggest shopping centers.
The new plans provide the first official glimpse of its layout. And even though developers have tried to remain secretive about their commercial tenants, some of that information is already out -- raising serious concerns about how Plaza Collina will affect the area.
The plans submitted by partners Phoenicia Development and The Goodman Co. show more than two dozen large commercial buildings along the north part of the property. A type of town square surrounds a central fountain.
Some of the paperwork submitted to the county shows about 17 outparcels along S.R. 50, including a nearly 12,000-square-foot ABC Fine Wine and Spirits store and a 37,000-square-foot Rooms to Go establishment.
The developers have not officially named any tenants for the $140 million project. But county officials say the largest building -- spanning about 225,000 square feet -- is targeted for a Wal-Mart Supercenter.
That proposal has angered some who say that Wal-Mart doesn't fit Plaza Collina's original pitch that it would feature upper-end shopping.
"We are absolutely against it," Scott Blankenship, who lives across the road in the Magnolia Pointe community, said Monday. "We supported a medium- to high-end retail village with restaurants and all the stuff that goes with it. There is no way that you can equate the largest discount retailer in the world with medium- to high-end retail."
Officials in nearby Oakland in west Orange County say they were concerned about the effect of traffic from Plaza Collina. But Town Manager Maureen Rischitelli said the supercenter, which is always open, only increases worries.
"Now you put in a Wal-Mart with a 24-7 operation, and there's a different traffic dynamic," she explained.
Rischitelli said plans for Plaza Collina have changed from the upscale shopping idea that originally was presented to Lake County commissioners last year. She thinks the project should go before commissioners for another review.
Joseph Russo, director of real estate for Phoenicia, said the development is changing with negotiations for tenants. He said talks are under way with two national department store chains and a movie-theater company.
"As you might expect, our project will become an even more regional project with a major theatre anchor and a national department store," Russo wrote in an e-mail to the Orlando Sentinel.
"These quality tenants will enable us to continue our efforts to bring a project unique to the market of So. Lake and West Orange Counties. Our group has a vision and is doing its best to fulfill the same."
Robert Sargent can be reached at rsargent@orlandosentinel.com or 352-742-5909.
Council Considers Annexing 9 Acres
Published: Mar 6, 2007
NEW PORT RICHEY - Pasco's biggest city is set to grow, again.
New Port Richey officials are considering annexation requests that, if approved, would add two proposed subdivisions to the city.
The requests, set to go before the council for a vote tonight, are part of an effort to expand the city's tax base and redefine its jagged edges.
The annexations would add nine acres and hundreds of new residents when the housing developments are built.
Johnny Buscema and Robert Covington, of the Port Richey-based Stylistic Designs Developers, plan to build 84 luxury town houses on 7.27 undeveloped acres off Trouble Creek Road.
About two acres of the site is unincorporated county land.
Last November, the city's Development Review Committee approved preliminary site plans for the multimillion-dollar project.
Buscema said they don't plan to build until the housing market stabilizes.
"It could be one year, it could be five, I don't know," he said. "But we'll have a beautiful project ready to go when the market turns around."
The complex, to be called Turtle Creek, is the group's first residential venture in New Port Richey. The gated subdivision will feature two-car garages, a pool and other amenities, including optional elevators.
Dunedin-based Legacy Group Development LLC, meanwhile, wants to build 60 units on 6.43 acres off Congress Street and annex the county land into the city.
The city's DRC has approved preliminary site plans for the 10-building complex.
A representative for the company did not return a phone call Monday.
Both annexation requests include land-use changes and rezoning.
In most cases, annexations are requested by developers who are building or plan to build housing or retail. That means the onus lies with the developers, who need to make their projects attractive.
For them, annexations mean more access to central sewer and drinking water systems, and fire and police services.
By adding upscale developments to the city, officials are hoping to generate more property tax proceeds, which help pay for municipal services.
But it doesn't always work out that way.
Skyrocketing construction costs and a market slowdown have forced developers to scrap two high-profile housing projects for which land was recently added to the city.
Early in 2006, the city annexed 30 undeveloped acres in the Gulf Harbors area as part of an agreement with Ryland Homes, which planned to build a gated community with 500 condominiums there.
Several months later, Ryland put the land on the market for $12.5 million, leaving the future of the project uncertain.
In August, a St. Petersburg developer nixed plans to build 62 town houses on the former site of a mobile home park off Green Key Road. The site had been annexed into the city a few months before.
The park's residents, many of them elderly, were forced to move.
Tonight's council meeting is at 7 at city hall, on Main Street next to the library.
Reporter Christian M. Wade can be reached at (727) 815-1082 or cwade@tampatrib .com.
Attorney: County must act now on Wal-Mart plan
By MICHAEL D. BATESmbates@hernandotoday.com
BROOKSVILLE — Before Wal-Mart turns so much as a shovelful of dirt for its new supercenter on Barclay Avenue, it must resolve several concerns spelled out by the county’s planning and zoning department.
The project’s building elevation, drawings and plans for the outparcel on the property must be addressed, specified County Planning Director Ron Pianta in a letter to Bricklemyer, Smolker & Bolves, who represents the developer.
But Keith Bricklemyer, with the Tampa-based firm, denies that his project application is deficient and is asking Pianta to move this project forward. He wants the matter to be placed on the agenda of the April 9 planning and zoning meeting. From there, it would go before county commissioners for final approval in May.
But the timetable for meeting that is doubtful.
“My client is anxious to move forward and get it resolved,” said Bricklemyer, who fired off a response letter to Pianta Friday.
Bricklemyer said his client has done everything required under the county’s land development code and believes Pianta “is going a little bit overboard” with some of his requests.
The developer intends to answer all of Pianta’s concerns, even though they fall outside the purview of that code, he said.
The county has no valid reason to delay the scheduling of the P&Z meeting, he said.
“If we’re going to follow the code, then the county has to follow the code, too,” Bricklemyer said.
As of Monday, no date has been set for a meeting
But getting the Wal-Mart project on the April P&Z docket may not be possible at this late date because the Tampa firm has not yet held its mandated public inquiry meeting in the neighborhood to answer peoples’ concerns.
At least four neighborhood homeowners’ associations have banded together to fight the proposed supercenter, fearing it would add to the traffic congestion, endanger students at nearby Powel Middle School and add to light and noise pollution.
Bricklemyer was going to hold that required public meeting this Wednesday on the site. But that idea was scrapped a day later after residents and county officials expressed concerns about having a late-night meeting in an empty field without adequate parking and other facilities.
On Monday, that meeting had not been rescheduled.
But that makes no difference to the scheduling of the P&Z meeting, Bricklemyer said. The code specifies that such an inquiry meeting be held before the governing body takes action. That would be the county commissioners, not the P&Z board, he said.
Bricklemyer said he still intends to hold that public meeting before the P&Z meets in April. He said he is also planning on smaller, separate meetings with various homeowner groups.
The Wal-Mart project was originally scheduled to be heard in January. But planning staffers removed the item from consideration after receiving a letter from Bricklemyer, Smolker & Bolves.
The firm asked the hearing to be rescheduled for the Feb. 12 planning and zoning meeting. But that meeting was also postponed. It was too late to get it on the agenda for the March 12 meeting.
Wal-Mart is proposing building its newest supercenter on the east side of Barclay Avenue, between Suncoast Villa Apartments and the Publix-anchored Barclay Square.
The property, part of the large Holland Springs development, has the necessary zoning for a Wal-Mart, but requires a master plan revision.
Reporter Michael D. Bates can be contacted at 352-544-5290.
Brooker Creek flooding study expanded
It will include areas near Lake Tarpon and Salt Lake, where growth has created problems.
By NICOLE HUTCHESON
Published March 6, 2007
A study to find ways to ease flooding near the Brooker Creek Preserve is being expanded to three other flood-prone areas in North Pinellas.
Engineers with the Southwest Florida Water Management District will look at the areas around Lake Tarpon, the Lake Tarpon Outfall Canal and Hollin Creek, which feeds Salt Lake just south of the Pinellas-Pasco county line.
In 2004, the state planned to spend $1.4-million to study ways to reduce flooding and improve the water quality of the Brooker Creek watershed, which covers about 30 square miles across Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco counties.
Development has created flooding problems in neighborhoods surrounding Brooker Creek.
The 2004 Brooker Creek study is still under way, but will cost only $902,356.
So the water management district will use the rest of the money to analyze the three adjacent watersheds, which cover a total of 28 square miles.
The studies will look at:
- Land elevation, drainage ditches and culverts.
- Flooding or water quality problems.
- Potential projects to solve the flooding problems. Those could include installing different sized culverts or rerouting drainage.
"We're trying to do studies on every watershed," said Michael Molligan, spokesman for the management district, also known as Swiftmud.
"A lot of the problems are from developments prior to 1984 when district permitting went into effect."
After the study conducted on the three outlying watersheds is complete, the findings will be shared with local officials.
LandMar development akin to Haile
A project that would put almost 1,000 homes on an almost 1,900-acre property about a mile north of the intersection of State Road 121 and U.S. 441 took its first step forward Monday when developers met with residents to outline their visions of the project.The project, billed as a "Haile Plantation-style" development that would mix detached homes, condominiums and about 100,000 square feet of "mom and pop" retail space, was greeted with a mix of interest and trepidation by about 60 residents who worried about what it would mean for their water supply and community.
The first phase of the project, which would begin on the southern-most end of the property, is slated to begin in 2008 if it receives the necessary approvals from the Gainesville City Commission and other agencies, said Jadecq, and he is a man Brown, project manager for the Jacksonville-based LandMar Group.
Fully building out the project is anticipated to take about eight years, Brown said.
"We understand folks are interested in what is going on in the area," Brown said after the meeting. "That's what makes Gainesville great. They're interested in what's coming in and are not going to allow any shoddy development."
One of the most persistent concerns raised during the meeting was how the project would impact the water supply in the area, particularly whether the project would damage the quality of the well-water in the area.
"I'm worried about the pollution of our wells," Seminole Woods resident Linda Frey said after Monday night's meeting. "Once the people are in their homes, LandMar isn't going to be able to keep them from" using chemicals or fertilizers that could leech into the water table.
The development also raised concerns among some residents about the prospect of their area being annexed, urbanized or bought out as development closed in.
"For us to come out here and blow out a huge community is not going to sell," Brown said after the meeting. "This is a quaint, rural community and we want something that fits in."
Residents also raised questions about whether potential buyers would be interested in paying at least $250,000 for homes in the area, given its proximity to industrial land uses.
Brown said the development would include buffers that would prevent this from being a problem.
Other residents looked at the project as the inevitable result of development patterns that had already led to projects on most of the land available in the Gainesville area and said LandMar's proposal was better than some proposals that could be expected.
"I think most anybody who had any smarts to them knew there was going to be development down this way," Pat Logan, a Seminole Woods resident, said after the meeting.
"I'm very happy it's going to be residential rather than commercial," Logan said.
Guess who's hiring all
those lobbyists ...
The biggest buyer of lobbying influence is ... us.
Local government, from city councils to school boards and
county commissions, shelled out more than any other special
interest to influence Florida government last year, according to
new reports collected by the Legislature.
Those records show schools and local government paid as much as
$24 million in 2006 to hire contract lobbyists, all of it taxpayer
money. That is nearly $1 out of every $10 reported on lobbying
expenditures statewide.
Lobbying is always important to community budgets, state grants
and local projects, but in this year's property-tax debate, it
takes on special importance.
''It's obviously a huge sensitive issue back home to a lot of
folks,'' said former Rep. Jerry Maygarden, now lobbying for the
city of Pensacola as well as commercial clients. ''That's the
primary issue right now."
Working the halls of the state Capitol is only half the job for
community lobbyists, many of them former lawmakers themselves who
are called upon to explain to government officials back home what
their current elected representatives are up to.
''It's not as much lobbying as 'Keep us informed,''' Maygarden
said ''We don't know what the plan of the day is.''
Lobbyists do not report how much they make as individuals, and
their firms in most cases are required only to disclose ranges of
income rather than specific figures.
For instance, Maygarden's firm, Capitol Hill Group, reported
receiving up to $160,000 from the city of Pensacola to lobby the
Legislature and branches of state government. In addition,
Escambia County paid Maygarden and his firm up to $120,000.
Lobbyist compensation reports for 2006 -- the first year for
which such information is available -- show heavy hitters such as
Palm Beach County, Miami-Dade and Broward County have the biggest
hired guns, paying as much as $2 million between them.
But smaller counties, local communities and even individual
offices of government feel the same need to make their case in
Tallahassee.
''It's having someone up there full time that is really helpful
for us,'' said Brevard County manager Peggy Busacca.
Brevard County pays former House Speaker John Thrasher $5,000 a
month to make sure the county has a voice on a handful of issues,
from property taxes to state funding for non-emergency Medicaid
transportation.
''The Legislature is being lobbied by people and they're being
torn and asked to focus in a lot of different directions,'' she
said. Thrasher's job is to counter that, ''watching out for
Brevard.''
He also represents 59 other clients, including other county
governments, the insurance industry and the business community.
Thrasher's firm, Southern Strategy Group, reported receiving from
$4.9 million to $11.9 million for lobbying work in 2006, making it
the highest paid firm in the state.
Lee County government paid lobbyists at four firms last year,
including $90,000 to former Democratic lawmaker Keith Arnold of
Fort Myers. A large part of the $200,000 multi-year contract with
another firm also goes to lobbying and drafting legislation.
''We need it in order to be heard in Tallahassee, especially
with tax reform right now,'' said assistant county manager Holly
Schwartz. ''The Legislature is up there with one purpose and the
local government has another.''
Leon County hired three lobbying firms, paying them from
$20,000 to $359,000 to represent the capital county in its own
backyard.
Tallahassee itself hired three lobbying firms, paying Miami
lobbying giant Ron Book and an associate $100,000 to find state
money for local projects such as remediation of Cascades Park, and
local lawyer William Peebles $30,000 to fight on the city's behalf
on policy issues.
LOBBYING SECTORS
Local schools, cities and counties paid contract lobbyists
between $7.8 million and $24 million last year to influence the
state, not counting their own staff tasked to do the same job.
Here's how they stack up: Local government (not including schools): between $6.6
million and $19.5 million
Medical facilities: $4.8 million to $11.2 million
Property insurance: $3.5 million to $8.7 million
Health/Life insurance: $3.3 million to $7.2 million
Telecommunications: $2.6 million to $4.6 million
Source: Gannett analysis of 2006 lobbyist compensation
reports Palm Beach County: $290,000 to $800,000 (13 firms)
Miami-Dade County: $469,000 to $641,000 (eight firms)
Broward County: $150,000 to 540,000
Jacksonville: $160,018 to $500,000
Charlotte County: $90,000 to $379,000
Source: Gannett analysis of 2006 lobbyist compensation
reports Ron Book: $1.2 to $1.9 million
Wayne Mixon: up to $1.2 million
William Peebles: $340,000 to $896,000
Craig Smith: $140,000 to $796,000
Pennington Moore: $110,000 to $659,000
Source: Gannett analysis of 2006 lobbyist compensation
reports
Top Five Industries by lobbyist expenditure
Top Five Governments by lobbyist expenditure
Top Five Government Lobbyists by compensation range
|
But this dusty outpost could become one of Central Florida's hottest real estate commodities if a mammoth toll road wins approval by the state. Nearly all of Blue Head Ranch lies within a large swath where a $7 billion expressway could go.
The 62,000-acre ranch belongs to a company headed by J.D. Alexander, a powerful state senator from Lake Wales with Florida royalty in his blood.
Alexander has been instrumental in pushing for the road by helping to form a lobbying group stocked with some of the most storied real estate dynasties in Florida. They, too, own thousands of acres along the toll road route.
The road campaign comes at a time when Alexander's businesses, and those of some of his relatives, are shifting from farming and ranching to land development. Their plans could be aided by a fast expressway through half a dozen rural Florida counties.
Dubbed the Heartland Parkway, the proposed 152-mile road would run from southwest Florida and could connect to Interstate 4 or the Polk Parkway.
It would redraw the map of an undeveloped region now dominated by ranches and swamps and it would beckon development. History suggests the price of the land along it would skyrocket.
"There was a time when this would have been debated," said Reid Ewing, a professor at the University of Maryland's National Center for Smart Growth. "But like with global warming, most people would agree that if you build a road through a rural area, you are making it more attractive for development."
Reaping those benefits would be companies controlled by Alexander, who is vying to become Senate president in three years. The Polk County Republican inherited an agricultural empire from his grandfather, one of the most famous land barons of them all, Ben Hill Griffin Jr.
