Fire risk rises as we grow

Dry conditions and rapidly expanding development mean more homes than ever are in danger.

Etan Horowitz
Sentinel Staff Writer

April 30, 2007

In the market for a new home? Then you're sure to come across developments with names celebrating their proximity to the wilderness with words such as woods, preserve and pines.

Country living may provide a respite from the traffic, noise and congestion of urban Altamonte Springs or Orlando , but it also increases the risk that your home will be destroyed by a wildfire.

And with growth pushing Central Florida 's development into rural zones, more homes than ever are at risk.

Just ask Bill Butler of Palm Coast .

In 1981, Butler and his wife built a home in the Pine Lakes subdivision. They loved the rustic feel of their wood-frame house surrounded by eucalyptus, juniper, saw palmetto and wax myrtle.

"We carved it right out of the woods," Butler said.

Four years later, Butler 's home was reduced to ashes, one of about 100 in Palm Coast destroyed by a wildfire.

The natural features of the home he treasured so much had provided fuel for the wildfire.

"I did all the wrong things," said Butler , a landscape architect for the city of Palm Coast.

As Butler learned the hard way, homeowners can take steps to minimize the chance that their homes will be destroyed by wildfire.

And with fire experts warning that the dry conditions make the area vulnerable for a repeat of the wildfire outbreaks of 1985 and 1998, it's critical that people take steps to protect their homes.

"The reality is there aren't enough fire responders to protect everything that needs to be protected, and there never will be," said Timber Weller, a spokesman for the Florida Division of Forestry.

Precautions in order

"Houses need to protect themselves," Weller said. "That doesn't mean they are fireproof, just more fire-resistant. If you take the proper steps, you can make your house 99 percent fire-resistant."

Weller said there's no question that the region's growth has put more homes in danger.

When he started as a forest ranger in 1987, he said, it was unusual to see homes threatened during a wildfire.

In the 1980s, about 85 percent of the state's wildfires were in remote areas with few homes nearby, and 15 percent were in more populated areas.

Today, those numbers are reversed, and it is unusual to see a wildfire that is not menacing homes, Weller said.

Fire officials call this phenomenon the "wildland/urban interface," a term referring to the area where development and forests converge. Weller said that at least one-third of the South's population lives in the wildland/urban interface.

For Florida , 1998 was a pivotal year.

Wildfires burned 506,000 acres statewide and damaged or destroyed 330 homes and businesses, prompting more attention to the problem and some improvement to firefighting equipment and communication tools.

But calls for ordinances and codes that limit development in fire-prone areas and protect homes from wildfires were largely ignored, Weller said.

He notes that every county requires developers to file plans to control mosquitoes -- but not wildfires.

"We have been really slow to adapt to the reality that most of Florida is a wildfire-prone environment," Weller said.

Some communities have taken the threat seriously. After the 1998 fires, officials in Palm Coast passed a law that requires mowing tall brush on all vacant lots near homes.

Before the city approves large developments in fire-prone areas, developers must agree to minimize wildfire danger by taking steps that might include thinning out trees, providing multiple access roads for firefighters and evacuees, and making retention ponds accessible to firefighters.

Subdivision creates buffer

In some places, developers have not waited for new regulations. Homes in the 60-acre Briargate subdivision in Ormond Beach have a 30-foot vegetative buffer around them, rocks instead of mulch for landscaping, insulated windows and fire-resistant tile roofs.

"It's a very delicate balancing act between the environment and natural disasters," said Greg Fretwell, whose company is developing Briargate. "We all want a beautiful environment with natural trees and foliage, but sometimes those things can cause you a problem."

Fretwell said the fire-resistant measures only add about 3 percent to the price, and people who buy appreciate them. His community is recognized as being "firewise," a national designation for subdivisions that minimize the risk of wildfires.

Older communities also are taking steps to become firewise.

In Wedgefield, an east Orange County subdivision once known as " Rocket City ," residents are surrounded by woods and are 12 miles from a fire station. Because of the high wildfire threat, residents formed a "firewise" committee to educate people about protecting their homes from wildfires.

"Since we are in Florida , people move in and move out all the time," said Mary Prescott, who heads the committee. "It's a continual process of educating people. With a hurricane, you are warned that it is coming.

"But there's no warning with a wildfire."

Etan Horowitz can be reached at ehorowitz@orlandosentinel.com or 386-851-7915.

Rural growth could extinguish essential wildfire-prevention tool

Kevin Spear
Sentinel Staff Writer

April 29, 2007

A firestorm that destroyed six homes in a rural Polk County neighborhood last month may have ignited from a professionally set blaze meant to prevent exactly the kind of tragedy that unfolded.

The devastation was perhaps the worst in the Southeast to result from setting prescribed fire to reduce brush and make forests less prone to uncontrollable flames. And it has sent an alarm across the state: An essential wildfire-prevention tool is becoming harder to use as more homes are built near rural lands.

That signals a growing risk for Floridians because fewer prescribed burns mean more and bigger wildfires -- now a looming possibility because of drought that continues to worsen.

"There are risks from prescribed fire," said Jim Stevenson, a retired state ecologist in Tallahassee and a leading supporter of the practice. "The risks from not burning are much greater."

Leading all other states, Florida burns about 2 million acres of wild lands each year. But with increasing numbers of homes, burners have had to set smaller blazes that can more easily be contained. More workers also have to monitor the flames, so fires cost more.

A burn of thousands of acres of isolated St. Johns River marsh can be done by a crew of five for as little as $1.50 an acre. But a 32-acre burn last year near Jacksonville homes needed 16 people and cost $312 an acre.

More than ever, prescribed burners -- who typically work for forestry, wildlife and water-management agencies -- regularly struggle with how to keep smoke and flames in a targeted area. Of more than 1,500 wildfires this year in Florida , 89 were triggered by prescribed fire.

Good burn gone bad?

Though investigators aren't certain, a prescribed burn may have flared into the March 2 firestorm that swept through the area east of Lake Wales in Polk County .

Just two days earlier, prescribed fire blackened 22 acres of The Nature Conservancy's Tiger Creek Preserve. Burners checked the tract a day later and found it was "out cold with no concerns," according to investigation reports.

