New
FHBA president outlines goals
By Steve Liner
BUSINESS MATTERS EDITOR
When Tallahassee
builder Robert Parrish took over as president of the Florida Home Builders
Association Saturday night, he said he would have a single message: “We could
be doing this a lot better.”
In an interview
earlier in the week with the Tallahassee Democrat, Parrish discussed
topics important to Florida's construction industry, his background and what
needs to be done to make it through an expected 2008 construction downturn.
Parrish has owned
a construction business more than 15 years. He built the business “one house at
a time” at first in upscale neighborhoods such as Golden Eagle, Summerbrook and
Hawks Nest. Then he transitioned into building single office buildings at
Centre Point on Capital Circle Northeast. Most recently, he has transformed the
Parrish Group into a company specializing in commercial development such as the
Hermitage Center, Metropolitan Center at I-10 and a portion of what was
Welaunee Plantation.
Parrish said he's
been working for the presidency of the association about a decade, having
actually run for the office four years ago to “work through the chairs” of
executive offices of the 21,000-member strong organization. He has served as
secretary, treasurer and vice president.
Issues of
importance to builders, he said, are central to Florida's prosperity.
“We're fed by
growth in this state,” he said. “Without it, everything stops.”
He has a point. A
Sept. 17 U.S. Department of Commerce report on Florida's metropolitan service
areas (Tallahassee is 19th of 20 in the state) shows construction and related
businesses account for at least one third of the economic output of each city.
The report said construction and real estate accounted for more than $1.5
billion in the Tallahassee area in 2005.
Parrish said his
roles as president and spokesman give him “one shot at trying to make a
difference." During his year, he will take on two key issues, Florida's
growth management law and concurrency requirements and renaming the association
to better reflect its members.
Parrish called
Florida's approach to growth-management “extreme” and related it to a past
Florida with “unlimited land for development.” In his sights are concurrency
payments and regulations curtailing development in Florida's urban centers,
called urban services areas.
He said he wants
to work with Florida Department of Community Affairs Secretary Tom Pelham to
“get rid of concurrency" in the urban service areas.
“In Secretary
Pelham, we've got a great secretary,” Parrish said. “We've got to let this guy
do what he knows how to do.”
Changes are
needed in growth-management policy to allow mixed-use development, he said,
citing cities like Atlanta where separate housing and commercial development
are “a thing of the past.” He said builders there create retail space, offices
and residences often in the same building.
“Single use is
almost a crime,” he said, citing his office development on Thomasville Road
near its intersection with I-10. He said he has suspended the project
indefinitely because the official response to concurrency rules has reduced his
original project from 300,000 square feet of office space to 250,000.
“It's just nuts,”
he said. “I mean, they are telling me an office park on a six-lane road at an
Interstate interchange can't support 300,000 square feet. In Atlanta, at such a
location, there would be 50- or 60-story mixed use buildings.
“I love Georgia,”
said the Augusta native, “but it's a one-city state. In Florida, we have 20
potential Atlanta's. ... The answer for Florida is growing vertically, not
horizontally.”
He said his
solution will be to “work as a team” with environmentalists and neighborhoods.
“We've got to do
this as a team,” he said. “We can't have neighborhoods versus development like
it's a football game. We'll all lose.”
He said his
proposals would eliminate sprawl, manage traffic and provide “cheaper houses,
cheaper gas.”
“We've got to
have growth” in Florida, he said, “and that is in serious trouble if we
continue with the growth management rules of the last 30 years.”
Internally,
Parrish said he wants to change the association's name to reflect its role
representing all builders, citing himself as an example.
Are we
'stupid, ignorant' voters?
Gulf Breeze Daily News My Two Cents by Jim Gschwind
Hometown Democracy is a
citizen campaign to change our state Constitution in the 2008 election. The
idea is for local voters, not elected officials, to make major growth
decisions. They key word here is major - not every little detail. Due to last
years' amendment they now need a "super majority" or 60 percent vice
the original 50 percent they needed prior to the Florida Developers and Chamber
of Commerce campaign to change that requirement, mainly in response to the
threat the Florida Hometown Democracy movement posed to business in Florida.
They are just under 100,000 out of 650,000 left to go on this last push to get
on the ballot and the opposition is getting frantic.
Former Speaker of the Florida
House of Representatives, John Thrasher, has recently sent an "extremely
urgent" letter to thousands of Florida voters who have previously signed
the Florida Hometown Democracy Petition.
The letter in question tries
to scare petition signers into changing their minds. His letter however fails
to mention that he is a lobbyist now with the Southern Strategy Group which
represents such large development and business groups as Disney and Associated
Industries of Florida (the outfit running this signature revocation drive) and
the St. Joe Co. The same St Joe company that donated 2,000 acres of wetland to
be used in Panama City with the promise that they would "save" 9,000
acres next to it for their new airport. The old airport (12,500 waterfront
acres) by the way will be "preserved" by a Philadelphia developer.
|
|
He and his supporters have
the scare philosophy and tactic down pat. Supporters will be responsible for
increased crime, unemployment and of course probably more hurricanes and....Oh,
and let's also tell 'em that an evil, mysterious group known as the
"electors" will be running Florida. Surely they won't stand for that.
In the end if Thrasher and
his clients win this one, we all lose even smaller developers who actually care
for their communities and want "smart growth" and not a haphazard
free-for-all.
Local politics in Florida has
become dominated by local and state government in Florida whose only purpose is
to help build something on every vacant piece of land in this state as long as
there is a dollar to be made. Face it, this state is "for sale!"
Is this what you truly want?
Let your voices be heard and ignore Thrashers panicked and absurd threats in
his letter. In fact "x" through it and send it back in the self
addressed envelope that they are paying for, they can afford it! Download and
sign the petition now and don't let him or anyone else tell you that you are
foolish, stupid or ignorant for doing so.
Brent Batten: Hometown Democracy hits homes
By Brent
Batten 
aturday,
October 6, 2007
Collier County Commissioner Frank Halas struck what
slow-growth proponents would see as an ominous note Tuesday.
At the ribbon-cutting for the new segment of Logan
Boulevard, Halas, talking about the need to keep up with road construction,
predicted that attendees soon will be seeing big news regarding big
developments.
Has something crossed Halas’ desk that we should know
about?
Not really, Halas said later. But he expects it will
soon.
Halas predicts a rush of major projects hitting the
county’s approval pipeline in the next few months as developers seek permission
to build before the proposed Hometown Democracy amendment to the state’s
constitution goes to a vote.
Hometown Democracy, which supporters hope to place on the
November 2008 ballot, would require changes to a county or city growth
management plan to go before voters for approval. As it stands, such changes,
which often clear the way for large developments, need only be approved by a
county commission or city council.
According to the Florida Hometown Democracy Web site,
“Developers will know that they will need to persuade not only a majority of a
city or county commission that their proposal is in the public interest, but,
if the commissioners approve it, the voters too.’’
Seeking to avoid that extra step, savvy builders will
seek permission to build before the amendment becomes law, Halas suspects.
“A lot of developers are coming to the trough,’’ Halas
said, adding he expects to see a surge in applications between now and April.
Hometown Democracy backers have until Jan. 31 to collect
the 611,000 signatures needed to get on the ballot. If they do, “I think it has
a good chance (of passing). People want to have more control over what their
community looks like,’’ Halas said.
The effort is being opposed by a group called Save Our
Constitution. Its Web site warns of “higher property taxes, higher utility
bills and Florida’s scenic beauty destroyed by big developers,’’ if the
Hometown Democracy amendment passes.
That statement seems odd, considering that one of the
biggest supporters of Save Our Constitution is Associated Industries of
Florida, a pro-development lobbying group.
Even odder, given Halas’ hunch that developers will be
hurrying to get projects vested before the amendment has any chance of kicking
in.
So far, Halas’ premonition is only that.
Joe Schmitt, head of the county’s development services
division, said he’s seen no influx of applications for changes to the growth
management plan. Two large developments, Collier Enterprises’ 9,000-home Big
Cypress Development District and Toll Brothers’ 1,889-home Rattlesnake-Hammock
Road proposal should be coming in soon, Schmitt said.
When they do, Halas believes the impending Hometown
Democracy vote will give commissioners leverage to wring concessions in terms
of contributions for roads and other public facilities from the builders.
“If these guys want approval, they’re going to have to
step up to the plate,’’ he said.
E-mail Brent Batten at bebatten@naplesnews.com
It's Crucial For Citizens To Monitor Development, Even After
Approval
Published: October 7, 2007
Environmental
violations discovered by government regulators and inspectors in Pasco County the
last few weeks underscore the importance of aggressively monitoring
developments after elected officials approve them, especially in a county where
building is the No. 1 industry.
Most recently, Pasco County
officials fined the developers of The Grove at Wesley Chapel $72,200 for
violating the county's tree ordinance. Workers digging retention ponds and
performing roadwork removed or damaged several oak trees without a permit,
officials say.
The violation was discovered by
a county inspector who visited the construction site. It was a good catch, and
the developers deserved a stiff penalty, regardless of whether the violations
were accidental.
During the summer, state and
federal regulators confirmed that workers clearing land for Cypress Creek Town
Center along State Road 56 illegally destroyed a 3/4 -acre wetland that was
supposed to be preserved and allowed unauthorized discharges of sediments and
turbid water into Cypress Creek. The creek is an Outstanding Florida Water and
a main tributary of the Hillsborough River, the source of most of Tampa's
drinking water.
The discoveries were prompted,
in part, by environmental activists who are closely monitoring the project and
reported concerns to regulators. But to the credit of the Southwest Florida
Water Management District, regulators took the appropriate steps to eyeball the
project's progress shortly after workers broke ground because of its
environmental sensitivity and the public's interest in it.
After heavy rain in early June,
the district immediately assigned two technicians to track the development,
says district spokeswoman Robyn Hanke. Since then, the two have been on-site
two to three times a week every week, checking to make sure regulations and
permits are complied with, she says. Such scrutiny is sorely needed considering
the importance of Cypress Creek.
Overall, each district office
has teams of field technicians responsible for monitoring permits. The
Brooksville office, for instance, has nine such workers, three of whom are
assigned full-time to Pasco. The technicians are on the road all day inspecting
sites, Hanke says.
It's unfortunate that public
interest often wanes after an elected board approves plans for a development,
especially when opponents feel they've lost. But that shouldn't be the case
because environmental regulators and county inspectors can't be everywhere.
It's vital that the public pay
attention, too, and report suspicious activity so it can be investigated, help
that's encouraged by both Pasco County government and the water management
district.
After all, a lot of time and
detail go into reviewing and approving plans for major developments such as
Cypress Creek Town Center. Just as much energy should be spent making sure that
state laws, county ordinances and development permits are strictly followed,
especially when the environment is at stake.
Attorney
rumor mill buzzing
The
retiring Robert Sumner is upset developers are undermining his chosen
successor.
By CHUIN-WEI YAP, Times Staff Writer
Published October 7, 2007
News
of County Attorney Robert Sumner's retirement was still fresh when a small
group of men gathered in late May at the New Port Richey realty offices of F.I.
Grey & Sons.
Their names read like a who's who of
Pasco's development community, which is also the county's major industry.
They sensed opportunity.
For years, Sumner had been a thorn in
the side of developers. Many believed his role in crafting the county's growth
policies had made things more difficult for them. His retirement offered an
opening to regain some influence in policymaking.
Sumner found out about the meeting and
subsequent efforts to undermine his choice for successor, chief assistant
county attorney Barbara Wilhite. The normally soft-spoken 72-year-old was not
amused.
"It is upsetting to me that there's
a movement out there to undermine what I've done without really confronting
me," he told the St. Petersburg Times. "There's a lot of things
they're saying about me: that I speak out when I shouldn't, that I influence
policy in a way I shouldn't."
Alex Deeb, a successful Pasco developer
for three decades, readily described the meeting. But he said it was no big
deal.
"We were talking about people
running for the county attorney's office, whether we want to back a specific
individual," he said.
Sumner says they did. He called longtime
Land O'Lakes lawyer Tim Hayes the "developers' candidate." Hayes
denies that.
* * *
Sumner, the county's attorney since
1999, is scheduled to retire Dec. 31.
Since his announcement in May, 18 people
have applied for his job, and five have made the short list to be interviewed
by the County Commission on Oct. 16. They are Wilhite; Hayes; Celeste Adorno,
eminent domain chief in the state Office of the Attorney General; Jeffrey
Steinsnyder, who works for the Bradenton firm of Kirk-Pinkerton; and former
Valparaiso city attorney Douglas Wyckoff.
A sixth name, Frederick Reeves, was on
that list, but dropped out this month, said commission Chairwoman Ann
Hildebrand. Reeves formerly represented the county on water-related cases,
working closely with attorney Clyde Hobby.
Reeves had been one of two names that
the group that met at the realty office settled on. The other was Hayes, Deeb
said.
"Tim Hayes supposedly gets along
with County Administrator John Gallagher," Deeb said. "The key to
whole thing was: Can you get along with John Gallagher?"
To Deeb, getting along with Gallagher
was shorthand for having a county attorney who would be friendlier to his
interests.
"You've had tremendous gridlock
since Sumner became county attorney," Deeb said. "With Gallagher and
his staff, they tell you what they expected of you. If you did it, you get your
project approved. When Sumner became county attorney, it seemed they were at
odds with each other. One person tells you one thing, the other tells you
another thing."
Deeb described the meeting in May. He
said it included Chuck Grey and lawyers Ben Harrill and Steve Booth, who often
represent developers and builders. There may have been other meetings later,
Deeb said, but that was the only one he attended. Booth and Grey did not return
calls for this story.
Deeb said growth-related ordinances
crafted by the county attorney's office in the past five years have disregarded
public input, including the development community's.
He said the fault didn't just lie with
the county attorney, but ineffective commissioners and a county administrator
who was "no longer in charge."
"If you print that, I know
Gallagher's going to call me up and chew me out," Deeb said. "But I
don't care. Because it's true."
"Look at how many variances there
are on the tree ordinance," he said. "It is a joke. Gallagher's staff
will try to work within it, and it's impossible, and then the county attorney's
office will call them on it."
Exemptions, or variances, are needed
today to allow a developer to contribute to a fund if he wants to cut down more
trees than the ordinance allows.
But Sumner said he didn't win that
battle. When environmentalists first suggested a tree ordinance, he said he
proposed a tree department with professional arborists. Gallagher and the
commissioners disagreed, he said, and the suggestion was whittled to a
"tree mitigation fund," among other rules.
That wasn't good enough for the
development community, Sumner said.
"That's me sticking my nose into
policy instead of keeping my mouth shut," he said.
Similar objections to his role were
raised when Sumner once suggested banning billboards, he said. Commissioners
say developers also dislike aspects of the right-of-way and sign ordinances.
Sumner dismisses the notion that he's
wholly responsible for these rules. He is angry that these grievances are not
being brought directly to him.
"Why is this not in the open?"
he said. "I would love to have someone tell me what I've done wrong, and
why it's affecting Barbara."
'No dramatic changes'
About two months ago, Hayes said, he got
a call from Wilhite.
The call was about routine work, but
Wilhite then brought up the county attorney job, Hayes said.
"Out of the blue, she said, 'I
heard you're applying,'" Hayes said.
Hayes told her it's true, and then
related to Wilhite a signal he had picked up.
"'I heard that the development
community would like dramatic changes made to the county attorney's
office,'" Hayes said he told Wilhite. "'Barbara, I want to be up
front with you. If I were to get the job, my intention is not to go in and
replace anybody.'"
Wilhite declined to be interviewed for
this story.
Sumner called Hayes "the
developers' candidate." He said he heard Hayes had already picked someone
in the Hillsborough County Attorney's office to appoint as chief assistant
county attorney.
