Proposal Aims for Renewable Energy

By STEPHEN MAJORS
The Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE - Florida would jump from lackluster ranks to having the most stringent renewable energy requirements for electricity generation in the nation, under a bill to be considered today by a Senate committee.

The Senate's energy plan (SB 996) would require half of new electricity in Florida to be generated with renewable energies such as biomass, wind and solar by 2017. The Sunshine State currently generates less than 10 percent of its electricity using nuclear power and other, renewable fuels, instead relying primarily on natural gas, coal and petroleum - all fossil fuels.

The 50 percent figure may change during upcoming negotiations, but it signals that some state lawmakers want Florida to join at least 20 other states and the District of Columbia, which have renewable portfolio standards for electricity production.

Minnesota, for example, has a requirement of 25 percent by 2025 - the highest percentage of any state to date, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

"I think it's very bold to set an aggressive goal like that," said Susan Glickman, a consultant for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. "I think it will certainly cause people to look at what's in the realm of the possible for Florida."

However, the House energy plan (ENRC 07-01) approved Wednesday by the Environment and Natural Resources Council rejects a renewable energy mandate until a study can be conducted to recommend a requirement.

It opts instead for tax incentives and grants to spur the production of renewable fuels such as ethanol, which experts have said could be readily produced in Florida using materials such as citrus and yard waste.

The Senate plan also contains tax incentives, but its author thinks a mandate is the best way to spur needed investment in renewable energy to offset Florida's dependence on foreign oil.

"We're dragging the power companies kicking and screaming to the table," said Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton.

Rep. Bob Allen, R-Merritt Island, the House energy head, said incentives are a better way to get industry to partner in new initiatives.

"Mandating is the old central government model where it's Soviet style. You're telling people, 'You shall do this,' and you hope they will," Allen said. "You can't make people spend and invest dollars ... with a mandate as fast as you can when you incentivize it."

Florida Power & Light, the state's largest electricity producer, had not had time to digest the Senate proposal.

"We'll evaluate it," said spokesman Mayco Villafana.

The Senate bill contains another provision that has historically been unappealing to power companies. It would require the creation of a net-metering program, in which electricity customers who have installed solar or wind technologies in their homes and businesses would receive credit for excess power they send back out onto the grid.

Currently, there is no incentive for people to use those technologies because they may not get credit for the energy they produce.

Allen has said the House will likely wait until next year to look at net-metering so that other policies can settle into place.

Bill would ease ban on erosion-control tubes
Environmentalists say devices disrupt nesting sea turtles
By Paige St. John
FLORIDA CAPITAL BUREAU

The manufacturer of a beach-reinforcement system won at least a temporary victory in the Florida Legislature, agreeing to abide by federal protections for sea turtles if its gigantic sand tubes can escape Florida's ban on unnecessary coastal armoring.

Environmentalists, as well as the architect of Florida's current beach-restoration program, are not pleased.

''I'm concerned to say you don't have to have any need to justify it,'' said Debbie Flak, currently head of the Florida Shore and Beach Preservation Association and formerly director of the state agency that regulates beach-armoring and restoration projects.

The controversy is over efforts by Advanced Coastal Technology, an Alabama company, to bypass state regulators who have been slow to grant permits for the company's mammoth textile tubes. Buried beneath sand, they serve to anchor existing dunes and provide some protection from erosion.

Lobbyists for the firm have worked for three years with Rep. Stan Mayfield, R-Vero Beach, to get the systems reclassified as ''soft armoring.''

An amended House bill that surfaced late Tuesday evening did essentially that - in a paragraph allowing coastal residents to use the tubes even in areas where no homes are threatened by the moving shore.

''Let the property owners take a look ... let the property owners have a choice,'' said Randy Kessler, an engineer for the company.

Some lawmakers noted the exemption gives ACT a distinct advantage over competitive systems, such as seawalls and other armoring, that would still have to abide by state vulnerability requirements.

And, environmentalists pointed out, some of the existing sand-tube systems installed in Florida on a test basis have failed to stop erosion, while providing a barrier to nesting turtles if they are not constantly rebuilt.

''They invariably get uncovered. They don't work on erosive beaches,'' contended Gary Appelson with the Caribbean Conservation Corp.

Some of the strongest objections came from Rep. Thad Altman, R-Melbourne, whose Brevard County district has five such structures. After several Walton County homeowners pleaded for state sanction of the expensive systems they had installed, Altman questioned their assumption the homeowners are any better off.

''I really challenge the technical merit of this technology,'' he said. ''They could be a big waste of money.''

However, he failed to convince other members of the Environmental Protection committee, including chairwoman Rep. Trudi Williams, R-Fort Myers, to remove the permitting exemption for sand tubes.

The bill has one more stop before reaching the House floor - Mayfield's committee. The House council chairman is absent, fighting cancer.

Nature prevails for Wood Sink
Conservancy group closes on land deal
By Bruce Ritchie
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

CHAIRES - Tom Greenhalgh, a state geologist, watched as a clear-flowing stream created a small waterfall before it flowed underground into Wood Sink east of Tallahassee.

"I imagine this thing really blows" through after a hard rain, said Greenhalgh, who works at the Florida Geological Survey. "It will take most of that water, I'm pretty sure, really fast."

Because the stream flows into the Floridan Aquifer, which flows to springs and provides drinking water for the region, Wood Sink and the surrounding land has been targeted by Tallahassee and Leon County for conservation.

And because The St. Joe Co. owned Wood Sink and put it along with about 2,000 surrounding acres along the St. Marks River up for sale last year, conservation agencies and groups have been concerned the land could be developed.

But some of that fear could be put to rest today as The Nature Conservancy is scheduled to close on a deal to buy Wood Sink and 1,057 surrounding acres.

"I think it's a wonderful thing - we're flabbergasted," said Jim Davis, executive director of the Tallahassee-Leon County Blueprint 2000 Agency. He said his agency could negotiate with the group to buy 200 acres around Wood Sink.

"There clearly was a significant concern it was going to be developed," he said.

The Nature Conservancy hopes to sell the majority of the land eventually to the state, which also targeted the area for purchase. The group is buying the land now because the state doesn't have the money to buy it until at least the new fiscal year, which starts July 1, said Keith Fountain, director of land acquisition with the group's Florida chapter.

The entire tract is located north of U.S. Highway 27, or Apalachee Parkway. Last year, the state bought 2,625 acres immediately south of the highway for a new state park.

Rather than becoming a state park, the new purchase area likely will be managed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said Gary Cochran, the agency's conservation acquisition and planning administrator.

The Wood Sink tract connects to the agency's L. Kirk Edwards Environmental Area, which includes Lower Lake Lafayette and 692 acres to the east.

The lake is a nesting area for great egrets and wood storks, Cochran said, and the Wood Sink property is an area where those birds search for food.

Swallow-tailed kites and smaller migrating birds also visit the area during the winter time along with migrating ducks. The area also is Florida black bear habitat.

The purchase also creates a conservation link between Lake Lafayette, the St. Marks River and the thousands of acres the state owns along the Wacissa and Aucilla rivers.

St. Joe owned the property at least 30 years and had grown pine trees for paper and pulp production, said Shane Fuller, a company biologist.

About six years ago, the company began thinning the pines and burning the underbrush.

The result now is an open pine forest with more grasses and berries - food for more wildlife, including deer, turkey and quail, Fuller said.

"When I started on this area, it was wall-to-wall pine trees," Fuller said. "You couldn't see anything through it."

Conservation groups have been urging the Legislature to allocate more money for land purchases. The Nature Conservancy has stepped in and bought about $100 million worth of land because the state has been unable to, Fountain said.

"It's a buyer's market right now," he said. "There are a lot of people who want to sell their property."

Water board OKs pollution cleanup

A $5.3 million treatment plant would clear the discharge from Lake Apopka.

Robert Sargent
Sentinel Staff Writer

March 29, 2007

TAVARES -- The Lake County Water Authority agreed Wednesday to move ahead with a multimillion-dollar plan to help reduce pollution spewing into the Harris Chain of Lakes.

The authority's board of trustees voted 6-1 to find a builder for a large treatment facility that would clean up water flowing into the chain from Lake Apopka. Board member Ann Griffin dissented.

When completed, the project would be one of the biggest environmental cleanups in the county's history.

The treatment plant is expected to cost about $5.3 million. Operating it could run as much as $1.2 million a year.

Most of the board strongly support the idea, calling it a vital step to help curb pollution coming out of Lake Apopka.

"I think it's a great thing -- it's exciting," board member Nancy Fullerton said.

"This is proven science," board member Keith Farner said. "I have the absolute highest expectations."

Griffin, however, read a long list of concerns about how the project could affect the environment, including water that would be injected with liquid alum, or aluminum sulfate. She argued that the facility also would alter land used by protected birds and other wildlife.

Griffin questioned the high cost of the project: "This is a terrible assault on taxpayers' money."

The water authority could bid out the project next month. The board could consider offers by May or June.

Lake Apopka -- considered one of the state's most-polluted lakes -- is struggling to recover from decades of damage from municipal and citrus waste in addition to muck farms around the lake.

Its hazy green water, which often is loaded with excessive nutrients and sediment, flows downstream to most of the Harris Chain of Lakes in north Lake County.

Lake Apopka is a major cause of environmental problems on the Harris chain, which has had its share of cleanup projects over the years.

The treatment facility would attempt to cut off much of that pollution by diverting water from the Apopka-Beauclair canal and injecting it with alum. The treated water would run through two 10-acre settling ponds, where the alum would combine with phosphorus and other pollutants.

The combined material then would settle to the bottom of the ponds, where it would be pumped away and dried in a 21-acre containment area. The treated water would be directed from the settling ponds back to the Apopka-Beauclair canal and then into the Harris chain.

The water authority hopes the project will remove up to 67 percent of the algae-feeding phosphorus coming from Lake Apopka.

The facility would handle up to 8 million gallons an hour. However, it could treat different amounts of water depending on how much comes downstream.

The St. Johns River Water Management District is providing the 250-acre site along the canal. The facility would sit on about 50 acres.

The state Department of Environmental Protection has issued a permit to allow the project, and the agency could pay for up to half of the facility's construction costs.

The Lake County Water Authority would pay the rest.

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

Florida may go green through fertilizer limits

By CRAIG PITTMAN
Published March 29, 2007

Lush green lawns, verdant golf courses and tropical gardens long have been a part of the rich Florida landscape.

But that beauty has come with a price.

For years, state officials have blamed overfertilized lawns for many of Florida's water pollution woes.

With every rainfall, they said, excess nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizers would wash downstream, spurring harmful algae blooms, fish kills and deadzones in lakes and rivers.

This spring, Florida is poised to become the first state in the nation to restrict the content of fertilizer for lawns, farms, golf courses and landscaping, according to industry officials.

State officials have proposed a rule that would limit fertilizer sold in Florida to formulas classified as no- or low-phosphate - all in an effort to quell the state's biggest water pollution problem.

They didn't intend to become national leaders on the fertilizer issue, state officials said, but industry representatives suggested creating a uniform policy to avoid counties and cities imposing their own rules.

Now, though, the industry isn't keen on the result.

"There's no justification for reformulating this product," said James Skillen of the fertilizer trade group Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment.

Industry officials question whether the rule would even lessen Florida's water pollution.

"We're battling the myths of the impact that fertilizer has," said Mary Hartney, president of the Florida Fertilizer and Agrichemical Association. "There's a misperception that overuse is occurring, and we have the data and can prove that there's no overuse."

The state and opponents don't agree on the effect on suburban lawns. "Homeowners won't see a difference with how green their lawns are," predicted Carol Wehle, executive director of the South Florida Water Management District.

"They'll notice eventually a degradation of their lawn," Hartney said.

And they don't agree on whether the new rules will stem the rising tide of polluted waters. "Almost no phosphorus will be getting into our urban waterways," Wehle said.

"I think it will be difficult to measure" any change, Hartney said.

Laurie Trenholm, a University of Florida associate professor of environmental horticulture who has studied urban turfgrass, said the new rules are "not going to be detrimental to lawns."

But golf courses and athletic fields that see a lot of wear may have some trouble, she said. If that happens, the rule allows application of larger amounts of fertilizer.

Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson announced the proposed new rule in January. The department already has had two public workshops. The last one is scheduled for today in the small Central Florida town of Citra.

Unless there are substantial objections submitted there, the new rule will likely take effect in late May or early June. However, there will be a yearlong grace period for stores to sell out of the current stock of fertilizer in Florida and usher in the new formula.

Some consumers appear eager for the switch. Christopher D'Elia, an environmental science professor at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, said he recently canceled his "ChemLawn" service with TruGreen because he feared his Old Northeast lawn was polluting nearby Tampa Bay.

"If we want to protect our water, we need to protect our resources," D'Elia said.

Craig Hyde, a St. Petersburg landscaper, said he treats both his own and his customers' lawns with an organic fertilizer that uses 2 percent phosphorus and is environmentally safe. He said the fertilizer keeps lawns lush and green, but he added that more chemicals are required to curb insect infestations.

"Do I want my yard to look like that" asked Hyde, pointing toward the patchwork of weeds and sand across the street from his Old Northeast home. "No."

Restricting fertilizer use came up two years ago when state officials were trying to come up with a rescue plan for Lake Okeechobee, one of the most polluted waterways in Florida.

One idea batted around was to limit fertilizer use on lawns and farms around the lake, Wehle said.

If the state were able to cut back on the source of pollution, she said, "then we don't have to spend all these public tax dollars cleaning it up later."

Meanwhile local governments around the state already were considering or taking action on fertilizer limits. Martin and Sarasota counties have talked about clamping down. Crystal River has limited sales to only slow-release fertilizer formulas.

Last year the village of Wellington banned all but 2 percent phosphorus fertilizer, and this month Sanibel followed suit. It also is restricting homeowners to six applications of fertilizer a year. Violators could be charged with a misdemeanor, with the maximum punishment a fine of $500 and 60 days in jail.

Fertilizer industry executives didn't like the fact that they had no input on most of the local rules under discussion, and they worried about trying to comply with widely differing regulations across Florida.

So when state officials contacted them about establishing new fertilizer rules around Lake Okeechobee, industry representatives proposed the state set a single state standard, Wehle said.

That made sense to state officials.

"One of the things we're trying to prevent is a patchwork of local ordinances that would be almost impossible to enforce," said Richard Budell, director of water resources protection for the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

That made industry officials unhappy. "The proposed rule as written is problematic," Hartney said. "It puts a disproportionate share of the burden on the industry. We certainly don't think we're the whole problem."

She said the industry prefers more of an emphasis on educating the consumers rather than regulating the fertilizer formula.

Florida isn't the only state concerned about phosphate. Starting in 2005, Minnesota outlawed the use of fertilizers containing phosphorus on lawns unless certain conditions were met.

But Florida officials hope other states will follow suit and be even more aggressive in restricting fertilizer use, Wehle said.

"If we can do it," she said, "then everybody can do it."

Times staff writers Casey Cora and Elena Lesley and researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

Q&A

Fertilizer changes

What's being proposed?

The state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services wants to limit the sale of fertilizer products statewide to only those with low or no phosphorus.

Why?

State officials blame excessive farm and suburban fertilizer use for causing Florida's most serious water pollution problem: nutrients that fuel harmful algae blooms, causing fish kills as well as swimmers' rashes and respiratory problems.

Will I notice any difference in my lawn?

State officials say no, but fertilizer industry officials - who oppose the change - are not so confident.

When will the change take effect?

This spring, although stores would have until next year to sell all the fertilizer now on their shelves.

How do I know if the fertilizer I am using has low or no phosphate?

Fertilizer bags have three numbers giving the proportion of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in the mix. The middle one should be 0 or less than 2 or 3.

If you go

Workshop in Citra

The last public workshop on the proposed new rule for fertilizer is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. today at the Plant Science Research and Education Unit, 2556 W Highway 318, Citra. For information contact Dale Dubberly, bureau chief of compliance monitoring, Division of Agricultural Environmental Services at (850) 488-8731. To read the full proposal, click on: http://www.flaes.org/pdf/Revision5E-1%2000313107_1.pdf

Rivers Thirst For Elusive Rainfall

By MIKE SALINEROAnd NEIL JOHNSON The Tampa Tribune

Published: Mar 29, 2007

TAMPA - With river levels approaching record lows, Temple Terrace marine police Officer Carl Avari-Cooper spends less time in his boat and more on the Hillsborough River's banks, patrolling by foot.

"There are parts of the river that are inaccessible," he said.

Tampa, which relies on the river for its fresh water, is reaching beyond the river to supplement its supply with 30 million gallons purchased daily from Tampa Bay Water, the region's water utility.

The duration of the current dry spell is reviving memories of the Florida drought that lasted from 1998 until summer 2001. It drained water supplies, ignited wildfires and parched lawns across suburbia.

"We're not there now, but it's our fear that we may be headed back that way," said Granville Kinsman, manager of hydraulic data for the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

After an abnormally dry 2006, rainfall continues to be scarce. Forecasts call for a drier-than-normal April and May, historically Florida's driest months.

Under the current conditions, it would take up to 6 inches above normal rainfall to erase the drought in the Tampa Bay area and most of the rest of Florida, the National Weather Service said.

Across The State

The drought stretches beyond the Tampa Bay area.

Almost 95 percent of the state is under some level of drought conditions. A year ago, only about 12 percent of the state was under drought or dry conditions.

The last time Florida suffered a major drought was when a La Nina weather system formed in the Pacific Ocean in 1998 immediately after an El Nino, a period of warmer-than-normal water temperatures in the Pacific that typically brings increased rain to Florida.

Before the drought ended in summer 2001, 20,000 wildfires had destroyed 1.46 million acres.

A shift from an El Nino to La Nina appears to be happening now.

But state climatologist David Zierden said he doesn't think Florida is heading for a drought like the one that ended in 2001. He said there are no climatic conditions to thwart the summer thunderstorms that usually douse Florida during summer.

Still even a one-month delay in the summer storms could affect regional water supplies, lower aquifers to dangerous levels and reduce river flows to a trickle.

"We really count on that summer rain to replenish our ground and surface water systems," said Kinsman, the water district manager. "If we don't get it, that will be the tipping point."

Tough Paddling Locally

On the Alafia River, near-normal levels were recorded until recently because more rain fell in its watershed last year than fell in the Hillsborough River watershed.

Now, though, Tampa Bay Water has stopped withdrawing water from the Alafia because river levels had fallen.

On the Hillsborough River, boats are beaching.

"The boating traffic has halted for the most part except for a couple of little john boats," said Frank Chillura, a Temple Terrace city councilman.

The reservoir on the river is approaching critical levels.

"We are about 18 inches lower in the reservoir than we were last year," said Brad Baird, Tampa's Water Department director. "We're going into this dry season in worse shape than we were last year."

Reporter Mike Salinero can be reached at msalinero@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-8303.

Myakka bill shelved

By SARA LUBBES

sara.lubbes@heraldtribune.com
TALLAHASSEE -- Plans designed to provide increased state protection for the Myakka River are off the table, at least for this year.

State Rep. Keith Fitzgerald, D-Sarasota, and Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, joined forces this legislative session to push for the entire river, from southeast Manatee County to Charlotte Harbor, to be set aside as a wild and scenic river.

That designation, which allows local governments more control over development along the river's edge, currently only applies to a 34-mile stretch of the river through Sarasota County.

Fitzgerald said Wednesday a bill that would apply the "wild and scenic" protection status to the whole river is on hold until more study can to be done to make sure all of the Myakka will fit into the government's definition of a wild river.

Environmental groups such as Manasota-88 have been lobbying for the change.

Fitzgerald said it's a technical problem that industries that object to the river's protection could have used to defeat Fitzgerald's and Bennett's bills this year.

Once the problem is addressed, the river preservation bill should be back in 2008, he said.

Developers dislike tree-protection rules

Sandra Pedicini
Sentinel Staff Writer

March 29, 2007

Developers and builders are objecting to proposed rules intended to protect trees along scenic roads in Seminole County, saying they would be too restrictive and bureaucratic.

The Seminole County Commission delayed discussion of the rules Tuesday, after staffers asked for more time to make sure they have addressed developers' concerns. Staff has been tweaking the rules since late last year, when the county's planning board unanimously rejected them.

The rules would make it difficult to remove large trees, such as oaks, along parts of 23 roads. They also would increase the size of replacement trees developers are required to plant.

In December, the county's planning and zoning board unanimously recommended denial of the ordinance. Members said the county has plenty of control over trees and predicted landowners would rush to chop down trees before new rules went into effect. Other critics warned of legal challenges from landowners who think the county has violated their property rights.

"The public, as a whole, if they understood this ordinance, would be extremely supportive," said Randy Morris, who pushed for the rules while a Seminole County commissioner. "You want to protect those things that have value."

The rules are meant to restrict government just as much as private-property owners, he said, noting that he pushed for the changes a few years ago after realizing there were plans to clear-cut trees as part of a project to straighten General Hutchinson Parkway.

That work didn't happen, Morris said, and General Hutchinson is now on the list of five "canopy roads" and 20 "candidate roads" that the rules would protect. Left alone, trees along the candidate roads have the potential to create a canopy.

The new rules aim to protect the trees that create that canopy, county staff members said, by making it difficult to remove them except under special circumstances.

Members of the local Development Advisory Board, a group not affiliated with the county that represents the development community, have questioned the rules. Kevin Spolski, a member of the group, wrote a letter warning that the rules would be costly to implement and could present the county with legal liabilities if they blocked removal of dangerous, falling trees.

The county also could face "protracted, expensive legal challenges brought about by property owners whose property rights will be severely impacted," according to the letter. Spolski could not be reached for comment.

Proponents say the rules would allow for flexibility to remove trees that are a danger.

"It just depends on the situation," said Jeff Hopper, a Seminole County planner who has been working on the ordinance. "We're going to have a process where the planning and development director or person she appoints can at times make judgment calls."

The issue is expected back in front of the County Commission on April 10.

Sandra Pedicini can be reached at spedicini@orlandosentinel.comor 407-322-7669.

Flagler Co. asks others to help save 3 live oaks

By BARRY FLYNN
Staff Writer

BUNNELL -- Although they are committed to preserving three ancient live oak trees on one of Flagler County's earliest homesteads, county officials want area cities and towns to kick in for the cost -- which could be more than $1 million.

Commissioners have sent letters to each of the county's other municipalities asking them to contribute to buying property to save the trees from development.

The County Commission has designated $1 million to acquire environmentally sensitive lands, the commission said in its letters to the municipalities. But the current owner is currently asking $1.65 million for the property, the letters state.

"They come to us all the time" for help on preservation projects, Commissioner George Hanns said. "I want to see how they respond."

Hanns, a champion of the preservation effort, said he knows of only one official response. Marineland officials have expressed a willingness to help, he said.

The three live oaks are estimated at 300 to 400 years old and sit on land that belonged to Moody homestead, built in 1916, near State Road 100.

A few officials from other cities have weighed in informally on the request to help save the trees.

The Flagler Beach City Commission took up the county's request last week, with some members in favor, at least in principle, even if check-writing time had not arrived.

"This is a good idea, actually, but I don't know exactly what they're looking for," Commissioner John Feind said.

Commissioner Ron Vath said there were other things the city could do than give cash. He had a suggestion: "We can run an ad and ask people to donate."

Mayor Alice Baker said some local businesses could probably help out. "I think in some way we should help them preserve this," she said.

Others have been less supportive, such as Councilwoman Mary DiStefano of Palm Coast.

"It's nothing against the trees," she said, "but it is my belief the county is responsible for that."

Mayor Stephen Emmet of Beverly Beach was almost as unenthusiastic. "I'm not so sure the county has everything locked in," he said.

He said the town's commissioners would take up the request at their next meeting April 2.

The live oaks are massive trees, each with trunks 6 feet in diameter and canopies more than 100 feet across, according to the county commissioners' letters.

The trees sit on about 3.5 acres between State Road 100 and Briarwood Path, the site of the former Moody homestead. The homestead was built in 1916, according to Diane Marquis, a proponent of saving the property, which she and her husband once owned.

The land is also on the original brick road that predated the nearby state highway, commissioners said.

The three live oaks were the first to be designated historic trees by the county and cannot be cut down without permission of the County Commission.

However, development too close to them, such as paving land over the trees' roots, could be enough to imperil them, said Carl Laundrie, a spokesman for the county.

-- Staff Writers Lauren Sonis and Kenya Woodard contributed to this report.

barry.flynn@news-jrnl.com

Ill Wind At Water's Edge

By CHRISTIAN M. WADE The Tampa Tribune

Published: Mar 29, 2007

PORT RICHEY - Frank Perrott wants to expand his struggling operation at a time when commercial marinas are disappearing from Florida's coastline.

Residents of Sunset Boulevard, meanwhile, are fighting to maintain the suburban lifestyle they say is increasingly threatened by development.