But on the day of the wildfire, preserve neighbors grew frantic, watching the strong wind of an approaching cold front stir flames and smoke inside the preserve fence.

"That's where the fire started," said Sandra Milton, who was checking on her rental homes when the fire occurred. "It was like a devil wind blowing it in our direction."

Sylvia Long, 61, and her husband, Johnny, narrowly escaped flames. They credit a heroic state forest ranger for saving their home, though their bee and honey operation and upholstery shop on their 6 acres were reduced to rubble.

Destroyed in the fire were six mobile homes and about as many sheds and other small buildings. Another 50 homes and buildings were threatened.

Within days of the 172-acre fire, The Nature Conservancy donated $30,000 to the Lake Wales Care Center to assist victims.

The environmental group, which specializes in buying and protecting natural landscapes, wouldn't comment.

One of the group's specialists responsible for the prescribed burn denied to investigators that it caused the wildfire, although a team of state Department of Agriculture investigators found no evidence of lightning, arson, campfires or other typical starts of wildfire. Nor could investigators find evidence that ruled out smoldering embers from the prescribed fire as the cause.

The Tiger Creek Preserve has been restored and maintained by 239 prescribed fires since 1985, and none caused trouble, according to a Nature Conservancy statement.

The payoff from all that burning goes beyond preventing wildfires. Florida woods and prairies depend on fire to clear out invading shrubs and to trigger new growth. Cones from sand pines, for example, burst open in intense heat to scatter seeds. Some plants, such as wire grass, flourish in ashes.

The Nature Conservancy's burners are regarded as among the best in Florida , so many of the state's burners fear that if such a disaster can happen at Tiger Creek, it can happen anywhere. They acknowledge that steering flames away from homes is still a mix of art and science.

"That is where we want our students to get experience," said Mark Ruggiero, acting director of the National Interagency Prescribed Fire Training Center in Tallahassee, which draws 150 students a year from across the nation.

Such experience is critical at Central Florida's Wekiwa Springs State Park . The forest is hemmed in by rooftops on three sides. Park Manager John Fillyaw said he has to deploy large crews to conduct relatively tiny burns and wait days for winds to blow away from homes. "We have to try to push smoke into the park," he said.

Already, the park has opted to cut down and reseed some expanses of woods rather than risk lighting a fire that escapes into a neighborhood or blankets a road with smoke.

Living with fire

A governor's committee that studied Florida's wildfire disaster of 1998 recommended late that year that state agencies give high priority to prescribed fire on public and private lands. The fires that year were the result of many conditions, including drought. But the lack of prescribed fires also was blamed.

Results have been spotty. One exception is Alachua County . Jeff Bielling, the county's wildfire-mitigation officer, said Alachua's growth blueprint requires developers to specify wildfire safeguards and to make allowances for the use of prescribed fire. That includes telling home buyers what to expect.

"There's a whole new crop of folks in Florida every few years," Bielling said. "Documents tell them if they are living in a rural area, they are possibly going to be exposed to prescribed fire."

Overall, though, burners in Florida face a hodgepodge of circumstances. In Orange County , for example, burners at Hal Scott Regional Preserve and Park are particularly cautious along the west boundary, where new homes are crowded near forest.

At the preserve's east side is Wedgefield, an older community that has worked to welcome prescribed burners and their fires.

"They're an excellent partner," said Steve Miller, who oversees prescribed-fire work by the St. Johns River Water Management District. "What they get out of it is better views and a much safer home."

Lane Green, executive director at the Tall Timbers Research Station near Tallahassee and a longtime promoter of burning, said prescribed fire is too essential to stop, even when mistakes occur.

"When planes crash, we don't quit flying," Green said.

Kevin Spear can be reached at kspear@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5062.

COMING MONDAY: More homes at risk from wildfire, Local In-Depth
Newberry ponders question: when is country land perfect for development?
By Ronald Dupont Jr.
Herald Editor

NEWBERRY -- The questions were similar and perplexing, with each producing a different answer:

When is a piece of country land so far in the country and so far away from any major city that the land, in fact, becomes perfect for a retail store because people living that far away need one?

And when is a piece of country land so far in the country and so far away from any major city that the land, in fact, absolutely should remain country land because people living that far away from any city moved out that far for a reason -- to get away from businesses?

Monday, the Newberry city commission debated that question over a piece of land that sits almost exactly halfway between downtown Newberry and downtown High Springs.

But by the time the various reasonings were weighed and by the time opposing, equally compelling comments by residents were made, the city commission came up with a definite, compelling "we're not sure."

In June, the developer will approach the city again, this time with a slightly different proposal and this time facing a city commission that could vote either for or against the project and do so either way with a split or unanimous vote.

That's how difficult the two-pronged question has become. And it's a question that cities in the Crescent Communities continue to face as development marches toward the rural areas.

The latest controversy centers around 9.9 acres of land at the southwest corner of U.S. 27 and County Road 232, roughly five miles from downtown High Springs and downtown Newberry.

Developer Leon Wyszkowski has proposed to build a 15,000-square-foot development that will include room for a gas station, convenience store and another small store. The proposed 15,000 square feet is equivalent to four medium-sized homes if they were built back-to-back.

Planner Gerry Dedenbach of the firm Causseaux and Ellington represented Wyszkowski at Monday's meeting and said that the development would actually be a big help to the people living in the 800 homes in the vast, rural area around the land.

He also said that the retail outlet and gas station could help Newberry's State Road 26 traffic woes because people who would normally travel to Newberry's downtown area would now have a place closer to their homes.

But people who live in that area don't want such a place closer to their homes, resident Tess Rushlo argued. Rushlo, who lives near the proposed development, said that people who live in the country understand that way of life and plan for it.

"We have a way of life that when we're in town at our jobs, we get what we want," she said. "...I handpicked (my) property because I wanted to be in the country."

But another resident, Charles Castlen, who also lives near the proposed development, made the opposite argument.

"When I moved out there, I always said that would be a good place to put something," he said. "I wish I could have bought it...If they're trying to do something decent, it's a prime location."

Newberry city commissioners were just as conflicted in their thoughts and some of them openly expressed opinions for the development, then opinions against it, sometimes just minutes apart.

"That area is a prime location for a convenience store," Commissioner Monty Farnsworth said.

