Leaky pipes add to S. Fla. water issues; animals dying in drought

  MIAMI (AP) -- Leaky, aging pipes in South Florida are losing millions of gallons of water, even as the region struggles with a crippling drought, experts said.

Miami-Dade County last year lost 12.4 billion gallons to leaks - nearly a tenth of what it produced. Local pipes leak enough water daily to fill 51 Olympic-size swimming pools.

"It's like sticker shock - 'Whoa,'" said John Renfrow, director of the county's Water and Sewer Department. "But we are doing everything humanly possible."

Experts said the losses appear typical for an American utility with pipes more than 60 years old.

"Miami-Dade's numbers probably aren't out of sync with what we know about utilities," said Jack Hoffbuhr, executive director of the American Water Works Association.

In Broward County , aging pipes in Hollywood lose more than 2 million gallons a day.

Cities with newer pipes, however, report smaller water losses. Plantation has replaced almost all of its pipes older than 45 years old and saw losses drop from 372 million gallons in 2003 to 74 million gallons last year - less than 2 percent of its water.

Miami-Dade County plans to spend $1.5 million on leak detection this year, 15 percent more than last year and 35 percent more than 2005, Renfrow said. His department also hopes to reduce losses by spending $4 billion to $5 billion over the next two decades on more intense monitoring, new infrastructure and water reuse, he said.

Improvements to Miami-Dade's pipes are critical to the county securing long-term access to clean water, said Chip Merriam, deputy executive director of the South Florida Water Management District.

"One of the first things we said to them is, 'If you want more water, one of the first things you can do is fix the leaks," he said.

As the drought continues, officials say they are also losing the region's wildlife.

Low water levels are causing snakes, alligators, frogs and turtles to inch closer to busy roads, trying to find new water sources that aren't so crowded, said Richard Hilsenbeck, associate director of land acquisition for The Nature Conservancy in Tallahassee .

At Everglades National Park , birds are unable to find food for their offspring, which then die and are eaten by vultures, said Randy Smith, South Florida Water Management District spokesman.

"No hatchlings at all have survived," Smith said.

"The cycle of life's timing has been thrown off by the minimal and late wet season we had last year," Smith said. "That, combined with the current drought situation we are in, is the reason for the lack of water bodies that would provide a food source for the birds."

Below is part of a series in the Gainesville Sun... read the rest here: index.html

Water wars put springs in spotlight

NATHAN CRABBE

Sun staff writer

HIGH SPRINGS - A nudist who acts as caretaker of Lilly Springs supports the proposal to bottle the spring's water. Neighbors are organizing in opposition. And the co-owner of the land around the springs says he's just trying to quench the public's insatiable thirst for bottled water.

Welcome to the wonderful world of water wars. In 21st century Florida , get used to it.

The owners of the land around Lilly Springs seek to bottle an average of 1 million gallons a day. Santa Fe River paddlers know these springs thanks to the presence of John Edward "Naked Ed" Watts , the gray-bearded nudist who has served as the property's caretaker for more than two decades.

Sitting next to the hut where he stays and watches over the springs, Watts said he believes the bottling proposal won't affect his presence there or the flow of the water. He's comfortable with the property owner's rationale that the proposal is merely a response to demand for spring water.

"As long as there's a market for bottled water, there will be bottled-water plants," he said. "They've got to be in somebody's backyard."

But dry conditions and low groundwater levels have exacerbated concerns about water bottling in the Suwannee River Water Management District. Groundwater levels in 91 monitoring wells fell an average of 10 inches from the previous month, according to the district. Nine wells set new lows for the month and two wells set new historic lows.

The news comes as South Florida deals with a full-fledged water crisis, forcing irrigation restrictions and the clamping of coastal wells to prevent saltwater intrusion. But Kirk Webster, the Suwannee district's deputy executive director for water resources, said there should be no concerns of a similar crisis here.

Dry periods and the resulting low groundwater levels are part of the natural cycle, he said. To prevent groundwater withdrawals from extending these periods, he said the district is establishing minimum flows and levels for the river system and major springs.

"The whole point is to avoid getting into a crisis situation," Webster said. Water bottling has caused concern that not enough is being done. The Lilly Springs proposal comes on the heels of a unrelated plan at nearby July Springs, where the owner of Ginnie Springs resort wants to bottle 600,000 gallons a day.

Local opponents say the plans - combined with Coca-Cola's existing water-bottling plant that already can pump an average of 1.15 million gallons a day from Ginnie Springs - would cause a problem that is not easily reversed.

"By the time they figure out it's a problem, it's too late," said Russ Augspurg, a retired aviation administrator who lives near Lilly Springs.

Advocates say the Suwannee district's springs already show signs of excessive withdrawals. Jim Stevenson, the head of a state group charged with protecting Ichetucknee Springs, said the feature called a "spring boil" - or the bubbling effect caused by a strong springs flow - is a relic of the past because of excessive pumping.

He doesn't believe minimum flows will do anything to protect springs.

"What that does is lower the minimum to a point when a spring can lose much of its flow," Stevenson said.

Others say the district is doing little to prevent a coming water crisis. While other districts are developing alternatives to groundwater pumping, the Suwannee River district has been reluctant to make the emergency declaration that mandates such measures, said Richard Hamann, an environmental law professor at the University of Florida .

Webster said emergency declarations aren't needed for the district to deal with the issue. Besides, he said, South Florida has millions of residents while the Suwannee district has hundreds of thousands.

Statistics show the Suwannee district has some of the least-populated places in the state but is not immune to growth. The 10 counties bordering the Suwannee and its tributaries are expected to jump from a population of 467,716 in 2005 to 858,076 in 2060, according to a study by the growth-management group 1,000 Friends of Florida.

Water withdrawals from the Floridan Aquifer already increased by more than 500 percent from 1950 to 2000, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The aquifer extends through Florida and parts of three other Southeastern states, providing drinking water for the Suwannee basin. The basin is in relatively good shape when compared to the rest of the state, according to the most recent USGS statistics. The Suwannee River district withdrew 215 million gallons a day of groundwater in 2000, the lowest figure among the state's five water districts and just 4 percent of the state total.

Industry and agriculture make up 87 percent of those withdrawals. The Suwannee district's biggest water user is PCS Phosphate near White Springs, which is allowed to draw up to an average of 248 million gallons a day.

The next biggest user, Progress Energy, is allowed to draw up to 220 million gallons a day at its 147-megawatt power plant near Ellaville. But most of the water is used in the plant's cooling process and eventually returned to the river.

Two other users can pump more than 10 million gallons a day. Buckeye Florida is allowed to draw up to an average of 49 million gallons a day for its pulp mill near Perry. The Division of Forestry's Andrews Nursery can withdraw up to an average of 11.7 million gallons a day for its pine-growing operation near Chiefland.

But critics say no one really knows how much permitted water users are drawing, because the district relies on users to report the figures themselves. Annette Long, president of the advocacy group Save Our Suwannee, said the district needs to put gauges on users like municipal utility customers have to tally their usage.

Webster said the district is exploring such options. But in the meantime, he concedes the district simply doesn't have the resources to police users and determine whether they're exceeding permit limits.

"We don't have water cops," he said. "We simply don't have the staff to do that."

The minimum-flow process tries to prevent overuse by monitoring the flow of springs and levels of rivers. The 1972 law creating the water districts required the establishment of minimum flows and levels, but districts didn't start working on them for decades.

The issue came to a head in the 1990s, when excessive groundwater pumping around Tampa Bay caused water bodies to dry and salt water to intrude into the aquifer. The Suwannee district established minimum levels for the lower Suwannee River in 2006 and is working through the basin until the whole district is done in 2012.

The system puts the minimum flows and levels into a computer model that then determines the amount of withdrawals that can be permitted. The amount of water that is permitted to be withdrawn will be limited using that model, and existing permits could be restricted at times of low flows, district officials say.

But critics question whether the process does enough to protect water supplies. Spring advocate Stevenson suggested the district wouldn't have the will to restrict withdrawals when flows are low.

"Once you give out these permits and everyone is drawing water out of the ground, who are you going to tell to stop?" he said.

Long said the standards are based on models that might suggest there is plenty of water to distribute, while real-world conditions say otherwise. She said South Florida 's current experience with drying wells suggests such standards don't work.