Alexander said he stopped personally promoting the project in 2005. He still supports it, however, and said the road isn't about his personal gain, but enriching the lives of those he represents.
"Most job growth in my counties comes from facilities such as prisons and power plants that coastal communities like St. Petersburg don't want," said Alexander. "If we want to improve the lives of the people who elect me, we're going to need roads built. Only with roads do we get economic development and jobs."
A New Patron
In 2005, after talks with other large landowners, Alexander met three times with state officials to promote the idea of a north-south road. Two meetings were with top transportation officials. A third was with Gov. Jeb Bush.
About the same time, Alexander said, he asked the Senate's general counsel whether he had a conflict. He said he was told if he avoided discussions with government decision makers on a subject that affects him financially, he had no conflict.
"I've done what he told me," Alexander said.
Soon, the road project found a new patron.
The Heartland Economic, Agricultural and Rural Task Force, or HEART, was created in late 2005. The nonprofit group boasted a pedigree of Florida's landed elite, including Lykes Bros. and Collier Enterprises.
The group faxed a map to the Florida's Turnpike Enterprise in February 2006.
Sketched across Polk County was a hand-drawn road that forked below Winter Haven, records at the Turnpike show.
A similar route was adopted a month later by the state when it unveiled plans for the Heartland Parkway, one of nine expressways it is considering across rural Florida.
The HEART lobbyist who drew the map was an Orlando lawyer who was with Alexander in the meetings with Bush and the DOT officials.
Even though the route the state adopted swallows nearly all of the Blue Head Ranch, Alexander said he had no role in determining the route and is not involved with HEART.
"I haven't participated in HEART meetings, and I don't personally involve myself in what they're doing," he said.
Corporate documents show Alexander has at least three past and present links to HEART.
Its president is Renee Dabbs, who works at a Tampa political consulting firm called the Victory Group. Records show Alexander paid the firm more than $90,000 during his 2004 campaign. The firm handles corporate communications of a company partly controlled by Alexander.
A citrus grower named Bryan Paul is listed as director. Paul did business with Alexander, who sold Paul citrus from 2000 to 2004.
Last year, Nancy Watkins was listed as HEART's treasurer. Watkins, a Tampa accountant, is listed as the treasurer for Alexander's fundraising committee, Floridians for Better Government, which has raised more than $341,000 since 2000.
Alexander said he may have recommended the Victory Group to HEART and told Paul to get involved with the group. He said he had no role in Watkins' involvement.
But he did recommend the man who would become HEART's public face, Rick Dantzler, of Winter Haven.
The two men know each other well. Dantzler, a Democrat, left a state Senate seat in 1998 in a failed bid for governor and then lieutenant governor. Dantzler is also an attorney for a company with strong ties to Alexander.
His duties at HEART include meeting with landowners, environmental groups and editorial boards to explain the group's position.
On Wednesday , Dantzler met with the St. Petersburg Times editorial board and said HEART had the same goal as the general public: responsible long-term growth that can preserve the environment.
Although a list of all HEART members wasn't available, Dantzler said the group represents owners of more than a million acres, some of which are in the road's path.
In exchange for the road, the owners might donate land for it and agree to develop in narrow pockets.
Development would follow strict guidelines to make it more attractive than the typical suburban growth found along highways such as Interstate 75, Dantzler said. Large areas would be conserved, while the corridor could include hiking trails and space for mass transit.
In February, the DOT deemed the northern leg of the parkway feasible. The state plans an engineering study.
"Growth is coming regardless," Dantzler said. "How do we get it right this time? We have the opportunity to transform the region in a positive way."
A Changing Mission
That region covers landlocked counties of Central Florida still untouched by the suburban development that began consuming Florida 50 years ago.
It has long been the epic domain of land-owning families. Among the most prominent was the Ben Hill Griffin Jr. clan.
One of the Griffin empire's crown jewels was Alico Inc. Formed in 1960 by the Atlantic Coastline Railroad Co., it aimed to make money off land not used by rail.
Griffin, who served on the board, bought out Alico in 1972 and reigned over operations in cattle, citrus, sugar cane, timber and vegetables.
Griffin was a larger-than-life Cracker millionaire, donating vast sums of money to the University of Florida, serving in the Legislature, running for governor. When he died in 1990 at age 79, he left behind an estimated $300 million estate that his descendents, including former U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris, feuded over for years.
His family still controls the empire.
J.D. Alexander's father, John R. Alexander, is Alico's CEO.
Alexander's cousin, Baxter Griffin Troutman, sits on the Alico board and is also a state lawmaker, a Republican representative from Winter Haven.
Alico has a history of finding government allies useful when it comes to developing its land.
In the mid 1990s, the Legislature authorized building the state's 11th university somewhere in Southwest Florida.
Alico offered a site near Fort Myers that was selected over two other bids, even though it was one with the greatest environmental impact.
When the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was slow to approve a permit the university needed to destroy 76 acres of wetlands, Connie Mack, then Florida's U.S. senator, called up the colonel in charge of the corps in Florida and cussed him out.
"He used terms over the telephone that weren't very flattering," the colonel, Terry Rice, told the Times in 2005. "It wasn't a pleasant conversation."
Rice approved the permit in 1995, clearing the way for Florida Gulf Coast University and spurring the development of thousands of acres of land around it, also owned by Alico.
J.D. Alexander, the state senator, is CEO of a company called Atlantic Blue Group, which owns the majority of shares in Alico. Atlantic Blue Group owns citrus groves and is one of the largest cattle operations in the state. It owns Blue Head Ranch in Highlands County.
Inheriting their grandfather's wealth has made Alexander and Troutman two of Florida's richest lawmakers. According to 2005 financial disclosures, Alexander's net worth is $5.6 million and Troutman's is $15.7 million.
Yet these are uncertain times for Alico and Atlantic Blue Group.
Increased foreign competition, hurricanes and canker have cast a pall over agribusiness. Meanwhile, land-owning counterparts in coastal counties have made fortunes selling their ranches and farms to developers.
Atlantic Blue Group tried to get into the development game last year. It marketed 9,000 acres of Blue Head Ranch and one of its citrus groves for $100 million.
An ad called the property a "great development opportunity." It didn't sell, however, and the land is now off the market.
"Development is not uncommon for the land-owning companies in central and southwestern Florida," Alexander said. "Anemic returns in citrus and diseases - all of us have had to look at our holdings differently."
Alico predicts such a profitable future in development that last year it changed its mission from agribusiness to land management.
"This is a very significant change for the company, and one which recognizes the importance of real estate and land development," John R. Alexander wrote to shareholders in December, adding that it positions Alico "to take advantage of future development opportunities expected to have a positive impact on company land."
At Alico's annual shareholders meeting, its president promised an aggressive development plan in the coming year, the News-Press in southwest Florida reported on Jan. 20.
"No longer is development just going to happen," said president Dan Gunter. "We are going to make it happen."
But Alico officials warned shareholders this new path is fraught with the unknown.
In a report to the SEC last year, it listed eight factors that it couldn't control that can delay or speed development, including interest rates, economic conditions, zoning and roads.
Road to where?
By A ST PETERSBURG TIMES EDITORIAL
Published March 5, 2007
There are big, unanswered questions: Where would the road go, what would it cost, who would pay and how would it affect growth, the economy, transportation and the environment? With so much at stake, officials need to fully and fairly air the proposal to build a 147-mile corridor from Polk to Collier counties. The Heartland Parkway, supporters say, presents an opportunity to manage growth and preserve endangered habitat while creating a transit and economic link vital to Central Florida. Ensuring that balance should guide this debate.
Advocates are right that Florida historically has done a bad job of accommodating growth without inspiring the very sprawl that makes roads a double-edged sword. To that extent, they acknowledge the irony of using a parkway to drive better land management decisions. The plan, still a concept, would have the road extend from near Lakeland south to an area east of Fort Myers, between U.S. 17 to the west and U.S. 27 to the east.
Advocates say they bring unique resources and a novel approach to the table. HEART, the group lobbying for the project, represents some of the major landowners in the region. Acting now and with the owners' participation, before the holdings could be sold and divided among families, would make it easier to manage development along the route in a comprehensive way. HEART says it will donate land for conservation, give the public perpetual easements to green space, work to preserve natural ecosystems and design the route so as to discourage sprawl by creating "sustainable mixed-use towns" along or near the parkway.
The idea has merit but the details are key. Bringing landowners and the government together on a broad plan could spare this largely rural area from the sort of hopscotch development that can vary wildly between county lines. It could be reasonable to allow builders to develop fewer areas, but at higher densities, in exchange for restricting how far this growth sprawls into rural areas. But what is the right balance in terms of acreage? How much control will local governments and the public have to shape the buildable footprint? How far should a parkway go to transform agricultural land into a new economy - for homes, warehousing or other urban uses?
Advocates are right that growth will come with or without a master plan. But the growth projections are all over the map. So is the core economic vision for the Heartland counties the next 30 years. Supporters need to focus their case on the convincing need for a parkway and reconcile how the development can serve both private and public interests. With the state's population expected to grow to 26-million from 18-million over the next quarter-century, Floridians accept that new roads are part of the future. HEART's concept also is multimodal, meaning commuter rail could be part of the picture. The question is whether this road is the right one and whether the model truly puts Florida in a position to manage sprawl. To its credit, HEART said it wants the process open to everyone from environmentalists to citizens' groups and state and local regulators. They should all weigh in, for moving forward or not has serious implications for South and Central Florida.
If voters can cap taxes, then let them deal with growth
Dicks and his family are overseeing the development of O'Connor Signature at The Oaks of Lake City, possibly the world's first branded equestrian community.
"We wanted to provide a place where people with horses and people who just wanted the relaxed atmosphere of living in a rural setting and look out their windows and see horses would want to live," Dicks said.
In late 2006, the Dicks family bought about 1,200 acres from Daniels Lumber Co. on Tustenuggee Avenue, a mile south of County Road 240, and went into partnership with Olympic equestrian champions Karen and David O'Connor. Those involved with the project said it appears that having the O'Connors lend their name to brand the development marks the first such branding in equestrian circles.
With the O'Connors coming up with ideas on how to lay out a 33-stall barn, 40 acres of fenced pastures and 15 miles of trails, Dicks began working on how to divide the property into one-, two- and five-acre homesites while leaving 260 acres for common property in the development - an overall $5 million project. Some areas may be available to nonresidents, such as riding students who could come into the development for lessons, Dicks said.
"We could have had just another cookie-cutter development out here, but we wanted a way to preserve the character of an area of this size and beauty," Dicks said.
Dicks and the O'Connors agreed to contract with Equestrian Services LLC, a firm that specializes in turnkey agreements for equestrian developments.
Jennifer Donovan, a principal of the specialty firm, said her company sees horses as the new golf in terms of a recreational focus for homebuyers.
"Golf has hit a saturation point," Donovan said. "What we are seeing now is the new ruralism. People are feeling stressed and looking for a way to connect back to nature in what they romanticize as a simpler way of life."
Donovan said the reasons her company is so interested in the Lake City-Columbia County area has a lot to do with weather patterns, land prices and topography.
"Wellington and Ocala are the horse meccas for the entire United States (horse) show circuit, but - especially in Wellington - the billionaires have been pushing out the millionaires," said Donovan of the South and Central Florida communities. "When people look for property that is reasonably affordable and available in large tracts, they have begun to look north."
Donovan said potential buyers are discovering that North Florida is an area with four distinct weather seasons and is less likely to be in the path of a hurricane than many other areas of the state. The region has enough physical features like hills to make riding interesting as compared to the relatively flat terrain of Central and South Florida. She said callers from as far away as California have already begun inquiring about homesites.
Groundbreaking for development occurred last week for the shared facilities including the barn and arena.
The Oaks is not the only place that horse lovers are settling in Columbia County, according to Harvey Campbell, who heads up the local Tourist Development Council.
"Equestrians have been moving in kind of quietly and not in huge numbers," Campbell said. "This planned community will very likely be something of a catalyst for people who have an interest in equestrian activities, whether for personal enjoyment or the business element."
The chairman of the University of Florida's Department of Tourism, Recreation and Sport Management, Professor Stephen Holland, said recreational equestrian activities have been "in a slow growth mode in general. I'm not aware of any major boomlets for this form of recreation."
Holland said although there is not a lot of money being spent on recreational studies, Florida is getting ready to conduct its next State Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan. About once a decade, the state tries to identify activities drawing participants, and what facilities and locations are in demand.
Previous studies have shown that 2 percent to 3 percent of Florida's then 6 million residents participate in some equestrian activity at least once a year, Holland said.
"Now with 17 to 18 million residents, critical mass is being reached, even if participation is still at 2 to 3 percent, because there are so many actual people participating," Holland said. "At the same time, the availability of vacant land for these activities has declined, so people have to be more organized now to enjoy horseback riding on a weekend."Karen Voyles can be reached at 352-486-5058 or voylesk@gvillesun.com.
Conservationists fight Pigeon Key development
Problems at Pigeon Key are causing concern that the historic island in the middle Keys may be turned into a more commercial venture.
BY CAMMY CLARK
cclark@MiamiHerald.com
PIGEON KEY - Tour guide Dee Pitts drives the Henry Express trolley along the old Seven-Mile Bridge, transporting visitors from Marathon to the tiny island dotted with wooden buildings that used to house workers of Henry Flagler's Overseas Railway.
Pitts tells of hearty men who worked for 15 cents an hour and poured kerosene on their skin to ward off disease-carrying mosquitoes.
Talk of modifying the lease that governs use of land here has alarmed conservationists who fear a shift could lead to an explosion of commercial development -- from waterfront condos to tourist hotels. The issue emerged when the foundation that runs the island was recently cited for code violations.
The railroad was destroyed by a 1935 hurricane. But the bridge survived, and was converted to vehicle use as the Overseas Highway until 1982, when a wider, safer new bridge opened.
Now pedestrians, cyclists and anglers have made the once-engineering marvel a playground. The island has become a delightful historic and education haven run by a non-profit foundation. Where hundreds once lived, now there are only five employees, but plenty of activity.
Kids study marine science. Artists paint. Residents snorkel and picnic. And tourists learn that engineers of the early 1900s told Flagler he was a lunatic for even trying to build a bridge over seven miles of ocean.
Monroe County Commissioner Sylvia Murphy calls Pigeon Key ``a very, very valuable historic treasure for Monroe County.''
But the treasure is in trouble.
CODE VIOLATIONS
In the past few months, anonymous complaints led to citing of the Pigeon Key Foundation, which runs the island, with 43 code violations by the county fire marshal and seven environmental violations by the state Department of Environmental Protection.
In January, the county attorney demanded old documents, including proof the foundation had complied with a master plan that was part of its 30-year lease.
The problems only added to the 4 ½-acre island's ongoing issue: dealing with the imminent closure of the 2.2-mile portion of the crumbling old bridge for repairs that will take three years.
During that time, the only way to transport people and supplies to the island will be by ferry. Foundation executive director Marjie Mearns said her group was expecting to coordinate the ferry service with state funding, but instead the county solicited bids -- which include companies out to make a profit.
The series of events alarmed Pigeon Key fans. Was it a concerted effort to break the foundation's lease in order to develop the island?
Monroe County Mayor Mario DeGennaro fueled the concern at January's commission meeting, saying: ``This is a multimillion-dollar piece of property, waterfront property that we can do so much more with. It is our fault that the county has neglected developing the island to get something out there for the public.''
The lease, which runs through 2023, was placed on the February county commission agenda. Discussion was tabled until the March meeting.
''We are very concerned about a change of usage,'' said the World Wildlife Fund's Debra Harrison, a former Pigeon Key Foundation board member. ``If the goal is to convert public land into the best money-making machine, we'd have Las Vegas in the Keys.''
Architect Bert Bender, who worked on the restoration of Pigeon Key's buildings, said: ``Pigeon Key and the old Seven-Mile Bridge tells the story of one of the most significant events in our country. Without them, the Florida Keys as we know them would never exist.''
Pigeon Key was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. It also was declared a historic and cultural landmark by the county commission in 1993.
But that's little protection against a change in usage or ownership, according to George Born, executive director of the Historic Florida Keys Foundation.
DeGennaro says he is not trying to break the foundation's lease.
''No, no, no, no, no,'' he said when asked if he wanted the island to become a private condo or hotel development.
TOURISM DOLLARS
But DeGennaro said the island could use updating to increase tourism dollars. His suggestions included relocating the Turtle Hospital there.
