Developer splits with residents on
power lines
By FRANK GLUCK
All those new residents will need electricity to light their homes and run
their air conditioners.
The problem is, no one wants the 100-foot-tall power lines that will carry that
electricity anywhere near their homes.
An ongoing battle over locating the power lines will come to a head this month
and pit established residents of rural communities against development
powerhouse Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, which hopes to start building more than
5,000 housing units in the area over the next few years.
An administrative law judge will consider the case after three weeks of
hearings that start Oct. 22.
FPL plans to spend $25 million to build more than 20 miles of its 230-kilovolt
Bobwhite-Manatee Transmission Line. It would run from North Manatee to a power
substation just north of
The lines, mounted on concrete posts, will provide additional power and a
backup buffer for other lines that may be knocked out during a storm or
hurricane, said FPL spokesman Mel Klein.
All agree the lines are needed, but no one wants the lines built in their
neighborhood.
FPL is pushing a route that would start just north of State Road 62 in Manatee
and follow a jagged southerly path, eventually cutting through undeveloped land
south of
That route would take the lines through a site in northern
"We are rather distressed to see a proposal to run these power lines right
down the middle of that development," said Dan Perka, SMR senior vice
president. "There will be thousands of homes in this area, and there's no
way really to buffer them."
That plan would also put power lines along the border of SMR's
SMR has offered up two alternative routes that would push the power lines
farther east. They would affect fewer future homes and would cost FPL less
money to build, Perka said.
SMR's proposed routes would individually cost roughly $20 million and $25
million, according to FPL engineering estimates.
But SMR's alternatives do not sit well with residents of a rural area in north
Richard Gumm and his wife, Susan Schoettle-Gumm, live on a 10-acre spread in
the Bern Creek subdivision, about five miles east of Interstate 75 north of
It is a rural oasis in an area that has seen rapid housing growth in recent
years. The view from Gumm's lanai is pure greenery -- devoid of buildings,
roads or power lines.
One of SMR's proposals would bring the power lines in ready sight and, the
Gumms believe, lower local property values by up to 30 percent. Properties in
the Gumms' neighborhood run more than $500,000, county records show.
The Gumms, who favor FPL's preferred route, have organized hundreds of their
neighbors in opposition to SMR's proposals. They believe the power line route
should benefit existing residents, not future Lakewood Ranch homeowners.
Besides, a new substation would not be needed if it were not for big developers
like SMR, they say.
"This is a very rural, scenic area, and it shouldn't be spoiled just to
benefit SMR," Richard Gumm said.
Perka acknowledged that the power lines could prevent SMR from selling new
homes at top dollar.
But, he said, the development company's goal is to protect its current and
future homeowners.
FPL will provide the development company "severance damages" for use
of SMR land for the power lines and declines in property values, Perka said.
"SMR will get that revenue one way or another," he said. "The
question is, will it be paid by people who buy the houses or by the rate payers
who have to shoulder the burden of those severance damages."
Transit Plan
By SUSAN M. GREEN, The
Published: October 11, 2007
Previous Coverage: Two
New Bridges Over Alafia River Considered
RUSKIN - The lines on a draft county
plan that could define future road corridors show a network of dots and color
coding even in the most remote southeast corner of
On one side are people worried about
urban sprawl, who say, 'If you build it, they will come.'
On the other are those who say 'they' -
possibly hundreds of thousands of new south county residents - will come
anyway, and without new roads, there will be gridlock.
There's no money behind the South
County Transportation Plan, expected to go before Hillsborough's Planning
Commission and county commission for review early next year. If adopted, it
would become part of the county's Comprehensive Growth Management Plan that
shapes future development.
Public meetings on the updated plan,
which has been revised since workshops held in July, are scheduled for Oct. 23
in Ruskin and Oct. 24 in Riverview.
Highway Cuts Through Rural Land
Chief among concerns for organizations
such as Rural Lithia Area Neighborhood Defense and the Tampa Bay Sierra Club is
the inclusion of a limited-access, six-lane highway that has been talked about
for years and alternately referred to as a bypass or beltway.
The recommended transportation plan
approved by county staff and working committees shows the freeway cutting a
wide swath from just south of the Hillsborough-Manatee county line northeast
through rural Wimauma and Lithia toward Plant City.
The draft map suggests access ramps at
Almost as galling for Mariella Smith, a
Ruskin resident and Tampa Bay Sierra Club member, is the prospect of at least a
dozen widened, extended or newly built roads through farmland and wilderness. Opponents
fended off some of the road corridors shown on the draft map in other plans
only days before the South County Transportation Plan popped up on
Hillsborough's Web site, she said.
'I'm appalled to find some of the same
stuff back again so soon after citizens worked so hard to get this junk scraped
off the last plan,' Smith said.
She said she doesn't buy the position
of Ned Baier, Hillsborough's transportation planning manager, who is
shepherding the plan through the approval process. Baier points to projections
that show a population of a half-million people in south
Add to that a new regional mall in the
planning stages near Apollo Beach and hordes of shoppers and job commuters
expected to be streaming north into Hillsborough from south of the county line.
'Like water, transportation has no
boundaries,' Baier said.
Identifying road corridors in the
comprehensive plan would help county officials place conditions on commercial
and residential developers that require them to pay a bigger share of
construction costs, he said. A bypass highway, though not a road to be planned
or built by the county, also could divert up to 48,000 motorist trips from
Interstate 75, siphon away truck traffic and potentially eliminate the need for
two new traffic lanes, according to a consultant's study.
'It's all about how people are going to
get around,' Baier said. 'Is there enough transportation capacity in your
plan?'
Smith argues: 'That whole argument is
backwards. What we need to be asking is how many people do we have room for?
How many can we comfortably afford, and where do we want to put them? Don't
tell me we're going to have to pave over all our agricultural land.'
Pam Prysner, president of RLAND, said
there's no way to predict where growth will go 40 years from now.
'It's premature,' she said. 'I'm not at
all comforted by the fact that it's decades away. It's decades away only until
they find financing.'
Developers Influenced Plan
She and Smith say the plan bears the
fingerprints of area developers. Baier conceded that the idea of updating a
south county plan approved four years ago sprang from meetings with developers
who participated in a county-state partnership to widen U.S. 301. Consultants
started working on the plan in April.
Initially, it was to be considered for
approval by the planning commission and county commissioners this fall.
However, it was among proposed comprehensive plan amendments postponed by the
planning commission, which cited a deluge of proposals supposedly broached in
anticipation of Hometown Democracy, an initiative that could require voter
approval of growth plan changes.
Baier said the county has broadened the
perspective of its transportation plan advisory committee by including
homeowner and civic association leaders. The committee member list shows only
five of the 25 participants have no strings to the development industry. Seven
are county staff or consultants, and 13 represent builders, developers or firms
that provide services for the industry.
Representatives of Centex Homes, a home
builder with projects in Riverview, Wimauma, Lithia and
IF YOU GO:
WHAT: Public meetings on proposed South
County Transportation Plan
WHEN: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 23, South
Shore Regional Service Center, 410 30th St. SE, Ruskin; 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Oct.
24, Riverview High School's cafeteria, 11311 Boyette Road, Riverview.
INFORMATION: (813) 272-5849 or visit
www.hillsboroughcounty.org/pgm/
Reporter Susan M. Green can be reached
at (813) 865-1566 or sgreen@tampatrib.com.
CSX Seeking Public Aid Amid Its Growing
Profit
By LINDSAY PETERSON, The
Published: October 11, 2007
Special Report: Previous
Coverage, Maps And Investigation Results
Times have never been better for
State governments are giving freight
rail companies millions to build tracks, bridges and tunnels. Since 2005,
That's not all the rail companies want.
They're lobbying Congress this year for a federal tax credit worth more than $1
billion a year to pay for track improvements.
The money isn't for safety measures at
public crossings. Government has paid railroads billions over the years to
build, repair and maintain crossing signals at public roads. This money is for
business expansion in areas the public never uses.
In pitches to state and federal
transportation officials, rail companies have honed the message that
gas-guzzling tractor-trailers are crowding the highways. They say that moving
more freight by trains, which are more fuel-efficient, will clear the roads,
save shippers money and aid the fight against global warming.
They also say demand is rising for the
things their trains carry, from
But critics of the railroad companies
say it's the industry's fault that it's running out of track. Over the years,
they say, the companies have ripped up thousands of miles of track so they
could cut costs and raise shipping rates. Now they want taxpayers to help them
build new rails.
Frank Wilner of the United
Transportation Union questioned whether the companies would build any new
tracks, suggesting they'd use the money for things such as routine maintenance.
"It's simple economics," he said. "It's not in their economic
interest to increase their capacity, and they don't do things that are not in
their economic interest."
Bob Szabo, head of a shippers group
called Consumers United for Rail Equity, said the country needs more track. But
he questioned whether the government should help rail companies after they
removed so much, then profited when capacity became tight.
One company, Jacksonville-based CSX
Corp., which reduced its track from 27,000 miles in 1980 to 21,000 now, has
announced it is doing so well that it plans to buy back $3 billion in stock.
"If they have enough extra money
to do that," Szabo asked, "why are they asking for tax credits?"
CSX spokesman Gary Sease answered that
it's part of the company's "balanced approach to creating shareholder
value." That approach, he said in a written response, includes spending
more than $4 billion during the past two years on capital improvements such as
track, equipment and facilities.
Last year "we invested more in our
transportation network than we made in net income," Sease said.
"After many years, we expect to meet our cost of capital soon, but that
has not yet occurred."
Wilner, who spent 18 years working for
the American Association of Railroads, said the companies make more than enough
to build and upgrade their own tracks.
They want government money so they can
"maximize profit and shift as many of the costs to the taxpayers as
possible," he said. His union represents rail and mass transportation
workers.
Szabo said railroads are taking
advantage of lingering attitudes from the mid-1970s, when they did need help.
In those days, more than 40 rail
companies competed for business across the
The companies now hold new monopolies,
said Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., in a recent hearing on rail competition.
Shippers in many areas, particularly in the upper Midwest, have only one
railroad to choose from, and in some cases, railroad rates are so high, they
have "little to do with the actual cost of service," said Oberstar,
chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
The industry has a name for these rail
users: "captive shippers." Many of them ship coal and chemicals, and
they're dependent on rail because their loads are too heavy or dangerous for
trucks. One of these shippers is Seminole Electric Cooperative, which is based
in
Seminole relies on CSX to haul coal
from southern
Seminole pays what it considers to be a
fair rate, based on a contract with CSX signed years ago, Reid said. But that
contract is up next year. "We've had discussions with CSX," he said.
"We know there is going to be an increase, and we believe it is going to
be a significant increase."
He said the company talked to other
captive shippers whose rates have nearly doubled. "Ours may not be that
substantial, but it's going to be significant." And it will be passed
directly to Seminole's customers, including electric cooperatives that serve
people in Hillsborough,
The larger problem for Florida
Department of Transportation officials, however, is the cost of trucks on the
state's increasingly congested highways.
Helping railroads carry more freight
eases the strain on roads, DOT rail administrator Ed Lee said. Quoting
statistics used by the railroads, he said trains are better for the environment
because they're three times more fuel-efficient than trucks.
Concerns about highway congestion go
back nearly 10 years to a collection of reports tying
Since 2005, DOT has approved giving
Lee analyzes each project to determine
whether the public is getting its money's worth. He looks at projections on new
jobs, the number of trucks taken off the highways and reductions in shipping
costs and road maintenance.
He said he's assessed about 15 and
approved all of them. His worksheets on a group of projects worth $70 million
show a public benefit of nearly $5 billion. The calculations are based on
information from railroads.
Most states provide money to help
freight rail companies improve their tracks, according to a 2005 survey by the
Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation -- though about 15 don't,
including Alabama, Arkansas and Texas.
"There's not enough to go around
for that," said Craig Thomas,
Some states, including
Several states, however, have set up
multimillion-dollar programs to help both big and small companies expand and
upgrade their rails.
Like
Through a program started two years
ago,
Asked whether
The federal tax credit rail companies
are seeking from Congress would give them a break worth 25 percent of what they
spend on track improvements.
The companies now spend $15 billion to
$17 billion every year on tracks and equipment but receive only a fraction of
that amount in government help. Meanwhile, "taxpayers foot most of the
bill for airports, highway and ports," CSX's Sease said.
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., has
signed on as co-sponsor of the tax bill in the Senate. Democratic U.S. Rep.
Kendrick Meek, from
Meek defended his support of the bill,
saying legislation that "creates jobs, helps
Rail industry critics say they aren't
opposed to giving railroads more money as long as they start giving shippers
more choices. "The railroads have this mentality that they can control the
market," Seminole Electric's Reid said.
Szabo and Wilner are backing a bill
that would give shippers more protections. It would, for instance, reduce the
control that major railroads have over smaller rail companies. It also would
make changes at the Surface Transportation Board, which is responsible for
monitoring the rail industry.
Challenging a railroad's rates before
the transportation board can take years and cost millions, said Reid.
"It's a very complex process, very difficult," he said. "The
board has been very pro-railroad."
Reporter Lindsay Peterson can be
reached at (813) 259-7834 or lpeterson@tampatrib.com.
It would run from
By Tom Palmer
The Ledger
BARTOW | Polk County commissioners
voted unanimously Wednesday to approve a 4.5-mile route for the Bartow Northern
Connector to relieve traffic congestion in the city and to encourage
development in northeast Bartow.
The road would run from U.S. 98 near Bartow Ford to State Road 60 near
The project is planned in two phases. The first phase from U.S. 98 to U.S. 17,
which is projected to cost $50.8 million, is scheduled to be built in 2010.
There is no funding for the second phase, which is estimated to cost $95
million.
Project manager John Cerreta from Post Buckley Schuh & Jernigan said the
recommended project was among eight potential routes that were evaluated.
He said this route would be shorter, cheaper, involve fewer problems with
traversing mined phosphate land and would provide long-range traffic
improvements.
Commissioners approved the $495,890 study last year to analyze the potential
routes.
Wendy Kluge said officials at the Southwest Florida Water Management District,
who had lobbied for a more northerly route to make property near Lake Hancock
more developable when they're ready to sell the land they don't need for an
environmental improvement project, continue to be concerned about the road
alignment and about plans to move Crossover Road, a main access road to the Swiftmud
property.
Environmentalists had opposed the more northerly route because it would destroy
an important site for migratory songbirds and other wildlife.
Ben Dunn of the Transportation Planning Organization said the project's purpose
is to relieve traffic congestion - especially truck through traffic - around
the intersection of U.S. 98 and State Road 60 in Bartow and to encourage the
development of some of the Clear Springs property in northeast Bartow.
Commissioner Jack Myers said the road may be turned into a toll road, pending
the organization of a local expressway authority, and connect to another
planned toll road that would connect to
Most of Wednesday's discussion involved the fact that the road will cut through
For now, there are no plans to build an overpass for the trail until there's
more information on safety problems.
Commissioner Bob English, who said he uses the trail frequently, was concerned
about safety.
"There's not enough signage to alert people (to road crossings); it's a
problem,'' he said.
Dunn said traffic is projected to be 30,000 vehicles a day by 2030.
"I can picture that with all the traffic and bicyclists and Rollerbladers
and that doesn't strike me as very safe,'' English said.
Cerreta said an overpass would cost an estimated $1.5 million.
Commissioner Sam Johnson said he'd rather install flashing lights to warn trail
users and motorists, explaining he was reluctant to spend money needed for
other road projects if it's not necessary.
He said if an overpass turns out to be necessary, it can always be built later.
Commissioner Jean Reed said the Bartow Northern Connector's design needs to be
coordinated with the planned widening of U.S. 98.
Ryan Kordek from TPO said the U.S. 98 project's design schedule will allow
that, but added the construction date for the U.S. 98 widening project is
unknown at this point.
[ Tom Palmer can be reached at 863-802-7535 or tom.palmer@theledger.com. Read
more views on county government at http://county.theledger.com. ]
BY SUSAN LATHAM CARR
STAR-BANNER
The Lake County Water Alliance is required by the St. Johns River Water
Management District to submit a future water needs plan. But the plan is
meeting with resistance from the Southwest Florida Water Management District,
the Withlacoochee Regional Planning Authority, legislators and citizen groups,
who are concerned about interdistrict water transfers.
Protect Our Waters at Rousseau, a group of concerned citizens, is inviting the
public to attend a meeting at 7 p.m., Oct. 18, at the Dunnellon train depot,
off
The issue could wind up in court as government entitles battle over the Local
Sources First legislation and its interpretation regarding the transfer of
surface water between the state's water management districts.
