Inside my toilets, it's pure Republican. But the stuff pouring out
of the kitchen faucet is Democrat, through and through.
With my luck, the well is probably Independent, thereby alienating
the Green Party heater that makes my morning shower so steamy.
Silly, isn't it? Water isn't the least bit political. There is no
"Republican" way to think of water resources.
So why have Republicans engineered a ballot question that would
leave the Lake County Water Authority awash in partisan politics?
The answer is that this isn't about water -- it's about power, as
usual.
The Nov. 7 referendum on whether to make the election of water
watchdogs partisan is brought to you by some of the same honorable
"leaders" who gave you write-in candidates to close
primary elections, and it's equally wrong.
"Lake County has this wonderful special district whose charge
is to conserve, control and improve the fresh-water
resources," said Nancy Fullerton, a water authority member.
"Is politics going to let that happen?"
Of course not.
Unfortunately, however, the water authority has been the target of
Republicans for years.
First, they didn't like having the board appointed by the governor
-- too many people with actual expertise ended up on it.
The next big hoo-hah was the water authority's purchase of
preservation property. Stop that!
Last year, they decided the agency shouldn't be spending cash to
educate the public -- mostly schoolchildren -- about the natural
environment and water resources.
Now it's the fact that board members are chosen in nonpartisan
elections that has their undies in a twist.
The Republican argument is that the water authority is spending
tax money, about $25 million a year, so its seven members should
be chosen in partisan elections.
At first blush, that argument sounds good.
But consider that the board's issues aren't political; they're
scientific. And School Board members, for example, are spending
nearly $1 billion of tax money annually, and they're chosen in
nonpartisan elections. The cities hold nonpartisan elections.
Putting party labels on candidates for an environmental cleanup
job is an invitation for party hacks to run. Which is precisely
what state Sen. Carey Baker, R-Eustis, and state Rep. Hugh Gibson,
R-Lady Lake, wanted when they sponsored the legislation creating
this referendum. Shame on them.
If the elections are partisan, lots of voters will just flick the
candidate with the "R" on the touchscreen and move on
without learning about the candidates in this relatively obscure
race.
That would be too bad for those of us who think it's important
that the environment should be protected by people who understand
how the natural world around us works.
Lauren Ritchie can be reached at Lritchie@orlandosentinel.com
or 352-742-5918.
Global Warming May Put Heat On Economy
Published: Oct 31, 2006
LONDON - Unchecked global warming will devastate the world economy on the scale of the world wars and the Great Depression, a British government report said Monday, as the country launched a bid to convince doubters that environmentalism and economic growth can coincide.
Britain hired former Vice President Al Gore, who has emerged as a powerful environmental spokesman since his defeat in the 2000 presidential election, to advise the government on climate change - a clear indication of Prime Minister Tony Blair's dissatisfaction with current U.S. policy.
Blair, President Bush's top ally in the Iraq war, said unabated climate change would eventually cost the world between 5 percent and 20 percent of global gross domestic product each year. He called for "bold and decisive action" to cut carbon emissions and stem the worst of the temperature rise.
"It is not in doubt that, if the science is right, the consequences for our planet are literally disastrous," he said. "This disaster is not set to happen in some science fiction future many years ahead, but in our lifetime."
The report emphasized that global warming can only be fought with the cooperation of major countries such as the United States and China, and represents a huge contrast to the Bush administration's wait-and-see global warming policies.
Sir Nicholas Stern, the senior government economist who wrote the report, said that acting now to cut greenhouse gas emissions would cost about 1 percent of global GDP each year. He recommended a "low-carbon global economy" through measures, including taxation, regulation of greenhouse gas emissions and carbon trading.
"That is manageable," he said. "We can grow and be green."
U.S. Biggest Gas Emitter
Bush kept America - by far the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide and other gases blamed for global warming - out of the Kyoto international treaty to reduce greenhouse gases, saying the pact would harm the U.S. economy. The international agreement was reached in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997 and expires in 2012.
Blair made his displeasure with U.S. environmental policy clear when he signed an agreement this year with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to develop new technologies to combat the problem. The measure imposed the first emissions cap in the United States on utilities, refineries and manufacturing plants in a bid to curb the gases that scientists blame for warming the Earth.
Blair and the report also said that no matter what Britain, the United States and Japan do, the battle against global warming cannot succeed without deciding when and how to control the greenhouse gas emissions by such fast-industrializing giants as China and India.
Stern's 700-page report said evidence showed "that ignoring climate change will eventually damage economic growth."
"Our actions over the coming decades could create risks of major disruption to economic and social activity, later in this century and in the next, on a scale similar to those associated with the great wars and the economic depression of the first half of the 20th century," he said.
The report said at current trends, average global temperatures will rise by 3.6 degrees to 5.4 degrees within the next 50 years or so, and the planet will experience several degrees more of warming if emissions continue to grow.
It said such warming could have effects such as melting glaciers, rising sea levels, declining crop yields, drinking water shortages, higher death tolls from malnutrition and heat stress, and widespread outbreaks of malaria and dengue fever. Developing countries often would be the hardest hit.
The report acknowledged that its predictions regarding GDP relied on sparse data about high temperatures and developing countries, and placed monetary values on human health and the environment, "which is conceptually, ethically and empirically very difficult."
Britain Will Lead Charge
Treasury Chief Gordon Brown, who is expected to replace Blair as prime minister next year, said Britain would lead the international effort against climate change, establishing "an economy that is both progrowth and progreen." He called for Europe to cut its carbon emissions by 30 percent by 2020 and 60 percent by 2050.
Under the 1997 Kyoto accord, 35 industrialized nations committed to reducing emissions by an average 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.
But Britain is one of only a handful of industrialized nations whose greenhouse gas emissions have fallen in the last decade and a half, the United Nations said Monday.
The United Nations said that Germany's emissions dropped 17 percent between 1990 and 2004, Britain's by 14 percent and France's by almost 1 percent.
Overall, there was a 2.4 percent rise in emissions by 41 industrialized nations from 2000 to 2004, mostly because former Soviet-bloc countries, whose emissions declined in their economic downturn of the 1990s, increased emissions during the recent four-year period by 4.1 percent.
British Report Highlights
Key conclusions of the British government report on climate change.
•GREENHOUSE GASES: Emissions in the atmosphere must be limited to between 450 and 550 parts per million of carbon dioxide. The current level is 430 parts per million of carbon dioxide. At the start of the industrial revolution in the 18th century, the carbon dioxide levels were at 280 parts per million.
•DEFORESTATION: The loss of forests globally contributes to more carbon dioxide emissions each year than the transport sector. Studies to determine the best way to reduce deforestation must begin soon.
•INTERNATIONAL AID: Climate change must be integrated into development policy. Rich countries must increase support for poor countries' development.
•RECOMMENDATIONS: To effectively counteract climate change, the report suggests a common global price for carbon be created through taxation, emissions trading and regulation. It also suggests that government policies encourage the development of highly efficient products; and says funding for low-carbon technologies must increase fivefold.
Gators may fall from protected, comfy existence to life on lam
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Those alligators basking on the banks of canals and ponds in Donna Brosemer's Palm Beach Gardens neighborhood soon may be fair game for hunters and homeowners.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission released recommendations Monday that alligators be downgraded from "species of special concern" to "game" within five years. The state still would manage the alligator population, which has surpassed a million, in the state's core river systems and waterways, program coordinator Harry Dutton said.
The commission also suggested allowing homeowners to kill nuisance alligators on their property or pay a nuisance-wildlife trapper to do it for them.
Nearly 40 years after American alligators appeared on the first federal endangered species list, they have swelled in population to the point that state officials also might allow hunters to pursue them like deer.
The recommendations leave some questions. If a homeowner could kill an alligator on his property, what would he do with it? It's likely that selling the alligator wouldn't be allowed, but a homeowner could eat it at home, Dutton said.
Brosemer is ready to take the problem into her own hands.
"We are way past the endangered species list," she said. "It's just stupid to put the welfare of gators ahead of the welfare of people."
The changes were recommended after the first comprehensive review of the state's alligator management program in its 20-year history. The commission will consider them at its December meeting.
Dutton, who made his proposals after an online survey, said they have nothing to do with the state's three fatal alligator attacks in May.
"It all seems to be connected but it's really not," Dutton said. "I wish the three fatalities didn't happen, and if they didn't, this would still be going on. It's just a timely thing to do."
After alligators killed three women in a week, callers overwhelmed the state's nuisance-alligator hot line, (866-FWC-GATOR). It had fielded 19,013 calls through Monday, compared with 18,443 all last year. Trappers rushed to buy permits for the limited hunting season, which ends Wednesday.
Floridians have gotten into trouble for trying to get rid of dangerous alligators. A woman on the west coast was warned this year, and could have been fined, after shooting one that chased her dog onto her porch.
Dutton said the commission could have allowed more hunting in the 1980s, when the alligator population had rebounded enough to sustain it. Now officials know for sure that more hunting won't decimate the population, he said.
"It's not so much that the alligator has recovered, because it was always pretty strong in the core areas of its remote habitat," Dutton said. "A lot of people think it was down to the level of the condor, but it was never that imperiled."
More hunting could mean smaller gators and a sharp drop in the population in a limited area, said Frank Mazzotti, a University of Florida wildlife scientist. But the population can sustain it, he said.
"It shows how successful management has been," Mazzotti said. "The days of seeing the overall state goal with increasing the alligator population are probably gone. Now we're looking at having a sustainable population and reducing it in part in areas because of safety concerns."
If the commission allows homeowners to hire trappers, they probably would pay much more than the $30 a gator that trappers receive from the state, Dutton said. Trappers also can sell the meat and hide.
Lake Worth trapper Rick Kramer expressed concern that some amateurs would try to do the job on their own.
"You'll have a lot of hurt people and injured gators running around," said Kramer, who has trapped gators for 12 years and whose father was a trapper. "You make a mistake with an alligator, and it can do some damage."
Most trappers don't want the changes, he said.
If the commission buys the recommendations, the state will have public meetings early next year.
The changes wouldn't go over well with everyone, Dutton said. The survey gathered responses from a few people who wanted to end all alligator hunting, a few who wanted to exterminate all gators and a broad swath in the middle.
"When you talk about alligators, like when you talk about anything emotional, you have a core middle group and an obvious fringe group," he said.
The commission also plans to launch a public-education campaign about alligators. The key is understanding Florida residents' unusual relationship with the animals, Mazzotti said. He's conducting another survey on Sanibel Island and in parks such as the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge west of Boynton Beach.
"We did a similar survey with crocodiles," he said. "Most people would rather not see a crocodile killed in response to complaints about them. At the same time, people don't want to have crocodiles in their back yards. You have to develop a management program around that."
Wildlife officials recommend downgrading alligator classification
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- State wildlife officials have recommended that alligators be downgraded from species of special concern to game within five years.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission also ruled Monday that homeowners be allowed to kill nuisance alligators on their property or hire a trapper to do so. How to dispose of the animal once captured is still in question, said program coordinator Harry Dutton.
"It's likely that selling the alligator wouldn't be allowed, but a homeowner could eat it at home," Dutton said.
The recommendations come after the first comprehensive review of the state's alligator management program in its 20-year history. The commission will consider the recommendations at its December meeting.
Dutton said the suggestions were made through input from an online survey and partially because the alligator population has topped one million, not because there have been three fatal alligator attacks in Florida since May.
"It all seems to be connected but it's really not," Dutton said. "I wish the three fatalities didn't happen, and if they didn't, this would still be going on. It's just a timely thing to do."
Yovy Suarez-Jimenez, 28, was apparently dragged into a Sunrise canal and eaten by an alligator in early May. Her dismembered body was found May 10 by construction workers. She did not return from jogging the previous night.
Annemarie Campbell, 23, of Paris, Tenn., was attacked by an 11-foot-4-inch, 407 pound alligator while snorkeling in Jupiter Creek on May 14. The body of Judy W. Cooper, 43, of Dunedin, also was found May 14 in a canal 20 miles north of St. Petersburg. Authorities say she suffered animal bites consistent with an alligator.
Lake Worth trapper Rick Kramer said many of his colleagues do not support the new recommendations.
You'll have a lot of hurt people and injured gators running around," Kramer said. "You make a mistake with an alligator, and it can do some damage."
Green sea turtle nests soar; loggerheads down
With
the end of turtle nesting season today, experts say endangered
green sea turtles dug an unusually high number of nests on local
beaches this year.
Volusia County prohibits any light source
from being seen from the beach, or casting a
shadow on the beach during turtle nesting
season, May 1 to Oct. 31. Artificial light can
disorient nesting sea turtles and their
hatchlings. The name for loggerhead sea turtles refers to
the reptile's large head. SOURCES: Turtle Time Inc., U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service An 18-year study shows a consistent decline in loggerhead
nests, possibly due to an unknown illness that often leads to
death. Seven ill ones now are being cared for at the Marine
Science Center in Ponce Inlet.
Meanwhile, green sea turtles amazed officials with a
"pretty darn good year," but experts don't know why
the nest numbers are up, said Blair Witherington, a scientist
with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.
Greens normally nest every other year, so the numbers are
usually high for even-numbered years. Last year, the statewide
numbers for this species unexpectedly jumped from 2,600 nests in
2004 to 7,178. This year's preliminary count shows about 3,453
nests.
"I guess they changed the trend because they were head
on, high, low, high, low, for so many years," said Beth
Libert, president of the Volusia-Flagler Turtle Patrol.
Though there weren't as many nests this year as in 2005, the
results "flabbergasted" experts, said Witherington.
Foraging grounds or breeding cycles may have changed, he
said. "It might be that a particular cohort of green
turtles just decided to get together and breed in 2006 . . .
it's a mystery."
Experts also wonder why the number of loggerhead nests are
declining. According to reports from Volusia County and the
Canaveral National Seashore, there were about 108 fewer
loggerhead nests than last year for a species that's been called
the most common in the area.
By tracking nest counts from hundreds of organizations, the
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission found a
roughly 40 percent decline since 1998. Many of the threats for
loggerheads lurk far from Florida's beaches, Witherington said.
The sea turtles are drowning in trawls used to catch shrimp and
being entangled or hooked by long lines set to catch sharks,
tunas and swordfish.
The news seems to only get worse for the species, with a
stark prediction that this year will have a record number of
dead and sick turtles. The seven loggerheads at the Marine
Science Center have different stages of an unknown illness,
possibly caused by a neurotoxin.
"Nobody can say what it is, we just know it's affecting
their ability to function properly -- to open their mouth to
bite and to lift their head to breathe," said Amber
Bridges, an environmental technician with the Center.
In Ponce Inlet, the marine center is trying to nurse the
turtles back to health from the mysterious illness while taking
care of "washbacks," baby sea turtles that wash ashore
on seaweed.
So far, the Center is caring for two washbacks, a loggerhead
and a Kemp's ridley -- one of the rarest and most endangered sea
turtles in the world, which typically nest off the coast of
Mexico.
Only four Kemp's ridley nests have been documented in Volusia
County and this was the second confirmed nest in the park's
history, said biologist and resource management specialist John
Stiner.
"The one this year didn't do (nearly as) well and it's
hard to tell why," Stiner said. "There are a lot of
different factors that affect hatching success."
Nests can only take a certain amount of inundation during
high tide and dune vegetation can affect nests if the roots grow
into it, he said.
A sand dune restoration project in New Smyrna Beach didn't
help or hurt local nesting numbers this year, said members of
the Volusia-Flagler Turtle Patrol.
Although the season is over, about 200 hundred nests remain
in the seashore and about nine in Volusia County. Officials said
they will continue to watch for hatchlings for several more
weeks.
kelly.cuculiansky@news-jrnl.com
Lake
levels down
But the more common loggerhead sea turtle may be in trouble.
Turtle lighting cases
· 2004: 97 cases; $16,500
in fines paid; 41 cases withdrawn
· 2005: 57 cases; $6,000
in fines paid; 35 cases withdrawn
· 2006: 33 cases; $1,000
in fines paid; 28 cases withdrawn
Did you know?
· Hatchling green turtles
eat a variety of plants and animals, but adults
mostly feed on sea grass and marine algae.
· The Kemp's ridley is
the most endangered and smallest of the sea
turtles. Adults reach about 2 feet in length and
weigh up to 100 pounds.
· The leatherback is the
largest, deepest diving and most migratory of
all sea turtles. An adult can reach between 4
and 8 feet in length and weigh 500 to 2,000
pounds.
Rainfall
shortage is behind drop; scientists say cycle is normal
Joshua
Davidovich
Staff
Writer
LEESBURG
- Central Florida's "wet season" was
uncharacteristically dry this year, leaving area lakes below
their normal levels and causing concern for owners of lakefront
property.
Water levels in lakes are down about two feet across Lake County
from this time last year, according to hydrologists at the St.
John's River Water Management District. They said, though, that
the drop in water levels is not a cause for concern.
"(Rain) doesn't come in nice rhythmic flows," said Ed
Garland of the SJRWMD. "It can drop dramatically or rise
dramatically. It's part of the natural cycle of Florida."
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, the area has seen extremely dry conditions over
the past nine months.
That pattern is borne out in lake level totals. Lake Harris,
which was at 63.21 feet at the end of October 2005, is barely
above 61 feet today.
Other lakes, such as Lake Eustis and Lake Dora, are showing
similar decreases. Those numbers might have been even lower
before a rainstorm that moved through the area Saturday morning.
Garland said the fluctuations are actually good for the lakes.
When water levels drop, vegetation that normally is underwater
can come to the surface and blow away, which leads to cleaner,
sandier lake bottoms.
"You have a healthier lake body," he said. "But
it's unfortunate for property owners."
Larry Lokhamp, who lives on a canal that feeds into Lake Harris
near Tavares, said he is worried about the drop.
"I took my boat out of the water," he said.
Garland said the drop is not out of the normal range, but Larry
Everly of the Lake County Water Authority said he was concerned.
He said, though, that he has seen the levels lower than they are
now.
"I have thought about it, but what do you do?" he
said. "Hopefully it won't worsen and hopefully El Nino will
come through for this winter."
Forecasters are expecting an unusually wet winter, in contrast
to the dryer than normal summer and fall, because of the El Nino
weather pattern.
Until that rain comes through, though, water levels in lakes
throughout the area will continue to drop.
"It could bring lake levels back up quite a ways,"
Garland said. "But rainfall is so spotty here in
Florida."
Water
districts combine efforts
Nicole
King
Staff
Writer
Hoping
to streamline decisions, the Southwest Florida Water Management
District has established a partnership with two other districts.
The Action Plan for the Central Florida Coordination Area will
coordinate decisions about permitting, groundwater flow, models
and planning for alternative water supply projects. The
partnership is between the Southwest Florida, South Florida and
St. Johns River water management districts. The coordination
area includes Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Polk counties,
southern Lake County and the city of Cocoa service area.
"This establishes a framework for water use permits,"
said Hal Wilkening, director of the Department of Resource
Management. "We're amending our rules to adopt the
framework. It goes into effect immediately."
Water authority officials are hoping the plan will help meet the
growing water supply needs of the area as well as protect the
water and natural resources. The districts will help identify
the area's future water needs and available ground water, and
then ensure equal distribution of the remaining ground water and
the development of alternative water supplies. Those goals are
expected to be completed in 18 months.
"I think it will promote development of water supply
projects. We need some other sources besides groundwater. It's
all about developing groundwater supplies," Wilkening said.
Growth options' effects disputed
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
STUART — Hundreds of residents listened to a consultant evaluate the impact four options for growth and development rules could have on Martin County's rural land on Monday night. The crowd then quickly started shouting over one another and hurling accusations of bias.
''It's a dog and pony show," former county commission candidate Odias Smith said of the four options proposed by Orlando-based consultant Glatting Jackson. "They're not based in reality. It's all cemented to their cause."
Martin County commissioners paid Glatting Jackson $528,000 to study the county's growth rules. The firm will recommend several development rule options next year, including keeping the county's existing minimum lot size of one house per 20 acres in rural areas, said consultant David Barth.
The other four options being studied involve forms of clustering, in which dense pockets of houses would be built and surrounded by large pieces of preserved open space.
Supporters of clustering say it would allow them to preserve a huge swath of land leading through the western part of Martin County that would restore the natural flow of storm water and allow wildlife space to move around the Treasure Coast.
But opponents say they don't trust the county or anybody else to really preserve the land set aside as part of clustering, and think it would later be covered by homes and urban sprawl.
"What guarantee do we have that the land will be kept in perpetuity and won't be built on?" asked Pauline Becker of Palm City.
In Monday night's workshop, consultant Tim Jackson graded each of the development options' effects on environmental preservation, water quality, costs to taxpayers and other criteria using a hypothetical 3,000-acre site.
The existing 20-acre minimum lot size did not have a positive impact on any of those criteria but did have a negative impact on the ability to create connected areas of wildlife habitat, Jackson said. The clustering options would have a positive impact on the ability to create wildlife habitat areas and the cost of providing services to rural residents, among other criteria, Jackson said.
The consultants said that under the existing development rules, most of the urban areas of the county have been developed into low-density suburban neighborhoods that have led to a high cost of living and a monotonous character.
Critics said they doubted Jackson's evaluation of the effects of clustering and said taxpayers would end up paying more for services if more people are allowed to live in rural areas. Opponents on Monday also called the consultants biased toward clustering.
"It seems like the more dense you get, the better it gets, and that makes no sense," resident Jerry Hansen said.
Other residents, such as John Hennessee, owner of a marina and restaurant in the Manatee Pocket, said they agreed with the way the consultants graded the impact and thought clustering stacked up as the best option. Hennessee said clustering allows a government agency to maintain large pieces of natural land, but keeping all 20-acre lots did not provide any control over how landowners could maintain their rural property.
"It leaves it up to the individual as to whether they are going to turn it all into four-wheeler paths or put fences everywhere," he said.