''It might work to maybe add a little restaurant, selling conch fritters,'' he added. ``Maybe a snorkeling boat. I want it to be successful.''
Murphy said major commercial changes would be a mistake.
The foundation took over the island in 1993, after the University of Miami's lease for research ended. The foundation, which pays the county just $1 a year but foots all expenses, raised about $3 million for renovations.
The foundation is funded by proceeds from the annual Pigeon Key Arts Festival, the modest $8.50 entrance charge, membership dues, contributions, the gift shop and usage for education programs, research, retreats and weddings. Groups can stay overnight on wooden bunks.
About 1,000 kids annually participate in educational classes, learning about sharks, plankton and jelly fish.
Mearns, a Marathon city commissioner, became executive director of the foundation in 2005 and said she worked to get the $33.2 million bridge renovation project started.
She said the state agreed to fund half the project in 2002, when it implemented weight restrictions for vehicles using the old bridge. The restriction led to increased expenses and decreased usage.
The bridge will close as soon as a ferry service is in place. A county workshop on the issue is Wednesday, although voting can't take place until the March 21 commission meeting.
Mearns, also a longtime volunteer fireman, is trying to rectify violations. She has been working for months on acquiring sprinklers and a fire suppression system.
Violations stemmed from two diesel spills and improper cleanup. The foundation faces up to $18,500 in fines and about a $40,000 cleanup bill.
Mearns said she is stepping down as executive director, but only so she can concentrate on the island's big issues.
''Pigeon Key is irreplaceable,'' Murphy said. ``I don't care if the county could sell it for $20 million. Its value is something you can never get back.''
'Snook Inn' sets Siesta Key listing record with $19.5 million price
Mickey and Brooke Callanen have listed their home, "Snook Inn" at 3410 Flamingo Ave. on Siesta Key, with Premier Properties Sarasota division Realtors Marcia Salkin and Paulene Soublis.
Snook Inn was commissioned by the couple seven years ago as a yachtsman's paradise fronting on Sarasota Bay at the mouth of Hanson Bayou.
The six-bedroom, six-and-a-half-bath home, built by Michael Collingwood and designed by Clifford Scholz, is listed at $19.5 million and has a dual-vessel deep-water boathouse with its own captain's quarters. It has oversized front and back porches featuring bay views from nearly every room, two guest docks to tie up to, a covered shuffleboard court and a 52-foot pool.
Meanwhile, Estancia del Mar, an $11.75 million speculatively built home at 5060 Gulf of Mexico Drive on Longboat Key, has been completed and listed by Michael Moulton and Annette Rogers of Michael Saunders & Co.
The gated estate is more than an acre and is owned by Corvus International, developer of the chic Positano condominium development on Longboat Key and Bel Mare at Riviera Dunes, now under construction in Palmetto. The builder is Bluewater Construction.
The property, in addition to featuring all the toys and features one can imagine, also has beach access and a private dock.
Legends Bay at IMG Academies
Ruben-Holland Development, developer for Legends Bay at IMG Academies, recently started work on the new West Bradenton community.
Legends Bay, as the name suggests, is close to the 300-acre IMG Academies campus. The high-end, single-family villas, custom waterfront homes and coach homes will be built by two local builders, Gibraltar Homes and Arthur Rutenberg Homes-M. Pete McNabb Inc.
The plans call for 37 bayfront lots and an unspecified number of other lots within a gated entrance.
The sales gallery is in the IMG Academies Golf & Country Club, with sales areas for both builders.
The selling point for the development, just west and south of El Conquistador Parkway along Sarasota Bay, will likely to be its affiliation with IMG. IMG's private academic school on its campus has students from more than 46 states and 80 countries.
Ruben-Holland Development's other local projects include Park Plaza and The Landings at Parkview, on State Road 64 in Manatee County, and The Shoppes at Laurel Square, on Laurel Road in Venice.
Beachy starts young Realtors group
Dave Beachy, a former Re/Max Properties and Century 21 Advantage Realtor who recently started his own company, Beachy Properties, is now launching a Realtors networking group for agents under the age of 40. He can be reached at the regionally appropriate www.beachyproperties.com.
Pitell secures exclusive rights to www.luxuryrealty.com
Debra Pitell, the Michael Saunders über-Realtor, strikes again. Pitell is now the exclusive real estate agent for www.luxuryrealty.com for the city of Sarasota and the Town of Longboat Key, thus giving more exposure to her luxury listings.
Last year, Pitell was awarded (for the second time in 3 years) the "Highest Benchmark Sale," by Michael Saunders for a $17.6 million transaction on Lido Key, and recently sold Ritz Tower condo Unit 1703 for $4.5 million.
Luxuryrealty.com is a highly stylized luxury home Web site that sells a single broker, brokerage or Realtor an exclusive right for a particular city.
The site will be promoted with advertising in industry-specific publications including such magazines as duPont Registry, Unique Homes and Ultimate Homes.
The luxuryrealty.com Web site is owned and managed by the same folks who created www.luxuryhomes.com.
_____
To contact Stephen Frater with residential real estate news, call 361-4878, fax him at 361-4880 or send an e-mail to stephen.frater@heraldtribune.com.
Fired clerk sues Yankeetown
By ELENA LESLEY
Published March 5, 2007
YANKEETOWN - Just weeks after developers filed suit against 17 Yankeetown residents, claiming the residents were conspiring to stonewall a resort hotel on the Withlacoochee River, a former deputy town clerk has levelled similar charges.
Mona Sinclair, who was terminated from her position in late January, claims that she witnessed town officials routinely violate the Sunshine Law. Officials were served with Sinclair's suit during a meeting Friday that names the town of Yankeetown, council members Larry Feldhusen and Marsha Drew, and Mayor Dawn Clary as defendants.
"We are under siege by accusations of Sunshine violations," Clary said.
Many of Sinclair's claims resemble those made by Izaak Walton Investors, LLC in the group's recently filed suit.
After she was hired by the council Oct. 2, Sinclair said she "witnessed the defendants herein meeting with each other and others, discussing town business ... on a regular basis," according to the suit.
Sinclair alleges she often heard council members refer to issues such as "the developers" and "the moratorium" during their "smoke breaks" in front of Town Hall.
Echoing a charge made by the developers, she also claims that council members met with zoning consultant Rebecca Jetton to negatively influence her review of documents submitted by Izaak Walton Investors. Jetton recently denied large portions of the group's development proposal, saying it did not adhere to the town's comprehensive plan.
Finally, Sinclair charges that her job was terminated because she alerted members of the local media to Sunshine Law violations that had occurred.
As a result of the council's actions, "Sinclair has suffered grievously, and has been brought into public scandal with great humiliation, mental suffering and damaged reputation," the suit reads.
Clary insists that Sinclair's termination was solely performance-based. She was still in her six-month probation period and couldn't keep up with the work, she said.
The mayor also denied any Sunshine violations on the part of current council members.
"There's a lot of misunderstanding of the Sunshine Law," she said. "People think that any time two council people occupy the same room that that's a violation."
During Friday's meeting, the council's lawyer advised that officials could mitigate any wrongdoing by holding a "cure meeting" to confess violations.
"He was basically saying, if anybody did anything, they need to state so now," Clary said.
No one spoke out.
Instead the council passed, against the developers' objections, a one-year moratorium on permitting for commercial developments. Extensive review of the town's regulations have revealed a number of inconsistencies between the comprehensive plan and town codes.
"This town has been a sleepy little town," Feldhusen said. "I think it's absolutely appropriate that we take a breather here."
But given the town's legal troubles, it's doubtful council members will get a respite anytime soon.
"Decisions have been made and I guess this is their way of dealing with them," said Clary of the developer's objections to Jetton's findings. "They can sue the pants off us, but that doesn't change the zoning."
Elena Lesley can be reached at elesley@sptimes.com or 564-3627
Builder abandons Clearwater townhome plan
By MIKE DONILA
Published March 5, 2007
Mediterranean Village was supposed to be part of the Clearwater's revitalization future, a pond-side collection of 100 townhomes downtown.
The ambition: Turn an old car dealership site into a desirable residential alcove to help spark downtown interest and lure more residents to the businesses.
But after almost eight years and countless setbacks, all that remains of the grand vision is 15 residences crowded behind a concrete privacy wall just east of Myrtle Avenue and south of Cleveland Street.
The final blow to the plan came Monday, when a Sarasota developer who'd pledged to build another 85 homes there, dropped his option to do so.
The spectacle has left city officials and the residents who bought into the Mediterranean Village dream to wonder: What now?
"It's never good to have a developer fail on an approved project this far along, but it does allow us to update the desired use on that project and maybe develop something more consistent with the current state of downtown Clearwater," Assistant City Manager Rod Irwin said.
* * *
Plans to build the Mediterranean Village came at a time when the city started focusing on downtown revitalization. The project - a townhome complex next to a proposed drainage pond - first surfaced in 1999. A deal was struck a few years later.
Under the agreement with Sarasota developer Bruce Balk, the city would pay about $1.3-million in fees and bring the land - the old Dimmitt Chevrolet property - up to environmental standards.
At the time, the project was expected to cost $16.4-million and generate more than $225,000 annually in city taxes.
The village would be built in phases on land that Balk would buy from the city.
The project got off to a rocky start, but the city eventually built the drainage pond, later calling it Prospect Lake. And Balk eventually finished most of his first phase: 15, two-story orange and yellow townhomes that many city leaders ridiculed, saying they were ugly and crowded. While he still had to tie up some loose ends, like adding greenery, the clock ticked on the second phase.
On Monday, Balk's option expired when he did not purchase the property and start development.
According to the agreement, he was supposed to buy 2.77 acres for $936,000 and build 49 more townhomes in the second phase. Neither Balk nor his attorney, Barbara B. Levin of Sarasota, returned calls seeking comment.
* * *
The city can now probably demand twice the price for the property. But city leaders say that's no consolation after years of waiting for something to be built there.
And now local officials aren't so sure they want only homes there.
Since the project was first proposed, the downtown has experienced some revitalization. There's a new, modern public library. And a number of downtown residential developments, including one next to City Hall, have broken ground.
In the coming weeks, city leaders said they'll discuss just what they want built on the property. Irwin said city planners will develop a plan for the area and give it to the City Council within a month. If approved, the city would ask developers to get involved, but that might not happen until early summer.
City planners say they'd like some residences, as well as shops and restaurants, built there. And the mayor has even suggested looking into putting a movie theater on the property.
"I would like to know whether one would fit there," Mayor Frank Hibbard said. "It would be pretty nice to be able to walk out on Prospect Lake before or after (a movie). It's a good way to attract people downtown and we own the land. One of the biggest things about bringing in a theater has been the price of land."
Councilman Bill Jonson said some residents have told him the location is ideal for an entertainment venue.
But, Jonson said, the city needs to strike a balance to accommodate the residents who live in the first phase of townhouses, since they were told that more homes - not shops and restaurants - would neighbor them.
Sandra Chandler, a caregiver who has lived there for two years, would like more homes.
"That would be nice. We already have the downtown area and I think the townhomes would be more efficient and accommodating to the neighborhood," said Chandler, 59.
But Tara Conn, who has also lived in the village for two years, says the city needs more bars and restaurants.
"I think that would help bring more people here. The area is cute, but the empty park is awkward," said Conn, 25. "They need more stuff to keep people here. There's not a lot to do."
* * *
Finishing Mediterranean Village was delayed for years as Balk faced construction delays, logistical errors and environmental concerns. Both the city and Balk share blame for the delays, which included a final one last fall as Clearwater waited for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to sign off on the property's environmental cleanup.
"That was hugely frustrating," Jonson said.
City officials said they talked to Balk a number of times in the past month, trying to see whether he planned to continue, but they've declined to speculate on why he quit.
"I think at the time he's just not in a position any longer to perform under the development agreement," Irwin said. "He could not close (on the property) or show evidence that he could."
Fast Facts:
Time line
1999: Clearwater officials begin talks to develop the downtown site of a former automobile dealership next to a to-be-built drainage pond.
2000: City officials choose a plan to build 100 townhomes on the site.
2001: City learns it must also clean up contaminated soil from the site.
2002: City begins building the 5.5-acre drainage pond, now known as Prospect Lake. City signs deal with Sarasota developer Bruce Balk.
2003: Pond is built. Balk begins making progress on the first phase: 15 townhomes at the corner of S Prospect Avenue and Cleveland Street.
2004: Some of the townhomes open. Balk said he's ready to begin Phase 2. The city still needs state environmental regulators to sign off on the site cleanup for him to start building in this phase.
2006: The state approves cleanup. Balk receives an extension for purchasing property for the second phase.
2007: Balk fails to buy property. City said it will revisit the site's development plans and look for a new builder.
Sinkhole company is still in violation
By CHUIN-WEI YAP
Published March 5, 2007
LAND O'LAKES - Hunt Road, narrow and unpaved, threaded through a dense citrus grove when William "W.R." Absher moved there 11 years ago.
Most of the orange trees have since given way to development, a common story in this fast-growing region. Absher witnessed the biggest clearing yet when Earth Tech decided to move to Hunt Road in 1996.
Earth Tech is a company that specializes in filling sinkholes and stabilizing the ground for building.
They were good neighbors at first, Absher said.
Then, things changed.
About two years ago, trucks started hauling sand and cement in and out to manufacture grout. Clouds of dust choked their wake. Tailgates slammed and industrial noises startled neighbors out of their beds at 5 a.m.
"It's like a bomb going off," Absher said. "Sometimes, when the wind picks up, it's a dustbowl out here."
What started as a quiet, clean business suddenly got noisy and dirty.
This would have been fine had Earth Tech been in an area zoned for industrial use.
But it isn't. The company sits in a commercial zone. Officials say the area cannot be legally rezoned to suit Earth Tech's purposes.
Two years ago, the county ordered Earth Tech to move to properly zoned land, or cease making grout.
For two years, the company did neither.
It did pay the county's $500 fine.
In February 2006, Earth Tech bought a properly zoned site on five acres in Hudson, but it has yet to move there.
On Thursday, the company received its second court citation and another $500 fine.
"They've been in the process for months now of trying to relocate this plant," Dean Birch, Earth Tech's lawyer, said Friday. "We fully expect the plant will be moved in the next couple months."
* * *
Grout is the lifeblood of a company like Earth Tech.
The substance's main ingredients are cement and sand, which sit in large mounds in the open on Earth Tech's grounds.
It is also the cement and sand, combined with a fleet of at least 11 mixer trucks, that cough up the fog and noise that infuriate Earth Tech's neighbors.
"I've been here about 22 years now," said Arthur "Skip" Schaer, another neighbor. "Until the plant came, there were no complaints from anybody."
Founded in 1991, Earth Tech is headed by Ron Broadrick and his father, Lewis Broadrick.
They moved their operation from Lutz to Land O'Lakes in 1996.
Earth Tech used to buy grout from businesses like Keys Concrete. But it soon became cheaper for Earth Tech to cut out the middleman.
In 2004, as Pasco's sinkhole-related insurance crisis was coming into full bloom, Earth Tech was poised to take advantage of the economic opportunity presented by homeowners cashing in on insurance payouts to fix their homes.
Meanwhile, Ron Broadrick, the company president, demonstrated a commitment to his community. He was president of Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Tampa Bay, whose chief executive, Stephen Koch, spoke well of Broadrick. Broadrick also sat on the board of the For Kids' Sake Foundation in Orlando.
On Friday, at his Land O'Lakes office, Broadrick was asked for an interview. Later, Birch called to speak for the company.
Birch said Broadrick ran into problems with permitting that delayed the move, but they have since been resolved. He said there were snags in Earth Tech's attempts to buy the land.
"It's not been for lack of effort on their part," Birch said.
Birch attributed the most recent citation to "probably a new county employee" who may not have known about the company's efforts to move.
Earth Tech ran into difficulty last April with another government agency, the state Department of Environmental Protection, which fined the company $9,500 because it failed to promptly file a permit notification for air quality controls.
* * *
Last week, the mixers were still churning and the trucks still chugging at Earth Tech. Nearby, Southern Crafted Homes was gearing up to start selling homes in a 94-acre subdivision called Devonwood.
David Bevin, a Hunt Road resident who brought the first round of complaints against Earth Tech in 2004, grew frustrated.
"Nothing has happened," Bevin said. "I've been on their case at least three years now. The county told me they are supposed to go over to Hudson, but it's no good."
On Thursday, Patrick J. Phillips, who heads Pasco's code enforcement department, explained that part of the reason for Earth Tech's delay stems from Florida statutes, which allow for a "reasonable" amount of time to fix the problem.