Absolutely not, Hayes told the Times.
"Quite frankly, I don't know
anybody in the Hillsborough County Attorney's office," Hayes said.
"Should I be the person selected, I have no intention of making any
dramatic changes."
Hayes said he's not "the
developers' candidate," and pointed to his record representing a broad
stripe of clients, including those who oppose development.
A lawyer in Pasco for more than 20
years, Hayes was a finalist for county attorney in 1992, but lost to Tom Bustin
despite being recommended by a selection committee.
Harrill, himself a former county
attorney, said he reached out to Hayes to talk about the county attorney job several
months ago. Harrill said he also spoke with Reeves and Gallagher about it. He
did not speak to Wilhite.
Asked what they talked about, Harrill
said it was about the ability of the two top county offices to work together.
"A county attorney doesn't just
have to be good at legal work, but also be a good diplomat," Harrill said.
Deeb said he has never talked about
removing Wilhite, but made it clear that he opposed Wilhiteas county attorney.
"I'm stabbing myself in the chest
right now by saying this, but if you pick somebody from within the county
attorney's office, there's no reason to believe it's not business as
usual," Deeb said.
Commissioner Michael Cox echoed that
statement. He said he's had many conversations with people in the business
community about the county attorney's job. He said he believes the two top
county offices are not working well together.
"Everyone who's appeared before the
commission has said, 'Please pick someone from outside,'" he said.
"County staff and even some assistant county attorneys have said, 'Pick
someone from the outside.' I have nothing personal against Barbara. I think she
does a very good job for what the case may be. But she's assumed a role under
Bobby (Sumner), for good or bad."
Staying
neutral
Not all commissioners share that view.
Ted Schrader was critical of Cox's
sentiments. "Michael has been there something of a year," he said.
"It's premature on his part to make comments like that."
Schrader mentioned, then dismissed,
Sumner's reputation as a "sixth commissioner." As for Wilhite:
"Somebody needs to point out what she's done wrong that she doesn't
deserve consideration," he said.
Hildebrand said she's only had neutral
conversations on the issue. She said Booth had indicated he wanted to discuss
the matter, but she said they haven't spoken yet.
Commissioner Jack Mariano said Deeb had
spoken with him. Deeb said Mariano would keep "an open mind."
Commissioner Pat Mulieri didn't respond to calls from the Times.
But Gallagher and the commissioners,
including Cox, said no one should expect wholesale ordinance changes under any
new county attorney.
Publicly at least, Gallagher's staying
above the fray.
He said he agrees with Sumner "95
percent of the time," and that allegations of problems between the two top
county offices have been "blown out of proportion."
Not to some in the development
community, though.
"Bobby Sumner could have chosen to
work with Gallagher and instructed his staff to do the same," Deeb said.
"They're good people who've been misdirected. All they need to do is work
with Gallagher's staff."
Chuin-Wei
Yap can be reached at (813)909-4613 or cyap@sptimes.com.
Marina
plans sink or swim with judge
Environmentalists see
him as fair, though past rulings benefited growth.
Rachael Jackson
Sentinel Staff Writer
October 7, 2007
The Tallahassee judge
who will determine the fate of a 250-slip marina proposed for DeBary has a history
of deciding against environmental groups and development foes, but the
environmentalists opposed to the DeBary marina said so far he seems to be
handling the case justly.
"I think he's doing a very fair job," said Pat Rose, executive
director of the Save the Manatee Club at the close of a recent three-day
hearing on the dispute. "You just have to wait and see."
At issue is whether DeBary's approval of the development, which includes 250
upscale homes, violated growth laws because it is in an environmentally
sensitive area. The state Department of Community Affairs, which must approve
land-use changes, said it could be especially harmful for manatees. The city
and developers said it would benefit the community.
Judge Donald R. Alexander's ruling could take weeks or months and it will carry
considerable weight with Gov. Charlie Crist and the Florida Cabinet, which will
have the final say.
Alexander, 66, and other administrative law judges earn $120,320 annually and
they are appointed to permanent positions by the chief judge of the state
Division of Administrative Hearings, an agency that helps resolve growth feuds.
Alexander, who has been hearing cases since 1980, sided with the Sugarloaf
Mountain developer in 2001 and gave a nod to a Wal-Mart Supercenter in DeLand
in 2000. In May an order he wrote allowing the expansion of a South Florida
landfill was reversed. Out of the past 10 comprehensive-plan changes he has
looked at, he has only rejected one. The DeBary case hinges on whether
comprehensive-plan amendments made to accommodate the marina were permissible.
Although a few of his decisions have pleased environmentalists, Alexander's
past recommendations tended to favor governments and state agencies. That's
somewhat typical for a judge of his type, but some observers say he sometimes
strongly favors development.
But the DeBary case has one very different twist: The state and the city are on
different sides. More often the state agency and the local government are
united against environmental groups.
"It will be interesting to see if he's going to stick to his guns,"
said Linda Young, director of the Clean Water Network of Florida, whose group
went before Alexander in 2002 to argue against a Putnam County paper mill. He
upheld the company's state permit. Young didn't think he listened to her side.
Alexander's cases range from long-shot challenges by small groups of local
residents to showdowns between counties and cities. In July, he disappointed
environmentalists by OK'ing a plan for a Naples-area golf-course development
that environmentalists said would reduce wetlands and deplete populations of
fish eaten by endangered wood storks.
In 2005, he determined that Palm Beach County was within the law to appoint
itself water and sewer provider for future developments, despite claims it
would promote urban sprawl.
In 2004, he supported Sarasota County in a "smart growth" plan that
environmentalists argued would cause congestion and sprawl.
Dan Lobeck, an attorney who represented an environmental group in the Sarasota
case, said during the hearing he thought the judge fairly let both sides
present their cases, but when the recommendation was in favor of the county,
Lobeck felt there was no explanation.
"Clearly, we were disappointed in the outcome," he said, adding that
they had "hoped that if the judge was going to reject all of our points we
would have received an explanation of why."
But Charles Lee, director of advocacy for Audubon of Florida, said he's known
Alexander to be fair.
"He's like any judge," Lee said. "Their job is to analyze the
facts and come up with conclusions of law."
But Lee also added that the DeBary case is "starkly different" from
the South Florida case because a state agency is a challenger.
"It's more typical that when you have environmental groups in an
administrative-law case that they're going to be challenging both the state
agency and the developer and fighting an uphill battle," he said.
And environmentalists have a few victories in Alexander's record. In June, his
recommendation in a Florida Keys controversy took the form of a compromise over
Monroe County land-use rules.
In 1992, when the Department of Community Affairs challenged Lake County's
approval of an 80-home subdivision planned in a swamp, Alexander determined
that the development threatened to harm the Green Swamp, a region which, like
the part of the St. Johns where DeBary wants the marina built, was considered
environmentally sensitive.
Rachael Jackson can be reached at rjackson@orlandosentinel.com or 386-851-7923
Investing in nature
October 7, 2007
Florida Trail grows in miles, cost
Panama City News Herald By Tony
Bridges
The U.S. Forest Service spent more than
$15 million during the last five years acquiring land for a little-known hiking
trail that stretches 1,400 miles from one end of Florida to the other.
The Florida Trail runs mostly through
public land — state and national forests, military installations and donated
private property — but so far, the government has had to buy about three dozen
parcels to help fill in gaps.
Some of those purchases have been
costly. Among them was nearly $2 million paid to the St. Joe Co. last year for
a 320-acre square of land in Bay County that added a single mile to the trail.
However, Forest Service officials say
the trail is about more than simple hiking space; it also is about the
preservation of the last wild places in the state. That, plus the thousands of
hours citizen volunteers spend on trail maintenance each year, makes the price
a bargain, they say.
“If all you wanted to do was walk, you
can walk on the roads,” said Michelle Mitchell, the federal Florida Trail
manager based in Tallahassee. “But that’s not the experience that you want.
“You want to see the Florida that’s
being lost, the Florida you can’t necessarily see if you live in an apartment
complex in Miami.”
‘A dream’
The trail started with a wildlife
photographer and real estate broker named James Kern.
He founded the Florida Trail
Association in the early 1960s and began recruiting volunteers to build a route
through the state 500 miles long. The first trail blaze went up in the Ocala
National Forest in 1966, according to the association.
Since then, the trail association has
grown to more than 5,000 members who have cajoled permanent trail easements out
of government and private landowners from the edge of the Everglades up to Gulf
Islands National Seashore, near Pensacola.
Congress designated it a National
Scenic Trail, one of only eight in the nation, in 1983.
“It’s very hard work to get a dream
like this accomplished,” said Howard Pardue, land acquisition coordinator for
the FTA.
Now, there are about 1,100 miles of
actual trail, not counting detours and hiking loops, and about 300 miles of
gaps. In places where the trail runs out, hikers are routed to paved roads,
where they can follow a series of orange blazes to the next section.
“We are among the fastestgrowing states
in the nation, and amid all this development, we must recognize the value of
preserving and protecting Florida’s unique history and natural beauty through
the Florida National Scenic Trail,” Congressman Allen Boyd, D-Monticello, said
through a spokeswoman last week. “It’s an important investment in our state.”
Hikers welcome
How many people use the trail is still
a matter of study. The Forest Service and the University of Florida are in the
middle of a five-year project to come up with accurate numbers.
Twice a year, researchers station
themselves at trailheads and install electronic monitors on specific segments,
in addition to passing out surveys. So far, estimates have ranged between
300,000 and 400,000 people each year hiking, riding horses or rollerblading
along portions of the trail.
The majority are repeat visitors over
the age of 40 who spend a few hours at a time on the trail, according to the
research.
Landowners whose property borders the
trail sometimes worry about having those strangers passing nearby, Mitchell
said, but neighbors of the new Bay County section seem pleased.
“I think it’s a real plus,” said Dan
Sowell, who owns an adjacent parcel and works as the assistant chief deputy in
the Bay County Property Appraiser’s Office. “It will enhance property values up
there.
“It basically gives a person with 10
acres an even bigger back yard.”
Roy Nicholas lives on the west side of
the property. He said he is more concerned about the broken stoves,
refrigerators and boats that get dumped in those woods.
“That’s fine with me if they keep it
cleaned up,” he said of the trail expansion and accompanying hikers. “I’d be
glad to see them.”
The cost
Filling in the gaps is the hardest —
and most expensive — part of the project.
There is only one federal employee,
Mitchell, assigned to the project, so trail association volunteers do the bulk
of the work, including upkeep. They pick up trash and debris, keep the
underbrush cut down and make sure trail markers are visible, donating about
65,000 to 75,000 hours a year, according to Mitchell.
Their work is the equivalent of 32
full-time federal employees, she said.
“We are a citizen-supported,
citizen-driven program,” she said. “The federal investment in this project is
extraordinarily small compared to the actual ... citizen investment.”
The government’s money goes to buying
land in places such as Bay County, where the trail is almost nonexistent.
Ostensibly, it cuts across the
northeastern corner of the county, crosses into Washington County, then dips
back into the upper West Bay and winds through Pine Log State Forest.
But the only established sections are
the few miles of state forest and about a 20-mile stretch along Econfina Creek
in Bay and Washington counties, on land owned by the Northwest Florida Water
Management District.
“That’s one of our big, tough gaps
right now,” Pardue said.
Investment
Pardue said the St. Joe parcel, which
lies south of Scott Road, and immediately to the east of the water management
land, was key to extending the trail eastward. The whole 320 acres wasn’t
necessary, but that was the only way the developer would sell, he said.
“The St. Joe Co. was not really
interested in a deal on this,” Pardue said. But, “this is an important
heritage, conservation and recreational piece for Florida.”
Mitchell said the Forest Service pays
only fair market value, as established by an independent appraiser. There is no
negotiating beyond that. For the St. Joe piece, the price was $1.8 million, or
about $6,000 an acre.
The Forest Service has made larger
purchases.
For example, the agency paid $4.8
million for 1,266 acres in Walton County last year, and laid out more than
$33,000 for a single acre in Columbia County in 2005.
The cost is just a matter of
perspective, as far as Pardue is concerned.
“When you sit down 10 years from now and look at how much development there has been compared to this piece of land,” he said, “the people of the state will think it was a very good investment and wish that there had been more of it.”
Treasure
Coast Regional Planning Council to lead study of Poinciana corridor
By
STEPHANIE
MURPHY
PALM BEACH Daily News Business
Saturday, October 06, 2007
The
Town Council unanimously agreed Thursday to hire the Treasure Coast Regional
Planning Council to create a predictable vision for the Royal Poinciana Way
corridor.
A community-oriented
weeklong charrette, or design session, in mid-February will be the centerpiece
of the process, which will begin as early as next week and conclude in late
April, said Marcela Camblor, urban design director for the Stuart-based public
agency.
In the mix would be a
suggested redevelopment master plan for Royal Poinciana Plaza and related land
development regulations.
The council voted to
spend $110,000 for the charrette, pulling $60,000 from the general contingency
fund and $50,000 from the Planning, Zoning and Building's Department's 2008
budget. Depending on the outcome, the council might spend another $70,000 for
new land development regulations.
Camblor said the first
step is for the town to appoint a steering committee of about a dozen people
"preferably not sitting on other (town) boards. ... We recommend involving
everyone, especially if they have been difficult."
Mayor Jack McDonald
and Town Council members agreed to submit three nominees each by Oct. 26. The
council will vote Nov. 5 on the committee's composition.
The panel will operate
within the limits of the Sunshine Law. Members will not vote or set policy.
Their role will be largely as cheerleaders, motivating broad participation and
creating momentum, Camblor said.
Her agency will begin
with a visual record of what exists or has been approved, such as multi-family
residential in The Breakers' planned-unit-development.
The planning council
team will include architects, urban planners, transportation engineers, fiscal
consultants, a biologist and other experts. They will comb the existing code
and identify everything that a developer can currently build in the Royal
Poinciana area, Camblor said.
"This is an
intense design process ... a long, very open process on the community's
terms," she said. "A group flies in from Argentina for a week"
to work "24 hours a day" creating computer animations and other
visual tools.
Land-use plan 'lacks
detail'
The goal is to show
residents and business people what exists and what the future could hold, she
said.
"It's a tool to
let you see whether you want it or not. It tests your concepts and ideas. (The
town's Web site) has a mission statement, but do you have a vision? A land-use
plan, yes, but it lacks detail," Camblor said.
Her team also includes
a retail analyst — in this case, consultant Bob Gibbs of Gibbs Planning Group,
whose clients include Nantucket, Mass.
"It's also an
economic development process ... to improve the economic condition of Royal
Poinciana Way," she said.
Some were skeptical.
"We aren't
looking for economic progress here. Do we need change, or a renovation? Why are
we looking for a vision?" said Arnold Hoffman, a resident of Bradley Place
and a 30-year town resident.
Camblor replied that
those concerns aren't unusual.
"We've never been
called to a town that clamored for change," she said. "But once
people see three-dimensional concepts, there is give and take. If we're here,
chances are you have resistance to change."
Former Mayor Lesly
Smith was proposed to chair the steering committee. Town staff suggested naming
members from various organizations: the Palm Beach Civic Association, the
Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach, the Royal Poinciana Way Association of
merchants, the owner of Royal Poinciana Plaza, The Breakers, the Palm Beach
Chamber of Commerce, The Garden Club of Palm Beach and the Citizens Association
of Palm Beach.
Children have 'good
ideas'
Children also should
be part of the process, Camblor said, "because they don't have cars ...
and they come up with good ideas."
A member of the Palm
Beach Theater Guild also was suggested, as long as that person is a town
resident.
Councilman Denis
Coleman said he objects to the guild's inclusion on the steering committee,
because it is "a de novo group that parachuted into town. ... They have no
history of having made a contribution to the town."
