By Craig Pittman, Times Staff Writer
Published February 10, 2008
In the future, 2007 may be remembered as the year Floridians finally gave up
their faith that growth is inevitable and, on balance, a good thing.
Beset by water shortages and a sputtering real estate industry, the state's
residents discovered that much of the booming growth of recent years was
based on speculation and mortgage fraud, not actual need. New subdivisions
are filled with empty houses with unkempt lawns, tempting targets for
vagrants and burglars. Yet some of the state's natural resources, such as
wetlands vital to recharging the underground aquifer, were sacrificed by
regulators to accommodate this spurious demand.
Florida still grew in 2007, but not nearly as fast. Last year 35,301 people
moved to Florida from another state, which is a lot fewer than the year
before - more than 134,000 fewer. Florida slipped from the ninth-fastest
growing state to the 19th.
Without customers lined up to buy their properties, development giants like
WCI, Lennar and the St. Joe Co. had to shed employees in an effort to just
stay in business. But an even greater threat to the growth business has
cropped up. Anger over government's repeated acquiescence to developers
fueled a drive to put those decisions in the hands of voters, a drive called
Florida Hometown Democracy.
More than half a million people signed the petitions to get the measure put
before the voters - not quite enough by the Feb. 1 deadline to get it on
this year's ballot, but more than enough to guarantee it will have a spot on
the ballot in 2010.
Big business and homebuilders' association leaders are horrified by the
ramifications of Florida Hometown Democracy, and have been doing everything
possible to block it. But state Department of Community Affairs Secretary
Tom Pelham says it's understandable that the public is disillusioned by how
the laws intended to manage growth have gone off-track.
When the Legislature passed the original Growth Management Act in 1985, the
law said every city and county had to draw up plans for handling future
growth, plans that would be reviewed and approved by the state. The law also
said those governments could make changes to those plans only twice a year.
Since then, though, the Legislature has put 34 exceptions into the law to
allow more frequent changes. As a result, Pelham said, state officials
sometimes get up to 12,000 plan amendments a year to review.
Plan amendments are "handed out so often that local plans are no longer
meaningful," Pelham said. "We don't have a plan we're prepared to live by
anymore. We change it if it gets in the way."
So Pelham has proposed changing the law again - but this time, to toughen
its approach to growth and deal with the complaints of Florida Hometown
Democracy's supporters. The centerpiece of his proposal: a "Citizen's
Planning Bill of Rights."
Pelham's proposal would eliminate all but half a dozen of the exceptions
that now allow changing growth plans at the drop of a hat. Instead
governments would be allowed to amend their plans no more than twice a year,
period. And if the regional planning council has recommended against the
changes, then local government can only pass them with a supermajority vote
- four votes out of five, for instance.
Before any land-use plan changes could be considered, the "Bill of Rights"
would require holding a neighborhood or community meeting to talk about
them. And no more could developers sandbag their opponents by making
last-minute changes to a plan amendment right before a local government
votes on it. Instead, no changes could be made less than five days before
the vote.
Pelham has other proposals as well - requiring South Florida counties to
revamp their plans so they won't conflict with the goals of Everglades
restoration, for instance. But his "Bill of Rights" is likely to stir the
most controversy.
While groups like Audubon of Florida say they support it, the Florida Home
Builders Association opposes it because it "overcomplicates an already
complicated system," said spokeswoman Edie Ousley.
Rep. Rich Glorioso, R-Plant City, who serves on the House's committees on
the environment and on infrastructure, said the Bill of Rights is exactly
what Florida needs. He remembers when he was a city commissioner, "people
would come in and complain about something that had been changed at the last
minute."
"Plan amendments have gotten out of sight," Glorioso said. "Many of us feel
the need to get a better handle on growth management."
But not everyone in the Legislature is as keen on changing the law. Sen.
Victor Crist, R-Tampa, who sits on the Senate Community Affairs Committee,
says his top priority is not tightening growth regulations.
"Our focus right now should be on stimulating the economy, creating jobs and
minimizing expenses," Crist said in an e-mail.
To Florida Hometown Democracy leader Ross Burnaman, Pelham's "Citizen's
Planning Bill of Rights" sounds nice, but it is likely to stumble because it
depends on legislators taking the proper action on something that directly
affects some of their major campaign contributors.
"I'm generally skeptical of the Legislature doing anything on the Growth
Management Act except mucking it up," Burnaman said. "All they've done to it
since 1985 is butcher it."
That's the whole reason why the petition drive is aimed at amending the
state Constitution, rather than dealing with the Legislature, he said.
Pelham acknowledged his proposals for change may face a cool reception in
the Legislature, especially given the tough economic times. But he contended
that's what makes this the perfect moment to make changes.
"The downturn in the economy gives us a chance to catch our breaths," he
said.
The Legislature needs to act now, he said, and not wait around hoping the
passions behind Florida Hometown Democracy will fade. Even as business
leaders battled to keep the amendment off the statewide ballot, individual
cities - Sarasota, Sanibel, Yankeetown and St. Pete Beach, to name a few -
have passed their own localized versions of it.
"At the local level, it's spreading," Pelham said. "That's why we need to be
proactive at the state level and recognize that this is a real problem, and
we need to come up with a better alternative."
If the Legislature fails to act, Pelham said, "We're going to deserve what
we get."
Craig Pittman covers environmental issues for the Times. He can be reached
at craig@sptimes.com or 727 893-8530.
OrlandoSentinel.com
EDITORIAL
Our position: Legislators would be smart to OK
alternative to Hometown Democracy
February 11, 2008
Lawmakers who think they've escaped the wrath of
voters simply because of the setback suffered last week by the so-called
Hometown Democracy movement do so at their own peril.
Hometown Democracy may have fallen shy of getting an amendment on the
November ballot that would require public votes on changes to local
growth plans. But it's almost certain to get enough signatures to make
the ballot in 2010.
Don't bet against it passing that November, either. Local elected
officials have made a mockery of their growth-management plans by
vivisecting them at will -- their will, and the will of deep-pocketed
developers. Local governments in Florida carved up their plans 12,000 times
last year.
We're as angry as most any Floridian at officials' callous treatment of
the plans that generally try to strike a balance long-term between
growth and preservation in a way that reflects the community's vision of
itself. And passage of the Hometown Democracy amendment certainly would
put a major crimp in local governments' ability to impair that vision.
It also, however, could make the time and cost to engineer the
referendums prohibitive. So many amendments to growth plans surely can
devastate residents. So can too many referendums.
But there's a potential alternative. Legislation being drafted by state
Department of Community Affairs Secretary Tom Pelham would in some ways
help shore up the state's growth-management law, which once put
meaningful limits on local growth plans but which lawmakers at will have
abused.
Mr. Pelham's bill wouldn't allow county and city commissions to overturn
their local planning agency's denial of a development without a
supermajority vote. It also would reduce the frequency of changes to
local growth plans, and require several days' public notice of hearings
concerning the changes.
Even these may not go far enough to rein in all the abuses. The fact
that local governments ignore their plans thousands of times a year
shows how deep the problems are.
Mr. Pelham also is engineering, apart from the Legislature, a needed
change to something called the Rural Land Stewardship Program. That
program was intended to let large farms -- 50,000 acres or more --
remain in agriculture or conservation while selling some development
rights. It has been a flop. Landowners hijacked its good idea to open it
up to any developer with 10,000 acres. That needs to change.
If lawmakers could find their way to work with Mr. Pelham and others
concerned about today's haphazard growth, they might just keep Hometown
Democracy at bay. If not, it will reap the whirlwind in 2010.
OrlandoSentinel.com
Q&A on limiting growth
February 11, 2008
Is it possible to stop growth?
"You mean with the plague or something?" asks Michele Moen, vice
chairwoman ofVolusia's Soil and Water Conservation
Commission. The quick answer: No, but growth can be controlled.
So how does that happen?
Charles Pattison, president of 1000 Friends ofFlorida,
said cities can't just wake up one day and decide they don't want any
more people, but they can choose to grow within their resources and
infrastructure. They can still limit growth for environmental reasons or
because of too few roads or sewer capacity, for example, but "people are
too afraid to even go down that path." The Bert J. Harris Act, one of
the nation's most generous property-rights laws, allows property owners
to sue if the government unfairly limits how they can use their
property. Many cities are fearful of those lawsuits.
Why would you want to limit growth anyway?
Florida's natural resources are straining under a growing population
that's expected to about double by 2050. And with more people come more
traffic congestion and other problems, especially when growth takes the
form of sprawl. Bruce Stephenson, aRollins College professor, said smart growth
can be achieved by following the building patterns of the '50s, when
cities centered around walkable downtowns and people used public
transportation.
Wouldn't the economy suffer if you limit growth?
Edie Ousley, with the Florida Home Builders Association said Florida's
tax structure is dependent on growth. "Vacations, retirement and jobs
are strong motivators for people to move to Florida and a strong
stimulus for growth in Florida," she said. "As housing growth has slowed
down, Florida's income has also diminished."
Cecelia Bonifay, a land-use and environmental attorney in Orlando,
agrees. Without a significant number of new homes, major commercial
companies such as big-box stores and supermarkets will either delay or
cancel new stores. And those commercial and industrial properties are
big tax funders for cities and counties, she said.
But others disagree, saying the economy can be stable without such rapid
growth. "We just had this giant growth spurt. It crashed our economy,"
said Lesley Blackner, a South Florida attorney and an organizer of
Florida Hometown Democracy, a movement that would give voters more power
over approval of development. The group failed to get a constitutional
amendment before voters.
So who is right?
Steven McDonald, an economist, said the truth lies somewhere in the
middle. "The housing boom did not crash the economy," said McDonald, a
vice president with Real Estate Research Consultants in Orlando. "We
crashed the economy," he said of the people living here who want bigger
and better homes. As for Bonifay's argument, he said you don't need
growth to have a good economy.
He said small towns can maintain a good economy as long as they export
as many services and dollars as they import.
"The question is what we want," he said. "There isn't a black and white
answer. One is not contingent on the other. The economy is not
contingent on growth. Growth is not contingent on the economy. It's
really a balance and a mix of what we want in the economy in the
future."
What can I do?