But the two-year lag is too much, he said.
"The amount of time that's gone by is long enough," he said.
Birch said he was not sure why Pasco issued the second citation, but now underlines the company's intention to abide by the county's rules.
"It's something that the company has been working on for months and months," he said. "It's something that Earth Tech wants to do."
Times researchers Carolyn Edds and Cathy Wos contributed to this report. Chuin-Wei Yap can be reached at cyap@sptimes.com.Fast Facts:
Earth Tech
The sinkhole and soil stabilization company faces citations from Pasco County that require them to move their grout-manufacturing operations and pay a $500 fine.
Founded: 1991
Address: 2620 Hunt Road, northwest of State Road 54 and U.S. 41
Directors: Ron and Lewis Broadrick, both of Lutz
Web site: www.floridasinkhole.com
Local GOP Group Pushes For Ethanol Plant
Published: Mar 5, 2007
The Republican Party of Pasco County is urging county commissioners to support the state's alternative fuel program by helping establish an ethanol plant in Lacoochee or Trilby, where unemployment rates are high.
In a recent letter to commissioners, party Chairman Bill Bunting touted the use of sugar cane to produce ethanol. Even if sugar cane crops freeze, he said, they still can produce the fuel.
Terence McElroy, spokesman with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, said that's true.
"That's one of the beauties of it," McElroy said. "If bugs attack or there's a freeze, it's not like you're trying to sell beautiful fruits and vegetables that have to pass muster with the public. They just have to retain the organic material that can be ground into a fuel."
McElroy's boss, Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson, established the state's Farm to Fuel program and is a member of a national committee that wants U.S. agriculture to produce a quarter of the country's energy needs by 2025.
Bronson "thinks Florida ought to lead the nation in renewable energy," McElroy said. "There's more sunshine and rainfall than any other state. We're poised to be a nation leader. His top priority this term is the Farm to Fuel program."
In February, the Pasco Republican Executive Committee voted unanimously that "Pasco should take the lead in securing" Bronson's program, Bunting's letter said.
However, Bunting said he doesn't view alternative fuels as a partisan issue.
"It would just make a lot of sense" to have a plant in northeast Pasco, he said. "Think of the tax revenue that will come in. It will burn clean, and it won't harm the environment.
"It's an environmental issue, not a political issue. I think we should all be onboard with this."
Production of ethanol also is seen as a possible way to reduce dependency on foreign oil.
In and around Lacoochee and Trilby, where community leaders have pleaded for economic stimulation in recent years, there is plenty of land and available workers. The area also is easily accessible by rail, is bisected by U.S. 98 and U.S. 301, and is a few miles from Interstate 75.
County Commissioner Jack Mariano, who also serves on the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, is interested in the subject. He said ethanol is likely to be discussed at a planning council meeting Thursday.
"They talk about sugar cane, and if you can put that all through here and not have to worry about a freeze, then maybe that's what we need to do with agriculture areas that are not being utilized the way they should be," he said.
Reporter Geoff Fox can be reached at (813) 948-4217 or gfox@tampatrib.com.
Threats to coral include warmer water, pollution
Two species of coral are considered threatened as the vital organisms face more danger than ever.
By CURTIS KRUEGER
Published March 5, 2007
Walter C. Jaap, a St. Petersburg marine ecologist, vividly recalls the reefs off the Florida Keys he saw during research dives in the 1970s:
Thousands of chocolate brown and golden corals teeming with fish. Snapper, goatfish and grunts darting into thickets of the darker colored elkhorn coral to escape predators like barracudas. Other fish finding refuge by swimming into the golden staghorns.
These gardens of coral covered 40 to 50 percent of the reefs that Jaap and fellow scientists visited. But when he returned to monitor them from 1996 to 2005, the coral cover had dropped to 7.2 percent.
"It's pretty barren," said Jaap, now a consultant after retiring from the state Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.
Last year the National Marine Fisheries Service declared elkhorn and staghorn coral to be threatened species. They were the first corals to be listed in such danger.
And the news is not getting better.
Coral reefs, a key feature of Florida's ecology and tourism, have been called underwater rainforests because they abound with a diversity of life, at least when they're healthy. They also are a good measure of the state of Florida's seas.
"Coral reefs," says Jaap, "are probably a good parallel to the canary in the coal mine."
The canary's in trouble.
Florida coral is facing more danger than ever. And it's not just one threat, but many: hurricanes, pollution, unexplained diseases and maybe even global warming.
"The overall state of Florida's coral is pretty bleak," said marine science professor Pamela Hallock Muller of the University of South Florida.
* * *
Kim Ritchie, a microbiologist from Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, is diving in 15 feet of water at Looe Key Reef in the Florida Keys. She pulls out a syringe, and takes a sample from the very edge of a bronze, antlerlike branch of elkhorn.
Ritchie goes to this reef every month, looking for mucus and bacteria. Which does sound obscure. But by studying the slime and the bugs, she is hoping to unravel a mystery about what keeps coral alive, and what kills them.
The mucus covering these coral contains an antibiotic, which can fight disease. But this protection vanishes when water temperatures get too high. Water temperatures have been high in recent years, which could explain why so much coral in Florida and the Caribbean is suffering from disease.
"I'm looking at coral health to figure out why they're getting diseases," Ritchie said.
Scientists like Ritchie shuttle between the reefs and the labs because they believe that to understand threats to Florida's coral, they need to understand coral itself.
Coral can look like underwater plants, and their skeletons can form rock-solid structures.
But they're actually animals, related to sea anemones and jellyfish. Individual coral animals, called polyps, have mouths they can open to swallow plankton. Coral polyps tend to spend their lives stuck together in large colonies, so they're not hunters.
Fortunately for shallow-water species like the elkhorn and staghorn, they have another way of getting food: They derive nourishment from tiny algae that seep inside their tissue from the water.
The algae are essentially plants, and therefore survive by photosynthesis, the same process tree leaves use to drink in the energy of the sun.
This explains one of the threats: Coral need the algae to thrive; algae need sunlight to live; murky water means less sunlight. Every time dredging or construction stirs up sediment, or storms churn the water, that hurts the algae and the coral.
Of course hurricanes have battered Florida for eons, but they may inflict more damage now that coral is in such a weakened state, scientists say.
Other threats include:
- Higher-than-normal water temperatures. Warm waters in 2005 damaged coral throughout the Caribbean Basin, including South Florida reefs. The highly sensitive coral expel the helpful algae when warm waters combine with other environmental factors, depriving the coral of food. The process is called coral bleaching, because they turn bone-white.
Global warming is likely to blame for the warmer waters, many scientists say.
Jaap said that when he first began researching coral, bleaching happened about once a decade. "Now it seems to go on every other year or every third year or sometimes in consecutive years," he said.
- Scientists are studying several possible sources of pollution such as pesticides and fertilizer that drain off the lawns of suburban Florida.
Fertilizers contain nutrients that can cause algae to grow, but not necessarily the helpful algae that corals rely on. The wrong types of algae can work against coral by competing for resources.
- Unexplained diseases. They are affecting coral more often than before, and "we don't know why they're there or what causes them," said Erin McDevitt, of the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
"When you start to add the cumulative impact of multiple stressors is when you start to see decline," she added.
Times Staff Writer Curtis Krueger can be reached at 727 893-8232 or at ckrueger@sptimes.com.
Bird-watchers fret over eagles' fate
By THERESA BLACKWELL
Published March 5, 2007
A prolific pair of bald eagles had raised two or three eaglets each year in a cell tower near State Road 590 and McMullen- Booth Road in Clearwater. But when a storm ripped the nest out in the summer of 2004, they left.
The eagles found refuge in a cell tower off Main Street, Safety Harbor, and raised chicks there for two nesting seasons, about October to May.
When the pair returned last summer, the eagles flew back and forth between the two sites. But at the S.R. 590 site, crews were building a Walgreens pharmacy and working on the road.
In October, they disappeared. It led Audubon of Florida EagleWatch volunteer Joe Zarolinski to wonder if it was an ominous sign for Florida's bald eagle population, the largest in the country outside Alaska. Had the construction led them to find a different nesting site, or thwarted their mating efforts altogether?
Despite Florida's ever-diminishing habitat, the bald eagles of North Pinellas are doing more than their part to ensure the survival of their species. They are raising another bumper crop of eaglets in the 11 known nests from Largo to Tarpon Springs.
But the federal government is expected to delist America's national symbol from the endangered species list in June, lessening the bird's environmental protections. And the volunteers who watch over North Pinellas' now-thriving eagle population worry the bird's progress could easily be reversed.
The Jacksonville office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the office that covers North Pinellas, has already allowed construction closer to nesting bald eagles in anticipation of the delisting, which was first initiated eight years ago.
Zarolinski believes he found his two nest eagles at a new location in late October, south of Safety Harbor. He thinks it's the same two birds that are now nesting just off the Clearwater Christian College campus on Cooper's Point with three fuzzy chicks, about 3 to 4 weeks old.
Last week, one of the adults was fishing in Cooper's Bayou, while the other was in the nest with the chicks. The smallest chick, a light gray, alternated between waddling from side to side and looking sleepy.
Clearwater Christian College students, teachers and staff stopped to watch the eaglets for a few seconds through Zarolinski's scope.
"They're at the very edge of the nest right now - oh, he's yawning! " said Joanne McHugh, the college's director of custodial services, watching the chicks. "They are beautiful. It's so exciting to see that."
* * *
Due north in East Lake, another pair of eagles have raised two or three eaglets for years in a pine tree in the Grey Oaks subdivision. The former land owner, the late developer Roy E. Shaffer Jr., dubbed the pair "Roy and Royola." The eagles are raising two chicks this year. And they are doing it despite seven large homes that are under construction across the street.
The pair seem to have a high tolerance for disturbance.
The new voluntary Bald Eagle Management Guidelines expected to take effect after the bird loses its endangered status aim to ensure that eagles are not disturbed, which would violate the federal Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.
Before now, protection guidelines set buffer zones allowing activities strictly based on distance from the nest.
But the new guidelines are more complicated. Mitigating factors could allow activities much closer to nests. The guidelines attempt to take into account the particular conditions of a site, like trees shielding an activity from the eagle's view and the tolerance to disturbance that the pair of eagles, such as Roy and Royola, has previously shown.
Such individualized guidelines concern Joan Brigham, who has led the North Pinellas EagleWatchers for years. She warns against counting on a pair's tolerance to continue from year to year. Though bald eagles mate for life, when their mate dies, they quickly find another.
"The new mate may be much more sensitive to disturbance than the old mate," she said.
She has little faith that the proposed guidelines will do much to ensure the bald eagle's continued success.
"If they are taking away the protections they had under the Endangered Species Act, they needed to give them additional protections under the management guidelines," she said. "And they did not."
Theresa Blackwell can be reached at tblackwell@sptimes.com or 727 445-4170.
Fast Facts:
Bald eagles in the Sunshine State
- Florida has the largest population of bald eagles in the country, outside Alaska.
- There are 11 known bald eagle nests from Largo to Tarpon Springs
Don't Bury The Gopher Tortoise
Tampa Tribune Editorial Published: Feb 28, 2007
It's appalling that state wildlife officials have allowed developers and road builders to bury thousands of live gopher tortoises - more than 4,500 in Pasco County over the last 15 years - instead of mandating relocation to safer ground. Coupled with the pace of development in Florida, it's not surprising the turtle's population is declining so rapidly that its existence is now threatened.
Fortunately, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has changed its way of thinking. It has developed a more humane plan to protect these environmentally important reptiles, which, through burrowing, provide refuges for dozens of other animals, including some threatened and endangered. The tortoise also helps build native grasses by distributing seeds while grazing.
Under the proposals, expected to be approved in June, the gopher tortoise will be reclassified from a species of special concern, its designation for more than 25 years, to threatened, which will trigger stronger protective measures.
As the Tribune's Kevin Wiatrowski recently reported, the biggest change will require builders to move or otherwise save the tortoises instead of burying them, which is allowed under "incidental take" permits. Only in "extraordinary circumstances," such as those jeopardizing public "safety, health or welfare," will entombment be allowed. Indeed, destroying these animals should be the last resort.
In addition, the commission wants to increase the turtle's habitat through more public acquisition of lands and conservation easements, and create more education programs for the public and developers - all worthwhile initiatives.
This much-needed, pro-life change of direction will give the gopher tortoise a better chance to survive while further protecting Florida's fragile environment. As the plan's architects wrote: "The importance of this single species to the ecological welfare of many upland habitats should not be underestimated."
On Tuesday, a group of new state leaders offered another sign about how much state government has changed in the post-Jeb era.
The Florida Cabinet, a four-member elected group that includes Gov. Charlie Crist, declared it is time for the state to address the effect climate change could have on the state.
"It's starting to impact people in their everyday lives," said Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink. "The science has overwhelmed the nay-sayers."
Displaying an illustration showing much of Florida could be under water if global warming isn't curtailed, Sink announced plans for a series of meetings with national experts to educate members of the Cabinet on the threat.
By hosting the four meetings, slated from April to November, Florida joins states around the country working to find ways to combat climate change at a local level.
Environmentalists say it is about time the Sunshine State got on board.
Because it is surrounded by water, "Florida is target No. 1 for global warming," said Frank Jackalone, the Sierra Club's senior regional representative for Florida. "We're talking about a massive job, a tremendous challenge."
Florida's move comes at a time when global warming — the gradual heating of the earth because of too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere — has become commonly accepted by scientists and by many politicians, as well.
Former Vice President Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth," which shows parts of New York, Florida and Louisiana drowning if the ice caps melt, won an Academy Award Sunday for best documentary.
On Monday, hours after Gore accepted his Oscar, the governors of Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington and California agreed to set a limit to how much carbon dioxide their region will produce. California already has a cap on how much of the gas can be produced there.
Nine Northeast states, including New York, are working on a similar regional agreement to limit carbon emissions.
Sink said Tuesday it is time for Florida to join the effort, particularly because of the many threats global warming poses for the state. For example, if the Gulf of Mexico warms even slightly, hurricanes will become much stronger, Sink said.
"Other states are way ahead of us," Sink said. "We've got to think about what we could do."
Sink's effort — also spearheaded by Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services Charles Bronson — represents a stark change in tone at the Capitol about global warming.
While admitting that it should be studied, Jeb Bush's administration did not push the issue of climate change. During Bush's eight-year term, lawmakers repealed the requirement that Floridians had to have their car emissions checked annually.
But Crist said the state should address the issue.
Susan Glickman, of the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the change in Tallahassee toward environmental issues has been remarkable.
"It's like a decade has passed in the last year," she said.
The change could be due to a number of factors, including increasing agreement among scientists that global warming is real and a threat. Also, Crist has generally been more willing than Bush to embrace traditionally liberal issues.
Environmentalists are optimistic that Crist and his Cabinet — Sink, Bronson and Attorney General Bill McCollum — will take the issue of global warming issue to heart, Jackalone said.
"He's from St. Pete, one of the most vulnerable areas," Jackalone said of Crist.
The Florida House and Senate have set up committees to work on the climate change issue. But so far, there is no concrete legislative plan.
Some ideas include expanding a state program that gives businesses and homeowners government subsidies to construct energy efficient buildings.
Lawmakers could also opt to give more money to study using cleaner-burning crops as a source of fuel.
But the best way for Florida to combat climate change is to make the most out of the state's greatest asset: its sunshine, Jackalone said.
"Why not take advantage of it and create solar power?" he said. "We ... need to move forward."
Bay Area Home Prices Drop Sharply
Published: Feb 28, 2007
TAMPA - The Tampa Bay area experienced its steepest home price slump in recent memory in January, while the number of home sales continued to drop. Sales activity in the area stands in stark contrast to national data that showed sales of existing homes rose by the largest number in two years.
"The housing market in Tampa doesn't look good at all," said Per Gunnar Berglund, senior economist for Moody's Economy.com. "This is the sharpest drop in pricing since the early 1990s."
The median sales price of existing single-family homes in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area was $214,000 in January, down 7 percent from December and significantly below the real estate market's $239,900 peak in June, according to data released Tuesday by the Florida Association of Realtors.
The association said the area's median sales price in January was 1 percent below the same month a year ago. In December, the median sales price was $230,800.
Lawrence Yun, economist for the National Association of Realtors in Washington, blames sticker shock for the downturn.
"It's the affordability issue; home prices have risen so much during the boom that it's very difficult for a first-time homebuyer to enter the market," he said.