Former Mayor Yveleyne
Marix said the steering committee should include residents who do not belong to
groups.
"Plenty of people
are not 'groupies.' Half of the committee should be (independent)," she
said.
Sam Boykin said a nice
mix would be equal numbers of North End and South End residents "and not
too much commercial."
Councilwoman Susan
Markin said she is concerned that residents will stay on the sidelines,
allowing the charrette to be monopolized by commercial interests.
"The major
stakeholders are developers and business owners with financial motives. You
can't drag people to a charrette," Markin said. People who will
"speak the loudest are business owners," she said.
The town has had other
charrettes, "and there was no problem getting people to turn out ... all
hell broke loose," Coleman said. "People who own property have a
stake. It does not have to be adversarial."
As a public agency,
the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council often negotiates with the Florida
Department of Transportation on behalf of its clients, Camblor said. The DOT
"actually funds (charrettes), because it's easier for them."
The agency has asked
the DOT to finance part of the Royal Poinciana Way study because the work will
help the state agency as it holds focus groups to plan the new Flagler Memorial
Bridge.
"We've engaged
the DOT, and we can give you a concept for the bridge if you want,"
Camblor said.
Town Attorney John
Randolph said the initial appropriation need only cover the cost of the
charrette.
"You're not sure
where you'll be at the end of the study," he said. "You may not do
anything."
Grove applies to
build 2,999 homes, offices, shops
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Callery-Judge Grove on
Friday officially got gears in motion to build a smaller project on farmland it
had spent years wanting to develop into a city of sorts.
The grove submitted to
Palm Beach County the first phase of applications it needs to build 2,999
homes, 220,000 square feet of retail space and 15,000 square feet of office
space on 3,746 acres
That's the same number
of homes Callery-Judge last week said it planned to construct. But it's less commercial
and office space; last week, it estimated that at 316,000 square feet.
The grove is asking
for land-use changes under the state's new agricultural enclave law, which says
if at least 75 percent of a farm borders developed land or land planned for development,
it can build at a similar density and intensity.
"We're all going
to learn the ag enclave law and work through it," said Patrick Rutter, a
chief planner for the county. "We've got to analyze their calculations to
see if they're correct."
Callery-Judge lobbied
hard for the enclave law, adopted last year.
The county's current
land-use laws allow only one home to be built per 10 acres at the grove in the
middle of The Acreage community. That amounts to 374 homes for the entire
project site.
Callery-Judge's
request is for density of one home per acre on 3,723 acres. It's also asking
for a low-commercial land-use designation on the remaining 23 acres. The grove
hasn't yet submitted a detailed site plan, so it's not clear how the project
would be laid out.
Under the sector plan,
the county's growth blueprint for its central-western area, the grove could
build 4,468 homes on the land it has marked residential, if certain clustering
and open space requirements are met. And the sector plan - which the state
still hasn't found in compliance with its growth-management rules - calls for
3.8 million square feet of commercial space.
The requested land-use
changes are fundamental approvals the grove needs before moving on to zoning
approvals or other issues.
The grove's former,
failed plan called for 10,000 homes and 3.8 million square feet of commercial
and office space built on 3,923 acres. But thousands of residents and many
municipalities opposed the plan because of its size.
Officials from several
of those municipalities say the reduced plan seems better.
"It certainly
will have less impact on the roadways," said Ray Liggins, assistant
manager for Royal Palm Beach.
County planners have
10 business days to determine whether Callery-Judge's application is complete.
If it is, it probably would go to the county's growth advisory board in
February or March, followed by the county commission in April. If commissioners
approve the requested changes, they would go to state planners for feedback.
Then commissioners would have to vote on them again.
Growth Cramming Cars onto Roads
By MICHAEL W. FREEMAN
The Reporter Editor
But
one area where municipal leaders are desperately playing catch-up is
transportation. As more and more cars flock onto the region's already congested
highways, the commutes get longer, and frustration level gets worse, and for
some, the local quality of life is dropping fast.
"Chronic road congestion leads to wasted time and wasted money," said
Dwight Saathoff, a principal in project finance and development for the
financial consulting firm of Ackerman, Senterfitt & Edison, which has
worked with government leaders to create transportation improvement projects.
Although Central Floridians are frustrating by the long lines they confront on
the local highways, Saathoff said, "There are no silver bullets. There's
no one size fits all solutions. You have to be very creative to make these
private/public partnerships work."
It helps, perhaps, to avoid unrealistic expectations for quick solutions, he
added.
"In my experience, they can take up to 18 months to happen," he said
of joint private/public transportation projects.
Robert B. Cervero took a similar view.
"As people density goes up, so does traffic," he said. "How do
you deal with it? There is no easy answer. It comes with the territory."
COMBATING TRANSPORTATION WOES
Cervero, a professor of city and regional planning at the University of
California Berkeley, and Saathoff were two of the panelists who took part in a
recent discussion on the transportation woes plaguing Central Florida. The
event, dubbed "Transportation: Is There a Way Out of the Jam?" was
sponsored by the Urban Land Institute's Orlando chapter and held at the
Sheraton Orlando.
ULI organized the event to look for transportation strategies, initiatives and
lessons learned from around the country, which the Greater Orlando area might
be able to employ in the future. Cervero was invited to offer a look at what
other cities have done when traffic has become seemingly unmanageable.
Cervero said Central Florida is certainly ripe to begin a long term strategy
for coping with future growth and its impact on the region's highways and
byways.
"You've experienced phenomenal population growth in the last few decades,
and land consumption has outpaced population growth," he said.
"That's sprawl."
Sprawl, he said, can become a constant reminder to local residents of what they
dislike about the area, because of the annoying daily reminders they get.
"What do they associate with the lack of quality of life?" he asked.
"That's traffic jams."
FOR OTHER CITIES, VARIOUS OPTIONS
To cope, he said, Greater Orlando needs a long range vision for better
transportation options. Cervero said Portland, Ore., faced a similar challenge,
and began work on a 50 year transportation plan. Since people naturally enjoy
the freedom of commuting in their automobile, Cervero said, the key to getting
them out of their cars is to give them efficient and attractive alternates - in
other words, not just a commuter rail line that gets them from their home to
the city's downtown, but also buses that can take them from the train station
to their office.
"The one thing we know about transit is to compete with a car, it has to
be a network," he said. "You have to think regionally, strategically
and carefully to make this happen."
Arlington County, Virginia, in the congested suburbs of Washington, decided to
channel growth around transportation hubs like bus and train stations. Ottawa,
the national capital of Canada, decided to invest in a high quality transit
system that included an accessible bus system.
"They run buses every two to three minutes in the peak hours,"
Cervero said. "They time these buses so you can transfer from one to
another."
The importance of concentrating growth near transit hubs, and investing in
transportation options besides the automobile, he said, is it gives commuters a
reasonable alternative to highway congestion.
"It's also to ensure that we do less travel by car, and if we do use a
car, it's by shorter distances," Cervero said.
CENTRAL FLORIDA SOLUTIONS: TRAINS, BUSES, BIKES
Central Florida is already making a concerted effort to address this problem.
Four counties - Volusia, Seminole, Orange and Osceola - have voted to support a
commuter rail line that would run from Volusia County to downtown Orlando, and
then to Poinciana.
"It's a 61-mile commuter rail project, in which we are using the existing
CSX tracks," said Noranne Downs, district secretary for the Florida
Department of Transportation. "Negotiations are almost final. Right now,
we're diligently working with a ton of engineers. We hope to have the trains up
and running by June 2010."
There are already discussions about expanding the rail lines beyond the
existing CSX lines. Downs said FDOT would like to extend the trains to Orlando
International Airport and Lake Nona. Burnham Institute for Medical Research
selected Lake Nona as the location for its new East Coast research facility.
Lake Nona is a 7,000-acre master planned community close to OIA, expected to
have more than 9,000 residences, and 6.5 million square feet of retail, life
science and commercial space.
Anticipating how best to deliver good transportation options to areas
experiencing solid growth is critical, said Kelley Teague, director of public
affairs for MetroPlan, a transportation planning agency serving Orange, Osceola
and Seminole counties.
"We are now the 8th most congested community in the United States,"
Teague said of Greater Orlando. "What we do in terms of transportation
planning is very important. We know we have a growing population. At the very
least, if we closed our doors tomorrow, we'd still grow by 40 percent just from
people having children."
MetroPlan is working with municipal leaders on a long range transportation
plan, Teague said, which will "take us to the year 2030. We know what we
have in the future. What do we need to do from a transportation perspective to
deal with it?"
MetroPlan often surveys the public for ideas, Teague said, and area residents
often have their own recommendations. The two most popular are to better
synchronize traffic lights so motorists don't go from one red light to another,
and the other is to get trucks off the highways.
Teague said that second request is unrealistic, considering that Central
Florida relies heavily on the import of goods by freight.
"The things we wear, the food we eat, comes from freight," she said.
"Freight is a key component as we look at this transportation planning
process."
Andrew Smith, spokesman for the Lynx bus system, said Lynx hopes to make this
bus system a working partner with commuter rail in the effort to give commuters
more options.
"We do have a plan over the next five to ten years, and we need to really
update our system," he said. "We have buses that are crowded, and
some that are hardly used at all."
Lynx is now trying to provide more buses on routes that have become more
popular, and is "working with commuter rail to get rapid bus service to
the train lines," Smith said.
Charles A. Ramdatt, division manager of Orlando's transportation engineering
division, said the city is looking at "the economics of building our way
out of congestion." It won't be inexpensive, he added, noting that
something as simple as creating a new parking space in downtown has gotten very
pricey.
"It seems like they went overnight from $10,000 a space to build to
$20,000 a space," he said.
In addition to commuter rail lines and buses, Ramdatt said Orlando is also
looking at another option: bike paths.
"The public wants us to create a transportation system that lends itself
to health living," he said. "We don't have that now. We think the
commuter rail ridership will increase significantly if we have rapid bus
service linked into it, and walking and biking is also an essential part of
healthy living. We're bringing urban trails into our downtown, and
incorporating them whenever possible into rights of way."
PAYING THE PRICE OF CONGESTION?
Cervero said a wide variety of solutions can help -- everything from special
high speed lanes on highways to car sharing plans to bike lanes.
"You've got to think long term," he said. "We've got to get
people elected to four year terms to think in this way.
But he also acknowledged that politics can be a detriment to this process in
another way: by discouraging elected officials from considering plans that
could be beneficial in the long run, but politically unpopular in the short
term. He cited as an example imposing additional tolls and costs on motorists
who drive at peak times or on the most congested roadways, as a way of
encouraging them to seek alternative ways of getting to work. It's a system
that London is now experimenting with.
"A lot of economists have said transportation pricing is critical,"
Cervero said. "If you have a high demand for, say, bowling alleys, you
raise prices. It's the same thing with transportation. London is doing
it."
Still, Cervero said he's well aware this would be a tough sell in the U.S.,
where the car is the preferred mode of commuting over public transportation.
"It won't happen here in the United States," he said.
Michael W. Freeman can be reached at 863-421-5577 or at
Michael.Freeman@theledger.com.
Sorry for the
interruption – don’t give up your frontpage
More homes means High Springs must find more
water
By Ronald Dupont Jr.
Herald Editor
HIGH SPRINGS – High Springs does not have enough water capacity
for the 2,306 homes on the way, and the city must immediately begin the process
of building a new water plant.
That was the message sent by Michael Clark, vice president of
Jones Edmunds, the firm that has been examining the city's water capacity.
In a presentation given recently to the High Springs City
Commission, Clark repeatedly told the Commission that if the city is going to
have enough water for the housing developments that have been approved, “plant
design and construction must begin now.”
He pointed out that the city currently pumps an average of 450,000
gallons of water a day and can pump up to 800,000 gallons a day if necessary.
But under calculations that take into account maximum usage by
already-approved housing developments that aren't fully built out yet, the city
will need to pump up to 4 million gallons of water a day.
That means the city needs to gear up for capacity five times
greater than what High Springs now has.
Heeding Clark's advice, the City Commission voted to take the
first steps toward building a new water plant and having it in place to
accommodate the housing developments before they fully build out.
One of the first steps the city must take is finding suitable land
on which to build the new water plant. The city suggested building on land off
of U.S. 441 on Northwest 188th Street near the border with the city of Alachua.
The 376-acre land is in the city limits but is owned by the Suwannee River
Water Management District.
Alachua and High Springs
May Build on Same Land
The district purchased the land in 2001 for both High Springs and
Alachua to jointly build a water plant that would serve both cities. But that
never worked out.
High Springs city commissioners have asked for City Manager Jim
Drumm to approach the city of Alachua once more about a joint water plant. If
that's not possible, the city should consider at least the two cities being
able to back each other up in case one of the two water plants fails.
That's certainly possible, said Alachua City Manager Clovis Watson
Jr.
“We fully expect to construct an interconnect that permits either
city to obtain water from the other during emergency events,” Watson said.
A few eyebrows were raised on the High Springs City Commission
when it learned that Alachua plans to eventually build two or more production
wells, each capable of producing one million gallons of water a day.
“I find it interesting one city would apply for a water permit in
another city's limits,” City Commissioner Kirk Eppenstein said.
But Alachua didn't apply for a permit – the city is trying to get
an existing permit renewed.
“It is the city of Alachua's belief that both cities will develop
the wellfield independent upon one another with oversight from the Suwannee
River Water Management District to ensure equitable access to the groundwater,”
said Mike New, the Public Services director for Alachua.
New said that the city isn't planning to construct on the land
anytime soon but was required to show a 20-year water demand projection in
order to obtain the water use permit.
Piping water is biggest threat to Florida's
river, author says in speech
By Rachael Anne Ryals
Herald Staff Writer
HIGH SPRINGS -- The biggest threat to Florida's rivers is piping
to divert water, not water bottling plants, the author of a book on Florida's
water supply said in a speech at the High Springs Branch Library Sunday
afternoon.
Calling water bottling plants a "tiny gnat" in the room,
Cynthia Barnett, author of "Mirage: Florida and the Vanishing Water of the
Eastern U.S," told the audience, many of whom oppose water plants, that
the piping of water should be a bigger concern to Floridans.
"If you spend all your time and money on fighting the water
bottling plants and then the water gets diverted," Barnett said,
"then you have lost the battle."
Many in the room disagreed.
Members of Our Santa Fe River, a local group dedicated to stopping
water bottling plants on the Santa Fe River, said they will continue to fight
water bottling plants because of the traffic, pollution and noise they say come
with the plants.
"That water never goes back into the environment," Our
Santa Fe River member Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson said. "It's gone."
Malwitz-Jipson added that Our Santa Fe River also opposes the
diversion of water and that many tangent issues concerning water have come from
the group's work to oppose water bottling plants.
But Barnett said that water diversion has much more serious
consequences than water bottling plants.
The piping or diversion of water has historically been a point of
argument between the area that the water is taken and the area to which the
water is sent, Barnett said.
But one thing is certain, she said, the area from which the water
is taken always loses.
In Florida, where 80 percent of the state's water is north of
Interstate 4, that means North Central Florida loses.
Large-scale water projects, such as the 100-mile long pipeline
being proposed to pump water from the St. Johns and Ocklawaha rivers to the
Orlando area, always have unintended consequences, Barnett said.
Across the nation, 500 dams have been removed to restore rivers,
with a multi-million-dollar restoration of the Kissimmee River currently
underway, Barnett said.
Those in control of Florida's water have not historically done the
best job, Barnett said.
"There is good historical reason for Floridians to be
concerned about how the government will manage their rivers," Barnett
said. "All they have to go by is the way the government mismanaged our
wetlands and the way it managed our groundwater."