*Learn about your city or county's comprehensive plan. It's the
blueprint for how the community wants to grow. It lays out ways to
preserve and improve public health, safety, and human, environmental,
social and economic resources.
*Speak out. Participate in public-comment opportunities on proposed
changes to the comprehensive plan and developments in your area.
*Learn more through some groups involved in the debate:
Florida Hometown Democracy (floridahometowndemo cracy.com): This
grass-roots, nonpartisan group tried to get an amendment on the November
ballot that would give voters more power over land-use changes. It
didn't get enough voter petition signatures, so founders say they will
try to get on the 2010 ballot.
Save Our Constitution (takebackmysignature.com): This statewide
campaign, backed by the Associated Industries of Florida, focused its
efforts on preventing the Florida Hometown Democracy amendment from
making it on the ballot. This group maintains the measure would lead to
higher property taxes and higher utility bills, and would destroy
Florida's scenic beauty.
MyRegion (myregion.org): This Central Florida group covers seven
counties, 86 cities and millions of residents. Its mission is to help
Central Florida organize to create a regional strategy for impending
growth.
1000 Friends of Florida (1000friendsofflorida.org): This nonprofit group
promotes wise growth management. The group's planners, attorneys and
community activists fight to protect natural areas, discourage urban
sprawl, promote sensible development patterns and provide affordable
housing.
Coalition for Property Rights (proprights.com): This public-policy,
education and advocacy organization, based in Orlando, was established
to give property owners a stronger voice. The group says property rights
are the cornerstone of any free society and opposes the Florida Hometown
Democracy amendment.
Hometown Democracy initiative
If the so-called Hometown Democracy initiative someday gets on the
ballot in Florida, private-sector planners, developers and government
decision-makers can't say they weren't warned.
The initiative seeks to change the state constitution to require public
approval -- via referendum -- of local comprehensive plan amendments.
The proposal appeared headed for a statewide vote in November, but
problems with thousands of petitions gathered by the proponents resulted
in a delay -- at least until 2010.
Delay is good, in part because it gives Florida's public and private
sectors time to respond to some of the frustration fueling such
initiatives.
Pelham's warning
The state Department of Community Affairs reviews local comp plan
amendments. In September, Tom Pelham, secretary of the DCA, addressed an
American Planning Association chapter.
Pelham, a respected planning administrator, labeled the Hometown
Democracy proposal "an extreme solution to a real problem."
That's right, a real problem.
The Florida Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries of Florida
gloated recently over their efforts to prevent a Hometown Democracy
referendum. But the opponents should heed Pelham's warning.
As Pelham told the planning group: "The problem is too many plan
amendments. Although the Growth Management Act originally provided that
local plans could only be amended twice a year, the Legislature
subsequently created 32 exceptions to the twice-a-year limitation.
"Many local governments have developed a habit of adopting many
amendments every six months. For example, in 2005 local governments
adopted more than 8,000 plan amendments. The frequency of amendments has
undermined the credibility of local plans and turned them into six-month
suggestions rather than long-term visions.
"We can deplore the draconian solution proposed by Hometown Democracy,
as I do, but we need to get our planning house in order and regain the
confidence of the citizenry. It is time to consider reasonable
limitations on the frequency of plan amendments."
Pelham's concern was echoed in e-mails sent by readers after our recent
call for ideas about how to improve the planning process. A recurring
theme in the responses was that comprehensive plans have become
unreliable because, it seems, changes are always in the works.
Sarasota County Commissioner Jon Thaxton agreed: "It is the perception
of ... voters that the current long-range planning process is neither
long-range nor reliable."
Cities and counties should be able to amend their plans to respond to
changing economic conditions, demographics, consumer trends, community
needs and other factors. But many of the changes can be anticipated in
comprehensive planning or addressed through rezonings and other
adjustments allowed in the plans.
Proposals for improvement
Pelham plans to offer proposals to the Legislature for improving
planning, and we hope that limits on the frequency and volume of comp
plan amendments are on his list.
Another needed improvement is offered by 1,000 Friends of Florida, a
thoughtful and balanced growth-management watchdog. The group suggests
that amendments not be changed in the seven days prior to the advertised
public hearing. "This allows citizens, commissioners and others to
fairly evaluate the document and not be subject to an endless 'shell
game' of last-minute changes. If the plan amendment is revised within
that period, the hearing will be postponed unless all affected parties
agree otherwise."
Plenty of other improvements can be made, but these two would provide
evidence that local and state leaders recognize the problem and are
prepared to act -- before Hometown Democracy gets on the ballot.
Assign rights to control growth
By CHARLES G. PATTISON
FLORIDA VOICES
Rampant growth and
uncontrolled development are forever changing the face of Florida.
Elected officials, business leaders and others need to take action,
before our state's quality of life and rich natural resources are
damaged beyond repair. 1000 Friends of Florida is calling on state
leaders to empower Floridians to play a greater role in planning for the
future of their communities via a "Citizen Bill of Rights." It would
read:
· The right to shape
changes to your neighborhood, community and region. Developers are
required to prepare a citizen participation plan, notify impacted
property owners and neighborhood associations (using formal lists
compiled by the local government) and conduct developer workshops with
citizens to identify all issues of concern prior to any public hearing.
The developer must then present to the commission a list of all issues
raised, and indicate if and how they were resolved. Unresolved issues
then become the focus of discussion, rather than an afterthought covered
in two or three minutes of public testimony.
· The right to a process free of last-minute changes.
Comprehensive plan amendments cannot be changed in the seven days prior
to the advertised public hearing. This allows citizens, commissioners
and others to fairly evaluate the document and not be subject to an
endless "shell game" of last-minute changes. If the plan amendment is
revised within that period, the hearing will be postponed unless all
affected parties agree otherwise.
· The right to a supermajority vote on major decisions. It
shall be easier to require a "super majority" vote for many types of
comprehensive plan amendments that directly impact on growth and
development decisions.
· The right to more easily challenge decisions made by your local
government. Current citizen standing and legal review standards
shall be improved to make the process more equitable, quicker and less
costly.
· The right to be free of fear of unwarranted legal retaliation.
In order to promote more active involvement, private citizens and
organizations shall be shielded from any developer-initiated SLAPP
suits.
1000 Friends is also working on developing model language that would
allow citizens of cities and charter counties to propose an ordinance by
petition, and to enact it by referendum if the governing body refuses to
act, or by majority vote to nullify an ordinance already enacted.
In addition, 1000 Friends is advocating that the judicious conversion
of rural land to urban density -- in the form of compact, walkable,
mixed-use communities in appropriate locations -- shall only be
undertaken in fair trade for significant public benefit. This shall
include the permanent preservation of natural and agricultural lands and
open spaces.
Florida's population and developed land are projected to double over
the next 50 years, and the state faces many uncertainties due to the
impacts of rampant sprawl, the loss of rural lands, and climate change.
Now, more than ever, Florida needs a visionary and workable planning
process.
1000 Friends is urging the Department of Community Affairs and the
2008 Legislature to begin enacting these provisions. We are pleased that
DCA Secretary Tom Pelham has incorporated many of these recommendations
into the preliminary draft of his proposed "Citizen Planning Bill of
Rights," to be presented to legislators this session. Please help by
contacting your state legislators and asking them to do their part to
empower the citizens of Florida, before our state's natural beauty and
quality of life are lost forever.
Pattison
is president of 1000 Friends of Florida, founded in 1986 to serve as
this state's not-for-profit growth management "watchdog."
(1000friendsofflorida.org).
Historians fight it out on the battleground
of ideas
Being a historian is not
a profession for the weak of heart.
After you've gotten a doctoral degree (or are killing yourself
trying to get one), you bury yourself in libraries, studying old
books word by word and driving yourself dizzy reading newspapers on
microfilm. You scour the Internet, visit historical sites, and
interview elderly eyewitnesses or the grandchildren of eyewitnesses,
for years on end.
After more years of writing and rewriting, your book gets published.
Then your peers at rival institutions get to take shots at it in the
scholarly journals, perhaps destroying your reputation -- which,
basically, is all you have, because you probably are not getting
rich writing history books on fairly obscure events. And, if you
defend yourself in a letter to the journal's editor pointing out the
flaws of the reviewer/critic, you look like "a spoiled child," in
the words of one historian.
Or, you present your findings at a convention of historians, and the
moderator shoots holes in your thesis.
This is what historian Raymond "Vic" Vickers endured after he wrote
"Panic in Paradise," about bank failures in 1920s Florida, in 1994.
And he can expect more of the same when his next book, "Panic in the
Loop," about banking in 1930s Chicago, comes out after 13 years of
work. It is now sitting on a publisher's desk.
Reviews to follow. And they are sure to show once again that
although history is constantly undergoing revision, revising it is a
monumental challenge fraught with risk and rejection.
BANK FRAUD AND THE BOOM
"Panic in Paradise" puts the story of the 1920s Florida land boom,
and the catastrophic bust that followed, within a new frame,
basically contending that fraud and insider abuse by key bankers and
developers in South Florida created a climate in which the real
estate bubble could occur. Many other accounts, though, do not
mention bank fraud in the debacle.
One reason is that most of the histories on library shelves were
written before the publication of banking attorney/historian
Vickers' book, which is based on bank-examination records that
previously were held secret. Another is that history is slow to
change.
"It speaks to the paucity of studies on Florida," said Gary Mormino,
Ph.D., professor of Florida Studies at the University of South
Florida's St. Petersburg campus. "To be a Florida historian is
sometimes to be very lonely.
"It's not that people are ignoring Vickers or don't accept his
argument, it is that there's not that much (writing) going on."
At Florida Southern College, in Lakeland, the director of the Center
for Florida Studies points out several reasons why Vickers' story is
not widely accepted.
"One is that it was published by the University of Alabama Press,
which does not market very well," said Dr. James Denham in an
interview. "At the time Vic's book came out, University Press of
Florida was on the skids and let a lot of good books go.
"Plus, it's a complicated story. Banking doesn't really turn people
on too much."
Insularity and conservatism also play a role, said Denham, noting
that Vickers was a career attorney before earning his Ph.D. in
history in an effort to become more credible as an author.
