Sprawling south Lake community rejected

But the county may reconsider the project this summer after updating its plan for growth.
Robert Sargent | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted May 31, 2006

TAVARES -- The Lake County Commission on Tuesday turned down a community of 5,200 homes that could have opened up a vast stretch of rural pastures and groves to heavy growth spilling over from other Central Florida counties.

The 5-0 vote followed a nearly seven-hour meeting that saw dozens of local residents and government officials pack the County Commission chambers to offer impassioned arguments against the sprawling Karlton community.

It was the first big development in recent history that did not win county approval.

But the battle concerning the 2,000-acre project isn't over.

County commissioners decided not to send the Karlton proposal to state planners for further review. However, they told the West Palm Beach-based Karl Corp. that it could come back with its request this summer after the county updates its comprehensive-development plan that serves as a blueprint for growth.

Among the biggest concerns of those opposed to the project are what it would mean to traffic-packed roads, Lake's dwindling rural lifestyle and the need for more schools.

"I don't think people understand the gravity of the problem, and I don't think you [commissioners] are going to understand it," said Lake School Board Chairman Jimmy Conner, in a passionate request to stop Karlton.

"We are so far behind [with building schools], it could take years to catch up."

The proposed Karlton site is south of Clermont and east of Lake Louisa on a rural piece of land just inside Lake and west of Orange's massive Horizon West community, proposed to accommodate 40,000 residential units.

Clermont resident Choice Edwards cautioned Lake commissioners about rushing to approve new growth.

"I believe this has been too little, too late for something too big, too soon," he said.

Lake is the 21st-fastest-growing county in the country, with nearly 280,000 residents and about 470,000 projected by 2025.

The county currently is overhauling its comprehensive plan. But the state Department of Community Affairs recently told Lake officials that, beginning July 1, they cannot approve any more changes to the current plan in order to accommodate big developments such as Karlton until the update is completed.

Commissioners originally seemed split on Karlton.

Bob Pool, who represents south Lake, initially praised the development:

"It's not easy, it's not fun, but somebody has to have a vision for the future," he told the audience.

But then Pool did a dramatic turnaround when he realized Karlton did not have a majority of votes. Pool later said he changed his position on the large development to avoid dissension on the County Commission.

Chairwoman Catherine Hanson said the Karlton plans need more work and that the county should do an areawide study for development in that portion of south Lake.

Commissioners Welton Cadwell and Jennifer Hill both said the project was too soon while Lake is redoing its comprehensive plan.

"The timing of this project concerns me more than anything else," Cadwell said.

Commissioner Debbie Stivender had positive comments about Karlton, saying that "it is a community that helps take care of itself."

Karlton had become the target of enormous protest from south Lake residents lobbying to slow the rapid pace of growth through the rural areas once dominated by citrus trees and cattle pastures.

Debate about growth has been building for several years as the county and cities approve different residential projects to bring thousands more homes.

Many schools are overcrowded, and school leaders lack money to build new facilities. Traffic also is a problem in south Lake, where State Road 50 and U.S. Highway 27 handle most of the vehicles.

Karlton proposed a $36 million roadway, the Karl Kahlert Parkway, to provide a four-lane route connecting Orange and Lake counties from U.S. 27 south of Clermont to S.R. 429, which cuts through Horizon West.

Representatives for Karlton also proposed to find funding -- possibly from a special tax district -- to build elementary and middle schools.

"Schools -- if we don't build them, we won't be building the houses," said land-use attorney Steve Richey, who was representing the developer.

Karlton's plans call for 5,211 homes -- about half restricted to owners 50 and older -- as well as a 100-acre medical campus.

Karlton could be completed in 10 years with more than 12,000 new residents -- a population larger than most cities currently in Lake County.

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

 

Manatees endangered no more?

The state's fish and wildlife commission is poised to take the sea mammal off the endangered species list next week.

By CRAIG PITTMAN, Times Staff Writer
Published May 31, 2006

For five years, boating advocates angry about restrictions on their hobby have pushed state officials to take manatees off the endangered species list.

Next week, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is poised to do just that. But the commission's executive director said Tuesday that it will not lead to a rollback of boating restrictions.

Boating advocates expecting fewer regulations "are going to be disappointed by the end result,'' executive director Ken Haddad warned during a meeting with the St. Petersburg Times editorial board. "It doesn't mean we go in and start removing speed zones.''

But environmental advocates worry that state legislators will weaken manatee protections "using the theory that they're doing so much better that we don't need to protect them so much,'' said Pat Rose of the Save the Manatee Club.

An estimated 3,000 manatees swim in Florida's waterways. Computer models have found no chance that the species will go extinct in the next century, but the population could decline by at least 50 percent over the next 45 years.

That doesn't qualify the manatee as endangered under new criteria that state wildlife officials adopted recently. Instead, it fits the "threatened" designation.

Haddad and his staff are meeting with newspaper editorial writers around Florida this week as part of an unusual publicity campaign by the agency to deal with the expected controversy over reclassifying the manatee, a license-plate icon that Gov. Jeb Bush once declared "my favorite mammal.''

Yet no matter what the commission decides, Haddad's staff predicts that speeding boats will continue to cause a quarter of all documented manatee deaths each year.

"It's always been 25 percent, and we assume it will continue to be 25 percent,'' said Elsa Haubold, leader of the agency's species conservation planning section.

To boating activists such as Tom McGill of Citizens for Florida's Waterways, that means manatee regulations aren't working and ought to be changed.

"If they really want to be reasonable,'' he said, "they ought to take a lot of these slow speed zones and put a higher speed channel in the middle of it.''

Manatees were placed on the earliest endangered species list in 1967. Federal officials are reassessing the manatee's endangered status and hope to finish later this year.

Boat hulls and keels crack manatees' skulls and ribs, while the propellers slice their skin. Meanwhile, waterfront homes and marinas line the estuaries, rivers and springs where they once found refuge.

Boat ownership has continued to boom in Florida, hitting an all-time high in 2004 of more than 980,000 registered watercraft.

Last year, 80 of the 396 manatees that died were killed by boats, and an estimated two-thirds of all adult manatees carry scars from boats.

Six years ago, a coalition of environmental and animal welfare groups sued the state and federal governments, arguing both had violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to protect manatees from boats. Settling the lawsuits resulted in extensive new restrictions on boating and development, which led to a political backlash

"We're getting people that hate the manatee now,'' Haddad said. "That was unheard of 15 years ago.'' He compared it to "a kind of a little disease that starts to spread. ... Then the politicians get involved.''

When aerial surveys counted the most manatees in 30 years, boating activists petitioned the commission to reclassify manatees.

"There are a lot of people who feel there are way too many manatees," state wildlife commissioner Richard Corbett, a Tampa mall developer, said in 2004.

The commission is currently chaired by Rodney Barreto, a Miami lobbyist whose firm once represented a condo developer fighting manatee rules that prevented him from building a dock.

Besides downgrading manatees, Haddad is also recommending that the commission vote to upgrade gopher tortoises from a "species of special concern'' to a "threatened'' species. However, he could not say exactly how his agency would step up protection of the tortoise. Currently, developers can simply pave over their burrows after writing a check to the state.

"We're realists. We know you just can't stop development,'' Haddad said.

"If we just said you can't touch gopher tortoises from here on out, then virtually all the developable land in Florida would be off-limits.''

Plans In Works to Raise, Clean Lake Hancock

By Tom Palmer
The Ledger

LAKELAND -- Lakeland engineer Bob Hayes will locate a pair of plants designed to improve water quality in Lake Hancock on a private ranch on the northern edge of the lake, he announced Tuesday.

Hayes plans two plants. One will turn the estimated 4.5 million tons of muck on the bottom of the 4,519-acre lake into fertilizer. The second will clean water flowing into the lake via Saddle Creek.

Lake Hancock, which sits at the headwaters of the Peace River, is one of the most polluted lakes in Florida and is the main contributor to poor water quality in the river.

The plant will be located on a ranch owned by Lynn and Leigh Hampton.

Hayes and the Hamptons reached a "meeting of the minds" last week, said Keith Wadsworth, the Hamptons' lawyer.

He called it a "preliminary arrangement," explaining there are unresolved details such as defining exactly which piece of property will be involved and the operating time frame for the project.

Hayes said he is pursuing permits for the plant. He will need a zoning permit from the Polk County Planning Commission and various environmental permits from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

He said he expects to be ready to break ground by next summer.

Hayes estimates the operation will last six years.

Meanwhile, Swiftmud officials are still working out the final details with Polk County on plans to raise the lake's level to store water to replenish the Peace River during droughts to maintain river flow as required by state law.

The key document is a memorandum of agreement, which is expected to come before Swiftmud's Governing Board next month, said Mark Hammond, Swiftmud's director of resource management.

Swiftmud's talks with Polk County mainly deal with the effect of any lake-level rise on the North Central Landfill, which is east of Saddle Creek and a short distance north of the lake.

If Swiftmud and Polk County can work out an agreement, Hammond said the next step will be to submit the project to the DEP for review to see whether the agency will issue a permit for the work. He expects an answer by January.

Hammond said if DEP gives them the initial go-ahead on the permits, he will go back to Swiftmud's Governing Board to get a decision on whether to go ahead and raise the lake and buy a number of homes along the lake and Saddle Creek that would be flooded by the new lake level.

He said Swiftmud officials are still working on a plan to filter water flowing out of the lake to reduce pollution flowing into the river, which serves as a drinking water source in downstream coastal areas.

Swiftmud officials purchased land and set a plan in motion to treat the water before Hayes announced his project.

Hammond said Hayes' project could be a potential benefit to Swiftmud's goals.

"If he can get rid of the muck at no cost to the taxpayers, we're supportive," he said.

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

Sprawl Outruns Arizona's Biosphere

By FRED A. BERNSTEIN

ORACLE, Ariz.

IN 1991, eight researchers in dark blue Star Trek-style uniforms entered Biosphere 2 — a vast terrarium in the Arizona desert north of Tucson — hoping to spend two years inside without importing food, water or even air. The goal was to see whether the sealed environment, considered a microcosm of the Earth's, could become self-sustaining.

As it turns out, the real science experiment was going on outside, as development conquered vast swaths of the Sonoran Desert. The Biosphere, miles from nowhere when it was built in the 1980's, is now within the reach of a building boom streaking north from Tucson and south from Phoenix (and which some demographers say will eventually join the two cities, once 100 miles apart).

The Biosphere was designed to simulate the Earth's environment. By succumbing to sprawl, it may have done just that.

After spending a reported $200 million on the Biosphere, the Texas oil heir Ed Bass is about to sell the building and its surrounding 1,658 acres to Fairfield Homes of Tucson.

Richard Foerster of Tucson Realty & Trust, a veteran broker in the area, estimated to be worth about $25,000 an acre, or $40 million. At that price, Mr. Bass would be losing at least $160 million.

Martin Bowen, the president of Decisions Investments, a holding company controlled by Mr. Bass, said that there were "ongoing discussions" with Fairfield Homes about ways to save the three-acre Biosphere building, and that Mr. Bass would "prefer that it be used for the purpose it was built for."

But, Mr. Bowen said, Mr. Bass's contract with Fairfield does not require the buyer to preserve the structure. That means, he said, that "when the deal closes, probably later this year, our options for saving the Biosphere will be over."

It could be replaced by a housing development called Biosphere Estates. In January, Fairfield registered that name and a number of variants with the State of Arizona.

David Williamson, the president of Fairfield, said only that the deal is "in escrow," and that he would not comment on plans for the site.

If Biosphere Estates is built, it will join dozens of other new developments in Pinal County, including SaddleBrooke Resort, an upscale retirement development just south of the Biosphere property.

Last year, there were nearly 19,000 building permits issued for new houses in the county, triple the number in 2003, according to Paul Larkin, the county's tax assessor.

"And that's just the tip of the iceberg," he said. "Driving in to work this morning, I took a different route, and I saw two new subdivisions that I didn't know existed."

The population of Pinal (rhymes with canal) County, currently about 250,000, will probably reach one million by about 2020, said Elliott D. Pollack, an economist and real estate analyst based in Scottsdale, Ariz. "The growth is coming from Tucson in the south and Phoenix in the north," he said. "Pinal is where the available land is."

Twenty years ago, Mr. Bass chose the Biosphere site, in the town of Oracle, because of its remoteness at the base of the Santa Catalina Mountains. The goal was to bring in groups of "bionauts" for two years at a time for 100 years.

But during the first two-year mission that began in 1991, the Biosphere was beset by one problem after another: Oxygen dwindled, and the sea became acidic. Crops failed, causing the bionauts to lose weight rapidly, while ants and other insects thrived.

Biosphere administrators later admitted that they had secretly pumped 600,000 cubic feet of fresh air into the Biosphere, supplemented the bionauts' home-grown diet with stored food and smuggled in emergency supplies. Then, two bionauts were arrested for breaking the Biosphere's seals. Soon the 100-year experiment was abandoned, and the Biosphere was reopened as a tourist site. Visitors were now allowed inside, where the sights include 3,800 species of plants and a million-gallon sea.

Joaquin Ruiz, the dean of the College of Science at the University of Arizona in Tucson, said that because of its size, the Biosphere is "an important instrument."

Dr. Ruiz participated in a conference at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington in March 2005 to determine whether the Biosphere could still serve a useful function.

"The consensus was that it could," Dr. Ruiz said. "It is indeed an enormous terrarium, but the scaling of that terrarium allows you do to large-scale ecology experiments that cannot be done anywhere else." For example, he said, the Biosphere could be used to simulate the effects of the loss of small amounts of moisture in a desert, helping scientists understand the effects of a drought.

Now it looks as if those experiments will never happen.

On a recent Friday, traffic was bumper to bumper on Oracle Road, outside the entrance to the Biosphere grounds. Roads were torn up, as construction crews dug trenches for water mains to serve the growing population. But at the Biosphere, there were about 10 cars in the parking lot and about that many people in the visitor center.

"Clearly, you can't run it as a tourist attraction," said Mr. Bowen, the president of Decisions. "It's too expensive to maintain." (According to a sales brochure for the Biosphere property, Mr. Bass has spent $18 million on maintenance and another $9 million on major improvements in the last eight years.)

Because of the investment and maintenance costs, "you can't just keep it sitting empty," Mr. Bowen said.

He compared the Biosphere with the Spruce Goose, the giant plane built by Howard Hughes. "That's a good analogy," Mr. Bowen said. "The Spruce Goose is a fantastic aircraft, but what good is it sitting in a hangar?"

Mr. Bass, who is 60, was not available to answer questions. His spokeswoman, Terrell Lamb, said that Mr. Bass still considers the Biosphere "a unique apparatus for the study of ecological science."

Mr. Bass, who serves on the boards of the New York Botanical Garden and the World Wildlife Fund, has made efforts to save the Biosphere. In 1995, his company brought in the Earth Institute, a respected environmental program at Columbia University, to operate the site. But the partnership unraveled, and Decisions ended up suing Columbia for breach of contract. The lawsuit was settled in September 2003, and Columbia ended its involvement that December.

Soon thereafter, Mr. Bass directed CB Richard Ellis to sell the 140 acres at the center of the site, where the Biosphere and dozens of auxiliary buildings were constructed. According to the sales brochure, the property presented "an unmatched redevelopment opportunity."

But Jerry Hawkins, a vice president of CB Richard Ellis, said that potential buyers proved to be more interested in the land than in the buildings. So Decisions opted to sell the entire Biosphere site of 1,658 acres. The property "was offered unpriced," Mr. Hawkins said.

Decisions eventually received 11 bids, he said, and Fairfield Homes' offer was not the highest. "Price was not the No. 1 issue for the seller," Mr. Hawkins explained, suggesting that Fairfield was open to discussions about the Biosphere's future.

Mr. Hawkins would not say how much Fairfield is paying, but Mr. Bowen said that Mr. Bass was more interested in finding "the highest and best use" for the Biosphere than in recovering what he spent.

"Forget the money," Mr. Bowen said. "It's sunk money. What matters is that it's a fantastic piece of equipment."

Beach trash frustrates locals

Volunteers clean parks following holiday weekend

BY JIM WAYMER
FLORIDA TODAY

The needle's shiny tip stuck out in an otherwise pristine sand dune at Cocoa Beach. With white rubber-gloves, Vicky Croft placed the spent hypodermic in a soda can.

"It's frustrating," Croft said as she and about a dozen other volunteers with the nonprofit Keep Brevard Beautiful picked up Tuesday at Alan Shepard Park in Cocoa Beach and Cherie Down Park in Cape Canaveral. They scoured Brevard County beaches, garbage bags and grip claws in hand.

Medical waste, usually washed in from afar, is the tip of the trash heap.

Most of what they find drops from local hands in the shape of plastic food and drink containers, beer cans, broken bottles and cigarette butts, you name it.

The blight happens after each Memorial Day and every other big holiday weekend, especially during tourist season. It's a dirty downside of a beach economy and the bane of locals such as Rhonda Anderson, who sees a much broader problem than she hears about at City Hall.

"I came out here because I'm really upset," said Anderson, a smoker who lives in Cocoa Beach, where Mayor Skip Beeler recently called for a smoking ban on the city's beaches.

"The cigarette butts are minimal," she said. "Eating causes litter. Drinking causes litter. So what's he going to do, ban eating?"

She and the other volunteers described what they consider the much larger problem: items that can gash feet, puncture fingers and entangle birds and other marine life.

While health experts recommend calling local law enforcement or fire department to remove hypodermics, they say
there usually aren't enough viable bacteria or viruses in a needle to cause disease. Studies have found the odds of contracting HIV from a needle that washes up on New York beaches, for example, is 1 in 15 billion to 1 in 390 trillion.

But other sharp things cause concern. Anderson found eight fishhooks on fishing line the other day. Broken glass she once stepped on sent her to the emergency room several years ago.

"Current society is not responsible for their own actions," she said. "They're always blaming somebody else."

Who's to blame?

The post holiday trash problem stretches the length of Brevard's coast, and after 10 years cleaning Indialantic's beach, Joe Chiscon knows whom to blame.

"Once the kids get out of school, the beaches around here get trashed," said Chiscon, a public works employee for the town. "People blame the tourists, but it's not the tourists, it's the kids. The tourists have more conscience than anyone."

He put fresh bags into garbage cans that had been filled by Tuesday-morning good Samaritans and others through the weekend with runaway chip bags, empty cola cups and other trash.

Larry Weber, executive director of Keep Brevard Beautiful, said beachside trash has been worse in previous years when fireworks were permitted on the beach.

Within about two hours Tuesday, the dozen volunteers at Alan Shepard Park had filled about 50 large garbage trash bags.

"The point is, its not just cigarettes," Anderson said.

"It's everybody," Weber said.

Staff writer John Torres contributed to this report. Contact Waymer at 242-3663 or jwaymer@flatoday.net.

 

When developers arrived, peace left

Once-tranquil Yankeetown is torn apart by a proposal to build a vacation resort on the Withlacoochee.

By ELENA LESLEY
Published May 30, 2006

YANKEETOWN - This tiny town just north of the Citrus County line is imploding.

For years, 600-plus people have lived undisturbed here, enjoying a quiet life in a place where Town Hall closes at noon and the biggest thing that ever happened was when Elvis showed up 45 years ago to film a movie.

But today, Yankeetown is far from tranquil.

A developer's plan to build a vacation resort along the shores of the Withlacoochee River has plunged the hamlet into open warfare. Neighbors eye each other with suspicion. Three of the town's five council members and a chunk of the town's longtime staff have resigned as accusations of corruption fly and meetings descend into ugly shouting matches.

Last week, state investigators started probing possible Sunshine Law violations and alleged threats against town officials.

A group of residents is trying to recall the mayor. And some fear the town could self-destruct any day, leaving Yankeetown under more lenient county codes.

"I've never seen a town so torn apart as this town,'' said new council member Dan Bowman, who replaced a woman who resigned. "It's destroying us.''

The battle for Yankeetown mirrors many similar fights up and down Florida's Gulf Coast as developers clash with environmentalists and townspeople.

People live in Yankeetown because they like it the way it is: Narrow streets lined with sabal palms. Lazy days on the water. A single general store where you can get sandwiches and chicken, and if you order ahead, barbecued ribs.

The largely retired population came here to escape the sprawl of suburban Florida.

Growth breeds growth, they say. Traffic, crime, demand for resources the town doesn't have.

Still, the resort hotel has moved forward.

The disputed project - 135 resort hotel rooms, a bed and breakfast, spa, cabana restaurant and wet and dry boat slips - cleared a hurdle during a confused and raucous meeting two weeks ago, when the Town Council decided to officially start negotiating with the developers.

The council achieved a quorum to approve the opening talks by bringing back a member who had resigned, enraging already weary opponents.

"It was too orchestrated to be coincidental,'' said resident Ed Candela, who has fought the development.

The fracturing of Yankeetown started in December, when word spread that two developers were scouting out the town. Rumors simmered.

"We had people saying we were going to build 10-story condos, all kinds of things,'' said Peter Spittler, a developer with Izaak Walton Investors LLC, and one of the men who sparked the gossip.

As the resort plans filtered out, people got mad.

They got angrier when they learned the former town attorney worked for months with developers on what town records dubbed "The Marina Project.''

As the rancor built, newly elected Mayor Joanne Johannesson told residents she had "no idea'' why the proposed project had been kept secret.

A presentation from the developers in February didn't help matters.

As hundreds of residents from Yankeetown, and neighboring Inglis - where the town mayor once issued a proclamation banning Satan -filled the local school gymnasium, the suit-clad Spittler clicked his way through PowerPoint slides.

"We want to work with the community to create something unique," he told the audience.

But few held back when the time came to ask questions.

"Have you ever sold snake oil?'' one resident wanted to know.

Outside, a protestor cavorted by the door in a devil costume, telling people Satan had been driven out of Inglis and right into Yankeetown.

The stunts have added a comic touch to the debate, but there are serious concerns - including that the resort could overwhelm the town's volunteer fire department, which doesn't have a ladder truck.

Some also fear the new project will damage Yankeetown's unspoiled environment.

"I'm very concerned about the manatees and increased boat traffic,'' said Helen Spivey, co-chairwoman of Save the Manatee Club, which has been monitoring Yankeetown's battle.

The resort hotel centers around the Izaak Walton Lodge, which reopened in 2000 after fire destroyed the historic inn and restaurant. In development designs, a bed and breakfast juts off from the main building, leading to a waterfront resort and resculpted shoreline.

Spivey said the developers' plans to dredge the riverbanks could alter the natural habitat and hurt animals that lay eggs in those areas.

"You can't just whack away at the shoreline,'' she said.

Residents fighting the development agree but say more than environmental concerns are at stake. Namely, the future of Yankeetown.

"People who used to be friends are not talking,'' said Marinus De Rijke, who resigned as acting chairman of the Planning and Zoning Commission.

"They can't stand each other now.''

Town Council meetings are circuses that stretch for hours as residents hurl insults at the council and each other.

At the mayor's request, a Levy County deputy attends meetings to escort out rowdy residents.

A particularly determined antidevelopment group has mobilized under the slogan "Save Yankeetown,'' blanketing the town with bright yellow T-shirts, decals and yard signs. Angry residents rant on www.saveyankeetown.com, calling their council a "Banana Republic'' and "Puppet Government.''

Sally Price, who contributes to the local paper, the Newscaster, has helped lead the charge.

For months, Price wrote incendiary editorials for the Newscaster, hand-delivering 250 copies each Wednesday to subscribers in Yankeetown.

Recently, she has backed off, saying she was threatened by other residents. The controversy has taken its toll on others.

Council member Diane Blomgren, who resigned along with council member Roger Myrick on May 11, said the stress has affected her health, causing her to drop 26 pounds. A few days after the council members quit, the town clerk of 17 years and assistant town clerk also gave notice.

A recently hired zoning official now refuses to set foot in town, saying he was intimidated by residents. He agreed to finish a few projects from the safety of Citrus County.

Mayor Johannesson says she isn't stepping down, even though the recall petition is gathering momentum and every day someone else accuses her of selling out Yankeetown to the Walton group.

"The allegations are completely unfounded,'' she said. "I've never been dancing with the developers.''

She says the turmoil is caused by the "NIMBY'' - Not In My Back Yard - phenomenon.

Now, state officials may end up deciding the fate of the mayor, the resort project and Yankeetown itself.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said recently it was looking into allegations made by residents, although FDLE spokeswoman Kristen Perezluha said she couldn't reveal whether the department had started conducting interviews in Yankeetown.

In a letter to the governor, dozens of Yankeetown residents pleaded for an investigation "into the actions of our mayor, former mayor, majority of our Town Council, former council, current & former zoning officer(s), & group of developers that have been continuing in what we believe to be an illegal manner, possibly a criminal conspiracy."

As she battles her neighbors, Johannesson has no illusions about the small town she currently governs.

"It's an absolute mess.''

Poll Shows Voters Are Fed Up With Bay Area Growth

By KAREN BRANCH-BRIOSO kbranch-brioso@tampatrib.com

Published: May 29, 2006

TAMPA - Tonia Owen and her family moved to Brandon from Sarasota 11 years ago to a neighborhood of green lawns and easy commutes. But that was then.

"We're about ready to move out of state. That's honest," said Owen, 42, a Denny's waitress and mother of five whose husband commutes to Bradenton for work. "The roads can't keep up with nothing. … I feel the government, all they care about is building more and more houses so they can get more and more property tax."

Owen, who has no party affiliation, is one of 625 likely general election voters surveyed May 19-23 by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research for The Tampa Tribune. When it came to the question of restricting growth, political affiliation didn't matter. Region didn't matter (voters were surveyed in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Polk counties).

Overall, 71 percent agreed that state and local government should do more to restrict growth in Florida. The poll's margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points.

That opinion came from those whose professions benefit from growth as well.

Listen to Robert Tubb, 57, a Republican, who is a general contractor in Lakeland: "What I don't like is the politicians all talk about the job growth and it's good for everything, but we have one of the worst school systems going. Everybody complains about overcrowding; it's caused because they can't build the schools fast enough, plus all the infrastructure, the water - everything - falls behind the growth. They have to limit it somehow. The roads are horrible now."

Joseph Narkiewicz, executive vice president of the Tampa Bay Builders Association, said that although public opinion may call for more restrictions on growth, tough regulations exist - and some growth is impossible to stop.

He noted the passage last year of a far stronger statewide growth-management law that will require local governments by 2008 to include school capacity in their planning blueprints before proceeding with growth. Narkiewicz said Hillsborough County's comprehensive plan and land development codes are 1,000 pages apiece.

"There are not only tremendous restrictions. The public has tremendous opportunity for input on how growth is controlled or directed," Narkiewicz said, noting that growth comes from three sources - births, international immigration and migration from other parts of the country. "If we want to stop growth, we have to sterilize everybody or have much better education on family planning, or we stop all immigration, or we deny people the constitutional right to freedom of movement and stop them at the state line."

Ruth Fry moved to her waterside subdivision in Hudson from Atlanta eight years ago. She is a Republican and strongly believes the government needs to stay out of most issues. But she has seen the effect of growth in Pasco County, and she sees a need for a stronger governmental role there.

"They should make sure we have all the support we need to make sure we can handle the growth - the water, the sewer, the roads," said Fry, 55, who makes candles for a living. "You go into all these subdivisions up in Spring Hill, where there's supposed to be all of this reclaimed water available, but some of my friends up there, their subdivisions don't have the water. You can't believe all the building. It's crazy."

Much of that same sentiment comes from homeowners who see the changes sprouting around them, such as William Bauers of Pinellas Park. The retired schoolteacher moved into his home 28 years ago and is eyeing the townhouse projects being built nearby

"I'm being surrounded," said Bauers, 78, a Democrat. "If we have more people, then it taxes everything: the police, fire, garbage pickup. We have traffic problems now, and when they put these [condominiums] in, it's going to tax our infrastructure greatly. I thought we should have more control."

Reporter Karen Branch-Brioso can be reached at (813) 259-7815.

Traffic, sprawl top woes in survey

The Seminole poll found support for improving roads and saving rural areas.
Robert PeRez | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted May 29, 2006
Seminole County residents are generally happy with their government, but a significant number think rapid growth is threatening their quality of life, a survey found.

Three of four residents want to adopt protections for rural areas, according to the survey.

The survey of 625 registered voters was commissioned by Envision Seminole, a nonprofit community group that helps local governments identify and develop initiatives to improve the community. The results were shared with government officials at a meeting Thursday.

Traffic is considered the biggest problem in the county, with 33 percent of those surveyed listing it as what they least like about living here. Growth, sprawl and overdevelopment came in second with 15 percent.

That surprised some who see the county's road-building program, funded by an additional penny sales tax, as one of the strongest in the region.

"Our citizens approved the sales tax and made roads a priority," said Deputy County Manager Don Fisher. "We understand how important it is. But it's very difficult to keep up with growth."

The survey found that 65 percent of respondents think taxes are about as expected, while 22 percent said they are too high.

One city manager said the impact of growth and development is a common problem across Central Florida, but there is little government can do to stop it.