Rising insurance costs have also sapped Florida sales, Yun said.
"That's definitely very unique to Florida," he said.
Prices have remained relatively steady in recent months as the number of home sales in the area has consistently dropped. In December, for example, the median sales price edged up just less than 1 percent from November's numbers.
There were 1,768 sales in January, down 41 percent from a year ago and down 27 percent from December's sales volume of 2,438.
"These numbers keep bouncing up and down, so we try not to read too much into them, but this is a new dive," Berglund said.
Yun said he does not think the Florida housing market will suffer too much. The job market remains strong, and many people continue to move to Florida from the Northeast, which should continue to drive demand for real estate, he said.
"This is a short-term correction," Yun said. "The local fundamentals are good."
Condo sales in Tampa continued a slowdown. There were 379 sales in January, down 49 percent from 740 sales in the same month last year. Condo prices dropped 1 percent year over year to a median sales price of $183,200.
Carlos Fuentes, president of the Greater Tampa Association of Realtors, said that despite the drop experienced by the larger metropolitan area, local data on prices in Hillsborough County are trending upward.
Nationally, sales soared while median prices continued to drop.
The National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday that sales of previously owned homes rose 3 percent last month, the biggest one-month increase since a 3.3 percent advance in January 2005, a time when housing was roaring toward the peak of its five-year boom.
The median price of an existing home sold in January dropped to $210,600, a decline of 3.1 percent from a year ago. It marked the sixth straight month that the median price has been down compared with a year ago. The January decline was the third-biggest drop in history.
Reporter Dave Simanoff contributed to this report. Information from The Associated Press also was used. Reporter Shannon Behnken can be reached at sbehnken@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7804
Tonight: Master plan on Bradenton agenda
BRADENTON -- The Downtown Development Authority approved a plan Tuesday that could bring new homes and businesses to the city and may drastically change Bradenton's main thoroughfare.
The DDA unanimously accepted a master plan -- a guide to future growth in Bradenton -- and the City Council is expected to vote on it during a meeting tonight.
Downtown by Design, as the plan is known, calls for sweeping changes to the city's core, including a mix of residential and retail developments. It also called for a revamped Manatee Avenue, which is a one-way street through downtown that could soon see traffic heading east and west in that area.
If the council approves the plan, city officials would then begin to change land-use codes to make it easier for developers to propose large projects.
Ironwood may anchor large development
A 500-acre "active adult community" with more than 1,000 homes could surround Gainesville's municipal Ironwood Golf Course under a plan that city planners say would be the largest development on the east side.The project, which does not yet have a name, would be an age-restricted community designed for households with at least one member 55-years-old or older, said Rob Simensky, manager of East Gainesville Development Partners.
"The concept is to target young retirees that are just entering the period of their lives where they've stopped working but they're young and healthy and want an active lifestyle," Simensky said.
The project is designed to be tightly integrated with the city's golf course and provide other amenities such as activity centers, trails and a sense of community to residents.
When complete, a process that could take 10 years from the groundbreaking, it would stretch from NE 39th Avenue to NE 53rd Avenue and from NE 15th Street east to the city limits.
Plans for the project are still in the preliminary stages, but now call for a mix of detached homes, townhomes and condos, Simensky said. In today's dollars, these would be priced between $200,000 and $500,000, he said.
Between 80 percent and 90 percent of the project's residents are anticipated to come from outside Alachua County, Simensky said.
The project also would include commercial and office space, according to initial paperwork from the city's Community Development Department and the Florida Department of Community Affairs.
City planning officials declined to comment on the development because they have not yet received formal plans. The developers, who have experience with developments in New York and Pennsylvania and are using Gainesville-based professionals to assist with the project, will hold a neighborhood meeting about the project at Ironwood tonight, fulfilling one of the first steps in the city's development process.
The developers have already been to initial meetings with city planning, public works and utility staff, Gainesville Community Development Director Tom Saunders said. The project will require a "large-scale" amendment to the city's comprehensive plan, which will require approval of both the City Commission and the state, Saunders said.
While the project is one of the largest now contemplated within the city limits, Simensky said he does not classify the project as a development of regional impact, or DRI, a state designation for projects large enough to have effects beyond their immediate area.
DRI's require additional approvals from the state before they can go forward.
In January, Simensky asked the Department of Community Affairs to rule on whether the project must file as a DRI. The request lays out a phased plan for the development that would eventually include 1,199 homes.
The threshold for DRI development is 1,000 units, but Simensky said by the time the property is fully built out the county will have grown to more than 250,000 people, enough to qualify for a threshold of 2,000 units.
Jon Peck, a spokesman for Community Affairs, said the application is being reviewed but could not speculate on department's decision.
Officials with the city's Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs — which oversees Ironwood — could not be reached for comment on the development.
"I think this community could help transform the city as a whole and help it achieve its longer-term objectives of redevelopment of the east side," Simensky said.
Jeff Adelson can be reached at 352-374-5095 or adelsoj@gvillesun.com
County votes to raze 34 homes
Commissioners will use eminent domain to acquire land to widen busy Elgin Boulevard.
By CHANDRA BROADWATER
Published February 28, 2007
BROOKSVILLE - Elgin Boulevard homeowners got the answer they knew was coming - it's time to pack.
Hernando County commissioners voted Tuesday afternoon 4-1 to raze 34 homes on the north side of the heavily traveled road and expand it into four lanes.
Commissioner Diane Rowden opposed the plan, saying the county had not explored all its possible options.
Commissioners voted with little deliberation after listening to Public Works Director Charles Mixson describe all six proposals drafted by Tampa Bay Engineering. Homeowners spoke as well.
They chose the cheapest option at $10-million, with the widening affecting homeowners on the north side of Elgin, running in a .8-mile stretch from Mariner Boulevard east to Lauren Drive and Sand Ridge Boulevard.
"This is one of the most distasteful things we have to face," said Commissioner Dave Russell. "We could do nothing at all ...and wait for the street to become unsafe for motorists and property owners. But that would be a disservice to you all. We owe the public a decision."
Commissioners promised homeowners frequent contact and updates from the county as the process continues. Along with current market value for their homes, some people could be compensated for recent improvements made as well.
The county has used eminent domain for right of way needed for other projects, like Hexam, Ayers and Sunshine Grove roads. Some of those cases landed in court. This case marks the first time Hernando homes could be bulldozed under eminent domain.
Impact and development mitigation fees will be used to purchase the Elgin Boulevard property. While in planning for the last five years, the groundwork before the widening is expected to take at least another three years.
With Tuesday's decision, Mixson said that his department can now close with willing sellers and start the road design process.
In the next couple of years, the county can begin to work with people who don't want to sell. More than half of the 34 homeowners have said they would be willing to sell.
"We want to make it as painless as we can," Mixson said. "I know this is disruptive but vital for public safety. The road is failing."
The addition of subdivisions and schools along Elgin Boulevard have increased traffic and made it dangerous for homeowners attempting to back in and out of their driveways.
That's the main reason Damarias and Tim Thomas don't want her three children to be around their home on Elgin anymore.
"We just put a fence up in the backyard so our 7-year-old can play ball," Tim Thomas said, shaking his head. "Once it rolled out into the street and cars just kept on whizzing by."
Other neighbors said they have watched children waiting to cross from one side of Elgin to the other on their bicycles, seemingly for an eternity.
The Thomases didn't come to the meeting willing to sell, but wanted to get some idea of county plans. Like other homeowners, they have had little contact with the county on the issue. They also want to make sure they know exactly what is going on and when.
"I want specifics in writing," said homeowner James Femenella. "All we can deal with is the money - the personal stories are all very dramatic. I would hope we could make this situation the standard of how to handle this and just not another one."
Chandra Broadwater can be reached at cbroadwater@sptimes.com or 352 848-1432.
WINTER HAVEN - Eyesore or cozy home.
A proposed townhome development off Country Club Road north of Dundee
Road may create a dangerous traffic situation and will stick out among
single-family homes, a nearby resident says.
A Winter Haven development company, The Bronze Group, plans to build at
least 49 two-story homes on 10 acres of grove land 500 feet north of
Webb Road.
Gordon McGinnis, who lives in the nearby Gates at Lake Region
subdivision, said the proposed development is in a dangerous S curve. He
said there could be more crashes as residents turn onto Country Club
Road.
"By adding all this growth, it further exacerbates driving on
Country Club Road," McGinnis said.
Winter Haven senior planner Sean Byers disagreed, saying that the city
wants to create a mixture of single family and townhomes.
Townhome residences typically have fewer people with fewer cars than
single-family residences, Byers said.
"In reality, this development will create less traffic (than a
single-family home)," Byers said.
"Townhouses are easier on the city's infrastructures," Byers
said. "The demands for water are typically less and there are fewer
trips on the road."
Residents in the area will have the opportunity to voice their opinions
March 12 when the proposal is brought before city commissioners again.
The commissioners heard from McGinnis at their meeting Monday night.
Commissioner Jeff Potter said the area is too developed.
"I'm going to have a hard time putting anything else in that
area," Potter said.
But Potter wasn't concerned about the S curve. He said that would force
residents in the area to slow down.
Each townhome would be a minimum of 26 feet wide and contain 2,600
square feet of living space.
The lots will each have two parking spaces.
The development was easily passed by the Planning Commission on Feb. 6
by a 7-1 vote.
John Chambliss can be reached at john.chambliss@theledger.com
or 863-401-6965.
State Needs Property Tax Rule That Preserves Local Heritage
Tampa Tribune Editorial Published: Feb 28, 2007
Florida determines the taxes owed on property based on true market value, a fair practice that has some unfair consequences for small businesses.
A family-owned waterfront motel, for example, is taxed on what it could become under existing zoning and market conditions, typically a high-rise condo or luxury hotel. As a result, mom-and-pop operations are being taxed out of existence even though that's not what the community wants.
If cherished parts of commercial Florida are to survive, the rules must change. Otherwise, the future is bleak for small, affordable motels, auto repair shops in upscale neighborhoods, and even small sandwich shops and pizza joints with choice locations.
Under state law, appraisers are required to consider a property's "highest and best use," not simply how the present owner happens to be using the property.
One proposed reform is to simply toss out the "highest and best use" concept, but that would expose property appraisers to charges of favoritism and put them under enormous political pressure. Setting property values would become guesswork subject to legal challenge. Basing property on use alone also would encourage tax-dodging scams.
If "use" becomes the standard, for example, what's the proper tax on a vacant lot or a failing business? Property appraisers need clear, understandable and transparent rules.
Here's an idea. Create a heritage tax rate that would apply only to operating businesses. The tax would be based on what similar businesses around the county are paying.
The principle would be the same as a greenbelt exemption for rural land, which gives real farmers a tax break if they continue to preserve open land. You can't get a greenbelt exemption simply because you've got a pet goat eating your grass. Reasonable restrictions would also have to apply to the heritage tax rate, too.
But most people agree it's in the public interest to preserve the historic character of a neighborhood, shopping district or stretch of beach.
The heritage exemption would not apply to vacant lots, only to functioning businesses. The "highest and best use" rate would be reported on the tax bill, but the actual taxes owed would be lessened for businesses with the heritage exemption. If the property were sold or passed on to a son or daughter, the new owner would have to re-qualify for the exemption.
Under existing law, owners sometimes avoid exorbitant taxes by having their property down-zoned, but after they do that, it's hard or impossible to restore the zoning should the owner want to sell. A down-zoning can rob heirs of millions in profits and stop redevelopment for no good reason.
State lawmakers and property appraisers can write a fair formula that allows a community to tax its heritage businesses based on what they are today without requiring them all to sign away their "highest and best" use forever.
Halt will last four months
Leon County commissioners unanimously signed off Tuesday on a hiring and construction freeze to blunt the effect of state property-tax reform, which could mean the loss of $20 million in revenue.
“It's obvious this is an extraordinary time,” Chairman Ed DePuy said. “And extraordinary measures are going to have to be made.”
Gov. Charlie Crist has proposed doubling the homestead exemption to give property owners relief from tax bills. Legislators have their own proposals for the session that begins March 6. House Majority Leader Marty Bowen congratulated Leon officials for taking the steps and said property-tax relief is inevitable.
“Counties and local governments need to begin to examine their budgets to see where they can create efficiencies and provide increased value to their residents,” she said.
Although the freeze will last for four months, commissioners say cuts to projects and services could follow.
“I think we're looking at some very hard times,” Commissioner Jane Sauls said.
Construction projects affected by the freeze include the Lake Jackson branch library, an east-side library branch, an Emergency Medical Services office, sidewalk and intersection improvements and a heliport building for the Sheriff's Office. Projects already under way, including the Woodville Community Center and lights for athletic fields, will continue.
Also, commissioners decided to move forward with possible new property taxes to fund libraries and a joint dispatch center for the county and Tallahassee. They want to make sure those programs have their own revenue source from a designated tax. If they don't, it's possible they'd have to compete with other services funded through general property taxes.
Also on Tuesday, Tallahassee Mayor John Marks urged legislators to consider how property-tax reform would affect local governments. The city isn't taking up reform issues until after the legislative session.
"Local government is the government that is closest to the people," he said, "and we must be mindful that as we talk about tax reform we are, in essence, experimenting with local governments' ability to provide services in a stable and reliable manner."
Water pressure low in Charlotte
Residents in Cape Haze, Rotonda West and other communities along the Gulf coast have been experiencing extremely low water pressure in the past couple of weeks.
Charlotte County commissioners learned Tuesday that temporary steps are being taken, but it will be three weeks before a new storage tank is finished and it could be three years before there is a more permanent solution.
Marvin Medintz, a Cape Haze resident, told the commission that he and his wife haven't been able to cook, bathe or flush their toilets between 9 a.m. and noon, when water usage peaks.
"It's like clockwork," Medintz said. "People plan their day around when they can get water."
The lack of pressure poses not just an inconvenience, but a fire danger. Fire officials rely on good water pressure for the area's hydrants to work.
Jeff Pearson, director of Charlotte County Utilities, said water demands in west county are exceeding the utility's distribution abilities.
"The problem is not that we don't have enough water, but that we can't push enough water to west county," Pearson said.
For a temporary fix, he said the utilities department is trying to increase pressure in the most populated parts of west county by reducing pressure in areas where there are no homes.
More permanent relief is about three weeks away, when the utilities department expects to finish construction on a storage tank in Rotonda.
The county also plans to install a larger water main to serve west county.
Today, the water main that travels beneath the Myakka River is 12 to 16 inches wide. The new main will be 24 inches, but it could take two to three years before the water main goes online because the utility has yet to put the project out to bid.
The county commissioners briefly discussed declaring an emergency situation in west Charlotte, which would waive the water utility's legal requirement to put the project out to bid.
"It is a critical need, not because people can't shower, but because you can't fight a fire," said Commissioner Thomas Moore.
The county's legal advisers will report back to the commission at the next meeting on whether the situation is dire enough to be ruled an emergency.
City moves to protect springs
By ELENA LESLEY
Published February 28, 2007
CRYSTAL RIVER - The City Council gave city staffers permission Monday to pursue a grant that would protect the area surrounding Three Sisters Springs.
Local environmentalists are concerned about housing units that are planned for the Three Sisters property. The grant would allow the city to purchase the land around the springs for protection, though such a move would not prevent the planned development.
The grant, offered through the Florida Communities Trust, is for around $6-million.
A perpetual conservation easement already safeguards the area immediately surrounding the springs, but City Attorney Anthony Perrone said he believed the grant would enable Crystal River to conserve even more land.
Perrone said he will be taking bids for prospective grant writers.
The council also passed a motion - for the second time - enabling members to open meetings in whatever fashion they felt appropriate.
Controversy over Mayor Ron Kitchen's references to Jesus during invocation led to passage of a similar motion in December. But according to council member Susan Kirk, debate has arisen over a new issue: standing during the invocation.
Several council members said they didn't need those in attendance to stand during a moment of silence. Kitchen said he wanted them to stand.
Council member John Kostelnick raised the issue and, after some haggling, the council passed the motion again.
"So, hopefully this time it will stick," Kirk said.
Kitchen also outlined his vision of Crystal River as a potential "golf cart community" with golf carts riding on city streets.
Kirk said she had some reservations about the proposition, given the city's heavy traffic, but the council still passed a motion to gather more information.
Elena Lesley can be reached at elesley@sptimes.com or 564-3627.
County wants to keep once-a-week watering
By ASJYLYN LODER
Published February 28, 2007
BROOKSVILLE - The Hernando County Commission unanimously agreed Tuesday afternoon to make once-a-week watering restrictions permanent.