Those competing interests played out Tuesday night when city council members, brushing aside a chorus of opposition and ignoring city staff recommendations, signed off on a rezoning request that will allow Perrott to expand his 40-year-old Sunset Landing Marina.

The rancorous meeting, which spilled over into early Wednesday, was punctuated with claims and denials of shady dealings by council members and allegations the marina was violating city codes.

Residents who oppose the expansion, including former Mayor Eloise Taylor, accused Councilman Dale Massad of being biased in his support for the proposal and demanded he recuse himself.

Massad denied the allegations and refused to stand down.

"It's no secret in this community that I'm pro-waterfront," Massad said. "If I didn't think that I could be objective on this, I would recuse myself."

In the end, the council approved separate rezonings for adjacent properties at 5108 and 5126 Sunset Blvd., a move which, if approved with a second vote, changes the land use from residential to commercial.

Vice Mayor Phyllis Grae voted against both proposals, and Councilman Steve O'Neill voted against the request for 5108 Sunset Blvd.

"I won't go against the recommendations of our staff," Grae said.

Steve Booth, Perrott's lawyer, said he wants to add a new office, commercial boat docks and other waterfront upgrades.

To do that, Perrott needs to rezone both properties from residential to commercial, which conflicts with the city's zoning laws and the recently revised land development code.

"My clients understand the concerns of residents and want to be a good neighbor," Booth said. "They just want to expand the marina."

Several residents spoke in favor of the rezoning, saying the marina's plans are part of a broader effort to preserve the dwindling number of working waterfront marinas in the state.

Other supporters said it's simply an issue of expanding or dying.

"When you have a business and you want to preserve it, you have to make moves," Toni Vosseler said. "Nothing gets done by maintaining the status quo. Status quo is an enemy in the business world."

Expansion Or Stewardship?

The controversy over Sunset Landing's expansion comes as developers are gobbling up waterfront property in favor of building pricey condominiums.

The trend is evident in Pasco County, where recreational boaters and ever-dwindling numbers of commercial fishermen fight for space at public and private docks.

Marinas aren't just places where people tie up boats. They are centers of commerce, where seafood, fuel, bait, tackle and other gear are bought and sold, and they are part of laid-back living at the water's edge.

Booth invoked state legislation aimed at encouraging the protection of Florida's dwindling marinas, arguing Tuesday night that the intent of the law was to promote expansion of older facilities.

Taylor disagreed.

"It's not about expanding marinas but stewardship of our waterways," she said. "This is not a mandate to rubber-stamp requests like this."

The city's planning and zoning board has recommended approving the rezoning for 5108 Sunset Blvd., but it added a special condition that the property then be used only for office space. The board wasn't able to reach consensus on the other request.

Building Official Ed Winch recommended that the council reject both rezoning proposals because they conflict with the development code.

Residents say allowing the marina to expand into a residential area will increase traffic and damage the character of the neighborhood.

"The marina will be doubling in size," said Jim Hoster, who lives on Sunset Boulevard. "We will have extreme congestion in the area."

A petition submitted by the residents opposing the rezoning was rejected by council members, who questioned its authenticity.

Taylor accused the council of denying its citizens due process.

"You don't want to hear what we have to say," she said.

Homeowners Versus Developers

Opposition to the Sunset Landing expansion is part of a larger clash between homeowners and encroaching development in that area.

Last month, Sunset Boulevard residents filed a lawsuit against the city, seeking to stop a proposed subdivision they say was rushed through the approval process with little or no public input. They've asked a Pasco County judge to block plans by a West Palm Beach developer to build seven single-family houses off Limestone Drive. The council approved the project Jan. 9.

The feud between marina owners and residents is not new.

Two years ago, the Perrott family clashed with council members over replacing the marina's docks, which were damaged by a hurricane.

They accused officials, including then-council members Bill Bennett and Jim Priest, both of whom live in the neighborhood, of blocking attempts to expand the marina and replace the docks.

Near the end of Tuesday night's marathon meeting, Taylor warned of potential legal action to block the marina expansion.

"This is going to get decided at a different level," she said.

Reporter Christian M. Wade can be reached at (727) 815-1082 or cwade@tampatrib.com.

Cross Florida Greenway up for 10-year plan

By Cristy Loftis

A plan to address a 93,228-acre strip of land that crosses through Citrus, Levy, Marion and Putnam counties was presented to community members during a public hearing Tuesday evening.

The Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway is slated to receive a 10-year management plan to address growth, protection and expansion. The plan has been on the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Office of Greenways and Trails Web site for about a month, and Tuesday officials heard from citizens.

The Carr Cross Florida Greenway stretches from the Gulf of Mexico to the St. Johns River along a 110-mile path that goes across floodplains, lakes, wetlands, ridges and uplands. The land for the Greenway comes from the Cross Florida Barge Canal project that began in 1935 and was officially abandoned in 1990. The hope of the canal project was to improve shipping from the Gulf to the Atlantic.

Now the land is intended to conserve and protect natural resources and provide recreation opportunities including hiking, bicycling horseback riding and camping.

“The Greenway is an essential component of Florida’s Ecological Greenways network and is also important in statewide hiking, multiuse trails and paddling opportunities,” said Jim Muller, of Muller and Associates working on the behalf of the Office of Greenways and Trails. “It provides a critical linkage in planned north-south ecological corridors.

Muller broke down the management plan priorities into three categories, ranking the 32 items from highest to lowest.

The most critical needs included continuing burning and planting to prevent forest fires, continuing pursuing funding for the control of invasive species, hiring additional staff members and developing and implementing a comprehensive natural community restoration plan.

Other priorities included reviewing existing trails to determine if any need to be closed or realigned for management of natural resources, enhancement of prescribed burning, safety and navigability. Also, they want to develop a policy to address neighbor landowners and their access to the Greenway and establish five new residences for local and state law enforcement for security.

Of the 30 people attending the hearing, only a handful asked questions or gave input. One man wanted to know how Progress Energy’s plans to build a new nuclear plant could impact Greenway access.

Mickey Thomason, Office of Greenways and Trails central region manager, and other DEP staff explained that there have been talks of putting pipes across the Greenway, but plans won’t be definite for years to come and aren’t associated with the 10-year plan.

Others wanted to know what would happen if the Suncoast Parkway is extended through Citrus and Levy counties — a toll way that would inevitably cross the Greenway. The answer is there would be animal access ways under the highway, Thomason said.

A final public hearing on the plan will be from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. today in Palatka. After that, the Greenway Management Advisory Group will meet to discuss suggestions and concerns from the public and create a final plan.

Helen Koehler, chairwoman of the Levy County Development Council, said she’s used the Greenway Trails for years and is pleased with the progress made in trail identification and preservation of the lands.

“This is a tremendous feat for all users,” Koehler said. “It has been an uphill climb.”

For more information about the draft management plan or how to get to the meeting, call (352) 236-7143.

Scientists working to save endangered plant species

By TONI WHITT

toni.whitt@heraldtribune.com
EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK -- "It's not good news," comes the shout.

Botanist Bruce Holst quickens his pace.

He closes in on the contraption surrounding the Trichocentrum undulatum -- known to nonbotanists as the mule-ear orchid -- and quickly assesses the spike. His face falls.

It is withered at the top, soft, brown and fallen to the side.

Holst's disappointment doesn't last long. A larger plant nearby is healthy, its 21/2-foot-long spike reaching toward the top of the netting protecting it. It's one of the biggest plants he and another scientist bagged.

Holst, director of plant collections at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, is working with the Institute for Regional Conservation and Everglades National Park to save species that are dying out and to reintroduce plants in parts of the Everglades where they've disappeared. He is also on the hunt for plants, once abundant in the Everglades that have become extinct in Florida.

While the disappearance of animal species gets more attention, loss of plants is happening rapidly, as well. As many as 20 percent of the world's plant species are in danger of becoming extinct. South Florida, one of the most biologically diverse regions of North America, has lost about 8 percent of its native species because of changes to the ecosystem. Another 244 native species -- about 17 percent -- are critically impaired.

Holst, who worked in nurseries before earning a college degree in botany and joining the Peace Corps, is on a mission to save as many plants as he can. Even if he has to do it one at a time. He calls it "preserving the web of life."

"Botanists are not ready to concede defeat to development," he said. "There are a lot of good opportunities to preserve the environment, not just for people, but for all that exists out there."

The Everglades is host to 162 plants listed by the state as endangered or threatened. Of those 45 are critically impaired. There are another six native plants that are no longer found in the Everglades.

It's not just housing developments and strip malls that are threatening the native plants. Thieves are also taking a heavy toll.

Two orchids and a fern, once found in the Everglades, have disappeared -- largely because plant collectors have pilfered them. Habitat destruction from rising sea levels in the southern part of the park and man-made changes, such as controlling fires and diverting water, contribute to losses.

The trend prompted a group of scientists to form the Institute for Regional Conservation to catalog the rare plants and to save species endemic to South Florida. That group brought Selby, and Holst in particular, into its project to save 12 plants in the Everglades, including the mule-ear orchid. They also have targeted five other orchids and six variety of ferns.

Blond and fit, Holst is an expert in tropical plants. He has been working throughout the western hemisphere for three decades to keep tropical plants from disappearing. In recognition of his work, eight species of tropical plants and one genus have been named for Holst.

Holst spends a few days a month in the Everglades. Since 2003, Holst and others have collected spores from one fern and seed from one mule-ear orchid capsule. They hope to continue the efforts for at least another five years, time enough to cross breed the orchid and to begin placing it in the wild.

It's an important investment, said Keith Bradley, assistant director for the IRC. The disappearance of rare plants is the first sign of trouble in an ecosystem. The biologists are also monitoring the changes to the Everglades and its plant life as the Army Corps of Engineers tries to restore the Everglades and repair the damage it has done.

"When you start to have stresses on an ecosystem, rare species are the first to go," Bradley said.

These plants are particularly important because they tend to be on the northernmost fringes of where they occur naturally. That means these are the plants that tend to evolve to adapt to their habitat. Such evolution helps scientists chronicle the changes in the environment and in plant and animal life.

As for a specific benefit to humans, "any one of these species could be useful in the fight against some disease one day," Bradley said.

Holst and the nine IRC biologists are one part detective, one part adventurer with an eye for the obscure and, in this case, another part inventor.

With a constant eye out for rattlesnakes, the researchers traverse limestone fields with hidden holes large enough to swallow a small child. They climb through dense jungle and cross wide ditches filled with dark, fetid water.

And they want no one to know where they've been. A detailed catalog of tropical plants, their distinct parts, their favorite habitats and their Latin names are kept in their heads. Locations of the rare plants are also kept on their password-protected GPS monitors.

"Collectors want these plants," Holst said. "All of these localities are guarded. We can't advertise them in any way."

The Longgland Orchid has not been reliably seen in Florida's wilds since 1966. It is considered "extirpated," meaning it no longer occurs naturally in the state. Another, the Spider Orchid, was last seen in Big Cypress Swamp nearly 10 years ago before it was stolen. Holst, 49, has applied for a grant to search Big Cypress Swamp after efforts to find it in the Everglades failed. He even tried finding it among a few rare-orchid collectors, with no luck.

This February day Holst and Everglades biologist Jesse Hoffman are focused on the "critically impaired" mule-ear orchid, which has disappeared from Long Pine Key and is fast disappearing all together.

The orchid can be found only in Flamingo Key, a hike away from any roads or public trails. Many of the orchids here are surrounded by poisonous plants, including the deadly manchineel tree. Its sap recently left a scar above Holst's eye.

Back in the remote area, it's not humans that threaten the orchid but an endangered fly endemic only to Florida.

Little is known about the fly, which was only recently discovered in the Everglades. Its benefits aren't clear, and so killing the flies could mean destroying something else in the web of life.

The tiny insect lays its eggs inside the orchid's tender spike soon after it sprouts. The fly larvae tunnel around inside, damaging it. The withered spike can't produce a bloom, so the flowers aren't pollinated and seed capsules don't grow.

Saving the orchid also means saving the fly's habitat.

"The fly depends on it," Holst said. "If the orchid disappears, the fly might disappear and who knows the effect that will have" on the environment.

Once pollinated, it takes nine months for an orchid to produce capsules that contain thousands of seeds. Once the seeds are sown on auger plates in Selby's labs, it takes about four years of care before the tiny plants -- about 2 inches tall -- can be placed in the wild.

Last year Holst was given permission to collect one of two seed capsules found in the Everglades. He is cultivating dozens of mule-ear orchids in his kitchen-cum-laboratory at Selby Gardens. Tiny green dots have begun sprouting, but Holst still needs seeds from another plant for cross breeding to ensure that the new orchids provide diversity of the species and are strong enough to survive in the wild.

Even then, placing the plants in just the right spot to ensure they stick and thrive is a complicated task -- one that might require more inventiveness and perhaps a new netting device that can hold the plant to buttonwood trees.

Still, he holds out hope that the mule-ear orchids hidden deep in the Everglades have blooms on them now and that they are being pollinated.

Sheryl Crow to visit UF on global warming

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Singer Sheryl Crow will visit the University of Florida next month as part of the Stop Global Warming College Tour.

The show will feature a performance by Crow, remarks by climate-change activist Laurie David and clips from the movie "An Inconvenient Truth."

The event is part of an 11-campus tour across the Southeast to bring attention to the issue of global warming. The Gainesville stop is scheduled for April 16.

Crow is a Grammy-award winning performer. David is the founder of stopglobalwarming.org and the wife of Larry David, co-creator of the NBC show "Seinfeld" and star of the HBO show "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

Dedee DeLongpre, director of the UF Office of Sustainability, praised David's commitment.

"What she's doing is great in terms of bringing attention to the issue," she said.

Information from: The Gainesville Sun, http://www.gainesvillesun.com

ATV Race Through Swamp Canceled

By Tom Palmer
The Ledger

POLK CITY - An all-terrain vehicle race set for Saturday through a section of Green Swamp has been canceled after a landowner complained race organizers had cut a path for the race through his property.

The race, billed as "Sweet Hill Thrill," was scheduled to wind through a 320-acre section of an undeveloped subdivision called Groveland Ranch Acres off Sweet Hill Road.

Property owner Ben Selser said he wasn't thrilled that trees and underbrush had been cleared on his property for the race course without his permission.

The small placards nailed to trees along the course and a flier posted on the Internet identify the event's sponsor as a group called Florida Trail Riders, a group whose Web site on Wednesday announced the race's cancellation.

Florida Trail Riders, established in 1973, is a statewide organization of ATV enthusiasts that claims to promote the image of ''responsible motorcyclists'' and ''to establish and maintain good rapport with private land owners, local, state and federal land management agencies."

Selser said the race as planned seemed to contradict the organization's stated ideals.

Florida Trail Riders is one of the groups that has lobbied the County Commission to establish a facility for off-road vehicles somewhere in Polk County.

Dan George, Florida Trail Riders' executive director in DeBary, said the event was actually being put on by an affiliate called Central Florida Quad Riders Association, a group incorporated in 2006.

"I have no personal knowledge of this event,'' George said, explaining Florida Trail Riders' only role is publicizing the events and sanctioning them.

He said it's up to the organization actually putting on the event to work with landowners.

He referred further questions to Mark Hammond of Lakeland, the club's president, who he said had asked to respond to a query placed by The Ledger last week.

Hammond did not return a follow-up call from The Ledger asking for comment.

County Commissioner Randy Wilkinson, who has received political support from ATV enthusiasts because of his work to establish a local ATV park, said before the race was canceled that he thought the whole thing was a misunderstanding.

"I don't think anyone intentionally did anything wrong,'' he said.

Wilkinson said he had been told by race organizers, who paid $5,000 to lease the property, that they had leased it from the land's property owner.

However, a check of county property records reveals the land where the race was to be held is owned by more than 100 people from all over the world.

Commissioner Wilkinson said he sees the event as an argument for a local ATV park.

"It may reinforce the need to set aside land, and how difficult it is to find a totally legal place to ride in Polk County,'' he said.

Marian Ryan, the conservation community's representative on the county's Off-Highway Vehicle Park Advisory Committee, agreed with Wilkinson that some kind of ATV park is needed.

"The sooner the better,'' she said.

"This type of occurrence is the reason I volunteered to serve on the committee - there is so much illegal activity by off-road vehicles in the Green Swamp and the scrub on public and private land.''

Despite the cancellation of the race, Selser said he has reported the damage to wetlands areas to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which is investigating.

However, even if the race had occurred, there might not been much Selser could have done about it short of filing a lawsuit.

Although this would seem to many people a clear case of trespassing, legally it's not.

Unless Selser and other property owners post their property against trespassing, the incursions are nothing more than a civil dispute, said Sam Cardinale, spokesman for the State Attorney's Office.

He said unless people are legally warned they are trespassing, there's no way to prosecute.

This kind of unregulated use of other people's private property is common in many of the so-called "land sales" subdivisions created in the late 1960s and early 1970s in the Green Swamp and other rural areas to market Florida real estate to out-of-state and foreign investors.

The only specific issue with which the County Commission has dealt is logging.

Under a 1998 ordinance, anyone logging in any of the 21 land sales subdivisions in the Green Swamp area have to have written permission from the landowner, a certified boundary survey and the property's boundary markers to document they have permission to log on the property.

Tom Palmer can be reached or tom.palmer@theledger.com or at 863-802-7535

Pecora, Guetzloe arrested

Both deny wrongdoing in long corruption probe

Christopher Sherman
Sentinel Staff Writer

March 29, 2007

Political consultant Doug Guetzloe and public-relations executive Ron Pecora were indicted by an Orange County grand jury in separate felony cases Wednesday, the latest targets of a wave of public-corruption investigations set in motion a year ago.

Guetzloe, 52, of Orlando was indicted on two counts of perjury for testimony he gave to the Florida Elections Commission last year. Pecora, 61, of Winter Park was indicted on charges of bribery and giving unlawful compensation by giving theme-park tickets to an expressway-authority official.

They were booked and released from the Orange County Jail on Wednesday evening after posting $10,000 bail each. Neither could be reached for comment late Wednesday, but both had said earlier in the day that they had done nothing wrong and did not expect to be prosecuted.

Orange-Osceola State Attorney Lawson Lamar noted that the charges allege trying to improperly influence an election and a public official and said the grand jury had targeted "the culture of winning at any cost."

The investigations that led to Wednesday's indictments began with scrutiny of a misdemeanor election violation by Guetzloe last March in Winter Park. Lamar's probe has spiraled into a wide-ranging examination of everything from business dealings of the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority to payments for alleged behind-the-scene dirty tricks in an election in Volusia County.

The indictments handed up Wednesday are not connected to each other. But Pecora and Guetzloe shared the spotlight last fall when documents from that Winter Park investigation showed that Pecora's public-relations firm Pecora & Blexrud funneled $107,500 from the expressway authority to longtime toll opponent Guetzloe at a time when the authority was trying to build public support for a toll increase.

During the investigation into the expressway authority's spending, Pecora told investigators he gave then-authority Chairman Allan Keen $2,600 in theme-park tickets.

Pecora & Blexrud had handled public relations and marketing for the expressway authority since 1997 until it was fired in October amid a scandal over expressway-authority spending. Pecora & Blexrud had billed the authority more than $8 million during the past nine years.

Lamar said Pecora, by giving the tickets to Keen, had bribed and provided unlawful compensation to the man who had ultimate control over his firm's contract. Keen was not charged.

Both of Wednesday's cases were the work of Lamar's new Government Accountability Unit, composed of prosecutors and agents from the FBI and Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

"You don't get immunity from arrest just because you wear a tie," Lamar said.

Pecora exposed ticket link

The Pecora indictment was surprising because it was Pecora who brought the story of the tickets to the Orlando Sentinel and prosecutors.

Pecora said Keen had requested the tickets last year from Pecora's firm and he felt as if he had to comply.

Receipts provided by Pecora and shared with prosecutors show that he bought the tickets from Kissimmee's Billy Boy's Tickets. Pecora said he had an employee deliver copies of the receipts with the tickets to Keen's real-estate office May 18.

Pecora said Keen's request had come through former expressway-authority marketing and public-relations manager Bryan Douglas, who testified before the grand jury Wednesday.

"I was shocked hearing Ron Pecora's name in the indictment," Douglas said later.

Keen attorney Robert Leventhal said Wednesday that Keen had asked Douglas about getting the tickets for family friends visiting from Costa Rica but never spoke to Pecora. Leventhal confirmed that Pecora sent a receipt with the tickets.

Leventhal said prosecutors will have to answer the question of why Pecora would give the tickets to Keen.

"That's the issue, and the state obviously has a theory that what he was doing was trying to ingratiate himself with Allan Keen," he said.

Asked whether the person who received the tickets also would be charged, Lamar said, "This is a long case."

Guetzloe denied lying

The perjury investigation of Guetzloe centered on a complicated and long-running legal battle over his involvement in a 2003 election in Daytona Beach. The investigation had been public since a judge's order in another case earlier this month. Prosecutors argued in that case that Guetzloe records held by television station WKMG-Channel 6 were needed for the perjury investigation.

In November, Guetzloe pleaded no contest to 14 counts of a misdemeanor elections-law violation for fliers he sent during a Winter Park mayoral election. Guetzloe's 60-day jail sentence in that case was suspended until Guetzloe received treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer and until his appeal is decided.

After Wednesday's indictment, Lamar said Guetzloe lied in sworn testimony to the Florida Elections Commission when he said he paid for mailers and radio advertisements in a 2003 campaign against Daytona Beach City Commission candidate Darlene Yordon. Evidence showed that political consultant Robert Lewis, Seminole County's chief deputy clerk of the court, paid Guetzloe for the work, Lamar said.

Before Wednesday's indictment, Guetzloe said he did not lie in his testimony, and he accused prosecutors of taking his words out of context.

Yordon welcomed news of Guetzloe's indictment.

"Justice is being done," Yordon said. "You get so disgusted with people getting away with things, so it makes you feel good when someone finally got caught and they have to pay the price."

In that election, Guetzloe and Guetzloe Communications Group paid for political advertisements against Yordon as well as two radio ads attacking her.

The Florida Elections Commission ruled that Guetzloe had broken the law by not including disclaimer language on the ads paid for by independent expenditures and for not properly reporting them. The commission fined him $12,000.

An appellate court reversed the commission's order on the disclaimers, upheld it about the improper reporting of expenditures and told it to hold a formal hearing on the issue of whether Guetzloe did so willfully.

It was in preparation for that hearing in Orlando that Guetzloe was deposed by a commission lawyer on Oct. 31, 2006.

The commission lawyer asked Guetzloe questions about his knowledge of elections statutes, as well as his campaign work in Daytona Beach in 2003.

He asked whether Guetzloe formed a political committee in the city and whether his group Ax the Tax paid for the ads. After Guetzloe answered "no" to both, he asked, "Did you use any of your own personal funds?"

Guetzloe answered "yes." But the next question he asked was whether Guetzloe used a check or credit card. There were no more probing questions about where the money may have originated before becoming Guetzloe's.

Later in the deposition, the commission lawyer asked who paid for a specific mailer.

"I would have. Either I or my corporation," Guetzloe answered. Again there was no follow-up.

Before testifying Wednesday, Lewis said he paid Guetzloe about $80,000 between late 2002 and early 2004. About $10,000 to $15,000 of that was paid to Guetzloe for work against Yordon, Lewis said.

Lamar emphasized that the indictments are just accusations and that Guetzloe and Pecora are entitled to jury trials.

He also added that he did not expect investigations by his Government Accountability Unit to finish under even a new grand jury that will work for the next six months.

"This is not the end of our investigation," Lamar said.

Jay Hamburg, Roger Roy and Ludmilla Lelis of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Christopher Sherman can be reached at 407-650-6361 or csherman@orlandosentinel.com.

Tensions rise over marina addition

By CAMILLE C. SPENCER
Published March 29, 2007

PORT RICHEY - Armed with thick white binders, photo displays and a petition, the folks on Sunset Boulevard wanted their voices heard.

They handed out copies of the 100-page binder - which detailed reasons why a proposed marina expansion shouldn't be approved - to each member of the City Council on Tuesday night.

But the council refused to read the binder's contents and rejected the residents' petition. Council members said they didn't have time to review the materials during the course of the hearing, which lasted five hours.

Jim Priest, a former City Council member and Sunset Boulevard resident, said the council violated the residents' civil rights.

"They didn't give us the opportunity to speak at all," he said Wednesday. "It was terrible. That was, by far, the worst meeting I have ever seen."

Mayor Mark Abbott said it was unfair for City Council members to be asked to read a binder full of information at the last minute. But the project's opponents said they planned to walk council members through the binder as their presentation unfolded.

"I don't think they (council members) understood what was being given to them," City Attorney James Mathieu said Wednesday. But he said it's up to the council to decide whether to accept or reject information that is offered.