"The big concern is they have nothing to do with the real world," she said. South Florida's experience also raises other issues for the Suwannee district. Gov. Charlie Crist raised eyebrows in April when he suggested North Florida might pipe water to the south to help its parched neighbors. But he quickly backed off the idea.

The Florida Council of 100 raised the same idea in 2003 when the group of business leaders suggested North Florida's water might be diverted to the growing Florida cities to the south. The plan spurred packed houses opposing the plan in Chiefland and a legislative fight involving former state Sen. Nancy Argenziano, R-Crystal River .

She successfully pushed for the "local sources first" law, forcing districts to use water supplies close to home before trying to tap other places.

Webster, of the Suwannee water district, said he believes the local-sources law pretty much closes the book on the possibility of a pipeline from the district to the south.

"I would never say it's impossible - that would be foolish - but it seems unlikely it would happen," he said.

South Florida isn't the only concern. Florida has been engaged in a long-standing battle with Georgia over the Chattahoochee River , which turns into the Apalachicola River as it flows through Florida en route to the Gulf of Mexico . The battle centers over Georgia 's use of the Chattahoochee to supply water for Atlanta residents.

While there are no such plans for the Suwannee River , Webster said he keeps a map of the Suwannee in his office to remind him that half the basin is located in Georgia . He said the district is talking with Georgia officials in hopes of working together rather than fighting over water.

"We do not desire to get in a water war with Georgia ," Webster said. Regardless of whether outside government taps the Suwannee basin, water is already being taken elsewhere. Three companies bottle water in the district: Suntory Water Group's Gulf Hammock plant can withdraw 0.127 million gallons a day, Coca-Cola's High Springs plant can withdraw 1.15 million gallons a day, and Nestlé Waters' Madison plant can withdraw an average of 1.47 million gallons a day.

There are also six other permits for water bottling, which have not yet been put to use. The permits, issued from 1989 to 2003, would allow an average of nearly 2 million additional gallons to be pumped a day in Columbia , Gilchrist and Suwannee counties.

Last month, the district approved a permit for Aqua Blue Springs Water to pump an average of 650,000 gallons a day in Madison County . The plan has raised the ire of Nestle Waters, which is demanding assurance the pumping won't affect its nearby operations.

Nestlé spokesman Jim McClellan said the plan came as a surprise to the company.

"We don't know if there's a problem but we want an opportunity to find out," he said.

As for the Coca-Cola plant in High Springs, officials there didn't return calls seeking their opinion of the two proposals in their backyard.

John Barley, a Tallahassee attorney who is co-owner of the Lilly Springs site, said he has no plans to put a bottling plant there. He plans to initially sell water either to the Coca-Cola plant or another bottler, but perhaps eventually build a plant of his own on another site.

Barley said water would be pumped at Lilly Springs and then trucked to another location. The operation would draw one million gallons from a spring that is estimated to produce 39 million a day.

"If it was going to have a negative impact on water levels in the area, we wouldn't do it," Barley said.

Years of legal battles over the ownership of the land preceded the proposal. The previous owner originally allowed "Naked Ed" Watts to be caretaker for the property, and Barley and co-owner Richard Corbin have allowed him to stay there and continue to act as the property's caretaker.

Watts , 57, has made the site a one-man tourist attraction. Paddlers coming from the Santa Fe are greeted by his homemade signs on trees, with sayings like, "A lot of people talk about freedom but very few know how to act if they meet someone who is free."

Watts is usually nude, or he wears a loin cloth when greeting some tour groups. He lives elsewhere but during the day he stays at the spring in a little hut, where he keeps photos of visitors who first came as University of Florida students and have returned in subsequent years.

Born with brittle bone disease, he has endured a hip replacement, a stroke and the legal battle to remain as caretaker. Barley vowed Watts can stay on the property even if the bottling permit is granted, and Watts takes him at his word.

"Hopefully, I'll be here the day I draw my last breath," he said. "I just feel sorry for the poor old guy who comes up and finds me."

Lobbyists convince state to pay $7.2M for submerged lot

The Miami Herald

MIAMI - They had a contract to buy the Biscayne Bay bottom and a deal to sell it to the state. They were one step away from $7.2 million.

That's how much Miami developers Warren Sands and Bob Robinson would collect - if the governor and the Legislature would agree to the deal.

This was a job for the lobbyists.

Sands and Robinson were selling - and buying - six acres of underwater real estate off the Coral Gables shoreline. The property was a paradox: platted and zoned for 18 homes 50 years ago, then encased in the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Reserve and shielded from development two decades after that.

Sands and Robinson had a contract to buy the property from an 81-year-old widow and her family for $445,000. The family members say they didn't know about the developers' negotiations with the state. The state lawyers say they didn't know about the family's contract.

In February 2004, lawyers with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection - fearing an expensive "takings'' lawsuit from the developers who were barred from building - offered to buy the property after it was appraised for $7.2 million. Sands and Robinson accepted the deal.

One question remained for the state lawyers: How to pay for it?

The DEP spends millions of dollars buying vulnerable wetlands every year. But this was wetter than wetlands - this was four feet under water. The DEP does not set aside money to purchase submerged lands, DEP spokeswoman Sarah Williams said.

Enter the lobbyists.

Their team included three Tallahassee lawyers and Miami lobbyist Rodney Barreto, who is also the chairman of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Barreto was appointed by then-Gov. Jeb Bush.

The lobbyists and DEP staffers agreed on a plan to take the money from the Florida Forever land-acquisition fund. The fund has been used in recent years to buy property for environmental salvage efforts, such as the Everglades and Lake Okeechobee restoration projects.

When the DEP officials brought the idea to Bush, he nixed it. So sue us, DEP lawyers said. The developers did.

Sands and Robinson finally purchased the underwater property in July 2004 and filed their suit a month later.

Settlement talks resumed, and they reached a new agreement in September 2005. This time, the $7.2 million would have to be approved by the Legislature with the DEP budget the following spring.

To get the deal through the Legislature, Sands and Robinson then hired another well-connected lobbyist: Jim Smith.

Smith had ties to the DEP: His lobbying partner is the brother of the DEP's deputy secretary.

DEP officials added a line to the agency's annual budget to pay for the lots. But the item was flagged by the governor.

Ultimately, Bush relented, and the Legislature approved the money.

Flagler begins manatee protection process

By JACQUE ESTES
Staff Writer

State and federal officials may curtail waterfront construction in Flagler County if local officials don't develop and adopt a manatee protection plan, a county environmental planner said.

According to Tim Tefler, Flagler County 's environmental planner, state and federal regulatory agencies are "very concerned about the number of manatee deaths we have seen and we are not sure we can keep authorizing the permitting of these waterfront structures unless we take some appropriate measures."

Tefler said he was pleased that representatives from environmental advisory groups, developers and Sea Ray were among the fewer than 20 people who attended a kickoff meeting last week as part of the process to establish a manatee protection plan.

"We want to hear from everyone," Tefler said. "This will be a living document that will evolve over time."

"Over the past five years we have reached the regulatory threshold of five manatee deaths within a five-year period," Tefler said. The number increased to six in September 2006.

Developers said little during the meeting and could not be reached for comment afterward.

There were only four watercraft-related manatee deaths in the previous 26 years in Flagler County .

As the county's population increases -- and along with it waterway traffic -- more manatees are dying in boating accidents, officials said.

Six manatee deaths in Flagler County are listed on the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Web site, myfwc.com as deaths resulting from watercraft. During the same 5-year period in Volusia County there were 18 manatee deaths attributed to watercraft strikes, with the highest number, 8, in 2005.

Volusia County took 13 years to create a plan suitable to state and federal officials.

Tefler said many boaters pass through Flagler County .

"We tend to be a transportation corridor. They (boaters) head north and they head south through here," Tefler said.

Several perinatal deaths, calves that die shortly after birth, have also been recorded in the area but are not included in death totals.

"There are multiple studies being done," said Tefler.

Wildlife commission environmental specialist Terri Calleson said an aerial study of manatee populations is expected to be completed in October. That information would be part of the data used in making geographic information system maps.