The Florida government also should be mandating conservation
methods, Barnett said.
Since the 1970s, the rest of the country has steadily decreased
its water consumption while Florida continues to use more water per person each
year.
Some solutions that Barnett suggest the state implement include:
requiring that new homes have water-saving appliances, stopping flood
irrigation for agriculture and using rainwater for toilet flushing and other
non-drinking uses.
"I think we need a serious, statewide, radical change in the
way we view water use," she said, citing state-mandated conservation as
the most important factor. "Everything in Florida is always voluntary and
it does not work."
Jeannette Hinsdale, who came to hear Barnett talk, said that more
attention should be focused on developers who affect the quality of the water
supply.
"I chose to focus on development because I believe they have
more impact," Hindsdale said. "Water bottlers are interested in the
river not being impacted."
A topic that most agreed on was that climate change will be a wild
card in determining Florida's future available water.
"And here is what the public wants to know from scientists:
Is climate change making droughts worse?" Barnett said. "Florida's
water managers do not seem to want to touch this one."
The bottom line that Barnett stressed was that by 2013, many
places in Florida will not have enough groundwater to support projected
population growth, and that means a new way of thinking about water is needed.
"Florida has to learn that growth and economic prosperity
need not mean higher and higher water consumption," Barnett said.
"Making a more serious dent in our consumption has to be the first step,
before new infrastructure projects. It will also be the fastest, cheapest and
easiest step."
County to hold meetings to gain residents'
opinion on new water protection plan
By Rachael Anne Ryals
Herald Staff Writer
Alachua County is asking residents to give their input on how to
best protect the county's water bodies.
A county wide "Waterways Master Plan" is being developed
by consultants from the University of Florida and the Alachua County Parks and
Recreation division.
The plan will be presented to the County Commission as a way to
protect the county's natural water resources for swimmers, boaters and other
recreational uses.
For a year and a half, information has been gathered from
meetings, surveys and field studies to determine recommendations for the water
plan, said University of Florida researcher Larry Schnell.
A list of recommendations that have been determined thus far
concerning facilities, environment, regulations and noise will be presented and
discussed at the upcoming public meetings.
The input from the meetings will influence what is presented to
the county, Schnell said.
"We may revise some of the recommendations after the
meetings," he said. "It just depends on what we hear."
One of the five public meetings to be held around the county will
be held in the Crescent Communities area on Saturday, Oct. 20, from 1:30 p.m.
to 3:30 p.m. at the High Springs Civic Center located at 330 N.W. Santa Fe
Boulevard (U.S.441).
To view the recommendations thus far or for more information,
visit the Website:
www.AlachuaWaterWays.org
Water use
permit may be denied for bottled water plant on Santa Fe
By
Rachael Anne Ryals
Herald Staff Writer
The local water district
staff is recommending denial of a water use permit that was to be used to
extract water for a proposed bottled water plant on the Santa Fe River.
The reason the staff is
recommending the governing board deny the permit is due to the fact that Mark
Wray of the July Springs Water Company missed the deadline to provide
information to the district concerning land ownership rights.
The water use permit that
Wray is seeking is for July Springs, located near Ginnie Springs. Wray is
requesting to withdraw up to 600,000 gallons of water a day.
Jon Dinges, department director
for the water resources department at the Suwannee River Water Management
District, said that if the permit is denied, the applicant can reapply at any
time.
Another issue that the
governing board will vote on at its October meeting is whether to move forward
with establishing the Minimum Flows and Levels for the Upper Santa Fe River.
The board will vote to
authorize publication of the draft rule.
The rule, which determines
how much water can be safely permitted from the river, will be published in the
Florida Administrative Weekly.
The public will have 21 days
to comment on the draft rule, said Kirk Webster, deputy executive director for
the district.
The Suwannee River Water
Management District governing board meeting will be held at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct.
9 in Live Oak.
To read The Florida
Administrative Weekly online, visit:
http://faw.dos.state.fl.us/index.html
Consultants identify 19 issues for long-range plan
By DEBORAH BUCKHALTER
Floridan Staff Writer
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Another step has been taken in the ongoing effort to compile a
state-mandated Evaluation and Appraisal Report (EAR) on
Consultants charged with creating the EAR have described the comp plan as the "long-range road map" meant to guide the county's future, and that description is similar to how others have defined comp plans in general.
Periodically, the state requires counties to revisit and possibly update their comp plans to make sure they remain appropriate as conditions change over time.
An outline of the major issues expected to be addressed in the EAR was presented to Jackson County Commissioners and its advisory Planning Commission at a joint session of the two boards this week.
The consultants identified 19 major issues, arriving at those based in part on comments made in a "visioning" document compiled a couple of years ago in a grassroots effort that included input from more than 1,000 people throughout Jackson County.
One major goal is to make the comprehensive plan more usable.
Since the EAR process began, for instance, consultants have come to believe that too many inappropriate specifics have been added to the comp plan over the years. Those are expected to be stripped from the comp plan and place in zoning regulations.
County staff members have also acknowledged in the past that some regulations in the plan could be better-arranged in the document to make it more user-friendly.
This goal heads a list of major issues outlined Tuesday in what officials and consultants say is a work-in-progress that could see more than one revision. Ultimately, the plan will be presented to several state agencies for review and eventual approval.
The other 18 major goals listed in the draft presented Tuesday are to:
? Direct planned growth to preserve the county's rural character.
? Improve affordable housing options.
? Promote ecotourism, heritage tourism and agri-tourism
? Promote the attraction of environmentally-friendly industries.
? Identify and manage natural assets.
? Protect and preserve environmental resources.
? Improve State Road 71, a hurricane evacuation route.
? Evaluate areas currently designated as impaired watersheds. At Tuesday's meeting, this was clarified to mean that the county suspects that some of the areas with that designation now may not qualify as such and may need to come off the list.
? Amend uses allowed under Ag 1 land use designation. At Tuesday's meeting, this was clarified to mean that the county may want to consider adding allowed uses under the Ag 1 designation; currently those lands can only be used for tree farming. Staff believes that other agricultural uses, such as row cropping, may need to be allowed in those areas to give owners more options.
? Provision for Planned Unit Developments (PUDs).
? Reduce erosion of unpaved roads crossing waterways.
? (Address) groundwater contamination in Northeast quadrant (recharge area for the Floridan aquifer).
? Improve rural road network.
? Strengthen intergovernmental coordination.
? Promote the economic viability of agricultural activities, while maintaining the county's rural character.
? Identify growth corridors for future development.
? Create buffers to protect existing agricultural land from the intrusion of suburban land development.
The development of the EAR is expected to continue well into
2008 but, by consensus of both the county commission and its planning board,
these appear to be the cornerstones of the document as things currently stand.
First debate held over
Proposal would make it harder to change the county's comprehensive plan
By CATHY ZOLLO
cathy.zollo@heraldtribune.com
In question during the League of Women Voters event at the Selby Library was a
Nov. 6 referendum item that would require a supermajority -- four out of five
commissioners voting yes -- to make building density changes to the county's
comprehensive plan.
Proponents of the charter amendment said that, without it,
Those opposed to the move also said it flies in the face of democracy to allow
two members of the commission to sway a decision. But proponents pointed to
five supermajority requirements in the U.S. Constitution and various others at
different levels of government.
"Hamilton and Madison, who did not like supermajorities, said you want to
save them for really important issues," said Bill Earl, whose group
Citizens for Sensible Growth collected signatures to put the measure on the
ballot. "They also said you should use it when there is a danger of undue
influence on a legislative body."
Susan Chapman, who sided with Earl, said the current process is stacked in
favor of developers. "When they have a pending development, look at the
campaign reports," she said.
But Del Borgsdorf, of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce, said that in
his time as a city manager in
"They yield fragmented decisions, not consensus building, and the
fragmentation lasts a long time," Borgsdorf said. "They increase
lobbying efforts and they focus the lobbying on one or two key individuals who
can change the course of a community."
The comprehensive plan prescribes the density of projects developers can build
on lands around the county. Currently, only three of five commissioners are
needed to change the plan.
Tracy Seider, a Realtor representing a group called Sarasota Citizens for
Responsible Governing, said those three already represent a supermajority.
"Majority is majority," she said. "Developers won't work any
harder for a supermajority than for a majority."
Commission to vote again on 2,000-home proposal
BY CHRISTOPHER CURRY
STAR-BANNER
Right now, the property eyed for development is 560 acres of
woods between Southwest 80th and 95th streets, about 1.2 miles east of
Last August, the
On Thursday, they unanimously accepted the report of the mediator - retired Circuit Judge William T. Swigert - who recommended approval of the development at up to four residences per acre.
The application will now come back to commissioners for a vote on whether to forward it to the Florida Department of Community Affairs for review.
Land-use attorney Steve Gray, who represents the Plantation-based property owners, described the land as one of the last large developable tracts along the SR 200 corridor. He said a national builder will construct the project if it gets county approval.
During last August' hearing, Pulte's local division head, Jay Thompson, said that home building giant was interested. On Thursday, Thompson said talks have tailed off since then, but added that Pulte has not ruled out the project.
Commission Chairman Stan McClain said he voted in support Thursday because of concessions made during mediation. They included agreements from the property owner to run water and sewer lines to the property, build a water plant to turn over to the county and donate 10 acres for a park and 20 acres for a school site.
The mediation also calls for keeping 20 percent of the
property as open, undeveloped space and buffering the development from
surrounding residential properties. The developer will also construct
Asked if 2,000 homes could further clog SR 200 with traffic,
McClain said he believed roadways planned for construction - including the
Christopher Curry may be reached at chris.curry@starbanner.com
or 867-4115.
Accord draws closer in fight
over open land
By JIM REEDER
Friday, October 05, 2007
FORT PIERCE — Rural landowners and St. Lucie County commissioners are moving closer to a compromise in their dispute over how much land must be preserved in ranchette developments.
But it will take creation of a 15-member committee and more discussion before the issue is settled, commissioners said Thursday.
"I'm comfortable with 55 percent or some lower number," Commissioner Doug Coward said.
But landowners aren't.
"We would accept 35 percent open space," said Joey Miller, a rural landowner who also owns St. Lucie Battery and Tire Co.
Rules for planned unit developments in the agricultural area require 80 percent of the land to be preserved as open space, but landowners and commissioners don't agree on what's included in "open space."
A county ordinance lists agricultural uses, passive recreation, playgrounds, nature preserves and similar uses as open space, but makes no mention of lawns around houses.
Some say lawns shouldn't be included as open space because they aren't mentioned in the ordinance.
But rural landowners think they should be able to count lawns as open space because it's not prohibited.
Landowners say that makes a big difference to the value of their land and how much they can borrow each year to plant their crops.
"Any new rule has to be clear and concise," Commissioner Joe Smith said.
Commissioners previously said they would establish a task force to study the issue, but that didn't happen.
They agreed Thursday to create a 15-member panel.
"I agree agricultural interest should dominate the committee, " Coward said. "There has to be a balance."
He said more residential development in the agricultural area
affects all taxpayers because new residents will demand roads, fire protection
and other services.
Panel wants more study on
increased impact fees
By JASON SCHULTZ
Friday, October 05, 2007
STUART — A Martin County planning board could not decide Thursday if developers should pay 70 percent more for the roads, schools and buildings the residents of their new homes will use.
The Martin County Local Planning Agency unanimously postponed for a month its recommendation on a proposal to raise the impact fees developers must pay when they build homes. Board members questioned some of the numbers in the proposal and asked a consultant hired to study the county's impact fees to bring back more information to the Nov.'1 meeting.
"I just don't feel comfortable passing this," board member Frank Wacha said.
If county commissioners approve the hike recommended by consultant James Nicholas, the fees for a typical 2,000-square-foot home would jump from about $11,500 to about $19,700.
The statewide average for similar-sized home is about $8,100.
The plan would make
Individual fees intended for building new roads, schools and public buildings would go up as much as 172 percent.
Doug Griffin, a county school district attorney, said that without the proposed $3,500 increase in the fees charged to build new schools, the school system will face "hardships" as the population grows.
"It will cause overcrowding in your schools," he said.
County officials had trimmed the fee plan down from an earlier proposed hike to $24,000. Developers and business officials said Thursday that was still too high and could hurt the housing industry and hamper efforts to develop more homes in areas like Indiantown.
"You're in a recession, and it's going to get worse," former County Commissioner Tom Kenny said. "The blood is just starting to flow. You'll kill Indiantown. You'll kill business."
George Hine, chairman of the planning board, said
A lot of the projections of how much the county will have to spend to serve residents in the future are overblown, he said.
"A lot of these are fantasy," Hine said.
Indiantown resident Brian Powers said earlier Thursday that if fewer homes are built as a result of higher impact fees, the county will end up getting less revenue.
"Twenty thousand times zero is zero," Power said.
"There's only so much of a surcharge we can charge for living in
Ginn fights lawsuit, other
woes
Jerry W. Jackson
Sentinel Staff Writer
October 5, 2007
Bobby Ginn launched colorful fireworks in the Bahamas this
summer to help that island nation celebrate its Independence Day. The Central
Florida developer, who is building a $4.9 billion megaresort on
Back in
Nearly 100
The nine-count lawsuit, filed May 29 in U.S. District Court in
Ginn has bounced back before, and he has an investment partner with very deep
pockets. Still, in a sign that the potholes need attention, Ginn has quietly
hired a heavyweight in real-estate finance as president of his Ginn Cos. to
provide hands-on operating control.
It is a job Ginn had never before relinquished since moving to
From Carolinas to
Ginn, a
During the early 1980s, Ginn was living large in Hilton Head, S.C., buying out
big developers and piling up debt. But the nationwide collapse of the
savings-and-loan industry brought down Ginn as well.
He motored to
He staked out some home turf in fast-growing
He also sank serious money into one of his longtime loves -- NASCAR racing --
snapping up cash-starved MB2 Motorsports for an undisclosed amount in the
summer of 2006. He built a state-of-the-art race shop and assembled a team of
drivers with star power, including Mark Martin.
But Ginn Racing never attracted a major sponsor to pay the bills for two of its
three cars. By late July, Ginn relinquished control to Dale Earnhardt Inc. in a
merger that leaves Earnhardt's widow, Teresa, as majority owner.
Lawsuit called 'fabrication'
Now, Ginn's company is focusing on the 41-page lawsuit filed in a
For some of those who invested in the five high-profile Ginn properties cited
in the lawsuit -- Reunion Resort near Disney World and
Ginn's "sales representatives, agents and affiliates" misled the
investors, the suit alleges, by convincing them that they could
"immediately resell the units and realize substantial profits." As
part of the scheme, the suit contends, false stories about red-hot demand for
the properties were circulated, and "fake buyers" were brought in to
"run up" the prices.
Ginn said Thursday that he has no intention of settling the lawsuit, and he
loses no sleep over it.
"We sold them land. They own it," Ginn said. "I always give more
than I promise. So as far as I'm concerned, that's the end of that."
Robert Masters, an executive vice president who runs Ginn's far-flung
real-estate operations from Ginn's
"These were people with an idea to flip and make money, and when the
market slowed a bit, they got caught," Masters said.
"If we were in this to hoodwink people, why would we spend all the money
we have on these projects? We have 10,000 [property] owners companywide,"
Masters said, adding that most are satisfied customers. He noted that many of
the buyers from
More broadly, Masters said, Ginn's privately held company is financially
healthy despite the downturn in real estate. Just recently, the company paid an
undisclosed amount for a 1,879-acre resort in
Ginn has had a long-standing relationship with Lubert-Adler, a
Philadelphia-based private-equity firm. Ginn recently strengthened his ties to
other potential backers by quietly hiring Robert Gidel, a real-estate veteran
with his own close links to major private-equity firms, including Lubert-Adler,
and experience managing property portfolios.