Some argue that Local Sources First, which requires governments to look for all
sources of water within their jurisdictions before reaching outside their
borders, applies to ground water in the aquifer but not surface water, like
rivers and lakes.
"We believe that districts should, whenever possible, develop sources
within their own district," said Robyn Hanke, Southwest Florida Water
Management District's spokeswoman. "Everyone in our district was surprised
that this proposal was out there."
The St. Johns District, fearing that demand for water in 2013 will outstrip the
ground water supplies, has asked the cities and counties in its district to
identify alternative water sources.
In
"It's really intended just to begin investigating this," said Terry
Clark, from Staff Connections,
Clark said the members of the Lake County Alliance - not St. Johns District -
asked that
Not only was the Southwest Florida Water Management District surprised by the
Lake County Water Alliance Plan, but so was the Withlacoochee Regional Water
Supply Authority, which has been analyzing regional water needs for its members
- the city of
The Withlacoochee Water Supply Authority is not interested in the interdistrict
transfer of water, said Jack Sullivan, the Authority's executive director.
"They need to solve their problems over there," Sullivan said about
Ray Sharp, the project manager for the Lake County Alliance, said he did not
know how much water
Because
But he said that, at some point, someone would tap into those water bodies.
"One of the things I think is important is to think of how transmission
lines may work so they will serve not only short-term needs but longer-term
needs," Sharp said.
Sharp said that there is a finite amount of water available from surface water
and the long-term solution to water shortages would be taking water from the
Gulf of Mexico or the
"We may need to utilize the
State Sen. Charles S. Dean, Sr., R-Inverness, wrote to St. Johns River Water
Management District about the issue of interdistrict transfer of water.
"To say I am opposed to this notion is an understatement," he wrote.
Zephyrhills Water Looking To Grow
By JULIA FERRANTE The
Published: Oct 11, 2007
Schrader envisioned a good corporate
neighbor building or taking space at a prime industrial park in his district
with what sounded like a distribution center, he said this week. But as he
heard more details, the commissioner became concerned.
The company, which Schrader would not
identify, has been looking at industrial sites on both sides of State Road 52,
east of Interstate 75, as well as land north of Dade City. The rub: It would
need between 2 million and 3 million gallons of water per day - 365 days per
year - to operate.
"That troubles me," Schrader
told fellow commissioners at a meeting Tuesday in
The Economic Development Council
typically does not reveal companies seeking to move or expand in
Jim McClellan, a spokesman for Nestle
Waters North America, the parent company of the Zephyrhills bottling plant,
would not confirm that his company is looking at property north of
"A decision has not been made yet
about whether to build another plant," he said. "This is very
tentative. We are looking at a number of sites throughout the state."
McClellan said it is too early to say
whether the plant, if built, would manufacture bottles and fill them with
spring water as do the Zephyrhills and
He also said he was unsure how big the
plant would be. Nestle's
Commissioner Michael Cox, who sits on
the EDC and also has been in discussions with the company, said he also is
concerned about the project, but he said the unidentified company is in the
early stages of planning an expansion. Cox did say he would be unlikely to
support offering incentives to the company. He said the company is not on a par
with Sysco Food Services Corp., which plans to expand in Zephyrhills, because
it may not offer as highly paying jobs.
"I'm not even sure we're a
finalist in their site selection process," Cox said. "Knowing their
demographic, compared with Sysco, I'm very disinclined to give them any kind of
incentives. We have to look at what they want."
McClellan did not have the dimensions
of the Zephyrhills plant but said it employs about 300 people. Nestle's plants
pay more than the average prevailing wage for jobs including laborers,
supervisors, managers and trainers, he said. Nestle also offers health benefits,
401(k) plans and profit-sharing.
Schrader said he was reluctant to bring
up the subject at a public meeting, but he thought it was important for the EDC
to know where the commission stands on the subject. Even though the company
could bring in jobs and tax revenue, there would be trade-offs.
"I want to get a sense of whether
the board will provide them water," he told commissioners. "They need
an idea of what we might give them before they move forward. &hellip If you
do allow this to happen and it goes on the public supply there, there could be
implications much bigger than attracting industry."
Reporter Julia Ferrante can be reached
at (813) 948-4220 or jferrante@tampatrib.com.
Water Company Thirsts For
By NICOLA M. WHITE The
Published: Oct 11, 2007
ZEPHYRHILLS - The city's most famous
business continues to gobble up land near its
Nestle Waters North America, which owns
the Zephyrhills Natural Spring Water brand, has submitted requests to
That land - 8.4 acres north of
The city's planning commission
discussed the requests Tuesday but put off a decision because of opposition
from neighbors and concerns about industrial development encroaching in
residential areas.
Nestle representatives told commission
members the land near Meadowood would be used only as a retention pond, but the
commission wanted Nestle to come back with a specific plan, said Todd Vande
Berg, the city's director of development services.
"We have to look at the best
interest of the whole city and make land use decisions that are best not only
short-term but long-term, while taking into consideration the folks that live
out there as future expansion occurs," he said.
The annexation requests come on the
heels of the company's purchase last month of a home in the Woodland Acres
subdivision, south of the bottled water plant. The company this year also
purchased three houses there with plans of knocking them down. The purchase of
another house is pending, McLellan said.
Reporter Nicola M. White can be reached
at (813) 779-4613 or nwhite1@tampatrib.com.
Public Hearing Set For 300-Home Plan
By JO-ANN
Published: Oct 11, 2007
If
Plans for the project have changed
several times since March.
In their most recent plan, the owners
propose building 302 homes - a mix of single-family homes and town homes - and
offices.
Neighbors have complained, saying they
don't want that many homes built there, said Karla Owens,
Commissioners have scheduled a Nov. 27
public hearing on the annexation request. To allow more time for discussion,
they agreed to talk about the project at their Nov. 13 meeting, though they
will not hold a public hearing then.
In weighing whether to approve the
annexation, the city asked
The property borders a neighborhood
with single-family homes on larger lots, as well as commercial development
along U.S. 301.
A likely issue for commissioners is the
traffic
Reporter Jo-Ann Johnston can be reached
at (352) 521-3062 or jfjohnston@tampatrib.com.
Planning Commission Rejects Rezoning
For Housing Project
By KEVIN WIATROWSKI The
Published: Oct 11, 2007
The Behnke family and Ryland Homes want
the rezoning to convert the Behnkes' agricultural land to 860 single-family
homes. The land is sandwiched between State Road 54 and the Jay B. Starkey
Wilderness Preserve.
The owners agreed to set aside 71 acres
as a wildlife corridor protecting South Branch, a creek that flows northeast
into the Starkey property and feeds the
The owners were less inclined to pay
the county $3.1 million to help extend
"The economics of the project just
can't justify that," Harrill said.
Harrill urged the planning commission
to approve the proposal and let the developers negotiate directly with county
commissioners over their objections to county-mandated road improvements.
However, planning commissioners had
their own problems with the project.
Among other things, Commissioner Jon
Moody opposed shifting the wildlife corridor to the east, a move the developer
wanted to open dry land closer to the creek for construction. County officials
argued that the change, which got them additional land for
The proposal really ran into trouble
when planning commissioners declined to abide by County Attorney Robert
Sumner's advice to pass the rezoning despite a pending lawsuit. The Behnkes
want to overturn the industrial zoning on land owned by Charles Redding, their
neighbor to the west.
The county's Development Review
Committee earlier this year followed Sumner's advice and approved the rezoning
despite the lawsuit. Sumner said the county can't legally make the rezoning
hinge on the outcome of the lawsuit.
But the legal wrangling made planning
commissioners uncomfortable, as did the property's position in a floodplain.
They voted 9-1 to deny the rezoning.
County commissioners will make the
final decision Oct. 23 in New Port Richey.
Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be
reached at (813) 948-4201 or kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com.
Developer of stalled condo misses Boca
bond deadline
By GRETEL SARMIENTO
Thursday, October 11, 2007
The developer has failed to pay a
$500,000 bond, one of the most critical in a series of agreements worked out
with the city to get an extension to the project's building permit. The bond,
due Tuesday, was to be paid within 15 days of the extension being granted. It
would ensure the funds should the developer lose the building permit and,
facing an unfinished project, the city decides to demolish it.
"We did not get the letter of
credit by 5 p.m.," said Assistant City Manager Michael Woika.
The frustration was evident from the
city council at a meeting last month with several council members bluntly
stating they doubted the developer's credibility.
And while the council is still very
"wary," Mayor Steven Abrams said Wednesday the city will still give
the developer a chance to comply.
Four years into construction, the
four-building condominium promised across from city hall on
Despite the developer's history of
delays, poor progress and last-minute changes, the council was told not to
worry, that failure to meet any of the agreements in place would kill the
September 2009 permit extension granted to Boca East.
Not quite, it seems.
A clause in the worked-out agreement
allows the city to give the developer 15 extra days whenever a deadline is not
met. The city has done just that.
"Our client has been complying
with the conditions of this agreement to the best of his ability," said
attorney Wendy Larsen, representing the developer. "We have the letter of
credit to submit but are working on another issue."
Larsen said the letter should be in
soon.
News that the developer hadn't paid
within the city-set parameters didn't come as a surprise to the residents this
project concerns.
"This is heartbreaking to the many
unit owners who are currently residing at Eden Condominiums," said
Attorney Steven Platzek, who represents several unit owners.
"The developer has, over the
previous two years, treated the unit owners with arrogance and scorn.
"It is not surprising that the developer
would now treat the city's deadline in a similar manner with the same
arrogance."
DeBary asks for restoration of bayou
By BOB KOSLOW
Staff Writer
DEBARY -- City leaders are asking for
federal help to restore the DeBary Bayou between
"If it was just to dredge so boats
could get back there, I would say no too," Councilman Jack Lenzen said.
"But, this would be a Corps study to restore the bayou back to original
luster. This was a manmade destruction and I support a look."
The bayou, also known as Padgett Creek
and DeBary Creek, is choked with muck and silt that are killing the bayou, said
Joe Alemany, president of the River Oaks Homeowners Association, a small
subdivision along the waterway. The group is asking for the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers to examine ways to fix the bayou.
"In 2000, the Department of
Transportation blocked the bayou to widen the highway and now no water is
coming in. The birds are disappearing and animals are dying."
Residents have tried for years to
restore flows along the creek where the subdivision has 51 docks. However, the
water is so shallow that only three boats are tied up there now and those have
not moved in several years.
Charts from 1925 show a 500-foot-wide
connection between Lake
Without the benefit of regular
flushing, the creek has become nearly stagnant and clogged with muck from
annual spraying to kill vegetation that sinks and builds up on the bottom, said
Steve Bacon, head of a homeowners committee working to clean out the bayou.
"Cleaning the waterway would allow
more recreational opportunities for boaters and fisherman and boating access to
Gemini Springs," Bacon said. "It also would improve the wetlands in
the area and improve wildlife habitats for fish and birds. It would restore a
historical waterway used by
Councilmen approved a letter to U.S.
Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park, asking that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
look into ways to reopen the waterway by extending a navigational channel from
the Progress Energy plant in Enterprise westward through the bayou to Mullet
Lake.
"We are glad to promote local
bills, but they have to get in lines," Mica recently said.
Mica noted huge backlogs of water and
dam projects across the country and that it took 12 years to get money to clean
out
In other recent business, the City
Council:
· Approved new fire hydrants to be
installed along
· Amended city codes to require corner
lot owners to keep vegetation and other items out of driver and pedestrian
sight lines, so they can safely cross intersections. The code allows the city
to abate the nuisance and charge the property owner.
· Awarded a $274,700 contract to low
bidder Ocala-based Marcum Underground Inc. to construct a stormwater drainage
project along
Evans relocation divides county
Erika Hobbs
Sentinel Staff Writer
October 11, 2007
School officials are gearing up for a
power struggle with
In a memo obtained by the Orlando
Sentinel on Wednesday night, Superintendent Ron Blocker suggested that School
Board members might have to use their power to delay development if county
officials get in the way of building certain schools.
Blocker noted that 29 planned
residential projects in
Blocker's memo stems from the
Commissioners put off the rezoning
decision until Dec. 4 after hearing residents' complaints that the new Evans
campus infringes on a rural zone.
County officials want time to examine
school-site requests in other rural enclaves that are coming before them for
approval.
As a result, Blocker wrote, his staff would
need to review all pending development plans to decide whether the district had
the ability to put schools where they are needed.
It was a subtle message with a big
impact. Blocker's carefully worded memo indicated that the school district is
ready to flex its political muscle in response to the
Blocker could not be reached for
comment Wednesday.
District officials warned Wednesday
that the
Three schools intended to relieve overcrowding
at West Orange High and Clarcona and Avalon elementaries also are threatened
because the new schools would be in rural zones.
On Tuesday, county commissioners bowed
to complaints from Ocoee residents who want to stop Evans from relocating. They
said that the plans didn't fit the area and would bring traffic and crime.
In his memo, Blocker defended the
district's proposal to move Evans, saying the county has previously allowed
other schools in rural areas, including Zellwood, Clarcona and
Blocker's memo suggested that the
conflict could put plans for new homes in jeopardy.
The school system's proposal to relieve
crowding at West Orange High, for example, is linked to plans for thousands of
new homes at Horizon West.
But if the high school is in question,
district staff said, the new homes will be, too.
"We will have to await
Earlier Wednesday, Orange County Mayor
Rich Crotty released a statement through an e-mail from his spokesman.
"Because of the concerns expressed
by the Board of County Commissioners and the community, I have accelerated a
worksession to better understand the growth management issues associated with
the new
District and county officials say they
are trying to maintain a delicate, symbiotic relationship.
The county needs the school district's
cooperation to approve new housing, while the district needs the commission's
help in getting new schools built.
If schools are delayed,
David Damron of the Sentinel staff
contributed to the report. Erika Hobbs can be reached at ehobbs@orlandosentinel.com
or 407-420-6226.
Copyright © 2007, Orlando Sentinel
New maps show aquifer vulnerable in Leon, Wakulla
By Bruce Ritchie
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER
The Floridan Aquifer is vulnerable to contamination in more than half of Leon and Wakulla counties, according to new maps produced for government agencies.
Leon County and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection paid for the maps, which show where sinkholes, a thinner layer of soil and rock above the aquifer and sandy soils combine to make the aquifer most vulnerable. The aquifer is the source of area drinking water and provides flow to Wakulla Springs.
The maps already are influencing debate among city and county
commissioners about how
"The bottom line is those maps will help us do better planning," said Wayne Tedder, director of the Tallahassee-Leon County Planning Department.
But he said the maps shouldn't be used to say any area is off-limits to development. Instead, it may indicate where sewer lines should go or where more expensive septic tanks should be required.
The Leon County Commission last year agreed to pay $73,000 for
the maps, which were produced by Advanced Geospatial Inc. of
The Florida DEP paid for the
The maps suggest that groundwater near Wakulla Springs in
southern
Wakulla Springs has become choked with weeds and algae as
nitrogen in groundwater has increased. The primary sources of nitrogen are
The city has agreed to spend $160 million to improve treatment
and reduce nitrogen in wastewater by 75 percent to protect Wakulla Springs.
In
In
After seeing the
The commission voted earlier this year to consider requiring
the advanced systems in southern
Commissioner Bryan Desloge, whose motion to approve staff's recommendations was approved by the commission unanimously, said he was OK with considering a phased approach to other areas, but he also questioned how much more work is needed.
"This is an immediate problem," Desloge said.
Mayor John Marks showed the maps to regional elected officials
last month during a meeting at Wakulla Springs. He also showed maps from a 1000
Friends of Florida study that predicted growth will occur in the most
vulnerable region of Wakulla and
"I don't see how that can happen if we read these maps and this is right," Marks said. "Something has to give."
Contact reporter Bruce Ritchie at (850) 599-2253 or britchie@tallahassee.com.
Suwannee moves to regulate river
By NATHAN CRABBE
Sun staff writer
12:00 am, October 10, 2007
Facing the looming threats of state budget cuts and a southern
The district's governing board voted Tuesday to publish the
minimum-flow rules in the
The rules will guide water-use permits in the basin surrounding the upper river. They would restrict water withdrawals that cause a more than 15 percent loss of fish habitat.
Board member David Flagg of
"If we don't begin we're just - no pun intended - treading water," he said.
Conservation advocates have criticized the rules for failing to take into account whether water withdrawals have already harmed the river. But some advocates at the meeting said they're saving the battle for another day.
"I'm afraid it's not possible at this point to fight it," said Annette Long, president of Save Our Suwannee.