Wiregrass House Building Begins
Published: Oct 31, 2006
WESLEY CHAPEL - Pulte Homes Inc. has begun work on its first neighborhood in the Porter family's massive Wiregrass Ranch project.
The Southwest Florida Water Management District earlier this month cleared Pulte's second stormwater-management permit for its DiVosta project.
The neighborhood is under construction with the first leg of a Chancey Road extension linking Bruce B. Downs Boulevard with Morris Bridge Road.
The construction began nearly two years after county officials cleared Pulte to build 1,999 residences on Wiregrass.
Pulte Vice President Scott Neil said the company hopes to have model homes ready early next year with properties for sale by mid-2007. Pulte's other projects - its senior citizens-only Del Webb community and a traditional-neighborhood project - remain tied up in permitting.
Both of those projects depend on Pulte extending State Road 56 eastward from Bruce B. Downs Boulevard. Work on S.R. 56 has been delayed until next spring while Pulte and the state Department of Transportation sort out the details.
Pulte has begun work even as the larger Wiregrass Ranch project is making its way through the regulatory process. The 5,000-acre development of regional impact must clear regional and county officials.
Earlier this month, Wiregrass officials gave the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council their fifth and final revision to the DRI.
WHAT'S NEXT
Pulte must receive further regulatory approval to proceed with plans for 10,000 more homes, 3.2 million square feet of retail space and 2 million square feet of office space for Wiregrass Ranch.
Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201 or kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com.
Environmental
groups object to plans for annexed land
Palm Bay
dispute centers on nearly 1,500 acres near conservation area
BY LINDA JUMP
FLORIDA TODAY
Brevard commissioners will be urged today to object formally to the city's plans to allow denser growth on nearly 1,500 acres it annexed between county conservation land and the St. Sebastian Buffer Preserve.
Palm Bay annexed the Logan property in May and approved a request from the owners to allow multifamily, single-family and commercial use on the land at a higher density than the county's one housing unit per acre. More than 11,000 housing units are proposed, with density of 2.5 to 20 units per acre, by developer Rochelle Lawandales.
Maureen Rupe, president of Partnership for a Sustainable Future, a coalition of 17 Brevard County groups, said only one home per acre was allowed under county jurisdiction.
"Palm Bay would increase that by 600 percent," she said.
The city soon will send a request to change its comprehensive land-use map to the state Department of Community Affairs. That gives the public and other municipalities an opportunity to comment.
The county owns two sites totaling 2,871 acres to the north of Palm Bay's site. The lands were purchased through the county's Environmentally Endangered Lands program for nearly $5 million.
Mike Knight, EEL program manager, said his group had been interested in the land because it connects other conservation sites. Isolated conservation land may harm species diversity.
"When landscapes are fragmented, it's harder for the gene pool to pass," Knight said.
He said the land also was identified as a connector for an east-west corridor planned to connect county EEL land with the St. John's flood plain.
City Manager Lee Feldman said he hoped the county would abide by the Joint Planning Agreement.
"If it's of value to them, then the county could purchase the land from the private property owner," he said.
Rupe wants the county to intervene through the courts to stop the developer's plans because of the effect on neighboring conservation land, which was purchased with taxpayer money.
"This many new houses and commercial area has a big impact," she said. "The ecosystem is threatened."
Dave White, a 20-year Palm Bay resident, rides his bicycle along Babcock Street and in the preserve areas.
"I want to see the economic, cultural and environmental benefits to what the city wants to do," he said. "I see no benefit."
White said the daily traffic count on Babcock is projected to go from 12,000 to 56,000 daily trips.
"This is a serious impediment to quality of life," he said. "This development is in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Contact Jump at 409-1423 or ljump@flatoday.net.
Developer plans inner-city living in cow pasture
BY CHRISTOPHER O'DONNELL
Business owners would live in apartments above their stores, residents could stroll across a leafy plaza to coffee shops and restaurants, and cars would be virtually unnecessary.
Southwest Florida native John Billeris, 52, is planning to turn 13 acres of Parrish cow pasture into a community where residents can live, work and shop, all without leaving their village.
The approach could hardly be more unusual for Parrish, where vast tracts of farmland have been snapped up to build sprawling subdivisions for residents who commute to Tampa or Sarasota and must drive miles to the nearest store.
"I'm willing to take that risk to build a town and a community," Billeris said.
"In order to get cars off the road you have to design for people instead of cars."
But the project has its skeptics.
Planned suburban communities like Lakewood Ranch in Manatee and Thomas Ranch in North Port are creating their own downtowns. But residents would still drive to those areas, and the stores would be supported by several thousand homes.
Without enough nearby homes, Parrish Commons would have to rely on traffic from U.S. 301, just like any other competing retail project, said Manatee County planner Norman Luppino.
"It's very small and there's no connectivity to other developments," Luppino said.
A Long Island-based real estate broker, Billeris originally designed Parrish Commons as a conventional 145,000-square-foot retail project.
But he found himself frustrated with how the area where he was born and grew up is rapidly becoming a bedroom community.
He decided another strip mall was not what he wanted to leave on the land he inherited from his parents.
A member of the Congress for the New Urbanism, a group that advocates walkable communities and a diverse range of housing and jobs, Billeris decided to follow the principles of the New Urbanism philosophy.
The approach typically includes sidewalks, bicycle lanes and housing within walking distance of shops and workplaces. The city of Sarasota adopted the approach for its downtown master plan.
Supporters say it reduces how long people spend in traffic and produces more affordable housing. They also argue it makes more sense to use existing road and sewer networks than to extend them into new suburbs.
But some doubt that the approach can work on such a small scale as Billeris is proposing.
Tim Chapin, a associate professor in urban and regional planning at Florida State University, said most new urbanist projects are at least several hundred acres.
"It will be a challenge to achieve that successfully, particularly to see if the market would bear that," Chapin said. "Would anyone rent out the shops and would they survive?"
But Billeris believes the mix of homes and retail will prove popular with the budding business owners who he says have called in droves since he put up a sign on the site overlooking U.S. 301.
"Up here in New York you have a loft over a shop. Woodmakers, seamstresses, computer experts are willing to live above the place of their business," he said.
Having studied theater at the University of South Florida, Billeris is not a typical developer.
After graduation he moved to New York and pursued a career in the theater. But he found that he was more successful at persuading real estate investors to put money into theater productions than he was as an actor.
As his career gradually took him into real estate, he became a licensed broker in both New York and Florida.
The land Billeris hopes to develop has been in his family since 1946, when a customer offered it to Billeris' grandfather to clear his bar tab at the Blue Moon bar in Palmetto.
"Because it's his old family property he wants to do something unique that would be more exciting," said land attorney and childhood friend Caleb Grimes. "I think it's just something he believes in."
Dressed in a business suit, Billeris fielded questions from residents of the neighboring Kingsfield Lakes subdivision earlier this month.
At first they were more concerned about how the project would change the view from their backyards than whether they wanted to have a sidewalk connection to the project.
After the meeting, he ended up kneeling in the grass helping someone at the meeting change a flat tire.
Like other developers, Billeris' project will likely not be approved until plans to widen U.S. 301 are in place. It's a frustration for Billeris, who believes his project will reduce traffic.
"Parrish is a great place in the whole north sector to launch this," Billeris said.
"You have more open space; it will give you less congested roads; the quality of life will be much better than everybody having to get into their cars."
Developer Asks To Build 1,999 Homes
Published: Oct 31, 2006
PARRISH - Developer Reynold Glanz's $32.5 million purchase of land off State Road 62 was one of the biggest vacant land sales in Manatee County history a couple of years ago. Now, he now wants to turn the former Cone Ranch into one of the biggest residential developments in north Manatee, just a few miles south of Hillsborough County.
The California developer filed plans last week for a 1,999-home project that also would include a 40-acre lake and 2.3 acres of commercial development at the site, which is about five miles east of where Interstate 75 intersects with Interstate 275. Still, it remains to be seen whether the Manatee County Commission would approve a project of such scale before northern Manatee's rural roads are upgraded.
That includes Parrish, where the county has asked a consortium of developers to come up with a plan to widen U.S. 301 and build a bridge across the Manatee River by 2012.
"We are not interested in approving any more developments north of the river," Manatee County Commission Chairman Joe McClash said Oct. 24 at a meeting to preview new developments.
Many local residents agree, saying that S.R. 62, a two-lane road that connects Parrish to Duette, cannot handle extra traffic.
"I would think they're going to have lot of problems getting anything done with 62 being the kind of road it is," said Ben Jordan, president of the Parrish Civic Association. "For that kind of thing you would have to look at widening 62."
Developers in northern Manatee generally have tried to sweeten large projects by offering land for schools and parks, although the plans for Cone Ranch do not include any such incentives.
"This is the first, preliminary site plan," said Glanz, who did not offer a firm timeline for the project, which would be built in phases. "You don't offer anything. They tell us what to do."
Northern Manatee has attracted several developers in recent years, with proposals that would add thousands of homes to the area. Land is cheaper than more populated parts of Manatee, and the area also is within easy reach of I-75 and I-275, broadening its appeal to commuters who work in Sarasota, as well as southern Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.
"I just think that's basically right where all the action is," Glanz said. "It's right in the growth path. It's just an ideal area for people to get to all the metropolitan areas."
Glanz said it is too early to start pricing homes, especially as sales prices continue to drop throughout the area. Plans call for the development to include 300 affordable homes that the county calls work-force housing. The county's price ceiling for such homes is $201,600.
Preliminary site work likely would not begin until more than a year from now, after what Glanz hopes will be a favorable review process. Projects that include 10 percent or more of work-force housing are normally fast-tracked through the approval process, but county planners have never expedited a project of this size, county planning director Carol Clarke said.
On a project this size, it may take at least a year and a half before the county commission would vote to approve or reject it.
By KAREN VOYLES
FANNING SPRINGS - Development along Florida's Gulf Coast and on other waterfront property in North Florida has left fewer public spaces that could be considered forests.But in the midst of Florida's urbanization is a place that still looks much like it did a century or more ago - Andrews Wildlife Management Area.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission refers to Andrews as "a natural oasis in the rapidly developing Lower Suwannee River Region."
"That's the whole point of wildlife management areas," said Liz Sparks, a recreational planner for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which manages the Andrews property.
"These places exist to protect what we have - to sustain the wildlife - while letting people enjoy the land in its natural condition."
The commission oversees about 2 million acres of state-owned wildlife management areas and another nearly 3 million acres, including some privately-owned land and some areas managed in cooperation with other state and local agencies. Most of the 3,501 acres that make up Andrews are part of what state officials said is likely the last or one of the last big tracts of upland hardwood forest left in the Suwannee River basin.
Andrews is also home to three state champion trees - the largest known of their species - the persimmon, the Florida maple and the bluff oak. Hiking trails have been created to take visitors past all three champions as well as through the forest where turkeys, wild hogs, deer and dozens of species of birds live year-round.
About 14 weekends a year, the management area is closed to the public and open only to hunters with special permits. The hunting-only weekends begin in late September and continue through mid-April. A schedule of when the area is closed is published at myfwc.com/recreation/andrews.
When open to the general public, visitors pay $3 a day for access to 10 miles of trails and hard-packed roads and three miles of shoreline along the Suwannee River. Permissible activities include hiking, biking, birdwatching, fishing, swimming, picnicking or just sitting quietly while waiting for wildlife to appear.
Jayde Roof, the biologist responsible for the day-to-day oversight of Andrews, said surveys are done frequently to determine which species are inhabiting Andrews.
"To protect and manage what you've got, you have to know what you've got," Roof said. Part of the management has been to allow a six-day squirrel hunting season that may be one of the biggest squirrel hunts around.
"We see more than 1,000 gray squirrels (bagged) in many years during that six-day season," Flood said.
A few food plots are planted for wildlife each year, Flood said, but generally the area is able to produce what is needed to sustain dozens of species.
"I like to tell people that Andrews is a lot in a little package," said Jerrie Lindsey, director of the office of recreational services for the wildlife commission. "All of the recreational opportunities focus on people who are interested in viewing wildlife and studying nature."
Florida bought the property in 1985 from the Andrews family of Levy County, which bought the land in 1945. State officials said the family was careful with the property, not allowing commercial logging or other activities that would alter its natural state.
"What we have here today is a place that people can come and enjoy nature with their families," Lindsey said.
Karen Voyles can be reached at 486-5058 or voylesk@gvillesun.com.
An uneven burden
First-time owners, renters, second-home owners and those who add on are losers under Save Our Homes.
Mary ShanklinSentinel Staff Writer
October 31, 2006
Sean and Ashley Butler may have to tap into Ashley's inheritance from her grandmother. Or they could put off remodeling the Florida room of the 55-year-old house they bought last year.
Somehow the young couple have to come up with about $4,000 for taxes for their 1,400-square-foot home in downtown Orlando. The couple who sold the Butlers their first home paid just a quarter of that amount.
"No, it's not something we planned for," Sean Butler said. "It doesn't seem fair."
The Butlers are victims of Florida's two-tier tax system created by Save Our Homes, which often leaves new homeowners faced with tax bills three or four times higher than the previous longtime owner.
Since it went into effect in 1994, Save Our Homes has increasingly shifted the property-tax burden onto first-time homeowners such as the Butlers. They -- along with renters, second-home owners and those who add on to their homes -- are among the losers of Save Our Homes.
And because the tax break gives the greatest benefit to longtime homeowners, its payoff has been elusive for many in Central Florida's highly mobile population, where 60 percent of residents have moved within the past six years, according to a U.S. census report in earlier this month.
Robert Stroh, executive director of the Shimberg Center for Affordable Housing at the University of Florida, said the full economic impacts of Save Our Homes have yet to hit the state.
"This could affect our population in the future," Stroh said. "Some people who thought about retiring here are probably having second thoughts: What are your taxes here? The answer to that is going to change dramatically. We've already got a problem. When you throw Save Our Homes on top of insurance costs, housing affordability in Florida is going to become nonexistent."
House trade-off
For two years, single mother Alayna Mora, 25, was living with her parents in Wedgefield while looking to buy a house where her daughters could play. Renting was out of the question, she said.
"The cost of rent has gone up dramatically," she said. "For the cost of rent, I can pay a $900 mortgage."
The problem with buying, though, has been property taxes. Mora learned from credit-counseling classes that she needed to check property taxes of various houses she eyed.
Because of Save Our Homes, some longtime homeowners are paying "amazingly low" taxes, she said, but Mora knew she would get no break on the duplex she bought for $155,000 in July. Partly because of high taxes, she had to scale back what she could afford. Her taxes will be about $2,025.
"It affects the amount of house I buy. I think it discourages a lot of people," Mora said. "Eighteen hundred dollars may not be a lot to some people, but for me that's an extra $150 a month on top of my mortgage and insurance. That's $150 I could spend on a newer car, or I could afford a real house."
Half a dozen of her neighbors on Riva Ridge Trail east of Orlando will pay half the taxes she has to pay, even though their homes are larger.
The tax sting hits first-time buyers such as Mora hard, but it is also a reality for every Floridian who buys a home, whether it's a first home, retirement house or dream home.
Orlando retail entrepreneur Mohammed Battla knew that he would face a larger tax bill when he moved from Orange County's Dr. Phillips area to a 6,100-square-foot home overlooking Lake Buck in the Lake Nona golf community. Still the shock of going from a few thousand dollars in property taxes to paying more than $35,000 was jarring.
His father's house in Windermere is worth basically the same amount -- about $2 million -- but the junior Battla pays about three times as much in taxes because he just bought his house, and his father has had his since before Save Our Homes went into effect.
"I just saw my property-tax bill and about had a heart attack," Battla said.
David DeMond, a mathematics instructor at Cypress Creek High School, said he would like to sell or rent his St. Cloud house in a few years and retire. But the $1,400 tax break he gets on his house now will be a factor.
"I would definitely sell my house if I could take my Save Our Homes exemption to my retirement house," he said.
Buyers can be hit unawares that their tax bills may double, triple or quadruple the year after they purchase a house.
Lawmakers attempted to prepare buyers for the tax-bill surprise by passing legislation in 2004 that called on sellers to disclose that property taxes may change because of "reassessments." But new assessments can be minor compared with the sticker shock that buyers encounter when they face a full, market-value tax bill on a house that had been protected by Save Our Homes under the previous owner. The law does not mention informing buyers about the previous owner's exemptions.
Beverly Pindling, president of the Orlando Regional Realtor Association, said lenders and real-estate agents new to the business are not always aware of the law requiring them to alert buyers that their taxes may go up. Though it's an oversight rather than intentional, Pindling said, she acknowledged that agents who don't notify new buyers about rising tax bills are "not meeting the law."
Lenders base mortgage payments -- which typically include projected property taxes for the year -- on the existing tax bill, even if the bill is artificially low because the home seller gets the Save Our Homes exemption. Trying to predict tax bills can be difficult, lenders say.
Florida Mortgage Bankers Association President Greg Hallam said lenders should discuss with buyers how their tax bill can increase dramatically the year after they purchase, which is when they lose the tax break that previous owners enjoyed.
"It is a stress" for buyers, Hallam said. "The answer should be that you shouldn't be caught unaware . . . but all you have to show them [buyers] is the current tax bill."
Rental squeeze
Apartment tenants feel the property-tax squeeze every time their landlords raise the rent to cover escalating property taxes.
"I personally feel like it's ridiculous," said Megan Boatright, 23, who shares a unit near downtown Orlando with her schoolteacher sister. "It just went up another $100, to $920. It's insane. Florida is getting to be such an expensive place to live, almost like California."
Boatright, a sales representative, said she would like to save for a down payment on a house but can't afford to because her rent has risen so quickly.
Whether residents rent a house, condo or piece of property, their rents go up as landlords try to cover their rising tax bills.
Property taxes are so critical to Raymond and Doris Wedlake that they get out a dictionary to parse words in newspaper articles about taxes. For six years, the retirees have lived in Good Samaritan Village mobile-home park in Kissimmee. And though they own their mobile home, it sits on a lot they rent for $400 a month. Their fear is that, as Save Our Homes shifts a greater share of taxes to rental property, lot rents will increase and carve deeper into their fixed income.
"If they would increase it [rent], it would not only make it more difficult to meet; most people here are not getting any additional income," said Raymond Wedlake, 86.
The retired educator and his wife have cut back on their car use since gas prices started fluctuating. But he's not sure where to cut if rents continue to climb.
Transferring the tax burden from homeowners to nonhomeowners puts increasing pressure on renters, said Gary Scarboro, government-affairs director for the Apartment Association of Greater Orlando.
"We need a more comprehensive approach to solving the affordable-housing equation," Scarboro said. "Shifting more property-tax burden to the nonhomestead properties definitely does not help this."
As for the Butlers, they find themselves in the class of those who stand to benefit from Save Our Homes -- homestead-property owners -- but they don't yet see any payoff from it.
Like all new homeowners, they won't enjoy much of a tax break until they've been in their home long enough that its market value climbs. And with real-estate prices showing signs of flattening -- if not dropping -- it could be a long time until their tax break equals that of homeowners who enjoyed the rapid price increases of the past few years.
Sitting in their living room one Friday afternoon during the summer, the Butlers said they had been relieved to escape the spiraling leases they used to face when they rented. They said they had hoped to leave such price hikes behind them.
"This hurts the people who most need the break," Sean Butler said.
Mary Shanklin can be reached at mshanklin@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5538.
Masilotti charged
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
WEST PALM BEACH — Former Palm Beach County Commission Chairman Tony Masilotti faces up to five years in prison and forfeiture of $9.5'million in cash and real estate for his leading role in a land deal conspiracy that stretched from 2000 to this past June, federal prosecutors said Monday.
Masilotti, who in a sorrowful resignation letter said he will plead guilty, is expected to surrender Friday at the federal courthouse in Fort Pierce, where he will appear for the first time before a judge. Still to be determined: when Masilotti formally will plead guilty and when he'll be dispatched to prison.
be charged even if there was no specific vote involved.
"As an elected official, former Commissioner Masilotti was legally and ethically required to represent the best interests of his constituents and to perform his duties free from fraud and self-dealing," U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta said at a news conference Monday. "Masilotti repeatedly breached that duty and misused his power and his office for personal gain."
Acosta hinted that more defendants could be charged in the case but declined to elaborate. The grand jury's charging document points to a group of prominent lawyers and developers allegedly involved in the series of tainted land deals that made Masilotti millions.
None of them has been charged. The grand jury identified them by their initials but provided ample information in the charging document to clearly identify them.
The participants included:
• William Boose, a lawyer and lobbyist whose West Palm Beach firm created the secret land trust that Masilotti used to hide his participation in a 2003 Martin County land sale to the South Florida Water Management District. The grand jury accused Boose of lying to federal investigators and falsifying a bill to hide the fact that he didn't charge Masilotti full price for legal services. While working at a deep discount, Boose appeared frequently before the county commission, seeking land use and zoning changes for other clients. Masilotti, while voting on those matters, never disclosed the conflict of interest.
Boose could not be reached Monday.
• Harvey Oyer, a lawyer and lobbyist who represented lead investors David and Jeffrey Lee in the Martin County deal. Oyer was accused of falsifying an ownership statement required by the water management district to hide Masilotti's interest in the deal and, with Boose, helped orchestrate a land swap designed to further conceal Masilotti.
A spokeswoman for Oyer said he was cooperating with authorities.
• Enrique Tomeu, president of Palm Beach Aggregates, owner of 1,200 acres on the outskirts of Wellington. Masilotti was richly rewarded by Tomeu for pushing the rezoning of the property in 2004 to allow for construction of 2,000 homes. Through a shell company, Tomeu allegedly transferred property in Brevard County worth $7.7 million to Masilotti's brother, Paul, a building inspector for the village of Wellington.
Tomeu could not be reached.