Though Gidel, the new president of Ginn Cos., has been on board for more than a
month, the company only this week sent out a press announcement of his hiring.
'Buyers are on strike'
Gidel, 56, said he is working hard with Ginn on a plan to help the company
survive the brutal sales slowdown.
"Buyers are on strike," Gidel said. "It happens
periodically."
Gidel, who lives near Windermere, said Ginn's resort clients are wealthier than
average homebuyers. "Sometimes people re-evaluate and take a pause; we're
struggling with that. We're working on tactics right now to get these people
'off strike.' "
No one knows how long the real-estate slump will last, Gidel said. But Ginn
Cos. has already whittled its employment by about 400 people during the past
year -- more than 15 percent of its work force -- mainly through attrition. And
more cuts might be necessary, Gidel said.
"You can't wish away things like this," he said.
Ginn said he's not worried.
"We have corrections every four or five years," he said. "I got
burned in cycles before. But I was thinking short-term. Now I think
long-term."
Ginn said right now he is moving counter to the market, a strategy that has
worked for investors with patience.
"We're getting things built," he said, by contractors now desperate
for work. "A year or two ago, you couldn't get their attention. They were
too busy."
One thing for sure, he said, is real estate is a solid investment long-term,
and especially in
There will be plenty of good news released about Ginn Cos. in the next 90 days,
he said, including the opening of a $70 million clubhouse at Bella Collina, a
clubhouse that costs more than many fine hotels. But Ginn's business will be
announced when the privately held company is ready, on its terms, Ginn and
other executives have made clear.
In any event, neither Ginn nor his company will release revenue, profit or
other financial specifics, company spokesman Ryan Julison said.
"This is a private company. We don't have to say anything," he noted.
For now, Bobby Ginn has let his fireworks do the talking.
Jerry W. Jackson can be reached at jwjackson@orlandosentinel.com or
407-420-5721.
Riders pack trains in
Michael Turnbell and Andrew Tran
October 5, 2007
For the second consecutive year, Tri-Rail -- the
It's a turnaround from 18 years ago, when half-empty commuter trains rolled
beside hordes of drivers barely moving in rush-hour traffic jams on Interstate
95.
Today, most trains are packed. There are more of them. And service is more
frequent, up to every 20 minutes compared with once an hour in the early days.
About 1.7 million passengers rode the train in the first half of this year,
compared with 1.5 million in the same period last year, according to a report
released Thursday by the American Public Transportation Association.
That increase is behind only commuter rail lines in
"It beats rush hour, and it's really comfortable," said Stephen
Donahue, 53, who enjoys the roomy trains that every weekday take him from
About 12,000 passengers ride the train each weekday. The ridership is a mix of
professionals, airline employees at South Florida's three major airports and
students, including 1,900 in
Though more passengers are riding, they are not always finding the experience
enjoyable. Freight trains sometimes get priority on the tracks, delaying
commuters for hours. Some coach cars lack air conditioning and working toilets.
Jose Sierra has been there from Tri-Rail's beginning in January 1989. The
graphic designer, 32, has a car but prefers to take the train from
Last week, Sierra's train was 72 minutes late.
"Traffic here is getting worse and worse, so a lot of people are seeing it
as an alternative," Sierra said. "But it's a pretty rotten
alternative if you ask me."
Tri-Rail boosted the number of weekday trains from 40 to 50 in June after
finishing a 55-foot tall bridge over the New River in
But the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, the agency that runs
Tri-Rail, has struggled to get legislative approval for funding, such as a $2
surcharge on rental cars or license plates, to cover the costs of operations
and expansion. The authority also needs money to take over dispatching trains
from CSX Transportation, the Jacksonville-based freight railroad, and put an
end to commuter delays.
There is no greater challenge in our region than the movement of people, goods
and freight and the establishment of a dedicated funding source that will
provide for it," said Joe Giulietti, Tri-Rail's executive director.
Officials say ridership growth shows there is a need for mass transit.
Americans took 10.1 billion trips on mass transit in 2006, the highest in 49
years, according to the American Public Transportation Association. And if the
first half of 2007 is any indication, the numbers may grow this year.
Through the first six months of the year, there have been 78 million more trips
on mass transit compared with the same period last year, the association's
report said.
"Whether it is because of high gas prices, increased congestion, or new
and expanded transit services, more and more people are choosing public
transportation," said William Millar, the American Public Transportation
Association's president.
The
Subdivision Plan Gets Tentative OK
The Town Council in
The plan, a project of developer Ron Ben Zeev, is for an
82.6-acre, 318-unit, low-density subdivision of single-family homes that could
include short-term rentals. Bel Lago will straddle the border between
The plan was given preliminary approval by commissioners based on information
supplied by Town Planner Doug Leonard without a prepared ordinance being read.
This is contingent upon approval by the state Department of Community Affairs,
which found problems with flood plain and housing density issues in the
original plan.
According to Leonard, the DCA notified the town by phone that the plan has been
approved.
A final zoning vote will be taken after written notification is received.
By JULIA FERRANTE The
Published: Oct 5, 2007
County attorneys maintain, however, that the commission does not have to reconsider March's decision - leaving the developer to take the case to court or live with a five-house cap on the 18.81-acre property.
Magistrate Richard E. Davis issued a clarification Monday at the request of an attorney for Coyote Crossing LLC, which petitioned the county to increase the cap from five to 14 houses. A previous owner had agreed to the five-house limit in 2005.
"It is unreasonable to uphold the [commission's]
five-unit cap when the facts on which the original decision were based have
fundamentally changed,"
County Commissioner Jack Mariano, who represents
County planning staff initially recommended against lifting the cap. The planning commission suggested a 10-unit cap. The county commission voted 3-2 to keep the limit of five.
Because the magistrate's recommendation does not specifically
address whether the evidence that was considered was "substantial and
competent,"
The commission is slated to review Wilhite's recommendation at
a meeting Tuesday in
Reporter Julia Ferrante can be reached at (813) 948-4220 or jferrante@tampatrib.com.
Owner,
News Chief staff
Nearby residents were opposed to this plan.
And Eagle Lake City Commissioners sided with the residents.
A protracted squabble about the use of the land in
City commissioners voted 3-2 that low density residential
zoning wouldn't be appropriate for land that is east of
Commissioners Randy Billings and John Shamp voted in favor of the ordinance.
If zoned low density residential, up to 60 single family homes could've been built. Carter said he would only build up to 36.
But, nearby residents didn't want to hear it. Along with city commissioners Melinda Thomas and Angela Volz, outspoken residents at the meeting were skeptical of Carter's promise.
"I followed your ordinances to a T," Carter said. "I'm going to build three units per acre. You've got it on your record, and I'm ready to move forward."
At first, city commissioners debated about tabling the decision. Then, with a 3-2 vote, commissioners decided to hear the ordinance.
Both the residents and Carter had lawyers representing their cause. Mayor Dennis Blanchard urged commissioners to move forward to hear the ordinance, saying that the city was going to get sued either way they voted, so they might as well "get it (the decision) over with."
A handful of people spoke up against the proposed development. Bill Roe said he couldn't understand why the City Commission would be in favor of the development and urged commissioners to "be on the right side of the fight."
Thomas was most vocal about opposing Carter's development.
"We've got more than 100 responses from people who say they don't want this development," Thomas said. "We have to remember that we are elected to be the voice of the people. We can stop this. We can do the right thing."
Blanchard's vote to go against Carter's development came as a surprise to those in City Hall. Since Blanchard had voted to hear the motion, some were expecting that he would be in favor of it.
"Really, it would've been better if they (the commissioners) just tabled it to begin with," Jerry Rodriguez, Carter's engineer said, after the vote was taken.
Bacteria in
By RACHEL SIMMONSEN
Friday, October 05, 2007
Health officials are warning people to avoid swimming or
wading in the
Samples taken Tuesday morning at 14 sites between
"We're not saying your skin's going to fall off," Moses said. "We're saying to minimize contact: Avoid swimming, wading, playing around in there."
Typically, health officials warn people to stay out of water with a fecal coliform count of at least 400 colonies per 100 milliliters of water, since the bacteria can cause intestinal illness and eye and ear infections.
For enterococcus, which also can cause intestinal illness, officials warn people to avoid water when there are at least 104 colonies per 100 milliliters.
Lab technicians testing the water tried to count the colonies in 10 milliliters but still found too much fecal coliform to measure, Moses said. The enterococcus counts were about 1,700 in 10-milliliter water samples.
Moses said the spikes in bacteria levels likely were caused by recent heavy rains, which washed animal waste into the river. It's common to see bacteria levels shoot up suddenly after rains, said Harold Moech, an environmental specialist with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
The DEP samples the
Tuesday's bacteria counts were so high, health officials didn't wait for more in-depth analysis of the water samples, which sometimes offers slightly different counts.
"They'd have to improve to the point where God put his finger on it," Moses said of the chance that more analysis would show bacteria counts low enough for safe swimming or wading.
He described the river water, always naturally brown from tannins, as having foam on the surface.
"And this is not the good kind that you see on the beach," Moses said. "This is the stuff like you take off the top of grandma's soup."
In
However, Washam noted that levels have inched up with increasing rain.
Health officials in both counties plan to resample the
rivers early next week.
A growing thirst
By NATHAN CRABBE
Sun staff writer
12:00 am, October 3, 2007
As officials in
Gainesville Regional Utilities wells are expected to drop parts of the Floridan Aquifer more than 10 feet by 2025. This year, the utility is expanding wells to a second water district to spread impacts on the aquifer.
GRU officials say they're also quadrupling spending in the next three years on capital projects to provide treated wastewater for lawn irrigation. They say the effort will help prevent them from being forced to tap rivers or lakes to supply the public.
"We're trying to be pre-emptive with it," said David Richardson, GRU's assistant general manager for water and wastewater systems.
A growing population means it may be too late for other utilities in the St. Johns River Water Management District. A 2003 study found that 39 percent of the district is expected to pump groundwater to the point that it may cause nearby wetlands and surface water bodies to be drained.
The district declared these places as water-resource caution
areas, requiring utilities located there to find alternative drinking-water
sources. The designation led to plans to pipe water from the Ocklawaha and
Officials in Alachua and Marion counties are joining to lobby against the proposal as part of the Heart of Florida Regional Coalition. The idea is that both counties speaking in a unified voice have a better chance to get lawmakers to listen, said Ron Barnwell, director of the coalition.
While the Ocklawaha's location in Marion County concerns officials there, Alachua County officials say they're worried about the precedent being set.
A domino effect could lead to other waterways being tapped to
fuel growth in southern parts of the state, said Randy Reid,
"You could see that domino go straight up the state," he said.
But
New growth estimates could change GRU's designation. In 2003, the population in the utility's service area was projected to be nearly 214,000 in 2025. But higher-than-expected numbers in recent census data have led to a revision that increases the 2025 projection by about 25,000 people, according to the water district.
Water use is now expected to jump more than 25 percent from today's usage, reaching more than 36 million gallons a day in 2025. GRU is preparing for increased demand by building its first wells in the Suwannee River Water Management District.
The utility's service territory falls in both the St. Johns
River and
But until now, GRU has operated more than a dozen wells
exclusively in the
"It will definitely spread the impacts (on the aquifer) so it's not as concentrated," said Rick Hutton, senior water and wastewater engineer for the utility.
The utility also has increased spending on providing treated wastewater for irrigating lawns. Spending increased from about $35,000 in 1998 to nearly $1.7 million in 2007. It is projected to jump to nearly $6.9 million in 2010 before falling in subsequent years.
Much of the increase will be used on improving the
"backbone" of the utility's wastewater system by building storage and
pumping stations, Hutton said. The projects will allow treated wastewater to be
used for irrigation in new subdivisions west of
Gainesville Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan said she'd like to see those wastewater pipes extended to parts of the city east of Interstate 75. But because of the large number of college students in that area who aren't watering lawns, she said, a more effective way to conserve water there would be to encourage the use of water-efficient appliances and fixtures.
Rob Brinkman, chairman of the local Sierra Club chapter, said he supports an effort similar to what is being done to encourage energy conservation. The utility could provide rebates for water-conservation steps such as replacing old toilets, he said.
"There's all kinds of ways we could cut down on water use," he said.
GRU officials say a rate structure implemented in the late 1990s and expanded in 2003 helps encourage water conservation. The structure charges higher rates for the biggest water users.
Officials say the rates caused per-capita water usage to drop 8 percent and helped lead to lower per-capita usage in GRU's territory than the district as a whole. But they concede some of those numbers may be the result of big users drilling their own wells to irrigate their properties.
Utility officials say the region faces less pressure to find
alternative sources than other parts of
Excessive pumping of the Floridan Aquifer poses several problems, according to district officials. They say it could cause brackish water to be pulled into wells, interfere with wells of other users and eventually threaten groundwater that more directly connects with wetlands.
"The greater magnitude of that drawdown, the greater
chance you're going to see impacts in the surface and the wetlands," said
Clair Muirhead, a hydrologist with the
GRU officials say they won't speculate about whether the next report will show such impacts. But Hutton said he doesn't expect the kind of imminent problems being faced in other parts of the state.
"Yes, we need to keep an eye on our water usage," he said. "But are we in a situation where we're headed toward a train wreck? No."Water use
Gainesville Regional Utilities is seeing an increasing demand for water. . .Â
PAST AND PROJECTED WATER USAGE
(Figures are in millions of gallons per day)
1998: 23.89 million
2007: 28.69 million
2017: 32.87 million
2027: 36.84 million
. . . and is increasing spending on projects to provide treated wastewater for lawn irrigation . . .Â
PAST AND PROJECTED CAPITAL EXPENDITURES ON REUSE
1998: $34,954
2007: $1,683,000
2010: $6,883,292
2013: $2,596,571
. . . but a comparison with other cities shows some are doing more.
WASTEWATER REUSE IN 2006
(Utility, percent of wastewater reused)
SOURCES:
Nathan Crabbe can be reached at 352-338-3176 or crabben@gville sun.com.
Pro-Growth Group Picks Local
Chairman
By Tom Palmer
The Ledger
Environment Reporter
Dept.: Metro Desk
(863) 802-7535
tom.palmer@theledger.com
Floridians for Smarter Growth, the anti-amendment group funded by the Florida Chamber
of Commerce and major corporations, announced Wednesday that local businessman
Sam Killebrew will become the group's
"
The Florida Hometown Democracy Amendment, which could be on the 2008 general
election ballot if backers obtain enough signatures, would require voter
approval of all amendments to local growth plans.
Supporters, who consist of a coalition of environmentalists and neighborhood
activists, claim the amendment is necessary to rein in frequent changes that
make local growth plans meaningless.
Opponents, such as the chamber group, argue the amendment's passage could be a
blow to
"Hometown Democracy is bad for small businesses throughout
"I'm concerned about the amendment's severe consequences for
Killebrew founded and currently operates several local businesses in
For more information on Floridians for Smarter Growth, go to
www.FLSmarterGrowth.org.
[ Tom Palmer can be reached at 863-802-7535 or tom.palmer@theledger.com. Read
more views on the environment at http://environment.theledger.com. ]
By TONY DORIS and SUSAN
SPENCER-WENDEL
Thursday, October 04, 2007
An appeals court ruled Wednesday
that the construction on City Center — a $154 million city hall and library
complex well on its way toward completion — should not have begun until voters
had their say.
The decision left the
The 4th District Court of Appeal, in
a 6-3 opinion with three judges recusing themselves, said a proposed ordinance
to put city hall and library locations up for public referendum should have
been put to a vote.
A lower court had ruled that
opponents of the project had waited too long to seek the referendum, two years
after initial votes were taken and expenditures made. The opponents argued they
were slowed by the city's refusal to supply cost figures for the project.