"People do have property rights," Lake Mary City Manager John Litton said.

That's why the survey's overwhelming support for rural preservation is easier said than done, he said.

"Sooner or later, it will all be developed," Litton said. "That's why we have to develop in a reasonable manner. Once it's developed, it's developed. That's why we try to negotiate a deal that minimizes the impact as much as possible."

A portion of the survey that looked at community needs confirmed the public's concern with traffic and growth. Controlling traffic and improving roads was rated "very important" or "somewhat important" by 98 percent of respondents. Controlling growth and development rated very or somewhat important for 96 percent.

The phone survey drew its sampling from registered voters and was balanced according to demographics. The respondents reflected the male and female mix and racial and ethnic mix in the county. The margin of error in the survey was plus or minus 4 percentage points.

The survey, "Assessment of Community Priorities," was conducted by Cookson Research Consulting.

Robert Perez can be reached at rperez@orlandosentinel.com or 407-322-1298.

Development, pollution muddying Florida's historic Silver Springs

By KELLI KENNEDY
Associated Press Writer

SILVER SPRINGS, Fla. (AP) -- Hovering over a patch of murky water and tangled swamp trees, a dozen tourists peer through the floor of a glass-bottom boat, hoping to glimpse a passing turtle, a bowfin or maybe even the mysterious creature from the black lagoon.

But the once crystalline water that made Silver Springs the state's first tourist attraction is now clouded by a thick, brownish sludge. The algae, a byproduct of burgeoning nitrate levels, clings to the eelgrass, making it difficult to glimpse sea life in their brilliant turquoise limestone home.

Now environmentalists fear the pollution will get even worse. They say that if the state doesn't act quickly a new development that will house 22,000 residents will raise nitrate levels even higher, polluting the springs irrevocably.

"It's very depressing. This is one of the largest springs in the world and perhaps the best known and to see it in decline like this is very disheartening," said Jim Stevenson, a former biologist with the Department of Environmental Protection and chairman of the Florida Springs Task Force.

Long before tourists flocked to Walt Disney World, they made their pilgrimage to central Florida to marvel at the pristine spring that pumps about 516 million gallons a day to the Oklawaha River. Silver Springs is the state's third largest spring and the largest aboveground spring.

As a child, environmentalist Guy Marwick used to swim and canoe in the cool waters, which stays 72 degrees year round. He remembers the spring's glory days, when the site was a haven for Hollywood filmmakers and National Geographic specials.

Six "Tarzan" movies were filmed there, along with the "Creature from the Black Lagoon," "The Yearling" featuring Gregory Peck,and the 1960's TV series "Sea Hunt" starring Lloyd Bridges.

Now the only reminder of that period, is a mammoth, algae-strewn statue - a leftover prop from the TV show "I Spy." Grounded at the mouth of the cave, where water spews from the recharge basin, workers have to scrub the prop every few weeks to keep up with the fast-growing gunk.

The algae isn't just ugly to look at - environmentalists say it's choking the spring's vegetation, contributing to the demise of the ecosystem.

"It's sickening. It's just very sad to see what used to be white snail shell and sand. It's a dramatic change," said Guy Marwick, an activist with the Smart Growth Coalition of North Central Florida and former curator of the Silver River Museum. "We've seen several plants all but disappear."

Silver Springs has also seen about a 95 percent decline in its fish population since the 1950s, said Dr. Bob Knight, an environmental scientist for the St. Johns River Water Management District and the Florida DEP.

Although Knight said nitrate levels are almost three times what they were in the 1950s, he's not convinced they are the sole cause of the fish deaths - but they're certainly having an effect.

The nitrates create the algae, which "could be having some effects on the fish and the invertebrates. It's definitely having an effect on the plant community," Knight said.

Nitrate levels are rising at dangerous levels largely because of development.

"But it's all kinds of development - agricultural, septic tanks, fertilizer, storm water, waste water - all those things combined create a nitrogen load," he said.

Knight knows halting development is unrealistic in Florida's popular real estate market. He advocates smarter development - stricter storm water rules from the county and more stringent nutrient removal in wastewater discharge on a state level.

But environmentalists say there's no way the 4,436-acre development that Avatar Properties Inc. is proposing won't adversely effect Silver Springs. The Coral Gables-based group, set to break ground in 2008, also sits on a vital recharge area for the springs - about one mile away at the closest point.

The recharge area is made of extremely porous limestone, which soaks up nitrate-polluted rainwater like a sponge, Stevenson said.

"All the groundwater in the 1,200 square mile Silver Springs recharge area flows to Silver Springs," Stevenson said. "The rain that falls in the area closest to the springs may be able to get there in days. The rain that falls several miles away, may take decades."

In other words, if the Avatar property is built, all the pollutants will eventually trickle to the springs in a matter of time.

According to the Florida DEP the Avatar property is on the "A list" of the Florida First Magnitude Springs Project.

"We are currently working with Avatar and it is something that we are very interested in acquiring," said Sarah Williams, a spokeswoman with DEP. "It's a priority project."

If the state can't afford to buy the entire parcel of land, Avatar has indicated "they are open to selling parts of it," Williams said.

She would not say when the state might make an offer.

But the locals are getting antsy. A March 26 Ocala Star-Banner editorial urging the state to act quickly, headlined "Avatar Land:Time is Money."

The state offered to pay $22 million for the land in 2004, but Avatar rejected the deal. But it is willing to consider a better offer.

"If the amount was correct then the company would sell. If not we would continue on with our development and permit of the project to build a community up there," said Avatar attorney Dennis Getman.

He said Avatar also wants to preserve the springs and has pledged to grow vegetation and lawns that don't require a lot of fertilizer. They've also promised to spend an additional $50 million on a storm-water runoff system to help protect the basin.

"We do not want to develop the property in a way that would cause damage to the springs," Getman said.

Homes vs. habitat at center of Volusia land decision

Ludmilla Lelis | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted May 29, 2006

PORT ORANGE -- Developers and environmentalists are locked in familiar tug of war over a 450-acre stretch of oak and hickory hammocks, stands of slash-pine trees and a small black-water stream that flows toward the sandy bluffs of Volusia County's Spruce Creek.

But there's a twist to this contest, one that asks the governor and Cabinet to approve plans for a massive retail and housing development on land that they have already voted to try to buy for a nature preserve.

Three years ago, they tagged the land as an environmental gem and placed it as a priority purchase under the environmental land-buying program, Florida Forever.

On Wednesday, the governor and Cabinet must decide whether to approve a special government district on that same land to finance its development.

The decision could put Florida officials in the middle of a bidding war for the coveted property.

Its future as homes or wildlife habitat is still up for grabs. The developer controlling the land, influential home builder Mori Hosseini, is ready to build Woodhaven, his latest subdivision, but he says he is open to selling.

Meanwhile, environmentalists are closely watching the Cabinet's decision, as well as any other move that could affect the preservation effort.

"What nobody wants is for any government action to raise the value of a property that the state is trying to acquire," said Clay Henderson, an attorney and president of the Friends of Spruce Creek. "That's just sound public policy."

The land itself sits directly east of Interstate 95 and borders the 2,000-acre Doris Leeper Spruce Creek Preserve, one of the few remaining large natural areas that hasn't been gobbled up by the sprawling cities of east Volusia.

The preserve's namesake was a sculptor and an artist who once pulled out a map and outlined the acreage she wanted to protect. She included the 35-foot-high bluffs overlooking the creek, the Indian mounds and the 18th-century ruins of the failed Andrew Turnbull colony, which was Britain's largest attempt to colonize the Americas.

A 23-year effort to assemble the preserve has largely succeeded, Henderson said, with help along the way from several cities, Volusia County, The Nature Conservancy and the state's land-acquisition programs.

Completing the Spruce Creek preserve is still a priority for the state and Volusia County. The remaining parcels, including the 450-acre tract in play at the moment, are listed as must-buy properties for both Florida Forever and the complementary land-buying program Volusia Forever.

The Cabinet agreed that parcel belongs in the preserve boundaries in February 2003, and the state Department of Environmental Protection tried to buy the land later that year, reportedly for $6,000 an acre.

Richard Schattie, a West Palm Beach real-estate broker who represents the longtime landowners, said that offer was soundly rejected.

"They made a ridiculously low offer that wasn't acceptable," said Schattie, who represents the Stanaki Partnership, made up of two West Palm Beach brothers.

They got the right price from Hosseini, founder of ICI Homes and a prominent Volusia developer who ranks among the top-50 home builders in the nation.

Hosseini secured a five-year contract to gradually buy all of the Stanaki land, which totals nearly 1,300 acres and straddles both sides of I-95.

He would not disclose the purchase price for the land, but public records show that a 244-acre section on the west side of the highway cost $4.2 million, or more than $17,000 per acre.

With purchase rights on the remaining land -- including the 450 acres -- Hosseini has already forged ahead with his plans for Woodhaven, where he is proposing nearly 3,000 homes and 2.3 million square feet of commercial space, with several parks and miles of trails.

"It's a beautiful piece of property, and we are planning to do a very different development, more of a green subdivision with traditional neighborhoods, porches on the front and garages in the back, and soccer and football fields," Hosseini said.

To finance his plans, his company is asking the Cabinet to approve a community-development district, which can levy tax-exempt bonds for $52.5 million to pay for water, sewer and stormwater utilities, as well as roads.

An administrative-law judge reviewed the proposed district and wrote that the plan passes legal muster. The only problem he foresaw is whether approval of the community-development district could conflict with the state's attempts to buy the 450 acres desired for the Spruce Creek preserve, according to the report.

The Cabinet does have the leeway to vote against the community-development district, said Michael Allan Wolf, a University of Florida law professor with expertise in land-use planning.

"Florida is a leading state in the preservation of historic and environmental land, and the argument could be easily be made that allowing the CDD would frustrate state-preservation plans," Wolf said. "That could be a legitimate argument that could be used to modify the proposal."

Henderson said the district could easily be approved for the 800-plus acres on the west side of the interstate not wanted for the preserve.

Hosseini said Wednesday's Cabinet vote won't affect his plans either way, explaining that a community-development district would only make it easier to finance some of the recreational improvements he wants.

"People think if the Cabinet rejects it, we won't develop, but far from it," Hosseini said. "We will develop the property."

But he said he is willing to negotiate for a preservation deal.

"We have to do what's right for the community, and if the state and county feel it's crucial, absolutely we could sell," he said.

"Then it comes down to the price."

Ludmilla Lelis can be reached at llelis@orlandosentinel.com or 386-253-0964.

 

Facing reality on global warming

By Times editorial
Published May 30, 2006

A group backed by the oil and auto industries has a curious response to An Inconvenient Truth, former Vice President Al Gore's new movie about global warming. In the documentary film, which is little more than a lecture accompanied by stunning pictures, Gore makes a case for why increased carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions linked to human activity are threatening the planet.

The movie, which has gotten mostly positive reviews, warns of the consequences of persistent warming of the planet - particularly more powerful storms, melting of the polar ice caps and worldwide flooding. Included is an impassioned (yes, Al is capable of passion) plea for action.

"This is not so much a political issue as a moral issue," he says. "Our ability to live is at stake."

We're not sure why anyone would continue to deny the fact of global warming. There is irrefutable scientific evidence that it is happening. As for solutions, there is room for debate. But how could anyone deny that a reduction in our profligate use of oil - mainly through conservation and alternative fuels - would be anything other than a good thing?

The Competitive Enterprise Institute can, in a series of slick 60-second television spots that would be humorous if they weren't so blatantly insulting to our intelligence. One ad, labeled "Energy," features pictures such as a little girl blowing on a dandelion while a soothing female voice says: "The fuels that produce CO2 have freed us from a world of backbreaking labor" (flash to a peasant in the fields). "Now some politicians want to label carbon dioxide a pollutant. Imagine if they succeed. What would our lives be like then?"

The answer that comes to mind is, "We would be facing reality." But the CEI, which is funded by ExxonMobil among others (Ford distanced itself from this campaign), has a different ending: "Carbon dioxide. They call it pollution. We call it life."

See for yourself at www.cei.org, where you can view the ads. We don't recommend a steady diet of CO2. They call it life. We call it unhealthy.

[Last modified May 30, 2006, 06:08:05]

Once Vital in Fighting Fires, Spotter Towers Now Obsolete

By Gary White
The Ledger

part of a periodic series

Fire towers have been used to detect fires in Florida at least since the state created the Division of Forestry in 1927. In their prime, they numbered more than 200. This series explores historic ways of life that
persist into the 21st century.

 

When Joshua Dyer became a forest ranger five years ago, he was thrilled to learn his workplace included a penthouse suite of sorts. Dyer was assigned to a parcel of land in Northwest Polk County that includes a 100-foot tower topped by a cubicle-sized room.

"I like having it here; it's kind of a landmark," Dyer said of the structure known as the Green Swamp Tower to its owner and Dyer's employer, the Florida Division of Forestry. "I used to go up there just about every day when I was first hired on. It's a good place to sit with a cup of coffee."

These days, though, the tower no longer serves even the reduced function of a personal breakfast nook with a 20-mile view. The structure, one of just a few remaining fire towers in Polk County, has become a mere relic, a quaint reminder of bygone times.

Florida relied for decades upon a network of tall towers occupied by spotters to help detect wildfires and send crews to fight them.

But the need for fire spotters began to wane as development replaced forests in previously desolate parts of Florida, and advances in communications further lessened the towers' importance in the 1990s, as residents with cell phones became unofficial sentinels for woodland fires.

"We have a plane that flies the district if we're having a lot of lightning activity," said Eddie Gilmore, senior ranger with the Division of Forestry in Lakeland. "It's much more cost-efficient to do that than pay someone to sit in a tower all day."

The Green Swamp Tower, standing along U.S. 98 about 10 miles north of Lakeland Square, now projects a rather forlorn aura. Rotting hunks of wood dangle from some of its 132 steps. An antenna remains attached to the tower's roof, though the radio inside is long gone. And the spotting booth's only regular occupants these days are colonies of wasps.

In NASA parlance, Polk's fire towers have been abandoned in place.

"They've become obsolete for us," Gilmore said. "Eventually they will be taken down; I'm not sure how long that will take. It's kind of

sad to see them go."

TOWERS AND CROW'S NESTS

High platforms have been used to detect fires in Florida at least since the state created the Division of Forestry in 1927, said Ira Jolly, chief of the state's Forest Protection Bureau. An inventory from 1932 found 22 towers in the state, as well as nine "crow's nests" -- platforms mounted on tall pine trees with spikes serving as steps.

Jolly said the early towers were made of wood and probably stood 75 to 100 feet tall, while the crow's nests were 45 to 70 feet high.

The towers became taller, more secure and more plentiful in the following decades. At the time of its construction in 1963, the Green Swamp Tower was a crucial addition to Florida's fireprotection network.

The towers, numbering more than 200 in their prime, yielded panoramic vistas and were situated so that their visual ranges overlapped to give full coverage.

The Green Swamp Tower was originally erected near U.S. 98 and Rock Ridge Road, about 2.2 miles south of its current location. Forest rangers moved it in 1990, breaking it into three sections so it could be hauled by heavy truck and reassembled.

Polk's other towers can be seen near Frostproof, Indian Lake Estates, Bradley Junction and Lake Pierce.

For decades, the towers were staffed by full-time spotters, who often lived on the premises for quick access to the 8-foot-by-8foot perches, or "cabs."

The spotters' tools included an alidade, a sundial-like instrument used to describe the location of a fire. A dispatcher, plotting coordinates reported by two or more towers on a map, could produce fairly precise directions for firefighters in those days before global positioning systems.

Fire spotting, despite its initial appeal, could quickly become lonely and monotonous, said Gary Zipprer, manager of the Division of Forestry's Lakeland District.

"I first started as a ranger and spent about a week up there, and it was about the hardest job I ever had," Zipprer said. "If there wasn't something going on, it was extremely boring up in an 8by-8 box. And on windy days, it would sway back and forth. For those of us who have a hard time sitting still, it was hard.

"I've heard of one person who went up for an hour and called on the radio and said, `I quit,' and left the keys on the desk."

PHASING OUT FIRESPOTTERS

The state began phasing out full-time firespotters in the 1990s, and the last positions disappeared in 2001, though some rural districts still use rangers or part-time employees as spotters during the fire season -- spring and early summer. Zipprer said Polk's fire spotters either moved to northern districts, took new jobs or retired.

"It was a sad day to lose those folks because some of them were long-term employees," Zipprer said.

One of his employees in the district headquarters served as a spotter for years before being forced to take an office job. She declined to speak about her time as a spotter, her tone of voice suggesting the phaseout remains a painful subject.

After eliminating the full-time fire spotters, the Division of Forestry decided not to pay for the maintenance of towers in some districts, including the Polk area. Gilmore said the agency hasn't replaced the boards of the towers' stairs and landings in at least seven years, and the structures are no longer considered safe.

Towers are still maintained, though not actively staffed, in some northern and rural counties. One such tower stands along State Road 33 in Lake County, just a few miles north of the border with Polk. Division of Forestry officials said that tower has already proven valuable during this spring's outbreak of wildfires.

Though officially retired, the Green Swamp Tower still gets occasional use. Dyer said he and others carefully ascend its stairs -- using the metal rails to avoid the rotten wood -- to help with missing-persons searches, scout for poachers or assist firefighters from other agencies. Dyer most recently scaled the tower about six months ago to toss a bug bomb inside the cab, which was swarming with wasps.

From the cab, Dyer can see as far west as a gypsum pile north of Plant City and as far north as a set of phone towers near Polk City. He said the southern view extends beyond downtown Lakeland, though the city lacks a landmark tall enough to be seen from that distance.

Dyer said the tower sometimes draws would-be tourists, including occasional Boy Scout leaders who say they climbed its stairs as boys and would like to repeat the experience with their troops. The ranger is forced to turn them away.

Dyer, 29, points out that all of Polk's fire towers, each anchored deep in the ground by four concrete feet, survived the hurricanes of 2004 without noticeable damage. And, he notes, the wallunit air conditioner in the Green Swamp Tower still blows cold.

The Kathleen High School graduate expresses nostalgia for the days before he became a ranger, when the fire towers were more than mere totems. He holds out hope the Green Swamp Tower might be restored, and he said at one point a local landowner seemed interested in paying for repairs to the steps, though that prospect has dimmed.

"I don't want it to go," Dyer said. "I hope they keep it here at least as a landmark."

UNCERTAIN FATE

The fate of Polk's fire towers is as uncertain as a parched forest during fire season. The Division of Forestry regularly puts towers up for sale -- sometimes with their surrounding properties -and state records show about 65 have been disposed of since the early 1980s.

Ed Kuester, the Tallahassee official who manages surplus equipment for the Division of Forestry, says any buyer must cover the cost of moving a tower and filling the holes left by the concrete footers.

"They're not a big moneymaker by any means," Kuester said. "I think the most I ever heard bid on one was $1,000."

The land occupied by towers, of course, can fetch a much higher price.

The towers often go to other government entities. Kuester said a port commission from Louisiana has expressed interest in buying towers from Florida to replace communication and security structures destroyed by last year's hurricanes.

At least one tower has already vanished from the landscape in Polk County. Zipprer said a structure that stood near Eloise Loop Road in Winter Haven was dismantled and sold several years ago after the Division of Forestry lost its lease on the surrounding land.

Another Polk tower has passed into private hands. The Davenport Tower, located northeast of the Interstate 4-U.S. 27 junction, now belongs to Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, which bought the former Division of Forestry property a few years ago.

None of the five remaining Polk towers is on the list of properties up for bid, though Kuester said that could change at any time.

It's not clear how many towers the Division of Forestry still owns. Jolly, the chief of the Forest Protection Bureau, said the state is in the midst of an inventory, and he wouldn't even offer an estimate.

Jolly insisted the towers aren't necessarily headed for extinction. State officials suggest some municipalities or historical organizations might step in to preserve towers, though Ed Etheredge, a past president of the Polk County Historical Association, said he doubted local historical preservationists would direct their scarce funds toward such a project.

The best hope for the towers' future might rest with Washington, D.C. Jolly said his department has applied to the U.S. Forest Service for a federal grant that could be used to preserve some of the structures.

"We feel it's important to keep representation of these towers up as, if anything, a memorial or monument to that part of our history of fire protection," Kuester said. "We're kicking around (the idea of) one per county, or one per district, so people could always see the way it used to be done."

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or at 863-802-7518.

 

River shrimpers say their catches are getting smaller

By KELLY CUCULIANSKY
The Daytona Beach News-Journal

OAK HILL, Fla. (AP) -- A dolphin's fin peeks above the moonlit waters of the Indian River as a shrimp net is lowered into the northern flowing tide.

Elmo Keeton moves quickly on the crowded deck of his pontoon boat, stepping over ropes and scooting by a big white holding tank.

It's a few minutes past midnight as the 71-year-old stares into the water, waiting for a shrimp catch he doesn't have much faith in anymore.

"Worst year I've ever had," said the Kentucky native, who has been shrimping in the area for 11 years. This night's run, cut short by a lost anchor, lasted about two hours and yielded only enough white shrimp for a humble cocktail.

Keeton and other river shrimpers think something is amiss and they have their own theories. While some wildlife officials have noted a decline in the amount of bait shrimp being caught in recent years, they're not sure why.

Whenever wild shrimp are caught and sold in Florida, that information is supposed to be reported to the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg.

"We know what (the shrimpers) tell us, which often is an incomplete picture," said research administrator Joe O'Hop. "But actually, they know a lot about what's going on in the water."

Though numbers are at least a month or two behind, O'Hop said his data shows a decrease in the amount of bait shrimp taken from inland waters between St. Augustine and Sebastian Inlet the past several years. For example, in 1998 about 45,285 pounds of shrimp were caught in 834 trips, while in 2005 about 8,290 pounds were caught in 199 trips.

"I can't tell if it's environmental problems or just disruptions to the general level of harvest," O'Hop said. "I haven't heard anything specific."

The lower numbers in recent years could be due to hurricanes, cold snaps or rising fuel costs driving shrimpers away from the market, O'Hop said.

A hundred pounds of bait shrimp in four hours - considered a good catch - is worth $200 to $300, Keeton said. But those nights are memories. He said a 20-pound catch, worth maybe $50 to $70, is bad for a night of shrimping. With the price of gas, boat upkeep, permits and licensing fees, Keeton said "anything lower than that is just a break-even deal."

Keeton, a part-time Oak Hill resident who shrimps commercially to supplement his retirement income, said he used to be able to make about $8,000 per season dipping bait shrimp. But this year, he predicts his earnings will be about $1,000.

Standing on his boat, dip net in hand, Keeton remembered how the profitable little crustaceans used to pile into the mesh. They would swim right into it, making a heavy, happy haul to swing into his holding tanks. But now it's a game he can't figure out.

"Nobody can predict these shrimp," he said.

Even the full moon doesn't help anymore. He said the five days before and five days after a full moon, the tide usually runs faster and higher, rolling shrimp into his nets. His favorite shrimping spot, close to Oak Hill's River Breeze Park, used to be one of the best sites around. But one group agrees with Keeton that they've seen a dramatic drop in the number of shrimp this year.

Lucky Johnson, a spokesman for the Internet Shrimpers and Anglers Association, an organization of mainly east central Florida members, blames the decline of inshore shrimp on commercial offshore shrimpers near Ponce Inlet who are wiping the sea clean before the shrimp are able to spawn.

"These shrimp are getting caught before they ever have a chance," said the Deltona resident. "The only explanation for it is those shrimp boats."

Johnson, 52, who said he has been shrimping since he was old enough to hold a dip net, said five years ago he could catch at least three to five gallons of shrimp per night. "The last three or four years, it's like, 'OK, will I get enough for dinner?' "

Soon it will be too hot to catch shrimp. Once the water temperature warms to 75 degrees, the shrimp tend to stay beneath the sand in cooler areas, Johnson said, and they won't appear again until mid-September.

There are many factors that can affect shrimp and each group will have its own perspective, said Anne McMillen-Jackson, an associate research scientist at the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. While she has not heard of troubles in the Indian River, she said Johnson's theory may not be too farfetched. Adult shrimp live, mate and lay eggs offshore, but spend most of their juvenile lives in estuaries.

"The offshore fisheries are targeting the adults," she said. "If you did fish the adults before they spawn, then you could affect the number of juveniles in the estuaries."

A lack of rain also can affect the salinity of the water and juvenile shrimp tend to thrive in less salty areas.

"If you're having a drought, you're going to tend to have higher salinity," she said.

The Southeastern Fisheries Association, with 450-member companies that include harvesters, packers, processors, marine suppliers, exporters and charter boat businesses, hasn't noticed a decline in the shrimp population, said Bob Jones, the group's executive director. But what local shrimpers are reporting is not an uncommon phenomenon.

Because the life span for most shrimp is about a year, one year's crop might not prosper because of environmental changes such as salinity, temperature or water quality, Jones said. But next year could yield "more shrimp than you know what to do with."

Though it's gotten harder to net a decent catch each year, Keeton said he will continue to chase shrimp. It's something to eat, it's something to share and "it's just something to keep you out of trouble," he said.

As the pontoon boat chugged back to the dock after a useless night, Keeton said he's giving it up for a while to spend time at Lake Erie pursuing another passion - freshwater fishing.

He'll be back in October though, waiting to see what the full moon might bring.

Write a letter to the editor

Field-of-dreams plan for site blocked

By NATHAN CRABBE

Sun staff writer

Phil Emmer had a rude awakening over his field of dreams.

The Gainesville developer proposed creating a "Great American Park" at U.S. 441 and NW 53rd Avenue, building state-of-the-art athletic fields and elaborately landscaped gardens. He pledged $1 million of his own money and started collecting the millions more needed for the project.

Home Depot's recent announcement it would buy the land has effectively quashed those plans. The company has pledged to sell 76 of the 92 acres to the city of Gainesville for a nature park, but Emmer's vision isn't being considered for the site.

The city is asking Florida Communities Trust for $4.8 million to fund the purchase, though Gainesville officials expect the land to be bought for less. Emmer said the land has been overvalued and the city won't have any money to make improvements to the site.

"I just think we aren't getting our money's worth," he said.

Gainesville Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan said such an undeveloped swath of land in the city will only increase in value. She said Home Depot will use the piece of land appropriate for extensive athletic facilities, leaving soccer fields and passive recreation for the remainder.

"It's really not appropriate for any kind of development," she said.

Wal-Mart had proposed on the site a nearly 300,000-square-foot development including a retail and housing complex and supercenter. But Gainesville city commissioners narrowly rejected the proposal in 2004, finding it conflicted with the site's hydrologic features.

The land includes the headwaters of Hogtown Creek, which runs through Gainesville before draining into Haile Sink. Home Depot's plan differs in the fact it would be about half the size and placed within an old driving range already zoned for commercial development.

The Alachua Conservation Trust prepared the city's application for the conservation funds, but won't know for months if the application was approved. Robert "Hutch" Hutchinson, the trust's project manager, said it would hold a two-year option on the land.

That will ensure the land isn't developed even if state money isn't approved this year, he said. He said everyone would have liked to go forward with Emmer's park vision on the entire site, but Home Depot ended those thoughts.

"We all wanted this to happen and tried to stay out of the way until it was clear he wasn't going to come to terms," he said.

Emmer said he'll still pursue plans to build athletic fields elsewhere. The area needs such facilities more than just nature trails, he said.

"I don't really know if we need any more conservation land in Gainesville," he said.

Saving water, one sheet at a time

Kelly Griffith
Sentinel Staff Writer

May 30, 2006

Putting crisp new sheets on hotel beds every single day of Florida vacations wastes billions of gallons of water in laundries, state officials say.

Area restaurants, likewise, each spray tens of thousands of gallons needlessly down the drain washing dishes when a $40 fix would conserve the precious commodity without compromising clean dishes.

Despite a state program aimed at promoting "green lodging," which urges cutting down on hotel laundry, retrofitting restaurant sinks to be more water-friendly and a bevy of other conservation measures, only six area lodging properties have met the state's criteria for the designation. All are Disney-owned resorts.

Potential water savings in the Orlando market if all area hotels participated and guests complied with the laundering schedule: 1.43 billion gallons of water per year.

Resistance comes in part, state officials say, because hotels fear patrons' perceptions. Cutting back on services would be intolerable to many. In the industry, hospitality is everything.

"I want my slick sheets every day," said tourist Byron Graham of Mississippi, staying at the Quality Inn on Interstate 4 near Davenport last week. His family visited Walt Disney World and was en route to Savannah, Ga., on vacation. "I want them washed every day. Yes, every day."

His wife firmly agreed.

That, conservation experts say, is one of the tallest hurdles: challenging travelers' expectations. Sometimes saving for years for a family vacation, many people are unwilling to give up the demand to be pampered, said Patty Griffin, president and founder of the Green Hotels Association, a Texas-based nonprofit that promotes conservation practices and provides members with educational literature.

State officials concur.