"The so-called 'head monkeys' in history, the established professors
at various Florida institutions, not only do they not like Florida
history very much, but also they are very suspicious ... of someone
like Vic. That's just the nature of the profession."
Both Vickers and Denham were mentored by William Rogers at Florida
State University.
"Gradually, even in general textbooks, what had been accepted as
gospel is undergoing a revision, and that takes time," said Rogers,
professor of Southern History emeritus at FSU. "Vic's interpretation
... was revolutionary. When the book came out in 1994, it really set
them all back."
Vickers' book is full of jaw-dropping details about how South
Florida retailer-turned-banker J.R. Anthony and Georgian W.D. Manley
developed a corrupt chain of banks across the two states that
created a financial environment in which real estate could boom.
They routinely bought the favor of Florida's banking regulators with
unsecured personal loans that often weren't paid back; "excessive"
personal loans also were taken out by them and their business
associates.
After the boom went bust and the indictments came, Manley later
claimed insanity as a defense in court (Vickers calls him "the Mad
Banker"); his partner, James R. Smith, killed himself with a shotgun
as he sat at his desk, which was covered with checks drawn on an
account at a failed bank.
"It is a major contribution Vic made," said Rogers. "It caused a new
interpretation of the panic. It turns out the bankers are the real
villains ... and they got off unscathed. The records had been
closed," by Florida Comptroller Ernest Amos, whom, Vickers reports,
was heavily influenced through unsecured loans made by the bankers.
Rogers reviewed Vickers' doctoral dissertation at Florida State and
says Vickers is a good friend.
"I think he (Vickers) was the only one who could have written this
book, because he himself was a banker," Rogers said. "He forced the
records open. By doing that, he got into them, and only he could
understand them ... like a banker would." (Vickers has been a
director at a Miami bank.)
"Panic in Paradise" said Rogers, "set off a huge controversy, and
the reviewers of his book, some of them played the usual line that
it was all wrong ... and they went to great efforts to defend the
bankers. But the bankers were responsible. That's a massive shift in
interpreting the 1920s in Florida."
THE LEADING CRITIC
One of those reviewers was Larry Schweikart, professor of history at
the University of Dayton. Writing for the Business History Review,
Schweikart was blunt.
As for Vickers' assertions regarding insider abuse and the looting
of banks by bankers and developers while regulators kept quiet,
Schweikart wrote, "At best, this is a weak interpretation of the
documents, and at worst it is conspiracy theory run wild."
The Dayton professor wrote that "Panic in Paradise" has two major
flaws:
"First, the term 'insider abuse' or 'insider lending' was common in
virtually all examiners' reports because the examiners lacked the
time, energy and sophistication to figure out what really caused
each bank to fail," wrote Schweikart. "Vickers forgets that the very
reason businessmen started banks was to use depositors' funds for
their own projects. ... Depositors clearly endorsed this activity
and willingly put their funds in such banks. ...
"An examiner's assertion that loans were bad does not mean that the
banker 'looted' the bank by making the loan."
Schweikart wrote that the second major problem
"is the recurring view that, if depositors knew about weaknesses
earlier, they would not have raced for their deposits in a panic.
Does logic not suggest that as soon as depositors get word of a
weakness in a bank, they will panic? Thus, Vickers' recommendations
that weaknesses be made public sooner would lead to panics earlier
in a bank's life, not later."
In an interview, Vickers fired back. "This is coming from a guy who
hasn't looked at the documents," said Vickers. "Look at my footnotes
and you can see I've looked at these bank-examination reports, which
is a lot more than I can say for him."
The reports showed that, in many cases, the bad loans were made to
bank insiders, developer-bankers and banking regulators. Vickers
called the latter "bribes disguised as loans."
As for depositors endorsing the activity of banker-businessmen:
"Good luck on that. How did they do that? They didn't endorse it.
They withdrew their money once they caught wind of something wrong
at the bank."
Something was wrong at the bank, in this case the Palm Beach
National Bank, because something was wrong with Mizner Development
Corp., which, Vickers wrote, controlled the bank and ran it
virtually as a subsidiary.
Schweikart also wrote, "Does Vickers really
think that these bankers had a short-term view in which they
preferred a few profits today in place of much greater profits
tomorrow?"
To that question, Vickers said, "Yes -- that was an easy one. It was
a get-rich-quick scheme. It was one of the biggest booms in the
history of the world, and the promoters -- there's always real
estate connected to all of this -- what they were doing is borrowing
as much money as they could from the bank they had formed, the ones
that failed, and they were buying real estate that was rapidly
increasing in value." That is, until investors stopped buying and it
began rapidly decreasing in value.
"But they were, in fact, looting -- that is the word, looting -- the
banks that they controlled, and they were using those banks as their
own piggy banks. There was absolutely no concern about fiduciary
obligations to depositors. They were just trying to get rich as fast
as they could. And it just became a feeding frenzy. That was what
pumped up the boom, and that is what made the boom collapse."
CONFERENCE CONTROVERSY
Oh, but there is more to this war of words. In May 1995, Vickers
presented a paper on the Florida banking crash before the Economic &
Business Historical Society. The moderator was ... Larry Schweikart,
who the previous year had co-written a history of the California
Bankers Association that was funded by the bankers. As Vickers tells
it, Schweikart went on the offensive: "He was attacking me."
In the audience that day was Dr. David Whitten, professor of
history, now retired, at Auburn University. "The exchange between
Vic Vickers and Larry Schweikart was emotionally charged, but only
on Larry's part," said Whitten in an e-mail interview. "Vic is a
searcher for truth and he will fight and claw his way to it, if he
must. ... He (Schweikart) attacked Vic at the EBHS meeting because
Vic put the blame for the Florida real estate debacle on the bankers
and not the public."
In a recent telephone interview, Schweikart had a different
recollection of that day.
"Very seldom do I get emotional over land and banking deals. I can't
imagine it was contentious, like I've seen at some meetings," he
said. "But I could be wrong -- if he has a different recollection,
go with his version.
"I can never remember a single session of the Economic & Business
Historical Society being enough to keep you awake, let alone fight
over. To some people, criticism is attacking. But I thought as a
moderator I had to say a few things negative as well as positive.
That's what moderators do."
CIVIL DISCOURSE
Denham at Florida Southern says controversial issues often come up
at conferences of historians, when papers are presented and
discussed.
"If the discussions can stay civil ... we move the knowledge
forward," he said.
Can it become uncivil? "Oh, gosh, yes, are you kidding? People's
credibility is at stake, their career is at stake, their honor is at
stake, their promotions and stature in the profession are at stake
... which is to say not much is at stake (in the view) of the
American people," said Denham.
"It's more personal that it is anything else. And a lot of this is
essential to the historical craft. And that is, what interpretation
do you make out of primary sources. We always try to shoot for
objectivity."
Denham uses the example of two historians analyzing the same
material: "If we both get the same stack of stuff and both pore over
it, we ought to basically come to the same conclusions,
theoretically. But she has her perspective on things, and I have my
perspective on things, and she and I would write different books. On
the other hand, it seems as though we should come to the same basic
thesis.
"People have to understand their own biases."
For his part, Vickers says historians have to be strong enough to
take the heat.
"I was astonished by reading Schweikart's comments, but the one
thing about going through this process is you do develop a pretty
thick hide. Criticism is fine. I am delighted by it. If you work by
yourself for years writing a book, you are delighted that anyone
would read it outside your family members -- you're not quite sure
they read it," he said.
Whitten, the retired Auburn professor, agrees that Vickers' book has
not changed the standard history of the boom.
"It is nearly impossible to shake out a commonly accepted notion"
for the boom and bust, he writes. "I don't think most who stay with
the standard story regard it with the passion I saw in Larry
(Schweikart). They are comfortable with the old story and they have
not, in most cases, even heard about Vickers' revision.
"The more into the history the observer is, the less likely he is to
accept the standard approach, anyway."
Estero Bay report making waves among agencies
By CHARLIE WHITEHEAD
Sunday, February 10, 2008
A report on wetlands destruction in the Estero Bay
watershed is sending ripples through regulatory agencies.
In fact, South Florida Water Management District
officials say the figures used by Jim Beever, a senior planner with the
Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council who was a state biologist
and preserve director in Southwest Florida for years, are simply wrong.
“Mr. Beever is a well-known committed
environmentalist for whom I have a great amount of respect,” said
district governing board member Charles Dauray. “But this is an
inaccurate report.”
Dauray, who lives on the Estero River smack in the
middle of the watershed, said the wetland impact numbers he’s gotten
from district staff are wildly different from the ones in Beever’s
report.
“Sometimes they say figures don’t lie,” he said. “But
sometimes they can be skewed to favor a particular stance.”
Beever stands by his work and says the statistics
Dauray and other district officials question came from their own
records.
“The data comes from the water management district,”
he said.
Beever says the data shows the 345-square-mile
watershed lost 6.4 percent of its wetlands during a recent 12-month
period. That’s 3,755 acres of wetlands Beever said the district, the
Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers allowed to be destroyed.
“This is basically an accounting,” he said.
Bob Brown, environmental resource regulation director
for the district, said he checked the same 12-month period Beever did,
finding fewer than 50 environmental resource permits, not the 371 Beever
cited.
That would be 73 impacted wetland acres — not 3,755.
“He’s trying to say we’re impacting wetlands, and
we’re not,” Brown said. “I don’t think we’ve impacted 3,700 acres in
five years in 16 counties.”
Beever’s boss, Ken Heatherington, executive director
of the regional planning council, stands his employee.
“They’re their permits,” Heatherington said. “Just
look at the amount of development that’s happening in the 41-75
corridor. I can’t refute the numbers, and I have a lot of faith in Jim.”
Dauray said he was “blind-sided” by residents who’d
read about Beever’s report in the Daily News.
Before the report was made public, Dauray said, great
pains should have been taken to assure it was accurate.
“These facts and figures that are tossed around are
very important,” he said. “I’d certainly think if it’s published as
factual, the district should have the opportunity to review and make
sure it is.”
The report was done for the Estero Bay Agency on Bay
Management, funded by a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Beever says it was presented repeatedly at ABM meetings.
The district, EPA and state Department of
Environmental Protection all are represented on the ABM, as are other
government agencies, appointees and environmental groups.