The issue at stake was the rezoning of two homes and a small piece of land that Frank Perrott wanted to convert to use for his business, Sunset Landing Marina. Neighbors said the marina isn't being operated properly and shouldn't be allowed to expand.

After the contentious hearing, where dozens of residents signed up to speak and some volunteered their time to others, the City Council voted 3-2 to allow Perrott to convert a house at 5108 Sunset Blvd. into office space.

Council members Phyllis Grae and Steven O'Neill dissented.

In response to the residents' opposition, Steve Booth, Perrott's attorney, withdrew his client's original request to sell marina goods at the house at 5126 Sunset Blvd.

The City Council then voted 4-1 to allow Perrott to install a floating dock on a small tract near that house.

Grae dissented.

Eloise Taylor, a lawyer who helped put the opponents' binder together, came prepared with legal documents on the issue.

But when she tried to present them to the City Council, Abbott interrupted Taylor - the former mayor - three times and told her to go sit down.

"You are turning this procedure on its head," Taylor said. "This is a circus."

Abbott also interrupted others who asked to speak. Those who attended say the tension between Abbott and Taylor was evident.

"There's such hatred between the two, and that was obvious," said Laurie Simpson, a Sunset Boulevard resident.

During the hearing, Taylor asked that Council member Dale Massad recuse himself from voting. She said that prior to the hearing, he communicated with people in the neighborhood on the marina issue. Massad denied it.

"If I didn't think I could be objective, I would recuse myself," he said as a court reporter quietly typed his comments into the record.

"What's really apparent to me is Ms. Taylor is once again setting up a lawsuit."

Fast Facts:

What's next

Tuesday's vote was the first of two toward approving Sunset Landing Marina's rezoning applications. The issue will be heard again at an April 11 City Council meeting.

Lawmakers bid to limit rock mine regulation

By LLOYD DUNKELBERGER

Sun Tallahassee Bureau

TALLAHASSEE - With rural county commissioners warning the measure could hurt their communities, a House council backed a bill Wednesday that would take away the power of county and city governments to regulate rock mines.

In a 10-4 vote, the House Environment and Natural Resources Council voted for a bill (PCB ENRC 7-12) that would prohibit cities and counties from enacting or enforcing any local ordinances or rules if they were meant to block the creation or operation of a rock mine on land where mining was permissible as of March 1.

House supporters said the legislation is a response to a potential crisis where litigation and the reluctance of local governments to approve rock mines could lead to a critical shortage of limestone and other building materials - known as aggregate.

Bill backers say a disruption in the aggregate supply could undermine the state's economy, resulting in a massive slow-down in the construction and road-building industries. A typical home requires about 300 tons of aggregate, while a mile-long, two-lane asphalt road requires about 25,000 tons.

Critics say the problem is being exaggerated based on a federal lawsuit in Miami-Dade County that has resulted in 12 mining permits being sent back to the U.S. Corps of Engineers for further review. They contend the litigation is not likely to result in a massive disruption of mining, although the "Lake Belt'' region of Miami Dade provides more than half of the state's aggregate.

But North Florida county commissioners raised an alarm over the House bill on Wednesday, saying the measure would take away their right to regulate rock mines in a region that also holds many of the state's natural springs.

"We have tried to be good stewards,'' said Dixie County Commissioner Hoyt "Buddy'' Lamb. "But what's going to happen when you take our ability away?''

Levy County Commissioner Lilly Rooks said roughly 70 percent of her county had zoning where rock mining could be permitted. But she said those mining permits were only granted once the County Commission approved a "special exception'' for the activity. She said she is worried the House bill would take away that power.

Rooks said the county doesn't object to rock mining and has approved new mines. But she said the local officials want to retain the power to decide where the mines should be placed, balancing interests such as residential communities, environmental resources against the need for the mine.

"That's what I think the local governments try to do,'' she said.

Suwannee County Commissioner Randy Hatch said the state has had inconsistent policies that have impacted the rock mines. He said the state Department of Transportation is now in a "panic mode'' over the possible loss of aggregate supplies, but the same agency has objected to more dense developments in his county in order to lighten traffic loads. That policy has caused the county to spread residential development throughout the rural areas.

"Their own policy is forcing us to put people on top of the limerock,'' he said.

House members said they would continue to work on the local government provision before the bill reaches the House floor. But some council members voted against the bill, saying they, too, objected to the apparent move to limit the local government's role in regulating the mines.

"I really do have a problem with that,'' said Rep. Debbie Boyd, D-Newberry, who voted against the bill.

The Senate bill (SB 2804) does not prohibit local governments from enforcing mining regulations. But it does require the governments to consult with the DOT if they are making land-use decisions that could impact the aggregate supply. The bill also prohibits local governments from imposing mining moratoriums that last more than 12 months.

Both the House and Senate bills would create a "Strategic Aggregates Review Task Force'' that would assess the potential problems with the state's aggregate supply and report back to the Legislature and governor with its findings next year.

Hefty Payout

By MICHAEL D. BATES
mbates@hernandotoday.com

Displaced homeowners forced to move off Elgin Boulevard to make way for a new highway are getting hefty settlements from the county and lucrative relocation packages.

In one case, a homeowner received $300,325 for his three-bedroom home that the county appraised for $185,000. The 1,715-square-foot home has a one-car garage, two baths and an in-ground pool.

Another homeowner was offered $285,825 for his home appraised at $163,000.

The negotiated sales price includes the cost of homeowner moving expenses, a real estate tax allotment, home improvements to new homes, independent appraisal fees and extended stay of occupancy after closing.

The county will also pay an allowance to the homeowner to help cushion the tax blow on a new home until their new homestead exemption kicks in.

These settlement packages come at a time when the real estate market has hit rock bottom and homeowners throughout Hernando County are being forced to drastically lower their sales price.

County Engineer Charles Mixson admitted the homeowners he’s negotiated with so far have gotten “a good deal.”

But what kind of price tag can you put on disrupting people’s lives, many of whom did not want to go through the turmoil of leaving their homes? Mixson asked.

“These people didn’t want to move,” Mixson said. “They were happy with their homes and we’re causing a big inconvenience. You’ve got to balance that.”

The hefty payouts are also cheaper than going to court and trying to acquire the property that way, Mixson said.

In a few cases, the homeowners wanted more money for their homes. However, the county did a good job of “negotiating down” to a more realistic price, he said.

The county must acquire 34 properties along the north side of the road. All but a couple have homes on them. Mixson estimates the county will spend about $6 million in right of way and home acquisition along a 0.8-mile stretch of Elgin Boulevard from Mariner Boulevard east to Village Van Gogh

So far, the county has firm offers for three of the 32 homes. Mixson said he expects a few residents to reject any county offer and the matter could end up in court.

County commissioners last month voted 4-1 to approve a consultant’s recommendation to buy up the homes on the north side of Elgin to make way for a new four-lane highway to be built in the next few years.

That stretch of Elgin Boulevard has become a traffic bottleneck that will worsen as growth in the area increases, according to Mixson.

County Commissioner David Russell said eminent domain cases are always messy. In the Elgin case, he believes the county is negotiating fairly and trying to secure the best deals for homeowners and taxpayers.

If the county had to go through litigation to obtain the homes, the price tag to county taxpayers could be exorbitant, he said.

“The county’s being generous, there’s no question about it,” Russell said. “But the taxpayers are saving by having less of a payoff due to litigation costs.”

Every homeowner’s case is being handled on a case-by case basis. Not everyone is getting $300,000 for their homes.

For example, one homeowner, whose house was appraised at $121,000, was offered $155,325.

Anthony Langone, whose home is on the south side of Elgin and safe from county acquisition, said the settlements the county is offering these soon-to-be-displaced homeowners across the street are ridiculous.

“It’s way too much money,” Langone said. “None of the homes on this block are worth that much money. I wouldn’t give you $300,000 for any one of them, especially the way the market is today.”

However, if the county is going to give hefty payoffs, he believes it should be equitable. He said one of the people was only being offered $120,000.

“It should be fair across the board,” Langone said.

Once the county ends up paying millions for these homes, Langone wonders if there will be enough money left for the county to build the four-lane road.

Debbie Cancel, whose daughter recently bought a home along the south side of Elgin, said she did not have a problem with generous settlements for the people who have to move. It’s only fair, she said.

“A lot of people have lived there a long time and have a lot of memories,” Cancel said.

But to be even fairer, Cancel believes the county should do something for the people on the south side of the road, who will be left facing the dangers of a new road.

“Seeing as how hard it will be on us, they should think about giving us circular driveways and make it easier to get in and out on the four-lane highway,” she said.

Reporter Michael D. Bates can be contacted at 352-544-5290.

Municipalities favor builders who offer them infrastructure

Such deals ease tax burdens, push projects forward

By HEATHER ALLEN

heather.allen@heraldtribune.com
NORTH PORT -- A decade or two from now, when thousands of homes rise from today's mostly empty Thomas Ranch land, motorists will travel a central parkway that is certain to transform this area dramatically.

The new roadway and other smaller roads will integrate a 7,800-acre chunk of land into the communities it surrounds. The thoroughfares will mark the emergence of this flat swath as a community rather than an oft-talked about -- and highly controversial -- piece of real estate.

The developers of the planned 15,000-home West Villages development will construct West Villages Parkway, the main artery of the road network.

The pricetag for the road network, which will link up with major roads in Englewood and the Venice outskirts, is still unknown.

But neither the city of North Port nor Sarasota County will pay a dime to build the essential infrastructure. Instead, the developer will foot the entire bill for the road network.

This move represents a growing trend of developers taking on the role of city government by building and paying for necessary infrastructure like roads, drainage and sewer hookups.

The trend has become so popular that many municipalities, especially in high-growth locales like North Port and Manatee County, require developers to built most if not all of the infrastructure as a condition of the project's approval.

In the case of the West Villages, which will consist of homes, office and commercial space, North Port agreed before the land was annexed into the city that whoever developed the land would also pay for infrastructure.

"But for that agreement, the city of North Port would not have annexed the property," said Jeff Boone, the attorney representing the developers of the West Villages.

The parkway will connect to the northern end of River Road and run parallel to it, hooking up in Englewood, most likely with Dearborn Street or another main roadway.

The developers will also extend Manasota Beach Road, Keyway Road and Gissenger Street from Sarasota County into the city of North Port within the West Villages.

No permits have been issued to begin construction, and official design work has yet to commence even though proposed roads and extensions have been in both the city and county's long-term plans for years.

"It's a big help; certainly it's part of development paying their way," said North Port City Manager Steven S. Crowell.

Similar deals are not limited to North Port.

Developers of about 3,000 homes along east Laurel Road in Venice contributed land for use as public right of way. One of the developers, WCI, gave the city $1 million to build an additional fire station in the area.

In 2005, the Manatee County Commission quickly approved a 624-home subdivision which it had previously agonized over. Manatee leaders changed their minds when the developers said they would donate land for a school and roads.

But the trade-offs are subject to market conditions. Sarasota County Commissioner Shannon Staub said developers may not be so quick to give concessions because their revenues may soon dry up as a result of a downturn in building.

"How much developers are going to be able pay for in this market ... even in two or three years is questionable," said Staub, whose district includes North Port. "They're not going to be able to cough up millions and millions of dollars."

Until then, the practice of offering incentives to municipalities may remain a common one, with the hope that doing so will push the project forward with greater ease.

"I think developers know, particularly on the bigger scale projects that it is something the city is going to require. It's a negotiation," Crowell said. "Generally when a big development comes in, we require them to build the roads, and they know that."

Staff Writer Paul Quinlan contributed to this report.

Too many beach condos for sale? Not enough, developer says

By MIKE DONILA
Published March 29, 2007

Condominium sales on Clearwater Beach have slowed to a crawl, and there are currently more than 800 units on the market in the area.

But that isn't stopping one local developer. It's ready to build some more.

JMC Communities this morning will break ground on its fourth Clearwater Beach mega-development: Marquesas, a $200-million project that features two towers with 142 residences and six penthouses.

This new community, which includes a garden pavilion, outdoor spa and waterfront esplanade, will encompass almost 6 acres on south Clearwater Beach, just north of the bridge to Sand Key.

JMC Communities has been one of the few successful developers along the beach in recent years, building Mandalay Beach Club, Belle Harbor and Sandpearl Resort and Residences, which is set to open this summer.

Other developers haven't been as fortunate. Of the nine high-end projects that cover a 1-mile stretch on S Gulfview Boulevard, only two are under way. Besides Marquesas, there's the Aqualea, an NJR Development project, which brought in construction crews last December.

The other projects have been delayed or have changed in scope. Developers blame a soft market caused by skyrocketing taxes and insurance rates.

Those problems also have affected resales along the beach. The days of investors flipping condos within just a few days are long gone.

There are 820 condominiums for sale in Clearwater Beach, Sand Key and Island Estates, according to records collected by the Pinellas Realtor Organization, which tracks available units sold through Realtors.

Still, that might not necessarily translate into gloom and doom for newer models.

"There's always going to be a demand for a new product and (JMC) in Pinellas County is a premier developer as far as I'm concerned," said Jim Warner, a broker with VIP Realty on Sand Key. "I think these will sell."

Lenders also have set higher standards for developers to tap into promised loans. Many banks now want builders to meet presale rates of at least 90 percent.

Steven McAuliffe, vice president of sales and marketing for JMC, said the company needs to reach about 40 percent presales for the first tower, which includes 74 units. He said the sales staff is "probably two-thirds of the way there," and that they've already sold three of the more expensive penthouses.

"I think that shows that it's not all price-driven - there's a market for all price ranges," he said.

Marquesas will replace the 210-unit Holiday Inn Sunspree, which developers demolished late last year. The new condos will cost between $835,000 and $1.7-million, and the penthouses will go for $2.12-million to $3.27-million.

These prices will jump by as much as $100,000 as sales increase, developers say.

"I think the market is definitely coming back; we've noticed quite an upswing in the last few weeks and we're very optimistic and positive about the community and sales activity," McAuliffe said.

The St. Petersburg-based developer plans to build Marquesas in two phases. The first tower should be complete by spring 2009, and ground will be broken on the second tower in about a year.

Today's groundbreaking kicks off at 9 a.m. and is open to the public. About 100 people, including city leaders and future residents, are expected to attend. And the event will feature music and an island-style buffet breakfast.

There will also be a lift so visitors can see the views from different heights.

Fast Facts:

What's coming

Developers this morning will break ground on Marquesas, a $200-million project that features two towers with 142 residences and six penthouses. The complex is just north of the bridge to Sand Key on Clearwater Beach. For more information, go to www.marquesasjmc.com.

Venice Developer wants to build condos on Sandpiper Key

By KEVIN DALE

kevin.dale@heraldtribune.com
ENGLEWOOD -- A Venice developer proposes to build 42 luxury condominiums on Sandpiper Key, a fleck of an island that is undergoing its own miniboom.

Gerald Le Fave, who owns nearly six acres just south of the Sandpiper Key Condos, will ask Charlotte County today to approve a preliminary site plan for the tentatively named Holiday Isles Condominiums.

The land is already zoned for condos; the county's Development Review Committee will review the site plan.

Le Fave said it could be a year or so before he breaks ground on the undeveloped, mangrove-fringed property.

"Right now, with the market the way it is, I'm just drifting along," Le Fave said. He said construction, if approved, may not begin until after the 2008 hurricane season.

Le Fave said he is confident his units will sell in Englewood's increasingly crowded luxury condo market.

"I don't think there's going to be any problem there," he said. "Not many people have 1,000 feet of open waterfront."

In the past couple of years, hundreds of condos with prices roughly in the $500,000 to $1 million range have been built or approved for Englewood's two luxury condo markets: Placida and Manasota Key, which includes Sandpiper Key.

If approved, Le Fave's four-building project would join two other luxury condo developments on the key.

Construction is well under way on Tom Dignam's 22-unit Harbourview Condominiums on the west side of Beach Road.

All of the units were sold for between $450,000 and $650,000 by 2003, before the area's real estate bubble swelled and burst. Dignam said only a handful of buyers have pulled out.

On the north end of Sandpiper Key, a development team of Bud and Margaret Adorjan and Bill and Carla Stiver have started preconstruction sales for the Dolphin Pointe Condominium and Yacht Club, a project of 18, roughly 3,200-square-foot condos. The Dolphin Pointe condos start at $1.7 million.
Sarasota tree-cutter apologizes

By TONI WHITT

toni.whitt@heraldtribune.com
SARASOTA -- The business owner who cut down a grouping of palm trees on St. Armands Circle apologized and pledged to work with the city to correct her mistake.

But as the story unfolds, the city is still concerned over several issues, including that she cut the trees in the cover of darkness and without permits, including a right-of-way permit, and that the tree service she used may not have held a business license.

In an interview Wednesday, business owner Myriam Colson-Slaughter said she had been taking care of the trees in front of her block of buildings for several years and thought that she had a right to cut them. But the trees were on city property and cutting them without a permit is a violation of Sarasota's tree ordinance.

"I asked to have it cut because I honestly thought it was ours," Colson-Slaughter said. "I realize now it was a mistake."

Potentially, a $20,700 mistake, the fine the city estimated in a citation mailed to her this week.

Colson-Slaughter told the city's code enforcement department that she hired Stephen's Tree Service out of Bradenton to cut the trees. The city is trying to locate the owner, who also may be cited.

Colson-Slaughter said the tree service notified the Sarasota Police Department that the trees would be cut before dawn. She and the service decided to cut the tree early March 17, she said, because there wouldn't be any pedestrians on the circle and little vehicular traffic.

"I don't know why they would have called the police," said Tim Litchet, the city's director of building, zoning and code compliance. "The police generally are not involved in this kind of thing and wouldn't have provided traffic control."

Litchet said the company would have needed a right-of-way permit to cut trees on the sidewalk. It is unlikely the city would have permitted the work to take place in the dark, he said, because doing so would be too dangerous.

"We wouldn't ever suggest cutting trees at night," he said.

Colson-Slaughter, who owns St. Armands Circle Investments, LTD, along with several other businesses, said she cut the trees because they had gotten too large and were obstructing the sidewalk. She said she made the decision after attending meetings on downtown development where Andres Duany, a founder and leader of the New Urbanist movement, spoke about safe, unobstructed sidewalks.

"I always thought the trees were great there," Colson-Slaughter said. "He recommended landscaping that allows for an unobstructed view of businesses."

By cutting the six-trunk Traveler's palm, which was about 20 feet tall, Colson-Slaughter also allowed better visibility for Cafe Galante, a second-floor restaurant in one of her buildings.

She said she planned to remove the tree stumps and plant native Florida vegetation instead. Now she says she'll wait to see what the city wants and if it wants another Traveler's palm, she'll plant one.

Still, neighboring business owners are irate because it will take years for a new tree to replicate the one that was cut down, which had a 92-inch diameter and was at least 20 years old.
County blocks concrete-plant move

Kissimmee wants land for the Osceola Regional Medical Center

Mark Pino
Sentinel Staff Writer

March 29, 2007

KISSIMMEE -- A key plan to help redevelop a part of downtown hit a major setback when county commissioners denied a conditional-use permit for a concrete plant Monday.

"I just don't think that it's going to work," said Commission Chairman Ken Shipley, even though commissioners heard no expert testimony about the plant's effect on property values or residents' quality of life. Almost 300 residents signed a petition opposing the plant.

The city's Community Redevelopment Agency has been working since 2003 to move the Rinker Materials plant out of downtown.

Haguer Wiltshire, who has lived in the neighborhood since 1982, opposed the plant. He has watched the area change as more commercial properties have been built through the years.

"We were very happy that it was turned down," he said. "We did fight very hard to get that result. It would have been devastating to our community."

Wiltshire worried that the facility would compound problems of a nearby asphalt plant.

"We live it every day," he said of the noise and dust from that plant. He said residents were misled about the effect of that plant -- including its hours of operation.

Proponents said the concrete plant wouldn't be as intrusive and touted an 18-foot-tall wall that would buffer noise.

Moving the plant is the top priority on the CRA's master redevelopment plan. To help facilitate the move, the agency purchased a 7.54-acre site off Old Dixie Highway for $500,000.

The CRA planned to recoup the outlay by selling the existing site to landlocked Osceola Regional Medical Center.

Officials say the expansion will help revitalize the area with medical-related businesses.

The hospital is the highest-paying employer in the CRA, officials said, and expanding its presence would help the entire downtown.

The action came after commissioners delayed a vote on the issue for a month to give officials a chance to meet with residents who objected to the plant because of noise, traffic, dust and the water it would draw from the Floridan Aquifer.

"The county doesn't have a lot of decent, good, sizable industrial areas," said Commissioner Tom Franklin, the only vote against the denial, noting that the area was long-term industrial zone area in the right part of the county for the plant.

"I couldn't in good conscience support this. And I believe the people in that community deserve the quality of life that they have," said Commissioner Paul Owen.

The board of the city's Community Redevelopment Agency is scheduled to meet Monday.

Options including finding another site for the plant or appealing the commission's vote in circuit court.

The site is bounded by railroad tracks, with an asphalt plant on the south side and longtime homeowners on the north and the west.

Although a concrete plant is not a permitted use, proponents noted that tire vulcanizing, auto repair and adult entertainment establishments are permitted uses under the current zoning.

Mark Pino can be reached at mpino@orlandosentinel.com or 407-931-5935.

Oak Hill residents protest plan, land use changes

By LINDA WALTON
Correspondent

OAK HILL -- Two owners of land designated for agricultural use aren't happy with the future land use changes under the new comprehensive plan and land use map.

"I enjoy living in an old Florida house without air (conditioning) or heat and growing oranges. I plan to grow trees for the next 30 years," Russell Walker told city commissioners Monday.

Walker and Bill McGee, who has three 5-acre lots off East Halifax Avenue near the river, wants the land use map to remain unchanged.

And neither Walker nor McGee are comfortable with the official explanation that their use of the land won't change and that the "future" use is what is recommended by planners.

"Trust is not written on my forehead," McGee said.

His property, in the future land use map, shows a conservation overlay.

"As I read it, the conservation overlay would restrict my future use," McGee said.

Walker wasn't assured either, although commissioners and Planning and Land Development Regulation Commission members, who studied the comprehensive plan and land use map, have said the zoning change was for the future and would not affect the present owner's use of the land.

"The wording in the document is that we will be 'required to comply,' " Walker read from the regulations.

"That makes me even more reticent," McGee said.

City Attorney Scott Simpson didn't like what Walker read either.

"I don't think it should have that provision. I think we should get a list and later have a workshop," Simpson said.

City Commissioner Darla Lauer agreed.

"A forcible clause should not be in there," she said.

As for McGee's property having a conservation overlay under the future land use map, City Commissioner Charlie Dean said the overlay was what the St. Johns Water Management is recommending.

Vice Mayor Bill Marcello said that means McGee would need to have a wetlands study for another use of the property.

"I don't have any wetlands," McGee said.

When the comprehensive plan and land use map were being revised, several residents complained about the future designations.

The commission is expected to set a workshop date to review the comprehensive plan and land use map.

Appraisal snarls public sale of Thornby property

By SARA KIESLER
Staff Writer

DELTONA -- The owners of the 40-acre lakefront property known as "Thornby" are anxious for the property to be sold. And they'd prefer to sell to the city.

Yet, Deltona city commissioners have long balked at the $7 million asking price.

In February, they ordered a private appraisal. The answer, from Ormond Beach-based Carson Real Estate Advisors: $2.32 million.

That appraisal could complicate prospects the city will purchase the land and make it a public park.

In reaching their figure, the appraisers considered its location fronting Lake Monroe as well as the slowing real estate market.

But real estate broker Bernie Senez said the $2.32 million value is low because it did not take into account that Lake Monroe leads into the St. Johns River.

That essentially makes Thornby riverfront, not lakefront, property, he said.

"I own property on the river in Astor, and there's nothing like the river," said Senez, who has sold locally for 28 years. "You're not going to tell me a piece inland will sell for the same price."

This is the last opportunity Deltona has to purchase the land, Senez said, because the three owners are aging -- it's been in their family for 96 years -- and want it sold soon. Also, a developer has signed a contract to purchase the land for "a large amount of money," but agreed to wait until the city exhausts its options, Senez said.

The commission remains divided.

Commissioner Zenaida Denizac said there's no way she would support buying the property for anything more than $3 million, even if the appraisal lists a bald eagle on its premises. However, at City Manager Steve Thompson's request, Denizac is waiting to see what a private appraisal ordered by the owners concludes.

"Even at $3 million, I have to hear what the residents are saying."

But Volusia County Councilwoman Pat Northey thinks it's too early for commissioners to "hunker down" on a set price.

"It's a low number to focus simply on that," she said. "For a city that has such limited waterfront, why haven't people put their arms around this beautiful piece of property and embraced it?"