"There is a mentality on the part of a tourist that 'I'm paying $300 for a room; I should be able to use as many towels as I want to,' " said Bruce Adams, water-conservation officer for the South Florida Water Management District, whose jurisdiction includes the tourist corridor of southwest Orange and north Osceola counties.

Its westward counterpart, the Southwest Florida Water Management District, which governs water use in Polk County and areas toward Tampa, is promoting a similar program that zeroes in on linen and towel washing. The agency offers participating hotels educational literature and door hangers that explain the program to guests, which includes an every-third-day laundering schedule unless instructed otherwise by guests.

Education crucial

Educating guests is the key to making it work, Griffin and others said. A customer such as Graham, who had $16,000 in damage to his home from Hurricane Katrina, comes from a state where water-supply issues aren't often in the news. Most people who come to Florida have never heard of the Floridan Aquifer and may have no idea there is a water shortage, considering they see marshes, beaches and lakes all around.

With a captive audience in the hotel room, the industry has an opportunity to be educators, said Griffin, who added that business travelers take to such programs more easily than tourists.

"Most people don't do linens every day at home," said Mike Molligan, a Southwest Florida management district spokesman.

Seventy-one hotels in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area saved 100 million gallons in one year after beginning the program, according to a local-government study in 2002-03.

Laundry costs for a hotel can drop up to 30 percent, helping reduce operating costs by $1 per occupied room per day, according to program officials. Guests sometimes use up to 300 gallons per room per day, although most average about 150 gallons daily, water-management officials said.

The expected savings of washing linens and towels every three days is about 50 gallons per room each day.

So far, more than 200 hotels in the Southwest Florida district's 16-county region, which includes Polk and part of Lake, are signed up for the Water Conservation Hotel and Motel Program, or "Water CHAMP." The St. Johns River Water Management District does not have a similar program, and the South Florida Water Management District participates only in the state's Green Lodging program. That, however, involves many other things in addition to laundering schedules. Issues with air quality, lighting, pollution, staff training and other issues come into play before the state's Green Lodging certification is granted.

Slaves to hospitality

The six-room Heritage Country Inn in Ocala has been participating in the Southwest Florida laundering program for six or seven months.

Tanja Gross, who helps operate the inn owned by her in-laws, said the inn has about 50 percent participation from guests on rehanging towels. No one ever complains about washing linens every third day, she said.

Because the inn is on well water, she isn't sure how much water it has saved.

"Some of them [guests] don't pay attention or don't care and still just throw the towels down," she said. "But about half of them hang up the towels and want to reuse it again."

Hoteliers are slaves to hospitality, Griffin said, and if guests tell hotel managers they appreciate the conservation efforts and don't perceive them as a "lack of" anything, they will listen and do more, she thinks.

Eateries face scrutiny, too

Restaurants also are in the cross hairs of water managers looking for ways the tourism industry can save water.

Officials in the South Florida water district, the area covering the tourist corridor, said countless gallons of water are being wasted when restaurants wash dishes.

They plan to rewrite the guidelines used to dole out grant funds, recommending that hotels and restaurants have the spray valves in their dishwashing areas retrofitted with a lower-flow version. That could save 77,000 gallons of water per year on each valve and up to $1,000 yearly in water bills for the average restaurant. It's not uncommon for a restaurant to have two or three spray valves and a hotel to have three or four in its kitchen.

The cost to make the change for each valve: $40.

"These are things that cost next to nothing," Griffin said.

Added Adams: "Eighty percent of people say they are environmentalists, but how can they do that? I think this helps make the 80 percent of people who say they are environmentalists prove it."

Kelly Griffith can be reached at kgriffith@orlandosentinel.com or 863-422-5908.

Make mine rare, as in a dinner downtown

Dinner in downtown Brooksville is still hard to come by. One historian says it's been that way for about 40 years. Theories abound but the reasons are still unclear.

By MICHAEL KRUSE
Published May 30, 2006

BROOKSVILLE - About a month ago, Debbie McCallister, the owner of the downtown restaurant called Maw's Vittles, looked at her empty tables in the evenings and made a decision on her weekday dinner hours. No can do. So the country cookin' place at the corner of Broad Street and Mildred Avenue now is open for dinner on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and no longer on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Chalk it up as another dinnertime defeat in downtown Brooksville.

The shift at Maw's rekindles an often-asked question around here: Why can't a guy or a gal get a bite to eat in this town's two- or three-block center anytime after 5:01 p.m.?

"I don't know," City Manager Richard Anderson said . "That's an enigma."

"If you're talking about lunch," new Brooksville redevelopment coordinator Joe Murphy said, "you can fill your belly every day and be very happy about it."

"But Brooksville's not a dinner town," said Lisa Miller, a co-owner of the Rising Sun Cafe, the year-old coffee shop on Main Street. "Brooksville's a breakfast and lunch town, period, and there's no getting around it."

Folks here in the Hernando County seat used to be able to get dinner right downtown at the Florida Cafe and the Tangerine Grill.

Ye Olde Fireside Inn was a nice place, but it burned down a year and a half ago, and it wasn't really downtown, anyway - "downtown," for purposes of this debate, being defined loosely as walking distance from the courthouse.

Mykonos II has some good food, and so does Luigi's, and Papa Joe's, and John's Corner Restaurant and Victoria's Steakhouse, but they're not downtown, either.

"If you're talking about sit-down, genuine dinner restaurants directly around downtown, there really hasn't been anything for 30 or 40 years," said Bob Martinez, the local historian who publishes Old Brooksville In Photos & Stories.

At Maw's, McCallister makes stick-to-your-stomach sorts of stuff like meatloaf, chicken and dumplings and plates of fish with hush puppies. Groups of seniors come at their regular times for their regular breakfasts. The grits are good.

For dinner, though, most of the time the business isn't enough to support gas, electric and payroll.

"I can't understand it," McCallister said. "I've tried everything."

Ads in mailed-out coupon books. Free tea. Even free wine.

The new dinner hours include all-you-can-eat catfish for $7.95 on Friday nights and all-you-can-eat spaghetti Saturdays and Sundays for $5.99.

Meanwhile, on State Road 50 on the other side of the Suncoast Parkway, a soup and a salad and a beer plus a tip can run up quickly to 15 bucks at Ruby Tuesday. Down the road at Johnny Carino's, and on U.S. 19 at Chili's, Outback and Red Lobster, get in line and wait for a table. Even on weekdays.

Downtown Brooksville?

Nothing.

Except theories.

Some say there's not enough parking.

Others point to real estate gone too high.

Murphy, the redevelopment coordinator, thinks it's because the SR 50 truck route takes too many potential customers around the city instead of through it.

And then there's the intangible that always has to count for something here. Tradition.

"I believe that Brooksville is more of a hometown place," said Miller from the Rising Sun. "People want to be home in the evenings with their families."

"The government center draws a lot of activity during the day," said Mike McHugh, the director of the county's Office of Business Development. "Translating that activity in the evening and on weekends is one of the many challenges for the downtown area. How do you get that energy? There's no easy answer."

No formula, either, said Aaron Allen, the chief executive of the Orlando-area Quantified Marketing Group, a consulting firm for the restaurant industry. Where to put restaurants is a decision based on a number of factors, including traffic counts, demographics, cost of real estate and closeness to competitors.

but really," Allen said, "it comes down to an individual approach."

Brooksville grew very little in the 1980s and 1990s, and the population is still around 8,000, but that's about to change. In the last five years, Brooksville has grown from 5 to 10 square miles due to annexation, according to Bill Geiger, the city's community development director. Homes are being built in big new developments like Hernando Oaks, Majestic Oaks and Southern Hills, and folks who buy nice homes in those spots are going to want good little restaurants where they can eat out and spend money, right?

"Maybe a good seafood restaurant, maybe a little glass of red wine," said Martinez, the historian. "I think that would do well. I live downtown. So I'd love to see that happen."

"As long as it's good food for a decent price, a fair price, and with good service, people will come," Brooksville real estate agent Robert Buckner said.

But a restaurant has to come first.

"And they all need somebody to validate the demographics," said Anderson, the city manager. "They all want someone else to be first."

As for the early returns on the changed dinner hours at Maw's?

"Not too good," McCallister said Saturday. "Even slower."

Michael Kruse can be reached at mkruse@sptimes.com or 352 848-1434.

[Last modified May 30, 2006, 01:09:11]

A City's Search For Its Soul

By CHRISTIAN M. WADE cwade@tampatrib.com

Published: May 29, 2006

PORT RICHEY - It's the most densely developed retail corridor in west Pasco, a mile-long stretch of asphalt, shopping centers and belligerent motorists.

Welcome to Main Street, Port Richey, otherwise known as U.S. 19.

It's not much to look at right now, but city officials have big plans to transform the ultra-congested thoroughfare into a picturesque gateway to this small waterfront community.

A beautification project will add palm trees, landscaping and even a "Welcome to Port Richey" sign along the highway median. A $150,000 grant from the state Department of Transportation will pay for it.

Vice Mayor Phyllis Grae has worked with DOT officials to secure funding, and local landscaping architect Margaret Moore is the designer.

The landscaping will stretch from Grand Boulevard to Ridge Road and will include clusters of greenery on two "triangles" in the median, Grae said.

"It's going to look beautiful. She [Moore] really has an eye for it," the vice mayor said.

The forlorn strip of yellowing grass is long overdue for a facelift, she said.

And that's just for starters.

The U.S. 19 project is part of a broader effort by city officials - working with an Orlando-based architectural firm - to define the soul of this city, carved out of the wilderness by citrus farmers and cattle ranchers more than a century ago.

"We've got a blank canvas to work with," City Manager Jerry Calhoun said. "We can be Key West-style or Mediterranean-style. We have a range of possibilities to explore."

Known for its retail stores and outlets, Port Richey often is mistaken by tourists and even area residents for its larger and more populous neighbor, New Port Richey.

A lack of signs leaves some guessing where one begins and the other ends.

Unlike New Port Richey - which has an old-style Main Street with historic buildings, wide sidewalks and picture-window storefronts - Port Richey has never had a downtown.

Calhoun said the lack of a defined center can work to the city's advantage.

"The one good thing about not having a downtown is we're starting from scratch and can create whatever we want," he said. "We don't have to build around it."

Possibilities for redevelopment are endless, he said.

The civic heart of Port Richey has always been difficult to identify. Some say it's west of U.S. 19, near the mouth of the Pithlachascotee River. Others say it's Ridge Road, where city hall is flanked by gun and pawn shops and liquor stores.

This search for identity is complicated in a city where folks are more likely to run into friends and neighbors at the Wal-Mart Supercenter or Gulf View Square mall.

In the early days, when Port Richey was little more than an expanse of family farms and sandy roads, most thought of New Port Richey as downtown.

Now, the "Little City by the River" finds itself trying to shatter its image as a retail rest stop for motorists bound for somewhere else.

To accomplish that, city officials have enlisted landscape architects and designers from Bellomo-Herbert and Co. Inc.

Redeveloping the waterfront overlay district will be a challenge.

"That's where we'll definitely need some help," Grae said. "Personally, I'd like to take a bulldozer, knock it all down and start over. It looks like a shantytown."

Christian M. Wade can be reached at (727) 815-1082.

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Project to add water to aquifer

The county will create underground storage for rainy season runoff from Lake Tarpon to later go for landscape watering.

By THERESA BLACKWELL, Times Staff Writer
Published May 30, 2006

EAST LAKE - Uncorking three wells in the Brooker Creek Preserve is not the only idea Pinellas County has for increasing the supply of water available to irrigate the landscape.

A few miles west of the preserve, another innovative water supply project is under way just south of Brooker Creek in John Chesnut Sr. Park.

Pinellas County Utilities has received a permit to create an underground reservoir for water that would otherwise flow from Lake Tarpon into Tampa Bay during the rainy season.

Instead of spilling over the flood control gate into the Lake Tarpon Outfall Canal, the water would be diverted for storage. It would be treated and injected 225 to 320 feet below ground and float like a bubble in the brackish surrounding water.

Then, in dry times, the water would be withdrawn to irrigate yards.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection issued a permit for the subterranean reservoir, known as an aquifer storage and recovery project.

The county will build a full-scale demonstration project over the summer, said Pick Talley, county utilities director, and start testing. Then officials should know how much water can be stored and pulled back out during a drought, he said. They are hoping to recover 1-million gallons per day of a suitable salinity for watering plants.

"It will allow us to expand the reclaimed water system," said Talley. "The more reclaimed water you use, the less potable water you use."

Talley said the project was suggested by the Southwest Florida Water Management District, also known as Swiftmud.

"We get 60 percent of our rainfall between June and September," Swiftmud spokesman Michael Molligan said. "If you can find ways to capture that water and store it for later use, that's beneficial for everyone."

Funding for the project totals about $3.3-million, he said. That includes about $1.5-million each from Swiftmud and the county, and a state grant of $340,000.

Swiftmud, the Department of Environmental Protection and others will be reviewing test results. Molligan said no adverse impact will be allowed.

St. Petersburg has a somewhat similar project in testing. But the water the city is storing there is reclaimed from treated effluent.

One concern officials have, St. Petersburg Water Resources director Patti Anderson said, is whether the reclaimed water stored underground will mix too much with the brackish water that surrounds it. If so, she said, "it might not be suitable for landscape."

Largo looked at aquifer storage recovery and decided against it, said Assistant City Manager Norton Craig.

"We have 18-million gallons of storage space in three tanks (for reclaimed water)," he said. "It's meeting our needs for now."

Clearwater has tested the feasibility of aquifer storage and recovery at its northeast plant, but test results showed the salinity of the water underground was not suitable. Andy Neff, Clearwater's public utilities director, said officials probably won't do any further testing at other sites for now.

The county also is moving toward an aquifer storage project at the South Cross Bayou water reclamation facility on 54th Avenue N in St. Petersburg. The permit application has not been submitted yet.

Initial testing in John Chesnut Sr. Park looked good, officials said, so they are going ahead.

"The estimated seasonal storage capacity is between 60- and 120-million gallons a year," said Dave Slonena, county hydrogeology manager.

The water will be filtered and then disinfected with a technology new to the county. Ultraviolet light from fluorescent bulbs will kill bacteria and pathogens, he said, before the water is injected underground.

If the East Lake well can provide 1-million gallons a day when needed, officials said, the county may seek permits to triple the program with two more wells.

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Gators and Sharks Are Overrated

By NATHAN CRABBE
New York Times Regional Newspapers

GAINESVILLE -- Fatal alligator and shark attacks have been big news in Florida during the past few years.

But there's an animal 300 times more dangerous, despite its innocent face and bushy white tail.

There's an average of 130 fatal vehicle collisions with deer in the United States each year, according to statistics kept by the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville.

By comparison, on average, there was less than one shark attack and one gator attack per year during the 1990s.

George Burgess, director of the shark file, said he keeps such statistics to put shark attacks in perspective. He said recent fevered news media coverage of three fatal gator attacks reminded him of fatal shark attacks getting blown out of proportion in years past.

"It's really nice to see an animal other than sharks get abused for a change," he said.

Experts say humans have little to fear from most wildlife. There have been no reported fatal bear attacks in Florida and no reports of wildlife bites giving Florida residents a fatal case of rabies in decades. Just six of the 49 species of snakes in Florida are venomous and potentially deadly.

"People tend to blow things up and think they're going to get killed, but it doesn't happen that often," said Anni Bladh, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's nuisance-animal biologist for the region.

Bladh said most of the calls she gets are from people who spot raccoons in daylight and think they're rabid.

Alachua County has treated nine people for rabies this year and 38 last year after they were bitten by raccoons and other animals, said Paul Myers, director of environmental health for the county.

But the effectiveness of those treatments and widespread vaccination of pets has virtually eliminated rabies deaths in people, he said.

"The cases are sporadic across the United States," he said.

People have even less to fear from Florida's black bears, said Walter McCown, a biologist with the wildlife commission who studies the animals. Bears are very shy and have never attacked someone unprovoked in this state, he said.

He said people should keep food inside to prevent bears from being attracted to their homes, but shouldn't worry about fatal bear attacks.

"Dogs regularly kill people, and we tend to accept that risk," he said.

Snakes are another story. About 150 people are bitten by snakes in Florida each year and, on average, one of those bites results in death, according to the wildlife commission.

Last year, Putnam County Fire Marshal Joe Guidry shot a diamondback rattlesnake that a neighbor found while mowing the grass. He tried to grab the wounded snake and was bitten in the hand, later dying from the venom at Shands Hospital at the University of Florida.

Snakes and other wildlife generally won't attack unless scared, said Mark Hostetler, a wildlife ecology professor at UF. People need to better understand how to interact with wildlife, he said.

Most problems are caused by people feeding animals and reducing their fear of humans, he said. As more land is developed, he said people will have more encounters with wildlife. But their only frame of reference on how to react is what they've seen on television.

"I call it the Discovery Channel effect," he said.

Burgess said people should understand that wild animals will act wild. But he said time would be better spent worrying about stopping attacks from something much more dangerous.

"The No. 1 animal that kills humans are other humans," he said. "We don't seem to be as concerned about that."

Nathan Crabbe writes for The Gainesville Sun.

Killing of gators robs us of things that make Florida special

Letter to the Editor
Published May 30, 2006

Re: The gator terminator, May 27.

I was sickened to read about the methods used by trapper Mickey Fagan in killing the "nuisance" gators. The photo of those six dead gators made me very sad.

I have seen the "lynch mob mentality" and macho posturing of the local men that surrounds these gator captures - lots of laughing and crude remarks. It seems to bring out the worst in people.

I have been told to "get a life" because I was not in favor of the capture. I tried to educate my neighbors by distributing the brochure from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on "Living with Alligators." I even wrote an article in the local newsletter advising people to keep their dogs on a leash, to not let pets go down to the water's edge, and to not feed the gators, etc. Some took the brochure others refused - they "already knew all about gators."

The situation seems hopeless, like a scene from a Carl Hiaasen novel, where the people won't be happy or feel safe until all of Florida is sanitized and paved over, stripped of every feature and creature that once attracted us to this beautiful state.

Donna L. Doucette, Pinellas Park

Keep gators out of human habitat

Recently the Times offered supportive comments regarding the protection and proper use of the Brooker Creek Preserve in Pinellas County. With statements like "assure the preservation ... of the native plant communities and wildlife," and "nonintrusive human access," the Times made it clear that this 8,500-acre preserve is, by and large, off limits to human use.

Certainly showing respect and stewardship of our natural resources is a prudent course, but somehow this mind-set must also apply in reverse.

Why are so many Floridians subjected to living in the proximity of dangerous wild animals such as alligators? Honestly, the state and nation at large have gone cuckoo to allow environmental advocates to remotely suggest that alligators should in any way be allowed into human communities. That we should live with them side-by-side and respect their diverse habitat needs is simply environmentalist hokum.

The alligator attacks of recent weeks are intolerable. These dangerous wild animals should be either relocated to the Everglades or removed from human communities.

If Brooker Creek is not intended for human access, as the Times advocates, then Florida's established human communities must be off limits to deadly, wild alligators. How could rational people accept anything less?

Richard K. Lumpkin, Tampa 

Educate yourself about wildlife

Re: The gator terminator, May 27.

Florida has lots of lakes. People like living in houses on lakes. Alligators live in lakes. If you have children or pets and you want to live on a lake in Florida, it is your choice.

If you do make that choice, it is also your responsibility to educate yourself about these reptiles that have been a natural part of Florida long before humans showed up. If you feel threatened by them, then don't buy a house on a lake.

With the rampant development in this state, the alligators don't have many places to go where they won't be in contact with humans. It is amazing how selfish people have become when it comes to wildlife in Florida. I don't care if you didn't have them up north - we have them here so deal with it!

Rick Johnson, Lithia 

Gator hunter needs a change of heart

My name is Natalia Hall and I am a 10-year-old kid. I am going to express my feelings about The gator terminator. I love animals and would never even think about killing, putting them into any danger or hurting them.

I think the process in which he kills the animals is - it is so bad I can't explain it. I mean he goes to the lake, puts out bait and kills them. He doesn't even know if he has the right alligator because there is more than one alligator in a lake.

Before we know it, alligators are going to be extinct in some places because of the "big bad gator terminator." I think he should have a change of heart.

Natalia Hall, Dunedin 

Preserve nature, don't kill it

I just wanted to write a letter concerning the article about the alligator trapper. I was disgusted to see the dead animals (and one on the way to die) in the paper.

The alligators are only becoming a problem because of ignorant people feeding them and trying to get close to them. They are naturally scared of us and tend to stay in their own element, but now they have no choice because they have houses being built in all of their back yards.

I understand that these homes need to be built, but there is a fix to this problem: Don't bother them, they won't bother you! This is insane to go around killing these poor things when they were here so long before us.

Instead of killing nature, let's try preserving it.

Kristen McCutcheon, New Port Richey 

Accept Florida, or leave

Re: The gator terminator.

Those who move to our state and complain about the wildlife, the insects, the heat and humidity need to return to their state of origin.

We "Floridians" will be grateful for the quiet. And the alligators can continue to sun on the banks in peace.

Glenda Pittman, St. Petersburg 

Green spaces should be preserved

Re: Pump out a nature preserve for golf? That's Pinellas, May 25.

I want to thank Howard Troxler for writing about this issue. Unfortunately, I must agree with his assessment that "that's Pinellas.''

I live in the East Lake Woodlands community and am a member of the golf course club that would "benefit" from the Brooker Creek water. I am appalled that this has even been raised as a reasonable solution.

I will sign a petition, be involved with any citizens' group that is willing to take a stand against this lack of vision by our government and the "public" utility that purports to represent the people of this county.

Brooker Creek is far more important to the citizens of Pinellas than a green golf course. Please keep this issue in front of the public. Please publish any county government e-mail addresses that we should be voicing our opinions to. Any public leaders that should be involved in this issue, please take a stand now. We need you now more than ever to save our green space in this county, and I am not referring to golf courses.

The generations that follow are depending on us.

Kay Warring, Oldsmar

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SUBHED

The cozy Coconut Grove cottage where the late Marjory Stoneman Douglas, guardian of the Everglades and American icon, lived for most of her life looks shabby these days.

A pile of cracked cedar shingles sits near the front steps. A shredded blue roof tarp exposes torn tar paper. Water stains run from the vaulted ceiling down the back wall of the interior great room. Douglas' antique Spanish desk and most of the furniture is gone.

The 1926 bungalow has fallen into such sorry shape that the state has quietly moved to strip management from Sallye Jude, a prominent Miami preservationist. Her plan -- to turn the house and an adjacent lot into a museum compound -- ran afoul of neighbors.

Eva Armstrong, director of the Florida Division of State Lands, said her office is committed to preserving the home of Florida's most celebrated environmentalist, who died in 1998 at age 108 -- only not where Douglas built it in the south Grove.

''It's just not right to treat this historic property this way,'' Armstrong said.

'We want to put it some place where it will be cherished the way we want this residence of Mrs. Douglas' to be cherished.''

Armstrong said a long, nasty, seemingly unresolvable feud -- involving Jude, neighbors and the environmental group Douglas founded -- has all but forced a transplant of the home where Douglas wrote The Everglades: River of Grass, the 1947 book that persuaded the country that a swamp called the Everglades was worth making a national park.

POSSIBLE SITES

One possibility is Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden -- though Armstrong said a possible request for a $2 million endowment appears too steep.

Another, which emerged only in the last weeks, is at a county park, probably in rural South Miami-Dade.

''It's very unfortunate,'' Armstrong said. ``It's always preferable to leave a historic structure where it is, but in this case it's not looking tenable.''

Moving the cottage, nestled in the shade of a mahogany tree off a winding narrow road lined with expensive homes, has received grudging support.

''I stood at Marjory's front door one day and I thought this isn't the neighborhood Marjory loved anymore,'' said Jude, who first floated the Fairchild idea last year.

Juanita Greene, conservation chair of the Friends of the Everglades, Douglas' environmental group, has mixed feelings.

She would prefer the house stay in its natural habitat, but also wants a place where the public can appreciate Douglas' legacy -- without being charged to do it, a problem she has with Fairchild.

'Why should we get rid of a public treasure like Marjory Stoneman Douglas' house and give it to a private entity?'' she said.

DISPUTE RAGES ON

The probable move has not ended the bickering.

Neighbors and members of the Friends of the Everglades blame the home's long years in limbo on both Jude, president of the Land Trust of Dade County, a nonprofit that has controlled the property under a state lease since 1999, and on the land managers in Tallahassee for lax oversight.

John Freud, an attorney who lives next door to the Douglas home and has been Jude's most persistent neighborhood critic, declined to discuss the dispute.

But in a series of e-mails to the state Deparment of Environmental Regulation since 2005, he lambasted the state for ''turning a deaf ear and blind eye to the situation down here'' and repeatedly pressed to have Jude's control terminated.

Over the years, neighbors have complained about lousy landscaping, shoddy maintenance and infestations of bees and rats.

They've accused Jude of refusing to turn over financial forms or hold meetings ordered by the state and assorted other trangressions.

Mainly, they're suspicious the trust never abandoned the original proposal to build a museum and two-story building with offices and lodging for researchers on property it purchased next door in 1993 -- a plan neighbors say threatens the enclave's quiet character.

FRUSTRATION

Last year, Freud wrote that Jude -- who received a Florida Heritage Award for her decades of preservation efforts, from saving the Old Capitol in Tallahassee to restoring the Miami River Inn -- ``wants nothing more than to exploit Marjory's iconic stature for her own personal gain and so-called reputation for historic preservation.''

Members of The Friends of Everglades are less harsh, but equally frustrated.

Greene, a friend of Douglas', said she was most upset with the state for letting the dispute fester and the home deteriorate.

In 2003, the group proposed taking over and coming up with a plan that would not disturb neighbors.

''We never heard a thing back,'' Greene said.

David Reiner, a Miami attorney who is the group's president, said he was drafting a lawsuit against the state and the trust for neglecting the structure and failing to open a historic site to the public.

Personality conflicts made mediation efforts over the years fruitless, he said. ``We got absolutely nowhere. It was very bitter.''

Jude said she found the ''inflammatory'' accusations ``very disturbing.''

But she defended her efforts on behalf of a woman she considered a friend, saying Douglas had personally requested a small museum. The trust had pledged only limited access -- no more than 20 visitors a day, four days a week, she said.

The controversy, she said, had only undermined fundraising efforts that might have sped up the work.

As for the home's condition, she called critics clueless.

''These people know nothing about what they're talking about,'' she said. ``They just talk. Maybe they need to get some facts.''

The home underwent a $25,000 facelift in 2001, including inserting steel beams to shore up its sagging floor, replacing rotting wood and making other fixes. Douglas' furniture, she said, was moved to air-conditioned storage for protection until the home was eventually opened to visitors.

Jude acknowledged that hurricanes Katrina and Wilma damaged the roof, but said the trust was holding off on repairs because of a possible move.

''When you're going to move a house, you don't put a new roof on it,'' she said. ``Once that patch is on the roof, the house is as sound as it ever was.''

Thomas Matkov, a Miami attorney who is vice president of the land trust, echoed Jude, saying conflicts with neighbors have hamstrung efforts and the home, until last year's hurricanes, was in better shape than when Douglas lived in it.

Armstrong, the state lands director, said the trust had made earnest efforts, but failed to keep the place up in the end.

''I believe the management of that very old, quite frankly delicate historic structure was more than they bargained for,'' Armstrong said.

The trust's lease will be terminated soon, said DEP spokeswoman Sarah Williams.

When and where the home might be transplanted remains uncertain -- as does the cost of moving and repairing it.

That could easily run into the hundreds of thousands and given the narrow Grove streets, require cutting up the cottage and moving it in pieces.

''I've heard estimates that you couldn't move it unless you disassembled it,'' said Fairchild board chairman Bruce Greer. ``I've heard it could only be moved by helicopters. I've heard it would have to be moved on a barge.''

PIECE OF HISTORY

Greer said he agreed to consider a request from Jude to accept the house for Fairchild because it is an important piece of history at risk, one that could become a valuable educational tool for children.

He said he was unaware of any $2 million endowment request and expected the garden would have to raise funds to support it. But Greer said he did not want Fairchild to be drawn into the long dispute.

''So long as everyone is happy and we can be the solution, fine,'' he said. ``Otherwise, count me out.''

Building Plan Hinges On Traffic Rating

By Tom Palmer
The Ledger

BARTOW -- County road planners are working on a proposal to ensure traffic backups on U.S. 27 and Interstate 4 in the Four Corners area won't trigger building moratoriums.

The plan, which was approved by the County Commission on May 10, is to petition the Florida Department of Transportation to lower the standard for what's acceptable traffic flow in this busy area, said Tom Deardorff, director of the Transportation Planning Organization.

Traffic flow on roads is rated by a system known as level of service, or LOS.

The LOS system ranges from A, which is free-flowing traffic with no interruptions to F, which is gridlock.

DOT's current standard for these highway sections is LOS C. County officials want to lower the standard to LOS D.

Deardorff told commissioners the DOT has lowered the standards for sections of Interstate 4 in the Tampa and Orlando area to reflect the reality of urban traffic congestion there.