Jennifer Nelson is environmental manager for the
DEP’s local watershed program. She hadn’t seen the new report, but said
the numbers issue could be rooted in definitions. Agencies doing
environmental review consider “jurisdictional” wetlands, assigning
“functional values.”
“They use functional values to calculate mitigation,”
Beever said. “If the functional values match, they consider it no loss
of wetlands. This report is about acres, not functional units.”
That’s true, Brown said, but that’s not all. Beever
looked at so-called barren lands, which is everything that was once
wetlands or habitat and has been altered.
“That’s true of almost all of Southwest Florida,” he
said. “What you see in the report is back to the Pleistocene. The report
is pretty biased.”
Nelson said she’s not familiar with the statistics,
but she knows wetlands are being lost.
“We have had a lot of land use changes,” she said.
“The area has rapidly urbanized, and I think everybody recognizes that.”
Area bodies of water are recognized as degraded,
Nelson said, an indication that something is going wrong.
“We see the degradation of the resource, of the water
quality,” she said. “It indicates to us that something is not working
right.”
Beever said his study is about seeing what changes
have actually taken place on the ground instead of what permitting
statistics show.
“What’s happening to the landscape may be different
than what’s happening with the figures,” he said.
Water Managers Reject County's Expansion Plan
MIAMI (CBS4) ― In the movie
"Field of Dreams," the main character Ray Kinsella is told "If you build it,
they will come."
The South Florida Water Management District has informed Miami Dade County
if they build it, people will come, but they may not have water when they
turn on the tap.
The SFWMD has asked state regulators to reject a trio of projects proposed
by the county that would be built beyond the Urban Development Boundary; the
imaginary line that limits westward sprawl.
The proposed projects include an office business complex, a new Lowe's store
at Southwest 138th Avenue and 8th Street and an office-residential complex
in west Kendall.
Three months ago, according the CBS4's news partners at the Miami Herald,
the SFWMD granted the county a permit for improvement plans to meet the
water needs over the next two decades. Water managers say they were never
informed about the development projects that would extend beyond the UDB.
Miami Dade's plans more than a billion dollars to overhaul the county's
water supply system. Under the terms of the permit, the county will be
allowed to pump an additional 60 million gallons of water a day by 2027, but
most of that water must come from "alternative" sources, and not the
Biscayne Aquifer.
Miami-Dade Commissioner Joe Martinez, who is supporting one of the projects
beyond the western boundary, counters that the 20-year permit they received
from the SFWMD doesn't limit where new growth can occur.
The SFWMD is not the only group opposed to extending beyond the UDB. The
county's planning department, citing the impact of roads, water supply and
schools, recommended against going beyond the boundary. The state's
Department of Transportation has also objected to the proposals citing
increased traffic concerns.
The Florida Department of Community Affairs, which will review the county's
proposal for compliance with state growth management laws, will issue its
recommendations by the end of the month. County commissioners are expected
to take a final vote on the matter in April.
Everglades funds in limbo
until state clean surface waters
Florida is blamed for failing to establish and
implement water cleanup programs. Billions of federal and state dollars have
been allocated for the Everglades, but not spent.
Florida's failure to establish and implement surface
water quality standards that meet U.S. Clean Water Act guidelines is why
federal grants for Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan projects
continue to be withheld by the Army Corps of Engineers.
The predicament is described in an exchange of letters
between high-level Army Corps officials who are charged with administering
the $10 billion plan, but have blocked the flow of federal money until the
state meets its environmental obligations.
Last May 25, Maj. Gen. Don T. Riley, director of civil
works for the Corps, stated, "Before there can be a federal interest to
cost-share a water quality improvement feature, the state must be in
compliance with water quality standards for the current use of the water to
be affected."
Riley made the statement in a letter to Assistant
Secretary of the Army John Paul Woodley Jr., that addressed a 50-50
cost-sharing policy with the South Florida Water Management District for
projects to clean up Lake Okeechobee, which empties into the Everglades.
On Nov. 30, Woodley responded to Riley in a letter that
confirmed: "Before there can be a federal interest to cost-share a water
quality improvement feature, the water must be in compliance with water
quality standards for the current use of the affected water."
The exchange of letters discusses projects to clean up
the phosphorous-laden river waters that drain into Lake Okeechobee from the
north, and the state's position that Army Corps authorities should release
50 percent of the estimated $1 billion it will take to repair the lake.
Riley did not anticipate state cooperation.
"The state is not currently meeting water quality
requirements for water that would flow into the proposed feature (Lake
Okeechobee)," he wrote, "and it is not likely to come into compliance for
several decades."
Woodley responded that a 50-50 federal cost-sharing
policy for cleaning up the Everglades has been in place since Congress
approved the 1996 Water Resources Development Act.
"I concur with your recommendation," he wrote, "and will
not approve an exception to the policy."
The Riley-Woodley exchange of letters also references
federal legislation and court rulings that have provided the framework for
Everglades cleanup projects, and defined the responsibilities that must be
met by federal and state agencies before funds can be spent.
"Water quality is the biggest problem in the Everglades
ecosystem," said Gary Hardesty, an Army Corps program manager who has been
involved with the massive project since 1994. "The state has to set
standards and live by them."
Farm lands located northeast of Lake Okeechobee are among
the primary polluters. They drain filthy runoff into canals and rivers that
are tested by state authorities. Until state programs are initiated to clean
them up, the feds will hold up Everglades funds.
"Water quality south of Lake Okeechobee is better than it
used to be, and the Army Corps may soon be in a position to help pay for
projects there," Hardesty said. "But a lot of phosphorous has drained into
the lake from rivers north of it, and settled on the bottom."
Congress could free up funds for the Everglades by
relieving Florida of its Clean Water Act obligations.
"If Congress chooses to provide this authority," Woodley
wrote in his Nov. 30 letter, "such water quality projects would be
cost-shared accordingly."
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist may have been anticipating
just such federal cooperation on Jan. 14 when he spoke at the annual
Everglades Coalition Conference on Captiva Island and promised to increase
the state's annual $200 million allocation for the cleanup effort.
State lawmakers have committed more than $2 billion to
the Everglades project since 2000, and Congress passed a Water Projects Bill
last year over President George W. Bush's veto that included $1.8 billion.
But federal authorities are reluctant to release the funds.
The Florida Everglades is the largest subtropical
wetlands in the United States. It was historically a 60-mile-wide,
2-foot-deep river that flowed from Lake Okeechobee to the Florida Bay and
occupied 2.9 million acres.
In 1948, the Central and Southern Florida Flood Control
Project was initiated to drain wetlands and divert drinking water from the
Everglades for a rapidly growing South Florida population. It reduced the
giant wetlands area by 50 percent.
The torturous legal path that finally led to an
Everglades Forever Act restoration plan began during the last months of the
Reagan Administration, when a U.S. Attorney jointly sued both Florida and
the South Florida Water Management District.
U.S. Justice Department officials charged that state
water quality standards were being violated in the Everglades National Park
and the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. They traced the problem to
drainage from the sugar industry south of Lake Okeechobee and urban
development west of Miami. The farms north of Lake Okeechobee were
identified later.
In 1991, Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles announced the state's
willingness to settle the federal case, and the court approved a 1992
settlement agreement that set long-term phosphorous discharge limits.
While the agreement set a 2002 deadline for phosphorus
limits in drainage discharges, the court pushed it back to 2006 when state
and federal environmental officials crafted a "statement of principles" that
sugar industry leaders now live by.
The phosphorous discharge limit agreed to by all parties
is 10 parts per billion. It was initially established by the federally
recognized Miccosukee Tribe of Florida, which occupies a headquarters office
40 miles west of Miami in the Everglades.
In 1998, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
concluded that the Miccosukee standards for water discharges were not
"overly protective."
By JACK GURNEY
Pelican Press
Ties, friction frame contest
A vulnerable incumbent and a well-heeled former
supporter face off.
By David DeCamp, Times Staff Writer
Published February 10, 2008
DADE CITY - Four years after skating to re-election unopposed, the task
of staying in office has toughened drastically for Pasco County
Commissioner Ted Schrader.
Fellow Republican John Nicolette, a former supporter and donor, has
jumped into campaign against Schrader with a bang, raising $40,000 to
Schrader's $11,000.
Making Schrader's chances more difficult, voters passed deep property
tax cuts Jan. 29, ending the days of ample cash for popular programs. A
controversial landfill project near Dade City shadows the election, too.
Nicolette, a ranch owner in east Pasco, already has influential
connections. Gov. Charlie Crist appointed him to Coastal Rivers Basin
taxing district board, and Nicolette works with Agriculture Commissioner
Charles Bronson on the State Fair board. His father-in-law is former
County Attorney Robert Sumner. And firefighters are helping out
Nicolette, a Tampa firefighter.
Bristling at Nicolette's unexpected challenge, Schrader repeatedly has
noted Nicolette's business and political ties to the Iafrate family,
proponents of the landfill. In an interview, Schrader also questioned
whether Nicolette wants to be commissioner or just a politician. In
2006, Nicolette expressed interest in running for the Florida House seat
ultimately won by Rep. Will Weatherford.
"Is it just a desire to have an elected office?" asked Schrader, a
two-term member.
But Schrader faces his own problems.
Some fellow landowners in east Pasco have worried that his stances on
growth management will sap the value of developing their land. The
leadership of the local Republican Party has lavished praise on
Nicolette, a donor and fundraiser.
And hanging in the background: Schrader was caught surfing the Internet
for personal use on public time - a miscue that helped bring down a
fellow commissioner in 2006.
* * *
The pace of development quickens the pulse of voters in east Pasco, the
district Schrader represents in the countywide primary Aug. 26. While
Nicolette quietly has developed several smaller subdivisions, Schrader's
past is part of the debate, too.
As Pasco moves forward to tighten development standards, the issue has
become a dividing line between Nicolette and Schrader.
Nicolette strongly supports the county creating a program allowing
developers to buy density credits, essentially purchasing development
rights off a piece of rural land so the property is set aside as open
space. Then the developer could apply those credits to increase the
scope of a project elsewhere. Communities across the country use the
program, including Charlotte County.