No matter the price, the city has secured a commitment from the tax-funded Volusia Forever land acquisition program that might cover up to half of the purchase price. And it is currently seeking money from Florida Communities Trust, a state-level program that helped buy Gemini Springs.

Commissioner Janet Deyette points to those grants -- saying "other cities will get the money if we don't" -- and the fact that development review committees for the state and county oppose development on Thornby as reasons to fight for the property.

"Just because a developer is willing to pay doesn't mean they'll get what they want," she said. "They've still got to satisfy objections and recommendations from (Department of Community Affairs)."

To Senez, the true value of the property can't be measured on paper.

"Some people have no concept of value. There's tax-assessed value, appraised value, and market value," he said. "What's it worth to a buyer?"

sara.kiesler@news-jrnl.com

Officials: Birds likely polluters at dirtiest beach

By NATHAN CRABBE

Sun staff writer

Blame the birds for Florida's dirtiest beach.

DNA test results released Tuesday suggest animal waste is polluting the water around Shired Island in Dixie County. A national environmental group last year named the island's beach as the dirtiest in the state due to persistently high bacteria levels in the water.

County officials had bristled at the distinction for a location they say isn't a designated beach and typically has few swimmers. The test results rule out people as causing the high bacteria numbers, said County Coordinator Arthur Bellot.

"Really, there are not enough humans down there on any given day to account for these numbers," he said.

The beach is in a remote county park surrounded by the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge, south of Horseshoe Beach on the Gulf of Mexico coast. Overnight camping is allowed in the park and there are about a dozen electrical hookups.

The Natural Resources Defense Council named the beach there as the state's only "beach bum" for violating water-quality standards at least half the time samples were taken. Fifteen of 20 tests in the past five months found high levels of enterococcus, a bacteria that can cause diarrhea and infections of the eyes, nose, throat and skin.

DNA from bacteria in two water samples taken earlier this month tested negative for a human gene biomarker, according to a report by Source Molecular Corporation of Miami, which conducted the test. But the results don't definitively mean there is no human contamination, the report said.

Officials say public health warnings will continue. The source of the bacteria doesn't change its potential to cause illnesses, said Robert Vincent, environmental administrator in the Florida Department of Health's Bureau of Water Programs.

"We don't really care what the source is from a public health standpoint," he said.

But county officials had expressed concern that the dirtiest-beach distinction had made them seem complicit in allowing pollution. Because the area is an estuary, they suspected waste from birds and animals caused the high levels.

"The test results add a little more credibility to that theory," said Wesley Asbell, the county's environmental health director.

He said more DNA tests need to be done to determine if humans contribute to the contamination. The county is seeking funding for those tests, which cost $750 apiece.

Bellot said the county will also seek funding to improve a septic tank in the park and create a station for recreational vehicles to dump waste.

Asbell said he'll continue to post health warnings when bacteria levels are high, but the county might eventually install a permanent sign warning swimmers.

"Maybe this a beautiful place but not the best place to swim," he said.

Sun staff writer Karen Voyles contributed to this report. 

Outer Beltway deal could mean paying toll to Italy or Spain

The state is looking at leasing the road to a foreign company.

By ANNE MARIE APOLLO, The Times-Union

Consumers who don't think twice about writing a check to Sprint or AT&T could someday just as blithely toss coins into toll baskets for European companies like Cintra or Autostrade.

More than 260 people have registered for a forum today in St. Augustine to explore options for the First Coast Outer Beltway, a 46-mile stretch planned to run through portions of Duval, Clay and St. Johns counties. Among them are representatives from Autostrade, an Italian company that is the largest toll operator in Europe.

The project could yield Northeast Florida's first public-private partnership where outside interests build and operate the road and travelers repay the cost one toll at a time.

States from California to Virginia have looked to the model to relieve the financial burden of building and upgrading major roads, and momentum is building nationwide.

Though some caution private investments are not a cure-all, supporters say that kind of involvement got phone and gas utilities off the ground and can boost struggling public transportation systems, too.

Some Florida lawmakers feel the same way.

A bill that passed the Florida House last week would allow the option of private companies running the state's existing toll roads - as they already do in places such as Indiana - and opens the door to the kind of public-private partnerships today's forum is meant to explore.

Florida Department of Transportation spokeswoman Gina Busscher said Spanish group Sacyr Vallehermoso is registered and an Australian firm has requested one of the private appointments transportation officials have made available this week to talk to potential investors.

That the project combining the Branan Field-Chaffee Expressway and St. Johns River Crossing should draw the interest of overseas ventures does not surprise those who study public-private partnerships. They have been popular in parts of Europe for years, are well-established in Australia and have spread to Latin America, Canada and other points around the globe.

The current wave of interest in the model is really the second coming, said Robert Poole, who recently gave testimony on the partnerships to the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure as director of transportation for the Reason Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to nonpartisan public-policy research.

In the early 1990s, both California and Virginia started exploring the idea, he said. California 125, a road that has its roots in a pilot program started by the state then, is slated to open this year. The Dulles Greenway, operated by a U.S. arm of Autostrade, opened in 1995.

Now, private involvement in toll projects speckles the country, with the biggest trend being what Europeans call "long-term toll concession," Poole said.

Companies design, finance, build, operate and maintain the project for a determined length of time, generally no shorter than 30 years, he said. Ownership of the land, and often the infrastructure itself, remains public, he said.

It's an attractive investment for pension funds and insurance companies, which view the endeavors much like a utility, Poole said.

It can be a good deal for states, too.

Indiana recently took an up-front payment of $3.8 billion after agreeing to lease its toll road to a private interest for 75 years.

But Robert Puentes, a fellow with the Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program, said that kind of long-term lease sounds better than it actually is.

Though the deal provided cash up front, Indiana lost the long-term cash flow from the tolls for the term of the lease.

There is nothing wrong with public-private partnerships in themselves, Puentes said. They often can result in projects being built faster and lead to innovation in construction and toll collection, supporters say.

But Puentes warns that the partnerships have become the go-to solutions for politicians who don't want to talk about raising fees or problems with the gas tax.

Public-private partnerships alone won't be the sole path out of the transportation crises the nation and many states face, he said.

"This is one piece of a very major and very complex puzzle," he said. "We need a mosaic of finance options."

annemarie.apollo@jacksonville.com (904) 359-4470

Top concern is project's effect on springs, canals

St. Petersburg Times editorial
Published March 27, 2007

Ever since the property around Three Sisters Springs in Crystal River changed hands and the new owners announced their intention to develop the site, those concerned about the future of this natural treasure have focused on just how intense this development will be and how it will affect the pristine springs and nearby canals.

The proposal by owners Harry "Hal" Flowers of Tampa and his partners is now taking shape and shows a new community of hundreds of homes encircling the springs and a man-made shallow lake on the site.

This is hardly a surprise considering that, from a development standpoint, waterfront property is golden. Anything abutting water, even a glorified retention pond, is prime property.

As crowded as the site plan appears, it could have been even more congested. Plans call for 69 single-family homes and 240 multifamily structures, but the city zoning actually would have allowed 100 more units.

What is on paper now is busy enough, however. The challenge before the various government oversight agencies will be to limit the amount of harm a development of this intensity will cause to the environment.

The major concern should be the impacts on the adjacent waterways from the stormwater runoff from the buildings, streets and lawns.

Consider that virtually all of the 69 lots for single-family homes, which are estimated to cost more than a million dollars for one-third of an acre, will be close enough to surface water to have some sort of a water view.

The stormwater runoff carrying pollutants from the houses themselves, the new roads as well as the fertilizers from the lawns of the new mansions will have to go somewhere. The same holds true for the runoff that will be created by the hundreds of multifamily units on the north and east sides of the site.

The likely destination for most of this polluted water, either directly or indirectly, will be the abutting canals, the man-made pond and the springs.

To its credit, the city is trying to secure more conservation land around the springs to act as a buffer, but the price of this prime real estate will be high, the grant money the city is chasing is scarce and the clock is ticking. Already, the project has passed technical muster with the city staff, with more intense reviews in the weeks and months ahead.

The city's Planning Commission and City Council, the Southwest Florida Water Management District and the state Department of Environmental Protection must be the environmental bulwark for the public. These agencies must insist that the developer devise a method to keep this expected runoff from further fouling the waters.

The city is also anticipating traffic impacts and an enormous strain on its water and sewer plant capacities. This could lead to a possible scaling back of the size of the development if the infrastructure cannot support these hundreds of new homes. It is encouraging that, so far, the city and the developer seem to have established a professional working relationship, unlike the nearly all-out warfare that has marked the arrival of a different waterfront development plan in nearby Yankeetown.

But the government agencies must remember that they are the last lines of defense for those in the public hoping to protect this unique slice of the Nature Coast from being overdeveloped.

The city has signaled an appropriate note of caution so far in not rushing through the review process.

If the plans are in the best interests of the public as well as the developer, they will earn approval on their own merit.

Today's Letters: Unchecked growth the real problem

St. Petersburg Times LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published March 28, 2007

One lazy deputy is one too many March 22 letter

I find it sad that the letter writer has directed his frustrations at our deputies by accusing them of being lazy. I would challenge the letter writer to examine the rapid changes that have occurred in our county and re-examine his position.

First, while our County Commission has allowed rapid and unplanned growth in our county, the population has increased exponentially to the staffing increase at the Sheriff's Office. Any request for a staffing increase from the sheriff results in political backlash from our commissioners, usually from the ones who are responsible for our unchecked growth. This has resulted in our deputies shifting from proactive law enforcement to reactive law enforcement, spending most of their shift running from one service call to the next. They are not ignoring the traffic problem, rather they are en route to another call and cannot stop to deal with the traffic problem.

Second, the Sheriff's Office has deputies for just traffic detail. I see them everyday, on motorcycles and in cars. The reality is that these people cannot be everywhere all of the time, nor would I want them to be. I do not live in a free America to wish for a police state. However, they are admittedly spread thin because of the population explosion in our county.

If the letter writer wishes to find the source of our lifestyle deterioration, I suggest he look toward the sitting District 3 commissioner, who has voted yes for every development project proposed in her more than 20 years as a commissioner. What the letter writer sees is lack of planning, vision, and discipline on the part of our commission, not laziness on the part of our deputies.

Scott Factor, New Port Richey

Officials bog down on density, delay talks

By Mitra Malek

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

WEST PALM BEACH — Time is closing in on county leaders who within weeks must finalize a blueprint for handling growth on tens of thousands of acres.

But during a workshop Tuesday, Palm Beach County commissioners found little common ground on the best way to do that.

One commissioner wanted to abandon the plan altogether. Another commissioner contradicted past positions he had taken. And another said she wanted more time to figure out the best way to address density and open space in the 54,000-acre area that's part of the county's central-western communities.

In the end, commissioners decided to mull over county planners' suggestions for fixing the growth blueprint, or sector plan, and on April 4 will return with feedback.

The delay could hamper the county's ability to settle protracted negotiations with the state over the sector plan. The deadline is May 1.

If the county and state don't come to an agreement, a decade of work and $750,000 that went into creating the plan will be for naught.

County staff after the workshop said they weren't sure whether commissioners wanted them to spend the next week tweaking what they presented Tuesday - a plan based on a density of one unit per 1.25 acres, with at least 40 percent open space in clustered settings. The general concept is commonly known as "new urbanism," which strives to make communities walkable and self-contained with places to work, play and live. It also incorporates varied types of housing that draw on different income levels.

"You're promoting equal access to all," county planner Bryan Davis said.

Commissioner Jess Santamaria, who represents the district included in the sector plan, said he likes new urbanism for the area. But he wants more open space, less density and more information on traffic impacts. Santamaria, elected in November, wasn't on the board when it adopted the sector plan in May 2005.

Commissioner Mary McCarty threw up her hands in frustration. During the two years that the sector plan has languished under state scrutiny since the board adopted it, dozens if not hundreds of residents from the central-western area have implored county leaders to leave density at the current status of one unit per 10 acres.

The county could sell off 10-acre tracts at $2 million each on Mecca Farms, which it owns, recouping the $120 million it spent for the planned Scripps Research Institute project, McCarty said. And the low density would eliminate many road needs, eliminate environmental concerns and pacify the masses.

"We don't have to do anything," McCarty said. "They're not making more land."

But that didn't sit well with Commissioner Burt Aaronson. "You don't cut off a leg because someone has a blister," he said. "We're about trying to solve problems."

Aaronson said he opposed density as high as 2.5 units per acre, but would support one unit per acre. Last May he voted to give Callery-Judge Grove preliminary approval for 2.5 units per acre.

Water-use permit for Villages approved
Community to draw extra 9 million gallons a day

BY SUSAN LATHAM CARR
STAR-BANNER

TAMPA - The Southwest Florida Water Management District Governing Board on Tuesday approved by a vote of 7-2 a 3.3 billion gallon a year water use permit for The Villages.

"I just felt that there were opportunities for conservation that were missed in the area of per-capita consumption that would have helped The Villages and their citizens achieve reductions in water use over a period of time," said Board member Tom Dabney, who voted against it.

Sallie Parks, the other dissenting vote, expressed similar concerns.

"I worry about the same thing that was shared by others, specifically, goals were not set for obviously reducing their per-capita use and that the impact on anybody else who might apply could be substantial," Parks said. "There's only so much ground water and surface water and it's not an infinite amount. This is my concern."

The per-capita consumption is the amount of water used per person.

Trey Arnett, The Villages' water resources engineer, said he was pleased with the board's decision about the permit, which was three years in the making.

Asked if he would be addressing the issue of lowering the per-capita consumption, he replied, "I don't want to talk about that. We have lots of plans."

Before the permit was approved, The Villages had approval to use almost 15 million gallons of water a day, or 5.4 billion gallons a year. With the approval of the permit Tuesday, The Villages now will be able to draw another 9 million gallons a day, or about 3 billion gallons a year.

Through a letter written by County Administrator Patrick Howard, the Marion County Commissioner asked the water board for a commitment that Marion County be involved in development of alternative water sources in and near Marion County.

Howard wrote that the Marion County Commission's position was not a legal objection to the permit. The commission's concern, Howard wrote, is that Marion County has not been included in any discussions between The Villages and Lake County about developing alternative water sources, specifically from the Withlacoochee and Lower Ocklawaha Rivers, which flow along, and through, Marion County.

Roger Sims, a partner in the Holland and Knight law firm, which represents The Villages, said that The Villages is cooperating with Lake County and the Lake County Water Supply Planning Alliance by providing $250,000 for an alternative water sources study.

"We would welcome participation by Marion County," Sims told the Southwest board.

The water management district is asking that alternative water sources - mostly from surface waters, such as rivers - be found to supplement groundwater from the aquifer, because, as populations increase, there is growing concern that soon there will not be enough ground water to meet the region's growing demand.

There is pressure on ground water because it is cheaper than surface water. To obtain ground water, one sinks a well in the area where water is needed. But surface water needs a higher level of treatment and, generally, has to be piped from the river to the area where it is needed, both of which are costly.

The approved Villages' permit, which runs through 2013, is asking to use 19.8 million gallons per day of ground water and 4.03 million gpd of surface water. The Villages, which covers portions of Lake, Sumter and Marion counties, expects to build out in 2012 with 100,000 residents. There are about 22,000 units yet to be built in Sumter.

Nancy Lopez, a hydrologist and a Villages resident, expressed a number of concerns with The Villages' permit.

She is concerned that the permit allows Lake Miona to fall below approved minimum lake levels, in violation of the District's rules, and will cause harm to the environment, and The Villages' impact management plan is not due to be filed until July 2007, after the permit is approved. She also found fault with the 2013 deadline for providing alternative water sources, the same year the permit expires.

"There's a sink hole problem in The Villages," Lopez said. "You are talking about peak month withdrawals that are very, very large."

Dabney's concern was the per-capita allotment. The Villages permit is for 242 gallons a day per person. The water management district's rule sets a 150 gallons a day per-person goal for non-water use cautionary areas.

Bobby Lue, director of the District's Brooksville Regulatory Department, said The Villages has a large transient population - such as workers - that almost doubles the population during the day. But only residential population may be used in the calculation. That accounts for the higher per-capita number.

Arnett said the number of people served compared to the actual population drops the per-capita number to 170 gpd per person.

"What is your goal per-capita using our rule?" Dabney asked Arnett. "If you don't have a target, how do you get there?"

Richard Owen, deputy executive director of the District's Division of Resource Regulation, said the number of 150 gpd per person may not be the proper standard.

"We're still having these discussions," Owen said.

Board member Todd Pressman said, compared to other applicants, The Villages is moving in the right direction

"These are people we need to be encouraging," Pressman said.

Sims said The Villages would agree "to do all practical measures."

"What's a reasonable number?" Dabney asked. "Two-forty-two is not acceptable to me."

Susan Latham Carr may be reached at susan.carr@starbanner.com or (352) 867-4156.

Island slate scores sweep in runoff in Riviera

By William Cooper Jr.

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

RIVIERA BEACH — Singer Island flexed its political muscle Tuesday by sweeping in its three-candidate slate and snapping outgoing Mayor Michael Brown's eight-year reign over the Riviera Beach City Council.

Singer Island-backed candidates Lynne Hubbard in District 1, Cedrick Thomas in District 3 and Shelby Lowe in District 5 soundly defeated their Brown-backed challengers. The Singer Island slate won with strong support from the island and the mainland, a combination that ousted Brown and put in Mayor-elect Thomas Masters in the March 13 election

"I'm relived that we won and I'm glad that it's over," said Hubbard, winning the District 1 race with 62 percent of the vote to challenger Elizabeth Pertee Robinson's 37 percent.

In District 3, Thomas won 60 percent to Fercella Davis Panier's 40 percent. The 29-year-old, who owns a charter bus service, said the group's first order of business is to stabilize the city, given a divisive campaign.

"We want to provide some good leadership," Thomas said.

Lowe, 41, whose third bid for the council was the charm, said he is thankful to God for the victory because he was recovering from a life-saving kidney transplant a year ago.

"It's overwhelming," said a subdued Lowe, who also ran for the council in 2001 and 2003. "I ran until I was successful because I was determined to serve."

In District 5, Lowe received 60 percent of the vote to attorney Corey Smith's 39 percent.

Brown said the outcome definitely will change the course of the city. He said he hopes that those who elected the Singer Island slate are prepared for the outcome.

"They have found just enough people on the mainland to help them with their battle," Brown said after the results were in.

Meanwhile, Brown vowed to pursue his claims alleging that Masters illegally obtained and distributed absentee ballots in the March 13 election. Despite Brown's claims, even if all of the absentee ballots were tossed, the pastor of New Macedonia Baptist Church still would have won the mayoral election, according election figures.

"My last mission is to pursue the absentee ballot fraud that I know occurred," said Brown, who attempted to get Tuesday's runoff election canceled after filing election complaints with the city and the state.

The victory puts an exclamation point on Singer Island's effort to regain influence on the council and over whether Brown's vision for a $2.4 billion waterfront redevelopment moves forward. The win leaves Councilwoman Norma Duncombe and Councilman Jim Jackson, who were elected just a year ago, as the five-member board's senior members.

Besides redevelopment, the group inherits a tough agenda, which includes resolving issues over a scathing state audit that showed the city had poor record-keeping and lacked adequate documentation for spending.

State Attorney Barry Krischer still is reviewing whether to take the findings to a grand jury.

As part of his platform, Thomas was the only candidate to question openlywhether the city still needed the community redevelopment agency. That position surfaced because eminent domain is no longer available as a tool to acquire blighted land on behalf of master developer Viking Inlet Harbor Properties.

Under Brown's plan, the CRA was vital for the purposes of generating tax revenue and keeping the redevelopment concentrated along the Intracoastal Waterway and at the Ocean Mall.

And the redevelopment of the Ocean Mall proved to be the lightning bolt that ignited Singer Island voters who opposed the city's $280 million deal with builder Dan Catalfumo. He planned to tear down the 33-year-old mall and build a 28-story Marriott condo/hotel and 60,000 square feet of shops and restaurants.

But voters rejected that March 13 when they approved two charter amendments limiting height on the public beach to five stories and keeping the city's lease on the 11-acre site to 50 years.

Catalfumo wanted to lease the oceanfront land for 99 years, but reduced it to 50 years in an effort to get the deal approved by the council.

It marked the third time in two months commissioners have decided how to address the annexation and road issues.

The state's Department of Community Affairs will still have the final say on the road removals. But the latest provision would make the land annexation moot if the agency does not sign off on the elimination of the Riverside and University drives extensions.

"In other words, annexation should not occur without removal of the roads," Aaronson said.

That pleased residents west of Boca Raton who fear thousands of cars would congest neighborhood streets if the roads were extended. They also worried that if state legislators only approved the annexation - the sole subject of the current bill - the roads could still be extended.

The commission's decision also pleased State Rep. Adam Hasner, R-Delray Beach, who is sponsoring the House bill.

He plans to amend HB 1315 before the first legislative committee addresses it on April 11.

"This is a compromise that everybody should be happy with," Hasner said.

Perhaps not so in the northwest Broward city of Coral Springs, which last month expressed its opposition to eliminating plans for University Drive's extension.

A group of landowners are seeking to build on 1,436 of the nearly 2,000 acres at issue. They have submitted plans to Palm Beach County to build more than 2,800 homes there, or more than 20 times the amount currently allowed.

The county contends that Broward could better serve the land because of its unusual location. It is the only piece of urban Palm Beach County south of the Hillsboro Canal, which serves as the boundary between the two counties to the east of these parcels.

McCarty said it would be "irresponsible" to eliminate road plans that have been pondered for years. Without the roads, and if the proposed development plans are approved, more cars would spill onto nearby State Road 7.

Even commissioners who approved amending the state bill had reservations. Commissioner Karen Marcus said she wasn't happy with the number of homes now planned, while Jess Santamaria said he wanted the county to have a say in what gets built there.

Added Commissioner Jeff Koons: "Every district in this county has roads going through neighborhoods, and I don't know why we have to treat this differently."

Rivers Coalition collects $75,000 more for lawsuit against U.S. government

l FPRIVATE "TYPE=PICT;ALT=Listen to this article or download audio file." Click-2-Listen

By Rachel Simmonsen

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

The Rivers Coalition has taken in another $75,000 for its lawsuit against the federal government, which the St. Lucie River activists blame for mismanaging Lake Okeechobee and driving down property values along the river.

The Everglades Foundation has donated $25,000 to the lawsuit, which was filed in November by the owners of 22 riverfront properties who said massive lake discharges in recent years endangered fish and oysters, wiped out sea grass, spawned toxic algae blooms and turned the water brown near their homes.

Paul Tudor Jones, an Everglades Foundation board member, donated an additional $50,000 for the case, which is pending in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington.

That brings the Rivers Coalition's lawsuit tally to more than $300,000, said Karl Wickstrom, founder of the Stuart-based Florida Sportsman magazine and coordinator of the Rivers Coalition Defense Fund. The lawsuit likely will cost $500,000 to $1 million, he said.

The plaintiffs are seeking $50 million in damages, though they have said they will donate the money to the Rivers Coalition should they win.

The Rivers Coalition is a group of more than 40 business, civic and recreational groups aiming to improve the health of the St. Lucie and Indian rivers.

HOME BUILDERS

Housing slowdown catches up to Lennar

Lennar's first-quarter profit was off 73 percent. The company said it will not hit its previously stated earnings goal for the year and sees no evidence the housing market slide is ending.

BY MATTHEW HAGGMAN

mhaggman@MiamiHerald.com

Lennar Corp.'s first-quarter profits plunged 73 percent, and the home builder said it will not provide guidance for future earnings because of an ongoing housing slump exacerbated by worries in the subprime lending market.

Company officials said in January that for 2007, the Miami company would at least meet its 2006 level of $3.69 a share. Now they say the company does not expect to hit that mark, and the market is too unpredictable to set earnings goals.

The ''typically stronger spring selling season has not yet materialized,'' CEO Stuart Miller said Tuesday. He described the market as giving mixed signals, one moment appearing to stabilize and the next moment softening.

Lennar's earnings are watched as a barometer of the housing market because it ranks among the country's biggest home builders. Its biggest share of activity is in Florida, Texas and California.

Lennar reported first quarter revenue of $2.8 billion, or $.43 a share. The company saw revenue of $3.2 billion, or $1.58 a share, for the same period last year.

But profitability is where it suffered most. The company took in profit of $68.6 million for the quarter that ended Feb. 28. By comparison, Lennar's first-quarter profit was $258 million a year ago.

Since the housing market soured last year, residential developers have struggled amid weakening demand and a glut of supply. In February WCI Communities, which is based in Bonita Springs and builds across Florida, announced that 2006 profit shrank to $9 million, from $186 million the year before. Earlier this month Technical Olympic USA, a Hollywood home builder, reported a $201.2 million loss for 2006, compared to a $218 million profit in 2005.

