In a message dated 1/2/2005 5:44:26 PM Eastern Standard Time,
jyelverton@direcway.com writes:

Only if what you want to do does not involve a developer.

I just created a website for a group I am involved with in Pasco
County.. but it really involves Hernando County as well.. it has to
do with losing our green space..
Jill
http://www.northeastpascoconcernedcitizens.info





I'm going to that site right now. I keep hearing that Fairview Heights,
that runs from HandCart Road to Fort King, will be widened to a 6 lane highway!
Right now it's a little limerock road with 5+ acre farmettes tucked back in
there. The man that built our barn would lose half of their 10 acre farm if
this road gets put in. I hear it's going to run all the way to 301....right
next to the new Lowes.

We're moving out of Pasco to Marion co. in March. We moved here from a
rural section of Plant City back in 2001 that development was slowly approaching.
Before that we were in NW Tampa and that area is so unfamiliar to me now.
It's like we have to keep moving every 3-4 years to keep ahead of the
increasing development....

If eastern Pasco, mainly Dade City, gets overdeveloped it will be a darn
shame. It's one of the most beautiful areas to live in. :o(

Kim
Ascendant Farms, LLC


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Kim,
We lived along Race Track Road in the mid 90's right behind the track.
It was tough raising some horses then so close to Tampa. Then the few areas we
had to ride became developed, traffic was insane, and the taxes were
horrific. We chose to move to Brooksville in 2000.
This will be our fifth year there, and it seems we left a heavy trail of
bread crumbs behind us, because all of Tampa has followed. I do see both
sides of the coin though. The county wants to attract young families, and
commerce.
And I must admit, I only drive a few miles to the publix, the parkway, or
my wife's workplace, which is convenient. I have a DSL connection in the
middle of a cow pasture. My taxes have started to creep up, yet my property
values have tripled.
I think Hernando County has taken notice of the urban sprawl that
occurred in Pasco and Hillsborough. They have allowed more growth on the West side/
Spring Hill area, yet are keeping the urban look in the East. A credit to
those who live in the Spring Lake area for uniting against such development.
It takes dedicated rural residents to remind their local governments the
value of the greenery. However, I also see how it is hard for farmers to turn
down million dollar offers on their properties. If the price was right, I
might sell too. Then I can buy more land further north and run more cows,
assuming their is any land left....

Joe Calabro
http://www.little-c-ranch.com/
Brooksville, FL

I find this very interesting since the horse industry in the state of Florida
employs some 47,000 people and generate millions of dollars every year which
turns into tax dollars for the state. It is also interesting that if horse are
not agricultural then why is equine science taught at the college of agriculture
at UF. As an equine and agricultural appraiser I am at a lost since I will have
to redesignate my business from agricultural to something else.

*****
Southern Appraisers Group

R> wrote:
I noticed that you mentioned that your area is zoned agricultural and rural
residential, but do you know that horses are NOT agriculture? My daughter
just found this out a few weeks ago when someone submitted a complaint about
her horse camps she holds on her property. She knew that their area is zoned
agriculture, but the committee told them that horses are not considered
agriculture! Now my daughter has to attend a hearing to get a special
exclusion to the zoning, so that she may continue having horse camps and
give lessons on her property.

It seems to me that it is getting harder to do what you want with your own
property anywhere.

R in Wauchula

In a message dated 1/1/2005 10:14:45 AM Eastern Standard Time,
olligerl@s... writes:
I lived by you. Now
moved to Loxahatchee. I am afraid that it wasn't far enough North. Now I
have this whole Scripps thing in my backyard. People are complaining they
want a gas station out here and already a publix was just built. And of
course, burger king
My foal is in Wellington at Pure Thoughts. I should be bringing him to
Broward this weekend. I had not been there in awhile, but I did see how much it
is
building up. It reminds me of what happend to all the horse communities in
W. Broward. They are also having people move in that want land but not horses.
I don't get these people that move into horse communities and try to change
them or push them out. If I didn't love horse, I surely would not move to a
ranch.

 Right, if there's a cow on the property, it's ag in most parts (all?).
> But sometimes being zoned agriculture isn't the best thing. I forget
> exactly what our zoning is, it's R something. We tried to get it
> rezoned but they told us if we did we'd have to get rid of some of our
> horses. Here, ag zoning allows 1 livestock animal per acre. We have 1
> 1/2 acres. Under our current R zoning we can have up to 6. Strange the
> way that works.

I guess I am really lucky. I live in an area where there are a
lot of horse
> owners. My street has three houses, including myself that have a
horse/horses.
> There are 7 horses on my street alone. My neighbor who has 4
horses was so
> tickled when I got my horse since it helped gain the number of
horses people in
> our area.
>
That's the way our neighbor was. We have hunter/jumpers, dressage,
minis, western pleasure, trail riders etc in our neighborhood. Then
the county re-zoned the 100 acres right behind us. They are putting
in 300 homes, retention ponds, a pool and club house - the homes are
very expensive considering the tiny lots and square footage of the
homes. So it doesn't matter how many horse people live around you
if some developer can get the county to allow them to change the
zoning. We have no -place to ride - they are paving all the roads
around here.