But then Commissioner Lois Forte said while that may be true, somebody who owns county land across the street could ask for their land to be rezoned commercial because the city had rezoned nearby land to a commercial designation.

The only city commissioner who remained steadfast in his views and never wavered was Joe Hoffman.

"This is urban sprawl," he said. "This is a poster child for it."

Urban sprawl, by definition, occurs when development in a city occurs well beyond an area where city services can be provided.

City commissioners in cities across North Florida point to South Florida and have repeatedly said they do not want to repeat what South Florida had done -- when shopping centers and major neighborhoods were built in the middle of country land, often forcing cities to build fire departments and other services nearby.

In the case of the contested piece of property in Newberry, there are no water and sewer lines out that far, and the Newberry fire chief has expressed concern about how long the department would need to get to the location if a commerical fire were to happen.

But the developer has promised to drill a well, put a high-end pump on it, and cap it with a fire hydrant that the city could use as if water lines did run to the property.

In fact, the developer said, the city fire department could use that well anytime the city needed to fight fires in the rural area.

Perhaps the biggest stumbling block for city commissioners was what the developer planned to put on the rest of the 9.9 acres in the future.

If the city approved the 15,000-square-foot gas station and retail area, what would the developer ask for next once he got that?

To calm the city over that matter, the developer agreed to break the development into three phases, with the city getting say-so over each phase.

But Hoffman said he still had concerns and pointed to a comment by the developer's attorney, Patrice Boyes. At a previous meeting with the city's Planning and Zoning Board, Boyes said that after the first phase was built, "all bets are off for future development on the site," according to minutes taken at the meeting.

When Hoffman read the attorney's comment out loud, that stopped Dedenbach, a planner known in municipal circles for his flowing presentations. He thought for a moment, then said the attorney used a "poor choice of words" and that the city would still have say-so over the rest of the land.

Wyszkowski, the developer, also seemed taken aback by the comment and said that he did not plan to build anything that would be intense in use. For example, he said, he thought another phase of the 9.9 acres would be perfect for a day care for the many residents who have to travel to Gainesville each day.

When the city commission learned that Wyszkowski was willing to stipulate that the city could have say-so over each phase, the elected officials agreed to delay consideration of the matter until the June 25th meeting so that the paperwork could be rewritten.

But the matter is far from solved. Commissioners made no promise of approval and further, Commissioner Alena Lawson, an outspoken opponent of urban sprawl, was not at Monday's meeting.

When the developer approaches the city again in June, the issue may boil down to a single vote, that of Lawson, who will have to answer the key question: At what point is country land so country that it needs to remain that way, and at what point is country land so country that it's perfect for retail development?

No offense, but I think the editor is just a wee bit biased himself. I also think it is a little unfair of him to criticize Diane Rowden for her consistancy - she was doing her job - she was following the will of the people who elected her in the first place, many of whom did NOT want Hickory Hill to be approved.

Board did well handling hearing on Hickory Hill

Robert Nolte
Editor


What a difference a week makes.

From a rowdy, mob-ruled county commission meeting to determine the fate of Spring Hill Fire’s governing board to a sedate, dignified 12-hour session to determine the future of a proposed 1,750-home subdivision.

And what a born-again commission chairman!

Jeff Stabins didn’t mince words at the start of Thursday’s public hearing to decide the fate of Hickory Hill. He said not everybody would leave happy, then cautioned he would tolerate no name calling or personal attacks, as he allowed at the April 17 fire board hearing and for which he was roundly criticized.

Stabins had reason to fear a repeat.

The issue over Hickory Hill has been divisive for almost two years, ever since the golf course community was proposed for the area, southwest of Interstate 75 and State Road 50.

In the end, commissioners voted 4 to 1 to approve a comprehensive plan amendment, paving the way for the next step of the massive development that won’t be fully completed for about 20 years.

It was a long day for everybody, but during the public hearing there was respect for all opinions and Stabins did a good job of moving the meeting along, even though there was a great amount of detail to go over.

The commission asked intelligent questions and was attentive through hours of testimony. Developer Sebring Sierra and his colleagues had answers for every question and were impressive in their presentation, a factor that surely weighed heavily when the final vote was taken.

What next for Hickory Hill

It will be years before bulldozers appear on Hickory Hill Road and opponents can take comfort in knowing roadblocks and even an end to the development could occur if several state agencies are not satisfied with Sierra Properties and their ambitious plans. Still, Sierra’s troops impressed even many of their opponents at Thursday’s hearing with their dedication and attention to detail, never balking at the possibility of having to make changes down the road. The company is respectful and easy to deal with and that should calm any fears of a development that will be less than the best for our county.

Except for Commissioner Diane Rowden, board members have been difficult to nail down as to how they would vote on Hickory Hill. Commissioner Rose Rocco was particularly hard to read. But apparently, she was impressed with Sierra’s diligence Thursday.

“We know we’re going to get development coming out there,” Rocco said. “It’s only a question of when. I think we can depend on these people.”

Rowden, on the other hard, has been hostile on Hickory Hill since almost the beginning. She has been intractable in her hatred for the project and announced long ago she would vote against it. Though an unwise position for Rowden in a growth-oriented county like Hernando, she was at least consistent in her opposition to Hickory Hill.

That could not be said for her vote on the Spring Hill Fire Board issue nearly two weeks ago.

Commissioners Chris Kingsley and Dave Russell had to pull knives out of their backs after Rowden announced she would vote with them on dissolving the fire board, then changed her mind at the last minute.

Because of that and her lone, stubborn vote against Hickory Hill, Rowden has lost a lot of support and credibility, both from board members and in the community. She may find it tough to line up support for her projects in the future because she has sullied her reputation and it will be difficult to trust her.

Both of these unfortunate votes will come back to haunt her in next year’s primary election.

Robert Nolte is the editor of Hernando Today and can be contacted at 352-544-5295.

A hometown born of no town at all

Spring Hill was created for retirees, but the families made it a home.

By MICHAEL KRUSE
Published April 30, 2007

SPRING HILL

Four generations of Wolfarths gathered one recent Saturday afternoon for their monthly get-together at the little blue house with the brick trim out front and all the pictures on the walls inside.