The series of maps will be layered over a base map of Flagler County and help identify areas of manatee congregation in relation to marinas, speed zones, construction areas and other points of interest. An aerial study of manatee sightings is currently being conducted by the wildlife commission and will be completed in October 2007.

"We want to make sure we have all of the info and make the best decisions," Tefler said.

While the studies will take time there are simple measures boaters can take, said county spokesman Carl Laundrie. "If they would slow down and watch what they are doing," Laundrie said. "The manatees are just below the surface and you can see them. When you do, slow down."

jacque.estes@news-jrnl.com  

Poll: Most Floridians favor action on global warming

By JENNIFER LIBERTO
Published May 14, 2007  

Almost three of four Floridians think state lawmakers should take immediate steps to combat global warming.

In a St. Petersburg Times/Bay News 9 poll, 71 percent of those polled said they support immediate legislative action to cut green house gas emissions.

More than half - 54 percent - said they believe global warming has contributed to an increase in the number and severity of hurricanes over the past few years.

Pollster Kellyanne Conway cautioned that the numbers might be inflated given the trendiness of global warming as a political issue, but she said it appears global warming has become a significant issue in Florida .

"It's their way of asking Tallahassee to get Mother Nature out of her bad mood, " said Conway of the Polling Co. of Washington, D.C.

Democrats and independents most strongly favored government action to curb greenhouse gases, with 81 percent of Democrats and 83 percent of independents agreeing, according to the poll. About 54 percent of Republicans supported government action.

Also, younger people, those 18 to 34, supported government intervention to cut emissions more strongly than those older than 65.

Scientists believe that the burning of fossil fuel has produced atmospheric gases that trap heat near the earth's surface, which in turn warms oceans. Some believe that the warmer oceans are spawning more frequent and stronger hurricanes.

Florida has lagged behind other states in coming up with ways to cut greenhouse gasses. This year, the Legislature took a step in that direction by passing a bill that creates a task force focused on figuring out how to structure future energy policy. The bill also orders the Public Service Commission to recommend power companies produce some electricity using renewable fuels.

It also gave $62-million for alternative energy programs, including one that converts crops into fuel.

Energy policy is also expected to emerge as presidential campaign issue in Florida , as 67 percent of those polled said energy policy is a "very important" presidential campaign discussion.

"Public awareness and attitudes about energy policy and global warming are growing at an increasing amount on the daily basis, " said Susan Glickman with Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental nonprofit.

Some who took part in the poll were interviewed by Times reporters, and nearly all said they believe in state action on warming.

"I have grandchildren, and if we don't do something soon there won't be anything left, " said Marcia Burnham, 70, a retiree and registered independent in St. Petersburg . "They need to appropriate more money toward development (of new technology)."

Donald Brown, a 65-year-old Republican retiree from Wildwood, said he doesn't believe that human activity is the sole or even main cause of global warming, but he also agrees that emissions should be cut.

"I've thought about a lot of pros and cons about it, and any cut in emissions is good, whether it affects global warming or not, " Brown said.

The survey was conducted by Schroth, Eldon & Associates, which traditionally works with Democratic candidates, and the Polling Co., which mostly does Republican polling. They spoke to 901 Floridians from May 6 to May 9. The margin of error for statewide figures is 3.5 percentage points.

County questions need in Callery-Judge choice

By Mitra Malek

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Monday, May 14, 2007

A recurring question swirling around Callery-Judge Grove is whether Palm Beach County needs the project's 10,000 homes.

Callery's studies show that the county will need those homes and more, to fill a housing shortfall, particularly after 2015. County staff studies show the project will help fill a housing shortfall only after 2020.

The issue is critical, as the county commission is scheduled to consider the plan Tuesday. The proposal includes the homes, nearly 4 million square feet of office and research space, a golf course, water-cleansing flow-way and three schools. But housing demand is more difficult to estimate than either conclusion indicates, experts say.

Both Callery and the county based their studies on population projections from the University of Florida 's Bureau of Economic and Business Research, which produces the state's official population estimates. They part ways after that, choosing different methods to determine how many people would live in a household and whether new homes for those future residents would be built through redevelopment or new development.

Callery also points to a state law it believes says local government must plan to accommodate future population. County staff doesn't interpret the law the same way; it says population predictions are not certainties.

"We don't do the bulk of any analysis solely on population projections," said Lisa Amara, a principal planner for the county.

"That number is so variable and so far out," Amara said.

Regardless of population projections, county staff recommends denial of Callery's project because they consider it too dense for its Loxahatchee location.

Callery's demographers and planners have shown that the county will need 150,000 more homes in 2025. County planners peg the number at about 50,000.

Normally, about 8,000 homes are built a year in the county, said Brad Hunter, director of the research firm Metrostudy's South Florida division. Expect construction on only about 4,000 homes this year, given the slow market.

So 10,000 homes spread over 15 years - the duration of Callery's project - isn't all that much, he said.

"There are not many places you can build, not many of any size," Hunter said. "You're going to have to find a lot of land other than Callery-Judge, or economic growth will grind to a halt."

And the recent real estate slump won't affect a project whose construction wouldn't be under way for a couple more years, Hunter said. "The fundamental demand for new homes in Palm Beach County is going to be strong in the long term."

That's because the state sells sunshine, among other perks. Hurricanes may dissuade some potential home buyers, but most people realize that weather phenomena can happen anywhere, several real estate experts said. At least you can plan for hurricanes, they said.

Plus Callery, a citrus grove since the 1960s, already owns the land it would develop and obviously believes demand is strong enough to be worth the money and effort to develop the site, said one.

"Developers are not going to build where they don't feel a need," said Phyllis Choy, president of the board of directors for the Regional Multiple Listing Service. "Nobody is going to throw money in the air."

~'mitra_malek@pbpost.com  

Seeing nothing but red (lights)

By MICHAEL VAN SICKLER
Published May 14, 2007  

Earlier this year, a proposed 152-mile toll road in Central Florida looked well on its way to becoming a reality.

The state's top transportation officials deemed the road - the Heartland Parkway - a priority worthy of an expensive engineering study. State lawmakers later passed a bill that would make it easier to build toll roads like this one.

But now, the project appears stalled. More than three months after the engineering study was recommended, the Florida Department of Transportation still hasn't set aside the money needed for the study. More importantly, the key political support of the Jeb Bush administration is gone.

"Gov. Charlie Crist doesn't seem as enthused about this as Gov. Bush was, " said Rick Dantzler, a former state senator who represents a consortium of landowners pushing for the road. "DOT will have to make a decision pretty quickly. If we drag our feet too long, it will be an impossibility to get this road secure."

The Heartland Parkway is part of the proposed "Future Corridors, " a series of nine toll roads planned for rural Florida . If built in its entirety, the more than 1, 000 miles of toll roads would be the biggest transportation project in state history. Future Corridors was touted by Bush's former DOT secretary as a practical way to accommodate growth.

In March, Crist told the St. Petersburg Times that expanding existing roads in urban areas was more of a priority than building rural highways.

Crist's secretary of the Department of Community Affairs, Tom Pelham, says Future Corridors is an ill-advised approach because roads would dictate where growth would go, not planning.

Pelham said this week that his department, which oversees growth management; the Department of Environmental Protection; and the DOT will take a closer look.

"My understanding is that (Future Corridors) is on hold pending further discussion, " Pelham said. "Much of the slowdown, I think, is related to the fact that we just finished the legislative session. I'm sure more attention will be turned to this and the Heartland Parkway ."

Down an unfamiliar path

Being in limbo is something new for the Heartland Parkway , which was the most favored of corridors and the one that seemed to be on a fast track. Stretching from Polk County to Collier County and costing at least $7-billion, it's the only corridor with its own advocacy group: the Heartland Economic, Agricultural and Rural Task Force, or HEART.

In March, the St. Petersburg Times reported that a HEART founder, state Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, controls two companies - Alico and Atlantic Blue Group - that own thousands of acres along the proposed Heartland Parkway route. Another lawmaker, state Rep. Baxter Troutman, R-Winter Haven, is Alexander's cousin and sits on the Alico board.

Alico and Atlantic are among 11 companies financing HEART.