Long said the group will shepherd its resources and hire
experts to monitor the next round of minimum flows. The rules are expected to
be set next year for the lower
In other business, the board rejected a water-bottling permit requested by Ginnie Springs Resort manager Mark Wray. A family dispute over control of the property raised unanswered questions about whether Wray could bottle water from July Springs, according to the district.
But the board's decision leaves open the possibility that Wray could seek the permit at a later date, said Russ Augsburg, president of the anti-water bottling group Our Santa Fe.
"We're not treating it as a done deal," he said.
The permit is among four being proposed that could pull up to
a billion gallons each year from a three-mile stretch of the
"It just seems strange that we have cities running out of water just south of here and we're putting water in bottles and shipping it away," he said.
The board voted to distribute $2.7 million for wastewater
re-use projects in High Springs, Live Oak and Newberry. State budget cuts meant
the district cut $300,000 from money going to Live Oak and eliminated a $500,000
allocation to the city of
But he said cuts coming from last week's legislative session led the amounts to be reduced.
Nathan Crabbe can be reached at 352-338-3176 or crabben@gville sun.com.
Water levels fall
A report from the Suwannee River Water Management District showed that water
levels continued to drop in September. The findings:
* The district received 4.5 inches of water in September, compared to an
average of 5.58 inches for the month. Twenty of the past 21 months had
below-average precipitation.
* Groundwater levels in 89 monitored wells fell 0.25 feet in September from the
previous month. Thirty-eight wells set new monthly lows and seven set historic
lows.
* The
* The district is entering the dry fall season with extremely low surface water
and groundwater levels. A La Niña watch was issued in September, indicating
conditions are favorable for drier, warmer conditions in the winter and
early spring.
Water
managers too lax, audit says
By ROBERT P. KING
Palm Beach
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Even while they preach conservation, South Florida 's
water managers are allowing the vast majority of farms, golf courses and other users
to pump water without disclosing all the gallons they consume, internal
auditors reported Tuesday.
Even when it catches scofflaws, the South Florida Water Management District seldom demands that they submit the required reports, and fines rarely are imposed, the auditors found.
From 2005 to June of this year, fewer than one in four permit holders submitted all their required water-use data, the auditors found. For the first half of 2007, nearly one in five submitted nothing.
Meanwhile, the district sent non-compliance letters to only 1 percent of the roughly 1,600 users that failed to submit data this year.
The findings echoed a 2002 audit that accused the district of enforcing water permits mostly on the "honor system." A year earlier, a Palm Beach Post investigation found that 13 golf courses had exceeded their annual water-use limits by a total of more than 1 billion gallons.
"We have a pretty loosey-goosey, loose system here," said board member Charles Dauray, who heads the district's audit committee.
"Issuing permits for water use without compliance is like going to confession without penance," he said.
District leaders blamed a lack of staff to monitor the permits or sift through the hundreds of thousands of alerts that their computer system generates about potential violations.
But they said they plan to remedy that by hiring new enforcement employees. That step is possible because the board is allowing the district to add permanent staff positions for the first time since the late 1990s.
"When you continue to issue permits every year, you're growing the number of things you need to do compliance on," Assistant Deputy Executive Director Terrie Bates said.
The district also is trying to get permit holders to submit their reports electronically, Deputy Executive Director Chip Merriam said. Most now submit written reports, forcing the staff to enter the data into a computer manually before anyone can look for violations.
Without the staff to monitor everyone, the district says it has been focusing on permits that might harm the public, such as municipal wells vulnerable to contamination by salty ocean water.
In one burst of enforcement action last spring, the district announced it
was slapping $500 fines on 81 golf courses that had failed to submit their
pumping reports. It later exonerated about a third of them, saying many didn't
have to file anything or had run into glitches on the district's Web site.
Water
district suffers from turbid outlook
By NATHAN CRABBE
Sun staff writer
12:00 am, October 9, 2007
The town of
But the past month has been an especially trying time by even the beleaguered district's standards.
Two members of the district board resigned, accusing the district manager of misconduct. They say the manager failed to follow through on a pledge to earn a license to operate the system, and neglected to get full board approval to increase his vacation time and hire his son.
Some residents are now leading a drive to recall the rest of the board. On top of that, some are asking the state attorney to investigate financial problems that led to nearly $517,000 in losses over a three-year span.
The district manager, Tony Johns, disputes the accusations against him. But he acknowledges the district has long been troubled, saying he's a resident who took the job last year in an effort to improve the situation.
"I didn't create the problems," he said. "I was supposedly hired to help fix them."
The district serves more than 900 homes and businesses in a
The district is overseen by a five-member elected board that is in charge of hiring a manager.
Four different managers have run the district since 2000, said Preston Chavous, a longtime town resident and board member from 1998 to 2004. He said residents are frustrated with district management at the same time they're paying more for water they can't even drink.
Water rates jumped $8 in October to $29.50 a month for most users. Tests in June showed water exceeded standards for chlorine byproducts that can cause pregnancy problems and cancer, leading a warning to be issued to residents.
"We all buy bottled water," Chavous said.
Johns said the problem is the result of poor groundwater quality and a more than 40-year-old water treatment system. The groundwater has high levels of iron and organic material, he said, which requires disinfectant levels that can cause state standards to be exceeded.
The rate increase will help fund a new water-treatment plant expected to be finished next year, Johns said.
"Once the new water plant goes online and is completely operational, then the water will not have that difficulty," he said.
Treatment of waste has also been a long-standing problem. Homes in the town were previously connected to septic tanks, which were linked to salmonella contamination in nearby oyster beds.
A wastewater treatment system was finished in 1997 to correct the problem. The system relies on grinder pumps at each home, grinding up waste and pumping it to a central treatment facility.
Some pumps failed during the 2004 hurricanes and about 200 were replaced in 2006, Johns said.
The district has faced breakdowns with the replacement pumps, he said, costing about $13,000 in work.
He said the district's failure to collect money to replace the pumps and other aging equipment led to the district's financial problems. A 2006 audit by Davis Monk & Co. found the district had recurring operating losses of about $130,000 in 2006, $188,000 in 2005 and $199,000 in 2004.
Jones said he's now seeking a $9.50 a month sewer rate increase to improve the district's financial situation.
Craig Holcomb quit the board this year after three years of service. He said he supported the company that installed the grinder pumps and takes responsibility for the choice, but he said the district has other problems hurting its financial standing.
Holcomb said among them is Johns' refusal to get a water and sewer license to operate the system. The district must pay a second person to act as system operator, which costs $52,000 in additional pay.
Johns said he never promised to get the license. The license requires more than 2,000 hours of experience with water and wastewater operations, which he said is hard to achieve while managing the budget and district projects.
"That's completely unrealistic," he said.
Ron Hall, the other board member to quit, said Johns has made other troubling decisions. He said Johns increased his vacation time and hired his son to work for the district without board approval.
"Things were just not being done up front," he said.
Johns said he consulted with the board chairman, but not the full board, before making the moves. He said his son made $8 an hour doing maintenance work that he couldn't find anyone else to do.
The board meets just once a month, so he said he went to the chairman because he views him as his direct supervisor.
"That's the chain of command and that's the end of it," he said.
Hall and Holcomb levied the accusations against Johns at a
Holcomb said the inexperience of board members in sewer and water issues has added to problems. He said the best option now might be for a private company to take over the system.
"Water and sewer is a money-making deal," he said.
"But we can't make any money."Public meetingA public meeting will be
held Thursday on the town of
Thousands
of houses OK'd near Econ River
David Damron
Sentinel Staff Writer
October 10, 2007
The 1,284-acre project is the first major victory for Mayor
Rich Crotty's proposed job and housing corridor,
County leaders embraced the like-sounding project, called
"I'm so happy about this, I can't stand still," Commissioner Bill Segal said.
Crotty called it a "key piece of
But an unrelated fight with
But just before voting on
Seeing that the School Board's zoning request to relocate the school might die or face a severe delay, a majority of county leaders opted instead to postpone the rezoning decision until Dec. 4. The delay would allow county officials to examine a pair of similar school-site requests due up soon in other rural enclaves of the county.
That's not what School Board Attorney Frank Kruppenbacher wanted to hear. He said the county's move to stymie just those three high schools would throw the system's larger construction plans out of whack, forcing thousands of students to endure crowded classes and portables for another year.
School and county officials have worked closely the last year to craft agreements allowing developers to move ahead on building plans if they can make a deal with school officials to help pay for new schools and offset the project's impact.
Innovation Place developers were able to move ahead only after they secured just such a deal with school officials, making a $4.9 million payment to help build a school near the east Orange site.
Frustrated by the county's delay of the Evans decision, Kruppenbacher said he would urge school leaders to hold up future development projects in the county until the issue is resolved.
"I'm very disappointed," Crotty said of the threat.
But commissioners waved off the controversy and roundly
passed what they said should be a model for the rest of the
The last project to push ahead in the
But ICP just sold to new owners, and their attorney Wayne Rich said that they are studying whether to stick with its original development idea, or go with commercial plans.
Commissioner Linda Stewart pushed for that job-housing
linkage on ICP but said she didn't do that with
As for
A county official estimated
Erika Hobbs of the Sentinel staff contributed to this
report. David Damron can be reached at ddamron@orlandosentinel.com or
407-420-5311.
County may
regulate fertilizer use
New rules set for a first vote Nov. 6
BY CHRISTOPHER CURRY
STAR-BANNER
The proposed ordinance, scheduled for the first of two required County Commission votes on Nov. 6, would establish limits for fertilizer application and prohibit use altogether near bodies of water.
The intent is to try and diminish pollution from nitrogen seeping into the groundwater, said Troy Kuphal, Marion County Water Resources Manager.
"The impetus is to educate people on reducing fertilizer use," he said.
In separate interviews, Kuphal and County Commissioner Jim Payton said some of the regulations for fertilizers would be much more difficult to enforce than the proposed rules for lawn watering.
For instance, under the proposal, a fertilizer made of 50 percent or more slow-release nitrogen, which means it breaks down more slowly and is believed to be less of a pollution risk, may be applied at no more than one pound per 1,000 square feet.
There also are limits to the total amount of fertilizer that could be applied in a year, depending on the type of grass in a lawn. And no fertilizer may be applied within 10 feet of surface water bodies, including streams, ponds and flooded retention areas or drainage ditches.
"It could be hard, if not impossible, to regulate Mr. Homeowner," Payton said.
But he said in considering an application for new residential development, county commissioners could require compliance with the fertilizer regulations as terms of an approval.
For private landscaping and yard maintenance firms, employees will be required to complete a training course in environmentally sound landscaping practices and water protection. The county has an agreement with the Marion County Extension Service to offer those courses, according to a draft of the ordinance.
Christopher Curry may be reached at chris.curry@starbanner.com or 352-867-4115.
Despite Concerns, Landfill Plan OK'd
By Tom Palmer
The Ledger
Environment Reporter
Dept.: Metro Desk
(863) 802-7535
tom.palmer@theledger.com
BARTOW | The Polk County Planning Commission overrode
objections from Mulberry officials and voted 4-3 Tuesday to approve a permit
for a 360-acre construction debris recycling facility and landfill at a former
phosphate plant on the outskirts of the city.
Mulberry civic and business leaders, who claim the permit endangers future
residential development in the city, said they will appeal the decision to the
The project involves plans by Nichols Recycling and Disposal Inc. of
The company proposes to dispose of 900,000 cubic yards - a volume equal to 578
Olympic-sized swimming pools - of waste a year, some of which would be dumped
into a former above-ground cooling pond.
County staffers, unaware of plans for 6,379 homes on an adjacent tract inside
the Mulberry city limits, wrote in the staff report that there were no major
issues besides an increase in truck traffic - 120 daily truck trips six days a
week - along County Road 676, a two-lane road running between SR 60 and the
Hillsborough County line.
When it came time for public testimony, the project's impact on the residential
project in particular and Mulberry's economy in general as well as the obvious
lack of coordination became the major issues.
"It's an inadequate, incomplete, fatally flawed staff report,"
Mulberry City Manager Frank Thomas said.
He said he was never contacted and didn't even learn about the project until
Friday night.
Chandra Foreman, the county planner who prepared the staff report, said she
didn't know about the planned Mulberry development until Monday.
She offered no explanation for the lack of coordination.
The economic impact to the city, which is on the verge of major growth, is a
major concern, business leaders said.
"If this facility is approved, we could very well lose this project,"
said Al Dorsett, a former president of the Greater Mulberry Chamber of
Commerce.
He said the recycling facility isn't a bad idea but would work better in
another location farther away from residential areas.
Larry Helton, the nonvoting School Board representative on the Planning
Commission, said the approval of the facility could scuttle plans to build an
elementary school and a middle school on the site because of the noise and
traffic conflicts.
That would be unfortunate because the area is short of classrooms, he said.
Tom Cloud, the lawyer representing Landstar, the
"The notion that you can take any hole in the ground and turn it into a
landfill because it's industrial land is nonsense," he said.
But Jack Brandon, the lawyer representing Nichols Recycling,
said Landstar created its own problem.
"I understand and appreciate Mulberry's need to expand, but good planning
takes into account existing land uses," he said.
He said the industrial facilities and rail line were all there and Mulberry
moved next to them anyway.
Planning commissioners were split.
Commissioner John Frost, who lives near a Bartow construction debris landfill,
said these facilities aren't compatible with residential development.
He said problems include traffic and the incessant dinging sound of heavy
equipment backing up.
Commissioner John Langford said it's hard to argue there will be additional
visual blight because the facility would lie across the street from a gypsum
stack, which is also visible from the Landstar project.
Chairman Augie Fragala said he didn't object to the project but wanted to put
some time limits on the permit - Tuesday's vote specified a 10-year permit - so
it can be reviewed periodically.
Voting to approve the project were Fragala, Langford, Ellis Hunt and John Ryan.
Voting against were Frost, Laura Betts and Sue Nelson.
No date has been set for the
[ Tom Palmer can be reached at 863-802-7535 or tom.palmer@theledger.com. Read
more views on county government at http://county.theledger.com. ]
Zoning for
Part of Bel Lago Cleared
The Dundee Town Council unanimously approved zoning Tuesday
night for a portion of Bel Lago, a proposed subdivision to be built on the west
side of U.S. 27 straddling Dundee and Lake Hamilton.
The low density zoning will allow developer Ron Ben Zeev to
build single-family homes on smaller than usual single-family lots that are 50
feet wide.
Bel Lago will be an 82.6-acre, 318-unit subdivision of single-family homes that
could include short-term rentals. The
The zoning approval is contingent upon
The Dundee Town Council also voted to allow Ben Zeev to pay the town a fee in
lieu of donating park land to the town. Town planner Doug Leonard said this fee
will be $35,000 to $45,000.
Investor
facing foreclosure wants Daytona to buy land
By DEREK L. KINNER
Staff Writer
City officials are considering it, but only because his nine pieces of property -- totaling 1.28 acres -- are in the Main Street Development Area.
Just a few months after Nolan first brought his proposal to the City Commission, commissioners scheduled a special meeting for 4:30 p.m. today, in DeLand, to consider whether to make a $2.1 million offer to buy the land.
They'll have the meeting right after adjourning a 4 p.m. special meeting to certify Tuesday's city election results.
Mayor Glenn Ritchey held a negotiation session with Nolan on Monday. Ritchey said the issue is whether "land-banking" the property with the intent to eventually sell to a developer is a high priority for redevelopment funds when residents are asking for other things, such as street lighting and sidewalk repairs.
"Is it prudent to land-bank? Yes, it is," Ritchey said. But, "there are a lot of things that people are crying for out of these redevelopment funds."
Commissioners voted Oct. 3 to have Ritchey negotiate with Nolan, who grew frustrated in his dealings with City Manager Jim Chisholm.
Chisholm said normally he or his employees would negotiate a deal and present it to the commission.
"Really, he (Nolan) didn't want to talk to me," Chisholm said. "That was up to the commission when it gets up to that level."
Nolan wants $2.34 million for the property, but a city appraisal valued the land at $2.06 million. Nolan disputed that appraisal, wondering how it was valued at the lower price. But Ritchey said he would honor the appraisal.
"I will tell you early on, Gerry, that I have a real issue recommending to the City Commission to pay more than the appraised value," Ritchey said during Monday's negotiations.
He later said he would actually present, not recommend, the negotiated price, and the seven members of the commission would vote on the matter. Ritchey agreed to present a price of $2.1 million because Nolan owes back property taxes and city utility bills of about $30,000. The mayor said he would be willing to support a purchase at that amount.
Even at that price, Ritchey said, commissioners and redevelopment officials must decide whether the purchase is a good use of the money.