Bob and Pat Wolfarth have lived here since 1974. Their three grown daughters - Debbie Carpenter, Diane Johnston and Tammy Paynter - all still live in the area, too, and so do five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

The family made a ring that took up most of the room for prayer.

"Join the circle, " Carpenter said. "Hold hands.

"Can't have a broken circle."

The prayer was for thanks for the food they were about to eat, and each other - and this, their home.

Spring Hill "opened" 40 years ago today. The three house-building Mackle brothers and five Hernando County commissioners cut a red ribbon at the corner of two-lane U.S. 19 and brand-new Spring Hill Drive, and people started to come down for the hot sun, the square feet and the right to never shovel snow again. They have not stopped since.

This is an odd but important anniversary in the life of west-central Florida .

Spring Hill changed Hernando socially, politically, demographically - and, maybe most of all, rapidly. This deceptively big, still unincorporated population base in the southwestern part of the county has gone from 0 to about 100, 000 in just these last 40 years. Hernando as a whole: 13, 000 to more than 10 times that.

Spring Hill also is an uncanny case study in the state's overall evolution.

It is, says Gary Mormino, a history professor at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg , "a microcosm of modern Florida ."

This land was little more than sand hills and scrub oaks. Most of the folks up here considered it useless. It was too sandy to grow citrus or grass.

But the Mackles weren't interested in growing either.

They started a retirement community.

Then, pretty quickly, there were some younger families.

Then, over time, as Florida's population shot from 2.7-million in 1950 to 15.9-million in 2000, there were more and more young families in Spring Hill, and wider roads, and more schools, then overflow trailers outside those schools, then two Wal-Marts with a third on the way, then long waits at lights that five years ago didn't even exist.

Some people poke fun at Spring Hill, and with common criticisms of sprawling, new Florida - too many cars, too few sidewalks, no center, no soul. Former Sen. Bob Graham once called it "a mistress state." Nobody makes a commitment to it, the thinking went.

But a less-documented part of the story of the state's exponential expansion is the families who did more than just move here. Who stayed. Who made it their place.

In Spring Hill, that's the McGeehans, the Vonadas, the Thomases, the Eccards, the Calloways.

Dennis McGeehan, for instance, is the principal of Hernando's Central High School . He is also the son of one of Spring Hill's original and longtime Realtors. He has children who live here, and brothers, and sisters, and they have children here, too.

"I don't see myself picking up the stakes and moving, " he said, "and I don't see them making any plans to leave, either."

This is home.

Just like with the Wolfarths.

Bob and Pat Wolfarth moved here from New Jersey in August 1974. They bought their 1, 450-square-foot house for $34, 200 and drove down Interstate 75 with the girls.

"We got off 75, and we started smelling chicken poop, " Tammy Paynter said.

"We were just, like, 'What did you do to us?' " Diane Johnston said.

At that time, there was a Winn-Dixie, a 7-Eleven and not much more than that.

"And we were two of the youngest people in Spring Hill, " Pat Wolfarth said. Bob and Pat Wolfarth were in their 40s. "It was all elderly people."

One year, Pat Wolfarth said, she taught Sunday school at the First United Methodist Church to just one little boy.

Carol Thomas, who also moved here in 1974, had a baby in 1976 and had to order a crib out of a catalog. She couldn't buy one around here.

Since then, though, and especially after the Suncoast Parkway was finished six years ago, the people who have been here have noticed a difference. Now almost one in five here is a kid in school. Now 71 percent of the households are families. Now the average commute time is almost 26 minutes.

Now, Joanne Schoch, who came here in 1989, hears kids riding bikes and splashing in pools.

So does Gloria Nadeau. She's been here since 1988.

"I like it, " she said. "It's life. Real life."

Within this shift, the Wolfarths cooked dinners and played in local softball leagues and did youth ministry.

They had their 25th wedding anniversary. And their 50th.

Two of their daughters were married at the church. And one of their granddaughters.

One of their daughters went back to New Jersey for a bit - then came back. Another one went to California for a bit - then came back.

"And I think for our grandchildren, " Pat Wolfarth said, "this is just home."

And once a month, they come together, always, all four generations, here at the little blue house that's almost as old as Spring Hill itself, and where the walls are covered with school pictures and soccer plaques and family portraits that hang like cared-for keepsakes in a well-worn wallet.

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

Condo flippers caught in web of stale market

Published April 29, 2007
Mike Thomas

Orlando certainly is the City Beautiful from here on the 13th floor of the Solaire condominium at Church Street and Magnolia Avenue .

It looks like a tropical forest.

The wide-open spaces almost make you forget the teeny-tiny vantage point. When you walk into the "one-bedroom" unit, the first thing you see is the bed, separated from the living space by a curved wall.

This is about 850 square feet, but they make them even smaller.

How much does one cost?

Make an offer in the mid $200,000s. Or wait a while and offer less. Prices sure aren't going up.

A lot of investors who plopped down deposits in Solaire during the pre-construction, condo-mania craze are desperate to get out now that it's time to close and seal the deal. You can read it in their ads on the craigslist Web site.

"This is a rock bottom price. Period. You are not going to find anything cheaper in a nicer building. I am closing (or not) in 2 weeks depending on whether I have a good prospect or not."

Or: "This is officially the last chance for someone to take this great condo off of my hands at COST. I have included a link to all of the MLS listings of Solaire just to show you the pictures and so that you can see what a great price this is."

Or: "I am really just looking to get my deposit back. I can also throw in about 5 grand under the table at the close for you to furnish it, but really cannot go much lower."

I contacted one seller who said the thought of walking away from his $10,000 deposit has crossed his mind.

"Nothing is moving from what I see," he said. "Maybe I made a bad move."

When investors got in, it seemed there was no ceiling to what someone would pay for a downtown condo.

"It was great one day and nothing the next," says real estate agent Darryl Hunt, who promotes himself as Downtown Darryl. "It just stopped. Period. Nobody expected it to stop that fast."

Actually, I wrote it was going to stop in November 2005. A condo developer spent two hours explaining to me why I was wrong.

Instead, I listened to economist Hank Fishkind, whose simple calculation of customers versus number of condos did not add up.

Not to worry, says Downtown Darryl. It's the circle of life in the real-estate market. What goes up eventually comes down, then goes back up.