The others are: A. Duda & Sons, a fifth-generation ranching and farming dynasty that's also a developer; Barron Collier Co. and Collier Enterprises, two family owned development companies near Naples; Bonita Bay Group, a land developer near Fort Myers; Lykes Brothers, a Tampa landholding company; Mosaic Co., a phosphate giant; Bryan Paul, a LaBelle citrus grower; the Latt Maxcy Development Corp., a real estate firm in Osceola; and Highland Cassidy, a Winter Haven homebuilder.

Dantzler said these HEART members own half of the 2-million acres where the toll road is proposed. According to state records, four of the companies plan to build small towns in counties where the Heartland Parkway would go.

Until recently, the road hadn't drawn opposition from local governments. Four counties - Hendry, Highlands , Glades, DeSoto - passed resolutions supporting it.

But last month, Collier County commissioners voted against a measure, prepared by a HEART adviser, supporting the road.

HEART's first political setback hurt its efforts to curry favor with local environmental groups, said Brad Cornell of the Collier County Audubon Society.

"They made a mistake in letting it go forward, " Cornell said. "It looks bad for them."

The only HEART member at the meeting, Tom Conrecode, a senior vice president with Collier Enterprises, said the vote was a minor bump. He said it will take decades to plan for the Heartland Parkway .

"I don't think there's any rush, " Conrecode said. "We have a new governor, we have a new secretary of the DCA, neither who are familiar with Future Corridors. Both of them need to know more."

Dantzler said things were more urgent. He said development is happening quickly in Polk County , and he fears it won't be possible to snake the Heartland Parkway to Interstate 4 if the corridor isn't determined in the next 18 months.

"I'm not sure we're off track; we've had a lot of good that's happened, " Dantzler said. "But we're probably in a little bit of a dip right now."

Michael Van Sickler can be reached at mvansickler@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3402.  

Charlotte will consider plan to build a landfill

By KATE SPINNER

kate.spinner@heraldtribune.com

CHARLOTTE COUNTY -- The builder of one of the biggest trash dumps in the state is seeing dollar signs in Charlotte County , where he wants to put a massive landfill identical to one he built in Osceola County .

Slated to go within two miles of Babcock Ranch, a 74,000-acre preserve recently purchased by the state, the proposed landfill would rise 318 feet above sea level -- just 27 feet shy of Brighton Hill, the highest point in Florida .

In addition to the promise of good-paying jobs, Tim Salopek, owner of Omni Waste, is offering the county $2.3 million annually over the 30-year life of the landfill. He also pledges to pay $1 million to spruce up the road that up to 500 trucks a day will use to haul garbage to the nearly 1,300-acre site. About 300 acres of that will actually receive garbage.

While Charlotte could certainly use an economic boost, many wonder whether turning it into a regional hub for the state's waste and bringing traffic near the $340 million Babcock Ranch is worth all that Salopek is offering.

"It sounds like extortion," Charlotte County Commissioner Thomas Moore said

 Despite drought, water keeps dripping away

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MIAMI -- Leaky, aging pipes in South Florida are losing millions of gallons of water, even as the region struggles with a crippling drought, experts said.

Miami-Dade County last year lost 12.4 billion gallons to leaks -- nearly a tenth of what it produced. Local pipes leak enough water daily to fill 51 Olympic-size swimming pools.

"It's like sticker shock -- 'Whoa,'" said John Renfrow, director of the county's Water and Sewer Department. "But we are doing everything humanly possible."

Experts said the losses appear typical for an American utility with pipes more than 60 years old.

"Miami-Dade's numbers probably aren't out of sync with what we know about utilities," said Jack Hoffbuhr, executive director of the American Water Works Association.

In Broward County , aging pipes in Hollywood lose more than 2 million gallons a day.

Cities with newer pipes, however, report smaller water losses. Plantation has replaced almost all of its pipes older than 45 years and saw losses drop from 372 million gallons in 2003 to 74 million gallons last year -- less than 2 percent of its water.

Miami-Dade County plans to spend $1.5 million on leak detection this year, 15 percent more than last year and 35 percent more than 2005, Renfrow said. His department also hopes to reduce losses by spending $4 billion to $5 billion over the next two decades on more intense monitoring, new infrastructure and water reuse, he said.

Improvements to Miami-Dade's pipes are critical to the county securing long-term access to clean water, said Chip Merriam, deputy executive director of the South Florida Water Management District.

As the drought continues, officials say they also are losing the region's wildlife.

Proposed landfill within land earmarked for panthers

County to decide proposal before wildlife considered

The location where a developer wants to build a regional garbage landfill in eastern Charlotte County is in the same area a federal agency has earmarked for re-establishing breeding pairs of the endangered Florida panther.

But whether Omni Waste of Charlotte 's proposal -- to build a 300-foot-tall landfill drawing some 240 trucks a day from at least eight counties -- will have adverse impacts on the panther remains undetermined.

The site is adjacent to the 74,000-acre Babcock Ranch, which was acquired by the state for $340 million last year. The acquisition was touted for creating a wildlife corridor between the Babcock/Webb Wildlife Management Area to the west and the Fisheating Creek conservation area to the east.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in its latest panther recovery plan, which is currently undergoing a final review, calls for the panther's range to be expanded north of the Caloosahatchee River .

The Babcock/Fisheating Creek region was identified in a 2006 study by the FWS as one four potential areas where breeding populations of panthers could be re-established.

The Charlotte County Commission will decide at a public hearing set for 2 p.m. Tuesday whether to grant conceptual approval for zoning and comprehensive plan changes to accommodate the proposal.

But the county has opted not to consider the landfill a Development of Regional Impact, over the objections of the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council.

If the project were considered a DRI, it would get detailed reviews from a host of experts from local, state and federal environmental agencies, said Dan Trescott, a DRI specialist for the planning council.

Such a detailed review of the landfill project is warranted because it would draw truck traffic from across county lines and pose regional environmental hazards, Trescott said.

But Charlotte County has interpreted a state law to indicate landfills are not to be considered DRIs, according to Mike Konefal, the county's community development director.

And Omni has obtained a letter from a state Department of Community Affairs staffer confirming that landfills are not DRIs, said Ken Cargill, chief engineer for Omni.

Cargill said he has spoken with the Southwest Florida Conservancy, an environmental organization, about panther concerns.

"We know they want to make a safe passageway from Babcock Ranch to the Fisheating Creek site," said Cargill. "We want to be supportive and cooperative, and we want to help."

But the 400 to 500 truck trips per day generated by the landfill would pose a danger to panthers, according to a report by county staff.

A handful of male panthers are roaming the Babcock/Fisheating Creek region right now, according to Allen Webb, a project supervisor for the FWS based in the agency's Vero Beach office.

"It's great habitat for a lot of different species," Webb said. "In fact, the last female Florida panther to live north of the Caloosahatchee River was living there."

That female was killed in the 1970s.

Female panthers have since proven reluctant to swim across the Caloosahatchee River . The vast majority of Florida 's 100 surviving panthers are located south of the river.

The FWS wants to expand the habitat north because the population of 100 is considered too small to sustain itself, due to genetic problems, Webb said.

The Babcock/Fisheating Creek area could support 10 panthers, according to the FWS.

The draft plan calls for transporting female panthers into the area in the future. Before any of the predators would be relocated, the agency would first draft local plans with public input to resolve safety concerns, Webb said.

"There's a lot of upfront involvement so people don't feel they are going to be at risk," Webb said.

If Omni finds it must apply for a federal wetlands impact permit, that would trigger a consultation with the FWS about panther impacts, Webb said. But there's only a few, small wetlands on the project site, according to Cargill.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission also has not conducted a "formal review" of the Omni project, according to Gary Morse, FWC spokesman. However, at the request of a county staffer, one FWC staffer conducted an informal review, he said.

The staffer, Stephanie Rousso, found that 18 species of endangered or threatened animals potentially could be found on the Omni site.

"The project site is located within a critical wildlife habitat linkage connecting managed lands such as Babcock Ranch and Fisheating Creek Ecosystem," Rousso said.

If the Omni project falls within one of the federal agency's panther zones, the state FWC would examine the proposal, said Darrell Land, panther recovery team leader for the state FWC. But Land said he's received no notice indicating the project's location.

"That's part of what we're really struggling with right now," said Land. "We don't have a real nexus to get involved with this site."