The appeals court, in sending the
case back to the circuit court, said the petitioners followed the rules.
"Neither delay in seeking a
referendum nor the possible consequences of an election on the referendum can
justify the court's failure to enforce the referendum process," Judge
Carole Taylor wrote for the majority.
The opinion was hailed as "a
stunning victory" by the community activist who led a charge against Mayor
Lois Frankel's drive to build the project at
"It resurrects the right of
taxpayers to have a say-so in how their money is spent on big capital
projects," said Carolyn Wright, chairwoman of the Alliance of Concerned
Taxpayers of West Palm Beach, a political action committee.
Attorney Tom Julin, who represented
the group, said the question should have been put to voters a year ago, before
construction began.
What happens now is unclear, since
the ruling does not require the project to stop. The structures are sprinting
toward a target move-in date in April 2009: The concrete walls are up and
windows are installed. A week ago a crane hoisted an ornamental cupola to cap
the building.
"We have to take a look at
this," Julin said.
Frankel said Wednesday that it would
be irresponsible to stop the work so far into the project.
Those against the project would
"strongly oppose" any effort by the city to delay a referendum
pending a request for rehearing or an appeal to the Florida Supreme Court,
Julin added, "given all the delays so far."
The opinion, if it stands, would set
in motion a two-step process: First, residents would vote on whether
relocations of city hall or the library should require voter approval. If so,
there would have to be a decision, by either voters or the courts, as to
whether that applies to this project.
If it does, the city would be left
with a building it can't use for its intended purpose.
Frankel said the city commission
will discuss the matter Monday and try to decide quickly whether to appeal.
"My feeling is that the issue
is much bigger than the
"What happens if we issue bonds
and then, in the middle of construction of a new water plant, there's a
referendum to stop that?" she asked, a reference to the city's current
boil-water order that has officials considering plant additions. "It has
tremendous implications. We have to have a very good, informed discussion of
our legal position."
One of the city hall opponents in
the case, Anita Mitchell, said the case arose out of exasperation.
"This certainly is
justice," she said, calling the project overpriced and in the wrong
location. "It amazed me that we lost to begin with, because there were
three other cases in the state just like it. There is something in the
water."
The project, which includes a city
hall, library and garage, has stirred plenty of controversy.
In addition to the referendum
battle, it became a major point of contention in the last mayoral campaign, as
allegations of corruption surrounded a Frankel ally, then-City Commissioner Ray
Liberti. The state attorney's office launched a grand jury investigation of
city government last year, after The Palm Beach Post reported that Liberti was
serving as a paid consultant to
A second grand jury is investigating
related issues, on the heels of findings by the first panel that some
businesspeople believe political contributions are required for project
approvals in the city.
Editor's note: Carolyn Wright is
married to Don Wright, who draws daily cartoons on the editorial page of The
Palm Beach Post. Don Wright does not participate in editorial board discussions
or draw cartoons on the issue.
Talk about putting a spin on
things...
New home starts fall in
Marion
Numbers are 58 percent lower than last year
BY RICK CUNDIFF
STAR-BANNER
Data from the Marion County Building Department show 2,698 new single-family
home starts in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, compared to 6,355 in the prior
year.
But that just means the county building rate is starting to return to normal,
said Tracy Gale, spokeswoman for the department.
"It's a cycle," she said. "The last couple of years were huge
spikes."
Numbers for the city of
The decline in starts doesn't necessarily mean that demand for homes has
dropped, Gale said. But the large number of existing homes for sale means more
competition with new homes, she added.
"There's a lot of inventory on the market," she said. "I think
you'll see the numbers increase in the winter because that's our market
[period]."
The market's beginning to pick up, said Bert Meadows, vice president of the
Ocala/Marion County Association of Realtors and co-owner of Meadows Realty in
"The [excess] inventory is slowly disappearing," he said. "We've
been busy in the office. I'm seeing more leads and more hits on the
Internet."
Buyers are taking advantage of the high inventory and low interest rates,
Meadows said.
"Buyers are kind of thinking interest rates are probably about as low as
they're going to get, and there's a lot of inventory on the market," he
said.
Snowbirds thinking of a permanent winter residence are likely to respond to
advertising campaigns large builders such as Pulte Homes and Lennar Homes are
running in the Northeast, Gale noted.
"I think that'll start to pick up," she said.
While the 2004-05 and 2005-06 fiscal years saw tremendous growth, they were
aberrations brought on by an influx of short-term investors in the housing
market, Gale said.
"That was a lot of flips. The market went nuts," she said.
New housing growth continues to be strong along the State Road 200 corridor
west of Interstate 75, Gale said. As the corridor continues to attract business
development such as the upcoming
While a return to the days of 500 or more new starts a month isn't likely soon,
the housing market probably will return to a more stable 350 to 400 homes a month,
Gale said.
"That's a healthy number," she said. "That keeps people
working."
Rick Cundiff may be reached at rick.cundiff@starbanner.com or at 352-867-4130.
By Douglas Carman of
Published: October 4, 2007
Although the forum was held by a newly created Hispanic
activist group, race issues did not feature prominently during the discussion
organized by the League of United Latin American Citizens, which came to
Tito Garay, who also serves as LULAC's Council No. 1 Vice President, said after the meeting that he and the audience were looking more into the city's future.
"The main concerns," Garay listed are the town's
unity and economic growth.
"I'm hoping they (my kids) will stay here ... I don't want them to move to
the big towns," he said.
Three of the four city council candidates and one of the mayoral candidates
fielded questions.
Present were council candidates James Rahenkamp and Michael Shirey, along with mayor candidate Ed Dickerson. Paul Miller, who is running for a city council seat, made an appearance later.
Dickerson spoke of opening up the city council meetings to the public while diverting some of the airport funds for city residents.
"When I first started going to the budget meetings ... the first two I went to, the mayor (then Tom Macklin) allowed me to speak. But after the first two meetings I went to I couldn't speak anymore if I was part of the crowd," Dickerson said.
Addressing the growth issue, he emphasized keeping it only to a point where the city could maintain itself.
Rahenkamp, who strongly favored annexations, said the city
should "go as far north, south, east and west as we can legally do, to
expand
He also called for lower taxes and "a frugal budget" with the city's
government, using a story about an assembly plant that went from 3,000 to only
100 employees operating robots.
"We can find areas that we can not only economize but become even more
efficient," Rahenkamp said. "We need to say 'there is our
goal.'"
Shirey, who moved out of
"My doors are open to everybody," he said.
Miller went along with the growth theme that came up through the forum.
"There is no reason the downtown area isn't thriving," he said.
"We're going to have to fix some things."
Mayor Sharon Schuler, running to hold her seat, made a brief appearance but did not stay for questions. Council contestant Al Hinson and mayoral candidates Gonzalo Lezama and Gordon Marshall did not attend. Lezama, a regular at LULAC's functions, said he had the flu that evening.
Garay, speaking to the mayor and council candidates at the forum, pleaded for them to get the city to expand itself economically while keeping the cost of living down locally.
"If it doesn't grow, then the people that are here are
going to pay for it," he said.
Robert Flores, the LULAC Council No. 1 president, said he did not want the city
to become another
Minneola annexes Sugarloaf;
council cites benefits
Roxanne Brown
Staff Writer
MINNEOLA - After months of debate and controversy surrounding
the annexation of
Mayor Dave Yeager said the annexation was the right thing, since the development was coming, "with or without Minneola."
The vote was 4-1 in favor of the annexation. Councilman Ed Earl dissented, saying he believed Minneola should have held out for more concessions than those they agreed upon with the developer, Sugarloaf LLC.
"I thought we, as a council, had agreed that developers coming into the city were to pay their own way," said Earl at Tuesday's council meeting. "Instead, I feel they gave away the farm. They gave away a lot in impact fees they didn't have to. It makes me sick to my stomach."
At the Sept. 18 meeting, the council had postponed the annexation but settled a $5.2-million dispute connected with the issue. Two years ago, as part of the annexation plan, the city had agreed to provide water, sewer and other public services to the 2,200-home development on County Road 455 in return for a water plant the developer was to build and that the city would operate upon annexation.
During that meeting, the council learned that it could not
legally accept both the water treatment plant and impact fees from the
developer. Following negotiations, the council and Sugarloaf agreed to waive
future impact fees from the development in exchange for a $3 million fire
station, the land for it and two bays for
Earl said although the city negotiated to get the fire station built, they agreed to give Sugarloaf fire impact fee credit for any residents in or out of Sugarloaf who use the fire station.
"Who benefits from that? Sugarloaf. See? Giving away the farm," said Earl.
Councilman Sue Cordova however, said that the main reason Sugarloaf was annexed was for the tax benefit it would create for Minneola.
Cordova said that the city stands to collect in excess of $25 million in property tax revenue, something Earl had also pointed out as well.
Yeager and Councilman Joe Teri said the the city will also benefit from future home permitting and commercial growth.
"Sugarloaf is moving forward like a glacier," Teri said. "And you can lean against a glacier and push it, but it won't stop it from moving. It was either annex it and get the benefits or we don't."
Teri said the development is well on its way, with a golf course and roads already in place, model homes under construction and advertising already going on for the million-dollar-plus homes across the nation.
"I would've liked to have received more concessions, but
we tried and got what we could get," said Teri. "I just didn't want
Sugarloaf to become to Minneola what Bella Collina is to Montverde; a big
development adjacent to the city with all the impact but without the adjacent
city receiving any impact fees, benefits or control."
Oceanfront owners on edge
after erosion
Wind, surf gobble up dune line
BY JIM WAYMER
Most of the sand swept away from the flat part of the beach will wash back in naturally during the next few weeks, said Mike McGarry, the county's beach renourishment coordinator. But he worries about spots in South Beaches, where chunks of dune slipped away.
"It looks like I'm about to fall off a cliff here," said Kathleen Miller, a vacationer from Glenwood, Ill., staying in one of the corner units at Sandy Shoes Apartments & Motel in Melbourne Beach.
Less than 10 feet now separate the concrete block building from the ocean.
But, for now, no damaged houses or condos have been reported.
Construction is prohibited along the beach until sea turtle nesting season ends Oct. 31, but residents can sometimes get emergency permission from state and federal environmental agencies to bring in sand to shore up their homes.
Meanwhile, hurricane forecasters were tracking four systems in the tropics Wednesday, two of which could grow into tropical storms.
Knights Trail plan causes a
rift
By DOUG SWORD
Turning Knights Trail into a through street connecting Laurel and Clark roads
has become yet another issue dividing the county geographically, and it appears
to have drawn even more opposition than closing the jail did.
On the other side, Venice-area residents are eager for both a new way to drive
north and a way to get some of the more than 1,000 garbage trucks that rumble
down their streets each week off
For most garbage trucks collecting waste in the county, the entrance off
But, as with many issues in
"Building roads onto empty land invariably leads to development,"
Lobeck said.
At stake is perhaps the cheapest way to fulfill a decades-long quest for a
third way to drive from south to north, taking pressure off congested U.S. 41
and Interstate 75.
"It's definitely the cheapest," said Deputy County Administrator Dave
Bullock. "More important, it actually runs into the city of
But it also requires rescinding a 17-year-old promise the county made when
approval was granted to build the landfill off Knights Trail.
As a concession to
The hearing tonight will be on whether that restriction should be removed. And,
if it is removed, that could eventually lead to a Knights Trail that would
connect Laurel and Clark roads.
Expecting lots of opposition, county officials reserved the
Opponents like Ken Hillier see a darker motive than accommodation in the choice
of the
Nearly 200
Having the meeting at the
"We think that it's intentionally placed inconveniently for the area that
is most affected," Hillier said. "But guess what? We're going to be
there."
Since the road is already partially built and the new section would be built on
land already owned by the county, the cost for this project is far less than a
proposal to extend
The Knights Trail project is estimated to cost $19 million, while the Honore
project, which requires a lot of land acquisition, would be $55 million.
Knights Trail, though, would be a two-lane road, while Honore would be four
lanes and eventually continue northward to Manatee.
In a year when the county is diverting money from construction projects to pay
salaries and fund basic government services, there is no money for most road
projects on the county's wish list. Even if county commissioners decided to
turn Knights Trail into a through road, there is no money even in the county's
five-year road building plan.
While residents fear increased traffic from an extended Knights Trail would
make traffic accidents even more frequent along sections of Clark Road, a
county traffic study shows that the new north-south connector would cut travel
times and delays.
However, the connection would increase traffic on
Eminent domain battle not cheap
Farmers ponder ethanol
production
Benjamin Roode
BUSHNELL - Could
Research at the
It was encouraging news, said county farm bureau president Kelly Rice.
"We in agriculture need to be thinking outside the box," he said. "If there are alternate markets for us to be selling our goods, we need to be exploring them."
Encouraging news from Ingram was that agricultural waste, including citrus pulp, peels, grain husks and stalks and other materials, could be used in new techniques that more vigorously extract sugars from organic material to produce ethanol.
Ethanol production in the
"Corn's not going to help us in
Cellulosic ethanol production, or making the fuel from more fibrous material that has traditionally been more difficult and expensive, is becoming cheaper and easier, thanks in part to research Ingram has aided at UF.
Even if county farmers don't shift their production strictly to sucrosic or cellulosic ethanol crops, they can still be part of the fuels development and production with the new methods, said P.J. Klinger, Vice President in charge of Production at Lake Brantley Plant Corp., which has a business in Center Hill.
"I think there's some potential, even for smaller farmers (to succeed with cellulosic ethanol)," Klinger, who also serves on the county's farm bureau board of directors, said. "But we do need a cellulosic ethanol plant in the vicinity (to benefit)."
That the new methods do not focus on food crops like corn is also a positive. Corn has become a more volatile commodity in the past few years, leading to large price fluctuations as more and more investors bet on it and the ethanol it produces in a more uncertain energy landscape.
And cellulosic ethanol facilities are developing slower than
their corn and sorghum counterparts, almost a parallel to the methods and crops
that would be used in them, Ingram said. For cellulosic ethanol to take off and
possibly help
"A tree is just another crop with a longer rotation
cycle," Ingram said
Marion must pay legal bill, law says
BY CHRISTOPHER CURRY
STAR-BANNER
On Tuesday, the Marion County Commission agreed to pay almost $125,000 to cover a property owner's attorney fees and costs for legal experts in an eminent domain case that went to appeals court and then back to circuit court before it was settled in February.
By comparison, the county's purchase price was $275,000 for
the property the case revolved around - a temporary construction easement and
2,000 square feet of right of way in front of Mike's Car Wash,
In the summer of 2004, the county started to acquire property
along
The
"They're probably on the high side," Chief Assistant County Attorney Tom MacNamara said of the costs during Tuesday's meeting.
But they could have been higher. The original request was for
$160,000. By
The amount approved Tuesday does not include the money
In a memo to commissioners, Spalla described the lawsuit as "hotly contested."
Commissioner Jim Payton apparently is still hot under the collar about it. He voted against the requested attorney's fees.
"What that really is, is legal manipulation," Payton said during Tuesday's meeting. "You could try a death penalty case for $83,000. I think we should make him sue us for it .Ê.Ê. just sue him to death."
Commissioner Andy Kesselring said the tab for attorney's fees showed the county should work to settle these cases quickly.
"I'd rather give the money to the property owner and settle up front," he said.
Neither McMurrer nor Hanratty could be reached for comment Wednesday.
The 5th District Court of Appeal's ruling did not touch on the county's authority to exercise eminent domain. Instead, the appeals court sent the case back to circuit court on a procedural issue because the county took 25 days to deposit purchase money in McMurrer's account, when it legally had to be done within 20 days.