"Panickers. Panickers," he says of those fleeing the market. "Some people get scared. Don't get so scared."

How low could the market go?

Who knows? The up phase of the cycle was insane, which doesn't bode well for the down phase.

It could take several years to work out the inventory glut, which at a minimum could result in stagnant prices.

And to protect values, condominiums often restrict the number of units in the building that can be rented, meaning some investors won't be able to pull in any income to defray their holding costs.

Downtown Darryl's Web site says many listed prices are down 20 percent to 40 percent from last year.

Condos under construction include 55 West, The Vue at Lake Eola, The Paramount, Star Tower and 101 Eola. About 1,350 more units soon will hit the market, many priced much higher than Solaire.

Jack Connor of the J. Connor and Co. appraisal firm in Longwood is not optimistic they will fill up soon.

"If you want the downtown story, go there Sunday night and look at all the dark condos," he says.

Downtown Darryl remains optimistic: "It's picked up a little. I have one (sale) pending now, thank God."

Mike Thomas can be reached at 407-420-5525 or mthomas@orlandosentinel.com. His blog is OrlandoSentinel.com/mikethomas

Community threatening to de-annex over sewer system
By Rachael Ryals
Herald Staff Writer

HIGH SPRINGS -- Lynda Tiffany said she moved to High Springs because it is a family- and church-orientated city with an active community that she and her husband thought would be a nice place to raise their three children.

A sprawling flower garden at her RiverGlen home is where she spends much of her time, and her neighbors sometime come over to walk on the garden’s pathways and appreciate the beauty.

Tiffany said she loves living in High Springs but she may soon be forced to move due to the costs, maybe as much as $10,000, that she must soon pay to connect her home — built in 1999 -- to the city’s sewer system that will be run to her neighborhood.

Tiffany and other residents in RiverGlen, upset about the rising costs of connecting to the sewer system, are joining together to protest the requirement that they connect to the system.

More than half of the residents in the neighborhood have signed a petition asking the city to remove the RiverGlen subdivision from phase II of the city's overall sewer project, said resident Bob Barnas, who started the petition.

The petition requests that the city remove the subdivision from the project for now because of the rising costs of connecting to the system and the fact that most of the 60 homes and septic tanks in RiverGlen are less than seven years old, posing no harm to the environment, Barnas said.

However, High Springs City Manager Jim Drumm said that the ground in High Springs is rocky and not sandy, and that causes septic tanks to be very unsafe for the envirmoment.

RiverGlen Threatening To De-Annex from City

If the city does not meet the requests of the petition, Barnas said he would begin collecting signatures from the residents to de-annex from the city.

“My goal is not to de-annex,” Barnas said. “But if the city continues to ignore us as a 100-150-person strong community, why not de-annex? They are not respecting our wishes.”

But that cannot legally happen, Drumm said. If RiverGlen was to de-annex, an enclave would be created. An enclave is where a piece of county land is surrounded or nearly surrounded by city land.

State law would not allow for the enclave to be created for RiverGlen to be de-annexed.

The city sewer system, an idea tossed around for more than 40 years and finally approved by voters in the late 1990s, will help to protect the Santa Fe River and the aquifer from pollution, city officials have said.

They've also said that the sewer system will attract new restaurants and other businesses to the downtown area where they could not build before due to the large amount of land required for a septic tank.

Funding for the sewer system was a roller coaster ride for a while, with millions in federal funding almost awarded but then revoked due to an increase in the income levels of High Springs' residents.

But then in 2005, the USDA Rural Development Division decided to recalculate how they determined eligibility, and High Springs was awarded $10.4 million in funding.

But due to the time lapse between when the city first applied and when they were finally approved, some tough decisions had to be made.

The federal funding would cover all five phases of the sewer system, keeping a promise that residents would not have to pay any money out of their pockets to connect to the system.

However, to receive the funding, the city had to pick a date as the cut-off for who would be covered by the grant and loan money.

The federal funding could not pay indefinitely for every resident that would ever move to High Springs, and the city commission decided to keep the promise to all currant residents that they would not have to pay anything to connect to the sewer system.

In 1997, the date of October 1, 1998 was chosen, giving all existing homes built before that date funding and also giving all potential residents a year to pull building permits and be grandfathered into the funding.

Contractually, the city must now follow these guidelines.

Phase I, which was primarily the core of the downtown area, was completed without many problems because almost all the homes were completed before 1998 and were covered by the funding, Drumm said.

Most residents were thrilled to have their septic tanks -- many of them decades old and leaking sewage -- replaced with the sewer system, Drumm said.

Many Homes in RiverGlen Fell Just Outside Deadline

However, many of the homes in the RiverGlen subdivision, located in phase II, which is being completed along with phase III, are newer homes with new septic tanks. Also, most of the homes fall just outside the October 1, 1998 cut-off for funding.

Residents are upset that they have to pay to connect to the system, while others did not. In addition, they say the price of connecting has doubled or even tripled in the past few years and now includes an impact fee.

The impact fee was the subject of a May 27 High Springs Herald letter to the editor by RiverGlen resident Chuck Roder.

“I still don’t understand how the city can charge an impact fee on a house that was built before the fee was passed, but it seems they can,” Roder writes.

The impact fees need not be in place when a home was built, Drumm said. The impact fees are charged when a homeowner connects their home to the system and impact it, he said.

Because the city had to build the sewer system in five phases, it caused problems for those building a home before the system reached them, but that was the only option unless the city wanted to ban all new building until the system was complete.

But instead of doing that, commissioners decided to allow those who wanted to build to do so with a septic tank with the understanding that in the future, the tank would be destroyed and the home would be connected to the sewer line - -at which point the impact fee would be paid, Drumm said.

“We think this is a fair compromise,” he said.

Drumm said that many people building new homes chose to put in a septic tank now, even knowing they will have to destroy it in a few years, because as building costs rise every year, they will save money by building a home now rather than waiting.

Letters were and still are sent to all property owners informing them of their future requirement of connecting to the system. However, no dollar amount is in the letters because that amount is always changing, Drumm said.

Sellers should have told Buyers, Drumm said

Some people who bought homes already built may not have been aware of the future costs, but that is something the seller should have disclosed to the buyer because the seller was aware of the costs, Drumm said.