County residents have been under a once-a-week restriction since January because of an order by the Southwest Florida Water Management District. The County Commission's preliminary decision Tuesday would leave the restrictions in place year-round, no matter what the weather.
A public hearing will be held before a final decision is made.
Swiftmud ordered watering restrictions to counter lower-than-average rainfall. It was the first time since 2000 that Swiftmud imposed such restrictions.
Before that, county residents outside of Brooksville could water twice a week. Brooksville residents could water only once a week.
"It can be an adjustment," said Alys Brockway, water conservation coordinator for the Hernando County Utilities Department.
Tips are available on drought-resistant landscaping and how to maintain it, Brockway said.
"Some people spent a lot of money on their lawns," said commission Chairman Jeff Stabins. "I think they want to be good citizens but they're scared."
Asjylyn Loder can be reached at aloder@sptimes.com or 352754-6127.
Water restrictions
Hernando County is under modified severe water shortage rules set by Swiftmud. These apply to all county water users.
All watering must be done either before 8 a.m. or after 6 p.m.
- Addresses ending in 0 or 1, only Monday
- Those ending in 2 or 3, only Tuesday
- Those ending in 4 or 5, only Wednesday
- Those ending in 6 or 7, only Thursday
- Those ending in 8 or 9, and locations without a discernible address, only Friday
Hand-watering and microirrigation (drip irrigation) of nonlawn areas, such as flower beds and vegetable gardens, can be done any time, any day. New plants, including sod, may be watered daily up to 60 days after planting.
To report violations: Call county Code Enforcement at 754-4056 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. After hours, call the Sheriff's Office at 754-6830 or leave a message at 754-4005 or 520-4015. In Brooksville, call city Code Enforcement at 754-6800.
Area land marked for conservation
Florida's land acquisition program is considering buying four properties in the region, including a nearly 6,200-acre addition to the Goethe State Forest in Levy County.Gov. Charlie Crist and the Florida Cabinet on Tuesday approved adding the projects to Florida Forever's highest-priority acquisition list. The change opens the door to begin negotiations with property owners.
Another vote would be needed before any purchases were made. The local projects include:
- The more than 5,200-acre B.J. Bar Ranch in southwestern Putnam
County, which would help link conservation lands including the Ocala
National Forest and Ordway-Swisher Biological Station.
- About 120 acres in Columbia County, located in the area where
groundwater feeds the Ichetucknee Springs.
- The 46-acre Bell Springs tract in Columbia County, which would be used to expand the Florida Scenic Trail.
The governor and Cabinet also approved adding the 1,700-acre Thompson Tract to the 6,000-acre Caber Coastal Connector project in Levy County.
The voter-approved Florida Forever program was established in 1999 to buy $3 billion in conservation lands over 10 years.
Nathan Crabbe can be reched at 338-3176 or Crabben@gvillesun.com.
Home builders want to delay
tougher rules TALLAHASSEE - Florida's home-building industry is pushing to delay
strengthened building codes, claiming hurricane protections sought by
Gov. Charlie Crist and passed by the Legislature in January come too
fast.
''While your efforts will bring forth reductions in
property-insurance rates, the very law that provides the relief has
spawned an immediate, and minimum, $72 million negative impact on
Florida's second-largest economic engine - the construction industry,''
wrote John Wiseman, president of the Florida Home Builders Association,
in a letter asking Crist to issue an emergency order delaying the new
building requirements.
The builders' group is taking its case back to the Legislature,
lobbying for a six-month reprieve because it's been unable yet to
persuade either the governor or the Florida Building Commission.
At the heart of the group's complaint is the Legislature's decision
last month not only to remove a Panhandle exemption to impact-resistant
windows or hurricane shutters in high-wind areas, but also to kill a
statewide exemption allowing internal engineering as an alternative.
The latter was so popular with west-Florida builders one official
estimates 85 percent of new homes there are built without exterior storm
protection.
''Homeowners in hurricane-prone states need all the protection they
can get from high winds, hurricanes and even tornadoes,'' said Leslie
Chapman-Henderson, president of the Federal Alliance of Safe Homes, a
disaster safety advocacy group with backing from insurers as well as
manufacturers.
The code changes went into effect the day Crist signed the bill, Jan.
25, and a majority of coastal Florida counties began applying the
requirements to all new permits.
''We knew the law was going to be changed - that was a given. What we
weren't prepared for was that it would happen immediately,'' said David
Peaden, executive director of the Home Builders Association of West
Florida, where Escambia and Santa Rosa counties have begun to enforce
the new codes.
''Right now people are coming up to speed as best they can.''
But some counties' building officials, including those in Lee County,
are not enforcing the new law, giving the construction industry a
reprieve until July.
The Florida Home Builders Association estimates some 6,000 homes are
in the process of being permitted in Florida, and adding window and door
protection to them will cost $72 million.
''From the builders' standpoint, the primary concern is impairment of
existing contracts,'' said state association spokeswoman Edie Ousley.
''There were permit applications already in the pipeline and the bill
is signed into law, which puts all of those contracts in jeopardy
because it changes everything,'' Ousley said.
Residents vent on growth at event
It's an old debate in this town, and few new answers surfaced, as council members briefly found themselves on the defensive before hundreds of their constituents.
"Just what the heck do you consider to be 'controlled growth,' " asked Ed Gates, who said the city seemed always to favor "special interests" when approving new development and setting growth policies.
"I think everybody here at the dais is for controlling growth in Venice," said council member John Moore.
John Simmonds blamed Sarasota County for roadway congestion and crowding at the city's beaches and downtown, noting that 20,000 people moved to Venice's outskirts over a period in which the city's population grew by only 3,500. He said developers have a right to do business. "I would disagree that we have favored only a few people," he said. "We do have a free enterprise system."
But even as council members defended themselves early on about their growth policies, they basked in thunderous applause when several members of the audience stood up to praise the city for its management of the airport, including the recent repaving of a runway.
"We take great pride in flying in and out of Venice and consider Venice one of the greatest airports," said a pilot, to applause.
At the same time, at least one neighbor of the airport complained about noise issues.
"I don't doubt that it is a valuable asset, but there is another side I should point out here," said one resident, admitting that the loud applause over compliments to the airport meant he was likely outnumbered.
Nick Carlucci, president of the Venice Aviation Society, Inc., rose to defend against the noise criticism, noting that pilots are asked to use runways that do not fly over neighborhoods and that investment in the airport will yield the cash flow to abate noise and other nuisances.
Group sues over Save Our
Homes A group of Alabama residents with second homes in the Panhandle have
filed a class-action suit asking a Leon County judge to throw out the
state's Save Our Homes property-assessment cap.
The four Alabama residents with second homes in Walton and Okaloosa
counties are asking that back taxes be refunded to thousands of
Florida's non-homesteaded homeowners.
They contend the assessment cap passed by voters in 1992
unconstitutionally shifted ''more than a reasonable and fair share of
the infrastructure demands of Florida'' onto snowbirds and second
homeowners.
''The property taxes have increased fairly significantly over the
last few years,'' said Jerome Lanning, a retired real-estate lawyer from
Birmingham, Ala., who owns property in Walton and Franklin counties.
''I'm not sure that comports with our constitutional scheme.''
Lanning and his wife, Joyce, are named plaintiffs along with Diana
Slaughter, whose husband is a high-school classmate of Jerome Lanning,
and Marlow Reese of Montgomery, Ala.
The suit asks the court to refund non-homesteaded homeowners for the
taxes they've been assessed since 2003 above what they would have paid
with the same Save Our Homes protection as full-time residents.
The suit is believed to be the first of its kind challenging the
legal standing of the Save Our Homes amendment, which limits assessed
value increases on the homes of full-time homeowners.
They ask the court to order Gov. Charlie Crist to appoint a ''special
master'' who would oversee the calculation of refunds for all seasonal
homeowners.
Crist and lawmakers have floated ideas for cutting property taxes
this year, from making Save Our Homes ''portable'' for full-time
residents to abolishing all property tax on homesteaders.
But snowbirds have flocked to property-tax reform hearings that
lawmakers have hosted around the state, and many have threatened to file
similar suits.
''There are many people who are very frustrated about the tax system
who have made insinuations that this is what they'd do,'' said Senate
Finance and Tax Chairman Mike Haridopolos, an Indialantic Republican
leading the reform hearings.
''This is a product of the frustration people are feeling.''
Owners of second homes ask judge to stop
assessment cap
Activist raises concerns about planned landfill
The Zephyrhills City Council votes to send a letter to county officials about the project.
By MINDY RUBENSTEIN
Published February 27, 2007
ZEPHYRHILLS - Cynthia Baker has made keeping a landfill out of east Pasco County her life's mission. She's enlarged pictures, created a laminated 8-foot map of the area, written letters and made pleas to city and county officials.
She spoke Monday to the Zephyrhills City Council, seeming flustered yet passionate about her cause.
"Basically, I just wanted to bring your attention to it," said Baker, who runs Protectors of Florida's Legacy. "It's everyone's issue. Not just those who live right next to it."
Largo-based Angelo's Aggregate Materials is planning a major landfill at Enterprise and Messick roads outside of Dade City, several miles north of Zephyrhills. The $10-million landfill would be the first privately held dump in Pasco to accept raw household garbage and other trash, such as construction debris. It awaits approval from both the county and the state Department of Environmental Protection.
With the county's Shady Hills garbage incinerator operating near capacity, a new landfill could draw a steady stream of garbage trucks. Baker also feared pollutants from the landfill might somehow seep into the aquifer, where Zephyrhills gets its drinking water. That got the council's attention.
The city unanimously voted to send a letter to Pasco County officials voicing their concerns about the project.
"Just keep up the good job, we appreciate it," said Council Member Clyde Blacknell. His comment drew a room full of applause and a smile from Baker.
In other news, city officials gave a hand to the upcoming Celtic Festival and Highland Games. While the festival draws thousands of people to Zephyr Park each year, organizers have had trouble making ends meet and will start charging a small entry fee.
Sponsorships haven't been enough, and planning committee members have been taking money out of their own pockets to cover expenses, according to event chairman Steve Serneels.
"We've been struggling to try to put it on," said Serneels, who has played the bagpipes since he was a child and decided to start the event in Zephyrhills in 2001. "We're trying to grow the festival and keep it going."
The City Council voted Monday night to waive the city's usual event fees, including a $250 deposit and $105 per day temporary occupational license to host the event. The city allows the festival to use the park, fire, police and trash pickup.
"He's not in it to make money; it's a community thing," City Manager Steve Spina said.
This year, there will be a $5 charge per person for the weekend. Kids younger than 12 are admitted free. The event will be 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
For information visit www.zephyrhillscelticfestival.com.
New Tampa Needs Regional Help To Make Phantom Road Concrete
Published: Feb 27, 2007
Decision-makers have been promising New Tampa an east-west road from the time the first subdivisions were carved out of the north Hillsborough woods.
Year after year for two decades the promise has gone unfulfilled. Yet home-building has continued at a rapid pace, both in Tampa's newest neighborhoods and farther north in Pasco County. The resulting irresponsible overloading of Bruce B. Downs Boulevard reveals several failures:
Hillsborough and Pasco have not coordinated their transportation projects. Pasco keeps creating more Tampa-bound commuters and takes no responsibility for the traffic jams south of the county line.
In approving their own new subdivisions far from city jobs, Tampa officials underestimated the cost of building the necessary roads. Tampa has no revenue stream to pay for the needed east-west road.
Available transit options don't help because buses get stuck in the same rush-hour traffic.
No regional transportation authority exists to help solve regional problems, and regional solutions suggested so far seem designed to open new land for development rather than help existing residents get to work.
An east-west road, from Bruce B. Downs Boulevard east over Interstate 75 and southeast to Interstate 275 near Livingston Avenue needs to be built immediately. Ideally, it would connect to the Veterans Expressway about 5 miles west, but to do that it must cut through Lutz. Opposition from homeowners there makes the connection improbable.
Still, a connection to I-275 would help relieve bottlenecks on Bruce B. Downs. How to pay for it is the big question. Initial studies by state turnpike officials and by private road builders show that a reasonable toll will be insufficient to pay for the road. If the toll on the 3.1-mile connector is too high, drivers won't use it.
The city has long planned to extend New Tampa Boulevard over I-75 with a bridge, but the bridge is pointless without the connecting tollway. Mayor Pam Iorio has put the bridge on hold, explaining that the city is $5 million short. Without the city's bridge, its cost must be added to the $155 million tollway, making it an even riskier investment.
Tolling the project is the only way to make sure the users pay a fair share, including those from Pasco. But subsidies from Tampa and from Pasco County and the state make sense too, because the increasing traffic problems on I-75 and Bruce B. Downs affect the economic health and safety of the whole region.
New Tampa residents have been misled about the project for too long. It's in the long-range plans. All major candidates for mayor in 2003 supported it.
The inability to build this road is symbolic of a city more interested in growing than in maintaining a good quality of life for all its residents. If the city really cares about New Tampa, then New Tampa Boulevard will cease to be a dead end, and soon.
Foreign group to build toll road
To avoid using public subsidies, the East-West Road could cost drivers $2.75 a trip.
By MIKE BRASSFIELD
Published February 27, 2007
TAMPA - Hillsborough's toll road agency picked a company Monday to build and operate a long-delayed link between New Tampa and Interstate 275.
Officials faced two unpalatable choices: either commit to a $24-million-a-year public subsidy or extract a record high local toll directly from motorists.
Big tolls won out. Drivers will pay up to $2.75 each way for a 3-mile trip, unless the Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority can negotiate a better deal.
Barring that, the plan could still fall apart.
"We always have the right to walk away if the deal doesn't work for us," said board member Don Skelton.
The agency says it intends to build the East-West Road only if it makes financial sense; the toll shouldn't be so expensive that drivers won't use it.
This would be the first time in Florida that a private company teams with a public agency to build a road and then collect tolls over a period of time for profit. The idea is to avoid using public money.
Foreign companies have the most experience with such deals. After reviewing bids from two such firms, local officials chose the Plenary Group, a subsidiary of a consortium from Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
Plenary plans to start rush hour tolls at a relatively low $1.50 to get drivers accustomed to using its road, which would accept only SunPass. It would raise that by a quarter a year for the first five years, to $2.75.
In contrast, tolls on the much longer Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway range from 75 cents to $1.75.
Martin Stone, the Expressway Authority's planning director, expects that the agency will spend at least four months negotiating with Plenary to lower the tolls.
They'll try to cut the costs of the roughly $150-million road - parts of which would be elevated over the Cypress Creek swamp - and may extend Plenary's control of the road from 40 years to 50 or 60.
If negotiations fail, the authority would have to decide whether to put the road back up for bid or abandon the project.
The agency's interim executive director, Stephen L. Reich, said expectations for the new road are high in New Tampa, where suburbanites want the option of avoiding congested Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.
"If we can't reach agreement with Plenary ... we owe it to the community to try to find some kind of solution," Reich said.
The other company bidding to build the road, Spanish firm OHL, would have charged tolls of only 75 cents or $1, but it sought $24-million a year in public subsidies over 40 years.
Mike Brassfield can be reached at (813) 226-3435 or brassfield@sptimes.com.
Elgin Blvd. homeowners get their say today
By MICHAEL D. BATESmbates@hernandotoday.com
BROOKSVILLE — Dozens of homeowners who live along Elgin Boulevard are expected to voice their concerns to county commissioners today about the new four-lane highway proposed for their road in the next few years.
A consulting engineer has recommended the county buy up the 34 homes on the north side of Elgin — from Mariner Boulevard east to Village Van Gogh — to make way for the new highway.
Commissioners today will discuss the consultant’s recommendation and other options during their business meeting. The Elgin discussion is slated for 1:30 p.m.
As it has in other cases, Hernando County is prepared to take the homes through the eminent domain process and offer the property owners fair market value. County Engineer Charles Mixson said several of the homeowners are pleased with the situation because they were looking to sell anyway.
However, about half the people believe their rights have been violated and worry their lives will be disrupted once road construction begins.
Steven Langone, who lives on the south side of Elgin, has been the most vocal opponent. He vows to fight this particular eminent domain case all the way to the Florida Supreme Court.
Although his house is apparently safe from destruction, he worries about the quality of life if he remains.
“My house might be spared but there are still a lot of problems that have to be resolved there,” he said.
For example, Langone wants to know if the county plans on putting a retention wall or shrubs on the north side once the homes are razed. Then there is the traffic problem resulting from a four-lane highway.
