Gulf
drilling issue resurfaces
By
CORY REISS
Sun
Washington Bureau
Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and Larry Craig, R-Idaho, plan to introduce
energy legislation today that would allow oil and gas drilling as close as
45 miles from
Late last year, Congress ended a long battle over the same issue by allowing
drilling closer than previously permitted but only as close as 125 miles
until 2022.
That bruising fight roiled the House and Senate, split the
Dorgan and Craig have scheduled a news conference today announce the bill,
whose prospects may be dim.
"This proposal goes back on everything the Congress dealt with last
year - everything we did to create a long-term buffer for Florida,'' Sen.
Mel Martinez, R-Fla., said in a statement. "I will fight this proposal
every step of the way.''
Sen. Bill Nelson, who used hard-line tactics to stall drilling legislation
from the time it began to gain strength in 2005, said he would fight as
well.
Congress probably doesn't have the appetite to revisit the offshore drilling
issue, aides said. Moreover, Democrats are in charge now. Environmental
groups are not breathing too easy, but they aren't on the edge of their
seats either.
"We're not sounding the alarm bells,'' said Mark Ferrulo, director of
Environment Florida, "but we're also not turning the cheek
either....This may be a unifying opportunity for the Florida delegation,
which in some ways could be a silver lining.''
The new legislation pairs changes to energy policy that environmental groups
would support with drilling, which they clearly would not. The measure would
increase fuel efficiency standards for new cars and trucks by 4 percent a
year from 2012 to 2030 and increase the ethanol mandate.
In addition to gutting the drilling deal for the eastern
The bill would allow drilling as close as 45 miles from
State
agrees to swap of submerged lands
By
JOE FOLLICK
Sun
Tallahassee Bureau
The unanimous decision from Crist and the Cabinet ends a four-year effort by
the William C. Saba family to retain ownership of submerged lands near three
small lots they own in
Their contention was that the state's decision to dredge the part of
Longboat Key and to erect seawalls nearby led to the erosion of their land
and put it underwater.
Submerged lands are generally considered to be owned by the state. A 12th
circuit judge ruled in 2005 that the state owned the land and the
But Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Mike Sole said Tuesday
that the agency agreed that the land belonged to the family and had offered,
pending Cabinet approval, a swap.
The deal gives the
William Hyde, an attorney representing townhouse owners near the property in
question, suggested the state wasn't getting a fair deal since the
Hyde tried to sway the Cabinet members with photos of rare birds on the land
in question, including a roseate spoonbill, a snowy egret and a white ibis
feeding on an oyster bed.
For the last photo, Hyde saved a shot of mating manatees that revealed very
little other than a splashing grey blob in blue water.
"It's obviously a romantic habitat as well,'' Hyde quipped.
Cabinet members at first questioned why the state was willing to fight and
win the battle in court but now seemed ready to reverse that victory with a
proposed land swap.
Sole said it was a matter of "common sense'' and that the addition of
three acres would provide the best deal for the state.
And Agricultural Commissioner Charles Bronson quickly ended the debate when
he deduced that the submerged land in question was part of the
Any effort to develop the land faces numerous obstacles, including local and
state permits to fill in the submerged land for future construction.
Moratorium
will help Yankeetown recover
By
Times editorial
Published March 14, 2007
After
months of neighbor vs. neighbor warfare in Yankeetown over a proposed
waterfront development, local leaders and citizens are taking steps toward
restoring much-needed peace and sanity.
The
recent elections were a good start by demonstrating to the community, and to
state officials who had been asked to take over operating the town, that the
locals really can be trusted to manage their own affairs.
Next
came a decision by the town's zoning consultant that the developer's
proposal did not measure up to the comprehensive plan and existing zoning
rules.
To
no surprise, the developers did not agree with that decision. Rather than
pack up their drawings and checkbooks and head to some other unsuspecting
town, the developers have sued 17 Yankeetown residents and officials,
claiming they have been the victims of an ongoing conspiracy to torpedo
their plans.
A
former deputy clerk in town chimed in last week by filing a suit of her own,
largely echoing the complaints that town officials violated the Sunshine Law
by talking among themselves about the project and the controversy.
These
are serious allegations, and all sides deserve to be heard. Whether their
plans were legal or even in the best interests of the townspeople, the
developers have their rights as well. They deserve to have their project
evaluated fairly and within the parameters of the town's development rules.
The
citizens certainly are entitled to know whether their leaders followed the
law as they handled the biggest issue ever to erupt in this small
In
the meantime, the council last week took a smart step. The board approved a
one-year moratorium on permitting for commercial developments.