• Bruce Rendina, a major developer and close Masilotti friend who, with the commissioner's assistance, acquired 10 acres of county-owned land and development approval for the so-called posse property at the northeast corner of State Road 7 and Belvedere Road. While Masilotti helped Rendina from 2003 until early this year, the developer allegedly provided Masilotti and his family with $100,000 worth of free trips on a private aircraft and other gifts.
The investigation of Masilotti was triggered by an April report in The Palm Beach Post that documented how Masilotti's family made more than $1.3 million in connection with the $40 million Martin County purchase by the management district. Although Masilotti insisted he had no direct involvement, records and interviews with district officials showed that Masilotti had pushed the deal in 2003 without disclosing his family's profit.
Within weeks of the report, the FBI and IRS swooped in and a grand jury was impaneled. The investigation was headed by three seasoned federal prosecutors: John Kastrenakes, Stephen Carlton and Antonia Barnes.
U.S. Attorney Acosta marveled at how swiftly the case was put together. "These transactions were quite complex," he said. "Mr. Masilotti engaged in a variety of complicated schemes to hide his ownership. ... After six months of hard work, our investigation yielded results."
FBI agent in charge Jonathan Solomon also credited The Post.
"I'd just like to recognize them for their investigative reporting," Solomon said at Monday's news conference. "They did an outstanding job."
All told, the grand jury investigation found that Masilotti was enriched by three land deals while his interest was hidden from the public.
He was accused of coercing the Diocese of Palm Beach to sell 50 acres in Royal Palm Beach to a group of investors that included Wellington businessman Daniel Miteff and David and Jeffrey Lee. The Lees and Miteff flipped the property for a $900,000 profit to GL Homes, which built the Nautica Lakes subdivision on it.
Masilotti, who also helped get county traffic impact approval for the property, was paid $50,000 - money deposited in a Bahamas bank account in 2004 to help Masilotti pay off gambling losses at The Atlantis Resort & Casino on Paradise Island. Masilotti, the grand jury said, failed to report the income to the IRS.
Miteff is accused of lying to investigators and helping Masilotti hide his profit from the deal in the Bahamas. "D.N.M., under false and fraudulent pretenses, failed to disclose to the Palm Beach County engineer's office that Masilotti had a concealed financial interest in the Diocese land deal with him," the grand jury wrote, referring to Miteff by his initials. Miteff declined to comment Monday.
The Lee brothers have declined to comment. They had Masilotti's help in 2000 to get previously denied development approvals for their 230-acre Black Diamond nursery in Wellington. Around the same time, they agreed to sell Masilotti 150 acres in Martin County at a discount.
By far the biggest illegal windfall to Masilotti - more than $7 million - came from Palm Beach Aggregates and involved Masilotti's older brother, Paul. In 2004, Tony Masilotti pushed the county to rezone the property, which until then had been limited to construction of 120 homes. With approval for 2,000 homes, Palm Beach Aggregates signed a $300'million contract to sell the property to Lennar Homes.
As Masilotti pushed the rezoning, he and his brother acquired an option on 60 acres of the company's Palm Beach County property for $100,000. The company, meanwhile, created a limited liability company called Micco Eastern Holdings to acquire 300 acres in Brevard County that the Masilottis had picked out with the help of David Lee.
The Masilottis released their option on Palm Beach Aggregates property in 2005, a month after Lennar agreed to buy it as part of the 1,200 rezoned acres. In exchange, Palm Beach Aggregates turned over Micco Eastern to the Masilottis - along with the Brevard property it purchased for $7.7 million.
Masilotti, the father of four daughters, owns a prosperous State Farm Insurance agency in Royal Palm Beach, where he served as village mayor before his election to the county commission in 1998. He was elevated to chairman six years later.
His successor will be elected Nov. 7 and sworn into office Nov. 21. Commission Vice Chairwoman Addie Greene is to succeed him as chair.
With his political career destroyed - a felony conviction would even strip him of his right to vote - Masilotti also faces financial losses. He could have to pay a $250,000 fine on top of forfeiting $9.5 million. If Masilotti cannot raise that money, prosecutors want to take his Wellington home, his insurance agency and his stake in a development planned on Cat Island in the Bahamas by his fishing buddy and political supporter, Palm Beach County rancher Billy Bowman.
Masilotti already has pledged his cooperation in the continuing investigation.
"I can only hope that my decision to resign, face my mistakes and cooperate with these authorities will result in mercy from the court, and more importantly, forgiveness from the community I have served," Masilotti wrote in his resignation letter.
Ex-commission chairman charged in land scheme
Associated Press
A former Palm Beach County Commission chairman was charged Monday with conspiracy to commit fraud in a scheme that authorities say made him and his family millions of dollars from secret land deals.
Tony Masilotti resigned from office on Friday and pledged to plead guilty to the federal corruption charges.
Prosecutors want Masilotti to spend up to five years in prison, pay a $250,000 fine and forfeit $10 million in cash and property, U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta said.
Masilotti, 50, has agreed to cooperate with authorities who have been investigating him for six months for alleged abuse of power. Authorities allege Masilotti and his family made millions through secret land deals. Masilotti's attorney, John F. O'Donnell, said Masilotti will plead guilty to one conspiracy charge as part of an agreement with prosecutors.
Turmoil worsens at toll-road authority
A fired consultant turns on the agency as its spokesman quits.
Jay Hamburg and Dan TracySentinel Staff Writers
October 31, 2006
The crisis at the region's road-building authority deepened Monday when its fired marketing consultant told prosecutors what he knows about agency operations and offered to take a lie-detector test to prove it.
Ron Pecora, head of Pecora & Blexrud, said he informed prosecutors about the role of the chairman and executive director of the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority in making payments to Doug Guetzloe, a longtime opponent of the agency.
Earlier in the day, Bryan Douglas, the authority employee who oversaw Pecora's contract, resigned, prompting the agency to schedule an emergency meeting Thursday to deal with the turmoil.
Prosecutors this month requested records from the expressway authority but haven't provided details about their reason. They have charged Guetzloe with an election-law violation in an unrelated case dealing with a political campaign flier in Winter Park.
Pecora's firm lost a $1.7 million marketing contract with the toll-road agency last week. Authority Director Mike Snyder said he fired the company because it billed the authority for work it didn't do and provided flawed public-relations services.
In a written statement, Pecora said: "My family has suffered, my reputation has been sullied and my partner and employees are hurting and worried about their future."
Phone calls to Pecora were not returned.
Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty, an expressway-authority board member, said he is still trying to "sort out the wheat from the chaff. . . . But this whole thing is a mess. We need to get to the bottom of it."
The authority's problems surfaced several weeks ago when it was revealed that the public agency paid Guetzloe $107,500 for what Crotty has characterized as hush money to mute opposition to a possible toll increase.
The authority said Guetzloe was hired to provide opinion research. But he didn't have a written contract and submitted a two-page report. Guetzloe maintains he fulfilled his obligation.
Who is to blame?
On Monday, Pecora blamed Chairman Allan Keen and Snyder for hiring Guetzloe despite his objections and without board approval.
"I told him (Snyder) this was a very bad idea," Pecora said in the statement e-mailed to friends, clients and the community. "He agreed, but said Mr. Keen directed us to do it and I was to negotiate the least amount of money I could."
Snyder and Keen both declined comment through Mary Brooks, a transportation consultant hurriedly hired Monday afternoon to replace Douglas, who was the authority's in-house marketing and communications director.
Said Brooks: "Ron [Pecora] has the right to put any information out there that he wants to. Obviously, there are some concerns on the authority's part about the accuracy of what he said." She added that the agency was willing to cooperate with investigators.
Snyder previously said Pecora did not counsel against hiring Guetzloe. That conflict was among the reasons Snyder terminated Pecora's firm last week.
Chief Assistant State Attorney Bill Vose confirmed that Pecora met with investigators Monday. Pecora, Vose said, was not subpoenaed and showed up unannounced.
Vose would not divulge what was discussed, saying, "We're involved in an investigation, and it wouldn't be fair to anyone involved to comment on it."
Douglas, 30, said he had intended to stay until he read Snyder's criticism of him in the Orlando Sentinel on Saturday.
Snyder publicly chastised Douglas for not supervising the Pecora contract more closely and for not "diligently" overseeing a project to translate the authority Web site into Spanish.
The Pecora firm had been paid $13,000 two years earlier, but had never done the work, nor returned the money. Pecora, who founded the firm, said that technology issues on the authority's part prevented the project from being completed. He promised a refund.
"It caught me off guard," Douglas said. "I need to know who is talking to the media all the time so I can do my job, and particularly when it's about me."
Snyder said he was surprised the spokesman quit his $84,000-a-year job.
Douglas had worked at the Pecora firm and at the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission before hiring on at the toll-road agency. Although he disagreed with terminating the Pecora contract, "I didn't leave because Pecora got fired. . . . My loyalties have been to the expressway authority."
The firm had handled marketing for the agency since 1997 and has been paid more than $8 million in that time.
Douglas' resignation adds to the woes of the authority, which is starting an internal review of the Pecora contract as well as getting ready for an audit.
The authority's board invited Orange County Comptroller Martha Haynie to investigate the agency after the controversy about the Guetzloe payment raised questions about how the agency spends its money, the vast majority of which comes from tolls paid by commuters.
Guetzloe connection
Guetzloe's payments from the expressway authority became public after he was charged in an unrelated case. He is accused of failing to include a political disclosure on a flier attacking Winter Park Mayor David Strong during the March mayoral race. That situation was investigated by prosecutors and led to the release of Guetzloe's finances.
Those records revealed payments from the authority. The State Attorney's Office has not indicated there is anything illegal about the payments.
As many as four people from the Comptroller's Office will meet with expressway officials next week to set the groundwork for an unrestricted audit. Haynie is expected to attend the session.
"We are going to look at the big picture," Haynie said. "We are going to look at a lot of stuff."
Jay Hamburg can be reached at jhamburg@orlandosentinel or 407-420-5673. Dan Tracy can be reached at dtracy@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5444.
Toll road will get built despite turmoil, official says
The Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority director says a plan to shorten commutes is progressing, if unconventionally.
By DONG-PHUONG NGUYEN, Times Staff Writer
Published October 31, 2006
Despite turmoil within the Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority, the proposed New Tampa toll road that has been on the books for years will get built, its executive director, Ralph Mervine, assured New Tampa residents Thursday night.
During a meeting called by the New Tampa Community Council on the day bidding for the project was closed, Mervine told about a dozen residents that the project is moving forward through unconventional means.
The Expressway Authority is considering proposals by two foreign companies that would make the road the first project in Florida where a private company teams with a public agency to build a road and collect tolls. Called a public-private partnership, or P3, it would be the fourth such project in the country.
"We're trying to work with everyone who wants to move transportation forward in this county," Mervine said.
The toll road, projected to cost $150-million, is to be a 3.1-mile stretch of asphalt connecting Bruce B. Downs to Interstate 275 through West Meadows.
It is expected to shave off 12 minutes from the commute from New Tampa to downtown.
Another setback is the cost of a bridge that the city of Tampa is supposed to build, which would connect Commerce Park and New Tampa boulevards over Interstate 75.
That project was put on hold because of skyrocketing construction costs. Currently, the bridge is estimated to cost $16-million.
The city has $8-million in the bank.
"If the city doesn't start by next September, we have the right to build the bridge," Mervine said.
He said the Expressway Authority will begin negotiations next month with the two companies - Plenary Roads, Tampa, a subsidiary of an Australian firm; and a Spanish company called Obrascon Huarte Lain SA..
They hope to select one of the two groups by January.
Mervine, at the center of controversy because of the firing of the authority's former board attorney, assured residents that the agency is being forthcoming with all inquiries into its actions.
"We have welcomed the reviews by everyone - anything it takes to move on to work together to bring transportation issues forward," he said.
"I'm busting my butt to build a system that has been in the works for 20 years."
Dong-Phuong Nguyen can be reached at nguyen@sptimes.com or (813) 269-5312.
Road Bidder Plans High Tolls
Published: Oct 31, 2006
TAMPA - One of two bidders for Florida's first privately built toll road is already anticipating opposition to the project, including complaints from the drivers who will use it.
According to the company's bid documents, the toll for the 3.1-mile link between New Tampa and Interstate 275 would rise to $2.75 within five years of the road's opening. After that, it would continue to go up at least 4 percent per year.
Tampa area drivers aren't used to paying such high tolls, said the company, Plenary Roads of Tampa, in its bid to the Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority. But anything less and it wouldn't be able to recoup its costs, Plenary said.
The other bidder, OHL, of Spain, also anticipates financial complications. Because of high construction costs and low revenue projections, the company said it needs a subsidy from the expressway authority of up to $1 billion over 40 years.
The road's high cost, roughly $150 million plus operation and maintenance costs, stopped the city of Tampa and Florida's Turnpike Enterprise from building the road, despite the growing traffic congestion in New Tampa.
So the expressway authority took on the project earlier this year as a public-private partnership. The plan is for a private company to build the road, accepting the risk that it will make its money back, and some profit, through tolls collected over a 40- to 60-year period.
Several of these projects have been completed across the country, with mixed results. This would be the first in Florida.
Bids Evaluated Last Week
In its request for proposals, the expressway authority stated that bidders should pay all building, maintenance and operation costs "without financial cost or risk" to the authority.
The two companies' bid packages were given late last week to an evaluation committee, an advisory committee and the authority's seven board members.
The evaluation committee consists of board Chairman Thomas Gibbs, three expressway employees, a Tampa representative and the deputy executive director of Florida's Turnpike.
Board member Robert Clark Jr. was out of town and hadn't reviewed the bids but said "a billion-dollar subsidy is naturally out of the question."
Board member Tom Scott, a Hillsborough County commissioner, had yet to review the bid documents as of Monday. Scott said he had heard about OHL's request for public support from the authority.
"My impression was we wouldn't pay out anything," Scott said.
Gibbs said Monday that he was reviewing the two proposals. "We got to go over them, go through them, then I guess we meet, negotiate, then we decide who the guy is supposed to be," he said.
The winner will be named early in 2007. The road is expected to take at least two years to build.
Because this is such a different kind of project, Plenary, a subsidiary of a consortium with offices in Canada and Australia, said it would hire a local media consultant to create a speakers bureau and prepare a "crisis communication plan."
The project has other weaknesses, it said, including the location of the corridor across an environmentally sensitive area and the possible "perception that tolls are going to the private sector rather than to the State."
The company is only two years old, but its executives have put together other public-private partnerships in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It would use PCL Civil Constructors to build the road. Financing would come from Deutsche Bank.
OHL Touts Experience
The other bidder, OHL, said its experience would help it overcome the hurdles of constructing and maintaining the New Tampa road, including environmental challenges. In business 94 years, it has 10 years' experience financing, operating and maintaining toll roads - mostly in Spain and South America.
Money is clearly the main concern. Because of high costs and low traffic revenue projections, "a 100% transfer of cost and risk to the private sector would not be achievable."
OHL proposes two financing plans. The first would cost the authority $956 million over 40 years. But the payments could drop if traffic counts exceed the projections of roughly 9,000 vehicles per day.
With the second alternative, the authority would pay $806 million over 40 years, but that would split the project into two phases. At first the company would build only two lanes, then add two more by 2020.
Reporter Lindsay Peterson can be reached at (813) 259-7834. Reporter John W. Allman can be reached at (813) 259-7915.
Girding ourselves against land grabs
By HOWARD TROXLER, Times Columnist
Published October 26, 2006
With the days dwindling until the Nov. 7 election, my in box is filled with messages saying, "You aren't paying enough attention to Topic X." Whatever the topic, it's probably true.
So I'm trying to go down the list in order of demand. This brings us today to Amendment 8, the last of the proposed changes to our state Constitution on the ballot.
Amendment 8 is meant to keep the government from condemning private property and turning it over to a different private party.
It means the government couldn't condemn land for "economic redevelopment" such as an office park or retail project. Government could take land only for roads or other truly "public" purposes.
(This ban wouldn't be absolute. Amendment 8 would allow the Legislature to create exceptions by a three-fifths vote.)
Our Legislature put Amendment 8 on the ballot. It's a reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling last year in a well-known case named Kelo vs. City of New London.
In that case, the Supreme Court ruled that taking private property for commercial redevelopment was a "public purpose" permitted by the Fifth Amendment. It was a close 5-4 ruling, but it is the law of our land.
So Florida and a lot of other states have proposed their own, tougher rules. The Legislature already has passed a law, but laws can be easily changed. Amendment 8 would put the ban in our state Constitution as well.
On top of that, a few cities around here have a local version of this ban on their ballot, too. If those items pass, we will be wearing both a belt and suspenders, as the old saying goes.
There are two arguments against Amendment 8.
The first is that we don't need it. We already have laws. Condemnation is not being abused here anyway. Why tie our hands unnecessarily?
The second argument is that, by gum, sometimes taking private land is a good idea. One example that gets cited a lot is BayWalk, the shopping and movie complex in downtown St. Petersburg. It might not have happened without condemnation.
Yet the ruling in the Kelo case gives government practically unlimited power. A legitimate "public purpose" can be whatever the government declares it to be, the ruling said.
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor warned in her strong dissent:
"Under the banner of economic development, all private property is now vulnerable to being taken and transferred to another private owner, so long as it might be upgraded. ... Nothing is to prevent the state from replacing any Motel 6 with a Ritz-Carlton, any home with a shopping mall, or any farm with a factory."
In sum, the Kelo ruling gives the government the power to decide that somebody else can use our property "better" than we can.
It is too much power. So I'd rather have the belt and suspenders.
* * *
It's not as though I haven't typed the name "Citizens for Responsible Growth" a hundred times, but my Tuesday column renamed that St. Pete Beach group "Citizens for Responsible Government." They're probably for that, too, but it's still no excuse.
BARTOW -- Regional water officials are banding together to figure
out how to supply water to fuel exploding population growth without
causing serious environmental damage or spending years in court.
The area affected covers parts of three water management districts
and includes Polk, Orange, Osceola and Polk counties, southern Lake
County and the city of Cocoa service area.
Last week the Southwest Florida Water Management District's
Governing Board approved an 18-page plan that lays out the agencies'
goals and the methods they will use to approach the problem.
Water management officials are scheduled to meet with county
commissioners next month to go over the plan.
The impetus for the agreement involves the fact that water managers
in the Orlando area have concluded what managers in the Tampa area
concluded more than a decade ago -- water-use limits are
unavoidable.
Swiftmud officials imposed permanent year-round water restrictions
in 1991, but officials at the St. Johns and South Florida water
management districts didn't approve similar restrictions on lawn
irrigation -- except during severe droughts -- until the past few
years.
A key goal of the plan is to come up with a consistent method for
evaluating permit requests, which includes an analysis of how
efficiently utilities and their customers are using the water they
already have.
The evaluations are intended to avoid further environmental damage
that could affect such things as spring flow and maintenance of
natural wetlands.
Additionally, the plan is designed to head off the kind of lengthy
and expensive "water wars" that occurred in the Tampa Bay
area in the 1970s and 1980s.
Earlier this year it appeared events were heading in that direction.
In February, Polk joined Osceola, Lake and Seminole counties in
questioning the Orange County Utilities Division's request for a
permit to pump 61.1 million gallons a day. South Florida Water
Management District officials later joined the counties.
If Orange County's permit had been approved, it would have limited
how much water other Central Florida utilities could get because
Orange's withdrawals would affect aquifer levels as far away as
Northeast Polk County.
"Hopefully this action plan will provide a level playing
field," said Jeff Spence, Polk's director of natural resources.
"We don't want a situation where the first big utility with a
lot of money and consultants gets all the water," he said.
The goal of the new action involves a combination of working with
utility officials to develop alternative water supplies.
The tasks in the action plan are supposed to be completed by the end
of 2008 with an eye toward weaning utilities within the region
covered in the plan from groundwater by 2013.
That's actually a pretty short time frame to develop alternative
supplies, Polk County's Spence said.
"It probably takes eight to 10 years," Spence said,
explaining developing alternative water supplies takes such things
as completing the studies, justifying the water permit, constructing
the infrastructure and delivering the water to customers.
One of the key goals is sustainability, which means water use
practices that look at long-term rather than short-term impacts of
water consumption.
For instance, a consultant study recommended last spring that Polk
officials consider tapping the Kissimmee River.
However, no one knows how much water may be available from the
Kissimmee River until after the South Florida Water Management
District determines how much water the river needs to function
properly as required by state law under minimum flows and levels.
That study will not be completed until 2008, Spence said.
Other features of the plan include:
• Developing better methods to figure out how much water
everyone can withdraw without causing permanent environmental
damage.
• Developing lists of alternative water supply projects and
funding sources to implement them.
• Developing a list of conservation and efficiency measures
and effective monitoring programs utilities must use.
Despite the hope that the measures will prevent legal controversies,
not everyone's sure that will happen.
Roger Griffiths, a member of the Polk County Water Policy Committee,
is one of the skeptics.
"Whenever they adopt the rules and start telling people they
can't have any water, you'll see lawsuits," he said.
Polk County's Spence said another question is how things will sort
out in the long run.
"Everyone will have 20-year permits and 20-year plans, but what
happens in the 21st year?" he asked.
Tom Palmer can be reached at tom.palmer@theledger.com
or 863-802-7535.
Proposed Hillsborough Flow Rule In Need Of More Oxygen
Tampa Tribune editorial published: Oct 30, 2006
There's no question that doubling the amount of fresh water that must flow into the lower Hillsborough River would improve the river. It's less clear whether it will restore the environmental health of this much-abused waterway.
And it's time that reviving the lower river became a community priority.
Fortunately, local scientists are asking tough questions about the minimum flow levels proposed by the Southwest Florida Water Management District. Both the Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission and the technical advisory committee of the Tampa Bay Estuary Program have raised concerns to the district.
And those concerns will be addressed, thanks to a process that calls for a peer review of the proposed rule before it goes to the governing board for final approval. A panel of independent scientists will scrutinize the plan and local objections.