“How are we going to get in and out of our homes?” Langone asked. “All of these questions need to be answered.”
Clearwater-based TBE Group Inc. considered various alternatives to paving the affected 0.8-mile stretch of road. Acquiring the 120-foot right of way on the north side “keeps the existing roadway and constructs two new lanes to the north,” the report said.
Total estimated cost: $10 million.
Reporter Michael D. Bates can be contacted at 352-544-5290.
County may add fees for builders
The proposed changes would put total impact assessments near $19,000.
The fees are one-time taxes on new construction and would help pay for costs associated with law enforcement, the justice system and government. The planned fee increases come as Sarasota is also in the midst of adding another $7,000 to its impact fees to pay for roads, parks and libraries.
All of the increases will bring the county's impact fees close to $19,000.
The County Commission is expected to set a public hearing on the law, justice and government impact fees today.
Builders and developers have criticized the road fees and will likely also oppose the new fees, said Larry Anderson, executive director of the Home Builders Association of Sarasota County.
"All the impact fees together seem to make it more difficult for a new home buyer to buy a home," Anderson said. "It affects, whether we believe it or not, our economy."
Most Florida counties have road impact fees, but law, justice and government impact fees are not as common. About a third of Florida counties, including Charlotte and Manatee, have at least one of those fees, said senior county planner Gene Engman.
The county also plans to tweak its impact fees for emergency medical services and fire services. The EMS fee could rise from $48 to $101 while the fire fee could fall from $253 to $197.
Meanwhile, the county plans to phase in its planned increase to the road impact fees. The County Commission is scheduled to vote March 14 on whether to begin phasing in the fees in June, Engman said. The full fee could be implemented June 2008, he said.
The law, justice and government fees, if approved, will be higher in unincorporated parts of the county than in the cities of Sarasota, Venice and North Port and the town of Longboat Key, Engman said. The fees would add close to $800 to the cost of building a home in those communities.
The county could apply the impact fees as a flat rate or with a per-square-foot system. The fees would also apply to many commercial buildings, multifamily homes and mobile homes.
Jay Brady, spokesman for the Gulf Coast Builders Exchange, said he does not expect a big turnout at today's meeting. But he said the building and development industry will continue to oppose impact fees when they come up for a vote.
Builders have been especially critical of the road impact fee because they contend it would force developers to pay to rebuild aging infrastructure. Impact fees are intended to pay for growth, not fund road reconstruction projects, builders have said.
County commissioners have said the fee increases are inevitable. Some county officials cite the fact that Sarasota's impact fees lag behind those of other costal counties, such as Collier, which charges more than $30,000 for a 2,100-square-foot home.
County Commissioner Nora Patterson said she has "never been a big fan ... because it does make it harder to build an inexpensive house.
"But at this point, I think we have no alternative."
Officials Outline Proposed Preserve
BARTOW - Polk County environmental officials are trying to line up
support for a partnership with federal officials to preserve 4,000 acres
between Crooked Lake and Lake Buffum, between Lake Wales and Frostproof.
Gaye Sharpe, Polk's natural areas coordinator, said the site, owned by the
J.K. Stuart family, contains considerable wetlands connected to tributaries
of the Kissimmee and Peace rivers, as well as some prime scrub habitat.
Sharpe on Monday briefed Polk County commissioners on the proposal.
The proposal is to seek funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's
Wetlands Reserve program to purchase a conservation easement to protect and
restore wetlands on the site.
The remaining value in the land not covered in the purchase of the
conservation easement would be purchased by the Polk County Environmental
Lands Program.
"I think this sounds great,'' said Commissioner Jean Reed.
That wasn't the only good news involving environmental lands.
County Manager Mike Herr briefed commissioners on a proposal that will come
before them Wednesday for approval to accept $4.6 million from Florida
Communities Trust.
Sharpe said the money from the Trust is an after- the-fact reimbursement for
a share of the county's cost of purchasing a 1,600-acre addition to Gator
Creek Reserve north of Lakeland last March for $9.1 million.
The money from FCT will be used to advance the purchase of a new
environmental lands site near Walk-in-Water Creek, east of Lake Wales.
"This is a win-win,'' Herr said.
Tom Palmer can be reached at tom.palmer@theledger.com
or 863-802-7535.
Algae no threat now,
officials say
Slime reported on Banana
River
BY JIM WAYMER
FLORIDA TODAY
The green slime that blankets part of the Banana River worries some residents.
But state officials say there's no need to fear the stringy algae fouling up Cocoa Beach waters, between 6th and 7th streets.
"Aesthetically it's not the best thing to look at, but as far as health concerns, I'm not aware of any," said Bob Day, an environmental specialist with the St. Johns River Water Management District.
Day suspects a type of green algae common to the lagoon and of little harm to fish or humans. Tests are pending to identify the species.
Day gathered samples of the algae late last week. Those will be tested by either district staff or biologists at the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg, he said. Results are expected later this week.
Several residents have called city hall, worried about what they saw.
"We know there's a problem. It does seem to be growing kind of fast," said Joanie Regan, the city's stormwater department coordinator. "We've had it before."
What caused the bloom hasn't been determined.
Stormwater in highly paved-over cities such as Cocoa Beach can fuel excess algae in the Indian River Lagoon. More rain runs off the pavement and into the lagoon instead of into the ground, carrying more yard fertilizer, septic pollution and other nutrients to fuel algae growth.
But there hasn't been out-of-the ordinary rain recently, Regan said.
Algae add oxygen to the water during the day but consume it at night. In darkness and on cloudy days, oxygen levels can "crash" in early morning hours when there's too much algae, causing fish to suffocate and die. Bacteria also consume oxygen from the water as they decompose the algae.
No dead fish related to the algae had been recorded in a state fish kill database as of late Monday.
Contact Waymer at 242-3663 or jwaymer@floridatoday.com.
Water crisis improves slightly
Housing slowdown delays Charlotte shortage until 2017
With the housing market going full tilt last year, water experts predicted that Charlotte County would have a water shortage by 2013 unless the Peace River/Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority identified new sources of water.
But updated calculations show the authority should be able to meet Charlotte's water needs through 2017, said Utility Director Jeff Pearson.
"It gives us a little more breathing room," Pearson said.
County officials will discuss the revised water demand figures at today's commission meeting.
The water figures are important because they help determine how county officials approach water issues.
The county relies on the regional water authority -- serving Charlotte, Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties -- for about 95 percent of its water supply.
Charlotte commissioners have debated giving the water authority complete control of the local water supply in the future, but they say the authority hasn't proven it can meet all of the county's needs.
The water district already has plans to expand its Arcadia plant. Without that expansion, Charlotte would be facing a water shortage in 2010, according to Pearson's recent calculations.
Even with the plant expansion, the county will have a water shortage in 2017 unless the authority identifies new sources of fresh water.
At a meeting last week, water authority officials unveiled plans to pursue a variety of new sources.
The revised demand estimates -- both Charlotte and Sarasota counties are expecting to need less water than previously predicted -- give the authority more time to locate other sources of potable water, although not a lot of time, officials say.
"The water authority has a big job to do yet," said Charlotte County Commissioner Tom Moore.
"When you consider how long permitting takes, we really needed more water yesterday."
Meanwhile, the county continues to pursue its own water projects independent of the authority, including an effort to pump more water from its Burnt Store plant and pipelines to connect the county's system with the Englewood Water District and the Punta Gorda Water Authority.
Bottled Water From Highlands County?
By MANDY SHEETSmsheets@highlandstoday.com
LAKE PLACID — From pumping the ground to screwing on the caps, every step in the bottling process of Heartland Spring Water happens in Highlands County.
Two Lake Placid-based companies work together to produce the bottled water. Heartland Spring Water owns the Parker Island Spring, in Highlands County, and extracts water there, and Cascade Water Works, Inc., bottles it, in its Lake Placid bottling plant.
Bart Hatton, vice president of Heartland Spring Water, said the family-owned business enjoys that local tie.
“It’s much more efficient for us to have all our operations in the same community,” Hatton said.
The process starts at the springs along the edge of the Lake Wales Ridge in the Bear Hollow area, of State Road 70.
“What we have out there is a hydrological phenomenon,” Cascade Water Works founder Mack Payne said about Kelley Springs, one of the two springs where Cascade Water Works pumps water.
The sand and muck act as a natural filter for the rain water and, with no contamination sources around, the water is pure and clean, Payne said.
“As long as this hill is here and as long as we have rain, this area will always produce water,” Payne said.
The 61-acre farm has the potential to produce two million gallons per day, but Cascade Water Works only pumps an average of 25,000 gallons per day, based on supply.
The Kelley and Parker Hill springs, both in Highlands County, supply all the water bottled at the Lake Placid bottling plant - but Heartland Spring Water is the only one locally bottled and distributed.
The water is gathered from 60 feet below ground level, at the level of the spring, so it never is exposed to potential outside contaminants, Payne said.
A 5,500-gallon tanker truck pumps the supply at the springs daily and transports the water to the bottling plant in Lake Placid about seven miles away. The water usually leaves the plant in a bottle one to three days after it comes out of the ground
Because the water comes from the ground almost perfect, very little treatment is needed, Hatton said.
A treatment process called ozonation infuses ozone to destroy bacteria and odor and give the product a two-year shelf life.
Empty five and three-gallon bottles, which have been exchanged from businesses and offices for full ones, are brought into the warehouse. After passing a smell test, which ensures they were not misused, they are loaded into an automatic bottle washing machine, which rinses, washes and sanitizes each bottle.
The clean bottles are ejected onto a conveyor into a sanitized room where they are automatically filled, capped and conveyed to the inspection and racking station.
The individual-size bottles are automatically conveyed into the clean room where they are filled, capped and conveyed to the labeling station where labels are applied, then the bottles move to the inspection and boxing station. When the box is filled it is mechanically sealed, a description of the customer is printed on it and it’s delivered to the recipient. The machine finishes about 120 bottles per minute.
Heartland Spring Water handles a slew of private labels from weddings to golf tournaments. Companies or individuals submit ideas for the label and a graphic designer creates one, which can be put on orders of 120 bottles or more.
“We are able to give the bottles a personalized touch,” Hatton said.
The water is available in a few local stores or can be ordered directly from the company.
For more information about Heartland Spring Water, visit its Web site at www.heartlandspringwater.com or call 699-9228.
Environmentalists use ringtones to make instant statement
Environmental activists encourage the use of free cellphone ringtones to make an instant statement.
BY SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN
Associated Press
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Amid the cacophony of cellphone ringtones these days, add these -- the clickety-click-click of a rare Central American poison arrow dart frog, the howl of a Mexican gray wolf and the bellows of an Arctic beluga whale.
An environmental group hopes the more people hear these sounds from threatened animals, the more they'll wonder where they came from -- and question the fate of the animals and birds that make them.
''The point here is education and inspiration,'' said Michael Robinson, a conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity's office in Pinos Altos, N.M.
ATTENTION GRABBER
Like other activist groups, the center is looking to the immediate attention cellphones can bring to its cause. Already, some 24,000 people have downloaded the rare rings for free from the center's website.
Four in five voting-age Americans have cellphones and that number is expected to keep growing. By 2008, as many as 30 percent of wireless users are likely to forgo their land lines and nearly all cellphones will have Internet capabilities, according to a study by the New Politics Institute.
''With the ringtones, this is the tip of the iceberg,'' said Peter Leyden, director of the institute, which studies the impact of cellphones -- what he and others call ''mobile media'' -- on political and social campaigns.
Take for example the efforts of U2 front man Bono. He got thousands of people to sign up for the ONE Campaign, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting global AIDS and poverty, by asking fans to send a text message during the band's concerts.
Amnesty International also uses text messaging to send action notices to members around the world.
Katrin Verclas, executive director of the Nonprofit Technology Network and a coordinator with Mobile Active.org, said there's a lot to be learned as campaigns -- both political and social -- try new ways to connect with people.
''Nonprofits have been using online tools such as websites and e-mail to get out a message, but the handwriting is on the wall as far as the possibilities for mobile devices to be added to that mix,'' she said. ``Mobile phones are just another piece of the equation. There is still so much room for experimentation.''
Peter Galvin, a co-founder of the Center for Biological Diversity, came up with the idea for the free ringtones of endangered and rare species as a way to educate people -- especially the younger, technologically savvy generation.
MANY CHOICES
The rings are certainly that. In addition to the wolf and the whale, there are ringtones from several species of frogs from around the world, a few South American birds and North American owls.
The poison arrow dart frog will be added to the list once Galvin gets back from Panama. He spent three days in the jungle, patiently listening for the calls of the tiny frog.
It took similar efforts to capture the sounds of other rare animals.
Some at the center say the howl ringtone might be one of the only recordings of the Mexican gray wolf in the wild. Biologists began releasing wolves on the Arizona-New Mexico border in 1998 to re-establish the species in part of its historic range after it had been hunted to the brink of extinction in the early 1900s.
While the ringtones might be amusing, Robinson said the movement is serious business.
''We can get people thinking about something outside their immediate world, a more wilder world,'' he said.
A Plant You Don't Want Never Dies |
Recently I and a group of other volunteers spent the morning at a
wildlife preserve near Winter Haven, digging up cogon grass.
Cogon grass, a tall grass imported to the state years ago in a misguided
attempt to provide cattle forage, can quickly take over acres of open
ground, crowding out other plants.
This was not the first time I'd done this kind of work. I've spent many
hours in preserves all over the area engaged in similar volunteer projects.
So have many others.
At times it seems like a Sisyphean task. However many plants you dig up, saw
or chop down or daub their stumps with herbicide, there's always more out
there waiting to pop up.
We were volunteers, so we didn't charge anything.
But in some areas the work requires contractors or chemicals and the costs
mount.
During the last fiscal year the Florida Department of Environmental
Protection passed on $9.5 million to local, state and federal agencies just
for control or eradication of upland plants, such as Brazilian pepper,
Chinese tallow trees, cogon grass and melaleuca.
Millions more dollars were spent on invasive aquatic plants such as hydrilla
and water hyacinth.
That's money that, if the exotics problem weren't so serious, could be spent
on something else, or not spent at all.
The exotics problem is one that is familiar to people in the natural
resources management area, but this year it is getting more visibility.
On Wednesday the Polk County Commission is scheduled to act on a
proclamation declaring this week National Invasive Weed Awareness Week.
Why all the fuss, you might ask.
Put simply, the proliferation of these species is second only to habitat
destruction among the top ecological threats to natural communities.
These weeds threaten natural areas in a couple of ways.
The most obvious is that they grow in dense, sometimes extensive patches.
Small trees like Brazilian pepper can cast so much shade that little or
nothing can grow beneath them.
In addition, they crowd out native species, sometimes outcompeting desirable
species for limited amounts of nutrients and moisture from the soil.
If the exotics are vines, such as air potato or climbing fern, they can
literally smother stands of trees by blocking sunlight and can carry
wildfires into the tree canopies, where more damage occurs.
So what can you do?
First, don't contribute to the problem.
Don't plant invasive plants or allow them to sprout in your yard. Some of
the worst species, such as Chinese tallow, are actually quite attractive
plants that would complement landscapes if it weren't for their dark side.
But there are a number of attractive native plants or noninvasive, nonnative
plants that will do the job.
Also, just so there's no confusion, the problem involves INVASIVE nonnative
plants.
Many nonnative plants, ranging from horticultural varieties of hibiscus to
citrus trees, are well-behaved and would never pose a problem.
Second, spread the word to your neighbors and even offer to help them to
remove troublesome plants if they're willing to do so.
Third, roll up your sleeves and volunteer.
Polk County's environmental preserves and the local state and federal
preserves have a regular work days and are always interested in volunteers
who are willing to donate whatever time they can to controlling invasive
plants and other tasks.
If you want a taste of what it's like, there will be a work day on Saturday
from 9 a.m. to noon at Polk County's Hickory Lake Scrub preserve south of
Frostproof.
To sign up, contact Lynne Flannery at 863-699-3742 or Lynne.Flannery@MyFWC.com
or call Polk County Environmental Lands at 863-534-7377.
The National Invasive Weeds Coalition is planning special events at the U.S.
Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C., this week and has chosen "Beauty
Can Hide a Beast" as its theme.
Partners in the event include the National Invasive Species Council, the
Federal Interagency Committee for the Management of Noxious and Exotic
Weeds, the Weed Science Society of America, the North American Weed
Management Association, Ecological Society of America, National Wildlife
Refuge Association and The Nature Conservancy.
For more information about the invasive weed problem in Florida, go to the
Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council www.fleppc.org.