Not
only will this allow time for tempers to cool a bit, it will also give staff
the opportunity to do the necessary work to bring the town's comprehensive
plan and land use codes into compliance. This should allow the town, and
developers, to clarify the rules and thus avoid the sorts of fights that
have torn Yankeetown apart for more than a year.
One
council member noted that this community has been battered enough lately and
it is time "for a breather."
He
is absolutely right
Growing
Pains Unavoidable As County Enforces Urban Limits
Managing
growth is becoming harder in
A
proposal from the city-county planning commission would designate core areas
for more intense growth while keeping large subdivisions out of remote
farmland. Developers complain that the good sites within the longstanding
growth boundaries have already been developed, and that adding densities
there will be expensive and locally unpopular.
Yet
a denser pattern of growth is what most residents said they wanted in a
series of public meetings last year.
The
new map attempts to make that vision a reality. It targets central areas for
higher-density development than has been common in the unincorporated area.
The original urban service district included so much undeveloped land that
it hasn't made a visible difference to the average person, but that's about
to change.
Now
that the area designated for houses and stores is filling up, developers
want to expand the boundaries and continue building on inexpensive land
farther out. They correctly complain that inside the urban boundary,
neighborhood activists fight against higher-density projects and often
convince elected officials to lower the number of houses and apartments
permitted for the site.
The
stage is set for classic battle over whether growth will be seriously
managed in Hillsborough. Pubic hearings on the plan update will be held next
month.
Regulating
growth creates a paradox. If you approach the problem from the viewpoint of
a homebuilder or new home buyer, you'll want lax rules that allow the
lowest-priced houses regardless of long-term costs. If you're a taxpaying
homeowner, you'll want efficient development that improves your community
life, not degrades it with overcrowded schools and traffic jams. Both views
are logical and yet not entirely compatible.
Commissioners
must decide if Hillsborough is to grow efficiently at a higher initial cost
or whether it continues its low-cost growth at a higher public price.
Many
issues will arise in this debate.
Building
codes and utilities may not allow higher densities in some of the designated
high-density areas. The maps will need some adjustments and the county's
codes and fees need to change so that infill projects are easier to win
approval and more affordable to build.
Some
areas, such as Highway 60 in
But
unless the county begins focusing growth, transit will never be able to
serve suburban areas efficiently.
Hillsborough
still has plenty of room to grow. About 51,000 more housing units are
approved just for the southern part of the county.
The
new plan is much more than lines on a map. It pushes the county toward long
overdue investments in transit, requires it to focus resources on where most
people are going to live, and to pay attention to what voters say they want
the region to look like 20 years from now.
Land
Developments Commissioners Warned: 'We're Going To Need Some Help'
By
GARY PINNELL
gpinnell@highlandstoday.com
SEBRING - Twenty percent of
The
possibility is real, county commissioners and staff were reminded Tuesday,
and they may need help dealing with two land developments that comprise more
than 200 of
On
Dec. 5, representatives for the Lykes Brothers farm in Basinger and Blue
Head Ranch south of Lake Placid, each about 100 square miles, met jointly
with the board of county commissioners, the planning and zoning board and
Natural Resources Advisory Committee, and announced they may apply to the
Rural Land Stewardship Program.
“They
have indicated they are going to turn in applications by the end of this
month,” said Janice McCarthy, a
Land
Stewardship
When
a landowner applies for the Rural Land Stewardship Program, the landowner
can develop portions of the property, if environmentally sensitive lands are
preserved.
Highlands
County Administrator Carl Cool, Development Services Director Jim Polatty,
and McCarthy met with St. Lucie County commissioners and staff about Adams
Ranch, a 60,000 acre parcel in St. Lucie County which has also joined the
stewardship project, under the tutelage of WilsonMiller.
“They
think they have preserved that ranch,” Cool told the commissioners.
“What they really did was approve A-2 zoning.” And that allows row
cropping and sod farming, Cool said.
What
St. Lucie residents wanted to preserve was Adams Ranch’s oak hammocks.
Instead, he suggested, the landowners “will be able to clear it from fence
line to fence line.”
In
As
the commissioners and staff began dealing with the giant corporations that
wanted to develop the St. Lucie County land, “They felt outmanned real
quickly,” Cool said. And St. Lucie County has an entire environmental
service staff, which
Eventually,
the county hired an expert, but they confessed to Cool and the others from
“It’s
still confusing to the staff and the commissioners,” Cool said.
“We’re
going to need some help,” Cool warned, and the commissioners nodded,
although they took no action on the informational item.