In January of this year, the city decided to simplify things by making builders in phase II and phase III pay for the cost of the sewer connection when they pay for the building permits, locking in today’s price of the connection as well as allowing the costs to be financed with the cost of the home.

Tiffany said this was not an option for her in 1999, and that if she had known about the cost she would have to pay, she would have financed it in with the price of her home.

However, that was something that the seller should have disclosed to the buyer because the city had already informed the owner of the property, Drumm said.

Barnas and Tiffany both said that the city should help pay for the costs in RiverGlen, but Drumm said he has tried and there is no way for the city to acquire any grants or funds for the neighborhood because the property values and income levels are too high.

“If you go to ask a federal agency for money, they will see there is a lot of wealth tied up in their property,” Drumm said. “They would say, ‘Take a loan off the wealth of your property.’”

Drumm said that RiverGlen has to connect to the sewer system because state law requires any property within 200 feet of a sewer system to connect.

Barnas, who is optimistic that the city will accommodate RiverGlen’s wish to be removed from phase II of the project, will present his petition at today's Thursday, April 26 city commission meeting.

He is optimistic about how the city will respond.

“I think they will see the wisdom in coming up with a more comprehensive plan,” he said

Feds plan to expand Gulf oil drilling

By ANA RADELAT
FLORIDA TODAY WASHINGTON BUREAU

WASHINGTON -- The Interior Department plans to announce a five-year plan today that would expand oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and authorize preliminary exploration studies in waters off the coast of Alaska and Virginia.

Interior officials are expected to include more environmental buffer zones around lease areas and make other minor changes to a previous draft.

But the plan would be controversial.

It is expected to authorize environmental studies off Virginia's eastern shore for the first time. That would be a first step toward opening the area to oil and gas production. Drilling is banned there now, but some Virginia officials want to open the area to offshore production.

The plan also would open the door to an oil and gas lease sale in an area in the central Gulf of Mexico that Congress opened to drilling last year. Revenue from those lease sales - expected next year - would be shared with the Gulf Coast states of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.

The plan also would set up a lease sale for Alaska's Bristol Bay. Drilling was banned there in 1990 after the Exxon Valdez spill, but Congress lifted the ban in 2003.

Details of the plan were sketchy. But Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said he would "announce a major proposal for expanded oil and natural gas development on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf."

Dan Naatz, vice president of federal resources for the Independent Petroleum Association of America, said he hopes the Interior Department's plan is "as aggressive as possible."

Contact Ana Radelat at aradelat@gns.gannett.com
Florida to Get Boost to Natural Gas Supply

By Cory Reiss
Ledger Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON - Workers in Georgia are expected to turn a valve in early May that will send up to 220 million cubic feet per day of natural gas through a new 167-mile pipeline to the power-hungry state of Florida.

With that, Florida will be enmeshed in the global market for liquefied natural gas, or LNG, from countries such as Qatar, Trinidad and Tobago, and Egypt even as Congress chases a chimerical goal of "energy independence."

Florida's gas supply will jump by as much as 10 percent with the connection to a terminal in Elba Island, Ga., where LNG is drawn off special ships and converted from its liquid state.

The LNG boost to Florida could rise within five years to more than 20 percent above volumes the state received in 2006.

The first direct LNG infusion to Florida underscores a domestic supply crunch that critics say the state has played a significant role in creating with nearly three decades as a leading foe of expanded offshore energy production.

"If the United States had permitted, for example, access to domestic resources located offshore ... and things of that nature, there probably would be less need for this," said Don Santa, president of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America.

Coastal states led by Florida and California have understandable fears about offshore oil and gas drilling, but a consequence is that domestic supplies of natural gas are not keeping pace with demand. America became dependent on overseas oil decades ago.

The U.S. Minerals Management Service is expected to release its five-year offshore drilling proposal today, which includes new drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, thought to be rich in natural gas. Critics say the plan may be too limited and too late to curb a boom of LNG in the United States, which the government predicts will begin this year and last for decades.

Domestic gas prices in recent years have at times been more than double their levels in 2000, making the usually more expensive LNG imports competitive.

The big question is whether reliance on imported LNG will keep prices high or even raise them further.

Clean-burning natural gas fuels about 19 percent of American electricity generation, and 39 percent in Florida. A peninsular state with only two interstate pipeline connections to domestic gas, Florida craves new sources.

Rep. John Peterson, a Pennsylvania Republican who is a leading critic of Florida's anti-drilling stand, chuckled when told about the state's coming dependence on foreign natural gas. He said vast domestic supplies lie just off Florida's shores.

"If you've got that production possibility and you reach out to foreign unstable countries, tell me that makes sense," he said.

'CARTEL INFLUENCES'

Pro-drilling lawmakers say they'll continue efforts to end drilling bans covering the East and West coasts, and to modify a deal struck with Florida lawmakers last year that will keep production 125 miles from the Florida Panhandle and 234 miles west of Tampa Bay. The new five-year plan is expected to propose drilling off Virginia, which could provoke another fight in Congress.

Florida lawmakers argue they have taken a major step for domestic supplies by agreeing to the new drilling plan for the eastern Gulf. Many analysts, however, say decades of inaction are catching up with the natural gas sector, and that LNG is here to stay.

The Energy Information Administration, part of the Department of Energy, projects LNG imports will hit record levels this year, the leading edge of an upswing. LNG accounts for 2 percent of the nation's natural gas supply but is projected to hit 20 percent by 2030. U.S. imports were up 47 percent in the first quarter of 2007 compared with 2006.

LNG-producing countries are expanding liquefaction facilities to meet global demand. Some experts are concerned that producing countries might try to control prices.

"The problem with LNG," said Mike Donnelly, vice president of strategic consulting for the firm Global Energy Decisions, "is the pricing to a certain extent will be upheld by cartel influences."

The LNG that currently reaches America mostly comes from the Caribbean, but government data show other regions, including the Middle East, will claim larger shares.

There is no cartel for natural gas on par with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which sets global oil prices. But countries like Russia, Venezuela, Nigeria, Iran, Qatar and others accounting for 40 percent of global gas production have formed a loose association called the Gas Exporting Countries Forum.