Nicolette used a 1997 land deal by Schrader's family to pound home the
point. The Schraders bought 790 acres for $978,425. Four days later,
they sold a conservation easement on the land to the Southwest Florida
Water Management District for $974,508. The easement restricts
development there, but allows the Schraders to own and control the land.
"It's no different dealing with water. If it was okay for Ted to get his
development credits, property density credits should be okay, too,"
Nicolette said. He said people with a chance for county credits
shouldn't be left out "because the commission doesn't have the people in
place to do an ordinance."
There is a difference, however, and Schrader has defended his family's
deal. The land was set aside without any credits going to a private
developer to increase the size of another project.
"He doesn't understand the difference between them," Schrader said.
Schrader also said he supports the concept of density credits, but there
has been little support on the commission to create the program. That's
because, he said, the county has to choose in which sections of Pasco to
allow the credits to be used, so congested areas wouldn't be harmed by
major new developments.
"Now that we have a new county attorney, maybe it's time to revisit it,"
Schrader said.
Nonetheless, the issue helped cost Schrader a supporter, Assistant
Public Defender Tom Hanlon. Hanlon is among the few previous Schrader
donors who have contributed to Nicolette thus far.
It helped that Nicolette once spent the night helping Hanlon take care
of his cows when water pipes broke on Hanlon's farm. But Hanlon
suggested the candidates' differences on density credits - Hanlon said
he has 150 acres ripe for development rights - cemented his decision.
Schrader called Hanlon's move hurtful, echoing his surprise at
Nicolette's candidacy.
"I admire anybody who has the intestinal fortitude to maintain that
position," Hanlon said about Schrader. "Now, that doesn't mean I will
vote for him."
* * *
Schrader has emphasized his judgment as a commissioner, however. Last
week, he highlighted his repeated support of cutting property taxes
since first winning office in 2000 - including a $6-million cut in 2006
and meeting the state-mandated cut last year. Schrader also said his
leadership led to the hiring of new County Attorney Jeffrey Steinsnyder
and building the Wesley Chapel Regional Park.
The same kind of expertise will be important because Pasco likely will
choose a replacement for 25-year County Administrator John Gallagher by
2012, Schrader said.
But Schrader wants voters to put aside a lapse that contributed to
Commissioner Steve Simon's 2006 loss to Michael Cox. That year, the
Times detailed how commissioners Simon, Pat Mulieri and Schrader surfed
the Web for personal use during public meetings.
"I've admitted that it was the wrong thing to do," Schrader said, noting
his county laptop computer is now used only on county business in county
buildings.
Mulieri easily won re-election in 2006, but her opponents avoided
jabbing at her on the issue. Simon wasn't so lucky. Cox pummeled Simon
over the Internet use.
Schrader by far did the most surfing, by the Times' account. Of the 708
non-government-related Web pages visited during public meetings in 2005
by the three commissioners, Schrader visited all but 40. (Technology
issues might lead to the visits being somewhat overstated, the Times
reported then.)
"The citizens of Pasco County deserve and expect somebody that puts 100
percent focus as a commissioner. When I'm a commissioner, I'm going to
do one thing - listen to the people," Nicolette said.
* * *
Nicolette has won praise for his work ethic from Pasco County Republican
Party chairman Bill Bunting. Bunting leads some of the party's most
dedicated volunteers - including Nicolette, a member of the county GOP
executive committee. That group, which often hews to Bunting's
influence, can help win votes, particularly in a primary election.
Already, purple Nicolette yard signs have popped up around the county as
he tries to unseat the venerable, fourth-generation Pasco family member.
Nicolette said he has "a burning desire to serve" - just as he does as a
firefighter.
While the party does not intend to endorse in the race, Bunting
pointedly noted Nicolette's fundraising and interaction - and Schrader's
sparse involvement in party activities.
Since 2004, Bunting and Schrader sometimes have had a difficult
relationship. Schrader supported the Penny for Pasco sales tax increase,
which voters approved. Bunting did not. Unlike all four other Republican
commissioners since 2004, Schrader didn't donate to the county party.
Schrader may be taking a different tack, however. He said he expects to
have better fundraising when new campaign reports come out in April. He
said he plans to sponsor a table at the Reagan Day Dinner in May, which
means donating at least $650 to the local GOP. He also spoke at
January's Republican Party meeting, and visited the Spirit of '76 Club,
which is run by Ann Bunting, the chairman's wife.
"I've seen him more in the last three weeks," Bunting joked, "than I
have in the past six years."
David DeCamp can be reached at ddecamp@sptimes.com
or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6232.
At a glance
Battle for District 1
War chest
$11,000 $40,000
[Last modified February 9, 2008, 21:31:25]
High-voltage lines could slice North Pinellas/Pasco
Progress Energy says it's too early to worry, but is
also meeting with neighborhoods that eventually might be affected.
By THERESA BLACKWELL, Times Staff Writer
Published February 3, 2008
EAST LAKE - In the recent past, residents of Crescent Oaks
subdivision have opposed one idea - now dead - to put athletic fields on
neighboring preserve land.
And they've learned that Pinellas County plans to build a
water-blending plant close by.
So when someone from Progress Energy recently told them
that big transmission lines humming with high voltage electricity could be
coming their way, too, residents couldn't help but worry.
"It's like the IRS saying, 'We're here to help you,'"
Crescent Oaks resident Bob Loos said.
Relax, a Progress Energy Florida official said last week.
It's much too soon in the decision-making process to start worrying.
The utility will decide whether to build a nuclear power
plant in Levy County this year. If the plant is built, up to 10 counties
will need new transmission lines to carry high-voltage electricity from the
plant to four new substations where the voltage of the electricity would be
lowered before going out to communities.
One of those lines could be near the Crescent Oaks
subdivision - or not.
"We are considering various options, and it's too early to
know how any particular community may be affected," Progress Energy Florida
spokeswoman Cherie Jacobs said.
At this point, Progress Energy Florida has yet to file a
request with the Florida Public Service Commission to build the Levy County
plant.
Still, the utility already is meeting with some homeowners
to explain the project. In the next month or so, the utility plans to hold
public information meetings in Pinellas, Pasco, Hillsborough, Hernando and
Polk counties.
"Folks can come and ask questions and see what we're
proposing," Jacobs said. "It will be the beginning of a lengthy public
involvement process."
At the Crescent Oaks homeowner's association meeting in
January, Gail Simpson, Progress Energy Florida's manager for public policy
and constituent relations, showed residents a map with two corridors about
10 miles wide fanning out from the possible Levy County plant. New or
upgraded transmission lines would be located somewhere within the wide
corridor, she said.
One leg of the transmission line corridor travels
southeast from the plant toward Leesburg. The other travels south from the
plant, then turns east and continues along the Pasco/Hillsborough county
line. In Pinellas, about 3 miles of the county's northeast corner is inside
the southernmost corridor. And the general location of one possible
substation is shown just outside Pinellas's northeast corner.
At the meetings, Progress Energy Florida plans to show
residents that it has narrowed those corridors in some spots from 10 miles
wide to 1 mile wide.
Existing transmission lines will be upgraded to carry a
greater load as much as possible or new lines will be built in existing
rights of way, Progress Energy Florida officials say. When existing lines
are going in the right direction, they say, using them is the most
cost-effective choice and causes less disturbance to the community and the
environment.
The utility won't say where the existing transmission
lines are in East Lake, but it's hardly a secret. One series of transmission
towers runs north to south through Brooker Creek Preserve and crosses
Keystone Road east of Crescent Oaks. Another cuts diagonally through the
preserve, heading to the northwest near Ridgemoor.
As for new lines, Progress Energy's map shows a corridor
cutting across the northeastern corner of Pinellas County.
At the Crescent Oaks meeting, Simpson couldn't tell
homeowners what they most wanted to know: How close would any new
transmission lines and a substation come to their neighborhood?
"When we got to specifics, she was very vague," Loos said.
The fact that the utility met with Crescent Oaks
homeowners led Loos to suspect that transmission lines and/or the substation
would be close. He said some power lines run in Brooker Creek Preserve near
the eighth hole of the Crescent Oaks golf course.
It's just something else to worry about, he said.
"Are they keeping it close to the vest because they don't
know," he wondered, "or because they don't want to start getting early
opposition too soon?"
Progress Energy Florida will announce public information
meetings to be held in the next month or two on the possible Levy County
nuclear power plant. To request information, e-mail
energyplanning@pgnmail.com
or leave a message at (888) 238-0373.
Tarmac mine official tries to dispel rumors
By Terry Witt
A top official for Tarmac America
LLC said last week that rumors and misinformation continue to circulate
about a proposed 4,800-acre mine in south Levy County.
Al Townsend, director of real estate and environmental services, said rumors
about the Tarmac King Road Mine north of Inglis have distorted its true
size, its design features, its impact on the ecology, the water it will use
and the truck traffic it will generate.
Townsend, meeting with the Chronicle Editorial Board, said the company has
set aside 2,700-acres for mining, 800 acres for green space and wetlands
protection and 1,300-acres for a buffer zone. The company’s intention is to
donate an additional 4,800-acres of property adjoining the Waccassassa Bay
State Preserve to the state. The property would become part of the preserve.
Opponents have called it a 9,000-acre mine.
If the company gives land to the state, it would compensate for the loss of
wetlands from mining activities. The tradeoff is known as mitigation.
Townsend said most of the site consists of cutover pine timber. The property
has been used for timber growing for many years, but he acknowledged there
are low quality wetlands on site.
Tarmac will submit an application to the Southwest Florida Water Management
District to withdraw 22 million gallons of water daily, but Townsend said
nearly all the water, about 21 million gallons, will be recycled from a mine
lake each day.
Townsend said about 1 million gallons will be drawn from the aquifer daily
to replace water evaporating from the mine lake, and he anticipates the
district’s final consumptive water use permit will reflect 1 million gallons
per day.
He said the mine will not negatively impact the Floridan Aquifer, which is
close to the surface in the area of the proposed mine, and he assured
editorial board members it would not bring about saltwater intrusion in
Yankeetown or Inglis. Townsend is asking to mine up to 120 feet deep, but
anticipates the maximum mining depth to not exceed 100 feet.