The case then started over and the county settled in February to avoid potentially going back to appeals court and incurring more costs, MacNamara wrote in a memo to commissioners.
Christopher Curry may be reached at chris.curry@starbanner.com
or 867-4115.
Fight looms over
By TONY MARRERO
lmarrero@hernandotoday.com
BROOKSVILLE — The resolution makes it official: The county will not let water
from the
The commission is expected to approve a
resolution today objecting to the river being considered even as a possible
source by the St. Johns River Water Management District to quench the thirst of
cities such as Leesburg and Clermont.
The county is opposed to any transfer
of water from the
“Hernando County intends to authorize
any and all legal action as may be required to prevent any such inter-district
transfer,” the resolution states.
The proposal “appears to fly in the
face” of a state law that requires governments and utilities to exhaust water
options in their own area before reaching to other places, according to the
resolution.
“No alternative options have been
placed on the table, nor have any specific estimates for conservation, reuse or
reclaimed water been proposed for the areas seeking water supply from any of
the rivers,” the resolution states.
The document also gripes about the lack
of notice and coordination with the Withlacoochee River Water Supply Authority.
The authority’s board is comprised of officials from Hernando and Citrus
counties and several cities within each, including Brooksville.
The idea to pump water from the
Withlacoochee and Lake Rousseau in Citrus County came to light recently after a
meeting of officials from cities and utilities within the St. Johns district,
when the idea was floated to pull water from the river if groundwater supplies
were exhausted in the region that has seen an explosion of development in
recent years.
A consultant for
Rather,
Commissioner Dave Russell helped with
the language for the county resolution, though he hadn’t seen the final version
Monday afternoon.
Russell, a former member of the state
House of Representatives, helped draft language for a 2005 law that encourages
and provides funding for alternative sources.
Russell recommended the resolution use
the phrase “perversion of the law” to describe the premise that surface water
from a river in one district can be considered an alternative source for
another district without first exhausting all other options such as
desalination.
“I guess that way is a more articulate
way to put it,” a chuckling Russell said of the final version of the
resolution.
Russell said he doubts legal action
will be necessary, “given the reception the plan has received.”
The
The Citrus County Commission has
already approved a similar resolution, Commissioner Joyce Valentino said
Monday.
Among those riled by the plan is state
Sen. Charlie Dean, R- Inverness, who wrote a letter to
Reporter Tony Marrero can be contacted
at 352-544-5286.
Minimum-flow rules for upper
By
NATHAN CRABBE
Sun staff writer
Water
managers say minimum flows being set for the upper
Critic
say it may already be too late.
The
Suwannee River Water Management District's governing board will vote Oct. 9 on
moving forward the minimum-flow rules. The rules define significant harm as
water withdrawals that cause a greater than 15 percent loss of fish habitat.
Some
conservation advocates say the narrow focus on fish habitat misses impacts on
water quality and recreation. They say the rules also fail to consider whether
withdrawals have already damaged the river.
"They
allow additional harm on top of what occurred in the past," said Bob
Knight, an environmental scientist and president of Wetland Solutions in
The
rules gained significance with news of a plan to pipe water from the
The
"It's
the best method currently available to make policy decisions based on
science," he said.
Minimum
flows and levels - MFLs for short - aim at preventing the kind of problems that
affected the
About
215 million gallons a day of groundwater was withdrawn in the
The
MFLs will be plugged into a computer model that guides the amount of
groundwater permits issued in the surrounding basin. But they don't mean water
pumping will be restricted when the river hits those low points.
Such
fluctuations are part of the natural cycles, so the district won't stop water
withdrawals every time that happens, said Kirk Webster, the district's deputy
executive director for water resources.
"There
will be times when the river will be dry," he said. "That doesn't
mean the MFL has been violated."
Knight
said the plan is based on the assumption that water withdrawals haven't already
harmed the river. Withdrawals have been allowed for decades without knowing how
they affect waterways, he said.
"The
question is how much has it been impacted," he said.
He
also took issue with the plan's focus on fish habitat. The river is polluted
with nutrients and mercury, he said, problems that would be exacerbated by
having less water to dilute contaminants.
Webster
said fish habitat was chosen because it broadly represents impacts on the
river. He said the 15 percent figure is based on a consensus of scientists that
has been used in other water districts.
"We
try to choose criteria that would provide the greatest range of
protection," he said.
Dan
Rountree, co-founder of Current Problems/Adopt A River, questioned the choice
of locations for the MFLs. One is based on readings at a gauge near Graham in
Rountree
instead suggested a siphon where water drains from the river into the aquifer,
which would show whether groundwater is being recharged.
"They
don't have monitoring where it needs to be monitored," he said.
Byerly
said the county will be most affected by MFLs on the lower
"The
most important part is yet to come," Byerly said.
Nathan
Crabbe can be reached at 352-338-3176 or crabben@gville sun.com.
Hometown Democracy hits 6,600 in Hernando
By TONY
lmarrero@hernandotoday.com
BROOKSVILLE - When Nancy Murphy signed, Hickory Hill was fresh in her mind.
Murphy, a 65-year-old
She said the county commission's recent
4 to 1 approval of the comprehensive plan change for the 1,750-home development
off
Murphy and her husband Joe Sr. have
lived in
However, she said, "People of
Spring
Murphy is one of 6,619
The amendment would require that any
change to a city or county's comprehensive land use plan be approved by voters
through a referendum.
So far the initiative has garnered a
little more than 331,000 total signatures statewide, according to the state
election office. That's more than halfway to the 611,006 needed to get it on
the ballot. The deadline is Jan. 31.
Lesley Blackner, one of two cofounders
of the initiative, estimates the signature count is closer to 400,000 because
the state has yet to verify all of them.
"It's nerve-wracking,"
Blackner said of the effort Monday as the four-month countdown crept closer.
Though the Division of Elections is
checking for a certain number of signatures from each of the state's 25 House
districts, Blackner and fellow organizers are taking a county-by-county
approach, enlisting an army of volunteers to meet the goal.
"Right now, there's no
accountability to the public," she said. "Too many of these
commissioners are bought and paid for by the development industry. Either they're
in it themselves or it finances their campaigns. All Hometown Democracy wants
to do is give some control back to the community."
That notion prompted Linda Prescott of
"I thought people should have a
right to have a voice for what goes in their neighborhood," said Prescott,
a 59-year-old computer and accounting instructor at
A host of local groups have helped with
the Hometown Democracy effort, including the Sierra Club, the Green Party, the
Gulf Coast Conservancy and the Hernando Alliance for Open Land Conservation,
which fought Hickory Hill.
"I think in Hernando, the time is
right because people are very concerned about all the development,"
Prescott and other volunteers have
stood in front of polling places during elections and passed the petition
around at various meetings. She has eschewed the door-to-door approach to
gathering signatures, preferring to meet with homeowner associations to recruit
more signature gatherers.
"I don't want anyone signing it
who is not convinced it's the way to go," she said.
'An irresponsible amendment'
Pro-growth, pro-business forces are
fighting back.
A group called Save our Constitution
has contacted people who have signed the Hometown Democracy petition to get
them to change their minds and revoke their signatures.
The Florida Chamber of Commerce is
helping to lead a group called Floridians for Smarter Growth, bankrolled in
large part by builders. The chamber calls Hometown Democracy "another
irresponsible amendment being promoted by extreme special interests" that
"would imperil
The amendment, according to the
chamber's Web site, "subverts a well-established, open, accessible and
democratic planning process" so "citizens, not the representatives
they elected, are forced to regularly decide thousands of intricate land-use
planning issues."
The amendment, according to these
groups, would stymie economic development in the state and create exorbitant
costs for elections.
The Greater Hernando County Chamber
will likely take the same stance, said Morris Porton, chairman of the chamber's
governmental and legislative affairs committee.
"The system works pretty
well," Porton said. "Comp plan changes are not something that people
take lightly."
The local chamber is currently working
to educate its leadership and members about the amendment, Porton said. Part of
that education will include a talk on Hometown Democracy by Sebring Sierra,
vice-president of operations of Sierra Properties, the developer of Hickory
Hill.
The chamber is charging $10 for
admission to the Oct. 3 event at Country Kitchen in Brooksville; the talk is
open to the public but RSVP is required.
Porton said the chamber hadn't decided
on whether to invite a pro-Hometown Democracy speaker at some future meeting.
"We're certainly open to any
thoughts on (the issue)," he said.
Rowden cast the lone dissenting vote
against Hickory Hill and has lamented how often and easily the county's comp
plan has been changed over the years.
"I don't necessarily think putting
it out for a vote would be an ideal situation, either, but there has to be some
way to protect the comprehensive plan more than we have now, and if that's the
way, so be it," Rowden said.
Commissioner Dave Russell said he was
surprised by the "almost disproportionate number" of signatures
coming from
While the amendment sounds appealing to
many, Russell said he worries about the potential impact on growth control
measures that were recently updated and improved.
As a state legislator, Russell worked
on amendments to the Growth Management Act that set so-called concurrency
standards to ensure that schools, roads and water supply can handle proposed
development.
He pointed out that the new rules did
not apply to Hickory Hill because it was already in the process, but that
Sierra has worked to meet concurrency standards anyway.
"I think given a chance to work,
the new growth laws will accomplish much of what the Hometown Democracy
initiative might accomplish in a way that's a little more practical,"
Russell said.
Politicians have had their chance,
Blackner said.
"Why are they so afraid of giving
voters the final say," she said. "Do you think the voters can do any
worse? These comp plan changes are political decisions. They shouldn't be
granted unless the commission makes the determination that the broad public
interest is served by the change. Unfortunately, when it comes to land
development, too many commissions have redefined the public interest to keeping
the development going full throttle, and they never say no."
Reporter Tony Marrero can be contacted
at 352-544-5286. Find out more about the Florida Hometown Democracy amendment
at www.flordiahometowndemocracy.com. For an opposing viewpoint, visit the
Floridians for Smarter Growth site, www.flsmartergrowth.org.
Land-use initiative facing sneaky tactics
By CARL HIAASEN
You can be sure you're
on the right side of an issue if John Thrasher is on the other.
The
former Florida House speaker and big-shot lawyer-lobbyist has sent out a
mass-mailing to scare voters into removing their signatures from a statewide
petition in favor of the ''Florida Hometown Democracy'' amendment.
The
Hometown Democracy initiative would let citizens vote to approve or reject
major changes to the comprehensive land-use plans in their counties or cities.
For the first time, Floridians would have some direct control over how their
communities grow.
Thrasher's
deceptive and slimy letter is proof of the panic that has set in among those
who've made a fortune raping the state and are afraid of losing their sweet
ride.
The
lobbyist ominously warns that, if the Hometown Democracy amendment passes,
''special interests'' will triumph and ''Big Developers'' will wreck Florida's
``scenic beauty.''
Like
it's not happening now?
Special
interests already manipulate many county and city commissions -- not to mention
the Legislature -- while
What
Thrasher neglects to reveal in his fright mailing is that big developers and
landholders are the ones most frantically opposed to the Hometown Democracy
movement, and that he himself represents some of the biggest, including the St.
Joe Co., which is currently selling off the Panhandle.
He
says that allowing the voters to decide whether they want a new megamall or
condo tower down the street could stifle growth and cause taxes to go up --
another cynical fiction designed to frighten middle-class workers and the
elderly.
What
really causes taxes to soar is the need for increased services due to overdevelopment
and overcrowding. Bad planning means that the public ends up paying dearly and
repeatedly for more roads, fire stations, police patrols, water-treatment
plants and schools.
Lots
of folks in Miami-Dade, Broward and
All
over the state, Floridians are disgusted by the failure of their elected
officials to do restrained, responsible planning. That's why the Hometown
Democracy petition has momentum.
While
it might not be the perfect answer to derailing the engine of manic greed
that's ruining so many lovely places, many residents are so heartsick and
frustrated that they would welcome a dramatic change.
According
to the website, www.hometowndemocracycom, petition supporters have collected
about 331,000 verified signatures of the 611,009 needed to place the amendment
on the November 2008 ballot.
Thousands
more signatures are awaiting validation. The deadline for signing is Feb. 1,
only four months away, which has lent urgency to the opposition's propaganda
blitz.
Nothing
is so horrifying to some developers and corporate interests as the prospect of
having to deal directly with citizens when trying to get a building project
passed. It's much easier to woo politicians, whose loyalties often can be
purchased with a hefty campaign contribution or (as in recent cases in
That's
the way things have always worked in
Predictably,
opponents grandiosely calling themselves Floridians for Smarter Growth have
cooked up a rival constitutional amendment that would require 10 percent of
voters in a city or county to sign a petition, before any land-use referendum
takes place.
The
petitions could be signed only at the office of a municipal clerk or elections
supervisor, an inconvenience that virtually guarantees a fatally low turnout.
Obviously,
the forces behind Floridians for Smarter Growth aren't interested in
participatory democracy. They want the public to shut up and let the
politicians do their thing.
According
to The Sun-Sentinel, the group raised $841,000 between April and August. Major
donors included the National Association of Home Builders, the Florida Chamber
of Commerce and U.S. Sugar.
It's
a motley roster of special interests whose motives are anything but pure.
The
Hometown Democracy movement undoubtedly was the prime target when
pro-development legislators passed a law allowing voters to revoke their
signatures from amendment petitions.
That
opened the door for John Thrasher's specious letter pretending to denounce the
very developers for whom he's shilling. In urging citizens to abandon the
Hometown Democracy campaign, he blames ''slick lawyers'' for tricking them into
putting their names on the petition.
Thrasher
himself is one of the slickest lawyers in
His
scare letter comes with a postage-paid envelope. Mail it back with the two-word
reply of your choice.
Bartow Zoning Protest Moves Ahead
BARTOW
| The city clerk will tally signatures on petitions seeking a voter referendum
on a Bartow zoning decision, the City Commission decided Monday night.
Commissioners voted 3-2 to begin the tabulation, despite their lawyer's advice
to the contrary. Last week, Interim City Attorney Sean Parker halted the count,
citing state law prohibiting petitions or referendums when challenging this
type of zoning decision. On Monday, he stood by that position.
The petitions, bearing more than 2,200 signatures, seek to overturn a Sept. 4
zoning decision allowing 835 houses on a 272-acre site along
Commissioner Adrian Jackson said he thought the city had an obligation to tally
the signatures.
"This issue has gotten bigger than a development on
A month ago, commissioners Leo Longworth and Pat Huff, along with Mayor Brian
Hinton, voted to approve the development. Jackson and Commissioner James
Clements voted against it.
On Monday, Huff broke ranks and voted to count the signatures, saying he didn't
see the harm in it.
"This is all going to come down to a decision of the commission
anyway," he said after the meeting.
"I'm still in favor of approving the development because I think the
developer has a legal right to put single-family homes on that property, and
he's eventually going to be able to do that."
Huff said he supports the proposal for 835 houses on the site.
"I think we have squeezed as much out of the developer as we can," he
said.
"They've eliminated the townhouses, they've eliminated the commercial area
and they've created 76 acres of green space. I think this is going to be a very
nice development," Huff said.
Huff also said he disagrees with
"We have heard them in hearing and hearing," he said. "We
understand their position."
When asked why he agreed to count the signatures if he felt the people have
been heard, Huff responded, "Maybe I shouldn't have voted that way."
Now that the signatures will be tallied, the city clerk's office will determine
whether the petitions bear 1,688 valid signatures.
more votes ahead
If that's the case, the issue will go before the City Commission for another
vote. Should the commission uphold its decision to approve the zoning, the
issue will then go to the city's voters in a referendum.
If the voters reject the zoning, the commission will be forced to rescind their
vote, but the developer, Highland Cassidy in
During Monday night's meeting, the commission's chambers often sounded more
like a courtroom than a meeting room.