"There's too many intangibles," the mayor said. "There's the foreclosure. There was the speed we had to deal with this. . . . If it was foreclosed on, maybe the city could get it for less."
Nolan said he would lose money on the $2.1 million offer, but said he would accept it.
Earlier in the meeting, he said he was willing to negotiate, "depending on how much blood you want to extract from me."
Commissioners will decide today whether they want to extract any
blood at all.
Buyers Are
Putting A Hold On Real Estate Decisions
Published: October 10, 2007
- Chip Boring, the broker at RE/MAX Realty Plus in Sebring, said falling rental prices are keeping homeowners who are renting the unit until they sell it from breaking even.
- Ronald VanHouten said the resale of property is driving up valuations, which in turn is increasing taxes.
- Bennie and Dortha Beckman may stop wintering in Sebring because of the increase in taxes and insurance.
Realtors
"The rental market is like the housing market," said Boring. "We have a surplus."
The prices of homes doubled or tripled during the 1990s and 2000s.
"Now the market is adjusting, and the prices are coming back down," Boring said. But the principal, interest, and taxes and insurance landlords are paying now are making it difficult to break even, Boring said.
"I have one house, a two-bedroom, two-bath with a family room, and the payments are over $1,000," Boring said. "I'm having a hard time renting it for $850. People are offering $750, because they can't afford to pay more."
Salaries in
Even so, snowbirds who sell their northern properties are paying cash, or
borrowing little money for mortgages, Boring said.
He's also seeing more lease-purchase options, which reduce the down payment needed, and houses are also staying on the market longer, Boring said.
"People are being very cautious," said longtime real estate broker Ruth K. Davis, "and they'll continue to be that way until they're confident they've got a good deal."
VanHouton
"My wife and I managed a senior winter resort on
"The problem is that in the last seven years the resort has been sold twice. Each time the previous owners have doubled the original investment, thereby increasing the taxes and insurance and making it impossible to maintain it as a winter resort," VanHouton said.
"I have several rental properties of my own now and I have one that is a seasonal rental in a 55-plus community. The seasonal rental is my lowest grossing property, mainly because of the taxes and insurance," VanHouton said. "The rental market is depressed right now because of the glut of houses for sale, so if they cannot sell the house, they are renting it out to offset the mortgage and taxes. In the near term, it would probably be wiser to rent than to buy."
The Beckmans
Dortha Beckman is dismayed at the difference between
"We pay one-third of the taxes there that we do here," Beckman said.
When they bought the house on
She and her husband are afraid to do much work on it because
the value will increase.
"We haven't painted it yet," Beckman said. "Do we dare?"
Even more distressing: their two neighbors pay $700 and $800 a
year for bigger houses, and one has a pool, she said. The difference is that
the neighbors have homestead exemptions and the 3 percent Save Our Homes cap,
the Beckman's homestead exemption is in
"We love it here," she confessed. During the six months they're in Sebring, he volunteers for Habitat for Humanity, she helps her church. When they came here, they felt welcome, but the high taxes and insurance are making them feel less so.
"What are you saying?" she asked rhetorically. "Don't come here and buy a house?"
Others Are Coming
Joseph R. Dalla Valle of
"Last May my wife and I, both still actively working, purchased a beautiful smaller home in Sebring," Dalla Valle said. "We eventually hope to retire, at least part time, to Sebring.
"We searched other areas of the state and found Sebring to our liking for several reasons. What we found most appealing was its proximity to the rest of the state, especially either coast. The area has shown economic growth which we know is important. I'm sure Sebring is not perfect but it seems to suit our needs quite well," he said.
"Property taxes and insurance could always be lower, but
I suppose that's the price one pays to live in paradise," Dalla Valle said.
"I love western
Little
enthusiasm for mine pact
By KATE SPINNER
kate.spinner@heraldtribune.com
Reaction to a proposed agreement that would give a large
phosphate mining company a shield against future lawsuits ranged from lukewarm
to downright cold among leaders in Charlotte,
Mosaic Fertilizer wants the counties and a regional water utility to drop their
legal fight against its mining permits and agree not to file new lawsuits.
In return, the company promises to build a drinking water reservoir, avoid
mining in the 100-year floodplains of the Peace and Myakka rivers and increase
its environmental protection standards.
On Tuesday, commissioners in
Most
Commissioner Adam Cummings, the one dissenter, said the proposal offered little
to alleviate his worries about water quality, water supply and the impact on
"Those concerns have not been addressed in any substantial way,"
Cummings said.
Other
Officials in Lee and
The proposed legal settlement amounts to "outright capitulation" and
would prevent local governments from protecting the environment, said Sarasota
County Commissioner Jon Thaxton.
The settlement offers some extra water quality protection but does nothing to
protect wildlife, habitat or air quality, he said.
Lee County Commissioner Ray Judah said the proposal "doesn't even pass the
straight face test."
He criticized the company's tactic of negotiating with individual commission
members and called for all three county boards to meet together.
"Right now it seems like Mosaic is pursuing a divide-and-conquer
approach,"
The counties and a regional water utility have spent more than $12 million over
the past decade fighting mining permits that state environmental regulators
have issued to Mosaic Fertilizer.
Litigation has stopped the company from breaking ground on most of the new mine
permits it has received in the past decade.
Meanwhile, market prices for phosphate ore, a key component in fertilizer, are
soaring in response to the boom in corn production for ethanol. Mosaic owns
mining rights to 150,000 acres of land near the Peace and Myakka rivers.
Leaders in the three counties fear that the mines pose a threat to the health
of
Regional water suppliers worry that the mines could harm water resources in the
Staff writer Doug Sword contributed to this story.
Growth at
fore in tough
Lively candidate forum underscores issue's prominence as
election nears
By ZAC
zac.anderson@heraldtribune.com
A candidate's forum Tuesday at the Venice Area Chamber of Commerce showed these
two questions are likely to dominate the Venice City Council election over the
next month.
And how people answer the first question likely will determine how they answer
the second.
This is one of the most hotly contested council elections in years, with
challengers in each race who have each raised more money than the incumbent.
The tension showed Tuesday as candidates went on the offensive.
The most heated debates were between incumbent insurance agent Bill Willson and
retired lawyer Ernie Zavodnyik, while Mayor Fred Hammett and his challenger, Ed
Martin, also took subtle jabs at each other.
Zavodnyik, Martin and a third challenger, Sue Lang, are part of a slate of
slow-growth candidates who have rallied against the council's stance on a spate
of recent development proposals.
The three challengers continued to hammer on those developments Tuesday, even
as the incumbents tried to shift the debate to community service and
experience.
The evening started to heat up when Willson accused Zavodnyik of being
uninformed and uninvolved. Zavodnyik shot back, criticizing Willson's track
record on the council.
"Let's speak to experience; experience brought you the fiasco at the
airport," Zavodnyik said, referring to the proposal to develop
Willson emphasized his involvement with a variety of community groups and said
the city has tightly controlled growth.
"
In the mayoral race, Martin, a former federal education official, criticized
Hammett, a former business executive, for a lack of vision.
"The problem is that this City Council hasn't developed a coherent
strategy," Martin said.
Like Willson, Hammett emphasized his extensive service on a variety of
community agencies and defended the city's stance on growth, touting the
creation of a joint planning agreement with
"That's visual, that's real," Hammett said. "We had the
opportunity to keep some of our borders from stacking up higher than we
needed."
Incumbent Jim Woods, a former top official at
"We didn't do everything right. I think the waterfront towers are a little
bit tall," Woods said, referring to developer Mike Miller's three
nine-story condominium buildings on the island.
Lang, who used to develop affordable housing for the city of
"The first thing we need to do is an inventory of what we have out
there," Lang said. "We need to determine how much should be built out
versus conservation."
Budway, 67, a retired corrections supervisor from
"I'm going to be independent," he said. "I'd go along if it was
a well-planned development with neighborhood input."
The nonpartisan election is Nov. 6.
Council members serve for three years and earn $10,200 a year, except for the
mayor, who earns $12,000.
DOT
Officials Will Unveil I-75 Proposal
By KEVIN WIATROWSKI The
Published: Oct 10, 2007
The next few years promise to be challenging ones for drivers on Interstate 75.
The Florida Department of Transportation expects to begin
widening the interstate soon between
DOT officials will lay out their plans for major surgery to one of Pasco County's main traffic arteries when the county's main traffic planning agency, the Metropolitan Planning Organization, meets at 10 a.m. Thursday at the West Pasco Government Center off Little Road in New Port Richey.
The DOT expects to widen or rebuild parts of I-75 in six phases moving north from Bruce B. Downs. The work will begin late next year and continue for the next four to five years, according to DOT officials.
The project will affect some of
The stretch of interstate between S.R. 56 and C.R. 54 averages nearly 85,000 vehicles a day, a figure that has quadrupled since the early 1990s. DOT officials expect traffic there to grow to nearly 113,000 vehicles a day in the next decade.
Part of renovating I-75 will include replacing the bridges that now carry the interstate over C.R. 54.
That project, slated to begin in 2009, has the backing of Pasco officials, who agreed to put up more than $800,000 to jump-start the work on the promise the DOT will reimburse the county that amount.
Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201
or kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com.
Road to the
future
By KATE McCARDELL
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
In an effort to prepare for more growth,
A development order for the road was recently approved by the
Marianna City Commission, allowing the college to proceed with its plans to
construct the four lanes, which will begin at
A groundbreaking ceremony for the project is slated for Oct. 23 at 4:30 p.m.
According to Chipola public relations director Bryan Craven, the road will have curbs, sidewalks, a wide grassy median and lighting.
"The access road will hopefully alleviate some of the congestion around Kelson and College streets. And as the college grows, we are planning our growth toward the northeast section of the campus," said Craven.
Triangle Construction was awarded the bid at $100,080,000. Greenhorne & O'Mara will serve as the engineering firm, and Paul A. Donofro & Associates will serve as the consulting architect.
The first building along the future road, said Craven, will be a new performing arts center. The Legislature has allocated $11 million toward the project for 2007. After budgeting is approved, a construction firm will be chosen to build the 650-seat theater that will boast state-of-the-art lighting and sound capabilities.
An additional $2.5 million in legislative appropriations has been awarded to the college for general remodeling and renovation projects.
According to Craven, the money will be used to improve
telecommunication infrastructure and upgrade utilities. Renovations to the
Natural Science Building,
Other structural growth at the college has been visible over
the past five years, including new Student Services building last year; new
Craven said that in the past five years the college has added an EMT and paramedic program and expanded the firefighting program.
"Corrections continues to grow," he said. "Automotive technology has grown over the years . We started a masonry apprentice program in September. We're beginning surveying and mapping in January."
Additionally, the college added bachelor's degrees in math and science education in 2003, and a bachelor's degree in business begins in January 2008.
Craven said the campus on
"We have more than 130 acres which should accommodate
future growth," he said. "We have purchased some private residences
off of
Couple
fighting for peace and quiet
By ERIN SULLIVAN, Times Staff Writer
Published October 10, 2007
LAND O'LAKES - They planned to grow old here. Steve and Deon
Coogle searched for months to find the perfect home. In 2000, a year after they
were married, they were living in a tiny apartment in
Deon, 33, knew what she needed to be happy - lots of open land, sounds of birds in the morning, glimpses of deer nibbling in the back yard and flocks of wild turkeys. She did not want to be in a community with deed restrictions. She didn't want anyone to tell her what color to paint her mailbox. She didn't want to have to ask whether she could have a clothesline or a bonfire in the back yard.
Steve, 37, grew up in
They searched. And searched.
And found this: a one-story home on 8 acres of land on Ehren
Cut Off in Land O'Lakes, just past
But now they think they might have to move. Their next-door neighbors are selling their home and land. One possible buyer wants to turn it into a pet motel.
A decision to allow the needed change in zoning restrictions
could be made at a planning commission meeting at 1:30 p.m. today at the
A call to the lawyer, Tim Hayes, Tuesday afternoon was not returned.
Steve and Deon Coogle said they are fine with their neighbors, who came to them first when they were contacted by the possible buyer. The Coogles said they know their neighbors need to do what's best for them - which is sell to the highest bidder.
But the Coogles are fighting. They've gone around the neighborhood and gotten three dozen signatures for a petition. They've researched zoning laws and written to the county zoning department.
It's not that the Coogles don't like animals. They have a boxer named Max and a cat named Poncho. The Coogles don't have children - but they treat their pets as though they are their kids.
It's just that they like things as they are. They're scared that the new owner will tear down the house and build a huge cement building, which could house more than 100 dogs. There would be a parking lot and traffic. And noise. Their bedroom faces the neighboring home. They're scared of hearing barking all night long.
This is their dream home. This is where their families gather to play volleyball and horseshoes.They have cookouts and parties.
"Why should we have to leave?" Deon said.
Erin Sullivan can be reached at esullivan@sptimes.com or 813 909-4609.
County
wrestles with fallout from impact fees
By Mike Wright
Gay and Robert Mahoney wanted to open a pizza place in a small
strip plaza on County Road 581 south of
The Veterans of Foreign Wars plans to expand its post in Citrus Springs. It
can’t afford the $52,000 impact fee.
Commissioners also said they believe a lack of communication between county
staffers and business owners may leave some to think impact fees are higher
than they actually are.
Impact fees are one-time charges on construction to pay for improvements to
government services caused by the impact of growth. The largest chunk of
commercial impact fees goes to roads.
Commission Chairman Dennis Damato, himself a builder, said the economy is
driving more small business owners to consider remodeling projects or moving
into existing plazas rather than building from the ground up.
Matt Canning, for example, owns the Plaza West Stores on C.R. 581 at
The $31,000 impact fee stopped them in their tracks. “That’s a hell of a lot of
deli sandwiches and pizza,” Mrs. Mahoney told commissioners.
Canning said the empty storefront once housed a business that sold pizza and he
didn’t know why the same leased space would require an impact fee for the same
use.
Development Services Director Gary Maidhof said if Canning provides proof, such
as occupational license or lease agreement, which shows the storefront once
housed a pizza business, then there would be no impact fee.
Impact fees kick in with leased property if the use changes to one that
generates more traffic. The same holds true for adding square footage on
existing buildings.
Jack Walker, representing the VFW post in Citrus Springs, said the post wants
to add about 4,195 square feet onto the building but was told it would cost
$52,627 in impact fees.
“I don’t think we should be treated like McDonald’s or Burger King or Target or
Wal-Mart,” he said.
Commissioner Gary Bartell suggested the county allow exemptions from impact
fees for veteran organizations.
Commissioner Vicki Phillips, however, suggested that rather than have a blanket
exemption, the commission look at each case on its merits.
The board cannot waive impact fees for specific cases; however, it can pay the
impact fee out of general fund dollars.
Maidhof said he would develop a memo outlining several options for assessing
impact fees on charitable groups.
Damato said that as a start, but the county should take a closer look at the
impact fees it charges for remodeling jobs or businesses that lease space from
plazas.
He said that representatives with the Plantation Golf Resort & Spa
complained about a potential $73,410 for converting a hotel suite into a spa.
Maidhof said county officials dropped the fee after learning the spa was for
hotel guests only.
Damato later said the county’s impact fees still are too overbearing to small
businesses.
“Where do we get off thinking any small business is going to pay $31,000 to
sell pizza?” he said. “It’s not going to happen financially. No one’s going to
go there.”
Buy
spectacular cave in order to preserve it
By A TIMES EDITORIAL
Published October 10, 2007
The primary blame lies with the trespassing vandals who desecrated
a cave that holds what many believe are
And the private landowner must accept responsibility for not taking every possible step to protect this natural treasure and thwart those miscreants' destructive mischief.
But pointing fingers and assigning guilt will not restore the
dozens of 30,000-year-old stalactites and helictites taken from the cave near
the World Woods golf course in northern
The most useful discussion that could take place now would be
for state officials and the owners of World Woods to revisit the issue of
buying the land around the
Several years ago the Nature Conservancy worked with both
sides in an attempt to negotiate such a purchase. World Woods owners reportedly
scoffed at the still-undisclosed offer for the land. Since then, developer WCI,
which persuaded the
Decreased land values and sluggish sales might combine to make the government's offer more plausible now. Or, perhaps World Woods would consider just selling the development rights, which is an option that has worked well in other preservation, costing taxpayers less yet still giving the landowner an infusion of cash at a fair price.
Any plan for development could present a risk to the cave, which experts have described as a geological marvel. The only sure way to protect this irreplaceable ecosystem is to leave it alone.
The Nature Conservancy should give it another shot.
Owners of exotic animals oppose new rule
BY NATHAN CRABBE
THE
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is considering requiring holders of Class I wildlife permits to notify neighbors and local emergency personnel about escapes. The permits are required for owners of big cats such as tigers, large primates like baboons and large wildlife such as elephants, bears and rhinoceroses.