The property would be mined in a manner that keeps the top of the aquifer
near its current level, he said. Otherwise, trees and plants would die in
nearby wetlands.
The aggregate (small limerock stones) that would be mined at the site would
be suitable for use in making concrete for bridges, homes, roads and public
buildings, according to Townsend. He said the mine would be certified by
Florida Department of Transportation.
Concerning truck traffic, Townsend said the mine would operate for 12 hours
each day and 500 trucks would come and go from the mine daily. He said 30
percent to 40 percent would go south through Crystal River to Tampa, 30
percent to Ocala and the balance to Gainesville.
That would mean 150 to 200 trucks driving through Crystal River to Tampa,
and return empty, or about 300 to 400 trucks daily. Townsend said he
doubts residents would notice much difference, considering the truck traffic
that exists in Citrus County. The trucks would be leased and Tarmac would
require those trucks to have their wheels washed and their loads tarped, but
they would not have control over the vehicles. Tamac look at the railroad used by Progress
Energy as a possible way to transport limestone rock. But Townsend said
Tarmac has ruled out rail traffic, in part because of the switching that
would have to be done.
“It will be strictly a truck market,” he said. “I’d love it if we had rail,
but we don’t.”
He said the public will have plenty of opportunity to weigh-in on the mining
operation. Tarmac must apply for environmental permits from the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and
the Southwest Florida Water Management district.
Tarmac anticipates spending $137 million before the first shovel of limerock
is turned, with no guarantee permits will be granted by state and federal
agencies, and by Levy County.
“It’s a big gamble, but we’re looking at our future,” Townsend said.
Developers of rejected Sails project may sue Fort
Lauderdale
By Brittany Wallman
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
February 4, 2008
FORT LAUDERDALE
Talks between the city and the spurned developers of
a proposed hotel-marina-retail complex called The Sails have all but
broken down, and a multimillion-dollar lawsuit is pending, according to
an internal memo and interviews with those involved.
If the developers can't build their $59 million project, they want the
city to pay that amount. That's the essence of the Bert J. Harris
Private Property Rights Protection Act the developer is relying on. That
law requires the parties to spend six months trying to settle. The clock
stops ticking in about two weeks.
"I can characterize in three words what it took them three pages to
say," City Attorney Harry Stewart wrote to the City Commission in his
Wednesday memo. " ... 'No thank you.' ... Our posture at present is
simply to wait on them to file their lawsuit."
Developer Ron Mastriana said there's still a chance for a settlement. He
said someone from the city, whom he would not identify, "reached out" to
him Thursday. He plans another meeting this week.
"We're geared up to go ahead and file on the 12th," he said Friday, "but
in the meantime, we're encouraged by some of our discussions with the
city yesterday."
Fort Lauderdale has been down this road before. But the last few
development-related lawsuits against the city were filed by people angry
about a nearby project's approval.
The Sails was rejected in June, in front of a large crowd. The
developers, Mastriana and Tom Gonzalez, argued their project would
enhance the area, replacing aging buildings with a 12-story, 350-room
hotel with retail/office space, 3,900 square feet of restaurant use, 150
dry-dock boat storage slips and 30 wet slips. The 8.5 acres at 2150 SE
17th St. are the site of the "Pink Plaza" and a Best Western hotel.
Only Mayor Jim Naugle supported The Sails. The other commissioners said
it was out of scale with the surrounding neighborhood.
Under the state's 1995 Harris Act, a property owner is entitled to
government "relief," which can include financial compensation, if a
decision renders the owner "permanently unable to attain the reasonable,
investment-backed expectation."
The developers hired Dan Stengle, the attorney chiefly responsible for
writing the Harris Act.
According to Stewart's memo and subsequent correspondence, the city in
mid-December met with Stengle and sent a letter saying the project is
two times the size it should be, to be comparable to Hyatt Regency Pier
66, the nearest hotel. Stengle wrote back to say the comparison to Pier
66 was inappropriate and his client didn't want to spend money
redesigning a project that still might not be approved.
Brittany Wallman can be reached at bwallman@sun-sentinel.com or
954-356-4541.
The annual preservation board list of endangered sites
February 3, 2008
Every year the Volusia
County Historic Preservation Board reviews its list of the most
endangered properties in the county. This year there are 15 sites on the
list, ranging from historic
citrus packinghouses to American Indian middens.
Most of the sites are threatened by development, lack of upkeep and
artifact hunters.
John Wagner, the board's chairman, said the goal of the list is to bring
the public's attention to these spots so people will "take the efforts
necessary to preserve, protect and enhance them."
Here are the county's most threatened sites:
1. Strawn Groves Packinghouse and Sawmill, DeLeon Springs
The largest citrus-related historic district in Florida, this collection
of buildings used to house workers packing citrus from nearly 5,000
acres of trees. The sawmill on the site is one of the few examples left
in the state of an early 20th-century timber processing operation. After
a series of hard freezes, the packinghouse shut down in 1983. Today it
sits unused.
2. Colonial New Smyrna
archaeological sites
In 1768, Scottish physician Andrew Turnbull and about 1,250 colonists
founded a settlement in what is today New Smyrna Beach. But the colony
struggled to be financially viable. All that remains of it today are
foundations of coquina structures and scattered other remains. The most
visible ruins are at Old Fort Park in the city's downtown. Historians
know of nearly 40 sites, but there could be more.
3. Historic Pierson School
Built in 1926, this Spanish Mission-style school was the first public
building in the Pierson area to have plumbing and a water fountain. The
building is still being used as an elementary school, but in 2010
students will move to a new building. County historians say it still has
great potential to be adapted for another use. The school district has
said it is willing to sell it to the town of Pierson, but so far nothing
has been finalized.
4. Oak Hill Village Improvement
Association Building
This 1906 building has served as a school, library, grocery store and
city hall. The wooden structure was built with eight sides, a trend at
the time, and it one of the few historic octagonal structures left in
Florida. In 1917, the building survived being moved by a team of horses,
but it has been structurally damaged by several hurricanes, and
historians say it is in desperate need of repair.
5. Rio Vista subdivision gateway,
Ormond Beach
This concrete arch was once part of a 1920s development scheme. The
development never came to fruition, but the Mediterranean revival-style
gateway remains.
6. Seville Public School
Children still learn at this school -- originally built as a four-room
schoolhouse in 1913 -- but the Volusia County School Board will close it
by the end of the decade as students from here and the Pierson
elementary school move to a single building. The original chalkboard
frames and chalk racks are still in place, and the building has an
unusual basement dating to 1924. It has become a landmark for the
community, which has shown interest in preserving it, but no solid plans
have been developed.
7. Hasty Cottage, Davis House and
Cemetery, Ponce Inlet
The Hasty Cottage dates back to the late 1800s and once served as a post
office. The Davis House was once home to Edward Meyer Sr., the last
civilian lighthouse keeper at the Ponce Inlet lighthouse.
8. Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp
In the late 19th century, Cassadaga was founded as a camp for
Spiritualists, who believe in communication with the deceased through
mediums. Members of the faith still live in the camp's Victorian-era
houses and worship in its 1920s-built temple today.
9. St. Johns River shell middens
Long ago, American Indians tossed their waste -- mostly shells -- into
massive piles along the river. Excavations in the late 19th and early
20th centuries destroyed most of those sites, but recent archaeological
digs have found several intact deposits. Shoreline erosion during high
water, development and disturbance by artifact collectors threaten the
middens.
10. The McCoy House, Holly Hill
A boat builder and famous rum runner, Bill McCoy lived in this
waterfront home, which is now used for apartments.
11. Fort Florida and Goat Island burial mounds, DeBary
These sand mounds contain prehistoric human remains.
12. Underhill House, Barberville
Built in 1879 with handmade bricks, this is likely the oldest surviving
brick house in Volusia County. It was home to the Underhill family,
among the pioneers of ornamental fern production in the Pierson area.
It's in poor condition and some of the bricks are crumbling, but the
nonprofit Pioneer Settlement for Creative Arts in Barberville recently
bought it with the intention of restoring it.
13. Rural cemeteries of Volusia County
Rural community and family cemeteries are often found in unexpected
places such as farmers' fields and abandoned lots. Historians know of a
cemetery where at least eight yellow fever victims were buried near
Enterprise School. It's impossible to know how many such cemeteries are
in the county.
Hundreds of homes in styles ranging from bungalows to Mediterranean
revival make up these historic neighborhoods. Most were built in the
1910s, '20s and '30s, but historians say many have been fragmented by
incompatible development.
15. Sugar Mill Ruins of the Halifax region
The ruins of nine sugar mills dot the Volusia-Flagler area as a reminder
of the first era of plantation development in the state in the 1830s.
All that remains of most of them are masonry ruins, and many are further
deteriorating from plant growth and moisture damage. The county is
working to restore the Dunlawton Sugar Mill in Port Orange where some of
the sugar kettles and machinery are still in place. Most of what remains
are partial walls and a coquina-brick chimney.
Rachael Jackson can be reached at
rjackson@orlandosentinel.com or 386-851-7923.
Straughn honored for extension, farming careers
By ANTHONY CLARK
Sun business editor
After dual careers in farming and as administrator with
the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Alto
Straughn had access to information that would prove to be very valuable when
he retired from IFAS and went into farming full time in 1989.
IFAS researchers were working on making blueberries that
were more conducive to the Florida growing season at the same time blueberry
prices were up.
Straughn had already managed to learn a great deal about
the science and practical side to farming through his two careers and saw
an opportunity.
"It became pretty obvious with the new varieties and the
pricing we were receiving that there was the best potential there of
anything I looked at, so I picked that up probably quicker than most anybody
else in the state," he said of the blueberry opportunity.
Straughn, of Waldo, is credited as a trailblazer in
Florida's $40 million annual blueberry industry, producing about a third of
that crop himself by pioneering the southern highbush blueberry. He was also
the first North Florida farmer to produce seedless watermelons on a
large scale.
His portion of the state's blueberry production is going
down as other growers expand faster, largely by using varieties and
production techniques learned from Straughn's farms.
Because Straughn has been generous with his knowledge in
support of the agriculture industry and education throughout his career, he
is being inducted into the Florida Agriculture Hall of Fame on Feb. 12 at
the Florida State Fair in Tampa.