Lennar launched a strategy last year to raise cash and lower costs in a bid to regroup and position itself for when the market recovers. It aims to sell homes already under construction quickly by lowering prices and layering on incentives. It has reduced plans for new homes and pared down or renegotiated the purchase price on land holdings.

Earlier this year in South Florida Lennar walked away from its option to buy a large -- and controversial -- swath of land near Florida City. Critics, who cheered the home builder's retreat, had taken aim at Lennar's plan to put some 6,000 homes, shops, schools, movie theater and hotel on environmentally sensitive wetlands in Miami-Dade County.

The company has also ordered subcontractors to slash prices -- in some cases for work already done -- or risk not being hired on future Lennar work.

The California Professional Association of Specialty Contractors issued a statement last month calling the order ``at the very least, unethical and unreasonable.''

But Miller gave no ground on a conference call with investors on Tuesday.

''If they want to be part of our future, they must be partners with us as we go through these difficult times,'' he said.

In the Tuesday call, Miller also said the much-publicized deterioration of the subprime lending market is affecting the wider housing market. In particular, Miller said, it's reducing demand because it's sidelining buyers now unable to qualify for a mortgage.

But Lennar CFO Bruce Gross said Lennar's own exposure to subprime mortgages is limited. The home builder provides home loans in addition to building homes. Gross said about 70 percent of its buyers take out home loans from Lennar or use the home builder to broker the mortgage. Of that amount, he said, less then five percent have subprime mortgages.

Today Lennar is scheduled to hold its annual meeting with shareholders. The Massachusetts Laborer' Pension Fund, which owns Lennar stock, plans to submit a proposal to the company's board aimed at more closely tying executive pay to performance.

The union is approaching large home builders across the country with the plan because it says executive pay has been excessive in the industry.

Lennar officials have previously defended its pay structure as based on performance. The company's compensation committee recommended the proposal be rejected, saying it would put Lennar at a competitive disadvantage by limiting its flexibility in creating compensation packages.

And in 2007, Miller's pay was reduced significantly as the company's profits shrank. A year ago Miller earned salary and bonus of $22.5 million, not including stock awards and options. This year, however, his salary and bonus was $5.7 million.

''He took a pay cut, it is true,'' said Jennifer O'Dell, an assistant director with the union.

''But in previous years it was off the charts. And we can't be assured this year is how it will always be.'' O'Dell added.

Despite the poor earnings report, Wall Street was not overly dismayed. On Tuesday Lennar's stock traded down $.04, closing at $44.50.

City wants say on any new manatee rules

Recent reports of animal harassment in Crystal River have several public bodies and individuals seeking new protections.

By BARBARA BEHRENDT
Published March 28, 2007

CRYSTAL RIVER - The manatee is featured in the center of the city logo. The city motto: Crystal River, "where man and manatee play."

With the city's good name and reputation on the line, city leaders this week stepped up and told the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that they want a place at the table as new manatee interaction rules are crafted in the coming months and years.

The City Council met in a workshop late Monday with officials from the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge to talk about what has been happening with the swim-with-the-manatee activity for which the area is famous.

Videos of manatee harassment shot by locals in local waters have stirred up the debate, causing a ripple effect that has gone global in recent weeks.

One council member, Jim Farley, even suggested that the city needs to adopt the federal guidelines for swimming with manatees as a local ordinance. Such a move would give city police some control over an activity that some say is out of control.

Council member Susan Kirk, who lives at Gator Hole, one of the manatee sanctuaries, said she has seen that out-of-control behavior.

She has seen dive boats unloading people into the water who quickly go to work on the manatees gathered there.

"They wake them up. They chase them ... I've seen them separate a manatee from her calf," she said. And when she has asked people to stop, they "take exception."

Jim Kraus, manager of the Crystal River refuge, explained to the council that his agency was aware of the issues on area waters and has been doing what it can to police the areas.

But budget cuts and a reduction over time in the number of law enforcement officers has made that difficult.

Kraus has been advocating that a solution must involve a partnership of agencies, jurisdictions and individuals. He said he welcomed Crystal River's input and hopes to keep the lines of communications open with the city.

The city may even sponsor a town hall meeting later this year to allow the council, the federal agency and citizens to all discuss the issues.

Kraus said his goal is to have a "civil discourse" about the topics and not just let the emotionalism of the issue drive discussions.

The refuge is beginning the process of writing a comprehensive plan beginning this fall. Public meetings and input from affected parties will be sought throughout that process, he said. The final result could end up being new rules governing how people can interact with the gentle sea cows.

He explained that the manatee population in area waters has been growing and noted that past efforts to provide sanctuaries and regulation have been successful.

"In Citrus County we've shown that it works," Kraus said.

Mayor Ron Kitchen said the regulations in place now were a compromise and that, originally, the plan had been to shut down area waters from any activities impacting manatees.

"I'd call it a civil war," he said of the past battles.

Kitchen also said dive shops learned at that time to police themselves and said that, for the most part, they do.

Kraus said that while most dive shops have done their job, problems still occur. And the sheer number of people now using area waters to see manatees is a huge problem on its own over and above the people who misbehave.

"The status quo is probably not going to be forever," Kraus noted.

Farley said that, from information he has received from the community, action needs to be taken soon "so we don't get a situation here where we have a massive petting zoo."

Farley said he was concerned that Kraus had said people were emotional about the issue on all sides as if emotions were derogatory.

"I think that emotions, anger at abuse, clear abuse, is a healthy thing," he said.

"I think that we have a problem out there and I think we've had it for a long time," Farley said. The publicity just means more people know about the situation and they see it as a Crystal River issue.

"A problem has been brought to our attention and we have to deal with it," he said. "We have an obligation."

Barbara Behrendt can be reached at 564-3621 or "behrendt@sptimes.com.

Homes too close, critics say

By ELENA LESLEY
Published March 28, 2007

 

CRYSTAL RIVER - A request to negotiate development of what some are calling "cluster homes" near the Crystal River Mall sparked an aesthetics standoff at Monday's council meeting.

"It just seems like it's all squished together," resident Dee Atkins said of residences in the Hidden Lake Preserve development.

"It's just very ..." - she paused - "close."

Developers for the project had come before the council to designate the site, north of the mall and east of U.S. 19, as a planned unit development. This would enable them to negotiate height and setback restrictions.

The property is currently zoned for residential, and was previously designated a development of regional impact which put additional limitations on the number of units that can be built on the land.

Though after much discussion, the developers' proposal was ultimately tabled, the issue will not be resolved easily.

More and more developers are looking at Crystal River. And whether the council enters into PUD negotiations - and how those take shape - could set a precedent for other projects to come.

Developers want to build 549 residential units, both apartments and townhomes, on the property. In some parts, they want structures to reach as high as 50 feet (the city's limit is 35 feet), and they want residences to sit closer to each other than the zoning would normally allow.

Some townhomes are planned as two stories over parking, others as three.

You could "reach out the window and shake hands with your neighbor," resident Gail Jannarone said, blasting the proposed project.

Mayor Ron Kitchen said disagreement over Hidden Lake was all a matter of taste.

He said he would be more concerned about circumventing the city's height limits and setbacks if the parcel were a sensitive, waterfront property.

Just because some Crystal River residents might not want to live in closely spaced subdivisions, doesn't mean there aren't people who do, said Wayne Walker, who was representing the developers.

He called such projects "one of the hottest markets" in real estate.

But council member Susan Kirk said the issue is greater than any one person's architectural preferences. It's about the community's vision as a whole.

"We fought long and hard for the 35-foot restriction," Kirk said. The development "needs to be more palatable."

In a 3-1 vote (council member Phil Price was the "nay" vote) the council decided to table the issue until the next meeting. At that time, representatives for the development will have more specifics regarding which buildings would stand taller than 35 feet.

Debate over Hidden Lake highlighted issues raised earlier in the meeting by Mike Brown, chairman of the planning commission.

Brown addressed the council about the upcoming appointment of members to the commission, and asked that they create a more balanced body.

Four of six commission members make their living from real estate development, and "no one other than myself has cast a 'nay' vote" while reviewing 22 projects over the last year, he said.

Residents later added that Hugh Tolle, one of the principals in Hidden Lake, was a member of the commission. Though Tolle recused himself from the vote on this project, an agent with his firm, Lynn Wallace, did not.

City Attorney Anthony Perrone had advised Wallace that her vote would not create a conflict of interest, because her benefit from the project was purely speculative.

The commission's recommendation to approve the PUD had not been unanimous.

If the city signs off on these negotiations, "we're throwing our (land development code) completely out the window," Brown said.

Elena Lesley can be reached at elesley@sptimes.com or 564-3627.

Officials want plans redone

By Mike Wright

A proposed development near the Crystal River Mall is on the skids, at least temporarily, following action Monday night by the Crystal River City Council.

The council voted to send the plan from the developers of Hidden Lakes Preserve back to staffers for more work because of concerns that the proposal exceeded city height requirements for residential buildings.

The 175-acre parcel east of U.S. 19 and north of Turkey Oak Drive was part of the 1989 Crystal River Mall development of regional impact, or DRI.

That plan called for 500 residential units. In June 2006, the council agreed to increase the number of units to 549 and extend the build out date to December 2015.

Developers proposed a planned unit development, or PUD, that included a mix of homes, townhouses and apartments. The plan extended the city land development code’s 35-foot maximum building height to 50 feet and allowed tighter setbacks between homes.

Council members Susan Kirk and John Kostelnick said they opposed the height extension. Mayor Ron Kitchen said he wasn’t necessarily opposed to that, but he wanted the plan to specifically say which buildings would exceed 35 feet.

Council members voted to send the plan back for more work.

In other business Monday, the council:

n Postponed until early April a plan to extend water and sewer to the RealtiCorp property just south of Crystal River.

The plan called for RealtiCorp to pay for the entire project. However, it also required the city have sewer available from its expanded sewer plant within three years.

City Manager Andy Houston said he thought the plant expansion would be done by then, even though the city council hasn’t agreed to a specific plant expansion or how to pay for it.

The council has a May workshop planned to review proposed sewer rate increases.

Houston said he could have a draft of those proposed rates in time for the council’s April 9 meeting. The council delayed the RealtiCorp agreement until then.

* Postponed many items, including discussion about a proposal to add an election runoff, to the April 9 meeting. By rule, the council cannot continue its meeting past 10:30 p.m.

Dream dwelling or cash cow?

By EILEEN SCHULTE
Published March 28, 2007

SAFETY HARBOR - When Kevin and Julie King built their Key West-style house, they included a front porch where they imagined they would visit with neighbors.

But the Kings will do no lighthearted gossiping on this shady veranda anytime soon.

Here's why: As soon as they completed their dream home about one month ago, they put it on the market, before even moving in.

That, and the size of the house, makes some neighbors furious - and suspicious of the couple's motives.

The Kings, who live across the street in a small rental, say they have to sell their new house because they realize now they can't afford it. They had a baby 11 months ago, and with two other kids, one in college, it's just too much.

But some neighbors say they believe the couple never intended to move in at all.

They say the couple duped them and the city. They say the Kings turned a charming bungalow that fit in perfectly with the other little houses on the street into a two-story manse too large for the 5,000-square-foot lot it sits on. And it dwarfs the other residences on the block.

They claim the Kings wanted to build a big house, then sell it for a big profit.

Julie King disputes this.

"We're not going to make a dime," she said.

"We've got $605,000 into this," she added. "We pay $3,500 in interest a month."

The house is listed for $669,000.

Tension in the south side neighborhood has gotten thick. One resident handed out fliers with a photo of the house under construction. Its message: Would you want this in your back yard?

A few neighbors enlisted the help of Vice Mayor Kathleen Earle, who spoke up at two City Commission meetings, saying the house gobbles up too much of its lot.

Earle urged more caution in granting future variances because in the Kings' case, the family asked for its variance to accommodate a larger family, but then didn't move in.

Julie King emphasizes that she and husband are "not developers."

She recalled that at one commission meeting she attended, her husband argued to commissioners that modern-day families cannot live comfortably in the small bungalows that line the quaint brick streets of Safety Harbor.

His larger family needed a larger house, he said.

Sitting in the chambers holding her infant son. Julie King heard a woman sitting behind her hiss "get out." She took the baby and left City Hall. The baby wasn't crying, but she was.

* * *

Kevin King, 36, is a project coordinator for the Bacon Group, an architectural and engineering firm based in Clearwater.

He designed the gazebo on Main Street as well as the Safety Harbor Chamber of Commerce building.

He and Julie King, 42, a former high school French teacher, married nine years ago.

She has two teenagers from a previous marriage. The couple has one son, Aiden, 11 months old.

In March 2005, they bought a 726-square-foot cottage at 736 Fifth St. S from Charles and Joanna Maria Clark for $168,500.

They secured their variance to expand their new purchase, and they moved into a small house across the street, so they could watch the big house go up.

The city's allowance permitted King to construct a second story and gave him a break on setbacks. The house is now 2,478 square feet enclosed.

King said he designed it after the Seaside community in the Panhandle, complete with a tin roof.

"We're proud of it," he said.

It's not the look of the place that has neighbors upset. Many, in fact, say it is lovely. It has four bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths. It features hardwood floors, granite counter tops, two staircases, one inside and one outside, a covered deck, a balcony, top-notch appliances, a breakfast room, a fireplace and a two-car garage.

It's just too big for the lot, some neighbors argue.

"It's huge, it's a monolith," said Pilar Gomez, who lives on Seventh Ave. S, behind the house the Kings are leasing.

"I feel the city messed up because they allowed them to build up. They lied to the city, that's my opinion. They pulled the wool over the city's eyes."

Bob Hempel, who lives behind the Kings' house a few doors down, joked the house is so large "I don't see the sun until 1 p.m."

"We have a 6-foot privacy fence, but they can see into our yard from the second story," Hempel said. "It's the perfect house, but not for our neighborhood."

But the couple also has supporters.

"I don't understand what the (opponents') problem is," said Stephanie Johns who lives across the street from the Kings' house. "It's pleasing aesthetically. It's just going to increase the property values."

Cynthia Ryan, who has lived in the house next door to the Kings for 41 years, agreed.

"It isn't any of their damn business," she said of the complainers. "I don't know why people are making such a big deal about it. Of course it's going to make my house look like a shoebox."

Ryan went on to say "this little town is like Peyton Place, and that there are always going to be people who are going to scream and holler."

Julie King discovered she was pregnant before construction started. She quit her job to be a stay-at-home mom. It was then that the couple sat down and took a hard look at their finances.

"After spending all this money on construction and having Aiden, we said, 'Oh my gosh, what are we going to do?' " said Julie King.

The couple's 14-year-old daughter, Ashley, lives in the rental with them, and their 19-year-old son, Brandon, attends Florida State University and comes home on vacation.

The rumor mill keeps churning. Gomez said she "heard they are buying the house they rent."

She said she fears the Kings will build a second story on that house just like they did on the rain blue-colored house.

Julie King said she and her husband may indeed buy the modest rental house they now live in at 705 Fifth St. S.

But she said if they do, they will not build a second story on it.

The mental drain from building the blue house has taken its toll.

"I feel extremely harassed," Julie King said. "Their malicious rumors. ... I've been hurt by this."

Eileen Schulte can be reached at (727) 445-4153 or "schulte@sptimes.com.

Going green: UF garden spans entire rooftop

By NATHAN CRABBE

Sun staff writer

The University of Florida has its own version of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

The green roof over the Charles R. Perry Construction Yard might fall short of being one of the world's seven wonders. But people involved in the project say it will show how planting a rooftop-spanning garden can provide conservation benefits.

"We want this to be the catalyst for doing more green roofs on the campus," said Glenn Acomb, a landscape architecture lecturer spearheading the project.

Workers finished planting the 2,600-square-foot roof Tuesday with native Florida vegetation, including dune sunflower, tropical sage and gopher apple. The roof covers an amphitheater next to Rinker Hall, home of UF's School of Building Construction.

Babylon might have had the world's first green roof, which legend says the ruler Nebuchadnezzar built to cheer up his homesick wife. But green roofs have recently been used for more than their aesthetic value, as a way to absorb stormwater runoff, reduce energy use and provide wildlife habitat.

Germany started the push for green roofs in the past few decades, Acomb said. Prominent examples in the U.S. include Chicago City Hall and a 10-acre green roof on a Ford plant in Michigan, but Acomb said there are few green roofs in the Southeast.

The Perry yard marks UF's first green roof. The yard - named for the late Rinker alumnus Charles "Chuck" Perry - is actually an amphitheater-like area where craftsmen such as carpenters and masons will demonstrate their work to students.

Because it is over an open amphitheater, the green roof won't have an impact on heating and cooling. But green roofs typically absorb enough sunlight to substantially reduce the expense of air conditioning in buildings below them, said Bahar Armaghani, project manager and the university's assistant director for facilities planning and construction.

She said the roof will be a model for future building projects on the campus and beyond.

The Perry roof's main environmental benefits will be reducing stormwater runoff, Acomb said. Water that isn't absorbed by the vegetation will drain into cisterns, where it will be stored to irrigate the roof during dry periods.

"It allows you to collect a resource as opposed to wasting it," Acomb said.

The roof includes a dozen species of native plants. The roof is covered with just a 5-inch layer of soil, so mainly ground-covering species with shallow root systems were chosen.

The roof will be studied to determine its benefit in reducing pollution in runoff. Sylvia Lang, a UF soil and water science doctoral student, and Mark Clark, a water-quality specialist with the UF extension, will be studying those effects alongside Acomb.

A $22,000 grant from the Florida Department of Transportation is helping fund the project. Acomb said the department might one day put green roofs on its toll booths or other structures.

The Perry roof will show how green roofs can be done and what benefits they provide, he said.

"If we encourage people to do it we'll be reducing the load on energy and water," he said.

Nathan Crabbe can be reached at 352-338-3176 or crabben@gville sun.com.
Growth forcing Oak Hill to raise fees

By LINDA WALTON
Correspondent

OAK HILL -- With the city poised for large-scale development, city commissioners Monday approved new permit fees.

At the top of the list are high charges for developers wanting a zoning map amendment.

If they are seeking a map amendment to provide for a planned unit development, the fee is $8,500. Other changes to the city's zoning map will cost $6,500.

In addition, developers and builders will have to pay for all engineering fees provided by the city plus recording fees and any additional charges required by the city relating to administration, building and permitting.

"The city didn't have any of this before," building inspector Dennis Fischer said Tuesday. "They never needed it, and just ate the costs, but with all of the growth planned they (the city) had to increase their fees. They are patterned a little less, but closer to Edgewater's," said Fischer, who serves both cities.

Development review fees also increased, with zoning changes doubling to $300; concept plan review doubling to $150.

People needing building permits for a variety of reasons also will be subject to higher fees. The overall fee for ordinary building permits has increased for building values from $100 to $1 million.

Other increases including doubling the permit costs for a double wide mobile home to $200; mobile home work permits will raise to $25 (up $5)

for plumbing and electric.

All permit applicants pay a $15 administrative fee and now there is an added fee for plan checking that is equal to half the building permit fee.

"We needed increases and now we are studying impact fees. We're growing and if we don't have the money we can't pave the roads and do other things to benefit the new residents and developments," Mayor Mike Thompson said.

 

Plan for future of less as well as one of more

By BRIAN MOORE
Published March 28, 2007

 

The March 23 article by Times staff writer Dan DeWitt, "Growth control tops summit," and the previous day's article by staff writer Michael Kruse, "Long road leads to company's new headquarters," regarding Universal Microwave's relocation and expansion to the Ridge Manor West industrial park area, reflects a push by the business community for more growth and development.

Most of this "desire for momentum" seems to be based on the belief by the summit participants and respective owners that without getting bigger, the existing businesses, developers and Realtors would die on the vine. And that may be true.

They seem to believe they can attract more businesses with better roads, having more vacant land available, more lower-income housing and higher salaries for teachers. If this is achieved, they say, then the work force can be better skilled and businesses with higher-paying jobs will come to Hernando. Maybe so.

It seems like their business growth is mostly based on people being able to travel by car, from relatively distant locations, to our local retail centers and even our manufacturing facilities and warehouses.

The premise of this new "growth and development" in our county is primarily based on people's ability to travel easily and economically. Should our transportation avenues dry up, the consequences would be disastrous to all of those businesses that are dependent on such proximity and availability. Thus, the fallout would hurt employees, and ultimately the whole county when it comes to loss of property, sales and business taxes.

While the Greater Hernando County Chamber of Commerce and Hernando County government may be receiving generous government grants to foster this type of development, and provide inexpensive land and facilities or low taxes and writeoffs to attract these businesses, our political and business leaders should take into consideration the long-term consequences of their decisions and planned efforts for the future.

If we experience a major loss of fuels, or if the price of gas and oil skyrocket, and access to water and power is adversely affected, either electrical or nuclear, due to various unknown factors, then we will have to depend of our own self-sufficiency locally. That might mean fewer cars and trucks, and less food from corporations that manufacture foods and products on a mass scale with these same fuels. That will mean Hernando County will have a greater need for agricultural land to grow our own products, and for local small businesses to conduct smaller manufacturing of far fewer food and durable goods on a more modest scale.

That also would mean there would be a reduced need for bigger roads, fewer schools and teachers, less housing, not more, and even less government services.

This also will mean that communities like Spring Hill will have to shrink, and that the new growth and expansion will have to take place in more rural areas, with many more small towns, like Brooksville, gaining in importance. And the labor force will have to go back to farming, to local small manufacturing and to the use of bicycles, motor scooters, buses, trains, even horses, and good old-fashioned feet for walking.

Thus, "growth and development" would take on a whole new direction. Did the summit attendees consider this avenue? Apparently not. Are they involved in wishful thinking, and totally unprepared if these fuel, water and power sources dry up or are altered significantly?

Your article mentioned a 2005 top issue of preserving the county's beauty and water quality, and this year they emphasized "reviewing the comprehensive plan." But for what purpose, to water down the stringent standards for growth (pardon the pun), or to allow the market to have a bigger role in county growth, as your reporter wrote, that some summit participants now want?

Granted, this may be in the distant future. Or it might not happen at all. But what happens if it is only five or 10 years away? I get nervous when I see "growth and development" as being unending and promoted blindly and selfishly, and hear of no alternative or contingency plans. I feel anxious about our dependency on large, insensitive, and sometimes greedy corporations nullifying our own sense of dignity, self-sufficiency and fair access to making a decent living.

Returning partly to the way we used to do things may mean a healthier America, a leaner America and a fairer and more responsible nation. It also could lead to more friendly and community-like neighborhoods, and a more peaceful and harmonious society and family life, which we all pine for, but sense has been lost for the near future.

Brian Moore, a former candidate for the U.S. Senate and House, lives in Spring Hill. Guest columnists write their own views on subjects they choose, which do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.

Residents Say Wal-Mart Meeting 2 Days Late

By MICHAEL D. BATES Hernando Today

Published: Mar 28, 2007

SPRING HILL - For two months, Barclay Avenue residents have waited for a county-mandated neighborhood meeting to air their concerns about the proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter on their road.

Hernando County staff members had asked representatives of the property owner to hold that meeting before county officials considered a master plan revision to approve the 185,000-square-foot combination grocery-retail store.

On Monday, residents got the time and place for their meeting: 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. April 11 at the Best Western Resort Weeki Wachee, at the corner of U.S. 19 and State Road 50.

However, Fred Maier, co-chairman of the United Communities Save Our Neighborhood committee, said the date comes two days after the planning and zoning board will meet to make a recommendation on the project.

Planning and zoning staff put the Wal-Mart request on the April 9 planning and zoning agenda.

Maier said the county has reneged on its promises by scheduling the planning-and-zoning meeting in advance of the neighborhood gathering.

For whatever reason, the project is being fast-tracked and the public is on the losing end, he said.

"We don't know who's pulling the strings on this deal," Maier said. "Someone with muscle is flexing it."

Maier said residents were told they would be able to express their concerns prior to the planning and zoning board debating the merits of the project. Now, that is all changed, he said.

"Why is everyone bending over at the county to accommodate the [project] petitioner or Wal-Mart?" he said. "I guess the taxpayers don't count."

The retailer has submitted plans to build its newest supercenter - Hernando County's fourth - on the east side of Barclay Avenue, between Suncoast Villa Apartments and the Publix-anchored Barclay Square.

Almost as soon as it was proposed, homeowners at Pristine Place and other nearby communities banded together to fight the project they say will create a traffic nightmare on narrow two-lane Barclay Avenue.

They formed the United Communities Save Our Neighborhood to block the development of a Wal-Mart or any other big box store near their homes.

Hernando County Planning Director Ron Pianta said he would have liked to have had the neighborhood meeting before the planning and zoning meeting.