Both the state and federal agencies rely on cooperation and negotiation to get property owners to preserve panther habitat.

The state can use its Rural Lands Stewardship Program, which calls for property owners to trade environmental assets for development rights, Land said.

But enforcement is rare.

"With a critter like the Florida panther, it's difficult to say (that) by developing this 600 acres, they are going to go extinct," Land said. "So, they die the death of a thousand cuts."

By GREG MARTIN

Sun Herald staff writer

  Charlotte will consider plan to build a landfill

By KATE SPINNER

kate.spinner@heraldtribune.com

CHARLOTTE COUNTY -- The builder of one of the biggest trash dumps in the state is seeing dollar signs in Charlotte County , where he wants to put a massive landfill identical to one he built in Osceola County .

Slated to go within two miles of Babcock Ranch,, a 74,000-acre preserve recently purchased by the state, the proposed landfill would rise 318 feet above sea level -- just 27 feet shy of Brighton Hill, the highest point in Florida.

In addition to the promise of good-paying jobs, Tim Salopek, owner of Omni Waste, is offering the county $2.3 million annually over the 30-year life of the landfill. He also pledges to pay $1 million to spruce up the road that up to 500 trucks a day will use to haul garbage to the nearly 1,300-acre site. About 300 acres of that will actually receive garbage.

While Charlotte could certainly use an economic boost, many wonder whether turning it into a regional hub for the state's waste and bringing traffic near the $340 million Babcock Ranch is worth all that Salopek is offering.

"It sounds like extortion," Charlotte County Commissioner Thomas Moore said, half-joking.  

Commissioners will vote Tuesday on whether to give preliminary approval for the landfill.

One of the biggest sticking points is the landfill's proximity to Babcock Ranch, which sits next to thousands of acres of protected wildlife habitat and vacant land that the state wants to keep as natural as possible.

But Salopek said he is an eco-conscious guy, and points to a ringing endorsement from one of the state's most respected conservationists.

William Broussard, a 10th generation cattle rancher who runs a ranch and nature preserve in Osceola County, said he is happy to have the landfill Salopek built as a neighbor because developers do not like to build near landfills.

Who is Omni Waste?

Some might have called Salopek foolish after he turned down a college scholarship for a $6-an-hour job at a garbage dump three decades ago.

Now an international leader in landfill construction, the Dayton , Ohio , native says it was the defining move of his career.

Salopek settled into a $1.2 million home on the Peace River two years ago, just like he homesteaded in St. Cloud a couple years before he muscled Osceola County into accepting a mega-landfill a few miles away in Holopaw.

Salopek also set up an office in Punta Gorda nine years ago and began to make acquaintances with the movers and shakers of Charlotte County .

He joined director's boards for Edison College , the Chamber of Commerce, the Education Foundation and the YMCA.

His company also donated money to more than 20 community groups, including the Coastal Conservation Association, the Peace River Audubon Society and the Redfish Tournament.

Salopek said he shares his wealth because he came from humble roots.

"I'm a down to earth maggot masher," Salopek, 51, said.

But he and his chief engineer, Kenneth Cargill, also seem to be seeking political influence.

Since the beginning of last year, Salopek, Cargill and other Omni associates have donated more than $23,000 to County Commission candidates and the Charlotte County Republican Executive Committee.

Salopek, Cargill and Omni Waste also contributed more than $10,000 to Republican candidates statewide in last year's general election.

Money talks

Landfills are never an easy sell. Communities turn their noses up not only at the smell, but at the noise and truck traffic.

"Be it a power plant, a phosphate mine, whatever, you get concerned citizens that will oppose things," Salopek said.

In 1999, Salopek was virtually run out of DeSoto County after he proposed a 300-acre landfill near Fort Ogden .

When 200 angry DeSoto residents mobbed a planning board meeting to oppose his project, Salopek withdrew.

He met similar opposition from Holopaw -- the name means "a place where something is hauled" -- a rural town south of Orlando that is so well tucked among orange groves and cypress swamps that it is easy to miss.

Residents feared the landfill would clog the streets with traffic, disturb wildlife and pollute waterways that lead to the St. Johns River .

When Osceola leaders eventually denied the landfill, Salopek sued the county.

County leaders settled and issued a permit that allowed Omni to raise the landfill 187 feet above sea level and only accept garbage from Osceola and bordering counties.

Omni eventually sold the landfill to a Canadian company, Waste Services Inc., with which Salopek has close ties.

He had also developed close ties with members of the County Commission and planning board, including Fred Hawkins, planning board chair, who now also works as a government relations coordinator at the landfill.

A year after the first load of garbage landed at the dump in 2004, the new company sought permission from county leaders to increase the landfill's height to 330 feet and to accept regional garbage.

That permission was granted with no fuss, Hawkins said.

In Charlotte County , Salopek is banking on economic incentives to help win support for his proposal. In Osceola, the lure of money has played a large role in the county's acceptance of the landfill.

Part of the settlement with Osceola promised financial perks identical to the ones proposed for Charlotte .

Salopek used cash to help sell the landfill idea to Holopaw residents, too.

"Some of us look at it as selling our soul," said Gary Pickett, once a vigorous opponent of the landfill. He and his neighbors receive a $150 check each year from the landfill.

Jan Mitchell, Holopaw's mail carrier, said the money and the fact that she cannot smell the dump tempered her opposition. When garbage drifts into her yard, she does not mind picking it up.

But money has not sweetened everyone.

Patricia Sheffield said a truck ran her off the road last year, and recently another truck did the same to her friend.

"They're crazy down there. Half of them don't even know how to drive a truck," Sheffield said.

Anatomy of a landfill

The biggest concern with any landfill is its potential to pollute ground water. And in a state where 90 percent of drinking water comes from the ground, that is a big concern.

Florida has some of the most strict landfill regulations in the country, said Lee Martin, a Florida Department of Environmental Protection engineer in the solid waste division.

In this state, a landfill that accepts household waste must meet federal regulations for hazadous waste.

At the Holopaw landfill, rainwater trickles through 5.5 million cubic yards of refuse -- household garbage, diesel-tainted soils, sewage sludge, construction waste -- before it hits a plastic bottom. The bottom is sloped so water flows toward covered collection ponds at the landfill's edge.

By the time the water reaches the ponds it becomes a yellow broth that smells like a rancid port-a-toilet. Eventually the water will be hauled to a waste-water treatment plant, but in the meantime it is sprayed back onto the landfill to keep the soils from drifting on the wind.

Hawkins said that for every acre only about a shotglass full of that polluted water will ever make its way though the liner.

The state requires all landfills that accept household waste to be lined with two thick plastic sheets, or one layer of plastic, clay and fabric.

Omni's liner exceeds state standards, said Kenneth Cargill, chief engineer for the company.

Two layered sheets of clay, fabric and tough plastic form a liner as thick as a double-decker sandwich at the bottom of the Holopaw landfill. The same sort of liner is proposed for the Charlotte site.

"With the two layers you're basically 100 percent sure that nothing gets through," Cargill said.

But some say nothing is ever 100 percent certain.

"Anything has the potential to leak," Martin said.

Montverde wants your thoughts on its future

Robert Sargent
Sentinel Staff Writer

May 14, 2007

MONTVERDE -- Not enough residents. Not enough money.

It's a common problem with small towns looking to improve utilities, law enforcement and other public services. There's a need for better, but it's a struggle to come up with tax money when the population narrowly exceeds the triple digits.

So communities such as Montverde, Astatula and Howey-in-the-Hills -- the three smallest in Lake County -- often squeeze by with modest budgets and a few public employees. The tiny governments get by, yet it's hard to get ahead.

Montverde wants to look at goals and how it serves the population of about 1,200 in southeast Lake County . A public meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. May 22 at Town Hall on Sixth Street .

Council member Billy Miles said Montverde should set some goals to reach within the next few years.

"What is the long-range plan for Montverde, and how best can we go about reaching those goals?" Miles asked.

He said the town could consider ways to build up its small business district off County Road 455. The town ball fields also may need some consideration. Plans are under way to improve C.R. 455 and the town's water utility.

Miles said he would like to see another route for area traffic. One idea is to encourage the county to buy a property south of town and create a bypass from C.R. 455 that would lead vehicles to other roads west and north around town.