After growing up in farming in Walton County, Straughn
came to the University of Florida to study agriculture. While here, he
played on the freshman basketball team. And he met his wife, Patrecia, who
was also an animal sciences major.
Starting in 1959, Straughn spent three years as Marion
County's extension agent before going to graduate school in Wisconsin. He
returned to go into IFAS administration in support of extension offices
around the state, while building a farm business that included beef cattle,
watermelon and timber farming while his farms also served as working
laboratories for UF agriculture research.
Today, Straughn has farms near Waldo, Windsor and Archer,
with 525 acres of blueberries, 150 acres of watermelons, more than 400 acres
of pasture with more than 200 brood cows, 140 acres of rye grass and 120
acres of planted pines. He also sharecrops in partnership with watermelon
growers in Gilchrist, Levy and Okeechobee counties.
Straughn Farms employs 34 people, including three of his
grandkids, and hires about 1,400 temporary laborers every year during
harvest seasons.
Straughn has been growing watermelons for 40 years,
including seedless watermelons since the mid-1980s. About nine years ago, he
started devoting most of his time to blueberries, planting 40-50 new acres a
year in that time.
His blueberry business has grown because of advancements
in varieties and production. Florida is about the only place in the world to
grow blueberries in the spring, he said, and demand grew tremendously when
the health benefits of the fruit were discovered, further driving up prices.
Other Florida growers are starting to catch up, but
Straughn figures demand will keep prices up unless South America is
successful in its efforts to breed spring varieties.
These days, his concerns are migrant labor issues and how
to pass on the family farm.
Straughn relies on migrant laborers during harvest season
and makes sure everyone he hires has a Social Security card. But every year
the Social Security Administration reports back 6-12 months later that 40-45
percent of his workers' Social Security numbers don't match their names, he
said. If the federal government goes through with plans to require a match
before hiring, he and other farmers who require hand labor will not have
enough people to harvest crops.
"My insurance plan is to be prepared to mechanical harvest
stuff," he said.
He said there is a lot of room for improvement in
mechanical harvesting and sorting, and the process would mean fewer
fresh-packed and more frozen berries.
As for the family farm, he said he realizes he is getting
old and worries about how to pass on $16 million worth of farming operations
with 45 percent in estate tax likely to come due and land already deeded
between two children and eight grandchildren.
"That literally means you sell the farm" to pay the tax,
he said, although what the family does with the farms remains to be decided.
The scenario is being played out around the state when
family farms are divided between heirs and sold off a piece at a time.
Land costs also threaten the future of farming throughout
the state, he said, when crop and livestock yields can't cover the rising
value of land.
"A lot of that occurs where people used to have a lot of
land and they sell off 40 acres to be able to operate another year or two
and then sell off another 40 acres," he said.
Straughn plans to stay in farming as long as his
health allows.
"I enjoy it. My wife would like me not to work so much,
but I don't know what I would do," he said. "It's not so much about making
money now. It's about improving the blueberry cropping system. We have lots
of disease problems. We don't have the best quality of berries like the form
of berries that's got a higher sugar content, tastes good, are good and firm
that will ship better. That's high on my list. And of course this thing with
machine harvest ability. Those are the things that's on my agenda
right now."
Fla. home sellers hope
tax, rate cuts spark housing rebound
ANTHONY McCARTNEY Associated Press Writer
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) --
Martha Rodriguez's four-bedroom, 1,500 square foot house has
plenty of space, but lately it's left her feeling a bit trapped.
For more than a year, Rodriguez and her
husband have been seeking a buyer for the south Tampa home they
bought in 1978 and where they raised three children. For more
than a year - through open houses and price drops - they've
waited.
Now Rodriguez, 56, hopes that last week's
passage of Amendment 1, which is supposed to reduce property
taxes, will lead a buyer to her doorstep. So are plenty of other
Floridians, many of whom have been stuck in a real estate market
that went from unprecedented to pedestrian nearly two years ago.
Amendment 1 and the Federal Reserve's
lowering of interest rates has sellers and real estate agents
wondering - is the market ready to rebound?
Home prices have been declining in many parts
of the country for two years, and Tampa and Miami have been
among the metro areas to see the steepest drop.
In September, Tampa had the nation's steepest
drop in home values. Miami took over the top spot a month later.
Data for the end of the year wasn't any better - prices in Miami
dropped 15.1 percent in November from a year earlier, according
to Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index. Tampa saw a
12.6 percent decline from November 2006.
Voters in both areas strongly supported
Amendment 1 - a property tax cut measure approved by voters on
Tuesday. Hillsborough County voters went 3 to 2 for approval
while 71 percent of Miami-Dade County voted for the proposal. It
offers average reductions of $240 on tax bills for a homeowner's
primary residence and allows them to keep lower rates when they
move.
That's precisely what the Rodriguezes want.
They plan to buy another, smaller house and live closer to their
daughters and grandchildren in west Tampa. When they move,
they'll take with them a $1,500 annual property tax bill - one
that is already far lower than many of their neighbors. If
Amendment 1 had failed, their tax bill would have been based on
the price of their new home and could have doubled.
Portability is a big reason Elizabeth
Abernathy also supported Amendment 1.
At 79, Abernathy doesn't want to move from
the home that she and her husband built in 1954 on Davis
Islands, a community near downtown Tampa. But now widowed and
her halting footsteps aided by a cane, Abernathy knows the day
will come when she has to downsize.
She would like her children to take over her
house, but the property tax hike they would incur makes that
difficult. With portability, though, Abernathy said she feels
better about her options.
Realtors, who also heavily backed Amendment
1, expect it will jump-start the market. They say for months
they've encountered skittish buyers reluctant to purchase homes
or condos.
"I see a lot of buyers sitting on the fence,"
said Kimberly Kirschner, chairwoman of the Realtor Association
of Greater Miami and the Beaches.
Jordan Booth, a 21-year-old superintendent
for a commercial contractor, has spent the last year living in a
rented condo, saving money and watching home prices drop.
He was recently approved for a 30-year, 5
percent fixed mortgage, and plans to buy his first home in Lutz,
a mostly rural community north of Tampa.
He voted for Amendment 1, partly because he's
sure it will help him in coming years.
Experts foresee improvements, but also
believe it will be the result of interest rate cuts.
"I don't see any dramatic effect to the real
estate market out of Amendment 1," said Dean H. Gatzlaff, chair
of Florida State University's real estate department.
Lower interest rates, however, may help clear
the inventory of homes that have been for sale for some time, he
said.
Tampa Bay area real estate agents are hoping
that recent sales data shows the market is rebounding.
Home sales numbers in December ticked up
slightly, and agents are reporting more interest from buyers,
said Deborah Farmer, president of the Greater Tampa Association
of Realtors. "Prices will rise again," she predicted.
She is encouraged by the recent sales data
and reports from the association's membership that suggest more
are imminent.
Miami, however, still has a glut of homes and
condos on the market that still need to change hands, Kirschner
said.
More condos are under construction and about
to open and even Kirschner, a successful real estate agent for
20 years, can't predict how many of those will sell.
"We know we're going to get buyers," she
said.
Both Farmer and Kirschner said another
provision of Amendment 1 - a 10 percent annual cap on tax
assessments on non-homestead property - will spur more
purchases.
Kirschner predicted some properties will
likely be bought by Canadians and foreigners whose currency is
stronger than the dollar.
Meanwhile, sellers who are skeptical, or
unaware, of government efforts are taking matters into their own
hands.
Kyle Nemet, a Tampa car dealer who's now
making ends meet by selling big rig trucks to foreign markets,
is offering a luxury car to anyone who buys his house.
In 1999, Nemet built a five-bedroom,
four-bathroom home in a gated community northwest of Tampa. Last
year, he was offered $635,000 for the home, but decided not to
sell.
"I'm regretting that decision big time," he
said. "I haven't had an offer on that house in seven months."
Now, if he gets back the roughly $500,000 he
owes, he said he'll be happy. He'll even hand over the keys to a
2004 Lexus LS430 to the buyer.
Nemet didn't vote for Amendment 1 - he hadn't
heard anything about it until after Tuesday's election. But he
scoffed at the idea that the savings or even the ability to move
homestead exemptions would help much.
"This $200 nonsense is not going to cure
anything," Nemet said. He's competing against many of his
neighbors who are trying to sell, without success.
Rodriguez's block doesn't pose the same
competition. Yet despite numerous selling points - her home is
within walking distance of several shops and restaurants, and
access to some of Tampa's best public schools - she and her
husband continue to wait for a buyer.
"I wanted to move a long time ago," Rodriguez
said.
Gulf Stream turbines might whirl out energy
The current that powers ships could slake our thirst
for electricity.
By DAVID ADAMS, Times Latin America Correspondent
Published February 4, 2008
DANIA BEACH - It's free, has zero emissions and sits off
the Florida coast just waiting to be tapped.
A boon to ship captains for centuries, could the Gulf
Stream, which runs along Florida's east coast before curving out across the
Atlantic, also be a major source of clean energy for the state?
"This is the closest location on the planet of a major
ocean current to a significant urban center of electrical demand," said Rick
Driscoll, director of Florida Atlantic University's Center of Excellence
Ocean Energy Technology in Dania Beach, known as Sea Tech. "Its potential is
immeasurable."
Driscoll envisages a vast field of thousands of underwater
propeller turbines tethered to the ocean floor - imagine a wind farm
hundreds of feet under the sea - slowly spinning in the current.
Some scientists say the Gulf Stream's vast energy content
could provide up to one-third of the state's electricity needs, equivalent
to six nuclear power stations. Realistically, that potential remains
something of a dream right now. Of all the emerging alternative
technologies, ocean energy is perhaps the least advanced. But it may be
starting to catch on.
"Ocean energy is where wind was 20 years ago," Driscoll
said. "There are a lot of concepts and designs."
Scientists have been studying the power of the Gulf Stream
for centuries, but entrepreneurs have only recently begun to take an
interest. Projects are just beginning to pop up around the country, in San
Francisco Bay, New York's Hudson River and now Florida's east coast, though
none are in commercial operation yet.
Sea Tech's ocean energy research is suddenly attracting
intense interest. It got a major boost in 2006 with a $5-million grant from
the state. It has also formed an alliance with Florida Power & Light Co.