The
developers will be trying to beat a November 2008 deadline, Cool said.
That’s when the state could vote on the Hometown Democracy constitutional
amendment on the ballot.
“This
will affect the county forever,” Commissioner Guy Maxcy agreed. “Some
big decisions have to be made. We do need to prepare ourselves and get some
experts on board.”
Commissioner
Barbara Stewart suggested that since the commissioners will be going to a
convention other other county commissioners, they should take the
opportunity to ask questions of the St. Lucie and
Other
Business
Ray
Royce said the Lake Placid Growth Management Committee has met about 40
times since June 2005, and plan to wrap up soon and write a 25-page final
report.
Robert
Tracy Gould spoke to the commissioners about the resignation of Gary Lower
from the county planning department. Cool was assigned to talk to Gould
about personnel matters, and County Attorney Ross McBeth was asked by Maxcy
to discuss alleged illegalities.
Developers
file papers this week for two large subdivisions
By
JEFF ADELSON
Sun
staff writer
Developers
behind two projects which would bring more than 2,000 homes to some of the
northern-most areas of
The two projects are unrelated and remain unnamed.
A "Haile Plantation-style" subdivision proposed by
Jacksonville-based LandMar Group would put about 1,000 homes on nearly 1,900
acres near State Road 121 between the road's intersection with U.S. 441 and
County Road 231.
The second project, proposed by a New York-based developer, would surround
Both projects, which require large-scale amendments to
The developers behind both projects have said they do not expect their
projects to have to apply to the state Department of Community Affairs as a
Development of Regional Impact.
Follow these and other developments in The Gainesville Sun and online at
gainesville.com.
Developments
under 1,000 threshold avoid a costly process
By
CINDY SWIRKO
Sun
staff writer
Large residential developments that have become the norm in South Florida
are edging ever more northward into
The tactic: building 999 homes or 995 or 990 - big numbers that nonetheless
stay under 1,000 to avoid having to go through the development of regional
impact, or DRI, process.
It saves the developer money. But it eliminates multi-jurisdictional
planning and review that ultimately could save taxpayers money for new
roads, schools, environmental safeguards and other government services.
"Developers at the table will jokingly smile and know that they kept it
under the threshold. That keeps them from having to go through a full
analysis of the impacts," County Manager Randall Reid said. "In
the last three or four years, it's obvious the growth here is transplants
from
Several large projects have already been approved or are under
consideration.
Oakmont on
The Newberry City Commission in 2006 approved a subdivision with 999
residences in a mix of single-family homes, townhomes and apartments.
A 940-home development is proposed for the city of
The Jacksonville-based LandMar Group is planning a mixed-use development
with just under 1,000 homes on State Road 121 north of
The latest is a proposal to build more than 1,000 homes in northeast
A DRI is a state designation for a development that is so large it affects
traffic, services such as police and fire protection, the environment and
other factors beyond its immediate site - hence a development of regional
impact.
Sub-DRI developments must get approval from the primary government - either
the county commission or city commission. The state will review the project
if a comprehensive plan amendment is needed. DRIs are scrutinized more
broadly and intensely. The cities and county can all have a role in the
planning process. The North Central Florida Regional Planning Council
coordinates city and county reviews and does its own review. Various state
agencies such as the departments of Transportation and Community Affairs
review and comment on the plans.
Thresholds vary depending on the population of a county. Projects that are
slightly above the threshold can apply to the state for a DRI waiver if
developers can prove it will not have a regional impact, said Community
Affairs spokesman Jon Peck. The state can find a DRI to be not in compliance
with state laws. If it is still approved by the local government, the state
can appeal to the governor and Cabinet.
DRIs are more expensive for developers because they must hire more
consultants, attorneys and other professionals to get through the process.
Planning Council Executive Director Scott Koons said it charges a fee of up
to $75,000 for DRI reviews.
Developers also could face higher costs to mitigate their impacts -
improving roads or providing land for a new school, for instance - with a
DRI than through the standard process.
Sub-DRIs also curtail joint planning among various governments that can be
impacted by the project, Koons said.
"Several years ago the reports showed that of all the development in
the state of
Representatives of Oakmont and San Trust could not be reached for
comment.Avery Roberts, who is developing the Alachua project, said it is
under the threshold because the land could not accommodate more residences.
But Roberts added that the DRI process is more costly than running a project
through as a non-DRI.
"We are at 940 units and we just felt that was a good number for that
property. It fairly utilizes that property. I don't know that we could have
fit a whole lot more on there and get the protection we wanted for some
sensitive areas," Roberts said. "There are a lot of costs involved
with the DRI - lawyers, consultants."