If solidified, the forum could control gas supplies and prices, but opinions differ about whether that will happen.

Unlike oil, which has long been shipped around the world, natural gas has mostly moved through pipelines. That's changing.

The LNG stream begins with drilling for natural gas, which is cooled until it condenses, making it much more compact, and is loaded onto special tankers. The liquid is warmed to its gaseous state at terminals in recipient countries.

The process is not new. Countries such as Japan and Spain are highly dependent on LNG, but global demand is surging.

"It's going from regional commodity to a global one," said Damien Gaul, an LNG analyst for the Energy Information Administration. "It'll change the markets across the world."

THE LONG HAUL

With five LNG terminals in the United States, energy companies are jockeying for position with plans for about 40 more. Experts say not all of those expensive facilities would be built, and many of the best prospects are in the central Gulf of Mexico where pipelines are extensive.

Peterson, for one, says LNG is too expensive. America needs cheap gas, he said, rather than prices that make LNG profitable here.

But Florida continues to prove central to the future of the LNG industry. On April 19, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued an important ruling in a dispute over introducing LNG into Florida's gas stream, setting precedents that are expected to ease more LNG into pipelines across the country.

A proposed LNG terminal in the Bahamas, which would connect to South Florida through an undersea pipeline, stalled in 2004 on a dispute with the state's largest pipeline, owned by Florida Gas Transmission Co.

The Florida pipeline tried to set standards for the vaporized LNG entering its system, but the terminal developer, AES Ocean Express LLC, complained they were too restrictive.

The federal agency that regulates these matters, FERC, issued its first ruling to establish, among other things, a template for setting LNG standards in U.S. pipelines. FERC also denied a request from Florida power companies for compensation if vaporized LNG damages electric turbines or requires mechanical alterations.

Aaron Samson, a managing director of AES Ocean, said the decision provides clarity on key issues for industry expansion and "opens up more supply sources that can come into this country." The company says it still intends to build its terminal.

While that case was being argued, however, the owner of Elba Island agreed with Florida Gas Transmission on LNG standards and began laying its pipeline to Jacksonville. Now Houston-based El Paso Corp., which, perhaps helpfully, owns the Georgia terminal as well as 50 percent of Florida Gas Transmission, is preparing to open the spigot.

Contracts for LNG deliveries to the Elba Island terminal - from as far away as Africa and the Middle East - last for up to 30 years

UCF professor, team help restore Mosquito Lagoon oyster reefs

Ludmilla Lelis
Sentinel Staff Writer

April 30, 2007

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The dying oyster reefs of Mosquito Lagoon got a new chance at survival over the weekend.

A team of volunteers began laying out a possible solution for the unique problem killing the reefs at Canaveral National Seashore, where the oysters are protected from the over-harvesting, pollution and disease that trouble other waters.

The culprits here are boat wakes, which push the shells off the lagoon bottom and into piles that dry up in the Florida sun, said Linda Walters, a University of Central Florida biology professor leading the rescue effort.

The hope for the reefs -- and the scores of fish and shellfish that depend on them -- lies in plastic-mesh mats, fitted with shells and held down with weights, where the next generation of oysters can grow. The mats -- handcrafted by more than 5,000 volunteers last year -- will be laid out in the waterways during the next several weeks, just in time for the peak of the oyster-spawning season. The first batch of artificial reef should have oysters growing within days, she said.

"You've got a permanent base where oysters can colonize and build the healthy reefs that were once here," Walters said Sunday. "Oyster reefs used to be a huge expanse within the lagoon, just acre after acre of reefs."

Oysters once provided a rich bounty, evident by the hundreds of millions of pounds of the shellfish culled from the Eastern seaboard each year. One testament to the historic abundance is Turtle Mound, the prehistoric shell midden at Canaveral that may be the nation's biggest. Built with the discards left by the American Indian tribes, it stands 35 feet high and 2 acres wide -- amounting to 1.5 million bushels of oysters.

But wild oyster beds have been decimated, and harvests have plummeted to just 2 percent of their record highs. Experts are trying to protect the surviving reefs and restore them to what they once were.

"Oysters are pretty tough animals, and you have to do a lot to kill them, but apparently we're doing it," said Bill Arnold, a scientist at Florida's Fish and Wildlife Research Institute with a doctorate in marine sciences and 25 years of research in mollusks.

In Florida, pollution, habitat loss and other human effects on the water have wrecked the reefs in Tampa Bay and South Florida. Though the oysters of Apalachicola Bay still fare well, it is a constant fight to maintain the ideal freshwater balance, Arnold said.

In Mosquito Lagoon, where oysters enjoy relatively pristine water, Walters discovered a different threat.

Wakes from boats on the Intracoastal Waterway had shoved the shells off the muddy lagoon bottom into piles that were no longer submerged at high tide the way the filter-feeders need to be, she said.

By 2000, about 9 percent of the lagoon's oyster beds had died, evident by the bleached-white piles of heaped shells along the channels. That hurts not only the oysters but the dozens of fish, crab, shrimp and algae species that live on the shells.

While tracking the changing beds, Walters tested ways to restore the reefs and make new oysters grow.

The oysters needed a carpet of old shells where the "spat," or oyster spawn, will attach and grow. The shells had to be perpendicular to the lagoon bottom and held in place against the boat wakes.

The final design: an 18-square-inch plastic-mesh mat with 36 oyster shells hooked on with plastic cable ties and held down with irrigation weights, which are the concrete doughnuts commonly used around lawn-sprinkler heads. Walters needed at least 3,000 mats to restore 40 acres of reef.

Last year, about 5,100 volunteers -- from Boy Scouts to the Audubon Society to an antique-car club -- made the mats, which have been waiting for the late-spring season, when oyster spawning will be at its peak, she said.

This weekend saw the first batch placed in the lagoon, with the help of students from Seminole Community College and a team from UCF. Walters estimates she will need about 20 workdays in the lagoon, and even more volunteers, to place all the mats.

On Sunday, nine people, ages 10 to 53, leveled a heap of dead white oysters that had been pushed by 20 years of boat wakes. With their rakes clanging, the team gradually flattened the shell pile, pulling the old shells back onto the muddy bottom. Then, about 50 mats were laid into the water and tied onto to the irrigation weights.