Commissioners had considered a much broader rule requiring anyone who obtains or makes changes to a Class I permit to notify neighbors. But after permit holders raised privacy concerns, commissioners decided to move forward a rule requiring notification only in the case of escapes.
The meeting in
Kathy Stearns, who runs a wildlife center in
"That's going to put them more at risk and my animals more at risk," she said.
Debra Sandlin, an Archer resident who has Class I permits but currently has none of the animals, pointed out the lack of requirements that neighbors be notified of other potentially dangerous activities.
"They don't have to say, 'Hey I have 10 handguns and I like to fire them on my property," she said.
Regional Class I permit holders include zoos, wildlife breeders and wildlife sanctuaries such as the Endangered Animal Rescue Sanctuary in Citra.
While permit holders dominated the meeting, a handful of speakers said they supported notification requirements.
Jennifer Hobgood of the Humane Society argued the rules should be expanded to require owners of Class I wildlife, venomous snakes and wolves to notify nearby residents of permits.
"These animals pose a serious risk to public safety and citizens deserve to be made aware of their proximity to such risk," she said.
Jack Brown of the Santa Fe Community College Teaching Zoo said permit holders should take the time to talk with neighbors about their animals
"You're going to have to be a responsible neighbor," he said. "The cat is out of the bag - they already know you have these things."
Barbara McDuffie said she lives near to a Class I permit
holder in
"We have rights, too, for our own protection," she said.
Several speakers raised issues about a letter last week sent
by Carole Baskin, founder of Big Cat Rescue in
These are the
last two sentences in the story below – they should have been the first.
Will the markets that are benefiting from demoeconology
continue to grow if the United States enters a recession? Probably not, unless they continue to expand their labor pool,(and we aren’t talking construction
jobs here) find new buyers or see an influx of brain-burb residents or retirees
(who can afford the property taxes and homeowners insurance costs).
Markets glutted with housing may sink further. Like too much
water in a ship, excess inventory doesn't contribute to buoyancy. (But hey! Let’s keep approving those land use changes and
development plans - the backbone of Florida’s economic house of cards.)
Housing Bubble Looks Different Depending On Your
Location
Published: October 9, 2007
The U.S. housing bust is like a leaking
ship.
You may still be able to stay afloat, depending upon where
and how bad the holes are.
Will the home market continue to sink or is it just bobbing
around waiting for buyers to rescue it? With odds almost favoring a recession because
of the housing and mortgage meltdown, it's a good time to examine what makes
local markets weak or robust.
There was no single cause that burst the housing bubble.
Demographics, economics and mass psychology - what I call demoeconology -
merged to create a buying frenzy that was like a meme, a contagious mass
information pattern that infects minds with new ideas.
If you understand the dynamics of these powerful forces, you
can then begin to see which markets will have more painful price declines and
which will experience appreciation.
For now, it's fairly easy to conclude that most home markets
are in a funk and won't pull out of it soon.
In August, housing prices posted their biggest drop in
almost 40 years and pending sales fell the most on record.
New-home sales declined to a seven-year low.
There are more than 5 million homes sitting unsold.
The behavioral economics of this market are tugging buyers
to the sidelines for now, and with the possibility of 2 million more homes
coming on the market because of foreclosures, the supply is outpacing demand.
Mass psychology anchored homebuyers to the myth that homes
were endlessly appreciating wealth vehicles.
Now the sentiment has shifted.
As Yale University economist Robert Shiller wrote in a
recent paper, home buyers fell prey to a 'social epidemic' and a 'widespread
perception that houses are a great investment.'
The fallout from the bust will probably impair the economy
at large. Shiller found that 'residential investment as a percentage of gross
domestic product has had a prominent peak before almost every recession since
1950.'
In the last quarter of 2005, he notes, home investment rose
to 6.3 percent of GDP, 'the highest level since 1950.'
Will this downturn be like the 15 percent decline between
the third quarter of 1989 to the fourth quarter of 1996 or the 42 percent rout
in Los Angeles between December 1989 to March 1997? Because real estate is a
conglomeration of local markets, it depends what area you are considering.
Consider The 'Brain-Burb'
Location is everything in surveying this moribund market.
Orem, in northeastern Utah, is part of a population belt that runs from the
northern border of the state down to the southern end of the Salt Lake City
area.
Many of the newer residents have come from California or are
employed in technology jobs. There are three colleges in the area. As such,
Orem qualifies to be called a 'brain-burb' for its reliance upon jobs in
innovative knowledge industries.
Orem placed second on the list of fastest-appreciating areas
in the United States through June 30, where home prices rose 18 percent in the
past year, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, the
regulator of mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.
What makes Orem attractive is that it's a bargain relative
to its more-glamorous brain-burb to the southwest - San Jose, Calif. - nestled
in Silicon Valley. The median home price in the Utah city was $257,000 through
the second quarter, compared with San Jose, where the mid-point exceeds $520,000.
Demographically, Orem is a relatively young and dynamic
community: More than 35 percent of its residents are younger than 18. Its
youth, coupled with population and job growth, bodes well.
Fort Pierce's Plight
Although dissimilar in many ways, you also need to consider
Fort Pierce. As a retirement area on the Atlantic, 17 percent of its population
is older than 65, reflecting Florida's demographic profile closely. Like Orem,
Fort Pierce's housing was bargain-priced compared with markets in the Northeast.
Median values were about $63,000 in 2000, but were as high as $225,000 through
August.
To get an idea of how overpriced a market may be, you need
to compare it with some benchmarks. Until the recent decline, the Sunshine
State had been well ahead of the pack in terms of price appreciation, up more
than 95 percent over the past five years through June 30. The U.S. average over
the same period was almost half that at about 51 percent, the federal housing
oversight office said. A potent mixture of demographics, population growth and
speculation fueled that.
Now six of the 20 worst markets in the second-quarter
ranking are in Florida, and all of them are located in desirable areas on the
coasts, said the federal housing oversight office. Fort Pierce is feeling the
pullback with a 21 percent drop in its condo market.
The most-important truth is that buyer sentiment, rising
population, demographic changes and supply/demand ratios all need to be weighed
when you try to divine which housing markets are headed for more pain and which
may be good investments.
Will the markets that are benefiting from demoeconology
continue to grow if the United States enters a recession? Probably not, unless
they continue to expand their labor pool, find new buyers or see an influx of
brain-burb residents or retirees.
Markets glutted with housing may sink further. Like too much
water in a ship, excess inventory doesn't contribute to buoyancy.
Here we go again. Land use and planning decisions should not be made
in order to make a project profitable for a developer.
Garman said the developer may be willing to cut back even more. But
there is only so far the project can be scaled back and still make this a
profitable enterprise, he said. For example, fewer single-family homes may mean
coming back before the board at a later date to add more villas, he said.
Golf resort on hold
By MICHAEL D. BATES mbates@hernandotoday.com
Published: Oct 8, 2007
BROOKSVILLE — A luxury resort slated for Oak Hill Golf Course was
delayed for the second time Monday when planning and zoning commissioners asked
the developer to come back in 30 days with a more detailed site plan.
Planning commissioners also asked Alan
Garman, the project engineer, to meet with more of the homeowners who would be
affected by the project and smooth over any lingering concerns.
To accommodate neighbors whose view
would be blocked by golf course buildings, the developer had already agreed to
reduce the number of planned single-family homes to be built on the property
from 25 to 19.
Garman said the developer may be
willing to cut back even more. But there is only so far the project can be
scaled back and still make this a profitable enterprise, he said. For example,
fewer single-family homes may mean coming back before the board at a later date
to add more villas, he said.
In addition to the homes, the developer
envisions a resort, luxury hotel, spa, three-story parking garage and 52
short-term rental villas.
The plan also shows room for a new three-story
clubhouse, which would include a pro shop, formal restaurant, conference
center, 120-room hotel facility, gift shops, banquet facilities and golf
training facilities.
One of the major concerns of homeowners
was that the development would compromise the golf course view for several
homeowners. The revised site plan has solved much of that problem.
But Planning Commissioner Anna Liisa
Covell said she has four concerns that need addressing before she can recommend
approval: Assurances that a security system will be in place to protect
homeowners, a traffic analysis, the effect building would have on sinkhole
formation and how the removal of drainage retention areas would affect water
runoff.
Planning Commission Chairman Anthony
Palmieri said he could not vote to give the developer carte blanche permission
to build all the single-family homes without looking at the special
circumstances of individual lots.
Garman said he would meet with planning
staffers to address the engineering specifications for the lots.
Monday’s planning meeting was almost a
repeat of one last month when several homeowners asked the board to deny the
project.
Graydon Howe, spokesman of the Oak Hill
Homeowners Association, said his group continues to be opposed to the project,
despite a meeting with the developer and residents.
Garman said he was under the impression
that at least 75 percent of the people who attended that meeting were in favor
of the proposed resort.
Josephine Dziarkowski, whose property
abuts the golf course, said she feared the rental villas would increase crime
and she would have to worry about “unruly tourists.”
“This resort belongs on U.S. 19 and
U.S. 50,” Dziarkowski said.
Not everyone was opposed to the
project.
Resident David Green said the developer
has already reduced the number of homes on the site to accommodate neighbors’
and county officials. He believes a resort at Oak Hill will bring jobs to the
area and boost local tourism.
“It can only add to our property
values,” he said.
Planning and zoning commissioners will
again discuss the Oak Hill Golf Course resort project at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Nov.
13.
Reporter Michael D. Bates can be
contacted at 352-544-5290.
Activists
discuss war over the Ocklawaha River
BY
JOE CALLAHAN
STAR-BANNER
The crowd gathered at McPherson Government Complex to hear eight speakers,
including state Rep. Kurt Kelly, R-Ocala, and former state Sen. Nancy
Argenziano, who is now on the Florida Public Service Commission.
Kelly, who was elected June 26 to the state House of Representatives, said his
No. 1 priority is to protect the state's water through promoting desalination
and conservation.
"I don't care what party you are, we need to be unified on this
issue," said Kelly, adding he will carry on Argenziano's dedication of
protecting water resources for two decades. "We must look for alternate
solutions as well."
Argenziano, who was among several legislators who championed a state statute in
the 1990s to help protect water resources that slowed plans of pumping water to
She noted the $462 million could be used for several desalination plants, which
removes salt from ocean water. The amount is the estimated cost of building a
water pipeline from the lower
"We can send them our treated waste water," said Argenziano to a roar
of laughter.
Called the Ocala Water Wars, the summit included most of the state's active
protectors of water. Many represented environmental groups and talked about
plans to sue the St. Johns River Water Management District if it allows the
pipeline project to proceed.
Officials with the water management district could not be reached for comment
Sunday.
"The purpose of this summit was to let the [water management district]
know there is large opposition to the idea of pumping water out of the
Ocklawaha," said John Dunn, a member of the Smart Growth Coalition of
North Central Florida.
Also on hand was Cynthia Barnett, a veteran journalist with Florida Trend
magazine who authored the book "Mirage:
She said
Barnett also noted that
Barnett urged Gov. Charlie Crist and others to bring the national desalination
and conservation experts to
Four of the five
Stan McClain, the
"That's taxation without representation," he said. "I think
history had something to say about that with a tea party. And I think this is a
reason for a tea party and the Ocklawaha is the tea."
Local environmentalist Guy Marwick urged everyone to call their legislators
about the water issue.
"We need to tie up those phone lines and e-mail lines. We won't allow our
water to flow south. We will keep it flowing north," Marwick said,
referencing the direction in which the Ocklawaha flows.
Meanwhile, well-known environmentalist Karen Ahlers, president of the Putnam
County Environmental Council, said they have informed the St. Johns River Water
Management District that they are planning to file a lawsuit.
She says the issue is simple. The health of the St. Johns River is based on the
Robin Lewis, a wetland scientist, also said his group will fight to the end to
keep the water from being pumped to the
"This is not just a fight for the Ocklawaha, but a fight for all rivers in
The first speaker was Brad Rogers, the Star-Banner's editorial page editor.
"The
Joe Callahan may be reached at joe.Callahan@starbanner.com
or at 352-867-4113
Developers want boat ramp over wetlands
By NATHAN CRABBE
Sun staff writer
Developers of a Steinhatchee property
are trying to trade a boat ramp for forgiveness of Clean Water Act violations.
The developers admitted filling more
than 16 acres of wetlands and paid a $65,600 fine, but never followed through
on a promised restoration project. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is
now saying the developers must restore the wetlands or face clean-water
violations.
But
"I think that a two- to
three-million-dollar plan that benefits the public is a hell of a lot better
than a 20,000-dollar wetland planting," Shore said.
The land included forested and tidal
wetlands that were cleared of trees, filled and drained, according to the
Suwannee River Water Management District. A conceptual drawing of the ramp project
shows a canal winding through the former wetlands to the river, allowing more
than half of the 70 residential lots slated for the site to be waterside
property.
"Our goal is to restore
wetlands," she said.
The site, called the Conservancy, is
located between
The Conservancy property had been the
center of controversy over the density of development there. A previous owner
agreed to limit development to about 28 acres and leave 36 acres as
conservation land, requirements that were put into the
A water-district representative who
visited the site in September 2005 found trees had been removed and wetlands
filled without permits, according to district records.
Jones said he removed trees, down to
the stump, in an effort to clean up the site. He said a storm knocked down some
trees and he didn't realize he needed a permit to remove those and other trees.
"I don't have anything to hide - I
made a mistake," Jones said.
In late 2005, the developers were also
pursuing a permit for the Gulf Breeze condo project. The wetlands violation led
the water district to recommend denial of the permit, as well as wetlands
restoration and $80,000 in fines.
In February 2006, the developers
reached an agreement with the district that admitted to violations and required
wetlands restoration and a $65,600 fine. The district also dropped objections
to the Gulf Breeze permit, which was subsequently approved.
Jon Dinges, the water district's
director of resource management, said the agreement meant violations were being
addressed and thus Gulf Breeze could proceed.
"That gave us assurances they
would fix the problem," he said.
While the developers paid the fine,
they never followed through on the restoration project. Dinges said the
district decided not to pursue legal action when the EPA became involved.
"The feds are taking the lead
here," he said.
Shore said the matter was simply a
misunderstanding. He said the developers were ready to proceed with restoration
but held off because of the boat-ramp plan.
He said they will restore the site if
required, or pay for wetlands mitigation on another site if they're allowed to
build the boat ramp.
"There's no intent not to comply
on our part," he said.
Taylor County Manager Jack Brown said
the county desperately needs public access to the water. Currently, the closest
public boat ramp is across the river in
While another developer is also
offering land for a boat ramp, Brown said the county has not pursued the offer
because the developer hasn't closed on the site. He said the county ideally
would not want a property with environmental violations, but obtained a $30,000
grant to work through permitting issues.
"We know we have a lot of hurdles
in front of us as far as permitting," Brown said.
The plan recalls the
The developer also promised the county
a boat ramp, winning support from
Shore said he thinks his boat-ramp plan
will be approved. While he acknowledges the ramp and channel would increase the
value of the property, he said it would also give something back to the
community.
"I think that's how development is
supposed to work," he said.
Nathan Crabbe can be reached at
352-338-3176 or crabben@gville sun.com.
County proposes K.P. Hole upgrades
Plan would add boat ramps, ease erosion
BY CHRISTOPHER CURRY
STAR-BANNER
But the park has become a victim of it's
own popularity. There is often weekend gridlock as people wait to launch their
boats and canoes. And the shoreline at the swimming area suffers from erosion.
So
The approximately $580,000 plan
includes six new boat slips and a separate hand launch area for canoes and
kayaks. Jim Couillard, the Parks and Recreation Department's project manager
for the construction, said those improvements will allow people to tie off
their boats as they enter and leave the river and should alleviate waits at the
boat launch. Schipper's Marine Construction Inc. was awarded the bid on the
project. Couillard says the firm has extensive experience with dock
construction along the Rainbow, which is recognized as an aquatic preserve.
Because construction will stretch into
the water, the county still needs to get Florida Department of Environmental
Protection approval of a submerged land lease.
Humberto and Ann Carreno, of Dunnellon,
say they canoe down the Rainbow about two times a week. They liked the separate
launch area because they'll no longer have to wait behind a line of boats.
"On the weekends it gets stacked
up," Ann Carreno said.
The shoreline improvements will also
include a new Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant ramp system leading
down to a sun deck. To combat the shoreline erosion, stairs will lead swimmers
down into the water from the deck so they won't tread on the grass.