However, after further analysis, the county ordinance only requires the neighborhood meeting be held "before it gets to the governing body for approval."

That governing body would be the board of county commissioners, he said.

County commissioners are scheduled to hear the Wal-Mart request at its land use hearing May 9.

Pianta said Wal-Mart has been forthcoming about the project and recently submitted revised information to satisfy concerns about development of an outparcel on the property and building elevation.

Residents had demanded a traffic study be done prior to the planning and zoning meeting. However, that study is routinely done after project approval, Pianta said.

Kristin Tolbert, a law clerk with Bricklemyer, Smolker & Bolves, who is representing the property owner, had been working with the retailer to schedule the neighborhood public hearing.

Charlotte wants changes to water agency exemptions

By ZAC ANDERSON and DOUG SWORD

zac.anderson@heraldtribune.com
doug.sword@heraldtribune.com
The drinking water can suddenly stink. It can taste bad and corrode pipes. It can even cause diarrhea "in rare instances."

These problems occur when contaminants such as sulfur and calcium are found in the water in large amounts, an issue the Peace River/Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority has been struggling with the past four months in the face of drought conditions.

But instead of solving the problem in the short term, the authority wants a three-year exemption from state drinking water standards until a new water plant is completed, and some of its customers aren't happy.

"This is unacceptable," Charlotte County Commissioner Tom Moore said Tuesday. "Standards are standards."

The state Department of Environmental Protection has agreed to grant the exemption. But the four counties that are members of the authority -- Charlotte, Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto -- have until April 12 to petition for changes. All but Manatee County receive water from the authority.

County officials want to have conditions placed on the exemption permit and are meeting today to discuss the issue.

The counties are between a rock and a hard place when it comes to the contaminants, which are considered "secondary" because they don't have serious health risks other than what officials described as "a laxative effect" in rare cases from too much sulfur.

It could cost more than $1 million a month to improve water quality by adding more filters, according to Charlotte Utilities Director Jeff Pearson.

As the water authority's main customer, Charlotte would pay up to 70 percent of those costs, officials said.

"Implementing that right away would be cost prohibitive," said Commissioner Adam Cummings.

So instead of opposing the exemption, the counties want to allow the authority to exceed the standards only during drought periods, when water must be drawn from deeper sources with higher concentrations of minerals.

Theresa Connor, Sarasota County's water resources manager, supports such conditions on the permit.

The county utility managers understand that sulfate and mineral levels can be high "during extreme droughts," Connor said.

"But we don't like the blanket exemption," she said.

High levels of minerals and sulfates can cause damage to hot water heaters and the operation of fish tanks, and people need to know that, Connor said.

The best time to warn the public is when the state declares a water emergency and water users are paying attention.

But if the water quality can worsen at any time, as the permit would allow, it makes it more difficult to warn customers, Connor said.

Water authority attorney Doug Manson called the exemption a non-issue. He said the contaminants "are purely aesthetic" and would be below acceptable levels once the authority's water treatment plant in Arcadia is expanded in the next few years.

"To see this as even an issue is a far cry for me," he said. "This is common."

DEP Spokeswoman Pamala Vazquez said the authority would have the first exemptions from the standards since they were set three years ago in the DEP's 12-county Southwest District. "We understand people are concerned about this," she said.
1980s real estate scam artist fighting his return to prison

He violated probation terms on restitution and land deals, officials say.

By PAUL PINKHAM, The Times-Union

Ellis E. Neder Jr. spent 10 years behind bars for engineering a massive Northeast Florida real estate scam prosecutors said helped bankrupt four lenders in the 1980s.

Neder and his court-appointed lawyer declined interview requests from the Times-Union because of the pending charges. But they responded in court that the cited violations were by-products of Neder's work as a paralegal, which the U.S. Probation Office approved.

Repaying the $25 million is simply "impossible," attorney Mitchell Stone said in court documents.

Neder is due in court this morning at a hearing to revoke his supervised release before the same judge who sentenced him 15 years ago. The probation office has charged him with five violations.

Neder faces up to 20 more years in prison if found in violation. Nonbinding federal sentencing guidelines call for three to nine months.

Everybody lost

In the mid-80s, Neder made millions of dollars in fraudulent land deals. Just as quickly, it was gone.

He blamed changes in tax laws. The judge called it greed.

A Jacksonville jury convicted him in 1992 of 73 counts of fraud, racketeering, conspiracy, filing false income tax returns and lying to financial institutions.

Prosecutors said Neder's $40 million land-flipping swindle hastened the collapse of three savings and loans and one bank.

The scam was detailed by 100 witnesses during Neder's two-month trial.

They testified that Neder purchased land in Duval and St. Johns counties through a shell corporation, then sold the land back to himself for as much as three times the amount.

He used inflated appraisals and phony sales contracts to obtain loans, leaving lenders with land worth far less than its paper value when Neder defaulted, prosecutors said. Two appraisers tried with Neder were acquitted, but 16 other lawyers and professionals pleaded guilty to their roles.

Before he went to prison, Neder said he never intended for anyone to lose money. He blamed his demise on a 1986 tax law change that lessened incentives for investment in condominiums.

"I intended to make a lot of money and pay back these loans," he said in court. "I lost everything. I lost, just like everybody else lost."

But U.S. District Judge Harvey Schlesinger didn't buy it. He called the scam "a typical case of greed."

Schlesinger sentenced Neder to 12 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release. He also ordered $25 million in restitution.

The Condo King

One of the facilities Neder spent time in during his incarceration was the Allenwood federal prison camp in the Pennsylvania mountains. It was there he met William Lilly, the self-proclaimed Condo King of Massachusetts.

Lilly, 61, was serving a five-year stint for crimes similar to Neder's, and prosecutors said that even in prison he engineered real estate deals fronted by his longtime girlfriend.

In a deposition, Neder recalled meeting the girlfriend, Valerie Kaan, when she visited Lilly at Allenwood.

After Lilly was released in 1997, he settled with Kaan in ritzy Boca Raton, where they run one of Florida's top condominium development firms.

When Neder got out four years later, he contacted Kaan about a Beauclerc apartment complex ripe for conversion into condos. At the time he was working as a paralegal for a Jacksonville real estate attorney.

Lilly came north to look at the property and was interested.

Neder estimated the potential sale profit after conversion could be as much as $11 million. He helped draw up legal papers, worked on financing and loan applications and scheduled a pre-closing.

It was all part of his paralegal duties, and he was paid only a paralegal fee of less than $10,000, Neder said in a deposition after the deal fell through because of a contract dispute.

"I was just trying to be helpful to some friends and some people that I know who were interested in a piece of property," Neder testified. "I'm just one of the hired help here."

It was one of about a dozen transactions involving Kaan in which Neder testified he was a paralegal. Kaan couldn't be reached, and Lilly declined comment.

Attorney Mark Tippins, whom Neder worked for, confirmed Neder did "very good" paralegal work for his estate planning and real estate practice.

Nevertheless, the probation office says the Beauclerc deal constituted two key violations of Neder's supervised release - one for associating with a known felon and one for engaging in employment related to real estate development.

Behind in payments

As federal probation violations go, Neder's are fairly minor. Most defendants that return to prison are there for failing a drug test or committing a new crime, defense lawyers said.

Still, Neder might have avoided his current legal problems if he could have come up with $33,900 last summer.

Neder had paid about $39,000 in restitution at that point, following a payment schedule his lawyer said the probation office set based on his monthly financial statements and ability to pay.

But as Neder neared the end of his term of supervision, probation officials determined he could have been paying more and assessed an additional $33,900. A judge agreed to terminate Neder's supervision as scheduled provided he made that payment.

It also would have meant an end to his $25 million restitution.

Stone said Neder tried unsuccessfully to raise the money even though he disagreed with the order.

Neder was arrested in August on charges of failing to pay and opening nine lines of credit without permission. The charges involving Lilly and the Beauclerc apartment project were added in October.

Modified charges

After Stone's negotiations with prosecutors broke down in December, the probation office modified the charges.

Gone were the credit allegations. Instead, probation officers added two new charges of having contact with another felon he met in prison and engaging in another real estate transaction.

Stone has asked Schlesinger to throw out those charges because they didn't surface until after Neder's term of supervised release would have expired. Probation officials didn't return phone calls, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Talbot declined comment.

The probation office also dropped the $33,900 payment differential and instead said Neder didn't make payments to the best of his ability or pay the restitution in full.

In response, Stone noted the courts found Neder indigent enough before he went to prison to appoint him a lawyer. His circumstances haven't changed since his release.

"The court cannot enforce a condition ... that is impossible to perform," Stone said.

paul.pinkham@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4107

State attorney: Developer `took candy from a baby'

A third developer turned himself in to face criminal charges in connection with the ongoing Miami-Dade Housing Agency scandal.

By SUSANNAH A. NESMITH

snesmith@MiamiHerald.com

Related Content

·        Document | Read the case against Diaz

Reynaldo Diaz turned himself in Tuesday, the third developer to face criminal charges in connection with the ongoing probe of misspent money at the Miami-Dade Housing Agency.

Diaz was charged with one count of organized fraud after investigators said he used bogus documents to obtain $940,000 from the Housing Agency to build 28 affordable homes. He only built two homes.

Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle said Housing Agency employees failed to take the most basic steps to verify the documents Diaz submitted.

THE CHARGE

''It was as simple as taking candy from a baby,'' she said at a press conference to announce the arrest. ``He just took the money from the county.''

Diaz submitted phony real-estate contracts to the Housing Agency showing that he was in the process of buying six lots to build some of the affordable homes.

But the purported seller of the lots, Mario Mayorga, didn't own them, Fernández Rundle said.

The lots were owned by ''innocent third parties,'' she said. Simply checking records with the county Property Appraiser's Office would have uncovered the fraud.

''Had they just taken a few responsible minutes to ascertain if this application was truthful and accurate, they would have found this immediately,'' she said.

Mayorga, who is an employee of Diaz's, is cooperating with authorities, according to the warrant for Diaz's arrest.

Diaz's dealings with the Housing Agency were detailed last July in The Miami Herald's House of Lies investigative series, which exposed massive mismanagement, insider deals and millions of dollars wasted.

The $940,000 that Diaz received came from a $5 million loan that the quasi-private lender Fannie Mae made to the Housing Agency. The Housing Agency has already repayed the loan plus $250,000 in interest. Last year, the agency sued Diaz to recover the money he obtained; that case was settled out of court and Diaz has so far repaid $60,000 in interest.

Diaz posted a $10,000 bond and was released from jail later Tuesday.

TRYING TO GET MONEY

Assistant State Attorney Richard Scruggs, who is heading up the prosecution of the Housing Agency cases, said he intended to try to recoup more of the money that the county lost in the deal.

''We'll get restitution out of the guy at some point,'' he said.

Investigators promised more arrests in the widening probe, which is being conducted by the state attorney's Office and the inspector general's office.

''We're going to see this thing bleed into other programs,'' county Inspector General Christopher Mazzella said.

Miami Herald staff writer Debbie Cenziper contributed to this report.

Business owner punished for cutting palms

By TONI WHITT

toni.whitt@heraldtribune.com
SARASOTA -- A business owner's decision to cut down an iconic grouping of palm trees on St. Armands Circle has drawn a furor from neighboring businesses and could cost her $20,700 in city fines.

All that's left of the palm trees -- which included a six-trunk traveler's palm and a coconut palm -- are the stumps and a few shoots of vegetation.

The city issued business owner Myriam Colson-Slaughter a citation for cutting the trees without permits. The fine, one of the largest the city has given for tree violations, is based on $225 per inch of the combined diameter of the tree trunks.

The traveler's palm was rare in size and beauty and was a hot spot for tourists taking snapshots.

"It was a little ecosystem," said Steve Ivan, a real estate agent who said he snapped at least 50 photos for tourists. "It was a landmark for people. It was really tropical: the flowers were a foot to a foot-and-a-half wide."

To avoid the full fine, Colson-Slaughter has five days to come up with a mitigation plan, which likely means replacing the trees with similar ones. Yet that is not likely to appease angry neighbors, because the vegetation was such a part of the area.

"Obviously it was a huge tree," said City Commissioner Ken Shelin. "There was 92 inches of growing core, which means the tree was there for a long time."

Several attempts to reach Colson-Slaughter for comment were unsuccessful. She lives in Naples and is an owner of St. Armands Investment, Ltd. She told city officials that she planted the trees 15 or 20 years ago and thought she had a right to cut them down.

Neighbors speculate the trees were cut to because they obscured visibility to the second-floor restaurant, Cafe Galante -- now clearly visible from the sidewalk.

It's not the biggest citation the city has ever issued. Nearly two years ago, the city sent out a $30,000 citation for five live oak trees along U.S. 301 cut without a permit. In that case the city allowed the violator to replace the five trees at a cost of about $15,000. He also paid $90 for the permit, plus $15 a tree, three times the usual amount for a tree-cutting permit.

"What we lose when somebody cuts down a tree is the time," said David Daberkoe, an arborist with the city's public works department. "We lost a lot of time with this tree for it to get established and for it to grow."

For that reason, Selina Auvil, who works next door at Coldwell Banker, said Colson-Slaughter should have to pay the fine, even if she replaces the tree. Others say they would be happy if she simply replaced the tree with palm trees and other native plants.

Auvil said the traveler's palm has been there for as long as she can remember. She estimates she's shot hundreds of photos for tourists.

"People used to sit under that tree and everybody wanted a picture," Auvil said.

Auvil said she was devastated the day she saw what had happened.

"I used to treat those plants like pets," she said. "I cared for them and loved them."

In 2003 the City Commission passed a tree ordinance designed to protect the city's tree canopy.

It was amended a couple of years later to include even stiffer penalties for grand trees, such as oaks species that are slow growers and live a very long time, Shelin said.

Shelin said the tree canopy "softens the city's look" and preserves land values.

There are other economic and environmental benefits as well.

The shade they provide helps to cool concrete, thereby lengthening the life of sidewalks and roads. They also provide wildlife habitat, help with flood control and help provide oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide.

Arborists for the city have spent the past year taking an inventory of every tree within city limits.

The trees are all plugged into a global positioning system by type, size and exact position.

The information is there to help the city save its existing trees and to know when even a single tree disappears.

"Residents and especially merchants need to be aware that the city of Sarasota's canopy is a valuable asset to its citizens," Daberkoe said. "Anytime a tree is pruned or removed in a way that it is going to affect the canopy or the neighborhood, we're going to respond."

Developers unveil resort plans for land near Venice Airport

By PAUL QUINLAN

paul.quinlan@heraldtribune.com
VENICE -- Six developers have assembled plans to transform vacant land at the Venice airport into a destination resort with shops, hotel rooms, restaurants and an array of marine, golf and aviation amenities.

The grassy fields, which surround two runways at Venice's small general aviation airport at the southern end of Venice island, have long enchanted developers.

In the grass, city leaders see opportunity: 451 acres that could yield leases worth hundreds of thousands of dollars annually from the sort of resort that just might help put this tiny city -- a dwarf compared to Sarasota and Naples, neighbors to the north and south -- on the map of Florida vacation destinations.

Scrutiny of the six proposals, which range from a quarter-billion-dollar resort to a project modeled after the Roman Colosseum and Forum, has already begun.

On Friday, a committee of three city officials and one City Council member, John Moore, will meet to review all six.

From there, the list will likely be trimmed before the city's airport board and City Council hear presentations, from which one will be selected, said city manager Marty Black.

"The land is extremely valuable. It could generate a lot of money for the airport fund, and it's been sitting out there for 60 years waiting for us to do something with it," said John Simmonds, the City Council member who also sits on the board that oversees the city's airport.

Indeed, the parcels border the Intracoastal Waterway and are home to a 27-hole golf course. On one side, traffic rushes by along U.S. 41. On the other, grassy sand dunes overlook Caspersen Beach.

But previous attempts to woo development have failed.

Three years ago, the city scrapped proposals from three developers because all included residential space, which the Federal Aviation Administration forbade.

Black said the city's chosen developer will participate in one or more public forums to take input from the community on how the plan should be tweaked or, possibly, overhauled.

But early proposals range from the exotic to the ambitious.

An Italian developer's plan for an $80 million "Colosseum Project" would wrap shops, restaurants, boutique shopping and hotel rooms into "an entertainment experience based on the unique and rich legacy of the Colosseum and Forum in Rome." The plan includes bringing gondolas to the Intracoastal Waterway.

Another development group's plan, the CAVU Cay Resort, calls for a 450-acre spread costing as much as $350 million dollars. Partners include Dick Nunis, the past chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and a 17-year member of the Walt Disney Company's board of directors; Joel Freedman, who developed Sarasota's Whole Foods Marketplace; and Robert Soran, president of the company that operates Marina Jack's on Sarasota Bay.

The group's plan includes specialty retail shopping, two hotels, a conference center, a marina and campground.

City Manager Marty Black said the developers behind the CAVU Cay proposal and another proposal, by Amalthea Properties Investment, "appeared to have given the most thought" to their project.

But he also noted the CAVU Cay Resort plan may be too large as it is.

The Amalthea Properties Investment proposal calls for a $197 million resort, complete with 350-room hotel, a 25,000-square-foot convention center and a 250-slip marina. The plan includes renovating the Venice Golf Association's 27-hole public course into an 18-hole "PGA championship level golf course."

In a sign of what a large-scale development might mean for Venice, Amalthea's proposal includes an economic analysis that predicts its development pumping $32.5 million annually into the city's economy and create 570 new jobs paying $10.6 million in wages.

A project called the Legacy Sky Marina and Golf Resort calls would cover 415 acres and include a 9-hole "executive" golf course and a full renovation of the 27 holes at the public Lake Venice Golf Club into a new 18-hole course. It also calls for mixed-use retail and office space, aviation facilities and a marina with 320 wet slips and 240 dry slips.

Another proposal, the Sky Harbour Airport Marina, spans 173 acres at a cost of $92 million. Plans call for a marina; aviation hangars, sales and service; and hotel, office and retail space.

A sixth plan by the Allen Morris Company, which focuses on aviation uses and could be combined with another developer's project, calls for 40 acres of "premier aeronautical facilities."

Efforts to develop the airport, built in the 1940s as a World War II flight training facility and later deeded to the city, have always come mired in rumor and controversy.

Some of the controversy stems from the sheer potential for profit that a successful developer could reap.

Other talk centers on the potential sale of the 27-hole public course by the Venice Golf Association, a private corporation whose secret list of shareholders could divide millions amongst themselves from a sale of their long-term lease with the city.

The group's attorney, Dan Boone, confirmed that several of the developers have contacted him to discuss such a deal but would not comment further.

Also a group of island residents and neighbors to the airport, organized as the Venice Neighborhoods Coalition, have fought development of the land for fear that it would clog Venice island's roads with traffic and waterways with boats.

Environmental concerns also could hinder development. The coalition has asked Sarasota County to enter a joint agreement with the city to protect an area along the banks that is home to more than 100 endangered sea turtles. City leaders have said they would pay to have the turtles moved and other environmental impacts abated.

City leaders say they have little choice but to develop the airport land, given FAA demands that the city reap as much value from the airport as possible so as to minimize the federal contributions needed for runway and other maintenance.

"It's not a park, it's an airport," said Mayor Fred Hammett. "The people that are advocating that we turn that into a park -- the FAA just isn't going to approve that."

Black, the city manager, said he expected the developers to make presentations to the airport advisory board and City Council in either late April or early May. Ground could turn on a development in as little as a year, Black said.
Hot home-building market chills in Lake

Drastic reductions are recorded in the number of new-home permits sought by developers.

Robert Sargent
Sentinel Staff Writer

March 28, 2007

Some of Lake County's hottest growth areas are cooling off because of a big drop in new-home construction.

Clermont has more than doubled in size during the past six years to become the county's most-populated city with more than 22,000 residents. But only half as many of the new single-family homes that fueled much of that growth were built last year compared with 2004, according to city reports.

The downturn in home construction has affected other growth areas. Groveland, with about 6,000 residents, had a 20 percent drop in new-home permits between 2005 and last year.

Minneola -- with more than 9,400 residents -- had permits drop by 72 percent during the same time. So far this year, the city has issued only two new-home permits.

Permits in unincorporated Lake reached 3,057 in 2004, but between that time and last year, permits dropped 47 percent, county records show.

This year's numbers could sink again with only 146 permits issued for new single-family homes through the end of February.

Experts say the home market is adjusting from years of escalating sales. High home and land prices take some of the blame. And many buyers have stopped investing in homes on speculation of turning a profit with fast-escalating property values.

"Permits are down about 40 percent in the last 18 months," said Jean Kaminski, executive director of the Home Builders Association of Lake County. She said the trend is expected to last through year's end.

During that time, the cost of building a new home could climb significantly as Lake County struggles to recoup the tremendous impacts from new development.

County leaders could raise school-impact fees up to 150 percent to $17,513 for the average single-family home. Transportation-impact fees for the average home could soar from $2,189 to $11,396.

At most, those two impact fees could add nearly $29,000 to a home's price.

Add in other county and city impact fees, and they could put home prices even further out of reach of local buyers.

Some cities have not had a decrease in building permits -- possibly because the home slump was not enough to significantly bring down their overall growth numbers. "We had a lot of different home builders start construction in the past few years," said Laura McElhanon, Leesburg's community development director.

The type of development also helps.

Retirement communities that typically bring in wealthier buyers from Northern states are not as severely hurt by local sales trends.

Leesburg issued 425 permits for new single-family homes in 2005. Last year, those permits rose to 506.

Mount Dora issued 44 home permits in 2005 and 188 a year later.

The home slowdown has worried many builders. KB Home recently walked away from a development agreement with Minneola to allow 483 new homes on a 206-acre site east of U.S. Highway 27.

Some developers, however, continue to plan for communities with an expectation that home building eventually will pick up again.

The Hills of Minneola is proposed for nearly 4,000 homes and about 3 million square feet of commercial, office and industrial buildings surrounding a planned interchange on Florida's Turnpike. In Leesburg, Secret Promise and Renaissance Trails collectively are proposed for nearly 14,000 homes.

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

 

Chiefland likely to get hospital

By KAREN VOYLES

Sun staff writer

The president of a company that wants to build a hospital in Chiefland said Tuesday a verbal agreement has been worked out with the state to allow the hospital to be built.

But an official for Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration would not confirm that and said no approval has yet been given.

Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration has twice turned down a request for a certificate of need to build the proposed 60-bed Chiefland hospital.

Plans submitted to the state called for the hospital to be constructed on 20 acres behind the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Chiefland. The nearest hospitals to Chiefland are in Williston, Gainesville and Perry.

According to Robert Bauer, president of Ameris Health Systems of Nashville, his company has reached a negotiated settlement with the state that would allow the Chiefland hospital to be built.

"Our attorneys and theirs agreed verbally," Bauer said. Attorneys for the agency "have written a draft settlement agreement, which we got on Monday. We are looking at it and having folks review it."

Among the topics included in the negotiations was a concern by the agency that a new hospital might not be able to draw sufficient doctors to the rural area.

Bauer said Ameris countered that concern by presenting letters from 50 physicians stating they were willing to be a part of the hospital's medical staff.

Fernando R. Senra, the press secretary for Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration, told The Sun, "Concerning the Tri-County Hospital in Levy (County), there has been no approval."

Senra said Ameris had appealed his agency's decision against the hospital to the Department of Administrative Hearings, which led to the negotiations.

The department is a quasi-judicial branch of state government that rules on appeals of state government decisions.

Among the documents included in the administrative hearing file was a petition from North Florida Regional Medical Center in Gainesville.

The petition said it appears settlement negotiations were under way between Ameris and the agency and claims the medical center would be "substantially and adversely affected" if the administration issues a certificate of need for the Chiefland hospital. However, the petition also states that North Florida Regional Medical Center will not object to a certificate of need being issued.

North Florida Regional hospital officials want several conditions on the new hospital, including that it operate a round-the-clock emergency room, offer obstetric and pediatric services and have appropriate agreements in place so that patients can be transferred to other hospitals if needed.

Bauer said he did not see any reason why the new hospital could not meet any of those conditions. He also saw no reason why the hospital project could not quickly begin moving forward.

"We could sign a settlement this week," Bauer said. "Now that (North Florida) has filed, that petition may have to be acted on before we could have a clear settlement agreement and finally have a certificate of need issued, but we are very close."

Karen Voyles can be reached at 352-486-5058 or voylesk@gvillesun.com.
Council approves height restrictions

BY JESSICA RAYNOR
FLORIDA TODAY After a contentious debate, an ordinance limiting building heights to 50 feet along the riverfront passed at Tuesday's meeting, advancing a key part of the U.S. 1 corridor plan.

The ordinance eliminates permits for building heights greater than 50 feet and now requires graduated setbacks from the mean water line. Instead of the uniform 20-foot setback, setbacks would be determined by the building's height.