Susan

Lynn, Luckily Reddick is away from any big city structure. I don't consider
Ocala a big city. Not yet anyway. My friends in your neck of the woods are
trying to sell their home/5 acres... And asking a ton of money. 5 years ago
it was all so cheap. Now forget it. I think its everywhere in Florida.
jojo

Amen to that! There are times I wonder if I will have to move to
Montana to maintain a rural lifestyle. Sadly it is starting to appear
that at some point there won't be any rural places in Florida anymore.
Yesterday we were on a county maintained horse trail. It is closed off
at all the entrances with just a small opening for horses to go
through. There are signs posted everywhere that no motorized vehicles
are allowed and we still ran into three 4 wheelers back there. Of
course when we said to them that they were not allowed back there and
revved up there ATV's and scared the heck out of our horses. It is so
hard to just go for a quiet New Year's ride.
-Cathy

On Saturday, January 1, 2005, at 10:10 AM, jm wrote:

>
> This is one of the major reasons I left Davie. In 6 years time I
> noticed a
> lovely rural community turn into another subdivided nightmare.. Try
> crossing
> a 6 lane street. It went from 2 lanes to 6... And the horse parks are
> crowded with bicycles and walkers. Who no less get upset when they see
> manure on the trails...c'mon... One homeowner who was backed up to the
> park,
> who didn't like the horses put nails in boards to keep people away
> from his
> easement. Nothing happened to him. Just a slap on the hand. In the
> meantime
> 3 horses had stepped on the boards and needed vet care...
>
> It's not a matter of being counted. Ultimately, you can't stop the
> progress.
>
> Now I see it again where I moved... Another 5 years and I am going to
> have
> to move again...Sad... Rural lifestyles keep the balance on other
> suburban
> environments. But the minute a city person moves in to a rural
> neighborhood
> the complaining starts. They want to change it and add convenience.
> Which is
> exactly the reason why they/we moved away from it all in the first
> place.
>
> This is a sore subject with me...
>
> jojo
>
>
>> From: 
>> Reply-To: flhorse@yahoogroups.com
>> Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 18:22:59 -0000
>> To: flhorse@yahoogroups.com
>> Subject: [flhorse] Re: Green Cove Springs
>>
>> If horse people don't stand up to be counted pretty soon we won't
>> have anyplace left to ride or keep our horses. I've seen it in
>> other parts of the country and we need to be "squeaky wheels."

Its a shame-just since I
> moved here we have had
> TWO big shopping centers go up within spitting distance.
> We can still ride our roads.......if we dare!!!!

Unfortunately, the big developers are responding to the
demand for more new houses. People want that posh, new,
upscale home. They don't want to live in "someone else's
problem". They want to choose their wall colors, carpet
colors and tile. They don't want to be bothered with
making minor repairs or having to put on a new coat of
paint. So developers are snapping up land, FAST! If that
means that there is no land left to farm, and people with
horses are pushed out, so what!

My uncle and cousin in Vermont own a dairy farm. That farm
has been in the Bessette family for almost 200 years. It
has been in the same location, with the same function. The
barn itself is over 120 years old (and in FANTASTIC shape).
They had to tear down the 200 year old farmhouse, as it
just got to expensive to keep it in good repair. They did
salvage the clawfoot tub, the curved staircase and almost
all the 200 year old bricks from the exterior to use in the
construction of the new house.

Anyway, about 10 years ago, these yuppies bought the dairy
farm next door. This was a much smaller operation. I
think they had more horses than cows. But, regardless,
Buffy and Bif (not their real names, just how my cousin
refers to them) started griping about the smell coming from
the working dairy farm next door. They tried to make my
cousin have to haul the manure off the farm, so they would
not have to smell the manure pile. When Ted told them to
take a hike, because he sells his manure to a local
fertilizer dealer who picks up once a month, they tried to
take him to court. Thankfully, the judge just asked them
why they bought THAT piece of property, when they KNEW
there was a dairy barn right next to it, and sided with my
cousin.

Now, these people are complaining, because Ted has started
to make maple syrup. He has a LOT of maple trees on his
100 acres, so he figures he might as well "tap" his
resources. They think that the buckets hanging on the
trees are unsightly. Ted gathers his sap the old fashioned
way, bucket by bucket. I guess they would rather see the
hoses that go from tree to tree. Ted does not sell his
syrup at the property, so it isn't like his new venture is
causing an increase in traffic. He sells it at local
grocery stores and other retail venues. But these people
are still sore because they lost the battle over the dairy
cows.

Here in Florida, I think you have to move inland to get
away from the urban sprawl. And you have to look for an
area that is not being targeted by big companies. But with
so many companies coming down here, these areas are getting
hard to find. I like the Palatka area, I also like the
Panhandle. Land up there is probably dirt cheap right now,
with a large number of people who are trying to sell to get
out of there, after the hurricanes. Cutting their losses
and moving inland or North. I think Green Cove Springs is
beautiful, but I can see where St Augustine and
Jacksonville could both easily expand that direction.

Although, at the agility trial, I heard people complaining
that Clay County was "owned" by horse people. That if
anyone wants something done, they have to get a
horse-person to recommend it to the county council. They
were complaining that most of the County's money goes to
horse owners' concerns (like the Fairgrounds). To be
honest, it didn't seem like that site would have been big
enough to hold a county fair. They only had one exhibition
building and parking must be a nightmare, when there is a
midway there. It is a beautiful facility, though. The
development near Jacksonville is mostly in Duval and St
Johns Counties. Maybe Clay County has stricter rules for
land use, because of the strong horse/farm population?

Cathi