After multimillion-dollar investments
to construct Wrigley Fields in Citra and
Gina Peebles, the administrative
manager for the Parks and Recreation Department, said K.P. Hole funding will
come from a $125,000 Florida Recreation Development Assistance Program grant, $125,000
from the state's boat tag renewal money, $280,000 collected in admission fees
at county parks and $50,000 from Pennies for Parks.
Christopher Curry may be reached at
352-867-4115 or chris.curry@starbanner.com.
St. Joe to Cut 760 Jobs, Sell 100,000
Acres of Land
By Bob Ivry and Peter Woodifield
Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) -- St. Joe Co.,
The retrenchment includes cutting 760
jobs, selling 190 homes and about 1,200 developed home sites,
Jacksonville-based St. Joe said today in a statement. This quarter's earnings
will be reduced by a $30 million charge. The company will also have $7 million
in severance costs this year and next.
St. Joe is shifting from building homes
in
``This is not a fire sale,'' Chief
Executive Officer Peter Rummell said today on a conference call. ``We are not
dumping stuff on the market and we are not going to make stupid decisions but
there are things that we believe have reached their height in pricing. I firmly
believe that we would be doing this whether the market was good or bad.''
St. Joe fell 63 cents, or 1.8 percent,
to $33.52 at 12:52 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The
company had a market value of $2.54 billion as of Oct. 5. The stock has fallen
36 percent this year through Oct. 5.
Foreclosures Soar
Existing single family home sales fell
24 percent in July in
The housing decline may push
Homebuilders are struggling as prices
fall and stricter lending standards resulting from the collapse of the subprime
home- loan industry have cut demand.
Cost Savings
``The market is showing us that there
are homebuyers -- at the right prices,'' said Dan Poole, who helps manage $31
billion at National City Private Client Group in
St. Joe had about 983 employees as of
Feb. 1 and held about 800,000 acres of land. It owns 10 master-planned
communities, seven commerce parks, six golf courses and three marinas. The
company said its land holdings could allow it to build 46,000 residential units
and more than 14 million square feet of commercial space.
The restructuring will save about $10
million in 2008, $18 million in 2009 and $20 million in later years, the
company said.
``We're not selling land now,'' Rummell
said on the conference call. ``We're carving it out and identifying it and
we'll sell at an appropriate price at an appropriate time. We have been able to
articulate 100,000 acres that we think over a reasonable time frame is close to
its reasonable value and based on pure economics it doesn't make sense to hold
on to.''
Job Cuts
The restructuring announced today
continues a process that began more than 10 years ago to turn the company into
a real estate developer, Rummell said in a letter to shareholders.
The company plans to transfer by the
end of the year the operations of its hospitality, recreational and golf assets
to companies that focus on those types of business. St. Joe said it will
transfer 500 workers to those companies, It will also transfer or eliminate
another 260 jobs by the end of next year.
St. Joe will replace its dividend with a
share buyback program. It has paid a quarterly dividend of 16 cents a share
since the third quarter of 2005.
Earlier this year, St. Joe sold 31,000
acres of rural land in the Florida Panhandle and 15 office buildings as part of
a strategy to quit home construction and building management. It also sold the
Sassy Burbank homebuilding operation in the
(To listen to a replay of St. Joe's
conference call on the restructuring, call 1-888-203-1112 and use pass code
5146743.)
To contact the reporters on this story:
Bob Ivry in
Officials
Oppose Landfill Near Landstar Homes
Mulberry
officials don't want a proposed landfill near the planned Landstar development
and they will make their opposition known at a Polk County Planning Commission
meeting Tuesday at 9 a.m.
The city is moving forward with Landstar Homes, which says it wants to develop
6,000 homes in three subdivisions on the city's west side, on
Mulberry City Manager Frank Thomas said the city received word that a construction
landfill and recyling center are proposed for the end of
Growth fight in Martin turns foes into
allies
By JASON SCHULTZ
Monday, October 08, 2007
STUART — Former Martin County Commissioners
Maggy Hurchalla and Tom Kenny don't usually see eye to eye when it comes to
growth. For once, though, they find themselves on the same side.
Both are asking county commissioners to
scale back the number of homes allowed to be packed into the county's seven
community redevelopment areas.
"I said to him, 'Let's hold hands
and go fight it together,''" Hurchalla said, referring to their joint
effort to reduce the maximum limit of 15 units an acre on land in redevelopment
areas.
County commissioners will discuss the
issue Oct. 16.
The areas, in
Hurchalla, an environmentalist known
for fighting development, said the 15-unit rule would allow an estimated 24,000
homes in the redevelopment areas, which she said is too much. Kenny, a
developer, said part of the rule that allows 15 units an acre on land zoned for
businesses creates an incentive to build homes instead of businesses. The
county needs more businesses, he said.
"Developers don't like density,
either," Kenny said.
Kenny proposes disallowing houses on
most of that business land. That would reduce the number of homes allowed in
the redevelopment areas by about 8,800 homes, or 37 percent.
The 15-unit rule stems from a 2002
lawsuit filed by the Martin County Conservation Alliance, headed by former
Commissioner Donna Melzer. It sued the county to stop a law that allowed mixed
use projects anywhere in the county. Both sides settled on 15 units an acre,
only within the redevelopment areas.
Melzer now is calling for that limit to
be lowered to eight units, which would reduce the number of homes allowed by
about 9,200 homes, or 38 percent.
Several members of the neighborhood
advisory committees that advise the county on projects in the redevelopment
areas said they had not heard of the proposal.
Commissioner Sarah Heard questioned
Kenny's motives for supporting the proposal as a developer.
The county's urban service boundary,
which limits where water and sewer lines and dense development are allowed,
cannot be moved farther west until all of the capacity for new homes is used up
in eastern
Lowering the limit would give
developers a stronger argument to move the urban boundary, which many fear
would lead to sprawl.
Hurchalla said she is aware of that,
but she is not worried because plenty of capacity would need to be filled
first.
Kenny said the county's strict growth
rules make it nearly impossible for anybody to get approval to build 15 units
an acre, so the county is counting capacity for new homes it doesn't really
have.
"It creates sort of 'ghost
units,''" he said.
Rising Beehive Costs Have Blueberry
Growers Buzzing
Published: Oct 8, 2007
Blueberry farmers in
Debra Troyer, the owner of My Blue
Heaven Blueberry, buys bumblebees to pollinate the 4,500 bushes on her
blueberry farm in
But with colony collapse disorder,
which has caused a devastating number of honeybee deaths in the
"There are two kinds of bees most
people use: honeybees or bumblebees," Troyer said. "I personally use
the bumble. They are tougher bees. It does not seem to take them as long to
pollinate the bushes. They pollinate the different bushes to make a bigger,
stronger, sweeter berry."
Troyer plants six varieties of Southern
highbush blueberry bushes, including emerald and jewel. Most of the blueberry
bushes grown in
She started her blueberry farm four
years ago.
"I like watching things
grow," she said. "I get a big kick out of my U-pick. A lot of young
people come out. They really love it."
During the fall, Troyer spends time
fertilizing, pruning and feeding her blueberry bushes, which drop their leaves
in the winter. Fall is a popular time for homeowners to plant varieties of
blueberry bushes such as
Troyer worries about the bee crisis.
"You never know," Troyer
said. "If something happens to your bees, something could happen to your
crop. The bushes do have to be pollinated somehow or another."
She will have to buy new bumblebees
next year because bumblebees don't stick around for more than two months, just
long enough to pollinate the bushes on her farm at
Ken Patterson, owner of Island Groves
Agriculture Products based in
He uses a mix of honeybees and
bumblebees to pollinate his 180 acres of blueberries.
Patterson said honeybees have a hard
time pollinating some blueberry bushes, especially the rabbiteye variety.
"Honeybees are not efficient
pollinators for blueberries because of the shape of the flowers," he said.
"Honeybees don't have a real long tongue and blueberries are bell-shaped
and can be long. They have a tough time pollinating. Also, during some years,
especially in El Nino years when we have wet winters, honeybees do not like to
fly when it's damp or foggy or cool in morning."
Patterson has been growing blueberries
for 23 years and said he thinks growers have reason to fret.
"We do worry about losing
bees," Patterson said. "I see it happening. It has affected the price
on rental hives in
He said the going rate to rent a
honeybee hive is $40, but almond growers in
"Almond growers have huge bee
requirements," said Patterson, adding that some
Patterson said that has meant a
shortage of bees for all
He typically rents 300 honeybee hives
for his 90 acres, where native bees also pitch in with pollination duties. In
addition, he purchased 40 bumblebee "quads."
"You need two to five hives an
acre for good pollination," he said. "In the last few years a new
industry has emerged: buying bumblebees. Honeybees live in a hive but
bumblebees are a one time thing. Within a couple months they are gone."
He said bumblebees make superior
pollinators because they are not as fussy as honeybees.
Bees also play a role in pollinating
other fruits, such as those used for making wine.
Marc Wagner, vice president of
marketing for Florida Estates Winery,
"The shortage of bees is a major
concern," Wagner said. "If there is a shortage of fruit pollinated, I'm
sure it will over time affect the prices of wine."
Wagner said he has not had a problem
having enough bees to pollinate grapes. But he is considering renting bees if
it becomes necessary.
County To Review Lobbyist's Contract
By JULIA FERRANTE The
Published: Oct 8, 2007
If commissioners approve the contract,
Mannion will be paid $84,854 - the same salary he received this past year.
Mannion, who began working for the county in April 1987, has been given 5
percent raises the past couple of years, but the county budget is tight this
year because of state-mandated tax reform. Most departments pledged to keep
spending at or below last year's levels.
Mannion has advocated for the county on
issues such as state assistance for a hurricane shelter, road projects and
flooding fixes.
For the past three years the county
also has retained a transportation lobbying firm, Tew Cardenas, to help
persuade the state Department of Transportation to push for improvements on
congested roads.
Also Tuesday, commissioners are slated
to:
•Discuss
•Consider in a final public hearing an
ordinance that would allow landowners to fight for "vested rights" in
their property before the commission, rather than file suit. The board is
expected to continue a hearing on vested rights requested by the developers of
Gulf Landings Development Corp. in New Port Richey until 4 p.m. Oct. 23 at the
•Consider hiring Impact DataSource as
an economic development consultant.
•Discuss a construction schedule for Sysco
Food Services of Central Florida, which plans to build a headquarters in
Zephyrhills. The company wants assurances that incentives offered by the city
and
Tuesday's meeting starts at 10 a.m. at
the historic Pasco County Courthouse,
Reporter Julia Ferrante can be reached
at (813) 948-4220 or jferrante@tampatrib.com.
Coalition supports applying fee early
By CINDY SWIRKO
Sun staff writer
12:00 am, October 8, 2007
A group that rose in opposition to a
major commercial expansion of Springhills is getting into another controversial
fight - over transportation impact fee increases.
The Coalition for Responsible Growth
held a debate on the issue last week and has announced it favors quick
implementation of a fee increase.
The hike was approved in August by the
Alachua County Commission, but it delayed the start until November 2008. That
start date will be reconsidered next week.
"We have taken an official
position: The coalition is in full support of . . . starting it before the
next election," coalition President John Jopling said. "We think we
are mixing apples and oranges when we start talking about impact fee and tax
increases. The tax issue just seems to be a completely separate issue from the
impact fees. We absolutely believe the impact fees should be imposed now."
Springhills is a development of
regional impact at Interstate 75 and
The commission is set to discuss the
impact fees Tuesday night. Chairwoman Paula DeLaney said she believes the crowd
will include more supporters of the fee increase than previous meetings, which
were dominated by developers, real estate agents and business groups opposed to
them.
Commissioners may change course from a
3-2 decision to increase the fee but delay its start to give a group of
residents time to try to put a one-cent sales tax on the fall 2008 ballot. If
the tax referendum is successful, the fee increase would be canceled. The tax
could generate about $40 million a year.
Groups opposed to the fee increase said
they would work toward passage of the tax. But other residents said tying the
fee increase to the tax referendum could jeopardize its passage with voters.
DeLaney, who initially voted in favor
of the delayed start, said she believes linking the impact fee increase to the
sales tax could hamper the tax effort.
"I actually think there are many,
many people out there in support of the fees," said DeLaney, who could be
the swing vote. "I think we should get something rolling and I don't think
it should be tied to a sales tax. I don't want to do anything with the sales
tax initiative that just gets it off on the wrong foot."
SUBHEAD IN COPY
f=Garamond Bk *I* s=14 l=18
Current impact fees
The county levies impact fees on new
residential and commercial development for roads, parks and fire service. The
fee increases in question are for roads only.
The current residential impact fee for
roads is $1,052 per 1,000 square feet of home space. It would rise to $2,073
per 1,000 square feet under the action taken by the commission in August.
Commercial fees also would increase.
Two weeks after that decision, DeLaney
indicated she wanted to reconsider the start date.
Builders, real estate agents and the
Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce opposed the fees when they were first
implemented about two years ago and opposed the increases. They view the
startup delay as a compromise.
Chamber President Brent Christensen
said he is disappointed the commission will reconsider the implementation date.
"We had an overflow crowd at the
first meeting and felt the commission came up with a reasonable compromise.
It's unfortunate that two weeks later, to a less than overflow crowd, the
compromise was brought into question," Christensen said.
"It's sometimes easy, when you are
not faced with an overflow crowd, to second-guess yourself. So does that mean
we have to do the whole thing over?"
The decision to link the impact fee
increase to the potential sales tax was criticized by some residents who said
they would not support the sales tax unless fee increases went into effect
earlier.
The sales tax initiative is being
considered by a group of residents. If it is formally proposed, it could be to
raise money for roads, recreation, schools and open space. However, that lineup
is not certain and could depend in part on polling to try to learn what
combination - if any - the public would support.
Cindy Swirko can be reached at 352-374-5024
or swirkoc@ gvillesun.com.
Phosphate mining foe shut out of deal
By VICTOR HULL
victor.hull@heraldtribune.com
High-powered
He engineered a strategy that delayed, denied or significantly altered
phosphate mining plans pursued by the world's largest phosphate company. He
helped change the way
But as the fight enters a critical new phase --
Arguing that it would be impossible to reach a settlement with de la Parte in
the room, Mosaic successfully lobbied county commissioners to exclude him.
Mosaic told officials de la Parte, whose firm has been paid more than $3
million by Charlotte, had no incentive to push for a deal because he could earn
more by stretching out the litigation.
His absence from the negotiations could shape the final agreement intended to
protect natural resources and
Mosaic says that is a good thing; without de la Parte, the negotiations have
been faster, leading to a potential settlement within weeks. Area officials
could be briefed on negotiations this week.
But de la Parte's supporters say he has been vital to protecting the public's
interests from the threats posed by the expansion of phosphate mining.
"Near as I can tell, he's done the job we hired him to do very
effectively," said Charlotte County Commissioner Adam Cummings, a leading
critic of the mining industry over the past decade. "Ed understands the
issues."
De la Parte said he does not oppose a settlement. Indeed, he said mining
opponents have unprecedented leverage to forge a favorable deal, conditions
that he said are unlikely to occur again "in our lifetime."
But he said the settlement on the table now is too vague to protect
"It's a heaven-sent opportunity to get it done right," he said of
current negotiations. "They have Mosaic's attention. But these hard-won
concessions are going to have to be enforceable."
Mosaic uses phosphate to provide fertilizer for domestic and foreign crops.
Most of the land Mosaic wants to mine drains into the Peace River, which
supplies millions of gallons of drinking water daily for area residents and
provides fresh water to
Charlotte and other mining opponents contend that mining permanently disrupts
water flow. Mosaic counters that it is skilled in restoring natural conditions.
De la Parte, a 1977
Over the past six years, his tactics have helped expose flaws in state mining
oversight, including regulators' excessive reliance on information provided by
mining companies and their failure to verify environmental resources at
proposed mine sites.
If
Mosaic's interest in negotiating a settlement has increased recently along with
the demand for fertilizer for crops that can produce ethanol.
Government officials have expressed more interest in a settlement as their
budgets have tightened and the costs of the legal battle have topped $12
million -- most of it spent by
Charlotte County Commissioner Tricia Duffy, who has represented
"I didn't feel it was necessary," she said.
Mosaic spokesman David Townsend said negotiations earlier this year that
included de la Parte "weren't proceeding as productively as they
could" and would not unless "the right people were at the
table."
But Cummings doubts the value of any deal developed without de la Parte.
"The bottom line is, if you can set the tone of negotiations by picking
the negotiating team of your opponent, that's a great opener," he said.
After the significant gains made in
2004 and 2005, far fewer parcels have moved during the past 12 months
By MICHAEL
michael.braga@heraldtribune.com
Not much has changed since then.