Ironwood project developer Rob Simensky of East Gainesville Development
Partners said he does not believe the project will have a regional impact,
so he is requesting a letter from the state exempting the project from the
DRI process.
Simensky added that by the time the project is completed within 10 years,
the county's population will have reached a point where the DRI threshold
will be 2,000 residences.
"Our development is not a development of regional impact," he
said. "It is a local development inside the community and we are going
through the appropriate process to get it approved." Alison Cox,
president of the Builders Association of North Central Florida, said she
believes more big developments by outside companies will be coming because
regulations at the county and state levels are making it more costly for
locals.
The larger companies have the money to get through the regulatory process.
When it comes to DRIs, they sometimes may try to cut costs by doing a
project that is big but just under the threshold, she added.
"It is extremely expensive now just going through the process. It is
very hard for a small developer to carry all of the costs during the time
that it takes to get anything constructed. The little guy can't go out and
make it a financially feasible project," said Cox, who works for Brice
Business Group. "With DRIs, a developer doesn't take a project that is
not financially feasible. It doesn't matter if it's 10 units or 1,000 units,
all of the numbers are going to be looked at. Sometimes it makes more sense
to stay under it. That's just looking at the economics of it."
Cox added that
The county requires studies for new development to learn how much traffic it
will create. The study is needed to ensure concurrency - the state mandate
that road capacity exist when a project comes on line.
Currently, developers are subject to concurrency if the trips the project
will put on the road are at least 5 percent of the road's capacity, said
county Growth Management Director Rick Drummond.
When concurrency capacity does not exist, the county can ask developers to
pay for road upgrades.
Now, the county is considering lowering that to less than 5 percent.
"One of the things we are realizing is that if we are only accounting
for the 5 percent, who is accounting for the less than 5 percent?"
Drummond said. "After a while, those things add up."
Koons and others said developers with projects just under the DRI thresholds
are a common practice downstate.
And they believe
"It's a trend we've already started experiencing. North Central Florida
has been discovered in the past few years by the development
community," Koons said.
Issues such as hurricanes and limited capacity for new roads that are
hampering development along the coast are "creating much greater
interest in our area. With the larger projects, it is an approach folks will
take to avoid more extensive review if they can move forward under the
threshold."
Cindy Swirko can be reached at
352-374-5024 or swirkoc@ gvillesun.com.
County
backs annexation, votes to delay road decision
Wednesday,
March 14, 2007
Commissioners
voted to make the road eliminations contingent on the land's annexation into
Broward, raising questions about the timing of the two measures.
Legislators
will consider the annexation bill this spring, well before commissioners
cast a final vote on the road removals in the summer.
There
is concern that state agencies will balk at the road removals because the
extensions have been planned for years, and because the size of the proposed
development on the land at issue - at least 2,800 homes - may require the
construction of the roads.
"What
I'm hearing up there (in
Commissioners
last month voted to fold the road removals into the annexation bill, but
that provision was never included in the House and Senate bills.
State
Rep. Adam Hasner,
The
property's triangle shape and location, south of the
County
officials have said providing services to the property would be difficult
and costly.
Also,
residents of several suburban
Martin
Perry, an attorney representing western
Commissioners
will cast the first vote on the road removals through a comprehensive plan
amendment on April 18, with a final vote in either July or August. The state
departments of Community Affairs and Transportation will offer comments
after the first vote, and the state has a final say after the second vote.
The
northwest Broward city of
The
neighboring city of
"We
all realize we have to monitor this on a very close basis," County
Commissioner Burt Aaronson said. "The people out there don't want the
roads at all."
Developer
offers deal it says would preserve
Under
the plan, property owners in the area - including Callery-Judge Groves, GL
Homes and Lion Country Safari - would join EB Developers in creating a new
taxing district that would buy Mecca Farms, said John Markey, chief
operating officer for EB Developers, which owns nearly 1,300 acres in
western
"It's
a plan that would use future development to pay for the public benefit
through bond issuances," Markey said. He declined to discuss the
proposal in detail Tuesday, saying he wanted to meet with all of the
commissioners first.
Commissioners
discussed the proposal during their meeting Tuesday, before unanimously
voting to start the process of reverting Mecca Farms back to a land-use
designation that permits just one home for every 10 acres. The move, which
the commission will discuss again next month, would strip Mecca Farms of
approvals that would have allowed Scripps and the biotech campus planned
around it to rise on the property.
A
judge's order forced county officials to stop work on the Scripps project at
Mecca Farms. Five months later, commissioners voted to move the project to
northern
The
county is now trying to recoup the more than $120 million it pumped into
Mecca Farms, including $60 million to buy it.