There's no minimizing the tough task the district faces in developing realistic and affordable standards. The river's flow is halted by the city of Tampa's dam, which creates a reservoir that supplies most of the city's drinking water.
As a consequence, for much of the year the lower river receives little natural flow of fresh water, which would cleanse the river and provide the oxygen essential to fish.
For years there were no flow requirements at all, and the lower Hillsborough often was little more than a stagnant canal. But about 10 years ago the district began developing freshwater standards and eventually adopted a requirement that the flow below the dam must average 10 cubic feet per second, or about 6.4 million gallons a day.
But the requirement did little to help the river. Doubling it should have an impact. But other scientists say a flow of about 30 to 40 cubic feet per second is needed. More importantly, they point out the district plan would bring the river's dissolved oxygen level only to 2.5 milligrams per liter, while the state standards require an average of 5 milligrams per liter.
District executive director David Moore says the new standard should dramatically improve the river, particularly the stretch from the dam to Sulphur Springs. This 1.8-mile section has suffered the most from the lack of fresh water, yet it also has the greatest potential for restoration since its banks are relatively natural.
Moore points out the river beyond that point is affected by tidal flow. And he stresses that runoff, seawalls and the destruction of natural water systems, including a network of springs, have affected the river in ways that can't be remedied by dumping in more fresh water. He says the river will be monitored and standards can be toughened if they prove inadequate.
City of Tampa officials say even meeting the district's proposed standard will be difficult. To meet the requirement, they intend to continue piping water from Sulphur Springs to the foot of the dam, pipe water from the bypass canal and store water in the aquifer. This, they believe, will allow them to increase flow below the dam without reducing the city's drinking-water supply.
Those are worthy efforts, but it's possible that with tougher water conservation efforts and perhaps buying more water from Tampa Bay Water, the regional water utility, the city could allow more water to flow from the reservoir.
There are a lot of moving and complicated parts to the minimum flow debate. Still, it seems clear the district's proposal could do better by the river. At the least, the agency should adopt the state's minimum dissolved oxygen levels.
Any additional flow will help and the peer review process may result in further improvements. But the proposal seems more a compromise than the long-needed aggressive effort to resuscitate the lower Hillsborough.
Wal-Mart Wants To Move Tortoises
Published: Oct 30, 2006
HOLIDAY - Wal-Mart has dropped plans to destroy nearly a dozen gopher tortoises on land where the company plans to build a supercenter.
The property, at the southwest corner of State Road 54 and Grand Boulevard, covers about 26 acres formerly occupied by a Cox Lumber yard. Just less than half of the property is suitable gopher tortoise habitat.
An environmental survey last year found evidence of nine tortoises on the site. In March 2005, Wal-Mart asked the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for permission to destroy the tortoises, which are protected by state law.
In exchange, Wal-Mart offered to pay $22,628 to the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council's mitigation bank, enough to preserve three acres of land.
Last month, as local opposition to the proposed store heated up, Wal-Mart dropped its proposal to destroy the tortoises.
In a letter to state wildlife managers Sept. 13, Wal-Mart officials asked for permission to move the tortoises to another site. The letter didn't specify where the tortoises would go other than to say they will be moved "off-site."
Wal-Mart attorney Glenn Smith couldn't say where the tortoises will go. Odds are good they will be sent to open land in eastern Pasco where others have been sent, said Tom Connolly, whose Gopher Tortoise Services Inc. handles tortoise relocations.
Wal-Mart opponent Cynthia Besio said this week she was happy about the relocation plan, but disappointed at the prospect of losing the tortoises.
"The tortoises have lived there so long [and] they visit the homes adjacent to the site to the south for water regularly. They will be missed," Besio said in a statement.
Besio leads a group of residents near the Wal-Mart site who contend the land is the wrong place for the 208,000-square-foot store.
County commissioners last week sent the proposal back to the county's Development Review Committee for a Dec. 12 hearing.
State wildlife officials are rewriting the rules for managing gopher tortoises. This summer, wildlife commissioners raised the tortoises' status to "threatened" from "special concern."
The new rules will go out for public review early next year, said wildlife commission spokesman Willie Puz.
In the meantime, the existing rules, which allow take permits for tortoises in the path of development, remain in effect.
Biologists describe gopher tortoises as a keystone species because many other animals rely on them.
Gopher tortoises were given state protection in 1991.
Since then, the state has issued thousands of take permits that allow landowners to destroy them.
The number of take permits has increased dramatically in recent years. In Pasco alone, the state gave out 29 take permits in 2005, up from seven in 2000, according to commission records.
County vetoes
development
Commissioners reject plan because 50-acre site
is too close to canopy road
Leon County commissioners have nixed a proposed development of 53 homes along a rural stretch of Old St. Augustine Road, one of the county's protected canopy roads.
Commissioners last week unanimously denied approval of Mariana Oaks, a 50-acre site a quarter of a mile east of Williams Road. Commissioners and some who live in the area were concerned that lot sizes were too small compared with nearby lots and that the development would have septic tanks rather than sewer service.
They also expressed concern about stormwater and traffic. The site is on a narrow stretch of Old St. Augustine that has a surface allowing water to seep into the road. Critics of the development said that the road often must be patched and that more traffic will make the situation worse.
Sue Nelson, whose 14-acre property adjoins the site, said the proposal simply had too many homes. Other nearby lots range from 2.5 acres to 100 acres.
"Hopefully, we can keep the density down and keep the canopy road the way it is," she said. "I don't mind development of the property if the plan fits what's already in the area."
County staff had recommended approval with a number of conditions, including no driveway access to Old St. Augustine Road. Commissioner Ed DePuy, who lives in the neighborhood, expressed concern about a lack of sewer service and the size of the lots, which were less than an acre.
"I agree that Old St. Augustine Road is a treasure," he said. "And it's something that we need to keep."
The applicant for the development is Mariana Oaks, LLC. Representatives could not be reached for comment. The applicant could submit a new or modified proposal for the property or challenge the decision in court.
Nelson said she expects the applicant to bring back a different development proposal.
Exit strategy: Homeowners turn to auctions to sell properties
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 30, 2006
Auctioneer Perry Diamond stood on the pool deck of the historic home in West Palm Beach's Flamingo Park and barked into his microphone.
"Looking for $600,000, do I have $550,000? $550,000? $500,000?" said Diamond, wearing black pants and a white dress shirt. "Let's kick it in at $500,000."
buy it today, or it's going to go back to the seller."
Still nothing. Nevertheless, after 70 seconds of patter, *Diamond declared that he had a $500,000 bid for a home that had been listed for as much as $725,000.
"We can consider it sold subject to seller's confirmation," Diamond said.
But there was no bid for seller John Neuharth to confirm. Neuharth, a personal trainer at a West Palm Beach gym, waited out the auction at a friend's house, and two days later he said he was still "totally confused" about what happened at the auction.
Amid a slow market for home sales and a growing glut of properties, frustrated sellers increasingly are turning to auctions in search of quick transactions. Auctioneers hype the process as a way to build buzz and move homes in a moribund market.
But as the failed auction on Oct. 14 showed, this marketing method is no magic pill.
Buyers calling the shots
For starters, no amount of breathless banter can motivate buyers who don't want to buy. Moreover, the nuances of auctions are lost on buyers and sellers who aren't familiar with the process. And real estate auctions have yet to shake their stigma as a vehicle for unloading foreclosures and other less-than-desirable properties.
Not even auctioneers agree on what type of sale - a risky "absolute" auction or a safer "reserve" sale - is the most effective. Longtime auctioneer Karlin Daniel of Stuart derides reserve sales such as Neuharth's as "hocus-pocus auctions" that give the business a bad name.
"The worst part is, people go to the auction and say, 'No one bid. Auctions don't work,' " Daniel said. "I've heard that for 30 years. That's really damaging to auctions."
Diamond, on the other hand, said he will "never, ever" consider an absolute auction because of the danger that a $500,000 house would sell for $50,000.
Neuharth, for his part, decided to sell by auction to drum up interest in his home at 806 Flamingo Drive, which had languished on the market for months. A year ago, the three-bedroom, two-bathroom house, built in 1925, might have fetched a buyer. But homes are finding fewer takers in today's market.
The latest homes sales figures from the Florida Association of Realtors last week showed that even the most steadfast residential real estate bull is going to have a hard time denying the bear is in the house.
After soaring to $400,000 in September 2005 during an unprecedented five-year real estate boom, the median price of an existing home in Palm Beach County plunged to $365,500 last month, a 9 percent year-over-year drop. It tied with the Treasure Coast for the third-largest drop in the state.
Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast, once among the hottest real estate markets in the nation, are no longer the booming sellers' markets they were between 2000 and 2005.
Now, buyers are calling the shots.
The slowdown has caused an astounding 49-month supply of existing homes for sale in Palm Beach County, Regional Multiple Listing Service records show.
Last month, Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast led the state in declining home sales and tied for the third-largest rate of falling home prices.
Marketing costs borne by seller
That has led to thousands of frustrated sellers such as Neuharth looking at everything from auctions to value-range pricing to unload their home.
But Neuharth quickly learned one key difference between auctions and traditional sales: In auctions, sellers pay their own marketing costs. Neuharth spent $10,000 on newspaper ads. In traditional sales, Realtors bear the advertising costs.
As the ads were stoking interest, Diamond held several open houses to give bidders a chance to tour the Spanish-style home.
Diamond posted so many yellow yard signs advertising an open house the day before the auction that a code enforcement officer stopped by to make sure the auctioneer planned to remove the signs.
The marketing blitz brought plenty of observers to the auction, if no buyers.
Shortly after he declared the property sold, Diamond acknowledged that there was no sale.
"Sometimes you want to cry," Diamond said while standing in Neuharth's dining room. "Let me introduce you to one of those times."
It's not uncommon for an auctioneer in a reserve auction to make a bid on behalf of the seller, Daniel said, and Diamond said he declared the home sold simply to save face for the seller.
"All I was trying to do was to protect the price of the home," Diamond said.
But the disillusioned seller was upset that his auctioneer went ahead with an auction when only one bidder showed up with the requisite check for $25,000. Neuharth also didn't understand why the auctioneer proclaimed his home sold, leaving the Realtors at the auction with the impression that the house was off the market.
"I am not pleased," Neuharth said. "There shouldn't have been an auction because there was only one registered bidder. This is so new to people, and there's a lot of confusion."
Diamond's auction partner planned to sell another house a block away from Neuharth's on the same day, but that sale fell flat, too.
Sally Markman expected to auction that property, but she said an offer came in just before the auction. Markman canceled the auction, saying she didn't have enough bidders.
"If I had five or six people standing there, I would have conducted an auction," Markman said.
Markman's client, Broward County real estate investor Dennis Bittner, said he rejected the offer for 915 Flamingo Drive because it was well below his $239,900 asking price. Markman even advertised the home as a "pre-foreclosure" sale, although Bittner said he's in no danger of default. Still, Bittner said, he was pleased with Markman's marketing efforts.
Both Diamond and Markman are agents at Lang Realty in Boca Raton, and Lang Realty owner Scott Agran stressed that the auction company is separate from his company. Agran said Diamond and Markman earned their auction licenses only recently.
"This fad is catching on, but right now it's amateur hour," Agran said. "There's a lot of hype. There's a lot of excitement. There's a lot of expectations."
Varying degrees of risk involved
For now, the hype and expectations have outpaced the reality of auctioning homes in a slow market, Agran said.
The same day that the two Flamingo Drive auctions netted no deals, Boca Valley Realty hosted a 36-property auction at the Muvico theaters in Boca Raton. While few properties sold at the auction, a number of offers rolled in afterward, said John McCann, owner of Boca Valley Realty.
"The auction itself was poorly executed," McCann said. "It's more of a marketing tool."
As for the non-sale of Neuharth's house, competing auctioneer Marilou MacKenzie of Illustrated Properties Real Estate attended the sale, and she questioned the type of auction Diamond chose.
Neuharth's home was offered in a reserve auction, a type of sale that's the least risky to sellers but also the least likely to lure bidders. That's because there's a magic number that seller and auctioneer have in mind but that is not shared with bidders.
"Buyers have a hard time figuring out what it is the seller will take," MacKenzie said.
Stuart auctioneer Daniel agreed. A reserve tends to drive away bidders and sabotage the bargain-hunting mentality the auction seeks to create, he said.
"It's like having a cocktail party with no booze," Daniel said. "Unfortunately, the majority of the auction industry is focused on reserve-type auctions."
Adventurous sellers can opt for absolute auctions, in which the home sells no matter how low the price. Daniel calls this the only true type of auction, but he acknowledges that it requires a leap of faith that many sellers simply don't want to take, particularly if they have little equity in the property.
Sellers who want to strike a middle ground can try a "minimum-bid auction," which MacKenzie recommends to sellers such as Robert Bono, a flower shop owner who plans to auction his home at 2404 Georgia Ave. next month.
The minimum bid is $269,900, a little more than half the home's list price of $515,000. "It's a little frightening," Bono said. "The downside is that you don't know exactly what it's going to sell for. Theoretically, it can sell for the minimum opening bid."
Still, he hopes the auction brings a quick sale and gets him out from under his mortgage on the house, an investment property that's producing no income.
"Listing it on the multiple listing service is going to make it one of thousands," Bono said. "And I don't have a tenant in there, so it's costing me $3,000 a month."
Bono is just one of what real estate experts say will be a growing number of home sellers choosing auctions in today's sluggish market.
Auctions the 'wave of the future'
Boca Raton real estate investor Ben Stern planned to auction 162 South Florida homes last Saturday at the War Memorial Auditorium in Fort Lauderdale.
Stern sold 100 of his own investment properties at an absolute auction in Fort Lauderdale in July. He decided on an auction because a slow market meant he couldn't sell homes the traditional way. And he chose an absolute auction because he thinks reserve auctions don't work.
"I had all these properties, and nothing was selling," Stern said. "My feeling was if I do an absolute auction, the buyers will come out."
Yet for all the fervor, auctions come with some financial obstacles for buyers. Bidders at Neuharth's auction were required to bring a $25,000 cashier's check, and the winning bidder was expected to come up with 10 percent of the purchase price that day.
Then there's the "buyer's premium." Many homes auctioned in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast come with a 10 percent fee the buyer pays. So if Neuharth's house had sold for $500,000, the buyer would have paid a total of $550,000.
The extra $50,000 would have covered commissions for Diamond and for Neuharth's real estate agent.
Auctioneers, meantime, tout their form of selling as one that creates excitement, spurs buyer frenzy and establishes true market value. "People like the fact that it's exact, it's quick," MacKenzie said. "Auction is the wave of the future."
But as Neuharth's experience showed, the ride can be bumpy.
Fla. orange shortage causes Minute Maid, Simply Orange price bump
The Associated PressORLANDO, Fla. — The Coca-Cola Co. said Monday it raised prices 9 percent to 11 percent for its Minute Maid and Simply Orange juice products, citing a projected Florida orange shortfall and increased fuel and energy costs.
It was the Atlanta-based company's fourth orange juice price increase this year, after remaining static for the past five years. The immediate price increases announced Monday come on top of those in September, when Coca-Cola instituted a 3 percent to 6 percent rise effective this month.
The company also said it was curtailing orange juice trade spending and promotional pricing beginning in January.
This month the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicted 135 million boxes of oranges will be picked in the 2006-07 season, down from an already-low 148 million boxes last year. Florida, which is the second largest juice producer behind Brazil, was averaging about 220 million boxes before two active hurricane seasons hit.
For a variety of reasons, Florida has fewer acres of trees than any time since 1988, when several years of freezes hit. If the forecast comes true, it would be Florida's worst harvest in a decade and a half.
"The crop report, with accompanying increased futures and fruit prices, has driven the need for additional price increases," Minute Maid general manager Mike Saint John said in a news release.
Bracing For The Future
Published: Oct 30, 2006
GOWERS CORNER - Sagging new-home construction may be idling construction workers across Pasco County, but the effect has yet to hit the shop floor at 41 Truss.
Owner Dave Wood bought the company - a stalwart of the county's construction industry - last October, just as the bottom started to fall out of the local housing market.
During the past year, Wood has weathered the decline in home construction by focusing on streamlining his company's processes and building complex roof systems for large, high-end homes.
He has kept the vast majority of his 100 employees on the job, even if that means painting lumber carts during slow times.
"When you hit a slow period, you can stop or you can plow forward and invest in the productivity and efficiency that makes a good business," Wood said recently during a walk-through of his open-air shop floor on U.S. 41 about 2 miles north of State Road 52.
Falling home sales have put a large dent in new-home construction, the bread and butter of a range of companies from plumbers to block layers to truss makers.
While many other companies have retrenched of late - laying off workers and going further afield for work - truss makers are using the downtime to prepare for the future.
While 41 Truss fine-tunes its operations, one of its chief competitors, Stock Building Supply, is planning to build a new truss plant at the North Suncoast Industrial Park in Shady Hills.
The Winter Haven-based company intends to build a 136,000-square-foot plant east of Hayes Road and north of S. R. 52, near the county's garbage incinerator.
The new plant will consolidate Stock's smaller operations in Hudson and Brooksville. It'll also give Stock a chance to work with large-scale builders such as Lennar Corp. or Standard Pacific Homes - work the smaller plants couldn't handle, said Ron Moyer, Stock's central Florida market manager.
Stock submitted plans for the new truss plant back when the housing market was still reasonably strong. The current downturn will give the company a chance to get the new plant up, running and ready for the day the new-home market recovers, Moyer said.
Moyer hopes to have the new plant open by next fall. He said it's too soon to know how many workers from Hudson and Brooksville will move to the new plant and, therefore, how many new workers will be needed.
The new plant will be more mechanized than its predecessors, which should reduce the potential for injuries among workers, Moyer said.
"By the time we get the plant open, hopefully the market will be back and we'll be ready for the market," Moyer said from Jacksonville, where Stock has another new truss plant in the works.
"It'll give us time to weed out the bugs," he said of the slow market.
Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201 or kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com.
Saving Silver Springs From Ruin
Tampa Tribune editorial Published: Oct 29, 2006
Long before the term "ecotourism" was coined, Silver Springs' natural beauty was attracting visitors from around the country. Indeed, in the pre-Disney World era, the springs near Ocala probably were Florida's pre-eminent tourist attraction.
One could cruise the crystal-clear waters in glass-bottom boats and see schools of bass, bream and gar. Scampering in the trees along the banks were monkeys, remnants of the Tarzan movies that had been filmed there.
It says much about Florida that this gorgeous resource, now a state park, has become increasingly polluted by runoff from developments and agricultural operations.
So the state proposal to spend $76 million for more than 4,000 nearby acres where a massive development is planned is entirely justified. The Nature Conservancy and Marion County will share acquisition costs.
If the land is not purchased, homes, streets and strip malls will cover a key recharge area for the underground system whose water bubbles up at Silver Springs. Its ruin would be virtually assured.
Gov. Jeb Bush and the Florida Cabinet will decide next month whether to approve the purchase. They should protect the fabled springs and give future visitors a chance to experience Florida's real attractions.
Loggerhead nesting numbers plunge
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 29, 2006
As sea turtle nesting season draws to a close, Treasure Coast scientists say their fears have come true: Loggerhead nesting numbers are some of the lowest on record.
This year, fewer than 2,300 loggerhead turtles laid eggs between Normandy Beach in St. Lucie County and the St. Lucie Inlet. Six years ago, there were about 1,700 more, said Erik Martin, a biologist who monitors nesting on the southern half of Hutchinson Island.
On the northern half of the island, scientists this year counted 1,728 loggerhead nests, the lowest number in 15 years.
"There's definitely some concern that there's something going on," said Ed DeMaye, a biologist who monitors the northern half of the island.
But just what is behind the decline remains a mystery.
Statewide loggerhead nesting numbers generally grew from 1979 to 1998, when a record 85,054 nests were reported.
But loggerhead nesting numbers appear to be on a downward slope, declining in four of the past seven years. The statewide tally has not climbed above 69,657 since 2001.
Treasure Coast scientists were hopeful last year, when nesting numbers rebounded slightly, signaling what they hoped was an end to the decline.
By early September 2005, scientists had found 292 loggerhead nests at St. Lucie Inlet Preserve State Park in Martin County; the year before, they found 244.
But this year's dismal count has scientists worried that the downward trend is not over yet.
Some suspect that a growing number of loggerheads are dying after getting tangled in nets used by commercial fishermen.
But that alone probably does not explain the drastic drop-off in nesting numbers, said Michael Bresette, a biologist who works with DeMaye monitoring nesting on the northern half of Hutchinson Island.
Bresette thinks some sort of disease, like the mystery sickness that killed dozens of nesting-age loggerhead turtles in 2000, is a more likely culprit.
That year, scientists along the coast between Indian River and Charlotte counties reported 100 loggerhead deaths, about three times more than usual.
Of course, declining nesting numbers don't necessarily reflect a declining population, Martin said.
Rather, it might simply be a drop in the number of nests dug by individual turtles, which can lay eggs four times in one season.
If something was to affect their food source, leaving the turtles less to eat, he said, they might be less inclined to nest, laying eggs only once a season.
Last year, scientists also saw an increase in the number of false crawls, that is, cases in which a turtle came ashore but for one reason or another did not lay eggs.
However, this year, the number of false crawls dropped back to a more typical level, Martin said.
"That tells us that it doesn't appear to be something that's happening when they're hitting the beach," he said of low nesting numbers. "It appears to be that there are fewer turtles coming onto the beach."
Whatever the cause of the current drop in loggerhead nesting numbers, scientists say it's safe to assume there will be another dip in 20 to 25 years, when recent hatchlings start nesting themselves.
And while they worry that low loggerhead numbers hint at a problem plaguing the species, this year's sea turtle nesting season isn't all bad news: Scientists say they're pleased with the number of leatherback and green turtle nests on the Treasure Coast.
The number of nests on the southern half of Hutchinson Island makes 2006 the fifth-highest year for both green and leatherback turtles since 1981, Martin said.