Only 29 parcels of unentitled agricultural land were sold for a total of $42
million in Manatee and
That represents an 82 percent percent drop from the $229 million in land sold
in the two counties during the previous 12 months, and a 92 percent percent
drop from the $557 million sold during the 12 months before that.
Comparisons look even worse when you consider that a $14.3 million sale during
the most recent 12 months represents land formerly belonging to Neal Mohammad
Husani's partner, Michel Tringali, that was repossessed by Orion Bank.
In that case, no cash changed hands.
A total of 38 sales took place for $70.1 million during the 12 months ended
Oct. 2. That is 49 percent less that the $136.4 million sold during the
previous 12 months.
The large volume of sales in 2005 was driven by speculators hoping to cash in
on the rapid run-up in prices, and by builders and developers who were
frantically searching for land to keep their businesses alive.
But once home sales started to flag in late 2005, sales of land immediately
slowed and now sales have almost stopped.
In
In Manatee, the most recent major sale of land was in February, when the Glazer
family plunked down $2.8 million for 19 acres at 47th Terrace East.
Other than that, the market has been quiet.
"I don't have anything moving," said Leslie Wells, who runs a
Parrish-based real estate firm and specializes in land sales. "We're not
seeing people stockpiling land. Prices are still too high."
During the boom, overexuberance gripped the ranks of big developers and
builders just as much as it did the ranks of novice real estate investors.
During the 12 months ended Oct. 2, 2005, the Jacksonville-based Stokes Land
Group paid $108.3 million, or just over $47,000 per acre, for 2,291 acres of
the former Thomas Ranch in southern
Sam Rodgers of
During the 12 months ended Oct. 2, 1996, sales of land continued to rise in
Manatee and
Lennar Corp. paid $28 million, or $280,000 per acre, for 100 acres at
Though sales in Manatee have fallen in recent months, sales in
Coral Gables-based investor Victor Brown paid $16.8 million for land in eastern
More recently, a group of
Those results caused
"The problem was 2004 and 2005," he said.
In Manatee and
"If the intended use of agricultural land is residential, the market is
dead on arrival," said Paul Klick, a commercial agent with Coldwell Banker
in
"It takes up to five years to get land entitled, and I think people are
not willing to take the time risk."
Michael Seery suggests that another reason for the slowdown in sales is that no
really big parcels are on the market.
"Go to Schroeder-Manatee. They're not selling," Seery said. "All
the Myakka area has been sold, and there's virtually nothing off Clark and
Fruitville roads. To find raw land, you have to go to Desoto and Charlotte
counties."
Jeff Button, a commercial agent with the Richardson Kleiber Walter Group, said
the proposal to build villages in eastern
"People who own land in proposed villages don't want to sell. So it's hard
to get in there," Button said.
But Dee Smith, a Myakka City real estate agent who is selling a 20-acre ranch
east of I-75, says it is the demand side of the equation, rather than the
supply side, that is out of whack.
"Every other damn property is for sale up here," she said.
Smith added that the bank repossessed the Steeplechase property from Tringali
and has not been able to do anything with it.
"If banks can't do anything, no one can do anything," she said.
The good thing about unentitled agricultural land, however, is that the taxes
on it are not high.
That means owners have a better chance of waiting out the market than investors
and builders who bought land that has been zoned for single-family homes or
commercial and industrial buildings.
Michelle Bry, who specializes in land sales in
Bry says she had only 20 sales this year compared with 240 in 2004.
"As taxes went up, investors who bought so much land realized they
couldn't hold it long term," Bry said. "So everyone put their land up
for sale at the same time, and that created a panic."
The result is that prices have plummeted, falling from $50,000 to $15,000 for
building lots away from the water, and from $200,000 to $100,000 for lots with
water access.
The good news is that the drop in price is restimulating buyer interest.
"I have seen attendance at land auctions in
Experts say that if larger tracts of land are to start changing hands again,
owners will have to reduce prices.
But demand will not return until builders start building again.
"We're planning on 2009 and 2010," Seery said.
Empty condo a symbol of lost dreams
Nokomis businesses had to go so the Harbor
Villas complex could be built
By ZAC
zac.anderson@heraldtribune.com
NOKOMIS -- The bridge over
The Dona Bay Marina at the base of the U.S. 41 bridge was a home away from home
for the Politos. They operated a boat rental business where Tim grew his blond
hair long and made friends with everyone.
At night they drank wine, ate grouper with plastic utensils and listened to
music at the waterfront tiki bar. It was Old Florida. Casual.
Then it was gone, and every time Cheryl Polito drives by the old marina now,
she sees the unfinished Harbor Villas condominium project and gets angry.
"What a shame," she said. "What they did there hurt a lot of
people, and for what?"
The Harbor Villas project illustrates the community wreckage left behind by the
end of the real estate boom.
When times were good, Harbor Villas' developer, Tom LeFevre, was handing out
$100 bills to real estate agents to grease the sales wheels, a Realtor said.
Today, all that is left are partially built condo units that sit empty where
popular businesses once operated.
Displaced business owners, including the Politos, point to the empty condos and
the loss of their old-Florida hangouts as symbols of the excess of the
development boom and its far-reaching consequences.
The rise and fall of the condo development follows a now-familiar story arc of
big expectations, bad timing and even worse results.
Empty lots and half-finished condo projects litter the urban landscape across
What was once a 100-room Holiday Inn in downtown
"Different people made different assumptions about the market," said
Albert Joerger, who has tried to preserve waterfront land for public use as the
director of the Sarasota Conservancy. "It's unfortunate that some people's
assumptions resulted in some failed projects that had serious impacts on
waterfront access."
Harbor Villas' development company, Trendy & Trendy LLC, does not have a
final permit to open the beige, four-story building that began construction in
early 2005, said Janice Wheeler, a Troy, Mich., investor who is suing to get
her $182,000 deposit back.
Wheeler said the developer was constantly behind schedule on the $11.1 million
building. Then the real estate market went bust and investors seized on the
delays to try to get out of the deal.
LeFevre's company faces 17 liens filed by unpaid contractors and lawsuits from
investors alleging breach of contract for not finishing the building within two
years. Other investors are trying to sell their contracts, according to real
estate agent Peter Wolff.
LeFevre did not return telephone calls seeking comment.
"I just want to wash my hands of this thing," said Wheeler, who had
reserved a $910,000 condo.
In the meantime, the former owner of a popular restaurant and tiki bar that was
forced to move is going bankrupt.
Other business owners, including the Politos and a group of charter boat
captains who operated from the old marina, have lost business, sold or moved
away.
"Nobody benefited from this thing," said charter boat captain Gary
Howland, who has fewer clients since he was forced to move. "Which is sad,
because we had a good thing going there."
Riding high
Trendy & Trendy LLC was riding a wave of waterfront redevelopment when the
company purchased the Dona Bay Marina for $3.1 million in 2004.
With real estate values going through the roof, owners of waterfront businesses
increasingly found it attractive to sell out rather than contend with rising
property taxes and insurance bills.
In 2001, LeFevre, who comes from a family of
Four years later, the developers did it again with the Dockside Marina on
They were on a roll.
"They worked their way south through Osprey and eventually landed in
Nokomis," Howland said. "We all knew what was going to happen as soon
as they bought the property."
Half a dozen charter captains had been operating out of the Dona Bay Marina for
years, charming tourists every evening by cleaning their daily catch on the
docks.
Many of the visitors stopped in for drinks at the Honoluana Island Grill and
Tiki Bar.
Anyone who did not want to fish could rent a boat or use a personal watercraft.
There also was a tackle and bait shop.
It is the kind of operation found in tourist towns throughout
"It was a great location and a great little community of businesses,"
said Tim Polito, who operated the watercraft and boat rentals. "We all had
fun together."
None of the business owners were happy when Trendy & Trendy mailed out
notices in early 2005 to vacate the property in 10 days.
But few realized how drastically the move would impact their lives.
Forced out and bottoming out
Dave Thompson tries not to be bitter about what happened when he was forced to
relocate the Honoluana in 2005.
But it is hard when Thompson was forced to sell his business. He eventually
declared bankruptcy. He plans to move with his wife and three children to
"All of these developers are done," Thompson said with a hint of
satisfaction in his voice. "They lost this deal and they're getting their
just desserts."
Thompson's troubles started when he moved his storefront away from the water
and business dropped off. They got worse when he bought a house at the peak of
the real estate boom that is now in free fall.
"I owe more than it's worth," he said. "I'm just going to walk
away."
Other
Tim Polito lost customers after he had to relocate across the bay. The stress
of trying to rebuild the business took a toll, physically and emotionally, and
he decided to sell the business.
He now works for the new owner.
"I went through hell last year," he said. "It's hard to re-establish
yourself in a new location.
The same goes for the charter boat captains, Howland said. Many have had
trouble re-establishing themselves after leaving
There is no central dock for the charters to gather in the
The captains must take their boats to private docks each night.
"I lost some business, but more importantly, this community lost something
special," Howland said. "People like to see the boats come and go.
They like to see us cleaning our catches. Traditionally, there has always been
a place like that where kids and families can come and get excited about
fishing, and that's gone now."
For many, the changes are especially frustrating because Harbor Villas likely
will sit empty for months to come, the swimming pool unfilled, the docks
half-built.
Builders
resisted the urge to surge
By MICHAEL
michael.braga@heraldtribune.com
All three
"We'd had investors come in -- arrogant as all get-out -- and they would
want to know how much it would cost for us to build five homes for them,"
Cantin said. "They would expect us to buy the land, and we were supposed
to take their word for it that they would be there at the closing."
Cantin chose not to sell to these people. Elmy and Tenbusch were equally
careful.
Now these three builders are not sitting on scores of unsold homes like many of
their competitors. What's more, they are not hemorrhaging from the amount of
interest they have to pay to banks for borrowed funds.
Business is still tough. Their sales are way down from pre-boom years, and they
are not sure when market conditions will improve. But Elmy, Cantin and Tenbusch
are convinced that they will survive the shakeout.
For Elmy, surviving is all about price. She shops her competitors and makes
sure she is in a position to beat them.
For Cantin, making buyers realize the benefits of energy efficiency and the
ability to withstand massive storms is the key, while Tenbusch is focused on
operating as lean as possible.
"I'm real cautious about letting things get away from me," Tenbusch
said. "I'm the tortoise rather than the hare. I don't owe anything to
anybody, and that's what is going to carry me through."
Pricing the competition
Elmy got into the home building business in 1998 after 17 years managing nurses
at Doctors Hospital of Sarasota.
Her husband, who bought Allstate Builders in 2005, lured her away from Doctors
because he needed her management experience. She repaid him by doubling
production from about 75 homes to 150 during her first year on the job.
During the boom, Elmy was tempted to increase sales like other
"We could see where the market was going," she said. "Building
is cyclical, and we felt other builders were growing too fast. So we decided to
restrict sales."
Elmy still ended up with an inventory of about 100 unsold homes when the market
turned in the summer of 2005. But she quickly lowered her prices and increased
spending on advertising.
"Other builders decreased their marketing budgets in the downturn. We
spent twice as much," Elmy said. "We ran radio ads designed to
attract people to our models."
Elmy said her company gave away a Corvette, TV sets and other electronic
products that brought in a different crowd every weekend.
The result was that Allstate got rid of all its inventory and Elmy paid off her
$15 million line of credit to Bank of America, which no longer wanted her as a
customer.
"They really weren't there for us when times got bad," Elmy said.
"They left a lot of builders high and dry."
Elmy said that finding a new banking relationship was her single greatest
challenge. It took six months to arrange new lines of credit with AmSouth Bank
and Brevard County-based Riverside National Bank.
"Bank of America didn't want the risk," Elmy said. "It wasn't
like we weren't paying the interest. They just didn't want the loan."
Going forward, Elmy says she will have an advantage over other builders in
"I have 45 lots left," Elmy said. "I chose to take them off the
market during the boom because I felt they would help sustain us in a
downturn."
Allstate expects to close on about 50 homes this year, or half as many as in
2006. Her company, which employed 14 at its peak, now employs six, but Elmy is
convinced she will be a survivor.
"We're able to reduce our prices more than other builders and still make a
profit," she said.
Energy efficiency
and hurricane resistance
Cantin is a third-generation carpenter and second-generation contractor.
He moved from
"Everything that goes up must come down," Cantin said.
The trick is to be in position when the market takes off again. Thanks to his
daughter, Beth Henson, Cantin says he is already in position.
Henson, who represents the third generation of contractors in the family, says
that it is energy-efficient, hurricane-resistant and green building techniques
that will carry the family business forward.
"My husband and I went through Charley," Henson said. "There was
severe damage done to our house, and we were determined to build something
stronger."
Henson began studying hurricane-resistant building techniques, and she soon
realized that the sturdier a house is, the more energy efficient it becomes.
Now when customers drop by the Cantin model in
"A buyer may only be able to afford a $1,000 mortgage," Henson said.
"But we can raise that amount by showing them how electricity on a
2,147-square-foot house will only cost them $100 a month and homeowners
insurance will only cost them $100 more."
Then there are state and federal tax credits that can be earned by using solar
water heaters and other energy-saving techniques, Henson said.
"We add energy-efficient windows, soy-based foam insulation under the
trusses, metal roofs, and the homes become so tight that they require smaller
air conditioning units," she said.
Other builders say they build to code, said Cantin, who built 52 homes in 2006
and expects to complete 28 this year.
"That means they do the minimum," he said. "We guarantee that
our homes are 15 percent more efficient that houses built to code."
Cutting costs to the bone
Tenbusch has devoted his career to building homes in
What worries him is that price escalation during the boom is now excluding
those people from the market.
"I don't see any trends that make me feel things are getting better for
the clientele I normally serve," Tenbusch said. "It's scary
stuff."
Tenbusch sold only six homes last year, and he does not expect to sell many
more in 2007.
"Last year was the worst year I've ever had in business," he said.
"It was even worse than my first year."
Since 1983, his company has religiously churned out 35 to 40 homes per year.
Tenbusch has had plenty of opportunities to raise production, but he has always
refused.
"I learned a lesson as subcontractor," Tenbusch said. "Builders
did fine when they stuck to 40 homes a year, but when they grew to 75 or 80,
they invariably went bust."
Instead of expanding his business, Tenbusch chose to manage it, which
eventually enabled him to produce his quota with only three people, including
himself, on staff.
Tenbusch said the boom forced him to slightly alter his time-tested formula. He
began building half his quota on spec because the rising costs of materials and
labor were cutting into his profit margins.
The result was that Tenbusch wound up with some unsold homes and bank debt when
the market turned. But he has zero debt today and only one house in his
inventory. With only three people on staff, his operating costs are so low that
he should be able to survive the downturn -- no matter how long it lasts.
"I don't think anyone is going to make money for the next three or four
years. You have to be lean to make it through."
Old Florida ranching family faces New
Florida challenges
Palm
Beach Post Staff Writer
Monday,
October 08, 2007
The
Seminole Indians are their neighbors to the south, and cowboys still herd the
1,200 Brangus cattle that roam their property.
That
much hasn't changed since the 1930s, when the late J.W. McDaniel founded a
family dynasty on an isolated 6-square-mile ranch in southeastern Hendry County.
Today,
Granddaddy Mac's four grandsons run the McDaniel Ranch, which he and their late
father, Robert McDaniel Sr., built from the wilderness.
But
these days, the McDaniels are dealing with complex issues that didn't exist
when the ranch was founded.
Chief
among them is the unglamorous subject of storm water, which the family is
handling with a 10-year, multimillion-dollar project that features 44 miles of
levees - some more than 12 feet tall - and 2,700 acres of water retention
areas.
It's
the largest privately funded water treatment project in the state, and
officials say it won't be long before all the other landowners in the area will
have to revamp their water systems, too.
Then
there's the lawsuit brought by a Palm Beach Gardens resident and developer who
bought 3,000 acres of the McDaniel Ranch in May 2005 and wants to buy most of
the rest of it for an equestrian community.
The
McDaniels say they no longer want to sell him any more land, and the parties
are embroiled in a contract dispute.
It's
a sign of increasingly complex times influencing an old and venerated way of
life in Florida.
The
McDaniel Ranch covers 18,340 acres, much of it preserved natural area.
Endangered
or threatened species including Florida panthers, wood storks, Everglades snail
kites, burrowing owls, crested caracaras, Florida black bears and other
wildlife such as deer roam the land, which is two hours from each coast.
But
Bobby McDaniel contends it's not so remote anymore.
"There's
a Publix in Fort Lauderdale on State Road 84 that's only 50 minutes away,"
he said.