Mayor Dale Heathman said he would like to hear ideas on how the government should be run -- a subject that has caused a lot of debate as Montverde slowly grows.

The mayor is elected as the town's top administrator, a job that pays about $14,400 a year. The post requires a significant amount of time, although Heathman and the previous mayor have worked that schedule around full-time jobs.

Some say Montverde needs a full-time administrator, whether it is a mayor or a town manager. Obtaining the latter could require voters to approve amendments to the town charter to accommodate a manager form of government.

Others say the town is not big enough and does not bring in enough taxes to keep a qualified manager on staff.

"It takes so much time to do the job effectively as the mayor," said Heathman, who would like to hear input from the council and residents.

Heathman said Montverde should have open discussion about how it will deal with surrounding growth and other challenges within town borders.

Astatula -- with about 1,500 residents -- has a five-person council and no manager. Much of the administrative work is handled through a clerk.

Howey-in-the-Hills has about 1,200 residents. It also has no manager.

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

Broward's housing will be multistory, not single-family

By Robin Benedick and Buddy Nevins
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

May 13, 2007

Broward County is growing up. High up.

As land runs out and population continues to climb, developers in almost every city are proposing multistory condo towers, anchored by ground-floor shops, offices and restaurants.

Already flourishing in eastern cities such as Fort Lauderdale , such big-city development is for the first time spreading to the suburbs. In Sunrise , for example, a 26-story condo tower near Sawgrass Mills is slated for completion at year's end. An 18-story complex is planned for Plantation near the Fashion Mall and a new downtown is taking shape in Coconut Creek with construction of The Promenade at Lyons, an eight-story mall with about 60 stores and restaurants, offices and condos.

There are enough such projects in the pipeline to remake Broward's skyline and redefine how people live.

"As a virtually built-out community, future housing cannot be of the same single-family sprawl which has characterized our community the past 30 years,'' said Debbie Orshefsky, a Fort Lauderdale lawyer. "Rather mixed-use, multifamily development needs to become the norm.''

By 2020, planners expect Broward's population to grow by nearly 400,000, to almost 2.2 million.

Finding places to put the newcomers is the challenge. While developers and city officials see the mixed-use philosophy as the answer, the current jittery real estate market could delay some projects.

Soaring construction costs, taxes and property insurance, coupled with the slowdown in real estate, already have put some projects on the back burner. Still, several cities are going forward with land-use changes so they are ready when the market rebounds.

Lisa Curtin, of Pompano Beach , a 25-year resident, is grateful for any delay, especially when the region is in the midst of a drought.

"This overdevelopment scares me to death,'' said Curtin, 47, owner of a paralegal service. "They're telling us we're running out of water and we can't wash our cars and we can't water our lawns, so let's put up another 40-story condo tower. We're destroying our ecosystem.''

Those favoring denser development say the idea is to allow people to live near where they work and shop. Developers say they are catering to young professionals, people going through a life change such as a divorce and empty nesters looking for smaller digs.

Lauderhill resident Jackie Hudson says these projects remind her of New York , where she lived before moving to Broward in 2005. She embraces the urban energy and hopes to one day own a condo in such a complex -- if she can afford it.

"It's the melting pot atmosphere you get when you have people of different cultures and different styles living together,'' said Hudson, 35, who works in financial reporting.

Most of the new growth is a result of the most recent land-use rules adopted by the county and cities that encourage taller, denser buildings at major roads with mass transit, such as State Road 7 and Federal Highway . The goal: Access to high-speed buses and trains would convince significant numbers of people to leave their cars at home.

However, Broward has no money to build a light rail system and while new express buses are running on State Road 7, they share the same crowded streets. Last year, Broward voters rejected an extra penny sales tax for transportation.

That has County Commissioner Kristin Jacobs calling for a timeout on allowing mixed-use projects.

"It isn't working as it was planned," said Jacobs, a transit supporter. "I think it's time to halt these high-density new developments until the transportation system is there."

Charles Siemon, whose law firm, Siemon & Larsen, consulted on the mixed use Mizner Park project in Boca Raton , sees it differently.

"This is a chicken and egg problem. If you start building urban places, you're not going to have transit. But if you keep waiting for the demand for transit before you build transit, you're never going to get there,'' he said.

The city of Margate agrees. To spur mixed-use development, it is buying up old strip shopping centers on State Road 7 and Margate Boulevard and getting the proper zoning in place for a developer to come in and revitalize the area. So far, it has assembled 35 acres for sidewalk cafés, upscale shops and apartments or condos.

Despite the lack of mass transit, Nova Southeastern University in Davie is moving ahead with plans for a state-of-the-art research center, 22,000 housing units and 11.7 million square feet of office and industrial space.

In Lauderdale Lakes , Bella Vista features 450 condos and townhomes, a library and cultural center on Oakland Park Boulevard near State Road 7. Completion is slated for early 2009. "We're over a year out ahead of everyone and that is important when there's so much competition for mixed-use,'' said Community Redevelopment Administrator J. Gary Rogers.

"I think it's a really exciting time in Broward going from a more suburban landscape into a more urbanized landscape,'' said Carolyn Dekle, executive director of the South Florida Regional Planning Council.

Though the county won't look the same in the future, its single-family neighborhoods should remain as they are.

"Right now you've got a high-rise strip on the beach, a second one on U.S. 1 and now you're going to have a third one on S.R. 7,'' said Don Giancoli, director of Lauderhill's Community Redevelopment Agency, where several multimillion-dollar projects are proposed around Sunrise Boulevard and State Road 7. "We won't have islands of development popping up in the middle of nowhere like in the past.''

Robin Benedick can be reached at rbenedick@sun-sentinel.com or 954-385-7914.

 Panel to review visioning draft tonight

  FLORIDA TODAY

BY LINDA JUMP

PALM BAY -- The city of the future may have 300,000 people, but a task force was also told that it should maintain a home-town feeling where people care about each other.

Tonight at 6, the 15-member Community Visioning Steering Committee will review the 164-page draft of a vision plan for the future of the city 20-25 years out.

The draft says the city should have multiple downtown centers that encourage dynamic business opportunities, more parks, mixed uses with affordable housing developments and feasible transportation plans. The plan also calls for protection of critical environmental areas in the city.

“ Florida ’s balanced community to live, work, play and grow” is the goal.

Don’t look for specific goals, dates and funding sources, but instead for a general guide with maps.

“This is not intended to be a strategic plan, but more of a land use plan,” said City Manager Lee Feldman.

Here are areas included and suggestions:

  Economic development—manage growth, protect the environment, encourage living wage jobs and a diversified economy and a nodal concept for downtown center and activity centers.

  Land use—Vibrant downtown centers, appropriate recreation facilities, business corridors, linkages and nodes for nature and smart development in the annexed areas.

  Transportation—Improve traffic flow and connectivity, vehicle safety, alleviate traffic congestion and encourage public transportation use.

  Housing—Create life-stage housing and performance standards for housing.

  Open Space and Recreation—Acquiring or constructing more parks, creating diverse parks, working with the state and county on adjoining open space, creating a main park facility and developing eco tourism.

Five public workshops were held earlier this year, one on each topic. Red Oaks Consulting of North Carolina was hired to assist with the plan.

The plan is to comply with the state’s Growth Management Act of 1995 that requires local governments to create long-term plans.

Townhouse plan angers residents

BY LINDA JUMP

FLORIDA TODAY ADVERTISEMENT

PALM BAY - Lennar Homes likely can build 730 housing units next to two gun ranges, as long as potential buyers are warned.  

The 250 acres of the Chaparral development would include a multifamily building with 252 units and 598 single-family lots on six "pods." Developers can expect objections to plans for townhomes, for which land use amendments are already in the works.  

Recently, when the city council was approving changes to the development plan, Councilman Andy Anderson said the gun ranges have been there for years.  

"They were there first -- I'm not going to pressure them to leave," Anderson said.  

He told developers to disclose the proximity of the gun ranges to potential buyers.  

City officials said existing neighbors aren't complaining about the ranges, and range operators said they emphasize safety. Neighbors said they're more concerned about the townhouses.  