It only affects the shoreline mixed-use district, where builders are restricted by a 50-foot height limit, although they can get conditional use permits for up to 100 feet.

There could be changes, however. The council instructed staff to analyze how to incorporate parking beneath structures, which could change the ordinance and require the council to vote again.

Courtney Harris, chief planner for the city, earlier said the ordinance generally follows the U.S. 1 master plan. The plan stipulates that in this shoreline mixed-use district, height actually should be limited to 35 feet.

A height of 50 feet would be about five stories.

Some who expressed concern about the ordinance said limiting height would create sprawl and an aesthetically unpleasing concrete canyon along U.S. 1, as developers are forced to build parking lots outside.

Reva Harris of Titusville said she trusted the city council to work on a case-to-case basis when choosing projects without being tied into a restrictive ordinance.

"We have so few sites left," she said. "The taxpayers have gone into debt to buy up the parcels. What's left needs to be the best developments possible. I believe this ordinance would prohibit the best developments possible."

Councilman Walt Johnson agreed.

"It allows for no flexibility for this council," he said, the lone vote against the resolution.

Supporter Martha Long of Titusville said it's the right thing for the city to do, because it moves forward the U.S. 1 corridor master plan.

"I see no founding reason to make any changes to a vision that's been approved by you and by the citizens of Titusville," Long said.

Councilman Conrad Eigenmann said he's always supported height restrictions as a growth management plan.

"I do not think that it will run business off or hurt the community," he said. "It may require some adjustments. But nobody likes change."

Realtors' cash gift fuels capital debate

Some watchdogs say the donations skirt laws and ethics; others say it's fine.

Mark Hollis
Tallahassee Bureau

March 27, 2007

TALLAHASSEE -- On the day before the start of the two-month legislative session in which lawmakers are considering ways to cut property taxes, a $25,000 check from the Florida Association of Realtors was deposited into a campaign account controlled by state Sen. Jeff Atwater.

The Palm Beach Gardens Republican, who is seeking the Senate presidency in 2008, is a proponent of property-tax cuts and other changes real-estate agents have at the top of their 2007 legislative agenda.

In all, Atwater's Preserve the American Dream committee received 17 checks totaling $101,000 from people and groups interested in bills facing the Legislature during the six days prior to the session. The contributions -- the largest of which is from the Realtors -- are legal though subject to certain rules, such as one that bans lawmakers from accepting donations during the session.

More than half the donations were submitted Feb. 28, six days before the fundraising ban took effect. They include a $10,000 check from a political committee controlled by another Republican state senator, Mike Bennett of Bradenton. That account is fueled with money from interests including the home-construction and real-estate industries. Bennett is seeking the Senate presidency in 2010 and is considered an Atwater ally.

Government watchdogs and some legislators say the pre-session activity of these committees, and others like them controlled by state legislators, is inappropriate. These critics say so-called Committees of Continuing Existence are a means by which legislators help one another politically and skirt laws limiting contributions to their own campaigns.

"It's corrupt, as far as I'm concerned," said Ben Wilcox, director of Common Cause of Florida, a government watchdog. "They are evading the $500 limit on direct contributions, and they have become a way for people who are seeking power in either [the House or Senate] to reward their loyal supporters."

Atwater insists the donations do not lock him into voting a certain way or put him under any particular political pressure. He also says some money he has accepted will be spent on promoting whatever tax-law changes the Legislature approves.

"Whatever we do is probably going to take a dialogue with the citizens in the form of a ballot initiative," Atwater said. "There probably will be [spending by the committee] soon to [public-relations experts] who would help us think about how we would have that dialogue."

Nancy Riley, president of the Florida Association of Realtors that donated to Atwater's group, says a publicity campaign might be needed to fend off opposition from city and county officials should lawmakers pass a constitutional amendment that requires voters approval.

Those officials have been concerned about tax cuts slashing local-government budgets.

"I gave to Bennett's group to have total discretion as he pleases," said Bob Levy, a Miami-based lobbyist. "There's no question that Jeff Atwater will be the next Senate president. So why would it not be in Mike Bennett's best interest to support Jeff Atwater? And it's in my interest to see that Mike Bennett is in a good position to where he can be of assistance to me and my clients."

Mark Hollis can be reached at 850-224-6214 or mhollis@sun-sentinel.com.
Alliance alleges bias in approval of resort project
By Terry Witt
An attorney for an environmental group on Monday suggested there was bias involved in the county’s approval of a resort expansion last year, a charge the county disputed.

The Save the Homosassa River Alliance is suing the county to overturn approval of the Riverside Resort expansion, saying group members were denied due process in public hearings and workshops.
Circuit Judge Charles Harris ruled against the Alliance in a separate lawsuit earlier this year, saying the group and its members lacked standing to challenge the resort expansion on grounds that it was adversely affecting them.

The Alliance plans to appeal the judge’s ruling on the question of standing, but meanwhile it has a companion suit pending that Harris heard on Monday. The second suit deals with whether the Alliance was treated fairly and whether its rights were respected when the county commission considered the case.

“I believe the county’s process was flawed,” said Alliance attorney Denise Lyn.

One allegation is that county staff gave a detailed presentation to county commissioners on behalf of resort owner Gail Oakes and actually assisted her rather than remaining neutral. Lyn said the county’s presentation was so thorough that Oakes was able to give a slide presentation and sit down.

Assistant County Attorney Michele Lieberman countered that one of county staff’s jobs is to give commissioners detailed information about land use cases, but that doesn’t mean they are showing bias. She said commissioners were also given detailed written backup information about the case.

A second allegation is that Commissioner Dennis Damato, who voted for the project, read from a prepared statement during a public workshop, indicating his mind was made up before he heard the evidence, according to Lyn.

But Lieberman said Damato had taken notes and stated he wanted to see certain things done at the public hearing later on. She said that doesn’t mean he violated due process.

A third allegation is that Commissioner Gary Bartell, who also voted for the project, had a business relationship with Oakes, an allegation Bartell has denied and which Lieberman called “conjecture.”

Bartell has conceded his married daughter works for Oakes and that his car dealership business license hangs in the office of someone who leases space from Oakes, but he said he personally has no business connection to her.

However, Lyn said her clients believe there is a business relationship between Bartell and Oakes “that should have been disclosed.” Commissioners are required to disclose conflicts of interest before they vote.

Lieberman objected, saying Lyn had no proof. The judge said he wasn’t interested in Lyn introducing evidence proving her assertions about Bartell, and Lyn said she knew of no legal mechanism to move it into evidence.

Beyond the allegations of bias, Lyn said the county based its decision on a shaky legal foundation.

She said the Old Homosassa Special Overlay District, which was created to protect the character of Old Homosassa as a coastal fishing village, doesn’t allow an existing commercial business to expand if it lies in the Coastal High Hazard Area. She said Riverside Resort lies in the overlay district and CHHA.

Lyn also argued that the CHHA limits the height of buildings to two stories. Oakes plans to build four-story condominium buildings.

The two attorneys also disagreed on how many rental units Oakes plans to build. Lyn said the master plan shows the number of units will grow from 15 to 72, but Oakes’ attorney, Derrill L. McAteer, said there would be 34 additional units.

McAteer scoffed at the Alliance’s allegations, saying the group “is advocating the position an of architectural review committee” while at the same time claiming it is an environmental group.

He said the Alliance could have cross-examined Oakes at the public hearing where the project was approved, but chose not to question her.

“This is a red herring,” he said.

Harris won’t rule on the case until he reviews legal documents and additional information from Lyn.

Motion fails to kill rural-toll-road idea
Transportation planning agency also approves footbridge across S. Monroe Street
By Julian Pecquet
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

A motion to remove from consideration a controversial toll road through rural eastern Leon and Wakulla counties was defeated Monday, but members of the regional transportation planning body still vowed that the road proposal would go nowhere.

Meanwhile, the commissioners - from Leon, Gadsden and Wakulla counties - who make up the Capital Region Transportation Planning Agency voted to move forward with plans for a bicycle and pedestrian bridge over South Monroe Street.

The vote to remove the Red Hills Coastal Parkway from the area's long-range transportation plan, where it was included in 2005, comes after several citizens and state and federal agencies raised concerns about the toll road's impact on wildlife and the environment and the risk of urban sprawl.

"I do not want to live in South Florida," said Preston Robertson of the Florida Wildlife Federation. "It's as simple as that."

The toll road was proposed as a way to carry cars north from the coast as population continues to grow over the next several decades. But commissioners agreed that the route was not sufficiently thought out, and vowed to look at it more closely as they develop a regional master plan over the next two or three years.

Some commissioners wanted references to the toll road taken out sooner, saying they weren't sure how it got included in the long-range plan in the first place and hinting that they thought it served coastal developers more than local residents.

"We're not in the driver's seat here," said Tallahassee City Commissioner Debbie Lightsey, who voted for the toll road's removal along with Leon County Commissioners Bob Rackleff and John Dailey. "I'm not willing to go through because money is talking somewhere."

Commissioners also approved forwarding to the state for review a proposed pedestrian and bicycle bridge that is part of BluePrint 2000's plans for the 4.25-mile Capital Cascade Trail. The review lets the state determine whether the project can be paid for with state money.

If that's the case, and if money's available, it could be built before the planned 2015 date, said project manager Gary Phillips.

"It's really the only good safe way to get across Monroe Street," he said.

Highway Probably Will Be in New Plan

By Tom Palmer
The Ledger

Bartow- Over the past year the atmosphere surrounding any discussion of the protection of scenic vistas, historical landmarks and environmental features along the Scenic Highway has gradually changed from lynch mob to lovefest.

In January 2006, a crowd of angry landowners jammed a meeting hall in Lake Wales and cowed county commissioners out of even holding a public hearing on a change in the county growth plan to protect the corridor.

Last week, following a briefing by a county planner and testimonials by representatives from all interest groups connected to the issue, it now appears the idea is headed for inclusion in the county's growth plan and development regulations.

"At one point it seemed like we had a wall between us, but we've come a long way,'' said Lake Wales citrus grower Ellis Hunt Jr., one of the landowners who was skeptical of the initial proposal.

He said the committee meetings have educated both sides so that everyone understands each others' views.

"We have come a long way,'' said Lake Wales civic activist Mimi Hardman, an early supporter of the concept and one of the targets of landowner anger. "You are all going to be very proud when we get it done.''

Formal action on whether the proposal advances will be up to the Polk County Planning Commission and ultimately the County Commission, which has scheduled a series of public hearings between June and December.

A public information meeting will be scheduled in May preceding the public hearings.

The controversy involves a 38-mile stretch of State Road 17 that runs from Haines City to U.S. 27 just south of Frostproof.

The corridor was named a Florida Scenic Highway in early 2005, capping a grassroots effort that began in 2003 to preserve the character of this once-rural highway where citrus groves once dominated the roadside.

The effort was an attempt by homeowners in once-quiet communities such as Babson Park and Lake of the Hills to beat back the march of urban development spurred by annexation and a building boom in eastern Polk County in recent years.

However, when county planners presented a proposed growth plan change in late 2005, major landowners who had sat out the meetings leading up to the Florida Scenic Highway designation suddenly turned out en masse to oppose the idea.

The criticisms ranged from unhappiness that major landowners' views had not been solicited more actively to allegations that the effort was an assault on private property rights.

What emerged from the confrontation was the appointment of a 10-member committee that has been meeting for the past year to reach consensus on the corridor's value and the best way to protect it.

County planner Tom Wodrich, who has been working with the committee, briefed commissioners last week on what the committee had proposed.

Some key provisions of the proposed change include:

Quality development regulations that would provide incentives to encourage higher standards for new development along the corridor.

Landscape buffering emphasizing use of a variety of native trees found on the Lake Wales Ridge.

Open fencing instead of walls or opaque fences to preserve a more open feeling and to preserve views of the surrounding landscape.

Limited street lighting to reduce light pollution.

Deeper building setbacks and limits on building heights.

Smaller commercial signs.

However, Wodrich said much of what happens along the corridor will be up to city officials, since the majority of the corridor has been annexed into various cities along the route since county officials first began studying the area.

He told commissioners he would be willing to brief city commissions on the proposal.

Commissioner Jean Reed asked Wodrich if there were plans to enact something like this on other road corridors in Polk County.

He said there are no plans, explaining the plan is specific to this corridor.

Commission Chairman Bob English praised the group's efforts.

"When we work together, we can get things done,'' he said.

Tom Palmer can be reached at tom.palmer@theledger.com or at 863-802-7535.

Stricter water rules may be on the way

The board that oversees water supply takes a look at Hernando and Citrus counties.

By CHANDRA BROADWATER
Published March 27, 2007

BROOKSVILLE - Water officials are hoping to curb local use to prevent supply problems from spreading to west-central Florida.

Along with warnings of overpumping, longtime concerns over the health of water resources could lead the board of the Southwest Florida Water Management District, commonly known as Swiftmud, to create "water use caution areas" in Hernando and Citrus counties.

After meetings with water permit holders, local government and utility officials, board members are expected to make a decision in July.

The designation, which could be in some or all parts of both counties, could eventually mean higher rates for residents using too much water. It would also give the water district the power to establish or push for these regulations.

"The board wanted to put more focus on the north rather than just the problems in the south," said Michael Molligan, Swiftmud spokesman. "The idea is to get more active here before it's too late."

The 11-member water board voted to investigate water use in January, and has since been piecing together a rough plan for the northern part of its 16-county district.

Swiftmud can take action to restrict water consumption if high use is hurting or can hurt the local water supply and surrounding environment.

To determine this, water experts have been busy examining the quality and quantity of available ground and surface water. The effect on wetlands, lakes, streams, estuaries and wildlife will also be considered.

Similar actions have already taken place in Marion and Sumter counties. A meeting for those areas is scheduled for Friday at the Laurel Manor Recreation Center in the Villages.

The board could vote on how to regulate water in those counties as early as next month.

Whether it means higher rates or requiring residents to use reclaimed water when it's available, just what the board decides in each county depends on what studies and input reveal.

Water officials said that a final plan is at least a year away for Hernando and Citrus.

Water-guzzling Hernando customers use an estimated 171 gallons a person per day, compared with the 114 gallons per person in the entire district.

Residents with wells, or what's known as domestic self-supply, use about 160 gallons a person.

While Hernando County government officials haven't been directly contacted about the possible changes, Molligan said, they and other appropriate agencies would be incorporated into the process.

Input from the Coastal Rivers and Withlacoochee River Basin boards, as well as representatives from water district advisory committees including agricultural, environmental, industrial and public supply, will also be considered.

Chandra Broadwater can be reached at cbroadwater@sptimes.com or 352 848-1432.

Port St. Lucie OKs extension of water lines

By Jim Reeder

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

PORT ST. LUCIE — City council members voted Monday night to extend their water lines 5 miles outside Port St. Lucie's boundary, but said they could amend the rule after an April 5 meeting with St. Lucie County commissioners.

Vice Mayor Jack Kelly cast the only vote against the expansion because he had promised county commissioners he would wait until after the joint meeting.

"What good is my word if I vote for this?'' Kelly said. "I still think there's a chance for agreement if we meet."

But other council members said they're not so sure after hearing county commissioners' comments at a recent meeting.

"I heard more than a couple of times that history repeats itself," Councilwoman Linda Bartz said. "We have to erase the sins of the past and start working together."

City and county officials have locked horns, sometimes going to court or mediation before disputes were settled.

This dispute started with Allied Universal's request for utility service for an expanded chemical plant and has grown into a discussion of who will provide utilities for nearby land that could be developed with thousands of residential units.

The county asked the city to sell water under a bulk purchase agreement so the county could resell it to customers in the area west of Port St. Lucie.

City officials refused and said they have to protect their utility and well fields by expanding as much as 5 miles outside the city limits.

Mayor Pat Christensen and County Commission Chairman Chris Craft proposed a compromise that would have the city own utility lines while the county could sell the water flowing through them.

Craft was the only one to support that idea when he presented it to fellow commissioners.

Councilwoman Michelle Berger said the city already serves customers outside the city and this would be nothing different.

County officials believe the city gave up its right to serve the western area when it acquired the General Development Utilities system from the county.

City Attorney Roger Orr said state law allows the city to extend its lines into any area not being served with utilities.

County and city officials are scheduled to meet at 3:15 p.m. April 5 at city hall.

Wakulla Springs to close for swimming
Will re-open Friday after treatment
By Bruce Ritchie
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

The Wakulla Springs State Park swimming area will be closed through Thursday as park managers apply an herbicide to kill aquatic weeds.

Since 2000, the springs have become choked with the foreign plant species hydrilla. Scientists say high nitrogen levels in groundwater flowing to the springs are fueling the plant growth.

Likely nitrogen sources include septic tanks and Tallahassee's wastewater spray field on Tram Road, according to scientists.

The park has been releasing the herbicide Aquathol K annually since 2002 to kill hydrilla. Park officials say they have steadily reduced the amount of herbicide used.

Native plants have been making a comeback in the river as a result of the herbicide use, according to a statement issued by the park.

Residents are advised against using water from the Wakulla River for irrigation, livestock or household use through April 9.

There is no advisory against eating fish from the river, said Sandy Cook, park manager. Cerexagri, Inc., maker of Aquathol K, announced in 2006 that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had lifted a three-day restriction on fish consumption.

The herbicide is released into the water below the spring near the dive tower. Other park functions, including the boat tours, will continue during the treatment. For more information, contact the park at 224-5950

Builders lose lucrative fee option

County eliminates ability to lock in impact charges at low rates

Nin-Hai Tseng
Sentinel Staff Writer

March 27, 2007

TAVARES -- For many years, builders in Lake County avoided paying millions of dollars in impact fees that help pay for schools, roads and other public facilities.

They managed to dodge impact-fee increases under a county ordinance that allowed them to "prepay" the fees and lock in at low rates. They could put off building for years and not worry about paying the higher impact fees as time went by.

The system that has benefited the county's building industry came to an end last week.

County commissioners voted to do away with the prepay option amid rumblings from school officials, who complained the system has caused them to lose out on millions of dollars needed to help build classrooms.

Since the last time rates went up in 2005, the school system estimates it lost about $14 million in impact fees.

"It was a loophole that needed to be closed," said Scott Strong, a School Board member.

The issue has gained particular importance recently as county officials consider significant increases on all impact fees -- for schools, roads, libraries, fire services and parks.

One study calls for a nearly 150 percent increase in Lake's school-impact fees alone, raising them from $7,055 to $17,513 for each single-family home built. If approved, that could make Lake's school-impact fees the state's highest.

"There's two ways to look at it," said Wendy Wickwire, impact-fee coordinator for Lake. "From the builders' point of view, the ability to pay impact fees way ahead of time protects them from increases. From the School Board and county's point of view, that leaves us short."

County officials say the prepay option was created in 1996. It was intended to help individual landowners with plans to build single homes, but builders with much bigger projects quickly capitalized on the system, using it to lock in impact-fee rates for as long as they wanted.

"They pay the impact fees 10 years ago and then they don't develop until today," County Commissioner Linda Stewart said last week, after she and the other commissioners voted to eliminate the prepayments. "But those fees don't cover the costs to build a school or a fire station today."

Home builders see it differently. Jim Bible, owner and vice president of Showcase Homes Inc. in Mount Dora, said he is concerned with affordable housing.

The average price of a new home in Lake County is about $247,000, according to the Property's Appraiser's Office. Impact fees are typically added to the home's selling price.

Bible said without the prepay option and with the possibility of hefty increases to impact fees, home prices could go up even further.

"It's really a serious problem," Bible said.

County officials say they may later reinstate the prepayment option, but the set-up would have far more stringent regulations.

For instance, builders would not be able to lock in on impact-fee rates indefinitely, they said.

Nin-Hai Tseng can be reached at nhtseng@orlandosentinel.com or 352-742-5919.
Lessening the impact

By Dave Pieklik

Inverness City Manager Frank DiGiovanni wants the city to grow, and suggested at a budget workshop last week that county impact fees could present growing pains the city might want to avoid.

DiGiovanni suggested at the council’s first 2008 budget workshop this past Thursday that it opt out of the county’s plan, which goes into effect June 1. For a new 2,000-square-foot home, fees will increase from $6,665 to $9,314.

For a 3,000-square-foot fast food restaurant, fees increase from $139,509 to $207,684. The fees are designed to offset the costs of new roads, buildings and other facilities.

While DiGiovanni said he would like to see the infill of the city with new residents and businesses, he thought the fees might scare people off.

“If we stay in these county impact fees, that is going to choke the horse,” he said, adding he didn’t think they were in the city’s best interest.

While DiGiovanni didn’t recommend steering away from impact fees altogether, he urged the council to explore its own, less costly plan. Later on, he said impact fees are driving the decisions of “mom and pop” businesses that want to build new stores.

Some council members voiced concern during the workshop, and days later, feelings had not faded. Mayor Bob Plaisted said Monday that he’s not for impact fees, and if possible, would like the city to back out of the county’ s plan.

Though impact fees are geared toward people moving into the area, Plaisted believes longtime residents will be just as impacted if they want to build a bigger home or relocate.

“Suddenly, if you want to better yourself, you’re at a situation where it’s going to cost you a heck of a lot more to do it,” he said.

Plaisted, who rents several commercial and residential properties in the county, said the fees are impacting his business decisions, including building new apartments.

“We’ve got to look at what we can do to lure more people into our city, both residential and commercial,” he said.

Gospel Island resident Hilbert Staton, who served several years as the city’s development services director, agrees with DiGiovanni’s suggestion that the city create its own impact fee plan. However, he said the ramifications would need to be studied, including how much money the city would lose.

Like Plaisted, Staton said the city needs to attract more builders and people, and that high fees will make it difficult. He said the local economy could be hurt, and younger people could struggle to find affordable homes.

“I would think there should be other ways of getting the money that’s needed,” Staton said, adding he thinks local government should reduce its spending as a way to regain money.

Councilwoman Marti Consuegra said she believes impact fees are necessary because that’s where the tax base comes from, not the schools or hospital.

“Impact fees are going to have to be paid, no matter what way you look at it,” she said.

However, she did say she was in favor of lower fees.

Councilman Tom Johnson said the tax rate is already high enough, and favors looking at lower impact fees. That will bring more businesses and people into the city, he said.

Johnson added, “It will definitely increase our tax base.”

 

Fairways homes may lose greens

A developer wants to line up almost 600 homes on the 18-hole Quail Hollow course.

By CHUIN-WEI YAP
Published March 27, 2007

WESLEY CHAPEL - A 39-year-old central Pasco landmark is the latest golf course to face the advancing rumble of home builders.

Today, it's still the Quail Hollow Golf & Country Club, an 18-hole championship course off Old Pasco Road.

But by the time Landshore Communities is through, the 174-acre site might be just Quail Hollow.

The Michigan developer wants to raise 597 homes on the golf course, which is also home to 34 acres of wetlands and 10 acres of lakes. No commercial component is proposed.

Landshore bought the golf course from Quail Hollow Golf & Country Club in November for $7.6-million, according to county records.

The developer would need a rezoning to build that many homes, but no public hearing dates have been set yet.

County planners are still locked in discussions with Landshore and could push the developer to decrease the number of planned homes.

The proposed density has set the neighbors on edge. Some have called for the rezoning to be denied.

But county officials say the golf course is already zoned for some residences, and could be entitled to 290 homes even without rezoning. Landshore wants to rezone the site in hopes of gaining more density.

George Kralevich, Landshore's local representative, said the county's land use plan could allow them to argue for as many as 660 homes, though the developer is willing to consider neighbors' needs.

"We're not trying to jam a lot of stuff in there," Kralevich said.

It's not great news for those who bought into the Fairways of Quail Hollow, a 116-home development that surrounds the golf course.

They had hoped to gain value from owning a property abutting the golf course. Still, neighbors say they could not recall any formal commitment when they bought their homes that the golf course would be a permanent feature, though they said it was implied.

Golf's business appeal has been waning in recent years. Other courses, like Valley Oaks in Zephyrhills, are also giving way to homes. Developers have floated similar proposals for the golf courses in Port Richey's Timber Oaks and New Port Richey's Gulf Harbors. And Connerton dropped a golf course from its plans in October 2005.

Bill Warstler, who heads the Fairways of Quail Hollow Homeowners Association, and his neighbor, John Ley, said they had heard nothing official on the latest developments.

"We only learned about this through rumors a day or two ago," Ley said.

Both Warstler and Ley are worried about the development's effect on their flood-prone area. In December, the County Commission approved plans for another development, the 477-home Grantham Ranch, which neighbors feared could add to drainage problems.

"That's really my biggest concern," Warstler said. "If they start changing the elevation, it's going to have a severe impact on the homes here."