Raking the shells was strenuous work, and a few joked about the sore backs and aching arms they would have today.

"I'm a fisherman, and I want to see the lagoon thrive," said David Caffery, 47, of Chuluota. "These oyster reefs will be better for the fish."

After a few hours of work, Walters surveyed the array of plastic mats and irrigation weights and looked forward to watching the oysters grow. Past experiments showed that within a year's time, each mat will host 52 new oysters, as well as the fish, invertebrates and other algae that will join the habitat.

"Eventually, the oysters will grow and create bridges between the shells and create all the nooks and crannies for the other species," she said. "In a couple of years, it should be a healthy reef."

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

Advisers envision Flagler marina

Opponents say it would hurt 'rustic' appeal

By KENYA WOODARD
Staff Writer

PALM COAST -- At the end of a long, yet-unnamed road on the city's northeast side is a serene green place that boasts a view of the blue waters of the Intracoastal Waterway.

But where some members of the City Council and city staff envision the Waterfront Park as a minimally-developed recreation site, others on the city's Leisure Services Advisory Committee see the spot -- the only waterfront land owned by the city -- as a prime area for a city marina.

John Jackson, director of the city's recreation and parks department, said he envisions a park similar to Flagler County's Herschel King Sr. Park, which includes green space, a pavilion and fishing areas.

A marina, Jackson said, is a costly venture that would take away from the area's "rustic" appearance.

"It certainly is a very attractive idea to put a marina in here," he said. "But the fact is you're talking about an extremely expensive project."

Curtis Ceballos, the Leisure Service Advisory Committee's vice chairman, said the marina -- if near an inn, restaurants and shops -- would be self-supporting and make Palm Coast a destination for boaters.

"It would be a shame to go ahead without putting a marina there," he said.

In September, the committee unveiled several plans for the land that included a marina, boat ramp, playground and picnic pavilion.

A recent city-generated survey appears to support the committee's push for a marina.

Because of a growing need statewide for public access to the waterfront, officials should "continue to explore the feasibility of using the Palm Coast Waterfront Park site for a municipal marina and ramp," the city staff report said.

Officials should approach the Florida Inland Navigation District -- whose property sits north of the park -- "to explore obtaining the use of additional property," the report said.

Flagler County Parks and Recreation Director Pete Celestino said the county's boat ramps at Bing's Landing and Herschel King parks handle a high number of boats.

"Another (boat) launch would help," he said.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, there are 1.10 million vessels such as boats, personal watercraft and fishing boats registered in the state. Of that, 30,810 were registered in Volusia County and 4,810 were registered in Flagler County.

While everyone agrees Waterfront Park should be developed, some city officials say a marina at the site may not be ideal.

One problem is that the 20-acre site isn't large enough, said City Manager Jim Landon. For now, the city's focus is to make the area available for recreation and develop a master plan for the park's future, Landon said.

Councilman Alan Peterson said he'd like to see more discussions take place between the city and FIND.

"FIND might be willing to donate a piece of property so that we could think about a marina," he said. "I'd like to see that pursued to see if that's an option."

David Roach, executive director of FIND, said if city officials' master plan for the Waterfront Park includes a marina "we'd be willing to sit down and talk with them."

Money is a potential obstacle. Past estimates put the cost between $4 and $22 million, but Jackson said the true cost is unknown because an actual plan for a marina hasn't been done.

In 2005, consultants estimated the cost to just develop a basic park without a marina at $4.5 million. That number could be higher today, Jackson said.

"Everything's getting more expensive," he said.

While a proposed municipal golf course would become profitable after a few years and the city's $2.5 million tennis complex should break even, "nobody has shown me a marina can break even," said Councilman Jon Netts.

In a memo to the City Council dated March 20, committee members suggest the council secure money through grants to pay for the marina. In addition, the marina eventually could pay for itself if operated as an enterprise fund "with fuel and pump out station and as many boat slips as possible," the memo said.

kenya.woodard

Code Unit To Inspect Lakefront Areas
By Donna Kelly
The Ledger

WINTER HAVEN - The city is taking action to protect its most distinctive natural resource: the 50 lakes that are wholly or partially inside the city limits.

The city's Code Enforcement Unit and Natural Resources Division will inspect docks and ancillary structures, including sheds and storage units, built without permits or that are located too close to the lake or the main house.

Lakes Elbert, Martha, Buckeye, Idyl and Maude will be the first group inspected. Additional lakes will be inspected each month until each lake, canal and waterway has been evaluated.

A start date hasn't been announced.

Property owners in violation of city code will be issued a warning and given 90 days to correct the problem.

If violations are not corrected during that time, then the property owner "will be cited and will go through the code enforcement process and could end up in front of the special magistrate," said Joy Townsend, a spokeswoman for the city.

While focusing on docks not in compliance with city code, officials will also look for instances of illegal vegetation removal, filling in of lake shores and seawalls built without permits.

"When we're doing our inspections, we are going to try to identify any other issues out there," said Community Services Director T. Michael Stavres.

The city will research and report environmental issues to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

Lakes Program Coordinator Rachelle Selser said vegetation removal falls under the jurisdiction of the DEP's Bureau of Aquatic Plant Management, while dredging and filling - including seawall construction and bringing in white sand for beaches - falls under both DEP and Swiftmud enforcement.

Instances of residents building structures on public property will be documented during the lake inspections.

"If we come across a property that is city owned and someone has altered the property or made an unauthorized improvement, it will need to be addressed," Stavres said.

"People can't go out and arbitrarily alter public prop-erty."

Selser sees the inspections as opportunities to educate residents about the importance of maintaining proper aquatic plants on lakefront property.

"I don't think people intend to ruin the lakefronts. They just don't have the information they need to properly manage the lakefront," she said.

Selser said that putting in a white sandy beach is not properly maintaining a beach.

Putting in noninvasive aquatic plants is best for the environment.

"Proper aquatic plants help to protect the shore line from erosion caused by wind and rainaction, as well as provide a habitat for wildlife," Selser said. "Italso filters runoff going into the lake."

Selser said that clearing a lakefront increases erosion, reduces wildlife and increases the amount of pollutants in water.

"Residents should know how to get along with aquatic systems," she said.