Scientists counted 137 green turtle nests on the southern half of the island. Between 1981 and 1993, the number never reached 100, he said.
Leatherback nests on the southern half of the island numbered 83 this year. The average over the past seven years is 94, Martin said.
Lauren RitchieFor the GOP, politics thicker than water
Published October 29, 2006S.R. 54 To Get 2 More Lanes
Published: Oct 29, 2006
LAND - O' LAKES - Work to expand a roughly three-mile stretch of State Road 54 is expected to begin next fall.
The $21.2 million project calls for the busy east-west thoroughfare to go from four to six lanes, with the additional lanes to be built into the existing median.
Though the expansion - from just east of U.S. 41 to the Cypress Creek bridge - should relieve congestion, construction plans do not include deceleration lanes at the entrances to several subdivisions and businesses.
During a recent public meeting, some residents raised safety concerns about the lack of the slow-down lanes, and some worried they would be stuck with the bill if those lanes are added.
One reason people want deceleration lanes is to avoid crashes with speeders.
Tracy Daily, a planner with WilsonMiller Inc., a Tampa engineering firm hired for the project, said deceleration lanes weren't part of the agreement with Pasco County.
"But now that [we've heard the] public comments, it will be a cooperative effort between us, the county and the Department of Transportation to look into that situation," Daily said.
"It was brought up at least a couple times at the meeting."
Daily said the firm will accept public comments on the project until Monday.
Andy Stoltz, who lives in Carpenter's Run off S.R. 54, said it sometimes takes him five minutes to make a left turn onto the highway to get to his business, A&S Sports, just east of the community.
He said a traffic light being installed at S.R. 54 and Grand Oaks Boulevard should help slow traffic.
"Before, you didn't have anything from Collier Parkway to State Road 56, and people just fly sometimes," he said. "It's great to have the growth out here, but there are problems when you have the growth."
The widening mostly will be paid for by The Richard E. Jacobs Group of Cleveland, developer of the proposed Cypress Creek Town Center. The Jacobs Group is to pay $16.9 million, and the county will pay the rest, up to $21.2 million.
The county also will pay a percentage if the cost rises, Daily said.
However, the 510-acre Cypress Creek mall site, which would straddle S.R. 56 at Interstate 75, has been challenged regarding environmental concerns.
Who would pay the developer's cost of the widening project if the mall is denied is "the million-dollar question," Daily said.
"There's really no answer for that. The widening was planned long before this mall, and it's part of the long-range transportation plans for Pasco. It will be done eventually."
Reporter Geoff Fox can be reached at (813) 948-4217 or gfox@tampatrib.com.
Series Looks At Changing Florida
PLANT CITY - Last season, a special series at Bruton Memorial Library focused on Bud Lee, a beloved local photographer.
For 2006-07, library director Anne Haywood decided on another theme that's also close to home: Florida.
Starting in November, the library launches "Right Before Our Eyes: Florida's Changing Landscape in Fact, Fiction and Song." It features a best-selling author, biologist-folk singer and a Florida native who has written extensively about the weird things that happen in the Sunshine State.
Haywood expects to find a following for the series.
"People love to hear about Florida," she said.
There's no admission charge for the presentations, which include audience interaction. The series opens with Florida native and Palm Beach Post reporter Eliot Kleinberg, who will talk about the wacky history of the state, and ends with New York Times best-selling author Randy Wayne White.
In a news release, the library wrote, "Do you sometimes feel that Florida is changing right before your eyes? Have you driven down a street that you hadn't traveled in a while and now - poof - that old grove is gone and there's a car wash there now? On your weekly walk around your neighborhood, did you suddenly discover a new house or two nestled where there had long been an empty lot?"
Haywood said she settled on the theme because of the tremendous growth in the area, particularly in Plant City. The series, with sponsors that include Friends of the Bruton Memorial Library, The Tampa Tribune and The (Plant City) Courier, is made possible through a grant from the Florida Humanities Council.
AT A GLANCE
Here's the lineup for Bruton Memorial Library's "Right Before Our Eyes: Florida's Changing Landscape in Fact, Fiction and Song."
NOV. 2: 7 p.m., Eliot Kleinberg on "The Wacky History of Florida and Why You Should Care"
NOV. 30: 7 p.m., Mallory O'Connor, "Perceptions of Paradise: The Visual Mythology of Florida As Eden"
JAN. 4: 7 p.m., Maurice O'Sullivan, "Reinventing Paradise: Writers in the Sunshine State"
FEB. 8: 7 p.m., Dale Crider, "Where Have All the Flowers Gone"
MARCH 15: 7 p.m., Bill Belleville, "Losing it All to Sprawl; How Progress Ate My Cracker Landscape"
MARCH 30: Time to be announced, Randy Wayne White, "An Evening with Doc Ford"
All the programs will be held in the Mary Noel Moody Community Room at the Bruton Memorial Library, 302 McLendon St. For information, call library director Anne Haywood at (813) 757-9215.
Reporter Dave Nicholson can be reached at (813) 865-4432 or dnicholson @tampatrib.com.
Complaints mount after Dunnellon land clearing
By JIM HUNTERCity manager disputes claims about illegal work at Rainbow River Ranch property
It was deja vu, all over again, though this time the Dunnellon city manager was really be-ginning to lose his patience.
City Manager Ed Ericson on Friday blasted efforts of what he said was a continuing, con-certed effort to tie up city administration with complaints about work on the Rainbow River Ranch property based on unfounded accusations.
Ericson was responding to a Chronicle question about a formal Oct. 18 complaint given the city by Burt Eno, vice president of Rainbow River Conservation Inc.
Ericson said others also had delivered more complaints about the same thing to the city, and said he and the city personnel could not afford to waste any more of the city’s time on the issue.
“It is a campaign. They are not going to get away with it this time. I’m going on the offen-sive,” Ericson said.
In his complaint, Eno repeated accusations that the city was not enforcing its ordinances in relation to what he alleges is site preparation work on the property, which has been pro-posed for a subdivision.
The land is on the east end of town along the Rainbow River.
The owner has not yet begun the specific preliminaries necessary to develop the prop-erty, and Ericson noted that much of the property is still zoned agricultural.
Eno asked that the city initiate remedial measures and apply violation penalties to the owner.
Ericson flatly rejected Eno’s claims, saying again that the city has inspected the property a number of times and has found no violation of city ordinances or codes or permits.
In the complaint, Eno repeated allegations of illegal cutting of trees, clear-cutting and what he termed massive destruction of habitat.
Ericson said the complaints have been full of sweeping generalizations with no specifics. He said, for example, “What wildlife, what habitat?”
He said the owner had indeed done work on his property, but it was not illegal.
He noted the complaints have gone to environmental agencies, even to the governor, with no results, though he said he is first concerned with the city’s ordinances — which he said would be vigorously enforced if there was evidence of a violation.
He said again that the city’s code enforcement officer, Ernest Paskey, is extremely quali-fied and has inspected the sites and has found no violations to date.
Paskey, who Ericson said has a Ph.D., a state license in landscape architecture and ex-tensive years experience in forestry, said Friday the work that has been done on the property has been standard forest management practice and not site preparation work as alleged.
He said he had not seen any cutting of cypress trees, as Eno has alleged.
The pruning, selective cutting, undergrowth clearing and burning of cleared material was being confused with site preparation construction, he said, when it was, in fact, part of healthy forestry practices.
Developer plans 2,000 homes near Parrish at State Road 62
NORTH MANATEE -- Developer Reynold Glanz's $32.5 million purchase of land off State Road 62 was one of the biggest vacant land sales in Manatee history.Now he now wants to turn it into one of the biggest residential developments in North Manatee.
The California developer filed plans this week for a 1,999-home project that will also include 2.3 acres of commercial development.
Roughly 15 percent, or 300, of the homes in Cone Ranch would be priced as work force housing. In more development-friendly times, that would make it an attractive offer by itself.
Glanz has been drawing the Cone Ranch plans since buying the land nearly two years ago. But his timing in submitting them to the county could have been better.
A recent doubling of county impact fees for new homes will soon go into effect. And county commissioners warn that more increases could be on the way.
More immediately, the commission's tougher stance on development has amounted to a virtual moratorium on development in mostly rural areas where roads are considered inadequate.
That includes Parrish, where the county has asked a consortium of developers to come up with a plan to widen U.S. 301 and build a bridge across the Manatee River, probably on Fort Hammer Road, by 2012.
"We are not interested in approving any more developments north of the river," Manatee County Commission Chairman Joe McClash said Tuesday at a meeting to preview new developments.
But in recent years, the area has been an attractive one for developers who are planning projects that include thousands of homes.
Land there is less expensive than in other, more populated parts of the county. More significantly, the area lies evenly between the Tampa and Sarasota areas and within easy reach of Interstates 75 and 275.
"I just think that's basically right where all the action is," Glanz said. "It's right in the growth path. It's just an ideal area for people to get to all the metropolitan areas."
Glanz said it is too early to start pricing homes, especially as sales prices continue to drop throughout the area.
The county has set the price ceiling for work force housing at $201,600.
Preliminary site work likely would not begin for more than a year from now, after what Glanz hopes will be a favorable review process.
Projects that include 10 percent or more of work force housing are normally fast-tracked through the approval process. But county planners have never expedited a project of this size, said Carol Clarke, county planning director.
On a project this size, it may take at least a year and a half before the County Commission would actually vote to approve or reject it.
The project will be built out in phases, but Cone Ranch planners have not settled on a firm time line.
Traffic planners estimate that, when the project is complete, about 1,200 cars would enter and exit Cone Ranch from S.R. 62 and U.S. 301 during peak evening drive times.
The developer is proposing to extend Spencer Parrish Road from S.R. 62 to U.S. 301 at Moccasin Wallow Road, Glanz said.
But local residents say that S.R. 62, a two-lane road that connects Parrish to Duette, cannot handle extra traffic.
"I would think they're going to have lot of problems getting anything done with 62 being the kind of road it is," said Ben Jordan, president of the Parrish Civic Association. "For that kind of thing you would have to look at widening 62; that's a lot of homes."
Developers have tried to sweeten large projects by offering land for schools and parks. At the moment the plans for Cone Ranch do not include any incentives.
"This is the first, preliminary site plan," Glanz said. "You don't offer anything; they tell us what to do."
Cone Ranch would also feature trails and a 40-acre "canoe lake." Commercial development would be light, possibly a gas station and/or convenience store.
The number of homes proposed falls just one short of the number that would classify it as a development of regional impact, which would make the project subject to additional state reviews.
The land, formerly owned by William Cone and used for cattle production, is now largely pasture.
OTHER PROJECTS PLANNED IN RURAL MANATEE COUNTY
At 1,999 homes, the Cone Ranch development in Parrish
is among several projects that promise to dramatically transform rural
Manatee County. Others include:
NORTHWEST SECTOR AND LAKEWOOD CENTER
8,100 homes, 3.5 million square feet of commercial and office space, a
300-room hotel and a 120-bed assisted living facility in Lakewood
Ranch
CURIOSITY CREEK
1,600 homes, 150,000 square feet of commercial space, a library, parks
and a school site on Buckeye Road
ARTISAN LAKES
2,800 homes and a shopping center between Moccasin Wallow and Buckeye
roads
NEWPORT ISLES
1,663 homes, 60,000 square feet of commercial space and a school site.
EAGLE POINTE
1,072 homes between Buckeye Road and Moccasin Wallow Road, east of
Carter Road.
THE SALTSMAN PROPERTY
1,999 homes and an elementary school site on Moccasin Wallow Road and
U.S. 301.
It blustered the hardest at a meeting Monday during which commissioners and FEMA representatives had to endure complaints that not only are parts of the new maps wrong, but that the county bungled the process.
Residents are frustrated and officials are wondering if they could have done anything differently.
"When talking internally about whether we could we have done more, it would be the same as far as the residents are concerned whether we had or hadn't - they would still have to be going through the process for a map amendment," Public Works Director Rick Hedrick said.
But Mary Fossum, president of the Huntington Homeowner's Association, disagrees. She believes the county could have done more to study the maps, notify residents of changes and had a public hearing earlier in a required 90-day appeal period.
Fossum said those actions could have saved affected homeowners time and money.
"I think they could have handled it totally differently. Back when they were notified of the appeal process, they had a 90-day (period) to notify homeowners and for homeowners to have the ability to appeal the zoning," Fossum said. "They didn't hold the hearing until about two weeks before the 90-day appeal process expired."
The map flap started brewing a few months ago as some residents began learning from their mortgage companies that they would be in flood zones in new FEMA flood insurance rate maps. That means they will likely need flood insurance that typically costs $300 to $400 a year.
About 3,000 homes countywide - including in Gainesville and the smaller cities - are affected.
Assistant Public Works Director Michael Fay said FEMA began remapping in 1999. Some residents have complained the county gave FEMA old maps, but Fay said FEMA picked the maps it wanted.
Fay added the county and FEMA tried to notify the community of changes through a variety of ways including the county Web site, newspaper ads and other means.
"In terms of what we submitted to FEMA, we didn't submit anything to FEMA. FEMA came to us and asked for that material - they asked for anything we had and I showed them everything we had. They said, 'This is what we want,' " Fay said. "We had it on our Web site that there were new maps. We had the public information meeting at the library. It was a little late in the process, but we were trying to coordinate with the municipalities."
Some counties went further than Alachua in questioning the accuracy of the maps and public notification.
Marion County stormwater engineer Tracy Straub said when the first set of revised FEMA maps arrived in 2005, staff reviewed them and alerted the commission that more than 11,000 homes would be placed in flood zones.
The commission asked for a review. Revised maps were submitted this year by FEMA with about 1,600 fewer homes in flood zones.
Several public meetings were held by the Marion County Commission with FEMA staff, Straub said. She met with homeowner's associations, civic clubs and others to alert residents of the new maps in 2005 and this year.
Straub added that county staff explained to FEMA why certain rezonings shouldn't be made because of soil types, drainage pipes and other factors of which FEMA was not aware when remapping.
"Our commissioners saw the first maps and said, 'This is really, really unbelievable. Can we take a better look at them?' We slowed down the process right then and there and bought ourselves a year to re-evaluate and work to get some changes on them," Straub said. "I'm not going to say there isn't going to be a burden that will fall on many of our citizens. The county can't do individual work in response to an individual citizen."
Alachua County Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut said communication was a problem in Alachua County's process. Marion County's handling of the remapping was ideal, she said.
"Based on what I heard Monday night, the communication could have been better between all parties involved. I don't know what happened," Chestnut said. "Clearly a model to follow is the one from Marion County."
Hedrick said Alachua County does not have a stormwater engineer or the staffing to have performed a detailed analysis of the maps.
The county is working on a stormwater master plan. Had one been in place now, it could have helped with the remapping, he said.
"If you look at other communities that have stormwater management programs with a staff of stormwater management people, you'll probably find they were able to be more proactive. They have people who specialize in that area," Hedrick said. "People have to understand stormwater is a serious issue in this county and we will have to deal with it."
The Alachua County Commission agreed to waive a $10 fee for county materials that affected homeowners will need to file for a map amendment. It also asked FEMA for another 90-day appeal period and has contacted the county's congressional delegation to help achieve that.
Cindy Swirko can be reached at 374-5024 or swirkoc@ gvillesun.com.
Step Right Up And See Bleak Fiscal Future
Published: Oct 29, 2006
AUSTIN, TEXAS - David M. Walker sure talks like he's running for office.
"This is about the future of our country, our kids and grandkids," the comptroller general of the United States warns a packed hall at Austin's historic Driskill Hotel. "We, the people, have to rise up to make sure things get changed."
Walker doesn't want, or need, your vote this November. He has a job as head of the Government Accountability Office, an investigative arm of Congress that audits and evaluates the performance of the federal government.
Basically, that makes Walker the nation's accountant-in-chief. And the accountant-in-chief's professional opinion is that the American public needs to tell Washington it's time to steer the nation off the path to financial ruin.
From the hustings and the airwaves this campaign season, America's political class can be heard debating Capitol Hill sex scandals, the wisdom of the war in Iraq and which party is tougher on terrorism. Democrats and Republicans talk of cutting taxes to make life easier for the American people.
What they don't talk about is a dirty little secret everyone in Washington knows, or at least should. The vast majority of economists and budget analysts agree: The ship of state is on a disastrous course, and it will founder on the reefs of economic disaster if nothing is done to correct it.
Not A Popular Topic
There's a good reason politicians don't like to talk about the nation's long-term fiscal prospects. The subject is short on political theatrics and long on complicated economics, scary graphs and very big numbers. It reveals serious problems and offers no easy solutions. Anybody who wanted to deal with it seriously would have to talk about raising taxes and cutting benefits, nasty nostrums that might doom any candidate who prescribed them.
"There's no sexiness to it," laments Leita Hart-Fanta, an accountant who has just heard Walker's pitch. She suggests recruiting a trusted celebrity - maybe Oprah - to sell fiscal responsibility to the American people.
Walker doesn't want to make balancing the federal government's books sexy - he just wants to make it politically palatable. He has committed to touring the nation through the 2008 elections, talking to anybody who will listen about the fiscal black hole Washington has dug itself, the "demographic tsunami" that will come when the baby-boom generation begins retiring and the recklessness of borrowing money from foreign lenders to pay for the operation of the U.S. government.
He's dubbed his campaign the "fiscal wake-up tour."
To show that the looming fiscal crisis is not a partisan issue, he brings along economists and budget analysts from across the political spectrum. In Austin, he is accompanied by Diane Lim Rogers, a liberal economist from the Brookings Institution, and Alison Acosta Fraser, director of the Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
Their basic message is this: If the United States government conducts business as usual over the next few decades, a national debt that is $8.5 trillion could reach $46 trillion or more, adjusted for inflation.
A hole that big could paralyze the U.S. economy; according to some projections, just the interest payments on a debt that big would be as much as all the taxes the government collects today.
And every year that nothing is done about it, Walker says, the problem grows by $2 trillion to $3 trillion.
Big 3 Are Draining Reserves
People who remember Ross Perot's rants in the 1992 presidential election may think of the federal debt as a problem of the past. But it never really went away after Perot made it an issue, it only took a breather. The federal government actually produced a surplus for a few years during the 1990s, thanks to a booming economy and fiscal restraint imposed by laws that were passed early in the decade. And though the federal debt has grown in dollar terms since 2001, it hasn't grown dramatically relative to the size of the economy.
But that's about to change, thanks to the country's three big entitlement programs: Social Security, Medicaid and, especially, Medicare. Medicaid and Medicare have grown progressively more expensive as the cost of health care has dramatically outpaced inflation over the past 30 years, a trend that is expected to continue for at least another decade or two.
With the first baby boomers becoming eligible for Social Security in 2008 and for Medicare in 2011, the expenses of those two programs are about to increase dramatically due to demographic pressures. People are also living longer, which makes any program that provides benefits to retirees more expensive.
Medicare costs four times as much as it did in 1970, measured as a percentage of the nation's gross domestic product. It currently comprises 13 percent of federal spending; by 2030, the Congressional Budget Office projects it will consume nearly a quarter of the budget.
Economists Jagadeesh Gokhale of the American Enterprise Institute and Kent Smetters of the University of Pennsylvania estimate that by 2030, Medicare will be about $5 trillion in the hole, measured in 2004 dollars. By 2080, the fiscal imbalance will have risen to $25 trillion. And when you project the gap out to an infinite horizon, it reaches $60 trillion.
United States Didn't Save
Medicare so dominates the nation's fiscal future that some economists think health care reform, rather than budget measures, is the best way to attack the problem.
"Obviously, health care is a mess," says Dean Baker, a liberal economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a Washington think tank. "No one's been willing to touch it, but that's what I see as front and center."
Social Security is a much less serious problem. The program currently pays for itself with a 12.4 percent payroll tax, and even produces a surplus that the government raids every year to pay other bills. But Social Security will begin to run deficits during the next century, and ultimately would need an infusion of $8 trillion if the government planned to keep its promises to every beneficiary.
Why is America so fiscally unprepared for the next century? Like many of its citizens, the United States has spent the last few years racking up debt instead of saving for the future. Foreign lenders - primarily the central banks of China, Japan and other big U.S. trading partners - have been eager to lend the government money at low interest rates, making the current $8.5 trillion deficit about as painful as a big balance on a zero-percent credit card.
In her part of the fiscal wake-up tour presentation, Rogers tries to explain why that's a bad thing. For one thing, even when rates are low a bigger deficit means a greater portion of each tax dollar goes to interest payments rather than useful programs. And because foreigners now hold so much of the federal government's debt, those interest payments increasingly go overseas rather than to U.S. investors.
More serious is the possibility that foreign lenders might lose their enthusiasm for lending money to the United States. Because treasury bills are sold at auction, that would mean paying higher interest rates in the future. And it wouldn't just be the government's problem. All interest rates would rise, making mortgages, car payments and student loans costlier, too.
A modest rise in interest rates wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, Rogers said. America's consumers have as much of a borrowing problem as their government does, so higher rates could moderate overconsumption.
Inequitable Tax On Property Is Freezing Florida Businesses
Published Tampa Tribune editorial: Oct 29, 2006
The tax revolt that flared in local government meeting rooms across the state this budget season fizzled because like fireworks, it was unaimed. County commissioners and city council members who heard taxpayers fume generally agree that taxes are too high.
These local officials who set millage rates are not the ones tightening the tax vise on businesses, renters and new home buyers. Through a series of shortsighted decisions, Florida voters themselves have made the tax squeeze inevitable. Without constitutional reform, the squeeze is unstoppable.
Both Tampa and Hillsborough County shaved a little off millage rates to keep tax bills fairly flat for most voters. But a slightly lower rate on one or two lines of the long list of taxing agencies is no help to a small business still owing thousands more this year than last year.