County
officials recommended this week that the commission revert the property to
its old land-use classification mainly to end a legal challenge mounted by
several groups that fought to block Scripps from being built at Mecca Farms.
Commissioner
Mary McCarty asked her counterparts to delay a decision on the land-use
change after Markey approached her to discuss the proposal during the
commission's lunch break. She said she feared the change would make the
property less valuable and make it impossible for Markey's proposal to work.
"I'm
not asking that we not do this, I'm asking that we not do this today,"
McCarty said. "I just don't want to say afterward, 'Oh my God, we
screwed up by not thinking of all the issues related to this.''"
But
County Administrator Bob Weisman and other county officials maintained that
the land-use change would not affect the value of
"Whatever
we go on to do, whether it's Mr. Markey's plan or whatever, is going to have
to start off at ground zero again and build up from there," Weisman
said.
Commissioner
Burt Aaronson, who has already met with the developer, said he was told the
county could net as much as $175 million from the deal. He said that the
plan "deserves a hearing."
"I
think it's worth exploration," Aaronson said. "If it does have
merit, the way it was presented, I think the environmental community, I
think maybe we could all end up in partnership on something like this."
But
Commissioner Jess Santamaria said he is skeptical. After discussing the
proposal with EB representatives for about a half hour, Santamaria said he
still doesn't fully understand it. He worries that if a special taxing
district is created, taxpayers will ultimately pay twice for
"My
opinion is that the gimmick or tool they are using is going to enhance the
development of EB," Santamaria said. "We bought it with tax money
and we are going to pay for it with tax money again."
Markey's
plan is the second proposal the county has received for the site. Last
month, a three-person development team submitted a formal bid to build an
amusement park on the land.
Water
restrictions expected this week
Get
used to the color brown: Lawns may dry up as regional water managers prepare
to impose restrictions on use.
By
CURTIS MORGAN, ANI
For
the first time since 2001,
With
the region in a deepening drought and the big water bucket known as Lake
Okeechobee receding daily, water managers on Thursday expect to impose
mandatory restrictions intended to cut water use by at least 15 percent in
Miami-Dade, Broward, Monroe and Palm Beach counties -- and double that for
sugar growers and rural towns around the lake.
For
residents, it will mean reduced water pressure and less-lush landscaping
because of a three-day-a-week limit on lawn sprinkling, which accounts for
half of suburban water demand. In the past, repeat violators have been
slapped with fines of up to $500.
Mary
Tafoya, who manages an estate on posh
''We
probably only water twice a week anyway, but maybe I'd take out some
impatiens and put in more plants from the cactus family,'' she said.
Nurseries,
farmers, golf courses, car washes, industries and commercial users also will
face an array of reductions -- both mandatory and voluntary -- and some
worry cutbacks could also cut profits.
''If
we can water sod and new plants at least four times a week, it won't really
hurt us. But if it's twice a week, then I would tell you we have a
problem,'' said Duval Rodriguez, who owns
DROUGHT
Since
last fall, much of the region has suffered a near-record dry spell. Though
rainfall has been closer to normal in Miami-Dade and Broward, the last few
weeks have been extremely dry, and the two months ahead are traditionally
the driest of the year.
That
has helped push water levels in the 730-square-mile
''You
can see the situation we're in,'' said district spokesman Randy Smith. ``You
can look at the rainfall totals we've had, the water levels. There are hints
we may be coming into a La Niña period.''
That
weather phenomena, marked by cooler
While
the district's governing board must approve the restrictions, water managers
have already scheduled a news conference to discuss details on Thursday.
''I
think it's pretty safe to say it's a done deal,'' said Nicolas Gutiérrez, a
The
restrictions were still being ''tweaked'' on Tuesday, Smith said, but final
rules should be posted on the district website sometime Thursday. In
addition to sprinkling restrictions, utilities are typically asked to reduce
water pressure -- but not to unsafe levels.
The
district, which manages the water supply in 16 counties stretching from
south of
When
water conservation measures were enacted for nearly a year from late 2000 to
2001, golf courses, landscapers, pool builders and other water-using
industries warned of billions of dollars in lost jobs and business,
prompting the district to overhaul the restrictions.
While
the sugar industry and other growers in the Everglades Agriculture Area are
already reporting crop damage and will be hit with a significant 30 percent
cutback, farmers and nursery operators in Miami-Dade and Broward say they
can live with 15 percent less.