Last week Gov. Charlie Crist proposed a $10-million grant in his new budget,
and he made his second visit to Sea Tech on Thursday to show his commitment.
"This is a resource that is boundless. I want to do
everything I can to help," Crist said. "It's a national security issue. The
more we can diversify our energy resources, the more independent it will
make us."
Among those intrigued by the concept is influential Tampa
Bay area developer and former Ambassador Mel Sembler. Sembler first heard
about the potential of the Gulf Stream several years ago when he was
approached by an ocean energy pioneer, Jim Dehlsen, who patented one of the
earliest turbine designs in 2001.
"I think it's a fabulous idea," Sembler said. "It's so
consistent and always in the same general area. To me it is Florida's answer
for alternative energy. We desperately need it."
Sea Tech began work on ocean energy at its Dania Beach
campus in 1999 under the leadership of Driscoll, 37, who holds a dual
doctorate in mechanical engineering and oceanography.
Driscoll said the center's first prototype of an ocean
current turbine, 10 feet in diameter, will be deployed later this year.
Researchers want to see how the turbines behave in the current and what
effect the massive blades might have on migratory fish species.
Early evidence suggests fish just swim around the blades,
which rotate at speeds of up to 60 revolutions a minute.
"We see ourselves as the facilitator and a database to
help provide the expertise that is needed," Driscoll said.
Driscoll's team is creating a profile of the Gulf Stream
by placing acoustic Doppler equipment on the ocean bottom. It measures
movement by firing sound pulses that reflect off particulate matter in the
water.
At its closest, the Gulf Stream is 15 miles offshore and
stretches 20 to 30 miles into the Atlantic. It varies from 320 to 650 feet
deep, maintaining an average speed of about 5 mph. Crucial to any attempt to
harness its energy, the current is confined to an identifiable area.
"It doesn't meander very much," Driscoll said.
While wind farms have attracted opposition from bird
lovers, the notion of undersea turbines has so far not caused a stir. That
may be because the Gulf Stream is not especially hospitable to marine life,
Driscoll said. Its warmer temperature causes evaporation, making the water
saltier.
"I have not heard any concerns," said Mark Ferrulo,
director of Environment Florida, one of the state's leading nature
protection advocacy groups. "If anything, there's a lot of excitement around
this emerging technology."
Because 70 percent of Florida's population lives within 10
miles of the ocean, advocates say ocean energy is ideal. Its proximity
offshore means reduced transmission costs.
Utilities like the concept as it offers the potential of a
steady, reliable supply, unlike solar and wind energy, which are
unpredictable due to variable weather conditions.
The potential energy "capture area" stretches about 100 to
200 miles from the lower Florida Keys to St. Lucie County, with the best
potential around Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.
"This is the sweet spot down here," Driscoll said.
The power of the Gulf Stream was recognized by America's
earliest explorers. Christopher Columbus took note of the heightened current
as he approached the Caribbean. But Ponce de Leon is generally credited with
discovering this warm "river in the ocean" in 1513 on his voyage to Florida
in search of the Fountain of Youth.
Over the next two centuries, the Gulf Stream was used
extensively by whalers, fishermen and sea captains seeking to speed their
passage in the Atlantic north and east to Europe.
It may have been Benjamin Franklin who gave the current
its name. As U.S. postmaster general, he pondered complaints that European
mail traveling west to America took much longer to arrive than U.S. mail
traveling east across the Atlantic. He printed what many believe to be the
first map of the Gulf Stream in 1769.
Proposals to harness some of the energy of the powerful
current have been around since Thomas Edison became interested in it in the
late 19th century.
Source: Greg Allen, NPR
Retail struggles cast pall over plaza plans
Developers and stores retooling
projects to reflect dimmer economic picture
Consumers are in no mood to spend and retailers are
quickly reacting by scaling back their development plans.
That is likely to have an impact on a number of new retail projects in
Southwest Florida like Sarasota Bayside, University Town Center, Pineapple
Square, Galleria on Venice Avenue and, to some extent, more long-term
projects such as The Loop at Punta Gorda and North Port Gardens, still
undergoing state review.
The backers of Sarasota Bayside -- the planned $1 billion collection of
residences, shops, restaurants, office space and hotel rooms on the site of
the former Quay -- say their project will be retooled.
They were unwilling to talk specifics, and most developers were unwilling to
talk at all about the effect that the downturn in consumer spending and the
threat of a recession were having on their projects.
Analysts said changes to projects are inevitable given the predicament that
retailers find themselves in.
The Bayside developers hope that the economic storm hitting the nation's
stores is behind by the time they make their move, but they clearly
recognize today's realities.
"With real estate the way it is we're looking at some alternative uses,"
said Brett Hutchens, chief executive officer for Casto Lifestyle Properties,
which is charting the project's retail component.
New design plans for Sarasota Bayside are expected to be revealed in the
next 90 days.
Casto is considering a variety of options that will "justify putting the
infrastructure in" at Bayside, and is likely to scale back the residential
component as it already has the retail component, Hutchens said.
"You have to be nimble in business."
National impact
For now, national retailers show the most immediate impact of the slowdown
in the economy and the closing of consumer purses.
For the past two years Kohl's has been opening new stores at a pace unheard
of in the company's history. Its largest grand opening with 95 new stores,
six in Florida, took place just a few months ago. But do not look for that
record-setting pace to continue. This spring, Kohl's will open five more
Florida stores, but only 29 across the country.
Company executives will not even talk about its plans for the fall, when
Kohl's was expected to open a store on University Parkway.
Chains nationwide are closing stores, cutting inventory and hunkering down
for a dismal year after a Christmas with sales so bad it caught some
retailers flat-footed.
There will a considerable amount of store closings coming in 2008, and
retailers with expansion plans "are going to take a second look at
openings," said Howard Davidowitz, chairman of national retail consulting
firm Davidowitz & Associates Inc. in New York.
"We're entering a consumer-led recession and I believe the worst is yet to
come," he said. "Auto loans are falling behind, credit card bills 30, 60, 90
days behind are up 25 percent. The consumer has never had such debt and has
never has such a long period of negative savings."
Other projects
With plans for Sarasota Bayside undergoing an overhaul, Hutchens' Casto is
focusing on projects in Chicago and Raleigh, N.C. -- places that have not
been hit as hard by the downturn.
Casto had already changed its retail component at Sarasota Bayside based on
plans at University Town Center and the partnership between the Forbes Co.
and Benderson Development Co.
Even with the downturn, Hutchens thinks that the Forbes/Benderson luxury
mall scheduled to open in 2010 will continue as promised.
"The Forbes folks are better in the business than anybody," Hutchens said.
"They'll get that thing done and I doubt it will change significantly."
Neither Nathan Forbes nor Benderson Development returned calls about
University Town Center.
Retailers Nieman Marcus and Nordstrom have committed to anchor the luxury
mall, but even Nordstrom has had a slowdown in sales.
"There is some slowing in the luxury market," Davidowitz said. "Even they
will reassess growth plans" nationwide.
First taste
Benderson may get its first taste of the downturn with a 30-acre project to
be built on the northwest corner of University Parkway and Honore Avenue.
Kohl's is slated to anchor that center, but the Wisconsin-based retailer
recently said that it has not announced any new stores in Sarasota or
Bradenton.
Davidowitz said that if Kohl's has signed with Benderson, the retailer might
simply try to delay its opening for six months or a year.
"You can't back out if you're signed, but you can push back a fall opening
to a spring opening," Davidowitz said. "If you're a company like Kohl's
there's no way out of a deal unless you buy your way out. They won't do
that."
Despite all this doom and gloom, there remains an upside for retailers:
There are deals to be had in leasing and buying property, said Mike Niemera,
an economist with the International Council of Shopping Centers.
This year is "the year of the homework for development," Niemera said. "Not
necessarily to pull the trigger, but to get things in place. Retailers can
probably negotiate some really good prices from where we were."
Christopher Deveso, managing member of TC Group LLC, the developers for
Galleria on Venice Avenue, said he remains optimistic about 2008, despite
the recession fears.
His company is offering retailers and other businesses the equivalent of one
year in free rent or mortgage payments for retail and office condominium
units.
"There's no doubt that people have been scared and unsure. We came up with
an incentive to help the smaller retailer manage their risk and take the
fear factor out of opening a business," Deveso said. "We're confident and
we're going ahead."
The Loop
Thomas Wilder, the developer behind The Loop at Punta Gorda, said regional
malls will likely feel the biggest impact from consumers' spending drop. He
expects his project, a mix of retail, dining and entertainment in an open
air center with pedestrian plazas, to be less severely affected.
"There's caution in the marketplace but no pullback in any of our projects,"
Wilder said. "The kinds of projects we're doing, with junior anchors, is the
direction retail is going."
His outdoor shopping centers tend to have one or two major anchors with
several smaller ones, a movie theater and local and regional shops.
Wilder is still pushing to open The Loop in fall 2009.
He acknowledges that retailers like J.C. Penney are having problems and even
scaling back, but notes that of the 22 new J.C. Penney stores that opened
during 2007, the Loop West store in Orlando was tops for sales.
Wilder said he has commitments from some retailers for The Loop at Punta
Gorda, but is not yet ready to announce any of them.
But Davidowitz said retailers will not expand unless their cash flow is
strong and J.C. Penney is one of those that has been struggling.
"Today's economy doesn't bode well for expansion in the next two years," he
said. "There will be winners as always.
"But Home Depot, Sears, Penney's, Macy's, Dillard's -- their results are
lousy. The Limited, their numbers are terrible. More bankruptcies and
consolidations will happen."
A number of retailers already have announced at least 1,500 store closings,
including Macy's, Talbots, PacSun, Zales, Ethan Allen, Bombay and Kirkland.
Niemera, the International Council of Shopping Centers economist, says
retail developers will not see a turnaround in the economy until the housing
market levels out.
"We're still in search of a bottom there," Niemera said. "There's no magic
bullet to fix things -- not rate cuts, not a fiscal stimulus package.
"There will be tough times for next couple of years. But if you're thinking
long term, you might do new stuff two to three years down the road, but you
start doing the planning now."