At the state level, the Legislature has taken credit for cutting taxes while gradually and sneakily shifting more of the load to counties. In 1999, state taxes were covering 61 percent of the cost of public schools, the Miami Herald reports. This year the state pays only 54 percent of the school bill, with local governments paying the difference.
The shift has gone unnoticed because local governments appear awash in revenue rolling in from rising property values and growth. In Hillsborough, the value of all real property has increased from $59 billion in 2002 to $87 billion in 2005. The $28 billion increase in three years is more than total value of all the real property in most other Florida counties.
Yet Hillsborough and other fast-growing urban areas are still taking in less money than they need to build the new roads and schools to keep up with their growth.
Tax Bills Kill Businesses
That's why tax rates can be reduced only a little - nowhere near enough to help businesses such as Apollo Beach Marina. The Tribune recently reported that the property taxes on the small marina are up $5,395 in one year. Since 2001 the owner's property taxes have increased sixfold. This year's property tax bill of $292 a week is confiscatory. It means marinas, small motels, family-owned restaurants and other businesses essential to the character and economic health of the region are being taxed into extinction.
The state's tax system is producing results that nobody wants, yet the most popular reforms on the table will make things even worse. They are designed to give new benefits to permanent homeowners - including making the tax cap portable - and would increase the inequity on businesses, renters, newcomers and temporary residents.
Two tax amendments on the ballot this November would give additional breaks to low-income seniors and certain combat-disabled veterans. These changes would lower the tax bills of a few homeowners while adding complexity and inequity. The Tribune advises voting no, but however you vote, don't mistake these minor changes for the reform Florida needs.
Under a fair tax system, public pressure would force elected officials to roll back the tax rate so that tax bills increased at a pace that matched what the majority is willing to pay.
Under the existing system, the tax bills for most voters remain reasonable, while the taxes paid by a large minority of property owners goes up sharply year after year. Local officials can't afford to cut rates enough to provide any meaningful relief to them.
Popular Measure Created Inequities
Voters are to blame. More than a decade ago, Florida homeowners protected themselves from unaffordable increases in property taxes by passing the Save Our Homes Amendment. It limits the increase in taxable value of a home to 3 percent a year. Also, homeowners who are Florida residents living in that home qualify for a $25,000 exemption in taxable value.
No cap or exemption helps owners of commercial property, renters and snowbirds. A temporary resident who uses fewer services than his permanent neighbor can pay property taxes 10 times higher, some seasonal visitors complain.
Every year the inequity grows larger and the wealthy benefit the most. The Palm Beach Post reports that the tax cap saves golfer Greg Norman $220,000 a year.
In Tampa it is easy to find multimillion-dollar homes taxed on 25 percent of their market value.
Meanwhile, commercial and rental properties pay a high and rising share of the cost of all local services.
The governor has appointed a tax panel to look into ways to end the increasing inequity while keeping homeowners from being taxed to death.
A good rule to follow would be the concept of equal protection under the law. If homeowners need protection from rising taxes, so do owners of businesses, apartments and vacation homes.
Equality is a hallmark of democracy. Florida is moving toward tax tyranny, and it is trend that fair-minded citizens will stand up and fight together.
Hydroponic Produce Stacks Up
Published: Oct 28, 2006
RUSKIN - In an area along Shell Point Road once flanked by tomato fields, John Lawson is a pioneer on farming's new frontier.
He's growing tomatoes, corn and thousands of strawberry plants on less than an acre using high-rise hydroponic containers with automated watering.
Lawson's operation brings to three the number of hydroponic operations where residents from Pasco to eastern and southern Hillsborough can pick their own farm-fresh produce from the innovative veggie condos.
A retired sales distributor for Anheuser-Busch, Lawson read a newspaper story last year about the Hydro-Stacker system Gary Parke uses at his Dover farm. The article also featured Laura and Terry Bane, a Dade City couple who use the same system to grow dozens of varieties on a vacant lot next to their Miller Road home.
"I read the story on Saturday morning. By that afternoon, Terri and I were at Bullock's farm, and the next day we visited Gary. By then we were pretty much convinced this was what we wanted to do," he said.
Hydroponics is the science of cultivating plants by placing the roots in nutrients instead of soil.
Lawson expects to grow more strawberries on his three-quarter-acre parcel than he could grow on 6 or 7 acres if his crops were planted in soil - and use far less water.
He and his wife, Terri, operate Hydro Harvest Farms, a just-opened u-pick farm that uses the Hydro-Stacker system developed by Chester Bullock, a former Missouri farmer who operates a farm and research center for his patented system in Myakka City.
"This system saves on land and water, two things we are running out of in Florida," Lawson said.
In the Hydro-Stacker system, trays of plastic foam plant holders are stacked on a center pole that rests on fabric mulch. Lawson generally uses five trays, or 20 plants, on each pole.
The plants grow in a 50-50 mixture of vermiculite, a mineral nutrient, and a volcanic rock called perlite. An automatic watering system at the top of each pole feeds the plants about a quart of water three times a day.
"These plants use less water than conventional farming," Lawson said. "It would take gallons to water traditional plants in the field where water is lost through absorption and as it is sprayed onto the plants."
In addition to strawberries, corn and tomatoes, he's growing okra, beans and cucumbers.
His stand offers fresh produce from other parts of Florida. His first hydroponically grown crops should be ready for sale soon.
"I'm hoping to have strawberries by" Wednesday he said. Lawson and his staff planted 18,000 berry plants.
Lawson recently received a shipment of 24,000 ladybugs, which eat aphids and other insects that attack plants.
"We will use little or no pesticides," he said. "We grow as close to organic as possible because it's the right way to do it."
Growing A Business
Passers-by have watched with interest as the stacks of pots are delivered and the unusual farm takes shape. Five or six people a day drop in to see what it's all about.
Billie Buzbee of Ruskin stopped by one afternoon recently. She heard about the farm from her grandson Shane Anglin, 17, who works there.
"I just wanted to come by and see it. It sounded so interesting," she said. "I've never heard of this before. I used to pick strawberries but gave it up with all the bending you need to do. I might even pick berries again this year."
That's another benefit of hydroponics, Lawson said. Berries and other produce can be easily picked off the stacks with little or no bending, he said.
Lawson welcomes visitors. He's working on an educational program, and the schedule includes a number of Halloween events for children.
What about the perils of frost, which sends other strawberry farmers scrambling to spare their crops?
If the temperature drops to near freezing, Lawson has a breathable frost cloth to cover the stacks of pots. By using the cloths and turning on the bottom misters, the plants can withstand a drop in temperature to 22 degrees for up to six hours, he said.
Tried And True
The Hydro-Stacker system is working well for Parke, now into his second year at the hydroponic farm in Dover. In addition to strawberries, Parke grows several vegetables, including eggplant, squash, tomatoes, okra, beans, peas and collard greens.
He is getting ready to double the size of his half-acre farm and is trying to extend the growing season for strawberries so he will have berries available almost year-round.
With former agricultural land being scooped up for development all over Florida, Parke sees hydroponics as a way to preserve agriculture.
"It's so much easier to grow houses," he said. "I think this is a way to save the family farm."
Lawson agrees.
"When I was growing up in Ruskin, it was all tomatoes and oranges, everywhere you looked," he said. "We are losing our agricultural legacy. Hopefully this new system will help us to preserve it."
U-PICK LOCATIONS
PARKE FAMILY HYDROFARMS
3715 Tanner Road, Dover
DIRECTIONS: Interstate 4 to Branch Forbes Road (Exit 17). South on Forbes to U.S. 92. East to Tanner.
HOURS: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday
INFORMATION: (813) 927-4049
HYDRO HARVEST FARMS
1101 Shell Point Road E., Ruskin
HOURS: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday
INFORMATION: (813) 645-6574, www.hydroharvest farms.com
BANE'S HYDROPONIC FARM
27907 Miller Road, Dade City
DIRECTIONS: Interstate 75 to Exit 52. West to Bellamy Brothers Boulevard. Turn right, two miles to Miller Road.
HOURS: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday
INFORMATION: (352) 206-5687, baneshydroponicfarm @netzero.com
Reporter Liz Bleau can be reached at (813) 865-1557 or lbleau@tampatrib.com.
Women Take Lead Agriculture Roles
Published: Oct 28, 2006
PLANT CITY - Two fixtures in the local agricultural community are making their presence known on the state level.
Michelle Williamson and Ila Crocker emerged from the Florida Farm Bureau Federation's annual meeting this month with new responsibilities on the Women's Leadership Committee.
Williamson, who lives and works on a Dover farm established more than a century ago by her husband's family, was elected vice chairwoman of the committee.
Crocker, former marketing director for the Florida Strawberry Growers Association, was named to represent Plant City on the statewide committee.
The committee's mission is to promote agriculture and to identify and train new leaders in the growing ranks of women in the industry.
"We don't just cook and do bake sales anymore," said Ginny Paarlberg, the organization's state women's chairwoman. "We're politically active and influential in getting things done."
About a third of America's farms are owned by women these days and even more are being managed by them.
Many, like Paarlberg, are left to run the operations when their husbands die.
Others, like Williamson and Crocker, were born into it and then married into it.
Williamson's mother and grandfather worked for the University of Florida's strawberry research center when it was in Springhead.
"I grew up around the strawberry industry my whole life," she said.
Crocker, who was elected to take Williamson's Plant City seat on the committee, grew up on her family's Suwannee County farm and now helps her husband oversee their citrus, cattle and timber operations.
"I've watched Michelle and see how important it is to become a voice on that committee and decided that is something I wanted to be a part of," she said.
Reporter Jan Hollingsworth can be reached at (813) 865-4436 or jhollingsworth@tampatrib.com.
Land Auction Nets Owner $5 Million-Plus
Published: Oct 21, 2006
PLANT CITY - About 150 people crowded into the Ramada Inn on Oct. 14, lured by a land sale of historical proportions.
"As far as we know, this was very likely the largest auction of real estate ever in eastern Hillsborough County," said John Haney, auction manager for Higgenbotham Auctioneers.
More than 600 acres, most owned by Plant City businessman Kimball Wetherington, went on the auction block.
By the end of the day, the ranches, industrial tracts, commercial and residential properties had raked in more than $5 million, with more to come.
"We still have a few scattered parcels that are available," Haney said. "All of the properties were bid on, but some numbers were below the sellers' expectations."
Haney said he expects to have some of those under contract in the coming weeks.
"Typically, if a property does not sell at auction, we have them moving toward closing in a couple of weeks about 90 percent of the time," he said.
Wetherington, founder of Wetherington Tractor Services, decided to sell off "a good portion of his real estate holdings" and spend more time at his home in Colorado, Haney said.
The auction included Wetherington's 228-acre ranch off Trapnell Road; a 232-acre industrial site next to Plant City Stadium; and several other properties, large and small.
Three additional parcels - a cold storage facility and warehouse on Tever Street and a residential building lot owned by Wetherington associates Bud and Kevin Brown - also were included in Saturday's land sale.
The Lakeland-based auction company evaluated the properties and tailored the sale to maximize their potential.
The family ranch was carved into smaller, more affordable sections. Three of the eight parcels sold, with the section containing the house plus 41 acres bringing $1.7 million.
The industrial tract on Park Road was offered in two pieces. The 32-acre parcel sold for $420,000. The 200-acre section is still available.
A 68-acre parcel at McIntosh and U.S. 301 sold for $1.1 million. A former borrow pit on the property is destined to become a lake surrounded by 20 homes, based on a pending development plan.
Six 1-acre building lots - five on Old Mulberry Road and one near Springhead Elementary - sold for between $70,000 and $90,000, Haney said.
The Browns' warehouse on Tever Street sold, but the cold storage facility across the street, the former site of Bud's Poultry, did not.
Still, there are potential buyers in the wings, he said.
"One thing we've learned through this process is how limited the availability of cold storage is in Hillsborough County," Haney said.
Higgenbotham holds real estate auctions across the nation, selling everything from single-family homes to surplus corporate real estate. Most of the properties the auctioneer handles are commercial and industrial.
Auctions offer sellers a quick and efficient way to sell their properties. They also offer buyers an opportunity to name their price, Haney said.
"In an auction scenario, you know you paid only one bid more than what someone else was willing to pay," he said.
Paying for a property bought at auction differs little from a traditional real estate transaction: The buyer must be prepared to write a check for 5 percent to 10 percent of the purchase price the day of the sale, then come up with financing.
"Most people who participate in auctions know how the system works and generally come prequalified to finance a certain amount," said Ron O'Connor, vice president of marketing for Farm Credit of Central Florida.
Farm Credit works closely with Higgenbotham, often sending a representative to the auctions to help arrange financing for those who qualify.
Because many of the auctioned properties involve agricultural land or other types of "nonconforming properties," Farm Credit may be able to finance what traditional banks do not.
"I'm not sure why banks don't like to finance homes with a lot of acreage," O'Connor said. "It doesn't fit that cookie cutter image that banks like to finance."
Reporter Jan Hollingsworth can be reached at (813) 865-4436 or jhollingsworth@tampatrib.com.
At least 3 commissioners amenable to expansion
BELLEVIEW - At least three Belleview city commissioners are open to
the possibility of increasing the city's size by annexing properties
that are under a service-area agreement.
Recently, with the county's blessing, city officials ratified the Marion County and city of Belleview Service Territory Agreement whereby water and sewer services provided by the city reach several areas just outside Belleview's city limits.
Heading north along U.S. 441, city services extend to Southeast 73rd Street. In the opposite direction, they extend to Southeast 135th Street.
Along Baseline Road, the lines would extend from the city limits to the Baseline Landfill. East of County Road 25, the lines go to Southeast 80th Avenue. West of CR25 services stretch to Southeast 29th Avenue.
Developers who wish to build in the service areas must now sign an agreement under which they agree to hook up to water and sewer services and be annexed should the city decide to make the move.
With the agreement, the city has the potential to increase its boundaries from the current 2 square miles to 30 square miles.
Commissioner Wilma Loar said she thinks annexation talks could begin in a year. She added annexing vacant lots into the city would protect the city's boundaries.
"That way, we can manage the growth that's coming in," Loar said. "Not only do we need a workshop to discuss it, we also need community input."
Mayor Tammy Moore favors the service agreement because it provides an "opportunity to expand the city." She says another advantage to annexation is that the city "could even out its borders."
Moore agrees with Loar that before Belleview pulls the trigger on pulling in more people or territory, the residents of those communities must feel comfortable about the move.
"I'm for volunteer annexation," she said. "You can't force someone to come in. It must be mutual."
Moore cautions, however, that the city shouldn't rush into any annexation moves.
"I think economically, it would help us because we could attract some businesses. But, at the same time, we just hired a planner, and I would like to get some input from him. I want him to give us some direction," Moore said.
Commissioner Michael Goldman said he believes annexation could be beneficial to those who join the city, because they would pay less for some services, such as water and sewer.
"Say, for instance, it cost $150 for water and sewer outside the city, that same service could cost $80 inside the city. That's a savings," Goldman said.
While Goldman said he's not overly concerned about the shape of the city, he thinks city leaders should meet and carefully develop a detailed plan before annexing.
"I don't think we'll do like what Wildwood did and just annex all the land surrounding them. But, we need to plan for things like what would be the projected population.
"We may have to increase police service, talk about green space. It's a lot because we have to look at the impact," Goldman said.
Austin L. Miller may be reached at austin.miller@starbanner.com or 867-4118.
With the agreement, the city has the potential to increase its boundaries from the current 2 square miles to 30 square miles.
Recently, with the county's blessing, city officials ratified the Marion County and city of Belleview Service Territory Agreement whereby water and sewer services provided by the city reach several areas just outside Belleview's city limits.
Heading north along U.S. 441, city services extend to Southeast 73rd Street. In the opposite direction, they extend to Southeast 135th Street.
Along Baseline Road, the lines would extend from the city limits to the Baseline Landfill. East of County Road 25, the lines go to Southeast 80th Avenue. West of CR25 services stretch to Southeast 29th Avenue.
Developers who wish to build in the service areas must now sign an agreement under which they agree to hook up to water and sewer services and be annexed should the city decide to make the move.
With the agreement, the city has the potential to increase its boundaries from the current 2 square miles to 30 square miles.
Commissioner Wilma Loar said she thinks annexation talks could begin in a year. She added annexing vacant lots into the city would protect the city's boundaries.
"That way, we can manage the growth that's coming in," Loar said. "Not only do we need a workshop to discuss it, we also need community input."
Mayor Tammy Moore favors the service agreement because it provides an "opportunity to expand the city." She says another advantage to annexation is that the city "could even out its borders."
Moore agrees with Loar that before Belleview pulls the trigger on pulling in more people or territory, the residents of those communities must feel comfortable about the move.
"I'm for volunteer annexation," she said. "You can't force someone to come in. It must be mutual."
Moore cautions, however, that the city shouldn't rush into any annexation moves.
"I think economically, it would help us because we could attract some businesses. But, at the same time, we just hired a planner, and I would like to get some input from him. I want him to give us some direction," Moore said.
Commissioner Michael Goldman said he believes annexation could be beneficial to those who join the city, because they would pay less for some services, such as water and sewer.
"Say, for instance, it cost $150 for water and sewer outside the city, that same service could cost $80 inside the city. That's a savings," Goldman said.
While Goldman said he's not overly concerned about the shape of the city, he thinks city leaders should meet and carefully develop a detailed plan before annexing.
"I don't think we'll do like what Wildwood did and just annex all the land surrounding them. But, we need to plan for things like what would be the projected population.
"We may have to increase police service, talk about green space. It's a lot because we have to look at the impact," Goldman said.
Austin L. Miller may be reached at austin.miller@starbanner.com or 867-4118.
With the agreement, the city has the potential to increase its boundaries from the current 2 square miles to 30 square miles.
British
to release report on economic cost of global warming
LONDON
-- A comprehensive report on the global economic cost of climate change,
to be released by the British government on Monday, is expected to be
the world's most serious effort to quantify the long-term effect of
doing nothing.
The Independent newspaper reported Friday that the long-awaited
review would say global warming could cost the world's economies up to
20 percent of their gross domestic product if urgent action is not taken
to stop floods, storms and natural catastrophes.
Sir Nicholas Stern, the report's author, met privately with Prime
Minister Tony Blair and his Cabinet ministers on Thursday to brief them
about his findings. Stern, a government adviser on climate change, is a
former chief economist of the World Bank.
Quoting unidentified officials at the briefing, The Independent said
Stern warned the world would have to pay 1 percent of its annual gross
domestic product now to avert catastrophe but that doing nothing could
later cost five to 20 times that amount.
"Business-as-usual will derail growth," the paper quoted
Stern as saying as he briefed the government on his 700-page report,
covering a period up to the year 2100.
At a news conference on Friday, Blair's spokesman refused to discuss
Stern's comments or the report's findings.
The report was mandated by Blair's treasury chief, Gordon Brown, who
is expected to replace Blair when he steps down as prime minister next
year. Brown recently said he would use the report to alert governments
around the world that they have been too slow to recognize -- let alone
fight -- the threat of climate change.
Blair and his Dutch counterpart, Jan Peter Balkenende, wrote an open
letter last week to their fellow European leaders on global warming.
"We have a window of only 10 to 15 years to take the steps we
need to avoid crossing catastrophic tipping points," it said.
"These would have serious consequences for our economic growth
prospects, the safety of our people and the supply of resources, most
notably energy."
Earlier this week, the European Union's environment agency said
member states such as Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Italy,
Portugal and Spain were not doing enough to fight global warming,
jeopardizing the bloc's commitments to cut down gas emissions by 8
percent by the year 2012 under the Kyoto treaty.
Sweden and Britain are the only EU-15 nations that can meet their
targets without implementing any additional measures, the European
Environment Agency said.
The international agreement was reached in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997 and
it expires in 2012. President Bush has kept the United States out of the
Kyoto international treaty to reduce greenhouse gases, saying the pact
would harm the U.S. economy.
Local
Planning Agency still wrangling over rural area designations
Bill
Koch
Staff
Writer
TAVARES
- Lake County's Local Planning Agency designated five areas as special
rural zones Friday as part of a process that began two years ago to
develop a new comprehensive plan and land-use map for the county.
The plan will be the basis for development decisions for the next 19
years.
Frustrated by the 9-member board's plodding pace, the Lake County
Commission gave the agency a Nov. 3 deadline to complete the map and
plan.
Agency board Chairwoman Barbara Newman said they obviously won't be able
to meet the deadline, but added that she was pleased with the board's
progress at Friday's 7-hour meeting, during which nearly a dozen motions
were made and rejected.
The rural designations in special zones in the north part of the county
and along the Sumter County line limit development to no more than one
house per acre, said Brian Sheahan, the county's chief planner.
The first area is in the Emeraldo March area, which was extended west to
Lady Lake's Grays Airport Road.
Board member Richard Dunkel said he was worried about drafting overly
strict designations and rigid boundaries.
"We're making wholesale approval of these rural areas," he
said. "We're going to paint ourselves into a corner."
Sheahan attempted to reassure board members by saying wording in the
plan has to be approved by the County Commission before it becomes
official.
"Until you transmit this to the board, this is dynamic," he
said.
A majority of agency board members rejected Dunkel's request to have the
board make consensus decisions, rather than by following rules of order.
"We really get off target when we don't have motions on the
floor," Newman said.
She said meetings would last considerably longer and less work would get
accomplished.
Board member David Jordan became flustered several times during the long
stretches of discussion when votes on motion after motion were defeated,
often by 5-4 margins.
"If we want consensus, eight of us need to leave," he said.
Another designated rural zone is along the Sumter County line, north and
west of Mascotte.
Agency members balked at taking action on other issues, specifically on
establishing workplace zones, fearing nearby municipalities may annex
property.
The board is wrestling with how to incorporate many municipalities'
aggressive annexation plans. The board's next meeting is Nov. 16.
Bypass blues
Farm owner not tickled pink by road
plan
BELLEVIEW -
To say Irene Gentile loves pink is an understatement. Gentile's home, two barns, shed and shelter are pink.