He said it doesn't make any sense to treat Polk County differently because a lot of the traffic volume in Polk is the result of traffic from the Tampa and Orlando areas traveling through Polk County.

"More than 50 percent of the traffic is through traffic," Deardorff said.

Affected by the proposal would be the section of U.S. 27 between County Road 547 and the Lake County line and I-4 between County Road 557 and the Osceola County line.

Polk's proposal is under study, but there's no timeline for when state transportation officials will have an answer, said Ben Walker, intermodal systems development manager in DOT's Bartow office.

He said there are a number of factors to consider.

Walker said DOT's main concern is maintaining traffic flow on U.S. 27.

"That's supposed to be a high-speed, intrastate transportation corridor," Walker said, explaining that allowing it to become seriously congested would affect movement of traffic and freight.

Walker said some points DOT analysts will consider include whether Polk's projected growth rate used to justify the request is realistic and whether the new roads Polk officials are planning in the Four Corners area can be built in a timely manner.

The requirements of Florida's growth law is behind Polk's request.

Under the law, new development cannot occur unless traffic flow matches the adopted standards for roads affected by the development.

With a lower standard, development could continue longer without triggering the need to widen U.S. 27. I-4 was recently widened.

Deardorff said avoiding an interruption in development of the area is a key part of the plan involving an alternative road network.

Planned new roads are:

•  Ernie Caldwell Boulevard between U.S. 27 and U.S. 17-92;

•  Pine Tree Trail between County Road 54 and Ernie Caldwell Boulevard;

•  The North Ridge Trail (formerly the Green Swamp Trail), a new north-south road west of U.S. 27;

•  Westside Boulevard, a new north-south road planned from I-4 to the Osceola County line east of U.S. 27 to connect to a north-side road in Osceola County.

These roads are intended to steer local traffic off U.S. 27 and I-4.

Polk County officials fear a moratorium because the main source of money to finance those new roads is the North Ridge Community Redevelopment Agency. This agency's budget relies on growth-related tax revenue.

"If we have a development moratorium, the amount of revenue the CRA needs to collect to build those projects won't be collected," Deardorff said.

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

 

Homeowners despair as insurers refuse to pay

Debate over coverage stalls efforts to rebuild and may land in court

BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. -- Angry messages spray-painted on jagged pieces of scrap plywood line Beach Boulevard, where families lived and vacationed for generations before Hurricane Katrina.

"State Farm screw U2?"

"State Farm's mediation is a hoax."

And this one, from a congressman:

"Katrina: Act of God. State Farm: Work of the devil."

Nine months after Katrina's record-setting storm surge destroyed some of the most desirable real estate on the Gulf Coast, the signs are a clear signal that people here are losing hope of ever being made whole again.

Private insurer losses for Katrina are estimated at $40 billion to $60 billion, making it the costliest catastrophe in U.S. history and renewing debates about the insurance industry's ability to pay for such losses.

But that discussion means little in Bay St. Louis, where hundreds of homeowners have learned that if your home is destroyed by a hurricane's storm surge, your hurricane insurance policies might be useless. The scenario serves as a sobering wake-up call for Southwest Florida homeowners who think their flood and wind policies will safeguard their investments in the event of a catastrophic storm.

Joe De Benvenutti and his wife, for example, thought they had done everything to protect their dream home: They had $250,000 in flood coverage -- the maximum allowed by the federal insurance program -- and a "total replacement value" hurricane policy through State Farm.

The flood program paid out.

But State Farm has refused to pay on the grounds that Katrina's 30-foot storm surge -- not its 140 mph winds -- wiped out their home and the damage isn't covered by their policy. With a home valued at nearly $700,000, the flood payout doesn't come close to replacing all the Benvenuttis lost.

"We're not sitting here wanting a handout," says Benvenutti, whose strapping physique even at 53 gives away the glory of his youth when he played football at Ole Miss. "We don't want anything extra. We just want what we paid for."

It is unclear how many Floridians could be in the same situation: living on the water with flood and wind policies that they think will cover their losses. But State Farm alone insures nearly 250,000 Floridians who also have flood protection.

And that's not counting the thousands who don't have flood insurance at all, like Anne Herre of Venice.

Her home sits about 1,000 feet from the Gulf of Mexico, and she has a hurricane policy through Amica Insurance Company. But, as post-Katrina Mississippi is proving, there is no guarantee she would ever see a penny from that policy if a hurricane packing 15 feet or more of storm surge rips through the area.

In a home valued at more than half a million dollars, according to the county property appraiser, Herre nonetheless feels secure: The elevation of her lot is 12 feet, she has hurricane shutters, and Venice hasn't been directly hit by a hurricane in decades.

"For some reason, it always seems to go north or south of here," Herre said. "We're in this little pocket."

A looming court battle

Homeowners in Mississippi aren't giving up without a fight.

Richard Scruggs, the billionaire Oxford-based attorney who beat the tobacco industry, has filed class-action suits on behalf of hundreds of policyholders against State Farm, Nationwide, Allstate and United Services Automobile Association.

Among those represented by Scruggs is U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, whose home in Pascagoula was destroyed, and Congressman Gene Taylor, Benvenutti's neighbor on Beach Boulevard. Lott and Taylor are State Farm customers.

A spokesman for State Farm called the lawsuit unfounded, saying State Farm's hurricane policies clearly exclude water damage.

"The flood exclusion is valid and legal," Fraser Engerman said. "We want people to read their policies and know what is covered. We can't pay people for things that are not covered."

The court fight promises to be a nasty one, with an attorney no stranger to taking on and beating corporate giants on one side, and on the other the insurance industry, which has paid out more than $82 billion in claims from the past two hurricane seasons, believing it is fighting for its survival.

Bill Bailey, managing director of the Hurricane Insurance Information Center, told the crowd gathered at the National Hurricane Conference in Orlando last month that an unfavorable court ruling could "break the industry."

Already, insurance companies have significantly reduced their coverage in high-risk markets such as coastal Florida. Some companies are leaving certain areas altogether. Allstate, for instance, is pulling out of Alaska because of the risk of earthquakes.

Bailey expects a new marketplace of high-end, high-risk insurance carriers to emerge into the void left behind by industry heavyweights such as State Farm, Nationwide and Allstate.

"It will take some time, but there will be an acceptance on a certain price level," Bailey said. "Granted, it will be higher, but if you move to Florida and build a $7 million house on the water, it shouldn't be a surprise to you. You'll have a hell of a time claiming you had no recognition of the possibility of water damage when you moved here. But it will be costly."

Taking a punch

The future of the insurance industry is of little consequence right now to the homeowners who lived within walking distance of the water in Bay St. Louis.

Only a couple of the dozens of homeowners who live along the water are rebuilding; everyone else is spending day after day in their FEMA trailers, still trying to figure out their next move.

FEMA only adds to the pressure: The agency will start charging people $600 per month for their trailers in just nine months, which is likely not enough time for people to settle their disputes and build anew.

Not even congressmen are immune from the frustration. Rep. Taylor, a Democrat, joined the Scruggs lawsuit after State Farm denied his claim on his 2,500-square-foot Beach Boulevard home.

Taylor has asked for the inspector general of the Homeland Security Department to investigate whether the insurance industry's denial of claims shifted its costs onto federal taxpayers. He also is one of the leading proponents of revamping the federal flood insurance program, legislation that is expected to hit the House floor this week.

When he does rebuild, Taylor says his new home will be one-third the size of his old one. He hears the same story from many folks here.

"You're not seeing people want to stick their neck out to build a large house again," Taylor said. "You want to get back on your property, but there's not much money. And the insurance company, they screwed you once, and we'll all get another carrier, but we don't have a heck of a lot more confidence in the next company. You know, I got punched pretty hard, so do I want to get punched that hard again?

"And a lot are just sitting back because they're still in shock."

Taylor's neighbor and friend Benvenutti doesn't want to sue, because that will only delay his rebuilding. So he's still sending letters to State Farm, trying to convince the company that his hurricane policy entitles him to a payout.

So far, he hasn't even been able to get State Farm to send an engineer out to inspect his property. "Their response to me has been to get lost," Benvenutti said.

For Benvenutti, as for many others, the frustration of the past nine months has been worse than the gut-wrenching sadness that overwhelmed them after Katrina.

"You get over that (initial) feeling, but then you're not able to get on with your life," says Benvenutti, a father of three. "I can't explain the frustration of trying to go to work and raise a family and not getting from point A to point B.

"We're just stagnant -- living in this trailer where we used to have a life."

 

A bone to pick

By KYLE MARTIN
kmartin@hernandotoday.com


Traffic jams and taxes are common complaints in a growing county.

But there’s something more than millage rates surfacing in Hernando County: bones.

As development pushes into new territory, construction workers are more frequently stumbling across the occasional femur or vertebrae, according to Tim Whitfield, director of forensic sciences with the sheriff’s office.

Most turn out to be animal remains.

Human remains are rare, but Whitfield says it’s only a matter of time. “This county is live with new subdivisions,” he said. “I fully anticipate it will happen.”

When a bone or skeleton is found, the area is immediately cordoned off and designated a crime scene. Work comes to a halt while forensic specialists collect the evidence.

Experienced deputies can usually distinguish animal bones from human judging by size and shape.

Regardless, all recovered bones are shipped off to the medical examiner’s office in Leesburg for an official designation. “We don’t consider ourselves the experts,” Whitfield said.

The medical examiner uses the same approach as Douglas Owsley, division head for physical anthropology at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Owsley splits his time between archeological digs in Virginia’s old colonial towns and testifying as an expert witness.

Whitfield has used Owsley’s trained eye on several occasions to determine the origin of a Hernando County skeleton. It’s happened enough times for Owsley to jokingly dub the area “Skeleton Capital of the World.”

Owsley’s lab can determine the basics of the deceased such as sex, age and ethnicity. But their tests also show the amount of muscle mass on an individual, childhood illnesses and even track down living relatives. “It’s a very personal look,” Owsley said. “Their legacy is written in bone.”

The Nature Coast’s sandy soil and good drainage puts it in an ideal situation for bone preservation, according to Owsley.

Back in Hernando County, the medical examiner’s opinion will determine the next step. If the bones are dated later than circa 1910, the cold case detective takes over.

That’s generally rare. Whitfield has handled 10 cases in a five year period.

The evidence could be the missing link in a homicide case or turn out to be someone who disappeared during hunting trip, Whitfield said. Sometimes the remains stay a mystery.

There are less sinister sources of buried skeletons. Seminole Indians left pockets of burial grounds all over the county, according to W. Paul Sullivan Jr., a retired Florida history teacher.

Sullivan also cites an influx of settlers in the area after the introduction of the Armed Occupation Act of 1842. As they prospered and multiplied, the dead were interred on their spread.

Even if a gravestone or marker was left behind, they crumbled over the decades and were lost. Now as subdivisions continue to sprout in Hernando County, more sites are becoming vulnerable, Sullivan said. One old bone yard is believed to be under the lanes of U.S. 19.

Sullivan and his colleagues are hoping to restart the historic commission in Hernando County. One of their goals will be the preservation of historic graveyards. “As Hernando County explodes you don’t want to lose these places.”

Reporter Kyle Martin can be reached at (352) 544-5271. 

Repeat Hurricanes Damaging Environment

By BRIAN SKOLOFF
The Associated Press

Pelican Shoal has never been much of an island -- a quarteracre patch of sand, bleached white coral and scrub seemingly adrift in crystal clear waters seven miles southeast of Key West.

But it was one of two places in Florida where the threatened roseate tern flew once a year from the Caribbean and South America to breed. Now, after two years of pounding hurricanes, it's under water.

Using decoys and recorded sounds, scientists are trying to lure the birds, which typically come in May, to an island in Dry Tortugas National Park. That's 70 miles away.

"The type of habitat they require for nesting is very limited in the state. Now they really don't have many places to nest, if any at all," said Ricardo Zambrano, a biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The tern's fate is one example of how repeated hurricanes not only displace people, but destroy wildlife habitat, kill plant life and rearrange coastal environments that have for centuries served as natural barriers.

Last year's Atlantic hurricane season was the busiest since record-keeping began in 1851. The season included 27 named storms with 15 hurricanes, seven of which were Category 3 or higher, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Category 4 Hurricane Katrina produced the worst devastation on record in Louisiana and Mississippi. Eight hurricanes have hit or had an impact Florida since 2004.

With more severe storms predicted to come more often, nature is in for a series of debilitating blows the likes of which it hasn't endured in generations. Its ability to recover will be put to the test.

Throughout the Gulf Coast from Texas to Florida, barrier islands were battered by wind and waves, leaving many fragmented and submerged.

The Chandeleur Islands off Louisiana's coast were stripped clean in Katrina, submerging much of the 40-mile long uninhabited chain and leaving the mainland more vulnerable in the coming hurricane season.

"It takes a long time for these dunes to re-establish naturally, so the next storm that comes along will have an easier job overtopping the islands and flooding inland areas," said Abby Sallenger, a U.S. Geological Survey oceanographer.

Louisiana had already been losing coastal wetlands at a rate of about 25 square miles a year, scientists say. It's estimated that Katrina caused a loss of 118 square miles of wetland marshes.

"What potentially could happen if you take away the barrier islands, the wetlands could even disappear faster," Sallenger said. "The marsh itself will just disintegrate and it supports an incredibly rich ecosystem."

On Florida's Atlantic Coast, hurricanes Frances and Jeanne delivered back-to-back blows in September 2004, eroding sand dunes and filling wetlands with sediment. In some places, mangrove roots are suffocating in silt as the repeated storms pile more sand and dirt around their bases.

"If you have a series of storms coming through and the return time becomes substantially less, you have all these cumulative impacts that affect the rate of recovery," said Ed Proffitt, a Florida Atlantic University biologist. "Whether the plants survive in the long run remains to be seen. It might take them a few years to die."

Thomas Doyle, a USGS environmental scientist, said it's too soon to tell how back-to-back hurricanes could begin affecting nature's ability to recover, adding that it "needs more scientific attention and scrutiny."

"Over the next hundred years, sea levels will rise, sea surface temperatures will rise, and it will potentially move more storms into hurricane status," Doyle said. "A lot of coastal forests, when they get knocked down, are being replaced by exotic species," reducing habitat for migratory birds.

"How it will impact them building energy for trans-Gulf flights, we just don't know yet," Doyle said. "We might see there's a significant pattern of decline in what comes back next season."

Coastal changes are inevitable in the coming years, but repeated blows could mean massive alterations.

"These hurricanes are just taking big chunks of our landscape," Doyle said.

"It could eventually be the threshold that tips the bucket and leads freshwater systems to become brackish . . . and the whole system kind of collapses," Doyle added. "We now have this game board set with certain things in place and in combination with more frequent hurricanes, it can aggravate the situation in terms of sustainability in our social, agricultural and natural systems."

In Florida, where the Everglades has become a managed network of canals and levees, scientists are facing the daunting task of managing more water from frequent storms to keep developed areas from flooding and to cleanse agricultural runoff of fertilizers and pesticides before it bleeds into surrounding wetlands.

"Historically, the system expanded and contracted naturally," said Susan Sylvester, a director with the South Florida Water Management District.

Repeated storms batter the district's manmade marsh filter systems that cleanse pollutants before the water pushes south into the Everglades.

"I view the (marshes) as these really fragile kidneys," Sylvester said. "Those things are being taken off-line by having so much damage to vegetation . . . You're overloading the system, and you've got to give it time to recover.

"Nobody anticipated the kind of damage we've seen from the hurricanes and the wind," she added.

The Nature of Things

Butterflies a Beautiful Experience in Exhibit

By Tom Palmer
tom.palmer@theledger.com

I finally visited the Butterfly Rainforest at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville recently.

I didn't have a camera with me. What was I thinking?

In case you haven't heard about this place, the Butterfly Rainforest is a large greenhouse with a 60-foot ceiling that is landscaped with tropical plants and traversed by a rocky stream, complete with a small waterfall.

Flying from flower to flower and basking on the rocks, leaves and the clothing of the visitors are colorful tropical butterflies and a few of Florida's colorful species, including the zebra heliconian, the state butterfly.

On the most superficial level this is an exhibit of pretty things.

The purpose behind the exhibit, which is part of the museum's McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, is more serious.

One clue is on the wall outside the exhibit.

There on display are butterfly and moth specimens from all over the world, providing a glimpse of the diversity in this single order in the insect world.

Lepidoptera is the order that includes butterflies and moths. The name, which combines words from Latin and Greek, means "scale wing." That refers to the fact that the design on a butterfly's wing is made up of many tiny scales of different colors.

These scales sometimes are worn off as butterflies age, which is what accounts for the fact that sometimes you may see a butterfly with faded coloring on its wings.

The exhibit's focus on the tropics concerns the great amount of biodiversity found there.

According to one of the educational exhibits, scientists have found 1,863 species of butterflies in one square mile of a section of Brazil's rain forest. There are only 750 species of butterflies in the entire United States, and only 180 species in Florida, if you include strays from outside the state.

When you include moths, the number increases dramatically.

There are 2,743 known species of moths in Florida.

I say known because scientists are still discovering new species of moths, even in North America. Moths are harder to find because they are smaller, nocturnal and in many cases are not as colorful as butterflies.

Additionally, there is a limited number of scientists involved in that aspect of entomology, so in many cases new species remain undiscovered because no one's actively looking for them.

Back to the Butterfly Rainforest.

One thing that may be striking to people who have not done much butterfly watching is the difference between the design you see when a butterfly's wings are open and when they're closed.

The blue morpho is a good example. When its wings are open, you see iridescent blue. When its wings are closed, you see a brown pattern of eyes and spots.

How did I know it was a blue morpho, you might ask?

At the entrance of the Butterfly Rainforest is a stack of laminated plastic folders that include photos identifying many of the butterflies and plants you'll see during your tour.

One of the highlights of the visit was the release of new butterflies by some of the staff.

On a typical day, there are 2,000 butterflies flying around inside.

The height of the enclosure was specifically designed to accommodate some forest canopy where some species of butterflies spend their time.

An interesting fact about rain forest ecology is that a completely different set of species inhabits the forest canopy than inhabits the area near the forest's floor.

The museum restocks its supply of butterflies by buying chrysalises, the pupal stage of butterflies, and raising them in one of the labs at the museum.

If you walk past the exhibit of mounted specimens, you can see some of the chrysalises on display through the window.

The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 1 to 5 p.m. on Sundays. Admission to the Butterfly Rainforest is $7.50 for adults, $6.50 for those 62 and older and $4.50 for children 3 to 12. There is a $3 parking fee on weekdays.

The museum is located on the University of Florida campus near the intersection of SW 34th Street and Hull Road. If you're taking I-75, get off at Archer Road, head east and take a left on 34th Street.

The museum has a number of other exhibits that you will certainly enjoy while you're there. For more information, go to www.flmnh.ufl.edu or call 352-846-2000.

One more thing. The museum will host its first-ever Florida Butterfly Festival on Oct. 14 and 15. The event will feature native butterfly exhibits, lectures, field trips and a digital photo contest.

BUTTERFLIES EVERYWHERE

Gainesville's museum isn't the only museum where you can see butterflies or will be able to see them.

I was recently in Washington, D.C., and noticed the United States Botanical Garden is undergoing a renovation that will include a butterfly garden. It is scheduled to open this summer.

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

Write a letter to the editor

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The Florida Times-Union

May 26, 2006

Key panel approves lower standard for pollution discharge in St. Johns

By LOKA ASHWOOD
The Times-Union

The black and white world of science took on hues of gray Thursday as the state Department of Environmental Protection struggled to relay why it was seeking to lower a state standard on pollution discharge into the St. Johns River.

"You have no raw data on what the results would be," said Richard Gragg, one of six Environmental Regulation Commission members at the DEP presentation. "These are all predictions."

The commission, a decision-making group appointed for its expertise on environmental issues, went on to unanimously approve the new standard despite the pleas from a room packed with citizens whose outcries against the proceedings had to be continually silenced.

"You've got the algae out there. What are you going to do, wait until the fish go belly up?" said Odile Gracey, standing before the commission. "Is that your monitoring?"

If the new standard for the lower St. Johns River receives approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, it will replace the current state standard that was established in 1970 and increase legal discharge into the lower St. Johns River by about 1,050,000 pounds of nitrogen, according to draft estimates. Last year toxic algae blooms that covered the St. Johns River in a green blanket fed on nitrogen, which is a byproduct from sewer discharge and a commonly used fertilizer.

"If you still have algae blooms, we'll be back," said commission member Don Ross. "But we've got to set a standard target ... It's going to be tough to make it to the first level."

Nearly half of audience members present stood when the commission chairman asked, at the beginning of the meeting, for those who wanted to speak on the issue. For the 23 speakers who made it through the two-hour graduate-level science lecture by Jerry Brooks, DEP director of water management, they had a three-minute chance to present their side of the story.

"Why don't you give the river more than three minutes," interrupted one audience member, to a chorus of agreement, before Neil Armingeon of environmental group St. Johns Riverkeeper took the floor.

Despite the increase in nitrogen discharge, Brooks said sticking with the 1970 standard would not produce a "measurable benefit." Although there is no science available or direct documentation of what the St. Johns River was like at its natural level, John Hendrickson, an environmental scientist who has studied the river for 20 years with the St. Johns River Water Management district, said the 1970 standard is out-of-date. Hendrickson, who helped provide data to the DEP, said he approves of the new standard.

"Even if there was not a soul in the St. Johns River, I can't imagine it would ever reach the state level," Hendrickson said.

By using a federal study of the Chesapeake Bay in the Virginia Province, a body of water that is similar to the St. Johns River, Brooks said, the DEP was able to compare species and determine that the change in standards is appropriate for the St. Johns River. The species compared in the study represent about 1 percent of those in the St. Johns River, he said.

"We believe these species are representative of the aquatic life in the lower St. Johns River," Brooks said.

When making his presentation, Brooks said the species studied and compared were the most important of all organisms in the St. Johns River because the level of nitrogen and oxygen in the river is most detrimental to their survival. But when specifically asked later if the species were the most sensitive, Brooks retreated.

"As a scientist, we don't know that these are the most sensitive," Brooks said.

The scientific evidence, which was based on the similarities between the St. Johns River and the Chesapeake Bay, was central to his approval of the new standard, said Gragg, a professor at Florida A&M University. But St. Johns River Water Management environmental scientist Robert Burks said he has never seen one body of water like the St. Johns River in his travels of 28 countries.

"The St. Johns is pretty unique," he said.

Representatives for JEA, Georgia Pacific, the Farm Bureau, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and utility authorities gave their approval of the new standard during public comment. It would save JEA $130 million, said the Jacksonville-owned utility's director of environmental permitting, Paul Steinbrecher, in an interview.

"Really, why would we want to lower the standards, especially when we're making progress," said state Sen. Stephen Wise in an interview before the ruling. "It doesn't make any sense. We can't just kill off the river."

Before voting in favor of the new standard, commission members Tracy Chapman and Don Ross voiced concern that their employers may have had past relations with JEA. Also, Chapman's family has one of the biggest citrus farm operations in the state.

The EPA will examine the science used to make the decision, said Joel Hansel, an environmental scientist with the federal agency. Hansel said the science "appeared" to be appropriate and, after a long pause, added he had to be careful and was not in a position to say whether it met EPA standards.

"We're not going to just pack up our tents and say that's it," Armingeon said after the commission's approval. "I'm talking to my lawyers."

loka.ashwoodjacksonville.com, (904) 359-4351  

 

Neighbors warn of congestion

They say that new homes at Wesley Chapel's Northwood development plus a new school would add up to clogged traffic.

By CHUIN-WEI YAP
Published May 26, 2006

DADE CITY - It began as a request at the Development Review Committee on Thursday to raise the height of a proposed multifamily residence on one tract at Wesley Chapel's Northwood development.

But it ended as a heated debate over what neighbors fear would be all-but-guaranteed traffic tieups at Northwood Palms Boulevard, compounded by a proposed 12-acre elementary school to be built just across the road.

The road is currently a dead end running north from County Line Road.

But if the development of Northwood's Tract 12 goes through, the two-lane road would be cut to connect with State Road 56, forming an instant bypass from Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, a shortcut for drivers wanting to get from New Tampa to Interstate 75 and an expected snarl of school buses.

Development review officials unanimously approved the developers' request to raise their 312-unit project's height from 45 feet to 60 feet, allowing them to add another story.

But the real issue hung over the decision.

"To me, the variance request is subjective . . . but that road bothers me," County Administrator John Gallagher said. "If you calculate trips to the school and trips to this (development), what happens to the two-lane road?"

The county staff could not provide an estimate of the expected traffic load.

Eight Northwood residents spoke up, warning of traffic concerns.

"All of Tampa Palms will go through Northwood to (SR) 56 to get to (I-)75," Margaret Sloan said.

"That's going to be a Daytona 500," said Johnnie Giffin.

The issue is likely to resurface when site plans are filed with the committee.

Gallagher has suggested ways to slow traffic down on Northwood Palms Boulevard when it is cut to link with SR 56: roundabouts and landscaping brought close to the road.

Other residents, including Giffin and Linda Stachiewicz, wanted speed tables and high-visibility pedestrian markings.

Chuin-Wei Yap covers growth and development in Pasco County. He can be reached at 813909-4613 or e-mail cyap@sptimes.com

Hammocks Opening To Residents

Published: May 26, 2006

The first residents of Transeastern Homes' 500-unit town house complex could move in to their new homes this week.

Transeastern Vice President Bob Krieff said the South Florida builder has closings scheduled for the Hammocks' first 20 town houses through the end of May.

Transeastern has sold half the units in the complex on County Line Road since the launch in August.

The builder opted to wait before offering the remaining home sites to avoid some of the delays that have plagued other Transeastern developments.

Another reason to wait, Krieff said, is the rising cost of building materials.

The remaining units will be priced higher than the first group, which had an average selling price of $233,000.

Laura Kinsler

It's a peach of a beach

Caladesi Island may have come in No. 2, but most visitors say it's tops. Dr. Beach says, "It's a world away."

By TAMARA EL-KHOURY
Published May 26, 2006

In the spirit of Dr. Beach himself, the Times sent an intrepid reporter and photographer to Caladesi Island to find out what made it the second-best beach in the nation.

In short, Caladesi is everything the rest of Pinellas County is not. It's quiet, private and undeveloped - and you can't get there by car.

True, there are signs warning visitors about rattlesnakes, but Dr. Beach, also known as Florida International University's Dr. Stephen Leatherman, is more wary of stingrays. Yes, he does the shuffle, and it's worth every careful step.

"It's a world away," he said.

* * *

 

Getting to Caladesi Island requires a ferry trip commanded by Capt. Kevin Kelly, 60. He stops for dolphins and cracks jokes.

"Welcome to Caladesi Island, or as Jimmy Buffett would say, Margaritaville," Kelly cracks. "Margaritaville without the margaritas."

The most interesting things happen on this island, said assistant park manager Shawn Yeager, 35, who lives on the barrier island with his wife, the gopher tortoises and the rattlesnakes.

"You never know when you're out here that you're 3 miles from Pinellas County," he said.

The park's staff has friendly wagers on the date of the first loggerhead turtle nest of the year. The park's "Turtle Patrol" discovered the first one Wednesday. Yeager had guessed May 15.

* * *

 

Kelly Wilson, 33, grew up in Tampa. She brought her husband, Tracy Wilson, 36, and son, Zach Wilson, 3, to Caladesi for the first time.

"It's quiet, it's unkempt, it's plain, not commercialized," Kelly Wilson said. "There's still seashells to pick."

* * *

 

Clearwater native Amanda Martinez, 23, brought her boyfriend, Aaron Farmer, 23, of Fort Lauderdale, to experience Caladesi's gorgeous water.

"It's beautiful," said Farmer, a medical student. "You can see through the water and the beach isn't too crowded."

"I call it the local-yokel beach," Martinez said. "It's quieter, it's not like beach blanket on top of beach blanket."

* * *

 

"The funnest thing about this beach is you get to throw mud balls," said Ashley Campbell, 12, of Tarpon Springs.

But Ashley had a hard time throwing anything since she was buried, chest-high, in gooey sand. So was her friend, Sarah Folk, 12, of Dunedin. Sarah's 17-year-old brother, Ryan Folk, was lovingly burying the girls.

Ryan and Sarah's mother, Elvira Folk, 44, waited until the girls were snugly tucked in before going for a swim.

"Okay, Ryan and I are going in the water," she joked.

* * *

 

Some members of the group from Holland had seen an American football before but they were having a little difficulty throwing one.

As for the beach, it got rave reviews among the Dutch.

"In Holland we've got a beach," said Leonne Hanemaaijer, 22. "It's brown. You don't even see the bottom."

Caladesi may be ranked below some beach in Maui, but it's a winner in Martijn Vreeburg's eyes.

"This would have been No. 1 in Holland," said Vreeburg, 27.

Developer donates land parcel to Fire District

By MORGAN C. MOELLER
mmoeller@hernandotoday.com


SPRING HILL — A free offer is hard to pass up — especially when you’re already under fire for spending serious cash.