Katie
Edwards, executive director of the Dade County Farm Bureau, said vegetable
growers have largely wrapped up a poor season plagued by pests and diseases
produced by unseasonable heat.
But
most growers and nurseries have already upgraded to more efficient
irrigation systems and routines, she said. ``We really are ahead of the
game. We've been doing our part regardless of the restrictions and
warnings.''
Roger
Brooks is also ready to roll with looming restrictions at his Four B's
Nurseries in Parkland and
''Our
system is very conservative,'' Brooks said. ``If the restrictions are
mandatory, we would have to fill our transportable tanks and hand water all
of the plants.''
HARMFUL
PRACTICES
Some
environmentalists say district and federal water managers have exacerbated
the shortage by mismanaging the lake, aggressively dumping water after
hurricanes left it brimming with polluted runoff -- a practice that
devastated water quality and marine life in the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee
rivers.
Jamie
Furgang, senior
''This
is getting the users of water to start recognizing that we can't continually
drain the natural system,'' she said.
County
drops Brooker Creek pumping plan
The
plan to use the preserve to water golf courses is dropped.
By
THERESA BLACKWELL
Published March 14, 2007
Saying
on Tuesday that the project wasn't worth the acrimony it had generated,
County Administrator Steve Spratt said officials will pull their application
to reactivate the wells.
"This
is it," Spratt said. "I intend to withdraw it."
Opponents
were elated.
"I'm
very glad he made the decision," said Matthew Poling, 16, the former
senior executive of the Friends of Brooker Creek Preserve. "I don't
think that pumping water from a nature preserve to a golf course is a good
idea."
Public
opposition to the proposal began after Poling and his father, Steve,
discovered a portable pump on one of the wells in the fall of 2005.
As
originally proposed, the county wanted to pump an annual average rate of
415,000 gallons of water a day - or up to 1,008,000 gallons on any one day -
from the Floridan Aquifer beneath the preserve during the dry season.
They
later reduced the requested average to 284,256 gallons per day, but the
proposed peak remained at 1,008,000 gallons per day.
The
effect on the preserve, they said, would be negligible.
But
in the 10 months since the Times first reported the plan, the Friends of
Brooker Creek Preserve, the Sierra Club and the St. Petersburg Audubon
Society sharply criticized the proposal. They feared pumping could adversely
affect wetlands, uplands, plants and wildlife.
Wells
send wrong message
In
December, an advisory group called the Environmental Science Forum voted 9-4
to recommend against reopening three old wells in the preserve to provide
water for East Lake Woodlands golf courses during the dry season.
Pinellas
County Utilities officials had said pumping from the wells would leave more
reclaimed water for homeowners.
But
after the Southwest Florida Water Management District returned the county's
permit application recently, asking for more information, Pinellas County
Utilities Director Pick Talley was ready to give up, too.
"It
was just another program to increase our conservation effort," he said.
Most members of the science forum, a group Spratt created to give advice on
environmental policy questions, said allowing the pumping would send the
wrong message as water conservation becomes more and more critical.
Spratt
told commissioners of his decision during their meeting Tuesday morning.
After
he finished reading from a three-page memo outlining the decision,
commissioners Karen Seel, Bob Stewart and Ken Welch said they supported his
decision, and others present offered no opposition. Commissioners Susan
Latvala and Ronnie Duncan were not at the meeting.
At
times, the controversy over the pumping plan had led environmental advocates
to make stinging charges against Spratt, and Welch took a moment to praise
the administrator Tuesday.
"I
just want to commend you on your conduct during these debates," Welch
said.
Questions
still remain
Later,
Spratt said, commissioners still need to address broader policy questions
about water production and use in the preserve, considering that the
utilities department bought the land for wellfields.
Commissioners
are scheduled to consider the issue in a workshop Thursday on policy toward
the Brooker Creek Preserve.
Talley
agreed.
"The
board needs to consider whether there is going to be any policy set that we
can or cannot use water from the preserve for off-site purposes," he
said.
"As
far as I'm concerned, all land in the Brooker Creek Preserve is the same -
regardless of who bought it - and it should all be preserved," Poling
said.
Environmental
advocate Lorraine Margeson of St. Petersburg says a charter amendment could
help prevent sagas like the pumping initiative.
"It's
one little win in a big heck of a mess," she said. "The only way
to completely satisfy the tax-paying citizens is to legally and forever
preserve the preserve."
Times
staff writer Will Van Sant contributed to this report. Theresa Blackwell can
be reached at tblackwell@sptimes.com
or 727 445-4170.