"I love pink. I wish my horses were pink too," Gentile said, laughing.
It's one of the few times Gentile has smiled recently.
Gentile has lived in her 3 1/2 bedroom, two-bathroom home located off Southeast 126th Place for 19 years. In 1989, Gentile said the county wanted a portion of her 5-acre lot to build a thoroughfare. Movement for the property quickly diminished when a county official suggested they build what is now called the Baseline extension.
"At that time, there was a town hall meeting about it and they talked about extending Baseline Road," Gentile said. "That took 17 years."
Earlier this year, county officials again approached her, and this time it seems her property may make way for a major roadway. Though county officials have not negotiated a price with her, Gentile doesn't want to move.
"First they told me, the road will be by the fence line," Gentile said pointing at a fence not far from where she was standing. "Then they came in about 100 feet. Now they are talking about taking the whole farm and my home," said an unhappy Gentile - who aside from horses, has chickens, goats and dogs on her property.
For months, county officials have talked about a roadway that would take vehicles from Southeast 92nd Place Road and loop it around Belleview. Among the reasons given for the 9.2 mile Belleview Bypass - now renamed Southeast 92nd Loop - are easing traffic in and out of the city and providing an alternate route for goods, services and people.
The project is the No. 1 priority of the Ocala/Marion County Transportation Planning Organization, and the Florida Department of Transportation considers it important, county officials said.
Funding for the project hinges on passage of the 1-cent sales tax, or the state having enough funding to contribute or participate in the project. At this point, there's no money available from the state.
County officials fear if voters reject the tax, it's highly unlikely funding from Florida Department of Transportation and the county will be forthcoming in the next five years. So far, only the designs - costing roughly $3 million - have been funded. The designs for the project won't be completed until late summer or early fall of 2007.
Donald Brannon, with Geodata Consultants who was surveying Gentile's property, said they have been working on the project for about a year-and-a-half. Tuesday, Brannon said they concluded laying out the road. The next task is to work on the layout of Baseline Road - alternately known as Southeast 58th Avenue or State Road 35 - widening it from Southeast 92nd Place Road north to Maricamp Road.
"I can't say for sure this is going to happen since it's only a proposal. But, if it does happen, all this will have to be purchased," said Brannon, talking about Gentile's home and surrounding properties.
Frank Van Pelt, the county's project manager, said while they still "require the eastern half" of Gentile's property, getting the home is not a certainty.
"We're trying our best to avoid her home," said Van Pelt. County officials are awaiting soil tests and weighing other factors before making a final decision.
In the meantime, Van Pelt said "homes and business are safe."
Gentile wants county officials to put a lid on construction.
"They are taking farm lands away to build homes, and that has to stop," Gentile said.
Austin L. Miller may be reached at austin.miller@starbanner.com or 867-4118.
To say Irene Gentile loves pink is an understatement. Gentile's home, two barns, shed and shelter are pink.
"I love pink. I wish my horses were pink too," Gentile said, laughing.
It's one of the few times Gentile has smiled recently.
Gentile has lived in her 3 1/2 bedroom, two-bathroom home located off Southeast 126th Place for 19 years. In 1989, Gentile said the county wanted a portion of her 5-acre lot to build a thoroughfare. Movement for the property quickly diminished when a county official suggested they build what is now called the Baseline extension.
"At that time, there was a town hall meeting about it and they talked about extending Baseline Road," Gentile said. "That took 17 years."
Earlier this year, county officials again approached her, and this time it seems her property may make way for a major roadway. Though county officials have not negotiated a price with her, Gentile doesn't want to move.
"First they told me, the road will be by the fence line," Gentile said pointing at a fence not far from where she was standing. "Then they came in about 100 feet. Now they are talking about taking the whole farm and my home," said an unhappy Gentile - who aside from horses, has chickens, goats and dogs on her property.
For months, county officials have talked about a roadway that would take vehicles from Southeast 92nd Place Road and loop it around Belleview. Among the reasons given for the 9.2 mile Belleview Bypass - now renamed Southeast 92nd Loop - are easing traffic in and out of the city and providing an alternate route for goods, services and people.
The project is the No. 1 priority of the Ocala/Marion County Transportation Planning Organization, and the Florida Department of Transportation considers it important, county officials said.
Funding for the project hinges on passage of the 1-cent sales tax, or the state having enough funding to contribute or participate in the project. At this point, there's no money available from the state.
County officials fear if voters reject the tax, it's highly unlikely funding from Florida Department of Transportation and the county will be forthcoming in the next five years. So far, only the designs - costing roughly $3 million - have been funded. The designs for the project won't be completed until late summer or early fall of 2007.
Donald Brannon, with Geodata Consultants who was surveying Gentile's property, said they have been working on the project for about a year-and-a-half. Tuesday, Brannon said they concluded laying out the road. The next task is to work on the layout of Baseline Road - alternately known as Southeast 58th Avenue or State Road 35 - widening it from Southeast 92nd Place Road north to Maricamp Road.
"I can't say for sure this is going to happen since it's only a proposal. But, if it does happen, all this will have to be purchased," said Brannon, talking about Gentile's home and surrounding properties.
Frank Van Pelt, the county's project manager, said while they still "require the eastern half" of Gentile's property, getting the home is not a certainty.
"We're trying our best to avoid her home," said Van Pelt. County officials are awaiting soil tests and weighing other factors before making a final decision.
In the meantime, Van Pelt said "homes and business are safe."
Gentile wants county officials to put a lid on construction.
"They are taking farm lands away to build homes, and that has to stop," Gentile said.
Austin L. Miller may be reached at austin.miller@starbanner.com or 867-4118.
Water district expansion plans cause concern
By Terry WittJames Collins has paid property taxes to the Homosassa Special Water District for 20 years, but the district has never piped a drop of water to his family’s river cabin on Hellgate Island. Collins never liked the idea of paying the tax without receiving a benefit, but he paid it anyway.
When he attended the special district water board meeting in September to ask if he could be excluded from the taxing district, he discovered something that raised his ire even more. Collins learned the district is proposing to expand its boundaries by about three square miles.
What’s more, his new home behind district headquarters falls within the proposed expansion area. If the expansion is approved in a Dec. 5 referendum election, he also would have to pay the district property tax on his new home, even though the home has its own well.
The district’s lawyers are researching whether Collins’ cabin on the Homosassa River can be removed from the district, but they are making no promises. Collins, meanwhile, has begun a campaign to raise public awareness about the expansion plan. He said he was surprised to learn the district had been working on the expansion for two years.
Collins mailed fliers advising residents the district was proposing to include them in the expanded district and they would pay additional property taxes if the measure were approved. He managed to fill the district boardroom with an overflow crowd on Oct. 16, a rare event for a board accustomed to seeing one or two people at its meetings.
“My whole concern is to get this out to the public,” he said. “I didn’t find a single person aware of this thing.”
The district can legally impose a property tax on people living within its boundaries, regardless of whether they are connected to the water system, according to District Superintendent Dave Purnell. He compared the special water district tax to a school board tax. He said retired people pay the school tax even though they have no children in school.
From what he was told, Purnell said the taxing district was formed when residents of Old Homosassa, weary of having bad drinking water, failed to persuade the county commission to provide them with a water system. They went to the Florida Legislature instead and had a bill passed that created a special property tax district to fund a central water system for Old Homosassa. The system now includes Homosassa Springs.
Purnell and board chairwoman Diane Schultz said the proposed expansion has been anything but a secret. They said the expansion project has been discussed in district board meetings, which are open to the public, and maps of the proposed expansion are posted on the district’s Internet site and on the walls of its office. They have not sent out notices to the public about the expansion, but the district is having an Open House from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to talk about the expansion project.
“The doors will be open and everyone is welcome to attend. If people have questions, we’ll be here to provide the answers,” she said.
Schultz said the expansion of the district’s boundaries can be accomplished only with voter permission. The district’s charter must be amended to broaden the boundaries. She said registered voters living within the existing district , as well as those in the proposed areas of expansion will be eligible to vote in the Dec. 5 referendum election.
The Florida Legislature this spring approved House Bill 1481 authorizing the referendum. An identical bill failed to pass the House in the 2005 session, delaying the referendum vote for one year.
Purnell said the district has attempted on previous occasions to expand its boundaries, but voters rejected the proposals in referendum elections. Schultz said the latest referendum was prompted by customer requests to provide them with water. The referendum is an effort to honor those requests.
“We have been approached by people who are not in the district, who want a safe water supply and good fire protection,” Schultz said. “We’ve had people come to us for water for years. The only way to provide it is to amend the charter.”
The water district’s home office is off Grover Cleveland Boulevard, about three miles from U.S. 19. The water it supplies to Old Homosassa and Homosassa Springs comes from well sites along the street.
If the expansion were approved, the main expansion area will be about a quarter mile wide on both sides of Grover Cleveland Boulevard extending from U.S. 19 to the district’s Peach Orchard well site. A portion of the main expansion area would be a half mile wide. The district has two water pipes that run along Grover Cleveland already, but the district boundaries along the pipeline are only as wide as the road right-of-way.
Residents who live within the district pay a property tax of .6948 mills whether they receive district water or not. There are two other small areas in the expansion plans.
The Peach Orchard well site is 130 feet above sea level on the tallest hill on Grover Cleveland Boulevard. Purnell said the district can provide 56 pounds of water pressure all the way to U.S. 19 without using generators. Gravity pulls the water downhill and provides the necessary water pressure, even during emergencies, he said.
A draft fact sheet from the district said the owner of a home with an assessed value of $100,000 who claims the Homestead Exemption pays the district $52.11 in property taxes annually. The same property owner without the Homestead Exemption would pay $69.48.
The average monthly water bill for a customer using 6,000 gallons per month is $18.10. The cost of installing a water meter is $600, with a deposit of $50. The deposit is refunded in 12 months of on-time payments.
According to the district, the cost of extending water lines to homes varies with conditions, but the fact sheet cites a 1999 project known as the Canadian Way where the “front foot” costs were $8.22. Adjusting for inflation and the increased cost of construction, the fact sheet said the cost today of building water lines to a home would be $20 per front foot.
Collins said the cost estimates are outdated and he believes they could be much higher than the district estimates. If the water line runs for 140 feet along a piece of property, he said the costs could easily be as high as $3,000. Add to that the connection costs, and the homeowner could be saddled with a big bill, he said.
Collins said he is not trying to stir up opposition to the proposed expansion, but he believes the district should have done a better job of getting the word out. But to be fair, he said expansion is not all bad. He said there is a positive way of looking at the project.
“You could view it as an insurance policy. If they are charging you for property taxes in the district, and your water goes bad, you could get good water,” he said.
Palm Bay considers wet
deal with city
BY LINDA JUMP
FLORIDA TODAY
West Melbourne is keeping its drinking water options open, asking Palm Bay to study the feasibility of providing up to 1 million gallons a day even as it continues to get millions of gallons from Melbourne.
Palm Bay and West Melbourne officials will meet Nov. 6 to discuss Palm Bay adding West Melbourne as a water customer.
"The city is growing, and we'll have more connections next year," West Melbourne City Manager David Reynal said. "We also need multiple sources of water. And it provides a sense of competition."
Palm Bay could bring competition to the mix because Melbourne provides bulk drinking water to West Melbourne, and the two municipalities have discussed increasing the supply to West Melbourne. Last year, West Melbourne purchased 490 million gallons of water for its7,000 customers.
West Melbourne asked Palm Bay if it could add tie-ins on Palm Bay Road at Minton Road and at Hollywood Boulevard. Each line would provide up to 500,000 gallons of water a day.
Reynal said it might make sense to get lines from Melbourne to the north and east and perhaps from Palm Bay to the south and west. But he said it's too soon for a recommendation. "Everything's still on the table."
Wade-Trim of Palm Bay, the city's consulting engineers, conducted an $18,700 water model project that determined the size of pipes, where they would need to go to, and the estimated cost to accomplish West Melbourne's request.
City Manager Lee Feldman said the cost of the study will be shared between Palm Bay and West Melbourne, if they become customers. If not, West Melbourne will be expected to pay the entire cost. Members of Palm Bay's Utilities Advisory Board on Thursday heard from officials that there is plenty of water to serve West Melbourne's needs. Assistant Utilities Director Rick Nipper said the city's new reverse osmosis plant, slated to come on line within weeks, will immediately provide another 4 million gallons daily.
Palm Bay already provides Malabar with drinking water. In 1992, the city purchased a private water system and sells the town about 900,000 gallons of water monthly. The city charges Malabar customers the same rate as Palm Bay customers plus a 10 percent surcharge.
Palm Bay's utilities department this spring hired the law firm of Gray-Robinson to evaluate legal issues if the city receives water requests from property owners in Indian River County. Those attorneys said there are no legal concerns with a willing buyer, even outside the county.
"We know with future annexations, we'll go to the county line. So 20 to 30 years out, we want to know what happens if a developer on the other side of the county line wants water," Feldman said.
Contact Jump at 409-1423 or ljump@brevard.gannett.com.
Rivers activists split on funding for sewage plant
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 28, 2006
A group of activists for the St. Lucie and Indian rivers denounced another rivers group Friday after learning that the latter plans to ask state lawmakers for $10 million to help a private utilities company build a new sewage treatment plant.
Members of the Rivers Coalition are asking that the project, a proposed plant for the Fort Pierce Utilities Authority, be excluded from the $19 million request by the St. Lucie River Issues Team, a separate alliance made up of 17 local, state and federal agencies and groups, including the Rivers Coalition.
"This is an example of how a good program and a good process can become a pork barrel," said Kevin Henderson with the St. Lucie River Initiative, a member of both groups.
Speaking at a meeting Friday of the Rivers Coalition, Henderson said the proposed plant is not a bad idea; it just shouldn't be funded with money set aside for the issues team, an alliance formed in 1998 to clean up the St. Lucie Estuary and the Indian River Lagoon. And he blamed politics for letting the sewage plant be tacked onto the team's list of requests for the second year in a row.
The team meets each year to compile and rank a list of short-term projects, which require local matches. The list then is submitted to the legislature for funding.
But Henderson said the sewage plant was not among the projects discussed last year; nonetheless, it made it onto last year's issues team list and received nearly $8 million from the state.
It's true that the utilities authority did not apply last year to the issues team for money; it went straight to the legislature, according to Camille Yates, a company spokeswoman. But a state lawmaker asked that the sewage plant request be tacked onto the issues team list.
Yates said she was not sure which lawmaker made the suggestion, though she thought it might have been state Sen. Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, or state Rep. Stan Mayfield, R-Vero Beach. Neither returned phone calls seeking comment Friday.
But even though the sewage plant was not formally presented to the issues team last year, members approved adding it to their list of requests, said Kathy LaMartina, a program coordinator with the South Florida Water Management District who coordinates the issues team.
LaMartina polled members by telephone and got a consensus to add the plant to the bottom of the list, giving it lowest priority. In other words, all of the other projects would have to be funded before the sewage plant would get any money.
In fact, the utilities authority had asked for $10 million last year, but it received about $7.8 million, LaMartina said.
Team members can vote to keep a project off the request list, which includes 29 projects this year. For instance, three projects failed to make the cut, including plans to replace Stuart septic tanks with sewer lines, an issue that divided team members, she said.
Yates said the sewage plant is a perfect fit for issues team money, because it would allow the company to shut down its current facility on Hutchinson Island, which discharges effluent into the Indian River Lagoon every five years during required inspections of its deep injection well.
Henderson said the issues team should focus requests for money on projects that capture and cleanse storm water before it reaches local waterways. This year, the team is seeking more than $2 million to do just that.
But the issues team could do even more if the money requested for the sewage plant were given instead to more storm-water projects, according to members of the Rivers Coalition.
The problem, LaMartina said, is that issues team projects require a local match, meaning local governments would have to ante up more of their own cash before accepting more money from the state.
"It wouldn't be a good thing for us to ask for money, then have to give it back," she said.
She worries that the Rivers Coalition's public dissent over the plant request might jeopardize the success of the issues team, which has received $52'million from the legislature since 1998, mostly because of the group's ability to achieve consensus.
But members of the St. Lucie River Initiative said the group may withdraw from the issues team if the plant stays on the list.
"It doesn't have to go away, but we might," said Bud Jordan, president of the initiative.
Economic growth stumbles to lowest level in three years
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The economy has slowed to a snail’s pace, growing in the just-finished quarter at the slowest rate in more than three years and stirring fresh debate about the country’s financial health heading into the elections.
The Commerce Department reported Friday that economic growth during the July-to-September period clocked in at an annual rate of just 1.6 percent — a subpar performance that mostly reflected the deepening housing slump. Investment in homebuilding was cut by the largest amount in 15 years.
That “packed a wicked punch for the U.S. economy ... but it was not a knockout blow,” said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group.
The fresh reading on the economy, which fell short of the 2.1 percent pace analysts were forecasting, disappointed economists, rattled investors and gave Republicans and Democrats plenty to argue about.
Economic matters are expected to influence voters’ choices when they go to the polls Nov. 7.
President Bush’s approval rating on the economy is at 40 percent, among all adults surveyed in an AP-Ipsos poll. That remains near his lowest ratings. Those surveyed trusted Democrats more than Republicans to handle the economy.
The Bush administration quickly sought to downplay the slowdown in economic activity.
“Everybody expected this. You have a combination of rising energy prices and also rising interest rates, and now you’ve seen a reverse on both,” said White House press secretary Tony Snow.
Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said that latest GDP figures displayed the economy’s resilience even as the housing market has slumped. “I would not panic about this,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Democrats countered that the slowdown in economic growth is evidence that the administration and the Republican-controlled Congress are doing a poor job handling the economy.
“Just because the president looks through his rose-colored glasses and sees a strong economy doesn’t make it so,” said House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California. “He refuses to see the millions of Americans who are working hard and are unable to get ahead.”
Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said the cooling in economic growth “undercuts the President’s claim that his tax cuts are working.”
On Wall Street, stocks sagged. The Dow Jones industrials, which had hit new highs in recent sessions, lost 73.40 points to close at 12,090.26.
The third quarter’s performance was the weakest since a 1.2 percent growth rate eked out in the first quarter of 2003, when a nervous nation hunkered down for the start of the Iraq war.
The latest reading underscores just how much speed the economy has lost this year.
In the first three months of this year, the economy grew at a brisk 5.6 percent pace, the strongest growth spurt in 2½ years. But growth slowed to a 2.6 percent pace in the second quarter as consumers and businesses tightened their belts in response to the toll of rising energy prices and the impact of two-plus years of climbing interest rates.
In the third quarter, though, consumers and businesses did their part to keep the economy going.
Consumers boosted spending at a rate of 3.1 percent, up from a 2.6 percent pace in the second quarter.
Businesses increased spending on equipment and software at a 6.4 percent pace in the third quarter, a turnaround from the 1.4 percent rate of decline in the second quarter.
Investment in new plants, office buildings and other commercial construction rose at a brisk rate of 14 percent, following a 20.3 percent growth rate in the second quarter.
That helped cushion the big hit to the economy from the housing cooldown.
Spending on home building dropped at a rate of 17.4 percent in the third quarter, the most since the first quarter of 1991. The housing slump shaved 1.12 percentage points from the third quarter’s overall economic growth, the most in almost 25 years.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, in an interview, said the housing boom over the last five years was “clearly unsustainable” and that the housing market “needed to have a correction” by slowing to a more sustainable pace.
The bloated trade deficit and sluggish inventory building by businesses also weighed down economic activity in the third quarter.
Even with the feeble third-quarter showing, analysts don’t believe the economy is in danger of sliding into recession. “This should prove to be a midcourse breather in a longer expansion, not the end to the expansion,” said Ken Mayland of ClearView Economics.
Many predict the economy will pick up a bit in the October-to-December period, with some estimates for a growth rate of 2.5 percent and higher. Falling energy prices should help bolster consumer and business spending and thus overall economic activity.
An inflation gauge tied to Friday’s report showed that core prices — excluding food and energy — moderated. These prices advanced at a rate of 2.3 percent in the third quarter, which was down from 2.7 percent in the prior quarter.
With economic growth slowing and energy prices retreating, the Federal Reserve has leeway to keep holding interest rates steady, analysts said. The Fed on Wednesday left rates unchanged for the third meeting in a row.
The Fed had hoisted rates 17 times since June 2004 to fend off inflation. The Fed’s goal is to slow the economy sufficiently to thwart inflation but not so much that it tips into recession.
Suppliers lose out as Sky falls
By Dave PieklikSaying he was never paid for providing almost $20,000 in building materials for several Citrus Springs homes, Tom Cavanagh finds himself in the middle of an investigation involving a Miami developer accused of defrauding property owners in the sprawling community.
Cavanagh, a sales representative for Nichols Lumber Co. in Dunnellon, said Friday his company sold building materials to Sky Development Group for five new homes. However, he said the homes were never built, leaving his company short $19,675 for windows and doors, and leaving him to wonder what happened.
“Everybody disappeared into the woodwork,” Cavanagh said. “The people are just flat out their money.”
The Citrus County Sheriff’s Office and Miami police were still searching Friday for officials from Sky Development, a day after an investigation into the developer was announced. Offices in Citrus Springs, Miami, Palm Coast and elsewhere have apparently been vacated, along with the Miami homes of several representatives.
Sky is accused of defrauding millions of dollars from property owners in Citrus Springs, as well as defrauding Miami investors. Sheriff’s spokeswoman Gail Tierney said more than 300 warranty deeds Sky Development signed to purchase property in Citrus Springs were being questioned.
Though she initially said Thursday five separate complaints involving about 210 forged deeds were being examined, a title insurance company contacted her office Friday, and she said 129 deeds for Citrus Springs land were “tentatively confirmed” to be forged. She added the value of the property was about $3.2 million.
Sky Development is accused of forging the documents to either buy property, or deed property back to them from unsuspecting people. And in at least two cases, Tierney said the developer is accused of taking money from people who contracted with them to build homes, without ever doing any work.