Quail Hollow is within 600 feet of a Tampa Bay Water production well, the Cypress Creek Wellfield and the drainage basin of the Hillsborough River.

Chuin-Wei Yap can be reached at (813) 909-4613 or "cyap@sptimes.com.Volusia to discuss plan for Intracoastal islands

Oceanside golf courses in the rough with salty air

By LAUREN SONIS
Staff Writer

THE HAMMOCK -- To the untrained eye, the Bermuda grass at the Jack Nicklaus Signature Ocean Hammock Golf Course may appear the same color across the board.

But to someone who knows turf care, sometimes the grass is a little less green on an oceanside golf course.

The coloration has to do with the higher levels of salt in the air, said Wayne Smith, the chief golf operator for Ginn Golf.

It's one of the environmental issues confronting oceanside golf courses in Florida.

Press releases for the Ginn Championship at Ocean Hammock Resort -- which will take place through Sunday -- describe a beautiful, challenging 18-hole course with some holes overlooking the ocean. Ginn Resorts bought the golf course in January.

On Monday, Smith described in a phone interview Ginn's success in water management and keeping the course green in more ways than one. He talked about building wetlands through a mitigation program, in which developers are required to create twice as much wetlands as they build on.

Smith cited the dune daisies and other indigenous plants that require less water, saving the company greenbacks and the state natural resources.

Developing oceanside golf courses is not as popular today as it was in Florida in the earlier part of the 1900s, said Mark Dunn, PGA director of golf at the 100-year-old Oceanside Golf & Country Club in Ormond Beach. Back then, before technological advancements in earth moving, developers found it cheaper to rely on the natural rolling landscape of the beach for a golf course's layout, he said.

Golf courses today are following a trend to become more environmentally friendly, said Stuart DeCew, who represents the Gulf Coast for the Florida Sierra Club.

"Is it going fast enough for some people?" DeCew said. "No, it's not going fast enough. But is it moving? Yeah, it's moving."

DeCew said Florida golfers are jumping on board, using fertilizers that release nitrogen and phosphorous into the environment more slowly than past fertilizers .

High levels of nitrogen and phosphorous, be they from golf courses, farms or residences, that wash into the water can lead to unwanted algae growths in waterways, he said.

DeCew said when courses operate near the ocean, there's a need to pay close attention to what's flowing away from the greens.

The St. Johns River Water Management District does not require golf courses to lessen the peak rate of runoff into the Intracoastal Waterway or Atlantic Ocean.

Chou Fang, a supervising engineer for the water management district, said because the Atlantic Ocean is a huge body of water, the discharge would not significantly hurt water quality.

But DeCew responded that water monitors shouldn't come up with "new excuses for doing the wrong thing."

Water management district hydrologist Claire Muirhead said more courses are using reclaimed water, as is Ginn's oceanside course. That puts less pressure on the state's ground water supply, she said.

Smith, Ginn's chief golf operator, said the use of reclaimed water often corresponds with development. The more build-out, the more used water there will be to reuse, he said.

But some local environmentalists say a golf course is a golf course and damaging to the environment no matter what cautions are taken, simply because they wipe out habitats.

"It depends on what your set point is," said Brynn Newton, secretary for the Volusia-Flagler Environmental Council. "That's great to use reclaimed water . . . given that we already gave up five miles of coastline to get (the Hammock developments)."

lauren.sonis@news-jrnl.com

Volusia to discuss plan for Intracoastal islands

DAYTONA BEACH -- Members of Volusia County's Environmental Management department counted 217 islands during a recent aerial survey of the Intracoastal Waterway.

"Some may be reclassified as marsh area," said Michelle Leigh, a project manager with the county department. "We're expecting that number to change, but not by much."

After a year of working on a management plan for the islands, county Environmental Management officials will hold a public meeting at 1 p.m. Wednesday at City Island Library, 105 E. Magnolia Ave., to discuss the project.

The public is invited to the meeting, along with stakeholders including representatives of local cities and the state, which own many of the islands.

Volusia County has received a $22,500 grant from the Florida Inland Navigation District to begin the study and county officials are applying for another grant of an equal amount to complete the work.

"The purpose of the plan is to see what's happening on the islands, as far as what vegetation is taking over, what animals are living there, what birds use them as rookeries," Leigh said.

Islands used for recreation will also be identified, with information noting amenities such as picnic tables.

Eventually, brochures will be published and a Web site developed listing the islands and whether they're conservation islands used mainly by plants and animals, or used for recreation.

County may finally pass Wekiva rules
Protections could clear way for Sanford-Mount Dora parkway

Joshua Davidovich
Staff WriterAfter years of planning, Lake County may finally be able to take steps toward protecting a large chuck of land in the northeast corner of the county.

The County Commission will vote today on whether to send a comprehensive plan amendment that places protections on the Wekiva River basin to the state Department of Community Affairs.

If the amendment is approved, it will put the county in line with a three-year-old state act that designated the land as protected and paved the way for a parkway, linking Sanford with Mount Dora, to be built through the large tract.

The county has been ready to send its amendment to Tallahassee for review since July 2006. A state imposed moratorium on amendments has prevented the county from sending the document in order to compel the county to finish its long overdue 20 year update to its comprehensive plan.
In February, the DCA rescinded the moratorium to allow Lake to pass an amendment protecting the Wekiva area, according to a memo by Lake County planner Brian Sheahan.

Neither Sheahan, nor several other officials from the county's planning department, could be reached for comment.

Commissioner Linda Stewart said passing the amendment to protect the Wekiva was one of the most important things in her life.

"It's one of the last remaining rural areas in Lake County," she said. "It's a huge water recharge area. It needs protection."

The state's creation of the protection area, which also spans Orange and Seminole counties, happened in 2004, but local governments must amend their own plans to give the protection act any teeth in enforcing stricter rules for the environmentally sensitive area.

"We need to make sure every policy we are following is in line with the state's," Stewart said.

Deltona residents vow to fight rezoning for apartments

By SARA KIESLER
Staff Writer

DELTONA -- Karen Hollensbe would be happy to have a restaurant, an auto body shop -- any business, but not the 96-unit apartment complex proposed for her dirt road.

More than 15 of her neighbors along Red Fox Run and Red Fox Drive came to a meeting of the city's planning and zoning board Wednesday to air their concerns about the proposed development's effect on traffic and wildlife.

The board wasn't convinced. It recommended the City Commission approve rezoning the property from commercial to multi-family residential.

The reaction from residents was so heated, the attorney for the project developer had to be escorted out of City Hall by a sheriff's deputy, officials said.

Hollensbe, a mother of three, and her neighbor Sharon Robart, a teacher in Seminole County, say the area doesn't need more people -- it needs services and stores. It already takes 30 minutes to get to Interstate 4 because of traffic congestion and more people in the area would make that worse, Hollensbe said.

"We don't want to come off sounding like 'not in my backyard' but there are so many other things -- traffic, schools, water, wildlife, our way of life," Hollsensbe said. "How do you go from 2.5-acre lots, then boom, 100 apartment units? We don't need to attract more people when we can't get our kids out of portables."

The property, owned by former Mayor John Masiarczyk and another man, has a for-sale sign listing City Commissioner David Santiago as the real estate agent. Masiarczyk said the 10-acre lot has been sold to Picerne Affordable Development of Altamonte Springs for an undisclosed sum, pending a successful rezoning.

Santiago, who is currently unavailable as he travels in Europe, is also the commissioner representing the residents of the area.

Deltona planning and development services director Greg Stubbs said the proposed apartment complex would be marketed to people earning $33,000 and under, such as teachers, firefighters and nurses. The project fits the type of housing needed in the city, Stubbs said.

Currently, the only property slated for multi-family development is a 10-unit complex behind the Publix supermarket at Elkcam and Howland boulevards, city planning manager Beck Mendez said.

Stubbs said residents who protested the project are worried about "types of people" the apartments might bring, and though Robart said some residents have raised those arguments, most simply want the property to remain commercial.

Upset that they did not get the same respect from the planning and zoning board that the developer received, opponents of the project say they will organize at Robart's house on Wednesday to prepare a fight at the April 16 commission meeting.

The property is known for having red foxes, rabbits, and the endangered Florida scrub jay roaming the area, said Hollensbe.

"I love Deltona and brag about it all time," she said. "The only frustrating thing is to watch the urban sprawl."

sara.kiesler@news-jrnl.com

Aaronson says Newell should quit over votesl

By Robert P. King

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

WEST PALM BEACH — One of County Commissioner Warren Newell's longest-serving colleagues wants him to step down following revelations that he repeatedly cast votes enhancing the value of land in which he held a secret financial interest.

"I would hope that he would resign," Commissioner Burt Aaronson said Monday, calling himself "stunned" by Sunday's story in The Palm Beach Post.

Aaronson and Newell were elected to the commission in 1992. "Warren is a nice person," Aaronson said. "I know him. I think he's gone through a lot of traumatic things."

But Aaronson noted that this is the second time recently that Newell has faced conflict-of-interest questions. In February, The Post reported that Newell had steered $14 million from a taxpayer initiative to a private Hypoluxo marina where he docks his boat. Federal authorities are investigating that deal.

Sunday's story noted that Aaronson had made one of the motions that wound up boosting the value of land in which Newell held a financial stake. Aaronson said he was unaware of Newell's involvement at the time.

"Do I feel blindsided? Absolutely," Aaronson said. "I think we've been blindsided a couple times on the commission. ... The public has to have faith in the commissioners that are sitting here and haven't been accused of anything."

Newell has declined to discuss the land deal and could not be reached Monday. He also is skipping today's commission meeting, according to a memo last week in which he told Chairwoman Addie Greene that he would be out of town.

Greene and Commissioner Karen Marcus declined to comment Monday. Commissioners Jeff Koons and Mary McCarty did not return phone calls.

The commission's newest member, Jess Santamaria, declined to go as far as Aaronson. But he pledged to avoid any conflicts of interest similar to those that have snared Newell and former Commissioner Tony Masilotti, who faces up to five years in prison for concealing his involvement in lucrative land deals.

"Absolutely, positively, 100 percent," Santamaria said. "If there's anything in an application that directly or indirectly involves either myself as an individual or any of my family members, relatives, even friends, I would not vote."

If county attorneys told him he could not legally abstain from such a vote, he said, at least he would disclose the connection "in bold letters."

Even so, Santamaria said he won't cast judgment on Newell's conduct.

"I'm not the judge or a jury and I will not condemn anyone," Santamaria said. "I will let the courts decide. That's why we have a court system."

The latest revelation about Newell involves 6 vacant acres in suburban Lake Worth.

In May 2005, before the deal was closed, Newell's name was deleted from the company's public registration forms, state records show. After the deletion, his name also didn't appear on any related real estate documents filed in the public record. No mention of the deal appeared on Newell's annual financial disclosure reports.

It is unclear whether Newell shared the profit from the land sale. About the same time his name was deleted, Newell received a $25,445 payment from JPJ, according to a financial spreadsheet filed in Newell's divorce. The only notation explaining it: "Cancelled Contract Rec'd Refund."

County Republican Party Chairman Sid Dinerstein called on the commissioners to make "an outspoken show of no confidence" in Newell. Dinerstein also repeated his earlier statement that Newell should resign if he won't explain his actions.

By remaining silent about Newell's conduct, the commissioners "are hurting themselves," Dinerstein said. He said they should take the stand that "Warren Newell does not deserve to sit with them if he does not respond to conflict-of-interest charges."

Aaronson, a staunch Democrat, said he has no intention of following Dinerstein's advice.

"I made my statement," Aaronson said.

Resignation would be for Newell's own good, as well as the county's, Aaronson said.

Newell had been a Republican since the late 1980s but switched to the Democratic Party early this year, matching the demographics of his commission district. At the time - before any of the allegations emerged - Dinerstein called Newell "a fine person and a good public servant."

In the deal near Lake Worth, a company Newell co-founded more than doubled its money in little more than a year, buying the land for $1.9 million and then selling it for $4.4 million to a hospital chain.

Without disclosing his interest, Newell joined in three commission votes that boosted the property's development potential, county records show:

• On Aug. 17, 2004, Newell and other commissioners awarded a $3.2 million contract to Hardrives Inc. to widen traffic-congested Congress Avenue. That was a requirement of the property's development approval.

• On Feb. 15, 2005, Newell voted with the commission to relinquish a road right-of-way splitting two portions of the property. The motion by Marcus was approved 6-0, with Koons absent.

• On Feb. 24, 2005, Newell voted with commissioners to extend the county's deadline for developing the property. Aaronson made the motion, and the action passed 6-0 with Koons absent.

Aaronson said Monday he had no idea when he made the motion that Newell had a stake in the outcome.

"I thought at the time that the extension was in order," he said. "When you see a 6-0 or 7-0 vote, it shows the project was a good project."

The ethical problem was Newell's failure to disclose his interest, Aaronson said. "He should not be involved in a land deal such as that."

Newell's difficulties in recent years have included a contentious divorce and two surgeries he underwent in 2003 after having a perforated colon. He said last month that he had no intention of resigning over his dealings in the marina.

As a commissioner, Newell has championed efforts to clean up the Lake Worth Lagoon. And in January, he added the cause of cleaning up the county's dealings with landowners.

Seizing on Masilotti's crimes, Newell advocated expanding the requirements for public disclosure of the people and businesses that stand to gain from land-use and zoning changes.

"I think we need to know as a board who these individuals are," Newell said at the time. "I want this board to know who is standing up there, who is making an application ... and people behind these operations."

Commission overrides planners,backs 18-story condo

The development, called The Presidential, requires a second vote, most likely to be taken in two weeks, before the approval is final.

Planners warned commissioners against "significant adverse impacts on the adjacent property and surrounding community."

"The proposed development is such that it has an overwhelming mass and density, provides minimal setbacks and buffer, and is not in character with the existing development pattern," they wrote.

The club said the project would raise money with the sale of the property to help improve the club and help with declining club membership.

Residents in the new condos would be required to join the club.

"If we didn't find a way to increase our income we could be in serious trouble," said club president Bernard Weinstein. "We could even go bankrupt."

But resident Ian Nissim, whose condo is closest to the building, pleaded for commissioners to say no, telling them he didn't oppose the project but just wanted the developer to follow the basic rules.

"The tower would look directly into our bedroom - who would want that?" he said. "Why should I have to pay for developers who are ignoring the rules of development?"

Kilday said they'd provide landscaping to help Nissim.

The city planning board, an advisory group, had recommended approval 4-1, as long as certain conditions were met.

The waivers that commissioners gave the developer over planners' objections were:

• Allowing the project to benefit by being considered as a planned development even though, at 4.1 acres, it was nearly 6 acres below the threshold of 10 acres. That designation allows a developer more flexibility within city development guidelines if a project is considered beneficial to the city.

• Allowing 69 units per acre, more than 33 units an acre above the city's limit.

• Allowing the building to sit closer to the property line than rules dictate. The setback on the side was allowed to be 68 feet and, in the rear, 14 feet. Both are well below the city threshold of 108 feet.

Commissioner Michael Weeks described the project as an "economic reality" and said it could prevent future development.

"Something has to be done for this golf course to be maintained into the future," Weeks said. "If this golf course fails, development could happen on that golf course."

Lennar 1Q profit slides 73 percent on continued housing softness

By ADRIAN SAINZ
AP Business Writer 

MIAMI (AP) -- Lennar Corp., one of the nation's largest homebuilders, said Tuesday its first-quarter profit tumbled 73 percent on continued softness in the housing market made worse by problems with subprime lenders. Lennar also warned it doesn't expect to meet its 2007 earnings guidance.

Net income for the quarter ended Feb. 28 fell to $68.6 million, or 43 cents per share, from $258.1 million, or $1.58 per share, a year earlier. The results were in line with expectations of analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

Revenue declined 14 percent to $2.79 billion versus $3.24 billion a year ago, topping Wall Street's estimate of $2.49 billion.

Lennar's shares were down $1.24, or 2.8 percent, to $43.30 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

The drop in profits for Lennar come after the U.S. Census Bureau reported Monday that builders sold 848,000 single-family homes in February, 18.3 percent fewer than the same month last year and 3.9 percent fewer than January of this year.

Concerns about problems facing many lenders in the subprime market, designed for borrowers with weak credit ratings, contributed to a 416-point drop in the Dow average on Feb. 27.

"While some markets are performing better than others, the typically stronger spring selling season has not yet materialized," said Stuart Miller, Lennar's president and chief executive. "These soft market conditions have been exacerbated by the well-publicized problems in the subprime lending market."

The company said it is continuing to pursue debt and cost reductions, lowering of inventory, savings in selling, general and administrative expenses and product redesign to see margin improvement starting in the second half of the year.

In January, Miller laid out a yearly earnings goal of $3.69 per share in hopes that the job market would stay strong, the economy would continue to be healthy and the new-home market would demonstrate "traditional, seasonal improvement."

"Given the state of the market, we do not expect to achieve our previously stated 2007 earnings goal, and we are not comfortable providing a new earnings goal at this time," Miller added.

New home orders were down 27 percent year-over-year, to 7,132. Lennar said its cancellation rate was 29 percent.

The sharp drop in orders was more than expected despite higher incentives and the company may not have seen the worst of troubles stemming from the tough lending environment, Banc of America Securities analyst Daniel Oppenheim said in a research note.

"Our sense is that the tougher lending environment would have only started at the end of the quarter so that the impact will be more significant next quarter," the research note said.

Revenues from home sales decreased 10 percent to $2.6 billion in the first quarter from $2.9 billion in the same period last year, Lennar said. Revenues were lower primarily due to a 4 percent decrease in the number of home deliveries and a 7 percent decrease in the average sales price of homes delivered so far this year.

Lennar said new home deliveries were lower primarily due to slowness in the company's central and west segments, compared to 2006. The average sales price delivered decreased to $303,000 in the first quarter of 2007 from $326,000 in the same period last year, and average of incentives of about $45,500 per delivered home was one of the reasons, Lennar said.

The company said its LandSource joint venture with MW Housing Partners resulted in a $700 million cash distribution.

Barclay Ave. Wal-Mart fast-tracking draws protest from group

By MICHAEL D. BATES
mbates@hernandotoday.com

SPRING HILL — For two months, Barclay Avenue residents have waited for a county-mandated neighborhood meeting to air their concerns about the proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter on their road.

County staffers had asked representatives of the property owner to hold that meeting before county officials considered a master plan revision to approve the 185,000-square-foot combination grocery-retail store.

On Monday, residents got the time and place for their meeting: 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 11 at the Best Western Resort Weeki Wachee, at the corner of U.S. 19 and State Road 50.

But Fred Maier, co-chairman of the United Communities Save our Neighborhood committee, is not happy with that date because it comes two days after the planning and zoning board will meet to make a recommendation on the project.

Planning and zoning staffers put the Wal-Mart request on the April 9 P&Z agenda.

Maier said the county has reneged on its promises by scheduling the P&Z meeting in advance of the neighborhood gathering.

For whatever reason, the project is being fast-tracked and the public is on the losing end, he said.

“We don’t know who’s pulling the strings on this deal,” Maier said. “Someone with muscle is flexing it.”

Maier said residents were told they would be able to express their concerns before the P&Z debated the merits of the project. Now, that is all changed, he said.

“Why is everyone bending over at the county to accommodate the (project) petitioner or Wal-Mart?” he asked. “I guess the taxpayers don’t count.”

The retailer has submitted plans to build its newest supercenter — the county’s fourth — on the east side of Barclay Avenue, between Suncoast Villa Apartments and the Publix-anchored Barclay Square.

Almost as soon as it was proposed, homeowners at Pristine Place and other nearby communities, banded together to fight the move which they believe will create a traffic nightmare on the narrow, two-lane Barclay Avenue.

They formed the United Communities Save our Neighborhood to block the development of a Wal-Mart or any other “big box” store near their homes.

Hernando County Plan-ning Director Ron Pianta said he would have liked to have had the neighborhood meeting before P&Z meets.

However, after further analysis, the county ordinance only requires the neighborhood meeting be held “before it gets to the governing body for approval.”

That governing body would be the board of county commissioners, not the P&Z, which only makes recommendations, he said.

County commissioners are scheduled to hear the Wal-Mart request at its land use hearing May 9.

Pianta said Wal-Mart has been forthcoming about the project and recently submitted revised information to satisfy concerns about development of an outparcel on the property and building elevation.

Residents had demanded a traffic study be done prior to the planning and zoning meeting. However, that study is routinely done after project approval, Pianta said.

Kristin Tolbert, a law clerk with Bricklemyer, Smolker & Bolves, who is representing the property owner, had been working with the retailer to schedule the neighborhood public hearing.

Tolbert had arranged a neighborhood meeting last month under a big tent on the site of the proposed property.

But that was canceled after the county and residents complained of the location.

Save Our Neighborhoods co-chairman Rob Starz said the county must revise its big-box ordinance, which sets the rules and regulations on large-scale retailers, because of new growth patterns.

He would have liked to see the neighborhood meeting held before the P&Z meets. However, seeing as how that won’t happen, he said the committee will be ready for May’s land use hearing when county commissioners are scheduled to make the final determination on the store.

“Our battle will be at the land use hearing,” said Starz, who also sits on the board of the Pristine Place Home-owners Association. “That’s what it’s coming down to now. I don’t know how much we’re going to be able to do at P&Z right now.”

Reporter Michael D. Bates can be contacted at 352-544-5290.

Region's taxes buy road fixes in other Florida counties

BY CHRISTOPHER O'DONNELL

Motorists in Charlotte, Manatee and Sarasota counties are subsidizing road and bridge projects in other Florida counties, according to a new study.

The Center for Urban Transportation Research looked at how revenue from gas and car tag taxes has been spent by the state since 1995 combined with spending plans for the next five years.

Manatee, which has held up developments because needed road improvements are not funded, sees 74 percent of taxes raised locally returned for transportation projects. Charlotte gets 80 percent back. Sarasota receives 93 percent.

The Sarasota-Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization -- a 15-member board of mostly local elected officials -- asked for a more detailed study of the tax distribution after a report last year confirmed suspicions that the area was being shortchanged.

Taxes levied for transportation are distributed by the Florida Department of Transportation.

Overall, DOT District 1 -- a 12-county region that includes Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte -- gets back 87 percent of those taxes.

Only DOT District 5 -- which includes Volusia, Orange and Brevard counties -- gets less.

"We want the Legislature and the FDOT to look seriously at how the money is allocated to make it as fair as possible," MPO Executive Director Michael Howe said.

MPO members also said that counties that have raised gas taxes to pay for road improvements deserve a fairer share of those monies.

"We step up, but we don't get our fair share," said Sarasota County Commissioner Nora Patterson.

Venice prepares for $4.2M cash loss

The city is examining cuts it can make if property tax legislation passes.

By PAUL QUINLAN

paul.quinlan@heraldtribune.com
VENICE -- As Tallahassee lawmakers wrangle over the details of how to offer statewide property tax relief, city leaders are preparing for what they call the worst-case result: a $4.2 million cut to the city's budget, according to the city's latest estimates.

City Manager Marty Black will ask the City Council today to approve cuts of $3.6 million from the budget, regardless of the how the tax relief legislations fares in Tallahassee.

But Black's plan identifies more than a million dollars in additional cuts which might be necessary should the heaviest tax cut proposals floated by state lawmakers become law.

Venice joins other cities and counties across Florida that are warning constituents that the property tax reforms trumpeted in Tallahassee will come at significant expense to hometown amenities and services.

Some of the property tax relief proposals under consideration in Tallahassee include doubling the homestead exemption and rolling back local government property tax revenues to 2004 levels. The moves comes after a the real estate market surge doubled or tripled property tax collections and, some state lawmakers would say, fattened local governments.

"They seem to believe that the local governments are overspending," Mayor Fred Hammett said of House Speaker Marco Rubio and other capitol lawmakers leading the effort. "If we take this revenue away, what's going to suffer is a reduction in public safety."

In the 2000-2001 fiscal year, the city collected 4.8 million in ad valorem property taxes.

This year, it will collect $12.9 million.

Under the current House proposal to roll back property taxes to 2004 levels, the city's take this year would be limited to $8.9 million.

Black's plan -- part pre-emptive fiscal planning, part public relations campaign -- will likely receive the council's support and calls for halting $2.6 million in building projects. It would also broaden the city's hiring freeze to include two vacancies in the police department and some temporary positions.

Some of the building improvements to be stopped include landscaping, street lighting, and work on the city's third fire station.

Several departments will present possible fee increases to help offset the property tax cuts, a fix that enjoys only mixed support from council members.

"That's shifting it from one pocket to the other, and I just can't support that," said council member Rick Tacy.

The deeper, second phase of cuts outlined in a memo to council include establishing an incentive program to encourage early retirements.

Dozens of city workers could also be laid off.

This batch of cuts, deemed "worst-case," also calls for eliminating city fund