"They (Chaparral developers) want to put a six-foot cement wall with townhomes that could lead to rentals on the other side," said Brenda Chrieki, who lives in Malabar Lakes West.  

She and others plan to object at a June 6 planning and zoning board hearing, when rezoning to allow the townhomes is on the agenda.  

Thomas Gaume, who lives on Wisteria Avenue across Malabar Road , has concerns about adding three housing developments there, as well as a proposed high school.  

He said the two-lane Malabar Road bridge over a drainage ditch should be widened first.  

"The two-lane bridge is our only exit access. It was fine when there were a few hundred families, but not for a few thousand," said Gaume, adding that widening of Malabar Road to four lanes west of Minton Road isn't expected to begin for more than five years.  

The development would include 12 retention lakes with fishing docks, a nature trail and a six-acre community park.  

Contact Jump at 409-1423 or ljump@floridatoday.com.  

  Greenbelt stays loose for now

By PATRICK WHITTLE

patrick.whittle@heraldtribune.com

The state's greenbelt law, which allows Florida farmers to avoid paying millions of dollars in property taxes,, appears safe for now.

A pair of state legislators introduced bills this year that would have made it more difficult to obtain the half-century-old greenbelt classification, which is designed to help farmers pay taxes lower than market rate on their farms.

The legislators, Reps. Ralph Poppell of Vero Beach and Sen. Steven Geller of Broward County , charged that the greenbelt law is susceptible to abuse by developers and property owners who falsely claim that their properties are farms.

But the bills failed to reach the state House and Senate floors in the legislative session. Geller said it is possible, but unlikely, that the bills could come up again during the 11-day special session scheduled to start June 12. Both legislators said they will likely reintroduce the bills next year. The legislators said they were motivated to submit the bills by developers who claim the greenbelt classification by placing cows on land before it is primed for building.

Geller last year accused developers of calling "Hertz rent-a-cow" to acquire the tax break, which sometimes saves property owners more than $200,000 per year in taxes.

But some farmers breathed a sigh of relief that the bills never reached the House floor. Buster Longino, who is the principal of the Longino Ranch, one of the largest ranches in Sarasota County , said he "doesn't want to see it tampered with at all."

Longino and his wife, Jane Longino, said they feared opening the greenbelt law for revision would harm legitimate farming more than it would cut down on tax abuse.

"If the greenbelt law is taken away and we have to go back to real estate values, the ranch will just have to go," Jane Longino said.

The state law that governs the greenbelt law requires property appraisers to base a greenbelted property's assessment on how much income it generates.

Grazing land usually results in a low assessment while a citrus grove would generate more. Landowners would normally pay two to 400 times more in property taxes without the tax break, according to a nationwide study by the Associated Press in 2004.

Southwest Florida has been the site of a handful of high-profile examples.

Lee County won a 2005 court case against a Boca Grande mansion owner who claimed the coconut palms on his property represented an agricultural business. The court ruled that property owner Bayne Stevenson needed to pay the taxes.

Some of the land slated for Benderson Development's University Town Center mall plan also benefited from the greenbelt law. In 2005, Benderson saved more than $200,000 on its tax bill for part of the site. Benderson now is paying taxes on the 185-acre site's more than $11 million assessment.

The state law says property owners must meet three criteria to lose the greenbelt classification. Geller's proposed law would have changed the rules so that property owners could lose the tax break if they met only one of the criteria. The criteria are:

The land must convert from an agricultural to a non-agricultural use.

The land must no longer be used for agricultural purposes.

The land must have been zoned to a non-agricultural use at the owner's request.

The law change met opposition from agricultural lobbyists, Geller said. But he still believes his proposed law would help catch tax cheats.

"The problem is the agricultural community has a vested interest in not passing it," Geller said. "There's always 50 lobbyists pushing against it."

 A different way to develop

By TONY MARRERO
lmarrero@hernandotoday.com


BROOKSVILLE — As a child, Joe King grew up in a 4-H family.
His mother was particularly interested in forestry.
On Thursday, in order to convey to an audience how his family feels about developers, he contorted his face and growled.
So when it came time for King to create a housing development on a tract of riverfront pine forest in Bradenton — located just south of a large family plot where his mother still lives — he brought a sense of environmental stewardship to the project.
“I knew I had to do a good job,” King said during a presentation at the Streets to Streams workshop on stormwater organized by the county’s Groundwater Guardian Team, a group supported by the Hernando County Utilities Department.
The goal of the event, held at the Sand Hill Scout Reservation, was to show how runoff from roofs, roads, driveways, parking lots and a myriad of other paved surfaces plays havoc on the environment by spreading pollutants that often end up in the aquifer.
Organizers asked King to show the audience, which included department heads and policy makers from Hernando County and beyond, how development can work in harmony with Mother Nature, especially by reducing runoff.
The project, which King dubbed River Forest , has been lauded as a “low-impact” way to build a neighborhood, as opposed to the cookie-cutter developments so prevalent in Florida .
The 26-acre tract of land sits on the Braden River in Manatee County . Developed in half-acre to three-quarter-acre lots for custom homes, it’s notable for what’s not there.
Instead of a 24-foot wide road, King made his 18 feet wide.
Instead of curbs and gutters, King built a network of swales, which allowed water to percolate into the ground.
Few of the homes have lawns, but are instead nestled among the abundant pine trees and saw palmettos.
And King convinced local planners to let him create “permeable walkways” of shells or pine needles alongside the roadway instead of sidewalks.
At first, King recalled, engineers with the Southwest Florida Water Management District asked: “Where are your ponds? What kind of development is this?”
But his aim was to avoid the need to build the large stormwater retention ponds that become necessary when paving over the landscape. The fill from those holes is typically dumped and compacted elsewhere in a development, altering the landscape’s ability to naturally percolate and drain.
“We let the natural topography do what it does,” King said.
“Part of the key was getting construction firms to wrap their brains around how were going to do this development,” he said.
One of his favorite photos, taken during construction and shown on a huge screen at Thursday’s workshop, shows upturned earth around the mouth of a water pipe under what would eventually be the roadway. A few feet away is the trunk of a large pine tree with two ribbons around it, one green and one red.
King had used green ribbon to mark trees he was especially adamant about saving. One of the contractors for the project, however, used red ribbon for the trees that would have to fall to install the infrastructure for the development.
King convinced the contractor to leave the tree and see if it could survive the nearby construction.
The next photo shows the completed street, the closed manhole in the center of the pavement — and the grand pine, providing dappled sunlight on a nearby driveway.
Because of a steadfast philosophy to save trees, “It feels a little cooler inside River Forest ,” King said.
A skeptical audience member asked King about development costs, saying he’d heard that such costs could be double that of a typical residential project.
Costs were “about the same” as more traditional methods, King replied.
In fact, King said his technique paid off. One engineer said he would have to reserve a swath of riverfront land for retention ponds, but his stormwater management system helped avoid that and enabled him to sell another lot.
An architect by trade, King designed most of the homes and, working collaboratively with homeowners, promoted “green architecture.”
He encouraged homeowners to build two-story homes when possible to reduce the footprint of the buildings. He discouraged gutters. Many installed driveways made of pavers or shells to further reduce runoff.
And he used the Florida-Friendly Yards and Neighbor-hoods program as a resource for drought-resistant landscaping.
Recently, as the project is built out, King has taken a back seat to neighbors, who have come together to educate themselves about the most environmentally friendly way to maintain the place.
King acknowledged he is an “atypical” developer.
But with less land and rapidly evaporating water resources, King’s methods portend necessary changes in the mindsets of developers, said Eric Livingston, chief of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Watershed Management.
There also will have to be a paradigm shift in policy, said Livingston during his own presentation Thursday.
Environmentally conscious developers “won’t do any good unless local governments change their codes,” said Livingston , whose talk included featured catch phrases such as “save the swales” and “say no to pipes.”
Many local governments’ codes require curbs and gutters and prohibit swales, Livingston said.
Now, he said, “That’s the old-school way of doing things.”

Reporter Tony Marrero can be contacted at 352-544-5286.

Homes in fire-prone areas

Open spaces worth the risk, residents say

BY SUSANNE CERVENKA
FLORIDA TODAY

Kathy Goodrich cries when she sees news reports of families losing homes to wildfires. Not too long ago, that was her.