So when District Chief Kevin Carroll told the Spring Hill Fire Commission Wednesday that they were going to get 1.25 acres of land for next to nothing, they couldn’t have been much happier.

Devco Communities donated the parcel, which is located in phase three of the Sterling Hill community off of Elgin Boulevard in Spring Hill.

The only condition: Spring Hill Fire will assist with any rezoning fees and paving a portion of road if necessary.

“I think we owe them a great deal of thanks,” Commissioner George Biro said. “...this is really going to make a difference to the people out there.”

“It saved our taxpayers thousands and thousands of dollars,” Commissioner Charles Raborn added.

Carroll started searching for available property in that area as part of the fire commission’s effort to anticipate growth and minimize future costs as land and construction prices continue to rise.

He said the property is located in an area that already sees 5 percent of the district’s total calls, and 20 percent of Station 4’s calls.

And the “growth is rampant,” Carroll said.

During the last five years, the total number of calls from that area has increased by 500 each year, he said.

As of Wednesday, the calls were up a little more than 200 from last year’s tally.

“For some reason, that strip of Elgin has become a hot area for car accidents,” Carroll said.

Although the offer is not in writing, Mark Sifford, vice president of Devco Communities, said it’s a sure thing.

“We absolutely want to do it,” he said. “I think we’ve kind of created a need, and it’s a good thing to have there for the future residents.”

Pre-construction work on phase three has not yet begun, however Sifford said he anticipates they will start on the project soon.

Reporter Morgan Moeller can be contacted at (352) 544-5229.

Time running out on hunt for stolen trees

A man is determined to recover the 65 trees that were ripped from the ground at his farm in March.

By S.I. ROSENBAUM
Published May 26, 2006

For three nights Jon Crews waited in his field with a 2 by 4, just in case the people who stole his trees came back. He was kind of hoping they would.

"I would have knocked them on the head and tied 'em up," he said.

Sixty-five trees - oaks and palms - vanished from his farm at the end of March in what Plant City police said is an unusual crime.

Crews, 50, planted the trees on a 15-acre parcel on State Road 39 that he bought four years ago. He planted more than 3,000 trees, he said: Washingtonian palms, King Sago palms, Queen palms, oak trees.

At first, he worried about someone pulling up the saplings. Then, the trees grew, up to 6 to 8 feet tall and 8 inches around at the bottom of their trunks.

"They were the last thing on my mind that I thought would get stolen," Crews said.

Then one Saturday, he came to check on the trees and saw that 65 or so of them were gone. Someone had ripped them out of the earth, he said.

"They kept wiggling them, fighting with 'em by hand," Crews said. "They attempted to dig them with a square-point shovel, but a square-point shovel does not cut nothing. It's for moving dirt. Then they started yanking, pulling. They must have spent five to eight minutes on each tree."

It must have taken hours, he said, to uproot each tree and drag it to the pickup truck. He knows it was a pickup, he said, by the tracks in the dirt.

Since then, he has been searching for the trees. He heard from friends that the oak trees were sold at a small-livestock auction north of Plant City.

Nothing came of that lead.

He put up a sign asking for tips and got a flood of calls - leading nowhere.

He spent three nights waiting for the thieves to come back. They never did.

Crews is growing frustrated by dead-ends and wild goose chases. And time is growing short.

"Four or five months down the road," he said, "the trees are going to change. I'm going to start losing the ability to identify them."

That's if they're still alive.

Sgt. Jim Shultz of the Plant City Police Department said recently that detectives are investigating the crime.

"It's not common for us to respond and have trees stolen," he said. "Trees are relatively lower on the stolen property list than cars and other items that can be sold or traded."

It's harder to solve this kind of crime than other property thefts, he said.

"A lot of times, with trees and different plants, they don't have unique characteristics, like a vehicle would have a vehicle identification number," he said.

"If we come across an area with trees, it would be hard to positively identify them as coming from one particular place."

Crews said he would recognize his trees if he saw them again.

"Just like if you got a baby, you can tell it from other people's babies," he said.

S.I. Rosenbaum can be reached at 661-2442 or srosenbaum@sptimes.com.

Residents say roads lag behind

Improvements to Boyette Road will not be able to keep up with the ever-increasing traffic demands, critics say.

By S.I. ROSENBAUM
Published May 26, 2006

At least 60 residents gathered at Riverview High School last week to hear the county's plans to widen Boyette Road.

But they were not happy with what they heard.

Residents said the county is moving too slowly to keep up with growth, even though the county will be widening the road to four lanes.

"Two years after they finish, they're going to come and widen it to eight lanes," said C. Calvin Foster, 78, as he looked over the county's plans for Boyette Road. "And then two years after that, they're going to have to put two more lanes."

"They're building homes up here faster than you appear to be looking ahead," resident James Messer, 64, told county project manager Reg Alford.

Alford explained to the crowd that the county was in "phase two" of its road-widening project.

Construction for phase two will start in October or November, widening the section of the road between Balm-Riverview Drive and Donnymoor Drive. The completed road will have two lanes in each direction, separated by a median strip.

That part of the project should be done by 2008. Then the county will launch phase three, which will continue to widen the road from Donnymoor to Bell Shoals Road.

Residents from the River Glen subdivision were particularly concerned about construction forcing traffic onto side roads like Donnymoor.

"Just take into consideration that this is our community, our parks and our children," said Sharon Ferry, who lives in River Glen.

She wanted the county to add traffic safety measures to the intersection of Donnymoor and Boyette.

But Alford told her that intersection won't be addressed until the next phase of the project in 2008.

For now, the county's Planning and Growth Management Department would have to deal separately with concerns about traffic on the side roads, Alford said.

Residents weren't happy to hear that. The Donnymoor intersection "needs to be addressed," said Todd Engala, 34, of River Glen.

Residents were also concerned about the effect construction would have on Riverview High School.

Principal Bob Heilmann said it would be more difficult for parents to pick up their children.

"When there's progress, there's pain," Heilmann said.

S.I. Rosenbaum can be reached at 661-2442 or srosenbaum@sptimes.com

Developer might mix housing plans

By ANDREW MEACHAM
Published May 26, 2006

GIBSONTON: A developer is hoping that new home buyers soon will flock to a tomahawk-shaped chunk of land where cattle have grazed. South Bay Corp. wants to rezone 59 acres on the southeast corner of U.S. 41 and Kracker Avenue from agricultural industrial to a planned development.

The developer hopes to build 93 houses, 58 duplex units and 164 townhomes on the site, plus 5,000 square feet set aside for offices and day care.

The request goes to the County Commission on June 13. PETITION 06-0457

BRANDON: Developers of a 46-acre office park have returned to the drawing board. Inland Retail Real Estate Trust is asking for a major modification to its planned development zoning for a park between Falkenburg Road and Interstate 75.

Tucked between Causeway Boulevard and the Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway, the park would house retail space, offices and restaurants.

Now Inland wants to add 450 condominium units to the commercial park, plus a 125-room hotel.

County transportation staffers have recommended the modification, provided that Inland widen Falkenburg Road to six lanes on the project's western side, and create a path for bicyclists and pedestrians, among other suggested improvements.

The request goes to commissioners on June 13. (PETITION 06-0704)

PLANT CITY: A developer returns in June to the same County Commission that deferred a zoning decision on its project early in 2006. Q2 Investments, a Miami company, wants to rezone 53 acres south of Sam Allen Road and east of Chitty Road from agricultural to a planned development.

Q2 Investments originally asked to rezone the property to build 40 houses. Commissioners returned the request in January to a zoning hearing master over concerns about traffic congestion and the project's compatibility with a rural area.

At a zoning hearing master's hearing in May, land use attorney Judith James, representing Q2, announced a reduction in units to 25, with lot sizes starting at an acre. James also said the developer would construct an adequate means of handling stormwater.

The County Commission is expected to hear the request for the second time on June 13. (PETITION 05-2121)

Andrew Meacham can be reached at 661-2431 or ameacham@sptimes.com.

Traffic to Wal-Mart concerns residents

By JEFF ADELSON

Sun staff writer

A new Wal-Mart Supercenter on Waldo Road would bring thousands of cars to the area each day, a prospect that raised concerns among residents of nearby neighborhoods at a meeting Thursday night.

About 50 residents filled Bartley Temple United Methodist Church on Thursday to voice their concerns about traffic and the environmental efficiency of the 216,000-square-foot supercenter proposed for NE 12th Avenue and Waldo Road. It was one of several meetings company officials plan to have in coming months.

"It's a huge issue that 19th Terrace is just two blocks from" Duval Elementary School, said Ivy Webb, who lives near the proposed supercenter. The plan would connect NE 12th Avenue with NE 19th Terrace, providing a southern entrance to the center.

Ron Carpenter, a lawyer representing Wal-Mart, said the company wanted to work these issues out with residents before filing plans with the city.

A traffic study of the 39-acre site commissioned by Wal-Mart predicts that about 9,500 car trips would be made to or from the store every day, with about 750 trips made during its busiest hour. About 88 percent of those visiting the store would use Waldo Road, according to the study.

Company officials pointed to the study as evidence that traffic impacts on neighborhood streets would be minimal. Wal-Mart has also proposed bending NE 12th Avenue to the south and adding a traffic circle at its intersection with NE 19th Terrace to further discourage shoppers from entering nearby neighborhoods.

About 1,045 trips each day would be taken along NE 19th Terrace, according to the study.

Webb worried about the possibility of accidents with more cars near the school and said increasing the number of people driving through the area could put children at risk from criminals.

Gilbert Means, chairman of the Gainesville/Duval Heights Front Porch Florida Community, also raised concerns about the impact additional traffic would have on nearby neighborhoods and schools. But Means said the store would be "an asset to this neighborhood" and noted that his organization has endorsed the project.

Other residents and officials also spoke in favor of the project.

Alachua County Commissioner Rodney Long said the eastside supercenter, in conjunction with other developments in the area, could be the first step in realizing the goals of Plan East Gainesville, a 3-year-old study on how to revitalize the area.

"This process could be the genesis for the renaissance we want to happen in east Gainesville," Long said.

Donna Isaacs, a graduate student at the University of Florida, challenged Wal-Mart to add energy and water efficiency features to the property and asked the company to provide the same environmental amenities as at "experimental" Wal-Marts elsewhere in the country.

"If you're going to make this super Wal-Mart and you've already got the prototypes of a green store, why not make this a shining example?" Isaacs asked.

Eric Brewer, a spokesman for the company, said he did no know what kinds of environmental features could be added. Environmental features could benefit the project, but Brewer said features now at two U.S. stores were not necessarily ready to be transferred to other projects.

The eastside Wal-Mart Supercenter was first proposed in 2004 to complement another Wal-Mart Supercenter in the northwest. The western proposal, which would have involved swapping a Northside Park for a piece of environmentally sensitive land, was eventually turned down by the City Commission.

Gainesville City Commissioner Scherwin Henry, who represents east Gainesville, said he had hope for the project and said the company's openness to residents' ideas was important.

"It's really going to change the face of east Gainesville," Henry said. "They're doing this the right way and seeking community input."

Jeff Adelson can be reached at 352-374-5095 or adelsoj@ gvillesun.com

Boaters Beware Of Low Lake Levels

By MICAH DYAL
mdyal@highlandstoday.com

SEBRING - Don’t run into the muck this Memorial Day weekend. Dry weather has created a potentially dangerous situation for Highlands County boaters.

Officials said the low water levels can make area lake hazards that normally aren’t there. Coves that are normally covered by the lake are now virtually dry and obstacles normally underwater are now dangerously close to boats zooming by.

But Clell Ford, Highlands County lakes manager, said this is a normal occurrence for this time of year.

“People look at the lake and go ‘oh’ after they see too much beach,” Ford said. “But this is normal.”

Ford said with dry season coming to an end, he hopes June will bring Highlands County the much needed rain its lakes need.

“If we don’t get the rain we need in June more shore will be exposed,” Ford added. “And lakes have already dropped a lot.”

According to Ford, Lake Jackson is approximately 101 feet above the mean sea level, which is average for this time of year. He expects the rainy season will eventually bring the lake to 103 feet above mean sea level.

Carl Rupert, a Central Florida Marine and RV boat technician, test-drives boats for customers about three days a week. He said if boaters aren’t careful this weekend they could severely damage their boat or themselves.

“It’s pretty dangerous if you’re not paying attention,” Rupert said. “The levels are so low that if you accidentally hit a sand bar it could potentially be fatal. It’s similar to slamming your car brakes.”

He said lately boaters have damaged outdrives and shattered fiberglass, keeping the local boat repair shop busy.

“We’ve been replacing a lot of propellers for customers,” he added.

On Thursday, Rupert took a Zolfo Springs couple for a test ride on Lake Jackson. He said he used his depth finder to measure certain areas of the lake.

“In the middle of Lake Jackson it was approximately 16 feet deep – four or five feet shallower than normal,” Rupert said. “This is the lowest I’ve probably seen the lake in five or six years.”

This month the area received 1.28 inches of rain, below the normal 3.66 inches of rain, according to the Southwest Florida Water Management news release.

Lt. Dale Knapp, of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said the unusually dry weather has left Lake Jackson severely barren.

Knapp is advising boaters to watch out for dangerous debris just under the lake’s surface, which could catch some inexperienced boaters off guard. He said to be on the lookout for stumps, rocks and other boaters.

“There’s going to be a lot of boaters on the water this weekend,” Knapp said. “Our biggest concerns are reckless boaters.”

Knapp added that personal watercrafts also need to be aware of staying out of the seaweed. He said there have been many reports of weeds damaging the motor of the watercraft.

Land trust buys Osprey property for park land

OSPREY -- A Sarasota County land trust plans to turn a 4-acre Osprey property into a park with a history museum and public waterfront access.

Sarasota Conservation Foundation has paid Cornelia and Richard Matson $6.6 million for the Palmetto Avenue land. Foundation President Albert Joerger expects the park, to be called Bay Preserve at Osprey, to open in the winter.

The property, which has 274 feet of frontage on Little Sarasota Bay, includes a Depression-era Colonial Revival home, three cottages and a carriage house.

The buildings will be incorporated into the park to make the preserve a "center for the environment, arts and recreation," Joerger said.

Perhaps most importantly, in a county where public water frontage is becoming increasingly scarce, "it will have water access for us, our children and our children's children," he said.

The water access will be provided by a kayak and canoe launch. The park also will include a wildlife observation platform that offers a view of a 272-acre environmental preserve on Little Sarasota Bay.

Sarasota Conservation Foundation got the money for the purchase through Florida Communities Trust, a state land grant program.

County records place the property's market value at slightly more than $3.4 million in 2001. Joerger called the $6.6 million purchase a "bargain sale" by today's market standards. A year ago the property was valued at $6.85 million by the state of Florida, he said.

The Matsons currently live on the property but plan to move.

"This brings to fruition our hope that the property would not be divided but preserved as a whole," Cornelia Matson said in a statement.

A series of improvements are planned before the park opens. Improvements include upgrading the property to Americans with Disability Act accessibility compliance, removing invasive exotic plants and building nature trails and signage.

The property's Colonial home will have a natural history museum on the main floor, Joerger said. The carriage house will house youth rowing program Sarasota Crew, he said.

The property's other buildings could house artists and environmental policymakers and an on-site manager, Joerger said.

Letter rattles residents

Ex-county contractor threatens liens on 1,100 properties

SARASOTA COUNTY -- More than 1,100 North Sarasota County residents got a surprise in their mailbox recently when a contractor sent them letters threatening to file liens against their homes.

Sarasota County calls "fraudulent" the lien threat notices sent by Water Equipment Services Inc., a local company that won a $5.5 million contract to build sewer lines. The project includes 1,125 homes in neighborhoods that mainly lie east of Lockwood Ridge Road and south of DeSoto Road.

Homeowners appear to be caught in the middle of a yearlong fight between the county and its contractor. The county said it may take legal action to stop WES from sending any more lien notices to residents. WES president, Tony DeLoach, said he's suing the county to pay him for the work his company has done.

Meanwhile, the project is a year behind schedule. The county terminated WES late last year. The bonding company, Cincinnati Insurance, took over, and hired WES to complete the job. But the insurance company had workers walk off the project last week, claiming the county failed to provide engineering drawings and other documents needed to finish the work.

Getting the certified letter from WES opened old wounds for Doug Coull, who lives on Nogales Drive. Coull said WES did shoddy work in his neighborhood, so he's not surprised at cost overruns estimated to be at least $3 million.

But he's also furious with the county, which he says is forcing him to pay thousands of dollars to hook up to the county's central sewer system when his septic tank works fine.

"The cost they're trying to pass on to us is outrageous," Coull said, noting that many of his neighbors in the DeSoto Lakes area are retired and on fixed incomes.

"How can the people absorb this?" he asked.

Fees and other costs for each homeowner to hook up to the central sewer system easily could surpass $7,000. A county program allows residents to pay the charge through monthly payments on their sewer bills.

Both WES and Cincinnati Insurance had all the information and permissions they needed to do the work, said Roger Rasbury, the county's general manager for the project. The documents they demanded weren't necessary to do the work, he said.

While errors are expected in drawings of pipes in older neighborhoods, there were 1,100 errors in the county's design drawings for the project, DeLoach complained. That was the cause of the huge cost overruns, he said.

Cincinnati Insurance asked for accurate drawings and "went through the same nightmare I did" in failing to get information from the county, DeLoach said.

The project is part of the Phillippi Creek septic system replacement program, which aims to get 15,000 homes in the Phillippi Creek watershed off septic systems. The aim is to improve water quality in Phillippi Creek, where there are high levels of human waste and other pollutants.

Originally, the project was estimated to cost $121 million. But late last year the county admitted cost estimates had soared to $157 million because of inflation in construction and other costs.

Gate Petroleum plans ethanol plant in Hamilton County

CNHI News Service

— After several months of discussions between representatives from Gate Ethanol LLC, a subsidiary of Gate Petroleum, and officials from Hamilton County, Gate has tentatively selected Hamilton County as the site for their first ethanol plant. R.B.”Buzz” Hoover made the first public presentation on the proposed ethanol plant at the Board of County Commissioners meeting on April 24.
Gate has selected Burns & McDonnell of Kansas City, Mo., to provide preliminary design and cost estimation services for the plant, Hoover said. Pending the final approval for the project, construction is scheduled to begin later this year with startup expected in late 2007.
"This is not a done deal - no agreements have been made or signed," said Nancy Oliver, Executive Director of Tourism and Economic Development. "We understand that people have concerns and we are still doing research to determine if this is a good fit for our county. From what we do know, it appears to be a good thing."
The plant will be one of the first to be built in Florida. United States EnviroFuels, LLC plans to build a plant in Tampa in the near future.
According to Hoover, Gate’s plant in Hamilton County will process corn to produce 30 million gallons of fuel-grade ethanol annually as well as other marketable co-products, such as animal feed ingredients, unrefined corn oil and carbon dioxide. The facility will produce a higher value of co-products than a traditional ethanol plant due to a patented process by Greenstock Resources.
The plant will consist of six integrated manufacturing buildings and an administration office building on a 70-acre site located on US 41 between the south loop of CR 137 and 87th St. Hoover said the company chose the location because it is on the Norfolk Southern rail line near I-10 and I-75. Corn will come from the Midwest by train and wood chips will come from North Florida and South Georgia by truck. Trucks will also be used to transport the ethanol to Jacksonville, Orlando and Tampa, and the co-products to markets located in all directions.
Gate will hire 47 employees – 34 manufacturing staff, seven technical staff and six administrative staff – with a total yearly combined payroll of $2.7 million per year. According to Hoover, the top three or four employees will need substantial ethanol plant experience, but they will hire the other employees locally and provide training for them prior to the opening of the plant.
There will be six wells to provide the 600,000 gallons of water per day needed for the plant, according to Hoover. Less than 200,000 gallons of wastewater will be generated daily, which will be sent to retention or percolation ponds. The water will not come into contact with the ethanol.
All of the energy needed for the plant will be provided by four gasifier/boiler units, which will burn 500 to 550 tons of wood chips per day. No fossil fuels will be used, Hoover said. The plant will use the best available control technology to remove any pollutants from the smoke produced by the combined heat/power plant.
Any odors produced by the process will rarely be detectable outside the grounds of the plant, according to Hoover. He compared the odor to corn meal, baking bread or a newly opened bottle of beer. Others have said the odor was like stale bread, sour beer or a sweet cookie.
The plant will use 65 railcars of corn every week. Approximately 65 trucks a day will deliver wood chips, gasoline and other supplies and transport the ethanol, co-products and wood ash out of the plant.
According to Hoover, most of the truck traffic will be conducted by other companies and Gate will have no control over their route. He thinks that about 20 of the trucks will use a north or northeast route and will bypass White Springs.
Some residents of White Springs are concerned about the impact the plant and the truck traffic will have on the area. The town promotes tourism through historical areas and natural attractions, such as the Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park. The Nature and Heritage Tourism Center is also located in White Springs.
Several popular hiking trails pass through the Suwannee Wayside Park on the north side of town. Canoers and kayakers can enjoy a peaceful glide along the Suwannee River or the more adventurous can experience the thrill of Big Shoals, a Class Three whitewater rapid, which is the largest whitewater rapid in Florida.
Howard Tower, owner of Spring Street Antiques in White Springs, said he is not opposed in principle to the ethanol plant, if it will not have a negative impact on the environment or tourism. He feels that certain issues need to be studied before a final decision is made, such as the impact on the roads and bridges used by the trucks, the odor produced by the plant, and whether the plant will always use wood to generate energy.
John Vassar, Hamilton County Chamber of Commerce President, said, "I like the area the way it is, but I'm a realist." Some people are concerned about the truck traffic through White Springs, Vassar noted. If they want to protest the ethanol plant, they should move past their emotions, become informed and take an educated stand against it, he added.
Gate Petroleum Company is a petroleum marketer based in Jacksonville. The company is one of the highest volume retailers in the Southeast with more than 225 company-owned and dealer service station/convenience stores stretching from Florida to Kentucky.
Hoover said the company plans to purchase all of the ethanol produced by the plant in Hamilton County. Initially Gate will sell gasoline blended with 10% ethanol and then expand the sale of 85% ethanol as more vehicles are made that can use the fuel.

 

Pump out a nature preserve for golf? That's Pinellas

By HOWARD TROXLER, Times Columnist
Published May 25, 2006

Steve Spratt

Could not stand that

The county's lands were green

So 'round Pinellas his boys went

To redo Nature's scene.

Something is seriously weird in Pinellas. County government is dead-set on abusing some natural asset or another.

First it was the glorious barrier island of Fort De Soto Park. The county looked at it and said: What this place really needs is a 200-seat restaurant and alcohol sales!

An angry public talked the county out of that one, although it took serious protests. The county thought it was a great idea. Still does.

Now let us go to the other end of Pinellas, and the equally glorious Brooker Creek Preserve. At 8,500 acres in the northeast corner of the county, it is the largest of Pinellas' environmental land holdings.

Here is a fine description from the Web page of Friends of Brooker Creek. I toured the preserve last month and can heartily endorse it:

 

Ecologically, the Preserve is an interesting place and an important area to protect. The site supports populations of white-tailed deer, wild turkey, otter, gopher tortoise, bobcat, and coyote. Many of these species are abundant in the Preserve but are found nowhere else in the county. Likewise, many less common species such as the endangered Catesby lily, a variety of orchids, Bachman's sparrows, and the tiger swallowtail butterfly find refuge within the Preserve.

 

You can understand, therefore, the dismay at the news that Pinellas proposes to pump up to 1-million gallons of water a day out of the preserve to irrigate golf courses.

To repeat the key elements of that sentence:

Pump up to 1-million gallons a day.

From a nature preserve.

To water golf courses.

The reasoning of the county's utility director, Pick Talley, is that pumping the preserve will take a little bit of the load off the rest of our water supply.

Pick Talley is a utility man first and foremost, and he could not be more clear on his priorities. If we don't like it, he suggests, one option is to quit calling the land a "nature preserve."

How, you ask, is this plan even possible? It is possible because of the legal fiction that the Pinellas County Utilities Department "owns" much of the land in the preserve.

This fiction is deeply ingrained in the bureaucratic mind. All of the county's literature refers to the Utilities Department's "ownership."

Here is a telling sentence from Talley's statement defending the plan:

The land ownership is generally represented as follows: Utilities 44 percent, county lands 32 percent.

Good grief! It is as if the Utilities Department is some sort of nation unto itself. Perhaps Pick also has a secret plan of succession (or secession) to take over from County Administrator Steve Spratt in case of emergency.

He continues:

This land must be for the water supply needs of these citizens first.

"These citizens" being, in this case, golf courses. I play the game myself and love a pretty golf course, but if I have to choose, I'll take the preserve.

Lastly, Talley says:

If the utilities property cannot be used for water supply projects for the benefit of the ratepayers, then these citizens should be reimbursed for the value of the property.

This manages to ignore the fact that WE ALREADY OWN IT. He helpfully suggests a price tag of $40,000 an acre for the "Utilities" piece of the preserve, which works out to $144-million. I assume he would like the check cut to the Pinellas County Utilities Department.

The county's pumping has to be approved by the water board that covers this part of the state. Everybody calls it "Swiftmud," which is a nice way of saying, the Southwest Florida Water Management District. I have no special faith in Swiftmud, but hope in this case that the district saves us from ourselves.

After that, the county should take away this "Utilities" property and put it in a permanent and untouchable trust. If the County Commission won't do it, I suggest a citizen petition to amend the county charter. I'll help

 

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Here's a civics lesson for you: When the going gets tough, quit.

State must intervene in Yankeetown controversy

By EDITORIAL
Published May 25, 2006

The once-quiet Levy County town of Yankeetown, riven by tensions over a developer's ambitious waterfront proposal, in recent weeks has seen a shocking exodus of public officials who have quit in disgust over the roiling controversy.

The town can no longer claim to have a fully functioning government at this critical juncture, and the time has come for the state to get involved.

A group of citizens has implored the governor to intervene and stop what remains of the town government from making any more decisions. Such involvement, as unusual as it would be, is needed to protect the safety and welfare of the citizens.

That is not overstating the volatile atmosphere in this small town, where neighbors have been snarling at each other for months over the developer's proposal. There is a lot of money in play with this resort idea, and the heretofore reasonable people of the town seem to have lost their bearings as a result.

This week, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement acknowledged that it is looking into complaints from townspeople that some officials have violated various state laws during the negotiations over the resort deal. This review, while narrowly focused, is welcome.

The complaints also have been forwarded by the governor's office to the State Attorney's Office, where a more thorough review of the town officials' actions should commence immediately.

In recent weeks, two Town Council members have resigned their positions. So, too, has the acting chairman of the Planning and Zoning Commission. And the city attorney. Faced with a lawsuit filed by the developer, the Town Clerk has resigned. As has her assistant. A citizens group is trying to recall the mayor.

It is debatable whether there even is a legal quorum on the Town Council any more.

At the center of the controversy is a proposed development agreement that would open the door for a waterfront resort hotel complex. The proponents say this will infuse the town with needed improvements to its aged utilities and its stagnant economy. Opponents say the plans are too massive and would destroy the character of the historic town.

The developers claim that the town's current rules allow them to complete the lion's share of their multiphase project, and that they are seeking the agreement simply to make their project even better. They say they are ready to start the project's first phase in the coming weeks.

Their foes say some town officials stand to gain financially from the project and have sold out the citizens.

There are serious questions about whether several recent Town Council decisions are even legal. Concerned citizens should try to halt any actions based on these decision by seeking injunctive relief from the circuit courts.

Whether the out-of-town developers really have the right to proceed with their project without government approval is a matter of intense debate that likely will be resolved in court.

In the meantime, cooler heads need to intervene before the situation escalates beyond name-calling and screaming matches at town meetings. The outgoing zoning official refuses to enter the town because of threats he said he has received. The embattled mayor has correctly characterized the situation in her town: "It's an absolute mess."

It is impossible for any substantive public business to be conducted in this highly charged atmosphere of accusations of misconduct, character assassinations and back-room dealings.

The time has come for the governor, the FDLE and the State Attorney's Office to investigate the actions of the town's leaders and, within the boundaries of the law, to intervene in the town's operations.

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Mall Opponents' Appeal Is Denied

By KEVIN WIATROWSKI kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com

Published: May 24, 2006

WESLEY CHAPEL - Opponents of Cypress Creek Town Center have been dealt a new setback, this time by the 2nd District Court of Appeal.

The Lakeland-based court upheld a 2005 circuit court ruling that Shirley and Bob Jones of Land O' Lakes and Leigh Jefts of Wesley Chapel could not sue to overturn the county's 2004 rezoning that allowed the mall project to go forward.

The appellate court issued its ruling May 12.

The Joneses and Jefts are among a group of environmentalists and residents opposed to the Richard E. Jacobs Group's plans for a 1.3 million-square-foot mall and other related retail, hotel, office and apartment space at the junction of State Road 56 and Interstate 75.

The group last year asked the circuit court to declare the rezoning void because it violated county rules and long-range planning that favors preserving wetlands.