If
you go
Workshop
set
A
County Commission workshop on issues and policies in the Brooker Creek
Preserve will be from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday in the Commission
Assembly Room on the fifth floor of the County Courthouse, 315 Court St.,
Clearwater. County staff members will first present a detailed summary of
actions related to the preserve. Then commissioners will have some
discussion before the public speaks, most likely in the afternoon.
Two
additional work sessions are planned in April and May.
Cabinet
Approves Land Swap for Home
Photos
of rare birds and mating manatees weren't enough to stop Gov. Charlie Crist
and the Florida Cabinet from agreeing to a land swap that could allow a new
home to be built in ritzy Longboat Key.
The unanimous decision from Crist and the Cabinet ends a four-year effort by
the William C. Saba family to retain full ownership of submerged lands near
three small lots they own in
Their contention was that the state's decision to dredge the part of
Longboat Key and to erect seawalls nearby led to the erosion of their land
and put it underwater.
Submerged lands are generally considered state property. A 12th circuit
judge ruled in 2005 that the state owned the land and the
But Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Mike Sole said Tuesday
that the agency agreed that the land belonged to the family and had offered,
pending Cabinet approval, a swap.
Board
OKs grant search
By
TERRY WITT
A
year after they first discussed establishing a public land acquisition
program,
Commissioners
instructed their staff to work with The Trust for
The
grant must be filed by May with the Florida Communities Trust (FCT), a grant
program that has awarded $500 million for conservation projects all over the
state.
If
the grant were funded, it could lead to creation of a new park or
preservation of a historically significant parcel of land, or a historically
significant building.
Development
Services Director Gary Maidhof said he had a couple of projects in mind, but
he would have to run them past TPL officials to find out if they would work.
TPL
is a leading member of the Florida Forever Coalition, which exists to
advocate the reauthorization and expansion of Florida Forever, the state’s
land acquisition program.
Other
members of the coalition are Audubon of Florida, Nature Conservancy, 1,000
Friends of Florida, Florida Recreation and Park Association, Florida
Wildlife Federation, Everglades Trust, Alliance of Florida Land Trusts, and
10 other statewide and regional conservation and community organizations.
Commissioners
were wary of committing to any grant project that might involve a
requirement for the county to provide matching funds. Ken Reecy, community
program management for the Florida Communities Trust, said a match of at
least 25 percent from county government would be needed, and he said the
more the county contributed, the higher its score.
However,
Maidhof said the county might be able use land for the grant match in lieu
of dollars in some instances. He also said the cities of Inverness and
Maidhof
was instructed to work with TPL to choose a project that would be
competitive. He said both he and planner Sue Farnsworth have experience
writing these types of grants, although their regular jobs occupy most of
their workday.
However,
Maidhof said he believes the county can come up with a project that ranks
high.
“I’m
very comfortable we can get in the upper third, at least,” he said.
Tomoka
By
DINAH VOYLES PULVER
Staff Writer
Regional
water managers agreed Tuesday to help add another 657 acres to a proposed
corridor of undeveloped, conservation land through the center of Volusia and
Flagler counties.
The
St. Johns River Water Management District's governing board agreed to split
the $8 million cost of buying the land with
The
property is on the western side of Tomoka Farms Road, north of Pioneer
Trail. It joins other conservation land to the south and west that is
jointly owned by the county and Port
The
council is expected to approve the acquisition, because it previously agreed
to give the property a higher priority on its land acquisition wish list.
"We're
thrilled at this partnership," said Doug Weaver, who heads up land
management and acquisition for the county. The Volusia Forever program has
had a "longtime interest" in buying the land, Weaver said.
The
tract, owned by the Joseph Krol family, is not inside the technical
boundaries of the 80,000 acre-Volusia/Flagler Conservation Corridor, but
will become part of the corridor because it borders it to the east.
Home
foreclosures in
BY
MONICA HATCHER
With
The
number of borrowers in
And
more borrowers are facing the possibility of losing their homes. Foreclosure
actions filed against homeowners nearly tripled in Miami-Dade and Broward
counties in January and February, compared to the same two months last year,
reports the clerks of court.
The
defaults suggest mortgage debt is a growing burden on the economy, leaving
some homeowners struggling to make ends meet. The result could be that
homebuyers find it harder to get loans in the future as banks tighten
lending standards.
Also,
foreclosed houses might end up back on a market that already has too many
homes for sale, dragging down prices. And cash-strapped homeowners could
reduce other kinds of spending, such as retail sales.
Per
Gunnar Berglund, a senior economist with Moody's Economy.com, said
''The
While
rising delinquencies and foreclosures still represent a fraction of total
households in the region. And
However,
the pace is quickening.