YOUNG? GREEN? TALK TO ME
Earth Day is approaching and I'd like to hear from younger readers (under
30).
Many of the environmental problems and their solutions will affect your
generation, probably after my fellow graybeards have passed on.
I'd like to hear your answers to two questions:
How do you think environmental problems frequently mentioned in this space:
water shortages, climate change, loss of wildlife habitat, etc., will affect
your or your children's future?
What actions do you think individuals, the government and the business
community should take to deal with them?
But if you have other environmental issues, send them in.
I will compile the responses, with due credit to people who submitted them,
in a future column.
Tom Palmer can be reached at tom.palmer@theledger.com
or 863-802-7535
Environmental activist group evolves
By Jim HunterStubborn and cantankerous? Impatient and persistent? Well, yes, they were accused of all that at one time or another, but then under the conditions, they figured they had to be.
The citizen activist group TOOFAR, Taxpayers Outraged Organization for Accountable Representation, was born of controversy, though if you had asked a founding TOOFAR member back in 1991, he would have likely said that “frustration” was a more apt term.
The official logo of TOOFAR probably gives some insight into the early mindset of the citizen environmental/water issues group.
The logo is a drawing of a tall water bird with a frog in its beak, which the bird intends to swallow headfirst. But the frog, its head already in the bird’s throat, has a foreleg extended out of the beak and is squeezing the bird’s throat, prohibiting it from swallowing. The caption is: “Don’t ever give up!”
“When we started,” said past TOOFAR President Mark Wilson, “we were aggressive — we had to be.”
In 1989, the Southwest Florida Water Management District, known as Swiftmud, had decided not to replace the artificial, inflatable dam on the Withlacoochee River know as the Wysong Dam. The dam had been installed 22 years before and had worn out.
Some residents, already frustrated about what they felt was the too often too low levels of water in the Tsala Apopka Lake chain and Lake Panasoffkee, were incredulous.
The effect of the dam, which was just downstream of both the intake for the Tsala Apopka lakes and the outfall for Lake Panasoffkee, they said, was plainly obvious. It backed up the water and kept keep more water in the two systems longer during the dry season. For them it was a no-brainer.
They argued and argued with Swiftmud officials, but to no avail. They argued for years, in fact. The epithets flew and the rancor often rippled, and TOOFAR never gave up.
More than a decade later, with a new Swiftmud administration, a new governor and a gubernatorial appointee who championed the dam on the governing board, they got it back.
In the interim, the group had begun to grow not only in numbers, but in scope. Maybe it was the duration of its original quest, but unlike other environmental groups, TOOFAR did not fade away when its battle was won. It became more educated.
It got bigger and more mature. It widened its scope. These days it doesn’t battle so much with Swiftmud, but tries to cooperate on environmental issues. It isn’t the citizen-with-opinion versus scientist-with-data standoff so much anymore.
That doesn’t mean it doesn’t disagree with the regional water district about topics or isn’t impatient with the amount of study that seems to be necessary before action can be taken, but now there is dialog between the two, and TOOFAR often invites Swiftmud speakers to its monthly meetings.
These days, TOOFAR’s mission is more educational and collaborative than it was in the beginning. Its mission statement, for instance, states it is “a grassroots organization dedicated to the best management and conservation of natural resources for present and future generations through public education and interaction with all entities charged with those responsibilities.”
The group has an agenda of priorities. One of TOOFAR’s current priorities is to get berms installed by a rancher in the 1960s in the big Flying Eagle tract removed so, according to TOOFAR members, the water can sheetflow from the Withlacoochee river in high water times into the lakes. That would restore the original system.
Swiftmud officials, however, are reluctant to do so until they have finished studies of the watershed that will allow them to model situations and make sure they don’t do anything that will result in flooding anyone who has built in the lake region since the 1960s.
Taking the berms out would also would destroy an upland environment that has long since taken root after the water was blocked off. The questions is, should that habitat now be destroyed. It’s a continuing controversy, and TOOFAR keeps pressuring the water district to finish a comprehensive study of the Withlacoochee River Water shed that the U.S. Corps of Engineers, in effect, dropped.
Today, there are many such issues that TOOFAR is involved in, from protecting this area’s water supplies from thirsty water suppliers in Tampa Bay, which would like to tap into them, to opposing a big RV park on a sensitive part of the lakes.
The group has an office in Inverness and has been involved in many programs and issues in recent years, including organizing citizen participation in legislative impact meetings. It has sponsored fishing education events and an Adopt a Shore program. It’s been vocal about the tussock removal program, the minimum flows and levels program, putting more water in Two-mile prairie, muck removal and completion of the original U.S. Army Corps study of the whole Withlacoochee River water shed, among others.
TOOFAR has taken sides in county wrangles about development on the water or in wetlands, such as the Halls River project or the RealtiCorp tract in Crystal River. It opposed the Pristine Point RV Park and encouraged the Parson’s Point berm removal project
TOOFAR’s written objectives include: recharging the aquifer, improving the quality of surfaces waters and the aquifer, securing accountable representation with Swiftmud; getting better access to publicly owned lands and waterways, preventing water transfer to other areas, and using all legal avenues to accomplish all its priorities.
Incoming president Al Grubman said TOOFAR probably could be more combative about some issues, but its present goal is to use public education and agency cooperation to restore and maintain the area’s heritage of natural resources for the future. The group is active in pursuing that by lobbying and pressuring agencies about issues. Information and education are the bywords.
And sometimes when citizens feel they’re getting stonewalled by an agency, they seek out TOOFAR, Wilson said: “People come to us when they feel they can’t do anything.” TOOFAR will try to do what it can to get them heard or maybe take in on as a wider issue.
Muck removal is the epitome of one of those exasperating issues, frustrating TOOFAR and water front residents alike for years.
TOOFAR states it is always ready to take up an issues it believes to be an important as environmental concerns and water and environmental officials know that, Wilson said, and so between that and the group’s effort to be a public education force, TOOFAR has earned some standing with agencies and the public.
“We’ve got longevity,” he said. “We have stick-to-it-ness. They know we’re here to fight over the long haul.”
“We are stubborn,” Grubman said with a smile.
TOOFAR meets the third Thursday monthly at the Gospel Island Community Center on State Road 44, which is just east of the intersection of Gospel Island Road and S.R 44, next to the fire station. The meetings begin at 7 p.m., and the public and prospective new members are invited.
For information, call 726-5004 at the group’s Inverness office. TOOFAR has a Web site, toofarinc.com, which it states is dedicated to “raising public awareness about the ever increasing issues we are facing in regards to our environment, particularly those concerning our water, it’s contamination, depletion and destruction.”
Residents vent on growth at event
It's an old debate in this town, and few new answers surfaced, as council members briefly found themselves on the defensive before hundreds of their constituents.
"Just what the heck do you consider to be 'controlled growth,' " asked Ed Gates, who said the city seemed always to favor "special interests" when approving new development and setting growth policies.
"I think everybody here at the dais is for controlling growth in Venice," said council member John Moore.
John Simmonds blamed Sarasota County for roadway congestion and crowding at the city's beaches and downtown, noting that 20,000 people moved to Venice's outskirts over a period in which the city's population grew by only 3,500. He said developers have a right to do business. "I would disagree that we have favored only a few people," he said. "We do have a free enterprise system."
But even as council members defended themselves early on about their growth policies, they basked in thunderous applause when several members of the audience stood up to praise the city for its management of the airport, including the recent repaving of a runway.
"We take great pride in flying in and out of Venice and consider Venice one of the greatest airports," said a pilot, to applause.
At the same time, at least one neighbor of the airport complained about noise issues.
"I don't doubt that it is a valuable asset, but there is another side I should point out here," said one resident, admitting that the loud applause over compliments to the airport meant he was likely outnumbered.
Nick Carlucci, president of the Venice Aviation Society, Inc., rose to defend against the noise criticism, noting that pilots are asked to use runways that do not fly over neighborhoods and that investment in the airport will yield the cash flow to abate noise and other nuisances.
Wider road upsets some homeowners' plans
The cheapest option is to raze 34 homes on one side of the street and add two westbound lanes.
By CHANDRA BROADWATER
Published February 26, 2007
SPRING HILL - Barbara Bogner was looking forward to cutting back hours at work. Or maybe quitting all together.
In about five years, the Elgin Boulevard home the 42-year-old has shared for 19 years with her husband, Jay, would be paid off.
That would mean not as many commutes to her job in Pasco County, where her husband also works. And more time at their recently remodeled three-bedroom, two-bath beige house with green shutters.
But the couple say a county plan to widen the heavily traveled road, and take 34 homes on the north side of the street - including theirs - has quashed their dreams of early retirement.
"They aren't considering what it will cost us to live in another home," Barbara Bogner said. "Our taxes will be higher. We're not going to be able to afford a house like we have now."
During a Hernando County Commission meeting Tuesday, commissioners are expected to approve one of six options to widen Elgin Boulevard to four lanes from Mariner Boulevard east to Lauren Drive and Sand Ridge Boulevard. The proposals cost $10-million to $12-million.
As recommended by Hernando Public Works director Charles Mixson, the cheapest option is to take homes on the north side of Elgin and add two westbound lanes.
While some homeowners seemed willing to sell, others like the Bogners have said no, Mixson said. Eminent domain most likely will be used to take their property.
The county has used eminent domain for right of way needed for other projects, like Hexam, Ayers and Sunshine Grove roads. Some of those cases landed in court. This is the first time Hernando homes could be razed under eminent domain.
But Tuesday's meeting, as Barbara Bogner points out, also marks the first time affected homeowners have been invited to discuss the subject with county officials.
She and her husband first heard about the county plans in May when they received a letter. Along with it was a survey they sent back to the county, asking whether the couple would be interested in selling their home.
They didn't hear anything again until last month when they were alerted through a neighbor who found out from a newspaper article of the plans to move forward with widening the road - and take their homes.
Not long after that, they received a packet of information from a Tampa law firm specializing in eminent domain cases.
Since then, three other attorneys have contacted them about fighting the county. Real estate agents and appraisers have started calling, too.
In the meantime, the couple have put off any more home improvement plans. After installing hardwood floors and painting inside and outside, they were going to add a backyard deck.
The thing is, they love their home. The size is perfect and it's almost just the way they want it.
They could do without all the traffic - it takes forever to pull out from the driveway at all times of the day. As their neighbors agree, Elgin Boulevard has become a speedway, where drivers go much faster than the posted 35 mph limit.
When the Bogners first moved in, they were the last house on the street. A few years later, the road was lengthened and widened. Then developments started popping up all around them.
Even then, the Bogners felt it was worth it to stay. After all, the house would be all theirs soon.
With the housing market the way it is now, they know they should be able to find another place to live. State Rep. Robert Schenck, who represents District 44, has also filed a bill that would allow those who may lose their homes to eminent domain to keep a tax cap when they buy a new house.
But what worries the couple the most is wondering just how much their expenses will go up.
That's what no one is considering, Barbara Bogner said, even if the county does give them market value for their home.
"And even if they don't take the north side," she said, "who's going to want to live in front of a four-lane highway?"
Chandra Broadwater can be reached at cbroadwater@sptimes.com or (352) 848-1432.
Fast Facts:
Road options
At a cost of $70,000, Tampa Bay Engineering conducted a study to determine six design options to improve Elgin Boulevard from Mariner Boulevard east to Lauren Drive and Sand Ridge Boulevard. Impact fees and development mitigation fees will be used to purchase the 0.8-mile stretch of property where homes are currently located.
Option 1: This engineer- and county-recommended option - which is also the cheapest of the six proposals - keeps the existing road and constructs two westbound lanes to the north for $10-million. Thirty-four homes would be taken. The right of way land estimate is $5.1-million while the construction cost is an estimated $4.9-million.
Option 2: This proposal keeps the existing road and calls for the construction of two lanes to the south for a $11.2-million total. Forty-three homes would be taken. The right of way land cost is an estimated $6.5-million.
Option 3: Proposes to leave the existing frontage road and construct four lanes to the north for $10.8-million.
Option 4: Calls for keeping the existing frontage road and building four lanes to the south for $11.9-million.
Option 5: This options also keeps the existing road but proposes building four lanes to the north for $11.1-million.
Option 6: Calls for keeping the existing road and constructing four lanes to the south for $12.3-million.
Crowding lingers at schools
By JEFFERY S. SOLOCHEK
Published February 26, 2007
WESLEY CHAPEL - With all the new schools going up in Pasco County 13 in three years, if you're counting, you might think that crowding wouldn't be so much of a problem anymore.
A slowdown in growth should, in theory, only help. Officials expect enrollment to rise by just 1,100 students next year, compared with a jump of about 3,500 kids in 2004.
But ask around the school district, and more often than not you'll hear that schools are still trying to catch up with the past student boom. Compounding matters is the state's class-size reduction law, which effectively cuts the number of kids you can put in a school.
District enrollment projections for next year bear all that out - 41 of 68 schools, including some of the new ones, look to be above 105 percent of capacity. Some particularly egregious examples:
- Cypress Elementary, near River Ridge, which would have 565 more children than permanent seats. That's 233 percent of its capacity. (The school is slated to get a new wing.)
- River Ridge Middle, with 457 more students than seats, or 143 percent of capacity.
- Zephyrhills High, with 600 more students than seats, or 155 percent of capacity.
Then there's Wesley Chapel. That's the area of Pasco County that accounts for more than half of the enrollment growth each year, and where so many of the new schools are rising. School leaders there look at crowding in relative terms.
Take Shae Davis, principal of Weightman Middle School.
An outsider might look at Weightman's projections - 1,244 students, or 231 more than its capacity and up from 1,107 this year - and see a crowding problem. Davis sees a school that, though growing, will remain much better off than when it had nearly 2,000 kids just a year ago.
John Long Middle School drew close to 900 students from Weightman when it opened this year. And just for some perspective, Long also is expected to grow by about 200 students and jump to 112 percent of its capacity come fall.
"It seems manageable to me," Davis said, adding how excited she is to finally have 40 portables removed from her campus.
B.J. Smith, principal at 2-year-old Seven Oaks Elementary, shares that view. Seven Oaks opened with portables and this year has 352 more students than seats. That number is expected to rise next year to 479, putting the school at 171 percent of capacity.
"You do what you have to do," Smith said. "Instead of throwing up your hands and saying, 'Isn't this awful,' you have to say, 'What do we do to make this better?' You work through overcrowding."
If there's a poster child for what's happening in Wesley Chapel area schools, it's Wesley Chapel Elementary.
Next year, the school is to send nearly 500 students away to two new schools - Double Branch and New River. In January, when the School Board reviewed attendance zone boundaries for these schools, district planners said Wesley Chapel Elementary should go down to 136 percent of its capacity by the fall from its current 220 percent.
Three weeks later, the same planners issued revised estimates showing that Wesley Chapel Elementary likely will open in August at 181 percent of its capacity. And if growth for that school stays on its current trajectory, planning supervisor Chris Williams said, "They could be as overcrowded next year" as this year.
On the upside here, the district has several sites for new schools all around Wesley Chapel. It can't access some yet, and others aren't ripe for construction. But relief is out there.
That's not the case in some areas.
One example is Odessa. District officials are looking for an elementary school site south of State Road 54 between U.S. 41 and the Suncoast Parkway with little result, Williams said.
Schools that surround the area include new Oakstead to the north, which is expected to jump to 120 percent of its capacity by the fall, and Trinity to the west, which is holding at about 107 percent of its capacity.
School Board members view the situation with dismay. Cathi Martin, who represents southwest Pasco, says it's frustrating to face the same crowding issues year after year, despite building schools as fast as possible.
Chairwoman Marge Whaley, whose district includes most of the high-growth region, held out some hope that school concurrency - that's where the availability of student seats will determine whether a new subdivision can be built - will help once it takes effect next February.
"The concurrency will slow the builders down some," Whaley said. "I have little hope that it will be great, but some."
Other than that, she didn't see an end to what she considered an untenable situation of too many kids, not enough space.
"I worry all the time about growth," she said. "But we have done all that we can do at this point."
Jeffrey S. Solochek can be reached at solochek@sptimes.com (813) 909-4614 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 4614. Check out our education blog, the Gradebook, at blogs.tampabay.com/schools.
Fast Facts:
By the numbers
64,526 projected total enrollment for August.
59,801 permanent seats in August
15 schools projected to be below 90 percent of capacity in August
12 schools projected to be above 140 percent of capacity
6 new schools opened in 2006-07
5 new schools to open in 2007-08