The mall will sit north of Cypress Creek, a tributary of the Hillsborough River and dubbed an Outstanding Florida Water.

Tampa draws its drinking water from the Hillsborough River.

Jacobs intends to fill more than 50 acres of wetlands on the 510-acre site, which straddles S.R. 56. State and federal regulators continue to review Jacobs' wetland proposals.

Circuit Judge W. Lowell Bray ruled last year that the Joneses and Jefts did not prove they would be directly harmed by the mall development.

St. Joe Co. allowed to move gopher tortoises
By Bruce Ritchie
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

The St. Joe Co. signed an agreement Tuesday with the U.S. Forest Service, state wildlife officials and environmentalists to remove gopher tortoises from the path of development.

St. Joe owns more than 800,000 acres, much of it in the Florida Panhandle, and is planning to build more than 25,000 homes across the region.

Gopher tortoises are listed as a species of special concern, but state officials have recommended that it be listed under the more protective "threatened" classification. They live in burrows in upland areas, which include prime locations for development in a state peppered with wetlands.

The agreement, signed Tuesday at St. Joe's SouthWood development in Tallahassee, allows tortoises from the company's construction sites to be moved to the Apalachicola National Forest.

St. Joe has no plans now that require gopher tortoises to be moved to the forest, said Steve Shea, manager of St. Joe's wildlife and land management section. He said the company has relocated gopher tortoises to a preserve within its SouthWood development.

Some areas within the national forest have good habitat but have no gopher tortoises, Shea said.

The new agreement, along with a separate state-policy change that provides flexibility for relocating tortoises, allows the state to help protect gopher tortoises as Florida's population continues to boom, said Ray Ashton, executive director of the Gopher Tortoise Conservation Initiative in Gainesville.

As part of the agreement with St. Joe, relocated gopher tortoises will be closely studied and monitored to ensure their survival, Ashton said.

"This is an 'assurance colony' we are creating - a colony where the most money and effort is going to be put to make sure that population of tortoises survives in perpetuity," he said.

Cut tree payments coming

TALLAHASSEE - (AP) -- More than 20,000 homeowners will begin receiving payments from the state in July to replace trees lost in a failed 10-year effort to eradicate citrus canker, state officials said.

Earlier this month, the Legislature approved $3.6 million to cover the reimbursements, which should be complete by September, Florida Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Liz Compton said Monday. The appropriation is part of the state budget, which awaits Gov. Jeb Bush's signature.

The reimbursements will include a $100 Wal-Mart voucher to replace the first tree removed and $55 in cash for each additional tree.

''One of my citrus trees was a big mature orange tree, which I could never replace for that kind of money,'' said Joe Pilcher, of Lake Worth.

He said he might replace his lost citrus with banana trees.

A total of 860,899 citrus trees in residential areas were destroyed in the $500 million effort to eradicate canker, which first appeared in Miami-Dade County in 1995.

By 2005, after back-to-back hurricanes spread the wind-blown bacterial disease across counties, the federal government abandoned the program and acknowledged eradication wasn't feasible.

 

County quits mine fight

Charlotte withdraws challenge to Peace River basin phosphate mine

By SARA LUBBES

sara.lubbes@heraldtribune.com

CHARLOTTE COUNTY -- In a move that could signal they've had enough, county officials Tuesday withdrew their challenge to a phosphate mine in the Peace River basin.

That leaves other local governments to pick up the fight.

"I don't want to stand alone any longer," said Commissioner Tom D'Aprile.

Charlotte has spent about $12 million and eight years fighting Mosaic Phosphate, the world's largest phosphate mining company.

Officials and environmentalists fear the mines, which strip land of essential minerals, compromise the health of the Peace River, the region's primary source of drinking water.

In the settlement reached Tuesday, Charlotte agreed to back off a challenge to state permits that will allow a phosphate mine on the Altman Tract, a 2,100-acre site at the headwaters of Manatee County's Horse Creek.

Charlotte's move doesn't mean mining will start there tomorrow. Mosaic still has to win other local and federal permits for the project.

But it does indicate Charlotte officials are growing weary of the phosphate fight and its high price tag.

Commissioner Matt DeBoer argued a compromise was needed after all these years: "We're on the cusp of changing the direction of Charlotte County."

To put the county's part of the fight to rest over the Altman mine, officials made some concessions to Mosaic.

In a 3 to 2 vote, commissioners decided against their original plan to ask for a public hearing at the federal level on the permit. Such a hearing would have given the county a chance to lobby in public for the terms of the Army Corps of Engineers permit.

Commissioners also backed off a request that would have obligated the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to agree to the settlement, too.

Mosaic attorney Darol Carr said Tuesday the county would have destroyed the good will of the negotiations if it hadn't backed off on the terms.

"Finally, the parties after all these years have found a way to put this behind them," he said.

Before Tuesday's action, though, the county already had won a partial victory.

In the first round of the fight over the phosphate mining, the county successfully challenged the Altman permit only to have Mosaic, then called IMC Phosphates, resubmit the plans for state approval.

But at that point, Mosaic had to alter its plans to include some of the environmental protections Charlotte wanted.

Still, Commissioner Adam Cummings said that the newest concession undermines efforts to prove phosphate mining harms the environment.

The settlement allows Mosaic to use some mining methods the county already proved were dangerous in administrative court.

The county will still challenge Mosaic's plans for a massive mine planned for Hardee County, said County Attorney Janette Knowlton.

Other agencies are still free to challenge the Altman mine. Charlotte could also challenge the mine on the federal level, but that seems unlikely, Cummings said.

City Creates Panel To Review Plans For Development

By JO-ANN JOHNSTON jfjohnston@tampatrib.com

DADE CITY - A new planning board will review developers' ideas for new homes, shopping centers and other commercial buildings, then recommend whether city commissioners should approve the proposals.

Commissioners, who appointed the citizen board Tuesday evening, have the final word on development projects and don't have to accept the planning panel's advice.

"But this lets other people take a look at it," City Attorney Karla Owens said.

Until now, the five city commissioners also made up the planning board. They decided an independent panel would diversify Dade City's growth-management decisions.

Owens, who additionally is the city's growth administrator, also gives the city commission her professional opinion on development proposals. It's possible that her recommendations sometimes will conflict with what the planning board advises. In those cases, Owens said, she'll outline to the city commission the reasons behind the conflicting opinions.

The seven people who make up the new planning board are volunteering their services. They are:

• Curtis Beebe, a computer specialist;

• Lowell Harris, a former city commissioner and volunteer on several area nonprofit boards;

• Pat German, a Dade City Realtor;

• John Finnerty, executive director of the nonprofit East Pasco Habitat for Humanity;

• Kent Ellsworth, a resident who works in real estate management;

• Monica Russ, a former member of Dade City's now-defunct code enforcement board and

• Andrew Davis Henley, a mechanic at Withlacoochee River Electric Co-operative.

Terms on the board will vary in length.

In other action, city commissioners on Tuesday gave City Manager Harold Sample the go-ahead to get an appraisal on a 7-acre tract owned by Robert and Josephine Larkin that borders the city cemetery.

More room is needed for the burial ground, which is on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Sample said.

The Larkins are willing to make a long-term arrangement allowing the city to reserve their property for the cemetery's use, Sample said.

Formerly the Oak Grove Cemetery, the 25-acre graveyard for years was the largest in the area, according to www.rootsweb.com. The city acquired it in the early 1900s, and many early pioneers are buried there.

Report On Carson Drive Sewage Spill Due Soon

Published: May 23, 2006

State environmental officials are awaiting a preliminary report from Pasco County about a sewage spill Sunday afternoon on Carson Drive.

The spill happened after a sewage lift station lost power and dumped sewage into a ditch along the south side of Carson Drive. The sewage flowed east toward, but did not enter, 13-Mile Run, a tributary linking Lake Padgett with the Hillsborough River.

Crews cleaned up the spill after residents reported it. Initial estimates reported 3,000 gallons escaped from the lift station.

The Department of Environmental Protection is waiting for the county's formal account of how much sewage spilled and the extent of the damage before deciding whether to investigate further or issue fines, said Pamala Vazquez, spokeswoman for the agency's Tampa office. That report is due this week.

Pine Shores braces for change

By CAROL E. LEE

carol.lee@heraldtribune.com

When Madeline Hathaway moved to Pine Shores in 1951, the neighborhood consisted of three houses.

Now, her one-story home sits a stone's throw from a proposed 25-acre development that's set to include a 10-story hotel and 575 condominiums.

"This will be the biggest change," Hathaway, 89, said.

Only Pine Shores Trailer Park was nearby when she and her husband bought their first three 100-by-150-foot lots on Brentwood Street.

"There were sticks the size of horses, it seemed, for my little dog," Hathaway said, referring to her late poodle, Pepe.

One by one, Hathaway's carpenter husband, Harry, built a total of 10 homes in the community.

As other builders bought the $400-to-$600 lots in the 1950s, the neighborhood bloomed. Homes went up and new residents moved in. Yet it was still away from developed Sarasota.

Hathaway could walk over to the little store at the trailer park for milk and bread, but the closest grocery store was more than 4 miles away at Hillview Street and Osprey Avenue, she said.

Pine Shores quickly became the kind of neighborhood where there were footpaths between neighbors' houses so they could check on each other.

"Everybody was friendly," Hathaway said. "If you were ill, I'd be over there bringing you a meal."

Her next-door neighbor in 1963 gave her an orange tree that still bears fruit today.

In some ways Pine Shores has maintained that neighborly charm.

Larry and Helen Plaugher, who have lived a few blocks from Hathaway for 37 years, check in on her and help her out around the house from time to time.

"It's been a good neighborhood," Helen Plaugher said. "Otherwise, we wouldn't have stayed."

Hathaway and her husband, who died nine years ago, sold their newspaper in Romeo, Mich., in 1945. She would perch Pepe on her shoulder as they traveled around searching for the next place to settle. They tried Fort Myers and Punta Gorda before moving to Sarasota in the late 1940s.

Initially they lived in a tiny house on Ivanhoe Street.

"We could lie there with the window open," she said. "Now you wouldn't get to sleep."

In 1962, they moved into the home where she lives today.

Hathaway could walk to her parents' house down the street. Pine Shores Presbyterian Church, where her parents were charter members, was only blocks away.

The church has been in the neighborhood as long as Hathaway has, and in recent years has built large additions onto its facilities and around its community center.

So, as the development deal at the corner of Stickney Point Road and U.S. 41 took shape, Pine Shores was already changing, Hathaway said. But more subtly.

Many of the old residents have died or moved to assisted living facilities. New, younger ones have replaced them. They're friendly, Hathaway said, but busy. They work all the time. And many have erected fences around their properties because they have pools.

The traffic light installed at Upper Beechwood Road brought through more drivers trying to avoid the main intersection.

But the development planned for that corner, where the trailer park sits, will be the community's most drastic face-lift, and Hathaway doubts it will ever be the same.

"I don't know where we're going to put all of these people we're talking about," she said.

Hathaway doesn't particularly want to stick around for the construction of the new development. But she doesn't know where else she would go at this point in her life.

"I wanted to make one move from here and into assisted living, but darn it if I'm not too healthy," she said.

For now, she's just heading north to Michigan for the summer.

County has eye on buying 11 acres

The county also envisions buying a larger tract nearby, under the Environmental Lands Acquisition Program.

By GARRETT THEROLF
Published May 24, 2006

A property with wetlands, a home and unspoiled wildlife habitat could become another critical link in the county's growing collection of preservation land.

County commissioners voted Tuesday to enter formal price negotiations to buy the 11-acre site, and staff members said it would provide public access to a much larger tract that the county is moving close to purchasing along the Upper Pithlachascotee River.

The smaller property is owned by county utility employee Eddie Hoover and his wife, but staffers said the property went through the same scientific evaluation process used to assess other sites. The property will undergo three appraisals to determine a fair price and will not be purchased unless the county also secures the larger tract.

The scientific evaluation noted that the home could be converted to a nature center, and the land could be used to establish a trail head leading to the larger property.

The Hoover land was also included in a map of desired land that the county established when it launched its Environmental Lands Acquisition Program, which is funded with the 1 percent sales tax increase voters approved in 2004.

Garrett Therolf covers Pasco County government. He can be reached at 727 869-6232 or gtherolf@sptimes.com

State reviewing Yankeetown complaints

Alleging town officials have engaged in illegal activity, residents have asked state investigators to conduct an inquiry.

By ELENA LESLEY
Published May 24, 2006

YANKEETOWN - It appears that complaints from residents may end up bringing state investigators into the fractured town.

State officials said Tuesday they have begun reviewing claims that Yankeetown officials have engaged in illegal activity and violated the Sunshine Law.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement received material Monday that concerned residents had sent to the governor's office. Investigators will ultimately determine whether there is enough incriminating evidence to go forward with an investigation.

FDLE spokeswoman Kristen Perezluha said she couldn't reveal whether the department had started conducting interviews in Yankeetown.

In a letter to the governor's office, dozens of Yankeetown residents pleaded for an investigation "into the actions of our mayor, former mayor, majority of our town council, former council, current & former zoning officer(s), & group of developers that have been continuing in what we believe to be an illegal manner, possibly a criminal conspiracy."

The letter was sent in late April. Along with mapping out the recent decisions surrounding a proposed resort hotel on the Withlacoochee River, it accuses officials of holding secret meetings with developers and lying to townspeople. It also asks the governor to prevent the mayor and Town Council from signing an agreement with the Florida Department of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development classifying Yankeetown as "an area of critical economic concern."

Those fighting the resort hotel believe the agreement would help streamline the approval process for the developers.

"Please suspend all further decision making capabilities of the Town Council & Mayor until it can be determined whether as many illegal acts have occurred as we believe," the letter reads. "Please hear our cry for state intervention to save our town."

Nathan Adams, deputy general counsel, responded to the residents Monday, sending copies of his letter to State Attorney Bill Cervone, the FDLE and the Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development.

The FDLE must find evidence of criminal activity before the State Attorney's Office can act, Cervone said.

In his letter, Adams writes that the FDLE will look into allegations made against the town and that the governor is "concerned by threats made against the welfare and safety of public officials in Yankeetown."

He also writes that officials cannot act on the agreement to be listed as an area of critical economic concern until the FDLE reviews all charges against the town government.

County Ponders Developer Financing Provision

By JULIA FERRANTE jferrante@tampatrib.com

Published: May 24, 2006

NEW PORT RICHEY - More developers in Pasco County are opting to build roads, parks and other infrastructure with the financing of Community Development Districts.

Growth has spurred 33 CDDs in Pasco, and the county commission is set to consider three more in coming weeks. Until Tuesday, however, the board had not formally considered a policy for reviewing the financing mechanism, which is billed as a less expensive way to build communities.

CDDs shift costs of construction and maintenance of roads, parks and streetlights to future residents. The designation typically allows developers to build more quickly with federally allocated loans carrying lower interest rates. Residents pay an annual fee for the services, and amenities must be open to the public during certain hours.

County commissioners at a workshop Tuesday in New Port Richey reached consensus to establish a "processing ordinance" and possibly hire a consultant to review CDD petitions and determine whether they save residents money in the long run. Officials may limit the size of such communities.

The county has limited power over CDDs, which become "independent special-purpose governments" once they are approved, Assistant County Attorney Elizabeth Blair said. The county may review budgets and taxes levied. CDDs that offer extra recreation facilities, mosquito control and solid waste removal are subject to more oversight.

CDD petitions are reviewed by one staff planner who does not have expertise in CDDs, Blair said. County attorneys also look at the petitions, but not with any specific set of criteria.

The hourlong workshop began with a discussion of whether the county is exercising enough oversight on CDDs but turned to whether rapid development and CDDs are closing out options for affordable housing. Residents pay CDD fees yearly on top of mortgages, insurance, home owner association fees and property taxes.

Commission Chairman Steve Simon, who used to teach real estate law, noted that residents of moderate income - such as a person who makes $50,000 per year - may not qualify for a home of median price in Pasco, or about $204,000. The same person who carries debt, a car payment and other standard expenses would be even more pressed to make payments, including CDD fees.

Regardless, most developers building larger communities in Pasco are opting for CDDs.

"We certainly don't see it stopping anytime soon," Blair said.

"Soon, we will have more people in CDDs than not in CDDs," County Attorney Robert Sumner said.

Sumner suggested the board look at standards in Hillsborough, which has 40 CDDs, and other counties.

Mark Straley, a Tampa lawyer who has written CDD petitions for many developers in Pasco, said a processing ordinance is a good idea. He also agreed some projects are too small for CDDs. He disagreed with adding a financial analysis.

"Nobody in Hillsborough has ever been turned down as a result of their financial review," he said. "If you're not weeding anyone out, what's the point?"

Sumner said it would be irresponsible not to look at the costs.

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Lowe's wants to build on Tarpon site

This has revived concerns about big-box projects, as was apparent when a Wal-Mart was okayed.

By ROBIN STEIN
Published May 24, 2006

TARPON SPRINGS - A year and a half after a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter sparked a bitter citywide battle, a new big-box project has emerged on the city's horizon.

The City Commission last week authorized its staff to begin negotiations with representatives of developers hoping to build a Lowe's home improvement store on the northwest corner of Pine Street and U.S. 19.

Even at this early stage, there are several factors that make this proposal unlikely to generate the outcry Wal-Mart provoked.

But Lowe's application has resurrected some residents' concerns about big-box development in general and highlighted the fact that there have been no changes to the laws that city officials said obligated them to approve Wal-Mart's Supercenter on U.S. 19 overlooking the Anclote River.

"The City Commission said there was nothing they (could) do" about Wal-Mart, said Joan Skaaland, a leader of Friends of the Anclote River, the local group that spearheaded the opposition to Wal-Mart. "Here we are a year and half later and they still haven't done anything about it."

Some members of the group, which filed two lawsuits to try to overturn the city's approval of the Wal-Mart, have continued to monitor the project. The group dropped its legal fight this spring, but members are now considering a drive to get a referendum about big-box development put on the ballot, Skaaland said.

It is in this context that the Lowe's project has come up.

Lowe's is a national home improvement chain that according to its Web site, has more than 80 stores in Florida. Details are still sparse about the Tarpon Springs project, but some things are clear.

The site consists of about 10 acres of industrial land currently owned and occupied by the Acme Sponge & Chamois Co. Acme's owner Jim Cantonis said that if the sale goes through, he plans to consolidate his operations on the remaining third of the property. Terms of the sale have not been disclosed.

Still, the Lowe's project raises several of the same issues that galvanized Wal-Mart opponents: traffic congestion, unfair competition for local businesses, excess noise, and overcrowded evacuation routes.

"It's like deja vu," said Skaaland.

These are concerns that have proven difficult to address under the current city code.

When Wal-Mart submitted its proposal, the majority of city commissioners said they had no legal basis for denying the application because the site was zoned for general business, which allows retail and shopping centers. The city code does not limit or restrict the type of retail operation.

"I felt that it was never a good location for a Wal-Mart," Mayor Beverley Billiris said recently. "But we made our decision based on law, based on the facts that we knew at the time."

Today, the law remains unchanged.

Renea Vincent, Tarpon Springs' planning and zoning director, said work is under way on two fronts to examine avenues for better regulating large retail stores.

The first front involves amending the city's land development code. At the direction of the City Commission, Vincent said she is working with one of the city's attorneys, Shauna Morris, to research options for prohibiting big-box stores in downtown Tarpon Springs.

Morris said Tarpon Springs is among the cities and counties around the state looking to increase their legal leverage for controlling big-box development.

"There are some really innovative ordinances out there," said Morris, adding that the approach varies depending on circumstances.

Last summer, Largo passed an ordinance that caps the maximum building footprint at 125,000 square feet and requires new retail stores to soften their look with architectural features.

Dunedin also is examining possible strategies, Morris said. The cities most often held up as models, she said, are Jacksonville and Boca Raton.

Some communities have imposed limits on square footage or height, while others, such as Boca Raton, have laid out strict architectural requirements.

In April, the Orlando Sentinel reported that the Orange County Commission imposed a moratorium on stores larger than 75,000 square feet while county officials there work to draw up permanent rules.

Ultimately, Vincent and Morris plan to present the City Commission with a set of recommended code amendments, possibly as early as this summer.

Vincent said the big box issue is also one of several that will be addressed in the city's comprehensive plan update. The process, which began with citizen meetings last fall, is scheduled to be completed next year, when a draft of amendments will be submitted to the state for approval.

While city officials and developers have to work out many details, there are key differences between the Lowe's proposal and the one that split the city a year and a half ago.

First, it's Lowe's, not Wal-Mart, a target of activists nationwide.

Also, because the Lowe's site is currently designated for industrial use, the developer must apply for land use and zoning changes. That gives the city considerably more legal discretion than it had with Wal-Mart. And unlike the Wal-Mart site, the land Lowe's hopes to occupy does not border a river or unspoiled wilderness.

The commission's green light last week marks just the beginning of what promises to be a long approval process.

The first step is a development proposal, which E.D. Armstrong, the Clearwater attorney representing Cantonis and Lowe's, will submit.

After a technical staff committee reviews the proposal to ensure it complies with local codes and ordinances, the city manager will begin negotiating terms.

Ninety days into the talks, the commission will receive an update on the negotiations.

County scrubs man's plan for up to 8 houses

By PATRICK WHITTLE

patrick.whittle@heraldtribune.com

SARASOTA COUNTY -- At least for now, new homes will not line the entrance to the Manasota Scrub Preserve.

County taxpayers paid $1.6 million to help assemble the 145-acre Englewood preserve. But David Olshansky of Minnesota still owns five adjacent acres and asked Sarasota County for the right to build as many as eight homes on his land.

The County Commission unanimously rejected Olshansky's request on Tuesday.

County Commissioner Jon Thaxton called the proposal "out of character" with its surroundings. Commissioner Shannon Staub agreed, noting that the area was zoned to allow only two homes.

"I think the two homes that are available now is about the most impact that that area should have," Staub said.

Olshansky's Manasota Beach Road land is surrounded by the pine and oak Manasota Scrub Preserve on three sides. His five acres are near a trail that allows hikers to enter the preserve.

Christi Phelps of Corin Bay Real Estate and Marketing Inc. said Olshansky might be willing to sell to the county. Property records show that he paid $276,500 for the land in 2005. Phelps said the land will be appraised soon.

The Manasota Scrub Preserve, at Englewood and Manasota Beach roads, was Sarasota County's first purchase through the Environmentally Sensitive Lands Program.

The state kicked in an additional $1 million to help buy the land, which became a public preserve about a year ago.

Protests greet resort expansion plans

Residents intent on keeping a fishing village character give commissioners an earful in opposition to Homosassa River Resort's plan to expand.

By BARBARA BEHRENDT, Times Staff Writer
Published May 24, 2006

INVERNESS - Homosassa residents who worked for several years to establish a set of development regulations that would cement their future character as a quaint fishing village on Tuesday urged the County Commission to stick by those rules.

Commissioners got their first full presentation on the plans by the Homosassa River Resort for an expansion that would include hotel suites built higher than the new rules allow. The density of development, residents say, will harm the Homosassa River, further snarl traffic and change the face of old Homosassa.

Commissioners asked a series of questions about those concerns but were not set to vote on the topic, because Tuesday's session was a workshop. A public hearing and vote on the proposal is slated for July 11.

But during the workshop, the commission got a nearly-two-hour preview of arguments they will likely hear again.

"I strongly oppose any plan which would render meaningless the Homosassa Special Overlay District," said area resident Diann Schultz, who reminded commissioners that last July they approved those overlay rules unanimously. With those rules, she said, "we wanted to ensure that future development would be compatible with the existing community."

Riverside Resort managing parter Gail Oakes described a project that would add much-needed hotel rooms to the Homosassa area, improve the look of the property, eliminate old run-down buildings, provide more public access to the river and create jobs.

"This is something that has been overdue for a long time," said Oakes' attorney Carl Bertoch. "Now is the time to move this up into the 21st century or at least 2006."

Oakes plans to build 72 motel suites that would be under condominium ownership, 12 motel single rooms, 2,600 square feet of retail space, amenities and parking on approximately 6.2 acres. The motel suites are planned as three floors of living space over parking, one floor higher than the standards set for commercial development in the Old Homosassa Redevelopment Area Plan.

Residents argued that the height restriction would apply but county staff noted that Oakes first brought the project to the county in early 2005 before the overlay district was approved.

County staff presented the issue to the commission with two options. One would be to allow Oakes the three stories of living space over parking, but she could only cover 45 percent or less of the ground area. The other option was to only allow what the overlay district does, two stories over parking, but allow her to cover up to 70 percent of the ground.

Oakes has said the higher buildings are a way to build up, rather than out, allowing more open space on her site. She has also offered new public access to the river front by proposing a public walkway on the water side of the project.

Residents raised a variety of concerns beyond the height issue. They questioned the accuracy of the parking study. They questioned whether the public was granted enough opportunity to comment on the project before the Planning and Development Review Board, which last month voted 3-1 to recommend the resort expansion with the taller buildings.

"This development is too dense for this location," argued resident Kathy Stonerock. "It's in the coastal high hazard area and it's in an environmentally sensitive area."

Members of the Save our Homosassa River Alliance questioned how stormwater would be contained on the site to avoid further pollution of the river. Jim Bitter, a member of the alliance and a member of the Homosassa Special Water District, pointed out that the community's water system is already so stretched that opening two hydrants at the same time could drop pressures to the point that a notice requiring residents to boil water could be issued.

He urged the board to take seriously the responsibility they have for not approving growth that doesn't fit with the capacities of existing systems such as water, sewer and roads.

"We're on a course that can only end in disaster and it is the responsibility of this board," he said.

"Direct Gail to take her project back to the drawing board," urged Homosassa resident Winston Perry.

County staff members answered a variety of the concerns, pointing out that issues such as drainage would be addressed as the process continues. Water system improvements also are planned in the future, they said. But some concerns remained.

Commissioner Vicki Phillips said she was bothered by the fact that the overlay district had been approved by the commission just months ago. If commissioners didn't put an appeals process into that document for someone who wanted to do more than allowed, it might send a bad message to the community if the commission simply violated the standards the first time they were tested.

"I have difficulty with that," she said.

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

Hollins' company retracts proposal

It pulls its development plans and says it that with more advice from neighbors, it will submit a new application.

By CATHERINE E. SHOICHET
Published May 24, 2006

INVERNESS - Representatives of Citrus Mining & Timber withdrew development plans for more than 1,500 acres north of the Cross Florida Barge Canal on Tuesday, less than 24 hours after the county's planning board gave the project a thumbs down.

At Tuesday's County Commission meeting, company president Dixie Hollins asked commissioners to postpone their consideration of the plans and direct county staffers to help craft a development agreement for the Hollinswood Ranch project.

Commissioners Joyce Valentino and Vicki Phillips criticized the timing of the request and said they were worried about the time that county workers would have to spend on further negotiations.

"I have serious concerns at 1:35 in the afternoon agreeing to what you just proposed," Phillips said.

In response, Inverness lawyer Clark Stillwell, who represents Citrus Mining & Timber, said he would withdraw the application. The company said that with more advice from neighbors who have opposed mining on the property, it will file a new application. Project spokeswoman Honey Rand said it was unclear what form the new plans will take or when they will be submitted.

In his presentation to commissioners, Hollins said the plans would include a marina developed within five years after the company got the land use changes that it wanted.

He also said the company would donate mineral reserves to allow the development of a large boat ramp on the barge canal, along with donating timber to the state.

When it comes to mining, Hollins said, the company would use new technology and performance standards to minimize the impact on residents.

The county's director of development services, Gary Maidhof, said county staffers would not "commit to anything that was just raised here," but he said they would work with applicants and other members of the public to handle issues that come up.

"I'm glad they've seen the light of day and decided their plan doesn't make sense," Crystal River lawyer Carl Bertoch said a few minutes after Stillwell's withdrawal announcement.

But Bertoch, who represents neighbors opposed to proposed changes in mining on the property, told commissioners that he was "a little bit upset" that the withdrawal came at the last minute.

And he urged them to revise the county's mining setback policies in the wake of County Attorney Robert "Butch" Battista's ruling that state statutes supersede county codes requiring a 3,000-foot setback between mining and residential areas.

"I was shocked to find out that state rules overruled our ordinance," commission Chairman Gary Bartell said.

Maidhof said staffers would report back to commissioners with more information.

Charles Miko, who lives north of the property on Carribe Point, asked commissioners to set firm deadlines in the land use change process.

"The miners have been permitted to take this whole process and convert it into one long negotiation session," he said.

Helen Spivey, co-chairwoman of the Save the Manatee Club, asked commissioners not to ignore the significant presence of manatees in the barge canal when they consider the marina and boat ramp proposals.

Commissioners did not directly discuss the proposed Hollinswood Area Plan on Tuesday, but several said they would support only developments that complied with the county's comprehensive plan.

At Monday's Planning and Development Review Board meeting, three board members voted against the proposed Hollinswood Area Plan because they said it violated the comprehensive plan.