"Every time I hear it, it's, oh God, it brings it all back," said the 49-year-old, lifelong Mims resident, whose rural Bluebill Road home was wiped away by the 1998 fires. "I know exactly how that feels."

For Goodrich and much of Brevard County , where thousands of houses nestle among thick trees and underbrush, the wildfire threat literally hits home.

A FLORIDA TODAY analysis last year of computer mapping data from the Florida Division of Forestry found more than 5,200 single-family houses in Brevard were built on land considered at highest risk for wildfires. Thousands more mobile homes and other structures fall within the same danger zones.

During droughts, parched vegetation is a tinderbox that's a mere spark away from becoming a multiacre fire that can spread to housing.

About 12 percent of the county -- 78,669 acres -- was in the high-risk zone, according to the state data based on satellite images. Although the Florida Division of Forestry collected the information about five years ago, officials say many of the likely hot spots remain the same and they're using that information to allocate resources until an update is complete.

It shows most of the high-risk land in Brevard -- 49,545 acres -- is in unincorporated areas, like pockets near Lake Poinsett, west of Cocoa, and Lake Washington near Melbourne.

With drought conditions increasing and little rain in sight, Brevard County Fire-Rescue considers all of its territory at risk for wildfires, spokesman Orlando Dominguez said.

"Conditions are dry countywide," he said.

Across Florida , more than 200 active fires have burned 163,000 acres.

A risky mix

Dominguez said the risk in Brevard County is heightened in areas where homes are closely meshed with vegetation. FLORIDA TODAY's analysis shows the risk spread across the county, but highest in areas with more fuel -- plants, trees and bushes, dead or drying.

Tuesday, for example, firefighters battled a 50-acre fire in Grant-Valkaria that started near Sand Point Lane and traveled to Berry Road , coming dangerously close to several Old Dixie Highway homes.

And last year, Canaveral Groves residents did all they could to protect homes when a monthlong blaze roared nearby, burning 6,500 acres.

But in the worst fire outbreak in recent history in Brevard, the 1998 fires tore through more than 70,000 acres in Mims and Scottsmoor, destroying 32 homes and three businesses.

The flames jumped Interstate 95 and U.S. 1 before reaching North Brevard Salvage Co., north of Aurantia Road in Mims, destroying several buildings and more than a third of the cars and auto parts on its lot, manager Jim Steen said.

Even today, almost nine years later, workers occasionally kick up chunks of melted aluminum that used to be cars. Last week, Steen stood over a melted six-cylinder engine that he could have sold to someone looking to replace a motor in a foreign car. Now it's worth nothing.

"At the time, it was probably a $600, $700 engine," he said. "Wasted money."

No plans to leave

Steen, who was working at another salvage yard when the fire hit, has a vivid memory of the flames and smoke. And while the dry conditions strike a concern, he says the business has proven it can survive disaster.

"The fires tried to take us out. So did the hurricanes," he said. "But we're still here."

Goodrich also has no plans to leave the area -- even as the wildfire risk continues year after year. The quiet, open air and the neighbors who came to her side in 1998 are enough to keep her family in Brevard.

But she is not without caution.

No pictures hang on her walls, for fear of losing them again. Instead, her photos, neatly organized in albums, sit in three containers in her living room so that she can quickly grab them should a fire threaten again.

"With a hurricane and a tornado, at least there's pieces you can pick up," she said. "A fire, there's no picking up pieces. There's nothing left to pick up."

Prescribed burns

Jim Brenner, state fire management administrator, said the mapping systems help foresters determine where to use limited funds to reduce the potential fuel that could feed wildfires.

The map takes into consideration the area's climate, its wildfire history and fuel and balances those conditions with what's in the area, he said. Homes would put an area at higher risk.

Since July 1, the Division of Forestry gave permission for 49,692 acres in Brevard County to undergo prescribed burns, said John Koehler manager of the division's Orlando district. Prescribed burns set vegetation on fire in a controlled situation to limit the potential fuel for wildfires.

The controlled burns can greatly tame a blazing wildfire, officials said. The fire behavior calms somewhat when it passes over an area that had previously been cleared of overgrowth.

"It's invaluable. What is a person's life worth?" Brenner said.

Contact Cervenka at 360-1018 or scervenka@floridatoday.com.

 County To Consider Local Historic Landmarks

 Kathy Waters/Highlands Today  

Jim Konkoly  

Published: May 13, 2007

SBRING — Ten buildings, ranging from a one-room rural school house to a neo-classical colonial mansion, have been recommended as Highlands County Historic Landmarks.  

The seven-member Highlands County Historic Preservation Commission voted Thursday to nominate the 10 sites for the historic designation. County commissioners will vote on the recommendations, probably at their May 22 meeting.  

"Too much of our world now is brand new, and we need to keep our roots," said Catherine Cornelius, chairman of the commission. She retired after 18 years as president of South Florida Community College and is a former history professor.  

All owners of the nominated structures agreed to the historic landmark designation, which could help them obtain state historic preservation grants for restoration or renovation work, Cornelius said.  

"We hope this will encourage the owners to maintain these properties so that we can look in the future and see what was," she said. By accepting historic landmark status, the property owners agree to keep the exterior appearance unchanged but are free to make any alterations inside.  

Cornelius said each property nominated is an outstanding example of various architectural styles.  

Nominated as historic landmarks are:  

- Pearce Homestead, 116 Locket Lane , Lorida. Owned now by the South Florida Water Management District, the 1/12-story wood frame home was built on property along the Kissimmee River originally settled by pioneer John Mizell Pearce, who established a ranch after serving in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. The home, built in 1927, became the residence of Pearce's granddaughter, Edna Pearce Lockett, who was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 1938 and championed women's rights.  

- Fort Basinger School , 116 Lockett Lane , Lorida. Also owned by SFWMD, this one-room school was built in 1910. The school was founded by William Sydney Pearce, the father of Edna Pearce Lockett.

u Hollyhurst, 745 Lake Lotela Drive , Avon Park . Now owned by Jean B .Lindemer, the original part of this house was built in 1895 for a young doctor and his wife, Augustine and Edna Agnes Gandier, who came here from Quebec . After the Gandiers moved to London, the property eventually was purchased by Col. and Mrs. R. P. Davidson, who had come to the area from Wisconsin in 1892. In 1926 the Davidsons rebuilt the house into a colonial mansion.

- Venus Teacherage, 41 Venus Clubhouse Road . Owned by the Highlands County Board of Commissioners, this structure was built in 1937 as a residence for school teachers in Venus.  

- Old Lorida School , 1957 Loblolly Ave. , Lorida. Also owned by the Highlands County Board of Commissioners, the Lorida School was built in 1933 to replace a 1925 school building that burned down. The building functioned as a school into the 1960s, when it was converted into a rural library and meeting hall.

 - Lake Placid Conference Center (Dewey House and guest residences), 2659 Placid View Drive , Lake Placid . Owned by the Church of the Nazarene's Florida District Advisory Board and used as a lodge, this large home was built between 1926 and 1929 by Melvil Dewey, who created the Dewey Decimal System for library cataloging.  

- Smith House (Coachman-Pollard House & Caretaker's Cottage), 25 Piney Point Drive, Lake Placid . Owned by Marshall S.P. Pollard, this home was built in the French eclectic style in 1930 for Walter Coachman, president of Consolidated Naval Stores, a development and timber company launched following the Great Florida Land Boom. Coachman was instrumental in attracting Melvil Dewey to the area.  

- Chapman (Hill) House, 1731 Hollyhurst Drive , Avon Park . Owned now by William W. and Sharon Chapman, the historic preservation commission calls this home a classic example of the Mediterranean Revival style of architecture which became popular during the 1920s Florida land boom.  

- Bond (Etheredge-Barrow) House, 7201 County Road 16 South, Sebring. This home was built in 1926 and was owned until 1942 by DeSoto City Groves Company, founded by David Barrow and Dr. E. J. Etheredge, Highlands County 's first state legislator. Oliver and Lisa Bond purchased the property in 2000.  

- Percefull (Barrow) House, 6926 County Road 17 South, Sebring. In 1991, Kay Percefull received this property, built in 1925 by David Barrow