In
the mortgage bankers' quarterly report, the delinquency rate for subprime
loans in
In
Miami-Dade and Broward counties, 23 percent and 18 percent of all loans are
subprime, respectively; of those, about 6.7 percent are more than 60 days
overdue, according to data from mortgage research firm First American Loan
Performance.
Subprime
loans typically carry interest rates 4 to 6 percent higher than loans issued
to people with good credit. They include adjustable rate mortgages that
offer low teaser rates and ''no doc'' loans, which require no proof of a
borrowers' assets or income.
Consumer
advocates have criticized the loans as exploitative, claiming lenders
relaxed standards and granted the mortgages despite the increased chances
borrowers couldn't pay. But during the real estate boom, a combination of
low interest rates and rapidly rising home values made offering these
mortgages a seemingly safe bet.
And
investors, who buy pools of mortgages on the secondary market, were hungry
for the high yields that came with riskier products, making more funds
available to write new loans. In the wake of rising defaults, however, those
investors are now cutting off their support, leading to a sudden rise in the
price of subprime credit.
Mike
Fratantoni, senior economist with the Mortgage Bankers Association, said the
tightening standards will likely push other would-be subprime buyers out of
the market -- just as prices are becoming more affordable.
''You
might expect that to have more of an impact in the starter home market,''
Fratantoni said. ``In some markets, like
Meanwhile,
the increase in defaults is sending business soaring for professionals
involved in the foreclosure business.
Alan
Rosenthal, who supervises the mortgage litigation practice at Coral
Gables-based Adorno & Yoss, said the firm was seeing a ''huge spike'' in
foreclosure cases initiated by lenders.
''I
don't believe we have seen the full impact of these what I call junk loans
-- the negative amortization loans and all these other weird loans. They are
too new,'' he said. And real estate professionals are gearing up for what
could be the start of a surge of homeowners desperate to sell.
''We're
seeing more and more foreclosed homes in our listing inventory,'' said
Richard Barkett, CEO of the 11,000-member Realtor Association of Greater
Fort Lauderdale.
The
association is conducting classes to educate its members on the foreclosure
process which are proving popular.
''In
the one we had recently, it was standing room only,'' Barkett said.
Study:
121,000 Students By 2015
By Julia
Crouse
The Ledger
|
|
BARTOW
- If
A new report predicts that Polk's student numbers will increase by 34.9
percent in the next eight years, adding an additional 18,415 students.
"Clearly, we're going to continue being in the construction
business," said Bob Williams, the district's assistant superintendent
of facilities and operations.
The projections, compiled by Maryland-based consultants The Grier
Partnership, base the student swell on central
The Grier Partnership last did an enrollment projection for Polk in 2002. It
projected that in the fall of 2006, Polk would have 89,250 students in
kindergarten through 12th grade.
The actual enrollment was 88,473, a difference of 777, or 0.9 percent.
Superintendent Gail McKinzie said the previous accuracy indicates the latest
projection will probably hit the mark with the 35 percent growth over the
next eight years, barring a drastic dip in
The additional students will attend class in new classroom additions, new
schools and portables, Williams said.
"We have plans built in to handle that kind of growth," he said.
"Whether we'll be able to fund everything is questionable."
McKinzie said the toughest part about planning for the growth is making sure
Polk keeps in compliance with the class size amendment, which limits the
number of students in elementary, middle and high school classrooms.
She said parents should get used to the idea that their children will be
regularly rezoned to new schools to accommodate growth.
"Rezoning is going to be more of a fact of life than it has been,"
she said.
The Grier report says that Polk's student enrollment will surpass 100,000
students by the fall of 2010.
Over the past five years, Polk's school enrollment, including
pre-kindergarten, has increased by 9,770 students, or 12.2 percent.
Polk has seen the most growth in its student numbers in the past couple of
years, when it increased by 5.5 percent from 2004 to 88,683 students in
2005. Numbers increased another 3.2 percent to 91,494 on the 60th day of
this school year.
Between 1999 and 2004, percentage growth ranged from 1.5 percent to 2.2
percent.
The enrollment leap of 2005 caught school officials by surprise.
This school year, administrators were prepared for the students and continue
to expect significant growth at a time when many
The Grier report suggests revisiting the data in the next six months to see
if housing permits and construction activity continues to drop off.
Julia Crouse can be reached at julia.crouse@theledger.com
or 863-802-7536.
As
Polk Grows, So Does Wildfire Damage Risk
By Bill
Bair
The Ledger
Seven mobile homes - five occupied and two unoccupied - were destroyed in
the fire east of