"I, as a commissioner, have no desire to amend our comprehensive plan based on a particular development," Phillips said Tuesday.

Bartell and Valentino said they agreed.

Catherine E. Shoichet can be reached at cshoichet@sptimes.com or 860-7309.

Crystal River wants to renegotiate sewer deal

The City Council has three concerns about the dryline extension it agreed to do for a company's project.

By ELENA LESLEY
Published May 24, 2006

CRYSTAL RIVER - Crystal River officials Tuesday asked RealtiCorp to renegotiate the agreement for the city to provide sewer service to a development south of the city's borders.

"As construction has been halted due to the administrative challenges to our (Department of Environmental Protection) permits, this has given the administration pause to reflect," City Attorney Anthony Perrone and City Manager Phil Deaton wrote in a letter to the company and its attorneys.

Perrone said in a recent council meeting that challenges to two DEP permits had delayed construction of a dryline sewer extension to the proposed development, costing the city money.

Lewis Ranieri and his Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies Inc. lodged the challenges.

In Tuesday's letter, city officials cited three areas of concern: the location of a lift station in a wetland area, the feasibility of the development as proposed and the method of funding the sewer extension.

Despite RealtiCorp's claim that only in 2006 did representatives from the Mesoamerican foundation discover that the planned lift station was in a coastal wetland, the letter says documents show RealtiCorp knew of the mistake much earlier.

The letter also outlined the city's concern that RealtiCorp may not be able to build at the proposed density, since the county voted against entering into a development agreement. This could leave the city without as many sewer users as was predicted, making it hard to finance necessary expansion of the wastewater treatment plant.

Finally, in the letter, the city wrote that in the event of bankruptcy, Crystal River might not be reimbursed through its letter of credit. The letter suggests another method of funding, such as a bankruptcy-proof letter of credit or third party bond.

In other news, during its regular meeting Monday, the council made appointments to fill seats on the Planning Commission and newly formed Waterfronts Advisory Board. Lynn Wallace and Mike Gudis will sit on the commission. Galen Clymer, Vangie Rich, Gail Hargreaves, Elizabeth Shaw, Gail Kostelnick, Maria Bienkowski, Kenneth Littrell and Ann Watson will serve on the Waterfronts Advisory Board.

The council also accepted a state grant offer that will go toward providing sewer service to a proposed Hampton Inn south of the city. The city cooperated with the development company in applying for a community development block grant through the State Department of Administration, Deaton said.

State insurer has a fight on its hands

Homeowners across the state are banding together to protest Citizens and the high cost of property insurance.

By TOM ZUCCO, Times Staff Writer
Published May 24, 2006

They don't take over government offices or wave banners on street corners, and there are no plans to publicly burn their Citizens Property Insurance policies. But that may be next.

For the first time since Hurricane Andrew struck Florida in 1992, homeowners are banding together around the state, either through Web sites or through condo/homeowners associations, and protesting the soaring cost of property insurance.

Public Enemy No. 1 appears to be Citizens Property, the state-run insurer of last resort, which has swelled with high-cost policies dumped by private insurers who are cutting back or fleeing the market entirely.

People who have never before been involved in any kind of organized protests are finding themselves collecting petitions and joining groups whose sole aim is to present a united front to government leaders.

And some of those political leaders are starting to notice. Anti-Citizens Property groups, including one in Port Richey and one in Monroe County, are "popping up everywhere,'' said state Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey.

"This was totally unexpected,'' Fasano added, "and it is surprising everyone.''

One group emerged after residents of the Green Dolphin condominiums in Tarpon Springs learned in January that Allstate was dropping their policy. When they found out that Citizens was the only insurer that would cover them - and that their yearly premium would jump from $22,000 to $69,000 for 84 units - panic set in.

The residents, most of whom are elderly and have limited incomes, have to come up with an additional $500 per unit by the end of this month to cover the cost.

"At first, I was very upset,'' said Dale Piskie, a 64-year-old widow who has lived at Green Dolphin since 1991. "Where was I getting this money? Then I got mad. I had to do something.''

What she did was write a letter to Gov. Jeb Bush and local government officials asking for help. Then she went door-to-door and got nearly 300 residents to sign it.

"They government officials aren't going to listen to just me,'' said Piskie. "I'd love to be able to get other associations to do the same thing, so something gets done.

"It isn't about what Citizens is doing. It's about what we need to do, and 300 voices is louder than one.

"We're fighting for our lives here.''

In western Pasco County, which has been hit particularly hard by rate increases because of the added burden of sinkhole risks, residents took to the Internet. The Web site Homeowners Against Citizens Insurance (web.tampabay.rr.com/hac/) was started in March by Barbara Polsky after a group of about 100 Pasco residents traveled to Tallahassee to protest insurance rates.

The site now has about 300 members and serves as a repository of information relating to the property insurance market. It's also a place to vent.

"One person doesn't get their voice heard,'' Polsky said. "We're losing our houses, everything we worked for. Now maybe people will start to listen.

"We're trying to take this statewide.''

Polsky, 64, saw the insurance on her 1,500-square-foot Port Richey home rise from $453 in 2002 to about $3,000 today. As her insurance rises, so do her mortgage payments.

When she and her husband bought their home in 2002, their mortgage payment was $550 a month. This year, it's $853.

"Next year, we figure it will be at least $1,200, and we can't handle that,'' said Polsky, who is disabled. "My husband brings home $820 a week. We'll have to leave, either face foreclosure or sell under market value.''

"I want Citizens dissolved,'' she said. "This is not working.''

Like most of the new activists, Polsky was never involved in any form of protest until now. "I always thought those people were stupid,'' she said.

Not any more.

"My husband and I put $35,000 down, everything we had, on this house,'' she said. "And we stand to lose it all. If that's not enough to infuriate you, something's wrong.''

Some days, she says, she's so busy working on the Web site she doesn't even get her dishes done. "But,'' she said, "I wanted to at least do something.''

Fasano, the state senator, thinks at least some of the anger grew out of what happened, or didn't happen, in the recent legislative session.

"I don't think we went far enough,'' said Fasano, who voted against the insurance package passed by the Legislature. "We should have paid off the entire deficit and overhauled Citizens.''

What people such as Piskie and Polsky are doing is a reaction to the feeling of being ignored by government, Fasano said, with more groups like theirs likely to emerge.

And it's not just homeowners who are speaking out. "You know who's contacting me now?'' Fasano asked. "Real estate agents, mortgage brokers, bankers and developers. They're not happy campers.''

The lack of affordable insurance is hitting the real estate market hard, Fasano said, leading to a ripple effect that touches a growing number of businesses, even those outside the market. "It isn't a bad idea,'' Fasano said, "to hold a special session of the Legislature to really address this even farther.''

The insurance industry blames eight hurricanes in the past two years that caused about $39-billion in insured losses.

And for its part, Citizens maintains it is not the bad guy. By law, Citizens has to charge the state's highest rates to avoid competing with private insurers and truly remain the "last resort.''

Most of Citizens' policies are in high risk areas where no other company would provide coverage.

Unlike private insurers, Citizens is a nonprofit corporation that does not reward its executives with huge salaries and bonuses.

And it has to play by the rules the state has set up. After Andrew, the state froze rates and issued a moratorium on policy cancellations. A private insurer could not drop more than 10 percent of its policyholders in a given county in a year.

Those laws, unpopular with the private insurance industry, have since expired.

But at least, Citizens officials say, someone is out there writing new homeowners policies.

"The good news is the Legislature has created a way for Floridians to have coverage where the private market doesn't provide it,'' said Citizens spokesman Justin Glover.

"If it weren't for Citizens, 850,000 homeowners would have nowhere to turn for insurance.''

That, however, is of small consolation to struggling property owners such as Dale Piskie.

"It's really sad,'' she said. "I thought I could stay here the rest of my life.''

Tom Zucco can be reached at zucco@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8247

Big project pitched for Punta Gorda

The Loop would mix specialty stores like Chico's with big-box stores like Target.

By LAUREN MAYK

lauren.mayk@heraldtribune.com

LAS VEGAS -- Charlotte County could get one of the region's largest and most distinctive shopping centers as part of The Wilder Cos.' plan to develop 200 acres in Punta Gorda.

Wilder, the developer of Westshore Plaza in Tampa, wants to bring a concept it calls "The Loop" to a parcel of land about a half-mile from Interstate 75; Burnt Store Road would be its northern border.

Plans call for 1 million square feet of retail space on the north side of -- appropriately -- Jones Loop Road, and more than 800 residences on the other.

Wilder already has a Loop in Orlando and has several in the works in Florida and New England. This one would be named "The Loop at Punta Rayo."

The projects bring an unusual combination of retailers together, mixing the kind of specialty stores, like Chico's, that shoppers are more likely to find at a mall with larger big-box stores, such as Target, that they might drive to as a single destination.

"We design centers that cater to today's lifestyles," principal Thomas Wilder said during a interview Tuesday at the International Council of Shopping Centers convention in Las Vegas.

Although Wilder hasn't named any tenants for the massive project, principals for the company said that they will be looking to bring in Kohl's, Ann Taylor Loft, J.C. Penney, Borders, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, The Sports Authority, Lowes and Pac-Sun -- many of the same names that they have landed at other similar projects.

A movie theater also is in the plans for the proposed center and a hotel might also be included, they said.

Wilder officials said they have already had discussions with Kohl's and Target about the site, but no commitments have been made.

They envision The Loop at Punta Rayo as a walkable center with trellised walkways, outdoor cafés and an area that can be used for entertainment.

The developers are still playing around with the parking configuration, Thomas Wilder said, looking at a combination of diagonal and parallel parking that would allow greenspace and pedestrian walkways.

"It's a real opportunity to create a gathering place."

The drive to build shopping centers that double as places where consumers go to meet up with friends for a movie, have a casual dinner out or stroll for a daytime walk with a baby carriage or an evening walk with a spouse is getting even stronger in the retail real estate business these days.

Benderson Development is working on an outdoor center called the University Town Center at University Parkway and Interstate 75. Prime Retail is planning to build a Main Street anchored by a Neiman Marcus Last Call store at its Ellenton outlet center. Even mall operator Westfield plans to lure shoppers outdoors as it redevelops its local malls.

While the trend is obviously being acknowledged in the Sarasota-Bradenton area, the concept in a project this size would be a first for Charlotte County.

Charlotte's main large shopping attraction is the Port Charlotte Town Center mall, although the county has many smaller strip centers and big box centers, plus downtown Punta Gorda.

Wilder's goal would be to fill this project with a combination of stores that would include one of the big-name electronics retailers, a home improvement store, clothing stores and others.

"Now we'll decide how to put the puzzle together," said Andrew LaGrega, another Wilder principal.

Wilder is pulling on its roots in the mall business for some of the specialty retail development. After developing Westshore Plaza, the company later sold it.

Now it is turning to some of the traditional retail specialty stores to take a chance on the new lifestyle configuration for retailing.

It is an appealing option for some retailers, LaGrega said.

"These guys are looking for new opportunities and they're realizing they can do a lot of business in these types of formats."

Operating in outdoor centers tends to be less costly, he added.

Wilder officials said retailers are responding to the project and to the market, potentially a new one for some of them.

"In the last year, they have all started to focus on this area," Wilder said.

The memory of Hurricane Charley, which hit Punta Gorda in 2004, doesn't seem to be dissuading them. In fact, the storm may have brought more attention to the area, he said.

"They see it as the next major hub between Sarasota and Fort Myers."

The inclusion of housing makes the project different than the ones Wilder has tackled in the past, but similar to the mixed-use projects it has under development today.

It's the largest project Wilder has undertaken in 10 years, LaGrega said.

"This brings The Loop to a whole new level."

Road project leaves neighbors in limbo

Two Manatee County homeowners want to know if their properties will be bulldozed or bypassed.

BY CHRISTOPHER O'DONNELL

MANATEE COUNTY -- Neighbors Melanie Bueker and Cindy Drew know there's not much more they can do to stop a busy four-lane road being built through their back yards.

Manatee County officials say extending 60th Avenue East is vital to remove local traffic from Interstate 75.

So, one of the neighbors will get a settlement and a new home somewhere else, and one will get the cars, junk and noise a busy road will bring.

Inevitably the two neighbors are looking at each other and wondering who gets stuck with a busy road alongside their home.

"We've lived here for 15 years," said Drew. "It doesn't seem fair we're stuck with the property no one wants to buy."

The new four-lane, north-south road threatening their homes would link Moccasin Wallow Road to Mendoza Road north of 60th Avenue East, the entrance road to Prime Outlets at Ellenton.

Traffic planners say the road is needed to stop residents in north Manatee from using I-75 for trips to the grocery or to schools.

The project would require a new road between Mendoza Road and 69th Street East, and the widening of Buffalo Road to four lanes to complete the link to Moccasin Wallow Road.

It would also move the Buffalo Creek and 69th Street East intersection east, directly toward Bueker's and Drew's homes.

But commissioners said Tuesday it would be too expensive to buy both houses. They suggested the county buy one and plan the route so it skirts the other.

"It seems like they want to save money instead of buying both properties," Drew said.

Bueker has a 4-month-old and a 2-year-old. Drew has a 14-year-old daughter. The uncertainty has left both worried about keeping their children in the same school or day care. They both pleaded with the commission to make a quick decision.

"You can't sell your home; you can't expand your home," said Bueker. "If they give me what I want to replace our lifestyle and well-being, I've accepted it."

The $45 million road is not likely to be built in the near future. County staff is still working on a study to finalize the route.

Residents of subdivisions along Buffalo Road have supported the road, saying it will give them an easier and safer route to reach stores on U.S. 301.

In other action

Also Tuesday, the County Commission passed an ordinance banning people under 21 from entering bars and nightclubs.

The move is a response to incidences of violence and underage drinking at alcohol-serving establishments that admit people under 21.

The new rule excludes restaurants and applies only to establishments where less than 10 percent of revenue comes from food sales.

"I think this is a win-win for the community," said Commission Chairman Joe McClash. "It's time this community adopts zero tolerance on underage drinking."

No members of the public spoke about the change at a hearing Tuesday.

______

Staff writer Cory Schouten contributed to this story.

Dock denial may doom restaurant

Condos could replace Venice's Marker IV after county refuses 676-foot dock with 75 boat slips.

By PAUL QUINLAN

paul.quinlan@heraldtribune.com

VENICE -- Fisherman's Wharf owner John Konecnik said the county's denial Tuesday of his dock construction plans will likely force him to close his popular waterfront restaurant.

The county commissioners voted 4-1 to deny a 676-foot dock that would create 75 boat slips, 17 of which would be open to the public.

Instead, the commissioners granted the wharf owner additional time to complete what they'd approved in the past, a 415-foot dock, with spaces for 67 boats.

The decision was a major setback for Konecnik, who has long threatened to build a high-rise condominium on his wharf property if the county refused his plans to build the longer dock.

Now, he said, he may close the Marker IV, which is one of the few waterfront restaurants left in the area.

"There's no sense in keeping Marker IV as a restaurant," Konecnik said. "We don't have any dockage for the restaurant people to come to."

But pressed for specifics on when the restaurant might close, Konecnik said no decision has been reached.

Konecnik and his attorneys couched his latest request as a small step toward reversing the trend of disappearing public dock space and amenities with access to the Gulf of Mexico.

But the commissioners said Konecnik's plan differed only slightly from the plans he presented in 2002, which they denied. In July 2004, Konecnik again sought permission but won approval for only the 415 feet, a compromise commissioners approved in the face of fierce opposition from Harbor Lights, a neighboring manufactured-home community.

The dock would have run parallel to the Harbor Lights sea wall, reducing access to boat slips along the sea wall and blocking views of the waterway, residents said.

While the county should encourage public dock space and waterfront access, it shouldn't come at injury to neighboring property owners, said commissioner Nora Patterson.

"I just can't get over achieving that good by building a dock parallel to homes," Patterson said, before acknowledging her regret that the decision might force the restaurant to close. "It's really with sadness that I can't support the dock because of the size."

Commissioner Jon Thaxton said the plans would do little to correct the shortage.

"You can't correct a deficit that's been created over a 5- to 10-year period all in one site," Thaxton said.

Expecting strong opposition, Konecnik had distributed petitions to restaurant and bar patrons that explained his plan. He presented nearly 8,000 signed petitions, filling three file boxes, in support of his plans.

In a sign of how passionate the debate had become, the hearing ran nearly four hours and included testimony from more than 60 members of the audience, including neighbors along the waterway and restaurant patrons.

"We've got an opportunity here for private enterprise to provide public water access. It's a win-win situation," said one speaker, Patrick McCarthy. "If it goes through, it will prevent another marina from becoming a victim of condo development."

But opponents from Harbor Lights said Konecnik had refused meetings with them, ignoring their concerns and even sending bills to them for improvements made to the waterfront area they share.

"We've received a lot of what I'd call harassment or intimidations from Mr. Konecnik," said Don Augustine. "I do think we're doing the right thing in opposing the docks."

County commissioner David Mills cast the lone vote in support of Konecnik's plan.

Sarasota considers tougher tree rules

By DOUG SWORD

doug.sword@heraldtribune.com

SARASOTA COUNTY -- Worried that some tree-trimming companies are doing more harm than good and that growth has eroded the area's tree canopy, Sarasota County is considering a wide range of new tree ordinances.

The ordinances are also drafted to cut the number of easily toppled exotic trees along hurricane evacuation routes and reduce the evaporation of gasoline from vehicles in unshaded parking lots.

County officials say the aim of new tree rules is not just to protect the beauty of an area that has thrived economically by attracting retirees and tourists.

"This is not a tree-hugger program," said Demetra McBride, manager of the county's Division of Urban Forestry. "I'm not a Druid; I don't paint myself blue and howl at the moon."

Based on studies done in other counties, the shade from urban trees saves people in Sarasota County $8 million a year, through lower electric bills and less evaporation of gasoline, she said.

Perhaps the most controversial measure will be licensing all tree-trimming and landscaping firms, and requiring them to take courses on arboriculture and be insured.

Consumers might think it's a good deal that tree-service prices are about the same as they were 20 years ago, said Mark Collins, owner of Unique Tree and Lawn in Sarasota.

"It is, except when you take a look at the trees. They're just hacking them to death," Collins said of fellow tree-service companies. They're doing things like hat-racking -- the arboreal version of a flat-top haircut -- which can cause internal damage to a tree, he said.

Historically, the county's focus has been on preserving trees in new developments and in managing the 53,000 "street" trees that dot the right-of-way along roads.

"We need to look at the whole urban forest," said Jack Whelan, chairman of the Sarasota Tree Advisory Council, a citizens committee that favors the new proposals.

To look at the big picture, the county will have to focus more on how trees are maintained on private property, he said.

Besides licensing companies, the new rules might require shade trees in parking lots.

And they may prohibit the kind of cross-section cutting that occurs when trees are lollipopped, or shaped, or flush- cut so close to a trunk that they can't heal.

These kinds of cuts can cause interior decay to a tree, making it more susceptible to blowing over in a storm, said Norm Easey, executive director of the Florida chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture, an industry licensing group.

"That's the problem -- that anybody can buy a chain saw and a truck and call themselves a tree expert," Easey said.

Lofts on Las Olas rejected by city
A project to build a 77-foot-tall loft-condo complex fails after more than two hours of debate among homeowners, business people, and public officials in Fort Lauderdale.
BY ASHLEY FANTZ
afantz@MiamiHerald.com

Score one for the traditionalists.

Critics of the Lofts on Las Olas won their battle Tuesday night to prevent construction of the seven-story glass and steel structure at Southeast 15th Avenue on a boulevard that's known for its two-story businesses, cafes, and bustling pedestrian-friendly walkways.

Commissioners voted unanimously to oppose the complex, which would have offered retail space on its ground floor, six stories of loft-style condominiums and three levels of underground parking.

''This is a beautiful building,'' said Commissioner Christine Teel. ``It's just in the wrong place.''

For more than a year, Fort Lauderdale developer and trial attorney Carl Karmin, who owns four restaurants on Las Olas, has been trying to appease the members of the vocal Colee Hammock Homeowners Association. The group found the design, rendered by an architect formerly with the famed firm Arquitectonica, unappealing mostly because it seemed out of character with the neighborhood.

Nearly 30 people spoke out about the project -- some advocated the building as a modern advancement to Las Olas but most deemed it a boxy, unimaginative structure. One homeowner called the project a ''monster'' while another said construction of the Lofts would ''kill'' Fort Lauderdale's quaint downtown vibe.

The big fear was that the building would increase traffic in an already congested area and cast a shadow over its smaller surroundings.

''If this would have been approved, we would have lost Las Olas -- the pedestrians, the sunshine, that would have all went away,'' said Jacqueline Scott, a real estate broker who has lived in the Colee-Hammock neighborhood for 20 years.

Another argument against the Lofts was its height -- 77 feet. Originally, Karmin proposed the structure at 100 feet.

''My heart sank,'' said Deborah Scott-Queenin, referring to her first glimpse of renderings of the Lofts. ``He's [Karmin] ignoring what's currently in the neighborhood. It's a slap in the face of logic.''

Karmin and his attorney Courtney Crush argued vehemently before the commission that a reasonably tall modern building is just what Las Olas needs. The project would improve a drab corner, once home to a Subway sandwich shop and now by a clothing store.

After more than two hours of debate, Karmin decided to use his trial attorney skills and grilled Marc LeFerrier, director of planning for the city of Fort Lauderdale, about whether the city had measured other buildings along Las Olas -- particularly those that were taller than his project.

At one point, Karmin referred to Mayor Jim Naugle as ``your honor.''

''We've done everything to make this work,'' the developer said.

``This end of Las Olas, it needs help.''

 

 Outlet Mall Is Proposed In South Pasco County

By MICHAEL SASSO msasso@tampatrib.com

Published: May 23, 2006

LAS VEGAS - An area of Pasco County west of Dade City could be getting a huge new outlet mall with up to 120 retail shops, according to early plans drawn up by mall developer Simon Property Group.

At the annual International Council of Shopping Centers convention in Las Vegas, where shopping center companies meet with retailers, Simon distributed brochures showing a proposed outlet mall at the southeast corner of Interstate 75 and State Road 52. The center's name, at least for now, is Tampa Premium Outlets.

The developer of the project would be Chelsea Property Group, which is a unit of Indianapolis-based Simon. Information about the proposed mall was limited Monday, because no one from Simon was available to talk about the project.

However, the company's marketing brochures show a 430,000-square-foot shopping center that would feature 120 designer and name-brand outlet shops. The project's planned opening date is in 2008.

A broker from the Colliers Arnold real estate firm in Tampa helped advise Simon on the proposed mall site, Colliers Arnold President Pat Duffy said. He couldn't say what tenants might move in at the Pasco mall but said the tenant mix eventually could be similar to another Chelsea Property Group center, Orlando Premium Outlets.

That outlet mall, located at Interstate 4 and SR 535 (Exit 68), features a range of retailers including Dior, Versace, Tommy Hilfiger, Brooks Brothers, Banana Republic, Barneys New York, Nike, Adidas, Bass, Polo Ralph Lauren, Salvatore Ferragamo and Burberry.

Duffy said plans for Tampa Premium Outlets are in the early stages. If the mall comes to fruition, it would be just a few miles north of three planned Pasco County malls: The Shops at Wiregrass, at SR 56 and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard; Cypress Creek Town Center, at SR 56 and I-75; and The Grove at Wesley Chapel, at SR 54 and I-75.

Despite its proximity to that competition, Duffy said an outlet center would be able to draw customers because of the value shoppers associate with outlet stores. Also, the nearest outlet mall to Tampa Premium Outlets would be the Prime Outlets center in Ellenton, which is about 60 miles to the south.

The Pasco site for the proposed Simon outlet center is owned by a five-person Atlanta-based investment group led by Kiran Shailendra. Pasco records show that the group owns about 629 acres there, including property they bought in 2003 from the estate of Robert B. McKendree and the Order of St. Benedict.

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What will it take to stop irresponsible developers?

Letter to the Editor
Published May 23, 2006

I water my lawn only once a week because I thought there were watering restrictions in Pasco County. But apparently not, because when I am out on my daily walks I see people watering their lawns several times a week, especially on weekends. And we wonder why there are so many sinkholes in Pasco County.

 

Plus, with all the new development, where is all the water going to come from for these new homes? And who will be buying all of these homes? Certainly not residents of Pasco County, because the houses will cost too much for the average citizen here to afford. What will it take to stop all of this new development? Maybe when we see the cost of water per gallon exceed that of gasoline?

Paul Schmidt, Bayonet Point

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Planning document adds rural protection

Ideas for Sorrento and Mount Plymouth were missing until the omission was pointed out.

Nin-Hai Tseng | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted May 23, 2006

TAVARES -- A citizens committee's vision for preserving the rural charm of Mount Plymouth and Sorrento includes wide sidewalks, tree-lined streets, outdoor cafes and no big-box developments typical in growing suburbs.

Those ideas, however, were missing from a key document that is being updated to guide the county's growth for the next two decades -- until surprised residents and County Commissioner Welton Cadwell on Monday noticed and raised the issue.
During a meeting with an advisory panel that is reviewing the proposed update to the county's comprehensive plan, Lake's planning staff eased worries and added the development standards recommended for the Mount Plymouth and Sorrento areas.

"We had always intended to put them in," said Amye King, deputy director of growth management for the county. King said getting the comprehensive plan ready has been a "tremendous amount" of work and planning staff was steadily getting to it.

King on Monday presented the working document to the Land Planning Agency, a county advisory board that is expected to submit its recommendations in June to county commissioners, who will have the final say over how and what lands will be developed, conserved and rehabilitated until 2025.

During the lunch break, Cadwell spoke with King about the Mount Plymouth and Sorrento standards. Cadwell left shortly after his talk with King.

Among other guidelines, the citizens committee called for limiting commercial space to a certain square footage to avoid big-box retail development. Commissioner Catherine Hanson had suggested increasing the size of stores. On Monday, she declined to comment about the development standards.

"The Board of County Commissioners will discuss it," Hanson said.

The Land Planning Agency will have a handful of other meetings in June to finish reviewing the proposed growth blueprint.

Rob Kelly, president of the Citizens Coalition of Lake County, said he's not happy with what the county came up with to preserve rural areas.

His group has asked the county to keep five large rural areas free of heavy development -- ideally, one home per 5 acres.

King said four of the five areas are included in the current plan. Eliminated was a stretch of land in south Lake between Clermont and Four Corners where developers of the proposed Karlton community want to build more than 5,000 homes. The County Commission is scheduled to decide May 30 whether to allow the development to move forward.

But Kelly said the language included is "weak," and he is not satisfied with the county's rural-protection strategy.

"There's no teeth," he said. "It needs to say 'we recognize that these areas have value and we will plan them with the same detail as we plan for urban areas.' "

Kelly and others complained that the latest version of the growth plan wasn't posted soon enough on the county's Web site so it could be properly reviewed by the public in time for Monday's meeting.

Nin-Hai Tseng can be reached at nhtseng@orlandosentinel.com or 352-742-5919.

 

One commissioner says county has lost $40 million by charging too little

By SARA LUBBES

sara.lubbes@heraldtribune.com

By DALE WHITE

dale.white@heraldtribune.com

By CAROL E. LEE

carol.lee@heraldtribune.com

Moves to conserve the species are gaining support, even among developers.

Florida's highly criticized policy of allowing developers to kill gopher tortoises in the path of construction could all but end next year.

Since 1992, the state's wildlife agency has allowed housing construction and other projects to entomb nearly 80,000 tunnel-dwelling tortoises rather than deal with the extra time and cost of moving them to a conservation tract. Developers in Orange and Osceola counties lead the state in permitted killings, often paying upward of $1,000 per tortoise.

But the state could largely abandon the practice in a series of steps that begins next month. That's when the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is expected to declare tortoises as having become threatened with extinction -- a more alarming status than its current listing as a species of special concern.

The probable change is prompted by a commission study that shows the tortoise population has seriously declined.

If the commission declares them threatened, agency officials must develop a plan for how to better protect tortoises.

A panel of state residents, industry representatives and wildlife experts already has begun some of that work. An early proposal to sharply curtail the tortoise killings is gaining widespread support among the members, including the Florida Home Builders Association.

"Nobody wants to entomb tortoises," said Steve Godley, a biological consultant in Tampa and a home-builders association representative on the review panel that will recommend elements of tortoise protections. "The plan right now is that that can be minimized -- in excess of 90 percent, or at least that's my opinion."

The primary alternative to killing tortoises is moving them off development property and onto conservation lands.

But a complete halt in tortoise killings probably won't be possible. That's because in some cases, tortoises might show advanced signs of a common respiratory disease, which is contagious and often fatal. Relocating them could infect other tortoise populations.

Other tortoise killings might result when eggs or hatchlings are inadvertently left behind during relocation work.

Neither of those issues has been brought up for full discussion by the review panel yet. But participants are urprised that so much progress is being made toward saving tortoises.

"It's really pretty incredible that a year or a year and a half ago, things looked hopeless," said Matt Aresco, a tortoise expert and conservation director for the Panhandle's private Nokuse Plantation conservation tracts. "Incidental take as we know it could be over."