Bartow lawyer John Frost, a resident of
About a half-dozen of his neighbors cited reasons why the development shouldn't
be approved. They argued the proposed Wind Meadows South community, with an
average three houses per acre, would stand in stark contrast to the rural
nature of their community.
Representatives for Highland Cassidy have maintained that they followed the
city's land development regulations in designing the proposed community.
In 2004, when the City Commission approved annexation and a residential land
use designation for the site, the state's Department of Community Affairs also
signed off on the proposal.
The state's approval is required by law.
Commissioners twice rejected Highland Cassidy's earlier zoning requests, which
led to the elimination of the townhouses and commercial sites. The developer
reduced the density from 900 homes to 835.
Each time the city rejected a proposal, Highland Cassidy appealed the decision
to the Polk Circuit Court.
And each time, the lawsuit was settled when the city agreed to reconsider a
revised proposal.
too many houses
Residents along
Until now, most of those opposing the development live along
Most longtime
Only registered voters in the city were eligible to sign the petitions, and
organizers had 20 days from the commission's zoning vote to get the signatures.
Frost cited a 2006 legal case in
"That case has no binding authority," he said.
Frost said he had spoken with a lawyer earlier in the day who argued the
Commissioner Clements said he recognized there was a difference in legal
opinions.
"But I think if we are going to err, I'd like to err on the part of the
citizens," he said.
[ Suzie Schottelkotte can be reached at suzie.schottelkotte@theledger.com. ]
Shopping complex clears
planning hurdle
By SCOTT WYLAND
Staff Writer
PORT ORANGE -- An open-air shopping complex crept closer to
reality as the city's planning commission gave its blessing to an early draft.
A 14-screen cineplex, a national bookstore, a well-known clothing
merchant and a dozen restaurants would be part of the "Pavilion at Port
Orange" if it materializes near Williamson Boulevard and Interstate 95.
Commissioners voted Thursday to approve an early master plan that
lays out the permitted uses and parameters for the 73-acre site. The plan now
will go to the City Council for review.
Beyond this, there are several layers of review left for the
proposed shopping center.
It would be 550,000 square feet to start, and could expand by
300,000 square feet later.
"It's going to function really like a downtown," city
planner Penelope Cruz told the commission.
It would stand near a man-made lake, and would have courtyards,
walking trails and green areas, Cruz said, describing the project as "a
chance to build a modern 21st century shopping center."
CBL & Associates Properties, based in
In
"
Although CBL hasn't officially named the prospective tenants,
Elliott mentioned Barnes & Noble a couple times during the meeting.
As garnishments, the complex will have cupolas, awnings,
fountains, sculptures and landscaping, Elliott said. Seventy percent of the
vegetation will be drought tolerant.
CBL has agreed to four-lane
Even so, a couple people who live in the Villages of Royal Palms
expressed concerns about the complex increasing traffic on an already congested
road.
Bob Malone, 71, questioned how effective it would be to widen
Williamson in front of the complex if the road narrows to two lanes past the
site.
"That's a bad solution," Malone said.
Mike Disher, the city's planning and development manager, agreed
that the rest of Williamson must be widened. CBL's portion is one of several
phases in four-laning the road, he added.
"I wouldn't consider it a final solution, but that's where it
is right now," Disher said.
Jack McVeigh, 53, worried that cars would back up on Williamson
and
"Are we going to be able to get in and out of our
property?" McVeigh said.
McVeigh also urged the commission to make the roads safe for
residents to walk or ride bikes to the complex. He argued that these upgrades
would reduce traffic and give people an alternative to driving if gas prices
skyrocket.
Right now, anywhere near the interchange is risky for
non-motorists, he said. "You can't walk and you can't ride a bike under
that bridge without putting your life on the line."
Deltona hopefuls envision more growth
By SARA KIESLER
Staff
Writer
All three candidates running for Deltona's District 4 City Commission
seat on Oct. 9 share a similar vision of getting more businesses into the
bedroom community.
Nancy
Schleicher, a teacher, Melissa Stalzer, a Realtor and Paul Treusch, a retired
Marine and federal government employee, all want to make the proposed
Where
the candidates' priorities differ is how to get the businesses there, what is
needed to train Deltona residents who aren't college bound for jobs and how to
handle the growth once the
Schleicher,
who has worked on the city's charter and its comprehensive land use plan, wants
to give Deltona's recently appointed Economic Development Board more power to
aggressively seek out light industries and aid in the city's permitting
process.
But
beyond those office jobs, Treusch sees a need for technical and vocational
training for residents who aren't going to college. He wants to solicit
businesses and grants to help offer accrediting and training in skilled trades
such as electrical work, carpentry and air conditioning.
Stalzer,
who is due to have her first child any day now, plans to focus some of her
energy on keeping schools from getting overcrowded as Deltona continues to grow
and seek more businesses.
Other
similarities exist between the candidates.
Both
Stalzer and Schleicher are aligned in a desire to see a cleaner, more
beautified Deltona through stepped-up code enforcement. And while Schleicher
and Treusch differ on their ideas of public safety -- she wants more
Neighborhood Watch and Citizens Observer Patrol programs, while he wants more
police presence and would like residents to be able to vote on whether they
want a city-run police force -- they both cite the issue as a priority.
Envisioning
Deltona as a cultural hub with its planned amphitheater, Treusch wants to
encourage school bands, plays, arts shows and fundraising events there, such as
the London Symphony Orchestra.
Schleicher,
who plans to retire at the end of this school year, wants to see more services,
mentor programs and referral centers for seniors in the city.
Each
candidate has community-related hobbies.
Stalzer
dedicates many of her Sundays to picking up trash along
Treusch
has been involved in fishing tournaments throughout
Schleicher
dedicates her spare time to
The
candidates will participate in a debate sponsored by the Deltona Civic
Association at 4 p.m. Saturday, at
Early
voting for District 4 takes place between Oct. 1 and 6 for the Oct. 9 primary.
If
no candidate receives 50 percent plus one vote in the primary, the two highest
vote-getters will move forward to the general election Nov. 6.
The
winner will take the seat of Commissioner Bill Harvey, who cannot run again
because of term limits.
Nancy
Schleicher
Age:
60
Family:
Two grown sons
Occupation:
Second-grade teacher at Discovery Elementary, retiring at the end of this
school year
Political
experience: Ran for Deltona City Commission in
1995
Volunteer
experience: Past president Deltona Civic
Association, Board of Directors Volusia Visions, member Deltona Incorporation
Feasibility/Charter Committee, Deltona Comprehensive Land Use Plan committee,
West Volusia Hospital Authority Citizens Advisory Committee, past chairwoman
Act Outreach Support Council of Deltona.
Melissa
Stalzer
Age:
31
Family:
Parents are deceased; married for 7 years to Frank and they are expecting a
baby boy any day.
Occupation:
Realtor throughout
Political
experience: None
Volunteer
experience: Adopt-A-Street Program,
Paul
Treusch
Age:
67
Family:
Wife Jean, one child, a daughter, now deceased
Occupation:
Retired, U.S. Marines 20 years and U.S government
Political
Experience: None
Volunteer
Experience: Elected to and served as Quartermaster
and Adjutant for Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 8093 DeBary. Served as adjutant
for the U. S. Marine Corps League. Active volunteer member of VFW Honor Guard.
Volunteer with Habitat for Humanity.
District
4
Only
Deltona residents who live in District 4 may vote in the Oct. 9 nonpartisan
City Commission election. District 4 is about 2 miles across and centers on the
intersection of Saxon and
Environmental Groups Suing Over Cypress Creek Permits
By KEVIN
WIATROWSKI The
Published:
Oct 2, 2007
WESLEY CHAPEL - Following up on a threat from July, three
environmental groups on Monday sued two federal regulatory agencies in an
effort to overturn the development permits issued this year to the builders of
the
The
lawsuit was filed in federal court in
The
environmentalists want the court to put a hold on the permit so a full
Environmental Impact Statement can be done of the 510-acre site straddling
State Road 56 just west of Interstate 75.
The lawsuit
alleged Army Corps regulators didn't do enough to reduce the mall's overall
effect, such as requiring developers to build a parking garage instead of
parking lots.
"We
have no faith in this permit protecting this exquisite piece of property as
required by federal laws," Denise Layne, conservation chairwoman of the
Sierra Club's
The Army
Corps issued Jacobs a permit earlier this year allowing the developer to fill
more than 50 acres of wetlands on its property ahead of development.
Jacobs
faces a fine or revocation of its permit after regulators discovered
earthmoving crews had damaged a wetland outside the bounds of the permit. The
potential penalty remains under review.
Jacobs
officials said Monday that they had no plans to stop work at the mall site.
St. Marks
River gets state park
By Bruce Ritchie
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has made it official.
The St. Marks River State Park is the newest in the state park system.
The St. Marks River State Park covers 2,589 acres along the St.
Marks River east of
Park Service Director Mike Bullock said the agency will hold
public workshops to receive suggestions on what recreation should be offered.
Park officials also expect to build a parking area with restrooms, a picnic
shelter and a kiosk in the near future, but no dates for the improvements were
given.
The park includes black bears, bobcats, foxes, deer, turkeys and
fox squirrels. Birding enthusiasts can spot a variety of hawks, owls and ducks
wading and flying within the park in the floodplain forests and other habitats.
The state bought the land from The St. Joe
Panel Passes New-Home Impact Fee Hikes
Officials increase levies for parks and recreation, police and
fire services.
By Diane
Lacey Allen
The
On the heels of property tax
reform and a failed attempt for a special tax for recreation,
They increased the fees for parks and recreation along with those for police
and fire services.
The only public outcry was from the Polk County Builders Association. The group
opposed the formula that raised the parks impact fee for a single-family home
from $904 to $2,578.
The PCBA, which historically has rallied opposition to various impact fees in
the city and
George Lindsey, speaking for the builders and apologizing for objecting late in
the process, described impact-fee calculations as an "art, not a
science."
He asked the commission to reconsider part of the reasoning behind the impact
fee for parks, saying that its estimate of $120,000 for an acre of park land
was too high.
"At the end of the day, you have to ask if this will pass the smell
test," Lindsey said.
Lindsey suggested that the city buy property for parks during off times and
create a land bank to avoid the high cost of recreation complexes.
Commissioner Edie Yates reminded Lindsey that the city had already tried to
dedicate funding for parks and recreation by proposing a municipal special
taxing unit. She said the public made it clear they didn't want to go the MSTU
route.
"That forces us to buy land at a premium," Yates said.
Without an MSTU and with tight budgets from property tax reform,
Jim Studiale, director of community development, said that to build
neighborhood parks, the city has to find land near neighborhoods, where the
price is higher. He said the new impact fee for parks was about 85 percent of
the full fee recommended by a study.
Mayor Buddy Fletcher said that buying land before people build can also be
risky if development doesn't follow and the city has to carry the debt.
Commissioner Gow Fields told Lindsey that relying on impact fees to buy park
land means the city has to wait for new construction for funds, which puts park
purchases behind the curve.
"That puts us buying when you're buying and that's not going to give us
the lowest price," Fields said.
[ Diane Lacey Allen can be reached at
diane.allen@theledger.com or 863-802-7514. ]
By CAROL E. LEE
City commissioners unanimously voted Monday to opt into a fertilizer ordinance
the county adopted in August.
The new regulations limit the amount of fertilizer that can be applied on city
greens and ban the use of chemical fertilizers during
Violators will at first receive a warning and up to $500 in fines for repeat
offenses.
The ordinance also designates a "fertilizer-free zone" near bodies of
water and limits the amount of fertilizer containing nitrogen and phosphorus
that residents and businesses can use in a year.
The chemicals can seep into surface and ground water and contribute to
pollution.
The ordinance further suggests using fertilizers that contain at least 50
percent slow-release nitrogen, which costs more but takes longer to break down
and is largely considered less harmful to the environment.
Developers at standstill
One
wants movement while the other wants a delay on a SR 52 road-widening project.
By
CHUIN-WEI YAP, Times Staff Writer
Published October 2, 2007
Pasco
Town Centre and Bella Verde sit side by side just southeast of State Road 52
and Interstate 75, two giant prospects that together cover some 3,000 acres,
and potentially nearly 9,000 homes and millions of square feet of retail and
office space.
But
their prospects now depend on working out differences over a two-lane road just
over a mile long, running on the northern edge of both projects.
Pasco
Town Centre, a 945-acre mixed-use project spearheaded by Shailendra Group of
But
the responsibility lies with New Cities Development Group, the California
developer that's behind the proposed 2,000-acre, 27-hole golf community Bella
Verde, formerly called Cannon Ranch.
New
Cities has just asked the
Tim
Hayes, who represents Pasco Town Centre on the SR 52 issue, denied that the two
developments were caught in an "adversarial relationship."
"Pasco
Town Centre wants to know when the construction is going to take place,"
he said. "When the road gets torn up, it's going to be hard for them to do
anything."
But
county officials say Bella Verde isn't honoring its deal.
"They
should have started construction a long time ago," said Bipin Parikh,
Parikh
said the state Department of Transportation is implicated because it failed to
perform maintenance work on the road.
"DOT
is beginning to worry the whole thing is falling apart," Parikh said.
"Now DOT doesn't know where we stand."
Kent
Fast, a DOT official involved in the issue, didn't respond to a request for an
interview Monday.
The
county is reluctant to referee what it sees as a private sector standoff.
"We
don't want to be in the middle," Parikh said. "You have an individual
obligation, you better fulfill that."
The
attorney representing Bella Verde, Keith Bricklemeyer, didn't return calls
Monday.
Nearly
three years after its latest owners announced its grand development plans,
Bella Verde still hasn't gotten off the ground.
Last
year, undisclosed developers bailed from plans to buy the property for more
than $100-million, leaving New Cities in the lurch.
Last
week, the developers asked the county for permission to delay the completion of
the SR 52 project until 2011. Its development agreement allows them to ask for
more time extensions.
It
complicates matters for Bella Verde that the county plans to straighten out SR
52, just slightly south of Bella Verde's SR 52 project. Hayes said Bella Verde
is still trying to work out how the two road projects would complement each
other.
For
Pasco Town Centre, the delay is a problem not just for its construction plans,
but also for its legal representation.
Ron
Weaver, of Stearns Weaver Miller in
The
SR 52 issue put him in an awkward spot.
"We
simply said we cannot get involved in issues between the two projects," he
said Monday.
So
on the specific issue of the SR 52 project - just "one-hundredth" of
the project's legal work, Weaver said - the standoff has introduced Hayes, a
Land O'Lakes attorney widely considered to be a top contender for
The
Shailendra Group hired Hayes on the recommendation of Keith Appenzeller, Pasco
Town Centre's chief roads engineer.
But
Hayes quashed rumors that the Shailendra Group was seeking to butter up someone
who might become the county's most powerful public counsel.
"When
they hired me, I hadn't applied for the job yet," Hayes said.
Hayes
said he hopes to resolve things by the time the new county attorney is
appointed, which is expected within the next two months.
But
would the standoff jeopardize Pasco Town Centre, which had planned to start
work next year?
"Perhaps
not," Appenzeller said. "Once we understand what they want to do,
Pasco Town Centre can amend our plans around that."
Parikh
appeared less patient.
"I
don't know why they keep continuing it," he said. "They still want to
discuss impact fee credit stuff."
Parikh
said Bella Verde's developers could eventually be fined for violating their
development agreement, though he added he needed to check with county attorneys
on that issue.
Hayes
was more hopeful.
"It's
going to take some time," he said. "But I hope, in a couple months,
that both parties will have worked out a time frame."
He
added a caveat.
"With
the history of Cannon Ranch, one never knows," he said.
Chuin-Wei
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