Comparisons
to 'Dallas'
All
four McDaniel brothers - Bobby, 54, John, 51, David, 50, and Jeff, 47 - are involved
in the cattle and citrus operation and live with their families in houses they
had built on the ranch.
Their
mother, Mary, also has a house there, and a house for Bobby's mother-in-law is
under construction. John's wife, Karen, manages the office, and their son, also
named John, works on the ranch.
The
vast stretches of idyllic scenery, from native cypress stands to stately oaks
dripping with Spanish moss to, of course, cattle, remind some visitors of Dallas,
the nighttime TV soap that ran from 1978 to 1991.
"We're
not like Dallas," said Bobby McDaniel, president of McDaniel Ranch
Partnership. "We all have separate houses. We have some space."
Growing
up on the ranch, the McDaniels rode to grade school in Clewiston each day with
the Seminoles. After school, it was time for man-sized chores that included
herding cattle.
"When
I was 5 or 6, I had a Shetland pony named Blondie that I rode to help round up
the cattle. She was the meanest thing," Bobby said.
Although
cattle was their business when they were children, the McDaniels have had to
change tactics to survive.
"Cows
don't cut it anymore. We have them and they're pretty," John McDaniel
said. "They don't make money. You need to diversify."
They
lease 5,700 acres at $325 an acre a year to vegetable growers including Pero
Family Farms of Delray Beach and Thomas Produce of Boca Raton. The farmers use
management practices designed to reduce phosphorus levels in their water
runoff.
Cattle
pasture and natural areas account for 6,700 acres. Like other cattle ranches in
Florida, it's a cow-calf operation, meaning calves are sold to feedlots in
other states, such as Texas, where they are fattened before slaughter.
An
orange grove for juice oranges that are sold to Southern Gardens Citrus for
processing takes up another 1,000 acres.
All
of it is run by the brothers, plus 10 employees and some day workers.
Complex
water system
These
days, Bobby McDaniel calls himself "the water boy," because much of
his time is devoted to the wetlands water treatment system that's nearing
completion on their property.
"I
personally staked out all of it," McDaniel said.
"This
is a water retention area," he said, pointing to a wetland. "When
water flows through the vegetation, it pulls out the phosphorus. It's a
cascading system. When it gets to a certain height, the water flows to the next
area. We are holding 150 percent more water than the water management district
requires."
Nearby,
huge piles of dirt removed as part of the excavation form small hills. The
family plans to sell it as fill.
The
McDaniels started working on the project after the Seminoles on the nearby Big
Cypress Reservation complained that the phosphorus content was too high in the
water running off the ranch into the reservation.
"They
said, 'Go get an engineer,'" said Bobby, who holds a degree in animal
science from the University of Florida.
The
brothers did, and also hired consultants and attorneys. They did most of the
earth-moving themselves, however.
Just
the leasing of bulldozers and other equipment costs $37,000 a month.
They've
received no public funding for the project but have worked closely with the
South Florida Water Management District, the agency that has authority over
water quality and supply projects.
It
is the state's largest privately funded storm water treatment system, said Paul
Whalen, owner of Jupiter-based TAC Environmental Resources Consulting Inc., who
coordinated the project.
"It's
100 percent functional today," Whalen said.
Finishing
touches remain, and completion of the bulk of the system is expected by the end
of the year.
After
heavy rains, 60 diesel-fueled pumps remove excess storm water from the
agricultural fields and put it into the cascading system.
The
water is cleansed in pre-treatment and detention areas that allow sediment to
settle and wetlands plants to remove phosphorus before the water enters
environmentally sensitive areas such as the Big Cypress Swamp, Whalen said. The
goal is to reduce phosphorus in all the water leaving the McDaniel property to
50 parts per billion.
Commitment
draws praise
Ron
Bergeron Sr., president of Bergeron Land Development in Fort Lauderdale, said
his firm built many of the Everglades restoration projects. He was not involved
with the ranch's project but toured it recently.
He
said the McDaniels' project is unique in that they are paying for it
themselves, without any state or federal dollars. He doesn't know of any other
private entity that has undertaken such a project.
"They
have done a fabulous job in regards to compliance to water quality,"
Bergeron said. "They have taken it upon themselves to build a system,
which is something I have not seen anybody else do.
"If
everyone did what the McDaniels are doing, we would be in very good shape in
Florida," Bergeron said. "These four young men are trying to maintain
their heritage and culture. I applaud them."
All
the other agricultural landowners in the area eventually will be required to
upgrade their water systems as the McDaniels are doing, said Bob Brown,
director of the water district's environmental resource regulation department.
Meanwhile,
plans remain on hold to build houses on 3,000 acres of the ranch bought in 2005
by Edward Garcia of Virginia Beach, Va.-based The ESG Cos.
Garcia's
lawsuit, originally filed in federal court last year, was dismissed there and
refiled in Hendry County, where it is making its way through the system, said
Joel Zwemer, a Fort Pierce attorney who is among those representing the
McDaniel family in the case.
"They
do not wish to proceed forward with a contract with Mr. Garcia and his
group," Zwemer said. "They don't believe he has complied with the
contract to date."
Andrea
Kilmer, a vice president with ESG, Garcia's company, said a contract to buy the
entire working ranch, except for the McDaniels' residences, was entered into in
2004.
"There
are certain things that the McDaniels had to do to be in compliance with the
contract," Kilmer said.
"They
have not performed pursuant to the contact. We believe they may have experienced
seller's remorse. We are still interested in purchasing the ranch."
The
brothers say they want to keep the land but admit it's difficult to make a
profit, especially with the expense of the water project.
"There's
a lot of ranches who if they had to do this, they would be bankrupt,"
David McDaniel said. "If the ranch wasn't paid for, we couldn't keep
it."
And
leaving the ranch isn't something the McDaniels want to contemplate.
"To
a lot of people, it's just dirt. To us, it's home," he said.
|
Florida's cattle industry Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon
introduced cattle into North America in Florida in 1521. ·
Florida has about 15,500 cattle ranches. ·
With 950,000 head of beef cattle,Florida ranks 11th among states in
cattle inventory. ·
The primary cattle 'crop' is calves, which are shipped to other states
to be processed into beef. Sales of calves and breeding stock total more than
half a billion dollars a year. ·
Florida is home to four of the nation's largest cow-calf operations. · Almost
half of Florida agricultural land is involved in cattle production. That
includes 4 million acres of pastureland and 1 million acres of grazed
woodland. ·
Okeechobee County ranks first in the number of cattle and calves,
followed by Osceola, Highlands, Polk, Hardee, Hendry, DeSoto, Glades,
Hillsborough and Sumter. |
Sources: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Florida Cattlemen's Association
Guest Column:
Usina land given for ag center only
LAURIE USINA PETTY
St. Augustine
Publication Date: 10/07/07
I'm a lifelong resident of St. Johns County and a business owner. I have
recently had the misfortune of running head long into the arrogant attitude of
the present St. Johns County Commission and administration. This situation has
arisen as a result of my parents, Charles and Gabye Usina's generous donation
of land to the people of St. Johns County. In 1983, my parents made a gift of
40 acres for the sole purpose of honoring the "long history and tradition
of farming, ranching, and agriculture pursuit."
According to the County Commission records, Resolution No. 83-111 verifies this
donation and states clearly that this land was accepted by the county
acknowledging my parents "good will and community spirit." The
wording of the resolution executes that the land will be utilized
"specifically for development and use as such an agricultural center"
to provide a "centralized, accessible center facility housing the various
government entities and other agencies and services supporting
agriculture."
Now, with no advance discussion nor notification, the current board and
administration have embarked upon a plan to build the Emergency Operations
Center on this land. It is a move that revokes the original intent and
agreement of 1983.
I heartily support the safety issue for our citizens; however, I disagree at
the choice of the site. There are long-range plans to add other facilities. The
4-H program and other agencies and groups have worked to bring about a rich
resource for agriculture and forestry issues.
Commission Chairman Ben Rich asked to come to my parents' home, and in an
uncomfortable meeting, treated us with a lack of respect. I had decided to not
take a side on this issue, however, after this experience I must take a stand
in honor of my parents, in respect to them as role models, as citizens who
"believe in giving back to their community."
Rich's meeting included an embarrassing situation in which the county attorney
was treated unprofessionally.
Commissioners have stated they can do what they want with this land.
I still believe in the power of the people. I do not believe citizens elected
these commissioners to ignore our county's tradition, agreements and acts of
good faith.
We are not against the new EOC. In fact we respect Ray Ashton and the men and
women who strive to keep our county protected. Adjacent property near the Ag
Center owned by the Anastasia Mosquito Control could be a possibility.
It saddens me to have to write this public column. However, it has become a
necessity. I feel compelled to inform my fellow citizens that our community can
be overridden by politics. I remain proud of my heritage as the daughter of a
farmer and rancher.
This county still has a legacy of those who work the soil and keep their
promises. I am not proud that St. Johns County does not appear willing to keep
theirs.
In 1983 the Board of County Commissioners ended the resolution for this gift of
land by stating they "herewith express its intention to abide by the terms
of the gift and will in good faith endeavor to carry out the intent of the
gift."
I hope other county residents believe as I do that public trust is a sacred
bond between people and their government.
Laurie Usina Petty is the daughter of Charles and Gaybe Usina who donated the
land for the county Agricultural Center.
Click here to return to story:
http://staugustine.com/stories/100707/opinions_er23td.shtml
© The St. Augustine Record
The St. Joe
Company (NYSE: JOE) to Accelerate Value Creation
Company Remains Focused on Core Competencies
JOE to Significantly Reduce Capital Expenditures and
Increase Financial Flexibility
Restructuring
and Impairment Charges to be Incurred
JACKSONVILLE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The St. Joe Company (NYSE: JOE) announced today it intends to significantly accelerate its value creation process in Northwest Florida and is restructuring the company to accomplish that objective.
The restructured JOE is designed to increase its financial flexibility and strengthen its balance sheet. To improve its financial performance the company intends to:
·
Significantly reduce capital
expenditures;
·
Meaningfully decrease selling, general
and administrative expenses;
·
Divest non-core assets;
·
Aggressively lower company debt; and
·
Eliminate the current dividend and over
time return value to shareholders through JOE’s share
repurchase program.
“Going forward, a restructured JOE will enable us to
accelerate the transition of our land to higher and better uses,” said Peter S. Rummell, chairman and CEO of JOE. “At the same time, we will limit our capital investments by
shifting more development to a range of best-of-class strategic business
partners that include branded builders, project developers, venture partners,
alliances and key long-term customers. Capital investment for horizontal
developments will be limited to our most strategic and valuable places. We
believe this approach will accelerate our land sales and development.”
“We are repositioning JOE from an `end-to-end'
developer to Northwest Florida’s primary supplier of
entitled land and development partner,” said Rummell. “By better managing our fixed overhead costs, we will be
able to preserve the low basis in our land, which is fundamental to our ability
to use price as a competitive advantage, to put time back on our side
and to create significant value over the long term.”
“We are dramatically changing the company to become more efficient,” said Rummell. “Through our restructuring process, we will significantly reduce capital expenditure requirements and operate with a leaner infrastructure. We believe JOE will benefit from a stronger balance sheet and, over time, a meaningful increase in our financial flexibility.”
JOE to Divest Non-Core Assets
JOE intends to harvest value from its land assets that are no longer strategic, that have already been moved to their highest and best uses, or whose full potential value is beyond the time-value curve. JOE intends to divest, over a reasonable time period given current market conditions, assets that include:
·
Sunshine State Cypress Mill,
·
Selected non-contiguous parcels with
commercial entitlements, and
·
Approximately 100,000 acres of
long-term rural lands.
Also priced to sell are approximately 1,200 developed home sites and
approximately 190 homes.
Reduce and Tightly Focus Capital Expenditures
The restructuring plan calls for a major reduction in capital expenditures
and tighter focus on our high-growth assets. Currently located primarily in
Walton, Bay and Gulf Counties, these high-growth assets are the primary targets
for future new business, partners and ventures. Examples of these growth assets
include:
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The
75,000-acre WestBay Sector to be anchored by the relocated Panama City – Bay County International Airport. After nearly ten years
of study, analysis and permitting, the local airport authority is nearing the
start of construction of the airport. |
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JOE’s resorts at WaterSound and WindMark Beach which define
the Northwest Florida experience. |
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In Walton
and Gulf counties, JOE resorts are existing keys to future value creation. The
Town of WaterSound is designed to drive value inland, across U.S. 98 all the
way to the Intracoastal Waterway. The thousands of acres within this
development zone are capable of supporting dozens of land uses. |
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A hundred
miles to the east of WaterSound, JOE is seeking additional strategic partners
who share our vision to accelerate growth at WindMark Beach and for Port St.
Joe’s planned waterfront town center. |
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Multiple
entitled commercial parcels for mixed-use, retail, office and industrial
uses. |
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A New JOE Organizational Structure
To accomplish these objectives will require a realigned JOE. To that end, the company is:
·
Creating a streamlined corporate and regional
staff to support our new structure, instead of an organization designed to
support full-scale development;
·
Partnering with nationally recognized
leisure, hospitality and lifestyle brands to operate our hospitality,
recreational and golf assets; and
·
Seeking relationships with strategic
partners to leverage existing investment and expertise.
The new JOE will consist of a lean corporate center focused on regional
planning, land-use entitlements, and business-to-business relationships with
strategic partners and customers. JOE will increase its efforts to stimulate
regional economic development and to identify and manage key regional inducers.
Before the end of the year, JOE intends to transfer the day-to-day operations of its hospitality, recreational and golf assets to recognized leisure, hospitality and lifestyle companies. For many of the approximately 500 employees in these units, this change will provide significant new professional opportunities. JOE will continue to own the assets to keep the revenue stream and ensure they continue to be managed in a way that increases the value of the surrounding JOE land.
Approximately 260 additional positions company-wide, particularly in project development and related support staff, will be either eliminated or transferred to strategic partners and customers between now and the end of 2008.
In connection with this restructuring, JOE expects to take a charge to earnings of approximately $7 million consisting of severance benefits to employees. This charge will be expensed substantially in 2007 and 2008. JOE’s restructuring is expected to generate annual savings of approximately $10 million in 2008, approximately $18 million in 2009 and approximately $20 million in later years.
In addition, JOE expects to take charges aggregating approximately $25 to $30 million in the third quarter of 2007 related to contract termination costs, the write-off of capitalized costs at certain projects, the impairment of completed spec homes in several communities and the write-off of goodwill related to Sunshine State Cypress Mill.
The charges outlined in this release are not expected to cause a violation of any debt covenants in 2007. The company is currently negotiating modifications to the bank credit facility with our bank group in order to mitigate the potential for any covenant breach in 2008. JOE also intends to seek similar covenant modifications from its Senior Note holders.
In a letter to shareholders and other stakeholders published today and available at www.joe.com, Rummell outlined the restructuring plan in further detail. Additional information will be provided in a Form 8-K to be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today.
Conference Call Information
JOE will host an interactive conference call to review the new value creation acceleration objectives and company structure outlined in this press release on Monday, October 8, 2007, at 9:00 a.m. (ET).
To participate in the call, please phone 866.290.0880 (for domestic calls from the United States) or 913.312.1426 (for international calls) approximately ten minutes before the scheduled start time. You will be asked for a Confirmation Code which is: 5146743. Approximately three hours following the call, you may access a replay of the call by phoning 888.203.1112 (domestic) or 719.457.0820 (international) using access code 5146743. The replay will be available for one week.
JOE will also web cast the conference call live over the internet in a listen-only format. Listeners can participate by visiting the company’s web site at www.joe.com. Access will be available 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time. A replay of the conference call will be posted to the JOE web site approximately three hours following the call. The replay of the call will be available for one week.
About JOE
The St. Joe Company (NYSE:JOE), a publicly held company based in Jacksonville, is one of Florida's largest real estate development companies. We are primarily engaged in real estate development and sales, with significant interests in timber. Our mission is to create places that inspire people and make JOE's Florida an even better place to live, work and play. We're no ordinary JOE.
More information about JOE can be found at our web site at www.joe.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements about our
beliefs, plans, goals, expectations and intentions. Forward-looking statements
involve risk and uncertainty, and there can be no assurance that the results
described in such statements will be realized. Such statements are based on our
current expectations and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or
reissue any forward-looking statements. Risk factors that may cause the actual
results to differ are described in this press release and in various documents
we have filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006, and our
Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.
©
2007, The St. Joe Company, "St. Joe," "JOE," “WaterSound,” “WindMark
Beach” and the "Taking Flight" design are
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