For years, authorities have defended the practice as raising money for tortoise habitats. More than $40 million and nearly 10,000 acres have been gained so far.

But opposition to permits for tortoise killings, based on raw emotion and extensive conservation science, has mounted gradually in recent years and is accelerating on several fronts.

For one, an animal-rights organization sued to stop tortoise killings.

A lawsuit filed in March by a South Florida organization, Angels in Distress, urges a Leon County Circuit Court judge to stop state permits that inflict "excruciating death by starvation, thirst, or lack of oxygen" for gopher tortoises. "I can't even conceive of burying an animal underground and then leaving it just so somebody can make a buck," said founder Steve Rosen of Davie, who owns a cosmetics company. "I want to shut it down completely. This is a go-for-the-throat lawsuit."

A petition filed in January by a Central Florida group, Save Our Big Scrub, and an Alabama group, Wild South, asks a federal agency -- the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service -- to declare tortoises as threatened in Florida and across all of their range in the Southeast. A similar petition was filed by a different conservation group three years ago and is under review.

Although the Florida wildlife agency is poised to change the tortoise listing for the state, a federal listing as threatened can impose more wide-ranging protections, especially when federal lands, operations or environmental rules are involved.

Robin Lewis, president of Save Our Big Scrub in Salt Springs, said the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is showing signs of regretting its policy of permitting tortoise killings.

I think they made a big mistake, and I think they know it," he said.

The legal actions, coupled with the Florida wildlife-commission study and the panel's work, have brought renewed fervor to efforts to change the policy. If it takes a year or more to stop permitted tortoise killings, few involved would be surprised. The primary alternative of moving tortoises to a private or public parcel has been fraught with difficulties. Ray Ashton of the Ashton Biodiversity Research & Preservation Institute near Gainesville said dropping off tortoises at a conservation tract and driving away is as lethal for the land turtles as crushing them with a bulldozer.

Ashton said much research shows that relocated tortoises must be kept in a penned area for months while they adapt to their new turf. He added that the site also must have a rich and diverse supply of food and be maintained with prescribed fire and other practices that enhance natural lands.

Also to be decided is what to do with tortoises showing signs of the respiratory infection.

Fish and Wildlife Conservation authorities know that some developers will never agree to any tortoise rules. From time to time, the agency discovers bulldozed tracts and tortoises killed without a state permit.

But agency officials also say new rules are needed if tortoises are going to survive Florida's growth.

"Everything is on the table," said Tim Breault, director of habitat and species conservation.

Gopher tortoises' burrows are about 40 feet long and 10 feet deep. The tunnels serve as home for 360 other species, including the indigo snake, the gopher frog and the burrowing owl. The Florida mouse depends on tortoise burrows for survival.

Florida's highly criticized policy of allowing developers to kill gopher tortoises in the path of construction could all but end next year.

Since 1992, the state's wildlife agency has allowed housing construction and other projects to entomb nearly 80,000 tunnel-dwelling tortoises rather than deal with the extra time and cost of moving them to a conservation tract.

Developers in Orange and Osceola counties lead the state in permitted killings, often paying upward of $1,000 per tortoise.

But the state could largely abandon the practice in a series of steps that begins next month. That's when the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is expected to declare tortoises as "threatened with extinction" -- a more alarming status than its current listing as a "species of special concern."

The probable change is prompted by a commission study that shows the tortoise population has seriously declined.

If the commission declares tortoises threatened, agency officials must develop a plan to better protect them.

A panel of state residents, industry representatives and wildlife experts already has begun some of that work. An early proposal to sharply curtail the tortoise killings is gaining widespread support among the members, including the Florida Home Builders Association.

"Nobody wants to entomb tortoises," said Steve Godley, a biological consultant in Tampa and a home-builders association representative on the review panel that will recommend elements of tortoise protections. "The plan right now is that that can be minimized -- in excess of 90 percent, or at least that's my opinion."

The primary alternative to killing tortoises is moving them off development property and onto conservation lands.

But a complete halt in tortoise killings probably won't be possible. That's because in some cases, tortoises might show advanced signs of a common respiratory disease, which is contagious and often fatal. Relocating them could infect other tortoise populations.

Other tortoise killings might result when eggs or hatchlings are inadvertently left behind during relocation work.

Neither of those issues has been brought up for full discussion by the review panel yet. But participants are surprised that so much progress is being made toward saving tortoises.

"It's really pretty incredible that a year or a year and a half ago things looked hopeless," said Matt Aresco, a tortoise expert and conservation director for the Panhandle's private Nokuse Plantation conservation tracts. "Incidental take as we know it could be over." For years, authorities have defended the practice as raising money for tortoise habitats. More than $40 million and nearly 10,000 acres have been gained so far.

But opposition to permits for tortoise killings, based on raw emotion and extensive conservation science, has mounted gradually in recent years and is accelerating on several fronts.

For one, an animal-rights organization sued to stop tortoise killings.

A lawsuit filed in March by a South Florida organization, Angels in Distress, urges a Leon County Circuit Court judge to stop state permits that inflict "excruciating death by starvation, thirst, or lack of oxygen" for gopher tortoises.

"I can't even conceive of burying an animal underground and then leaving it just so somebody can make a buck," said founder Steve Rosen of Davie, who owns a cosmetics company. "I want to shut it down completely. This is a go-for-the-throat lawsuit."

A petition filed in January by a Central Florida group, Save Our Big Scrub, and an Alabama group, Wild South, asks the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to declare tortoises threatened in Florida and across all of their range in the Southeast. A similar petition was filed by a different conservation group three years ago and is under review.

Although the Florida wildlife agency is poised to change the tortoise listing for the state, a federal listing as threatened can impose more wide-ranging protections, especially when federal lands, operations or environmental rules are involved.

Robin Lewis, president of Save Our Big Scrub in Salt Springs, said the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is showing signs of regretting its policy of permitting tortoise killings.

"I think they made a big mistake, and I think they know it," he said.

The legal actions, coupled with the Florida wildlife-commission study and the panel's work, have brought renewed fervor to efforts to change the policy. If it takes a year or more to stop permitted tortoise killings, few involved would be surprised.

The primary alternative of moving tortoises to a private or public parcel has been fraught with difficulties.

Ray Ashton of the Ashton Biodiversity Research & Preservation Institute near Gainesville said dropping off tortoises at a conservation tract and driving away is as lethal for the land turtles as crushing them with a bulldozer.

Ashton said much research shows that relocated tortoises must be kept in a penned area for months while they adapt to their new turf. He added that the site also must have a rich and diverse supply of food and be maintained with prescribed fire and other practices that enhance natural lands.

Also to be decided is what to do with tortoises showing signs of the respiratory infection.

Fish and Wildlife Conservation authorities know that some developers will never agree to any tortoise rules. From time to time, the agency discovers bulldozed tracts and tortoises killed without a state permit.

But agency officials also say new rules are needed if tortoises are going to survive Florida's growth.

"Everything is on the table," said Tim Breault, director of habitat and species conservation.

Kevin Spear can be reached at 407-420-5062 or kspear@orlandosentinel.com.

River defenders want wilderness outposts protected by the state

Along the waters of the Wekiva River, three wilderness outposts serve as the primary gateways for people who want to canoe along one of Florida's most valuable waterways.

But these longtime canoe-rental businesses perch on private, riverfront tracts that grow more valuable as new subdivisions, shopping centers and roadways squeeze into every available space near the Wekiva and its tributaries.

The  sites could be a developer's bonanza.

Although the canoe-marina owners have no plans to sell now, river defenders aren't taking any chances. They have begun to press the state's land-conservation agency to buy the three businesses -- King's Landing in Orange County, Wekiva Marina in Seminole County and Wekiva Falls Resort in Lake County.

Such an effort could take years because of strong competition for state land-buying dollars. But the goal is to keep the outposts open for paddlers who want to venture onto Central Florida's most treasured inland aquatic playground.

"People need access to the river so they will become advocates for protection of the river," said Nancy Prine, who is involved in the effort and is chairwoman of a federally appointed committee that supports the Wekiva's national Wild and Scenic River status.

There are no deadlines yet. None of the three tracts is for sale. But the owners have recently experienced transitions.

At King's Landing, the owner is in a nursing home, and expenses are piling up. At Wekiva Falls, the owner's husband died, and she is running it alone. Fires have twice burned buildings at the Wekiva Marina property in recent years.

Would-be buyers frequently come calling. Observers think a sale of at least one site is inevitable within a few years.

"We're always getting offers," said Michael Dowd, who along with family members and other investors has been a principal owner of Wekiva Marina since the early 1990s. "But we're not entertaining any at this time."

The canoe-outpost properties are desirable for launching canoes and for building upscale housing for the same reason.

"There's not a lot of open bank," said John Fillyaw, manager of Wekiwa Springs State Park, explaining that much of the river system flows through vast expanses of wetlands. Getting to the river in those places would require a boardwalk so huge it would never get construction permits from state regulators.

"When I sit and look at a map, I think, 'Wow, where are we going to be able to put folks on the river?' " Fillyaw said.

Canoes and kayaks are available for rent at one other spot along the river -- inside the state park near the headwater Wekiwa Springs.

Another popular canoe outfitter, Katie's Landing in Seminole County, closed five years ago. The property near State Road 46 was purchased by the state and opened to the public but without boat rentals.

Putting canoeists and kayakers on the river is a downscale business compared to high-octane development. Yet King's Landing, Wekiva Marina and Wekiva Falls have kept at it for a combined three-quarters of a century.

The canoe outposts don't keep a careful accounting of the number of paddlers they accommodate -- rental and launch fees are per boat and not per person -- but they estimate tens of thousands of people cross their docks each year.

On summer weekends, especially during holidays, canoes and kayaks clog the upper few miles of the Wekiva.

So far, the river's natural features, including wildlife, recover during quieter weekdays and winter months. But as Central Florida's population grows, so will the crowds and the demand for canoe access.

Deborah Shelley, manager of the state's Wekiva River Aquatic Preserve, said one day those crowds might have to be limited, but she will always welcome visitors.

"If they use it, if they get on it, they want to protect it," Shelley said.

King's Landing -- a simple escape

King's Landing was opened and run for nearly 30 years by the "smartest woman" around. That's what Bob Gardner has heard about his industrious, energetic mother.

But she's in a nursing home now, slowly using up savings and proceeds from the sale of rental properties.

About all that's left is King's, simple and rustic, on nearly two acres.

Gardner, 54, isn't trying to sell King's, but he can't envision how to keep it much longer. He doesn't work there; his computer-software job is an hour south of Orlando.

He ponders options when interested buyers call. "If I get really hard up, I guess I'll stick a 'for sale' sign in the driveway," said Gardner, who cannot estimate a price. "How do you appraise something that's on a Wild and Scenic River?"

Turn off the paved road north of Apopka into King's, and the developed world vanishes, cut off by heavy tree canopy and a sandy lane to the boat launch. It smells of cool, moist earth. Ahead are eight miles of Rock Springs Run -- a secluded route to the Wekiva -- and encounters with snapping turtles, herons, eel-grass beds and jungle scenery. "If you don't put in at King's Landing, you don't go down the river," Gardner said.

Wekiva Marina -- 'the real Florida'

At one time, Wekiva Marina was one of the few places in Central Florida where you could order gator meat and beer while sitting on the banks of a river.

And for more than three decades, the landmark eatery -- first known as the Wekiva Marina Restaurant and later as Alexander's Riverfront Restaurant -- catered to thousands of canoeists. A fire destroyed the restaurant in 1999, and it was not rebuilt. Then last November, another fire destroyed another building that once hosted private parties. All that remains is a building where canoeists can rent equipment and buy snacks.

Still, about 20,000 people launch their canoes or kayaks there each year. Rumors that the facility may be sold for development usually rise during the winter, when business slows.

Michael Dowd, one of the property's principal owners, said his group, Wekiva Marina Properties Inc., often gets offers for the land. But he said there is no plan to sell, and the business remains profitable.

Most visitors take a short paddle upstream and dock at the nearby Wekiwa Springs State Park. Others head north on Rock Springs Run. "This is one of the few places left in this area where people can actually come out to see the real Florida and all its wildlife," said Bill Fry, as he prepared to launch his kayak recently. "It's unparalleled to anything else here."

Wekiva Falls -- continuing a dream

The falls are long gone -- and they never were real -- but Wekiva Falls Resort still provides an escape from the hectic pace of life.

Gene and Ruby Middlebrooks moved from Atlanta in 1959 and decided to build a dream.

Thirty years ago, they opened the resort on their 100 acres a mile south of State Road 46 on the Lake County side of the Wekiva River. A unique feature: waterfalls. Two large concrete structures sat atop a mineral-spring pool and water was pumped to the top to create the "falls." The state put a stop to that several years ago because the falls were powered by valuable water pumped from underground rather than the spring flow.

Today, visitors can swim in the mineral spring, rent a canoe, take a 55-minute cruise on one of four tour boats or camp at some of the 750 sites.

But Ruby Middlebrooks is continuing the dream alone. Her husband died last year. "There's lots of work -- mostly just keeping the park up," she said.

She said she has no plans for any changes but doesn't know what the future will bring. She won't discuss what she plans to do with the property, although she said she hopes the resort will continue to operate like it does today long after she is gone.

Martin E. Comas can be reached at mcomas@orlandosentinel.com or 352-742-5927. Kevin Spear can be reached at 407-420-5062 or kspear@orlandosentinel.com. Gary Taylor can be reached at gtaylor@orlandosentinel.com or 407-324-7293.

Where does Volusia fit in Central Florida's future? Some meetings let the public weigh in.

DeLAND -- Standing over maps that showed different parts of Central Florida, a group of more than 50 elected officials, residents, developers, government workers and engineers struggled to answer a question: where to put the 3.7 million people who are projected to move into the seven-county region by 2050.

Some, such as Volusia County Chairman Frank Bruno, joked that the answer was to put the people in Lake and Orange counties anywhere but Volusia.

Others, such as Alex Ross, an environmentalist from Daytona Beach Shores, said if there is going to be growth in Volusia, "We need to grow up, not out."

Mark Watts, a local land-use attorney, pointed out that people say they want higher density -- except when it's in their backyards.

These three views highlight the difficulties in getting a seven-county, 86-city region to agree on anything, much less growth during the next 44 years.

Nonetheless that's the goal of a 15-month effort by myregion.org, a think tank hosting the second Volusia "How Shall We Grow?" meeting tonight at 6 at Daytona Beach Community College.

Bruno, Ross and Watts were among more than 50 people grappling with growth issues at myregion.org's first Volusia session, last week at a DeLand hotel.

Besides the usual crowd -- environmentalists, developers, elected officials and planners -- the session drew Lisa Landis, a Cassadaga spiritualist who said she predicted Hurricane Katrina. Landis said she came because she wanted to urge leaders to stop building along the state's coast and listen to scientists who predict more devastating hurricanes.

The group was split and seated at tables, each with a map showing one quarter of Central Florida. Each table had to use "chips," which represented different-size housing developments, to figure out where to house the 3.7 million projected newcomers.

After each group made decisions, including whether to house people in several giant "master planned communities" like The Villages or in dozens of smaller, more dense "urban villages" like Baldwin Park, Shelley Lauten, the program's director, analyzed each group's ideas.

"We all have in common this real concern to make sure we are thinking about the environment," Lauten said.

One popular concept was "transit-oriented developments" -- dense, mixed-use neighborhoods clustered around public transportation. With the region preparing to build a commuter rail line from Volusia to Osceola County, participants said developments along the rail line would cut down on residents' transportation headaches and costs.

Pierson Mayor James Sowell suggested that someday the commuter line could be extended north into his town of about 2,700 people, now known for its fern-growing operations.

Unlike last week's session, which looked at how Central Florida will grow, tonight's session is scheduled to focus on Volusia. Another Volusia-only meeting is planned Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Thomas Kelly Administration Center in DeLand.

Bruno said he is asking elected officials to attend tonight's meeting, which will run from 6 to 8:30 in Building 110 at DBCC.

Etan Horowitz can be reached at ehorowitz@orlandosentinel.com or 386-851-7915.

  Developer might still scrub deal in habitat

A real estate agent says Sarasota County can get land in Manasota Scrub Preserve

ENGLEWOOD -- As a developer prepares to ask Sarasota County for permission to build nine homes, essentially inside the Manasota Scrub Preserve, an agent for the owner said he would still consider selling the parcel to the county.

"He's still willing to entertain an offer," said Christi Phelps of Corin Bay Real Estate and Marketing Inc. Phelps represents owner David Olshansky, a Minnesota resident who purchased the parcel in February 2005 for $276,500, according to property records.

Phelps is scheduled to go before the county commission Tuesday to ask for a zoning change that would allow Olshansky to build nine single-family homes just feet from a picnic area and a trail that takes walkers through the secluded acreage.

The property's current estate zoning allows Olshansky to build only two homes on the five-acre parcel on Manasota Beach Road. In January, the county's planning commission recommended that commissioners deny the zoning change.

Olshansky's undeveloped parcel is bordered on three sides by the year-old public preserve: 145 acres of pine and oak scrub located at the intersection of Manasota Beach and Englewood roads.

The preserve was the county's first purchase through its much-lauded Environmentally Sensitive Lands Program, which has allowed the county to purchase property through a dedicated property tax.

Since voters approved the program in 1999, the county has paid about $70 million in taxpayer money to acquire park and preserve lands, including the scrub preserve.

The county paid $1.6 million in 2000 for the preserve property; the state contributed an additional $1 million, according to Brooke Elias, the program's coordinator.

A year after it purchased the preserve property, the county made an offer on Olshansky's parcel, which was then owned by another family.

But the owner never responded to the offer, and when the county followed up months later, it learned that Olshansky was under contract to purchase the property, Elias said.

The county pays the Nature Conservancy of Sarasota to seek out and acquire property through the environmentally sensitive lands program.

Last year, a woman who claimed to represent Olshansky asked the conservancy if the county was still interested in the property and cited a $699,000 purchase price.

"You can understand why we felt we were at an impasse at that point," Elias said.

But Phelps, the owner's agent, said the woman did not represent Olshansky.

Phelps said no one, either from the county or the conservancy, has ever approached Olshansky with an offer.

"If they're serious, jump in there, put it on paper," she said Friday. While Olshansky is open to offers from the county, Phelps said, he bought the property for residential development.

"He bought it so he could build himself a home and build some other homes," she said.

When homes are adjacent to a protected preserve, it can make it difficult for the county to manage the land, said Nancy Edmondson, a county environmental specialist who helps maintain the preserve.

Exotic trees and plants have to be removed from the preserve with heavy equipment, and the county might use controlled burns to clear overgrown areas.

"Sometimes these things are not acceptable to people that live in residential areas," she said.

"The challenge is to make people aware of how the natural world benefits their own existence. Sometimes people forget that."

Battle over fertilizer runoff at heart of rules debate in Sarasota County

SARASOTA COUNTY -- The fertilizer industry is working to head off the county's efforts to restrict fertilizer use on lawns, golf courses and other green spaces.

The aim of such restrictions is to limit the amount of fertilizer that runs off lawns and ends up in streams, rivers and eventually the Gulf of Mexico. The fertilizer can spur harmful algal blooms, including red tide.

Southwest Florida last year was home to one of the worst red tide blooms in recent memory.

Several counties in Florida and dozens across the nation have enacted laws restricting fertilizer use. In many of those places the fertilizer industry has fought back -- through public relations campaigns and lawsuits -- saying the restrictions are "unnecessary, duplicative and often illegal."

Sarasota County is the latest battleground.

County leaders say they will consider restricting fertilizer use on parks and other county property before expanding to the general public. The county also plans to hold a series of public forums bringing together environmentalists, scientists, fertilizer industry officials and others, including officials of Manatee and Charlotte counties, to discuss the possible restrictions before writing them into law.

The County Commission is scheduled to meet Wednesday to discuss these proposals.

County Commissioner Jon Thaxton is one of the more vocal proponents of tighter restrictions. Thaxton said such regulations are the next logical step since education efforts haven't paid off.

"Frankly, I don't care how much these guys want to bully, I'm not going to give up on the possibility of regulation," Thaxton said.

The county began exploring tighter regulations last fall at the behest of Longboat Key resident Ed Rosenthal, CEO of Florikan ESA, a fertilizer company that specializes in time-release products that are applied every six months.

Rosenthal said it was the 20 tons of dead fish on the beaches near his home last year that spurred him to action. He made the connection between red tide and fertilizer after hearing that Japan cut its red tide by two-thirds by restricting fertilizer use.

Rosenthal drew up an ordinance that incorporated his concerns, and county staffers -- including those in the environmental and legal departments -- have been researching the issue.

"I don't want our lifestyle destroyed. Nine months of dead fish, and nutrients are the problem," Rosenthal said.

The fertilizer industry was in the midst of fighting restrictive ordinances in Citrus and St. Johns counties when it learned that Sarasota County was also considering such restrictions.

In March, Erica Santella, regional technical manager for TruGreen-ChemLawn and TruGreen-Land Care, sent an e-mail to other industry leaders warning them about activities here.

"I heard rumblings that Sarasota County and other counties may be considering a similar ban, so we'll need to do some work in those areas," Santella wrote.

The public face of the fertilizer industry is a group called Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment, or RISE.

Shortly after Santella's alert went out, RISE members began contacting Sarasota County officials, extolling the virtues of fertilizing lawns.

In an e-mail to County Commissioner Shannon Staub last month, RISE spokesman Jim Skillen warned that the restrictions being considered by the county could actually harm the environment.

He argued that more fertilizer means less polluted runoff.

"Thick healthy turf is one of the best ways to protect the water quality -- the fertilizer restrictions under consideration will simply confuse homeowners and will result in a reduction in fertilizer use," Skillen wrote.

"The fertilizer reduction will impact turf quality throughout the county and that will actually increase stormwater runoff and the nutrient loading to Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico."

It's an argument that environmentalists scoff at.

"Worldwide, there is mounting scientific evidence that links coastal pollution, specifically from fertilizers, to increases in the duration and intensity of harmful algal blooms," said Stuart DeCew, red tide campaign coordinator for the Sierra Club Florida Chapter.

RISE also asked the county for all correspondence relating to the proposed fertilizer restrictions -- a request that resulted in more than 500 pages of e-mails and letters.

Skillen said RISE was just trying to educate county officials on the benefits of proper fertilizer use.

"I haven't seen a copy of the draft ordinance," Skillen said. "I was just trying to get some facts in front of them early in this process."

In addition to criticizing Rosenthal's proposal, RISE has criticized Rosenthal himself.

Skillen said Rosenthal has his own wallet in mind, since his company Florikan produces time-released fertilizer -- the kind that the ordinance would recommend.

Rosenthal vows not to bid for any fertilizer contracts with the county and said his only goal is cleaning up the environment.

His efforts have drawn the attention of local environmental groups working toward the same end.

"If each one of us could peer beneath the surface of the Gulf and observe the 2,000-square-mile dead zone caused by last year's red tide, initiatives like this one would be commonplace along the Gulf Coast," DeCew said.

Other groups want more than talk from commissioners when they meet on Wednesday.

Don Chaney, a member of the Healthy Gulf Coalition, said he fears the commission will vote to study the issue before taking any action.

"The process will take a long time, and it's time we don't have," Chaney said.

Road issue splits neighbors

Homeowner's efforts collapse over high costs, lack of support

BY KAUSTUV BASU
FLORIDA TODAY

TITUSVILLE - A little stretch of undeveloped road in a quiet neighborhood is raising hackles and pitting one homeowner against another.

Last year, David Caddy, who lives on Greenwood Street near Park Avenue, submitted a petition to the city seeking to pave a section of Logan Drive -- an undeveloped extension of the street that exists only on maps. Caddy, who owns land abutting Logan Drive, had the support of at least five other property owners in the area.

Acting on Caddy's request, the Titusville City Council authorized preparation of cost estimates for the project in May 2005.

In February, residents of the neighborhood received notice from the city that they might have to foot the $12,000 cost of an engineering study. Then, in a meeting in March, residents also were informed by the city that if the road project moved forward, those with property abutting Logan Drive could be held responsible for payment of the entire project estimated at $250,000. That did not include stormwater improvements and other uncalculated costs.

Public Works Director Jim Herron said the city was attempting to respond to a request by a majority of property owners in the area.

"This is the first time in my nine years (here) that the Public Works Department has received a petition to develop a 'paper street,' " he said.

He called it a "paper street" because the road is pictured on maps, while only brush and dirt exist at the location.

The notice from the city caught Caddy's neighbors -- many of whom were unaware he had made the request to the city -- off guard. Besides the cost, they don't want the extra traffic that the road would generate in the Bell Terrace neighborhood that, for now, is essentially a cul-de-sac.

Frank Whisenant, who lives on Bell Terrace near Logan Drive, didn't know of the project request until March, has no interest in the road being developed and doesn't think residents should have to pay for it. He's among the growing majority who helped kill the project this month.

"If you are talking about that kind of money, it should be more than a simple majority," Whisenant said.

Herron said the city can facilitate projects like the development of Logan Drive, but at no time can it use public dollars. Under a city ordinance based on state statute, property owners who benefit from special assessment projects can be charged for the project, he said.

"I am appalled at the existence of a rule that forces reluctant property owners to pay large sums of money for something they do not want," Whisenant said.

Roxanne Pistel, another property owner, said that the episode had made her uncomfortable. "I wonder what was behind all this," she said.

Even Caddy has lost interest, and rescinded his request for the road's development after an inspection by the city revealed stormwater issues and wetland conditions in the area. The city council decided not to move forward with the project after one property owner who signed Caddy's original petition rescinded his signature, and property sales in the area ensured the request did not have the support of a majority of neighborhood residents.

"I had no idea that the final costs would be close to a quarter of a million dollars," Caddy said. He's also dismayed by the lack of support from his neighbors.

Caddy said he was trying to improve the area and make his property more appealing. Earlier this year, he was cited by the St. Johns River Water Management District for unauthorized excavation on Logan Drive. He was told any further work would require a permit.

Stan Johnston, a city engineer who owns property on Logan Drive, supported Caddy's original petition, but did not participate in the meetings and declined to be interviewed for this story.

The project might have been stopped but it has made Whisenant wary. He is worried other neighborhoods in the city might face the same problem.

"People living near many 'paper roads' in Titusville are at risk," he said.

Contact Basu at 360-1018 or kbasu@flatoday.net.

 

Busy roads can be perilous for wildlife

Keeping up with removing roadkill is difficult for Animal Services

BY MARIA SONNENBERG
FLORIDA TODAY

There's an unexpected plus aspect to Brevard's rapid growth: You might not see as much roadkill in the future as cement replaces the green habitats of furry, feathered and other creatures that frequently, but unsuccessfully, try to dart, crawl or slither across busy roads.

Actually, there's still quite a lot of roadkill out there. Last year, Animal Services and Enforcement scraped off 1,568 animals that met their maker under car tires.

"That's the ones we get to," said Animal Services outreach officer Bob Brown.

Brown said that the 20 road officers often have to prioritize the type of calls they respond to, and roadkill duty is not usually number one.

"If we have to choose between picking up a dead skunk or answering a call about a dog that's threatening kids, we're going to go for the dog," Brown said.

Large area

To cover the 1,520 square miles of Brevard, Animal Services schedules staff members around two shifts that provide coverage between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.

If they were to pick up all dead animals on area roadways, the department would have its hands full.

"It would be a full-time job to remove all the roadkill," Brown said.

Nature, in the form of buzzards and their friends, usually helps the department dispose of smaller animals like squirrels that lose at playing chicken.

"We don't get too many calls for squirrels," Brown said.

What scavengers don't pick up becomes unrecognizable, thanks to traffic.

"In a day or two, it more or less takes care of itself," Brown said.

A danger

Some of the hapless creatures, however, can become dangerous posthumously.

"If it's a hazard to traffic, we'll move it to priority status because it's a safety issue," Brown said.

In addition to removing roadkill, Animal Services also removes dead sea turtles that never saw a road in their long lives. That's a tough one to do, according to Brown.

"Everybody likes turtles," he said.

The companion animals are heart-wrenchers, too. Road officers take the unlucky dogs and cats to the two Animal Care and Adoption facilities in the North and South ends of the county.

"If the animal had a tag, we remove the tag and contact the owner," said Brown.

An out-of-county animal cremation and disposal service is in charge of the disposal of the bodies.

On the interstate

Interstate 95 is a particularly popular way to go for many animal species, from the misguided river otters that occasionally escape the Florida loop at the Brevard Zoo to lost cattle looking for greener grass.

And then there are the really stupid alligators that climb up the safety fence that surrounds I-95.

"The gators don't know that's a fence and just keep walking," Brown said. "They're not the sharpest tool in the box."

Alligators, often not much of a physical hazard to interstate motorists, are a very real visual hazard as rubberneckers' fodder and thus usually are picked up quickly.

The road officers try to do the task with a modicum of respect for the dead animals.

"We try to offer some dignity," Brown said.