Citrus County Sheriff’s Detective Mike Kanter, of the Major Crimes Unit, said the investigation is in its early stages, but acknowledged it could be difficult. He said it will probably take some time to track down deeds and figure out who bought property from Sky, and who actually owns the land.
Kanter said no local people have been identified as being defrauded yet, saying most deeds involve corporations or out-of-state residents. He acknowledged one of the people who paid a $25,000 down payment to Sky for a new home that was never built was Peter Mazzarino, a Coral Springs resident who could not be reached for comment.
So far, Sky owners Victor and Natalia Wolf have not been located, though Kanter said it’s been determined Natalia Wolf used her passport Oct. 15 to travel to Germany. Answering machines were still not taking messages at Sky’s Miami offices, and phone calls for representatives weren’t returned.
Kanter said Miami detectives he talked with said the company is accused of writing bad checks to investors there. It’s believed the company might have taken as much as $40 million from them, he said.
The developer has operations in Florida, Texas, New York, Arkansas, Illinois and elsewhere, according to company information.
Despite the accusations centering on fraud and bad check writing, Kanter said he wasn’t speculating Sky Development was involved in racketeering. He also added that right now, “There is nothing to link them to organized crime.”
The FBI has been notified, though it’s unclear if the agency will get involved. Mark Simpson, head of the Ocala state attorney office’s Public Interest Unit, said Thursday the FBI would likely get involved because there are so many possible jurisdictions.
The investigation into Sky Development began last week after developer New Vista Properties Inc. of Miami Lakes noticed a Sept. 15 deed that appeared to sell 197 Citrus Springs lots valued at nearly $10 million to Sky. Michael McKinley, a Port Charlotte attorney who handles New Vista’s real estate deals, said Thursday the document was forged and that New Vista never sold Sky the land.
McKinley filed a Notice of Fraudulent Deed at the Citrus County Courthouse; a separate notice was filed Oct. 17 on behalf of a man from Sunny Isles Beach whose attorney brought forth similar accusations.
The investigation follows a month in which several lawsuits were filed against Sky Development and partner companies accusing them of defaulting on land purchase payments. At a Oct. 19 public auction at the courthouse, 501 lots owned by Citrus Development Venture LLC — which Sky is a managing member of — were sold after the company defaulted on roughly $6.6 million in loan payments.
Citrus County Property Appraiser Melanie Hensley said Friday her office was in the process of separating deeds involving Sky into ones believed to be legitimate, and those believed to be forged.
“That is going to take us some time,” she said, estimating it would take about a week.
So far, deeds in question are from this year, she said, because that’s when workers started noticing several corrections the developer was making to deeds. Anyone who bought land from Sky and is concerned if they in fact own the property is asked to check with the property appraiser or Clerk of Courts offices.
In cases where it’s determined Sky resold land, people are asked to contact the sheriff’s office.
In many cases, Kanter acknowledged Sky Development sold land to people of Russian descent, where the Wolfs are originally from. The developer also worked with Realtors from across the country to bring potential buyers into the area.
Mitchell Winthrop, of Arlington Heights, Ill., said his wife works for a Chicago real estate company and that Sky brought her company to Florida before the couple bought property in Citrus Springs. They paid Sky $17,900 in Oct. 2004 for a residential lot on North Clarion Terrace, with the intention of moving to the area eventually.
“This is very disheartening,” Winthrop said, before being informed the property appraiser’s office had determined the deal was legitimate.
For others, it might take more time to find answers. When those answers come, it might still mean someone never seeing their dream home built because they might not get their money back.
Said Cavanagh, “It’s a shame because ultimately, all of us locally are victims.”
Chronicle reporter Jim Hunter provided information for this story.
Hiaasen laments paving over of Florida Carl Hiaasen is a failure.The 53-year-old newspaper columnist and best-selling author has spent the better part of his career working to discourage more people from moving to his native Florida, warding them off with tales of depravity and corruption. But with an influx of an estimated 1,000 people moving to the Sunshine State each day, Hiaasen concedes that he hasn't been much of a deterrent.
"I've spent most of my life trying to scare people out of Florida," Hiaasen told some 1,600 people at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday.
Hiaasen has used his skewering columns in The Miami Herald and his quirky novels to shed light on environmental issues in Florida, and he stuck to those themes Thursday night. At the heart of his speech was the notion that keeping Florida green will be impossible if growth isn't controlled. Unfortunately, Hiaasen said, there's no sign of any development stopping in the state - no matter how much of Florida's natural resources are destroyed in the process.
"Growth is the God at which most of the politicians in Tallahassee worship," he said.
Hiaasen, who graduated from the University of Florida's College of Journalism in 1974, was the last speaker of a two-day conference on sustainability held at UF this week. The conference drew more than 400 people from across the state to discuss environmental issues, and Hiaasen is credited by fans as the satirical conscience of Florida's green movement.
Hiaasen is the author of more then 21 fiction and nonfiction works and short stories. Among his most well-known works are "Sick Puppy," a novel that lambastes greedy Florida developers, and "Hoot," a children's book about owls displaced by construction in Florida.
Hiaasen's latest novel, "Nature Girl," hits bookstores Nov. 14.
Ever the storyteller, Hiaasen moved from one bizarre tale of Florida to the next Thursday night. He read from the state's twisted headlines, recounting the story of a man who swung an alligator by the tail to assault his wife. In another unbelievable anecdote, Hiaasen spoke of a dolphin that had found itself entangled in a discarded Speedo swimsuit. These are the true stories of a unique state, Hiaasen said, and they've been the inspiration for much of his work.
"There's nothing in my books that couldn't happen in real life or hasn't happened since I wrote it," he told reporters at a news conference before his speech.
Hiaasen found himself the subject of his own news story recently. Upon learning that then-publisher Jesœs Diaz Jr. wanted to kill one of his columns, Hiaasen threatened to quit his job at The Miami Herald. The column concerned three reporters from the El Nuevo Herald, a sister Spanish-language newspaper of The Miami Herald, who were paid to appear on U.S. government broadcasts critical of Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
Under pressure from The Herald's parent company, McClatchy Co., Diaz relented and the column was published. But the incident proved a flash point, and it apparently contributed to Diaz's resignation shortly thereafter, Hiaasen said.
Diaz, who should have been running the business side of the newspaper, had no business micromanaging editorial content, Hiaasen said.
"It seems to me that Mr. Diaz had not been sufficiently informed of what a publisher's role should be," he said.
Hiaasen, a syndicated columnist, said he felt the need to stand up against his publisher on principle.
"The point is, if they can muzzle me ... what are they going to do to young reporters with a big investigative story that's going to piss people off that needs to get in the paper," he said. "What are they going to do with young columnists who all have important things to say, many times completely the opposite of what I'm saying? What are they going to do? They're going to step on them like bugs, and that cannot happen.
"The Herald will do fine without me, but you can't have a climate in the newsroom where we're always going to be saying, 'What does the publisher think?' It doesn't matter. He's a business guy. Let him worry about the paper making money, let the editors worry about putting journalism and news in the paper that people can use and that's important."
Jack Stripling can be reached at 374-5064 or Jack.Stripling@gvillesun.com
How will the USA cope with
unprecedented growth?
By Haya El Nasser, USA TODAY
CHARLOTTE — The fact the USA is growing faster than any other
industrialized country in the world comes as no surprise to Tim Gibbs.
Born and raised here, he lives on the far edge of North Carolina's most populous metropolitan area and works 30 miles north in downtown Charlotte. Development spilling out of the booming city and Mecklenburg County is creeping closer and clogging his commute. If he leaves after 6:15 a.m. or before 8 a.m., he's on the road for up to 90 minutes.
"It's just overwhelming," says Gibbs, 46. "Folks who were born here try to figure out where is everybody coming from. ... Growth is out of control."
He hasn't seen anything yet. The USA added 100 million people in the past 39 years and last week topped 300 million. We'll add the next 100 million even faster. Sometime around 2040, according to government estimates, the population clock will tick past 400 million.
"Mind-boggling," says Gibbs, a transportation planner for the city. "There is a finite amount of land available."
GRAPHIC: Map shows how crowded the nation is
Can the USA, which trails only China and India in population, absorb another 100 million people in such a short time? Where will everybody live? Space itself isn't the issue. More than half of Americans live within 50 miles of the Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf and Great Lakes coasts on just a fifth of the country's land area, according to the Center for Environment and Population, a non-profit research and policy group based in New Canaan, Conn.
But people can't live on land alone, especially if they want water in the desert, plentiful fuel to power long commutes, energy to cool and heat bigger houses and clean air and water. How and where they live could determine how well the nation — and the environment — will handle the added population.
"People who work on smart growth development issues say there's no way we can continue over the next 40-odd years without severe consequences to the environment," says Victoria Markham, director of the center. "That presents some really good opportunities for changing the ways we adapt to this growth. ... If population is going to grow, which it will, we have to find different ways to reside on that land."
Each American today occupies almost 20% more developed land (housing, schools, stores, roads) than 20 years ago, according to Markham's group. By the late 1990s, 1.7 acres — the equivalent of about 220 parking spaces or 16 basketball courts — were developed for every person added to the population.
"We're going in the wrong direction right now," says Don Chen, executive director of Smart Growth America, a coalition of groups working to slow sprawl. "The rate of land consumption is twice the rate of population growth."
There are signs that Americans are rethinking their ways. The major growth patterns of the past 50 years — sprawl, the shrinking of old industrial centers in the Midwest and Northeast and the boom in the Sun Belt — are being challenged by changing demographics.
Americans are aging but they're healthier and living longer. It's making them reconsider traditional retirement paths. More are eyeing downtown condos near entertainment centers or college towns where they can be close to the arts, culture, education and medical expertise. Households are smaller, making McMansions less attractive and condos and townhouses more appealing.
Gas costs more and traffic congestion is worsening, making long commutes hard on the wallet and the psyche. More immigrants are arriving, increasing mass transit ridership and carpooling in a country where driving alone still dominates.
"Where are they going to live? Probably in the major metropolitan areas," says Arthur C. Nelson, co-director of the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech in Alexandria, Va. "It brings us a lot of opportunities but also a lot of challenges."
The next 100 million people will create 73 million new jobs, about 70 million new homes and 100 billion square feet of non-residential space, according to his research.
Changing face of development
Indications are growing that the automobile-dependent suburban lifestyle of the 1950s — tract homes built on streets and cul-de-sacs increasingly distant from central cities — is losing traction.
Urban town centers that combine condos, shops and offices in pedestrian-friendly settings are sprouting in suburbia. Residential construction in downtown districts is on the rise because empty-nesters and young professionals want to be where the action is. Areas that have scant histories of mass transit, such as Phoenix and Dallas, are investing billions in light-rail lines. Cities not known for impressive skylines, including Charlotte, are building high-rises.
"There's been a real change in the American consumer looking at how they live," says Anthony Flint, author of This Land: The Battle Over Sprawl and the Future of America. "We've been spreading ourselves out generously and thinly across the land because we could. Energy was cheap. It made sense to satisfy our longing for elbow room, wide open spaces, a sense of security and ... affordability."
Now, the cost benefits of buying a house 45 miles from work often are offset by prices at the pump.
"It takes more money to heat and cool a big house," says Flint, public affairs manager at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, a think tank in Cambridge, Mass. "Once you factor in the true cost of that housing by including transportation and energy costs, yes, Americans will get very resourceful very fast and change how they live."
There also is increased awareness that how we live affects the environment and our health. An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore's documentary about global warming, did well at the box office this summer. Concern over obesity is prompting community design that encourages more walking to stores and schools.
"Growth issues are manifesting themselves in our everyday lives" in traffic congestion, loss of open space and more water and air pollution, Markham says.
Among the ways the nation can absorb the next 100 million:
•Brownfields. Industrial sites along river banks, abandoned warehouses near train depots and gas stations on street corners are becoming prized properties because they are rare patches of buildable land in urban areas. Developers are cleaning up land contaminated by hazardous materials and building housing — from affordable apartments in Portland, Ore., to luxury condos on Philadelphia's Main Line.
More than 50,000 brownfield sites have been converted to new uses in the past decade, according to the Northeast-Midwest Institute, a non-partisan research organization based in Washington, D.C.
When Denver's Stapleton International Airport closed in 1995, it gave a city with little room to grow a chance to add thousands of homes. More than 1,000 acres were set aside for parks and open space. About 2,500 houses and more than 300 apartments already have been built on the 3,000 acres that are being developed. Expected when the project is done in about 15 years: 8,000 houses, 4,000 apartments, four schools and 2 million square feet of retail. Up to 30,000 people could live there.
•Infill. Every abandoned strip mall, boarded-up row house or underused parking lot is a potential house or condo or apartment.
"Most of the new development needs can be accommodated on existing parking lots, dead and dying strip malls and shopping centers, older office parks and older industrial parks," Nelson says. "They are very low-density now but in most cases, they're one large area under one ownership and already on a four-plus lane highway."
Developers have turned these "grayfields" into mixed-used centers. Malls outside Denver and Orlando and office parks in San Jose and Atlanta now are town centers that combine residential units and office space, stores, theaters and restaurants. "I don't think we've seen anything yet," Nelson says.
•Going vertical. Building up instead of out can accommodate more people on less land.
"As the population grows, there is increasing demand for high-rise construction," says David Scott, chairman of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, based in Chicago.
It's happening even in suburbs and smaller cities on the edge of major metropolitan centers. "You see 20 or 30 stories in Stamford, Conn., which you would not have seen 20 years ago," Scott says.
•Rail lines and transit villages. Cities that had let public transit wither are revitalizing it and encouraging development around transit stops. Metro areas better known for sprawl are hopping aboard the rail mania, including Dallas, Albuquerque, Houston, Minneapolis, Phoenix and Charlotte.
Twenty-seven metropolitan areas have transit systems, and 15 are planning new ones, according to Reconnecting America, a non-profit group that encourages development near or along transit lines.
"As these cities grew, they realized that relying on the automobile was not enough," says William Millar, president of the American Public Transportation Association, a trade group that represents public transit providers. "New systems are virtually without exception meeting and exceeding ridership targets, and you're seeing land values (along transit lines) go up."
Once all the transit systems on the books are built by 2030, there will be 4,000 to 4,500 transit stations nationwide. There were 735 planned and proposed stations as of December 2005.
"Right now, there are about 6 million households that live within half a mile of stations," says Shelley Poticha, president of Reconnecting America. "The demand for housing near transit is going to grow to over 16 million. That's a big number."
•Ready-made cities. Detroit, Washington and St. Louis supported hundreds of thousands more residents in 1950 than they do today. Dozens of cities across the country are well past their heyday but still have all their streets, roads, power lines and water supplies in place. If only people would return.
Cleveland had a population of about 915,000 in 1950. Today, it has less than half (452,208).
"We have a unique opportunity here," says Joseph Marinucci, president and CEO of the Downtown Cleveland Alliance, which advocates investment downtown. Cultural and aesthetic amenities, such as a symphony and a riverfront, already exist. Housing is cheaper and traffic lighter than in many other metro areas. "We'll be very well-positioned to garner our share of growth," Marinucci says.
Los Angeles native Ivan Schwarz just moved to Cleveland with his wife and 16-month-old daughter. A television producer who also finds locations for shows (HBO's Entourage and NBC's My Name is Earl ), Schwarz is the new vice president of the Greater Cleveland Film Commission, one of the city's attempts to lure industry. "In L.A., there's so many people, everywhere you go is a problem," says Schwarz, 44. "This is such a community. ... Houses are more affordable."
Charlotte has a strategy
This southern city is a microcosm of the USA's rapid growth and its struggle to keep up. Charlotte's population has almost doubled since 1980 to 610,949. It's projected to reach almost 1 million by 2030. Traffic congestion is mild compared with places such as metropolitan Washington or Los Angeles, but it's likely to get worse as the city grows.
Pro-growth policies remain in force. Charlotte doesn't charge developers fees to help pay for services that new subdivisions require, a practice common in other fast-growing cities.
"We're kind of at a pivotal point," says Debra Campbell, director of planning. "We need to target growth in strategic locations where the infrastructure either currently exists or can readily be retrofitted."
Cranes tower over the city's center. Three 50-story residential condos are under construction. Housing is going up where a mall once stood. The first leg of a light-rail system, partially funded by a half-cent sales tax increase approved by voters, is set to open next year and will run 9.6 miles south from downtown. A line that runs 11 miles northeast to the University of North Carolina campus could open by 2030. Development is being steered along the tracks. Condos and businesses are clustering near transit stops.
"Ten years ago, all growth was outside the city," Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory says. "Now, both suburbs and inner city are growing at a dramatic rate."
Jacqueline Stewart, 46, lives on the east side and commutes 12 miles south almost to the South Carolina border. It takes her 45 minutes to drive the 12 miles to get to her job as a design consultant for Personally Yours Stationery.
"I don't know if it's going to be enough," she says of the city's efforts to accommodate more people.
"We're going to get rid of all our greenery. Where are the trees going to go? Where are the animals going to go? We used to have deer around here. Now we see snakes, because they have no place to go."
Suburbs will change
In 1960, in the heyday of suburbia, half of households had children. By 2040, only about a quarter will. The USA will grow by 40 million households. About 35 million of them will not have children, Nelson says.
"Their demands are going to be different," he says. "Suburban areas will have to transform themselves to meet the new needs."
So will employers, says Roger-Mark De Souza, technical director of population, health and environment at the Population Reference Bureau, a non-profit think tank. Allowing workers to telecommute or follow flexible schedules can cut driving and increase productivity, he says.
The percentage of American households that "will want, will demand and will get their single-family detached homes on a lot" will remain high, Nelson says.
"Where it used to be 80%, it might slip down to 60%. ... We will never get rid of congestion, but we might be better able to handle it."
$19 million for waterway projects sought from state
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 27, 2006
When state lawmakers reconvene in Tallahassee next year, they'll get their biggest request yet from a group of agencies aiming to restore the St. Lucie Estuary and the Indian River Lagoon.
The St. Lucie River Issues Team will ask for more than $19 million to help pay for 29 projects in Martin and St. Lucie counties that include dredging a waterway and upgrading local drainage systems, as well as studies of things like nutrient levels in tributaries and discharges from Lake Okeechobee.The request amounts to nearly $3 million more than lawmakers allotted this year for the team, which comprises 17 state, local and federal agencies and groups like the St. Lucie River Initiative and the Rivers Coalition.
"I personally believe that having the consensus of 17 different groups really shows how important these projects are," Kathy LaMartina, a program coordinator with the South Florida Water Management District, said about the team's success.
Since its creation in 1998, the team has received $52 million from the legislature that has helped pay for more than 94 projects in Martin and St. Lucie counties, LaMartina said.
The team meets each year to compile and rank a list of short-term projects, which require local matches. The list is submitted to state lawmakers for funding. Last year, the team asked for $18.2 million; it received more than $16 million, LaMartina said.
The most recent round of requests includes $150,000 to allow the water management district to monitor 19 tributaries of the St. Lucie Estuary, including the Bessey, Danforth and Five Mile creeks. By measuring things like nitrogen and phosphorus, scientists can learn whether septic tanks or lawn fertilizer are contributing to pollution and harmful algae blooms in the estuary, said Boyd Gunsalus, a biologist with the water management district.
Another $185,000 would go toward a district study of Lake Okeechobee discharges. Using a computer model, the study would look at whether periodic discharges or a constant low-level flow from the lake would be better for fish and plants in the St. Lucie Estuary, district spokeswoman Julie Greenberg said.
The team also is seeking $1.3 million to dredge the Manatee Pocket in Martin County and more than $2 million to upgrade storm-water drainage systems.
"The idea is to take that storm water that would normally dump straight into the river and instead hold that water, treat that water, then slowly release it," said Paul Millar, water resource manager for Martin County.
An additional $237,000 would help the county and Stuart install baffle boxes, large concrete rectangular boxes that are placed underground at an outfall to a river or creek. Inside the boxes are two or three chambers that collect sediment as the water passes through, preventing silt and garbage from ending up in the St. Lucie River, said Sam Amerson, public works director for the city, which already has 21 boxes in place
Water Policy Plan Awash in IntricacyForeman is working on a proposed ordinance intended to reduce water use by modifying landscaping requirements to help guarantee adequate water for the future.
Some ways to accomplish that include reducing the sizes of lawns, encouraging use of native plants and improving the efficiency of irrigation systems.
Water conservation is a major issue in this part of Florida because a combination of booming population growth and increasing stress on water supplies is resulting in tougher restrictions on the amount of water local utilities are allowed to produce, which means less water for each of their customers.
Foreman said she has faced a couple of issues in her research. One is finding ordinance provisions that will work in Polk County. Another is figuring out who will enforce the ordinance if the County Commission passes it.
But committee member Roger Griffiths cautioned members about how they market water conservation measures.
"What are we doing with the water we conserve?" Griffiths asked, saying he's afraid it's simply given to new residents rather than being returned to the environment.
"It's wrong to sell this as a conservation issue," he said.
Jeff Spence, Polk's natural resource director, said there is increasing pressure for everyone to use less water, explaining it is a key issue in permit requests.
"Conservation is the thing to do, and it's going to be the standard," he said.
Spence said water is set aside for the environment through programs such as the water management districts' minimum flows and levels, which are intended to protect rivers, lakes and the aquifer from overuse.
Committee member Mike Britt asked whether anyone has determined how much water can be pumped from the aquifer and still meet the minimal requirements for protecting the environment.
Spence said some environmental damage has already occurred because of excessive water use before water consumption was regulated, explaining the current regulations are simply designed to prevent worse damage.
Tom Palmer can be reached at tom.palmer@theledger.com or 863-802-7535.
Water facility work on track
As the Greater Lake City Regional Utility Authority
nears completion of the first phase of its new water treatment facility,
it continues to plan for future growth.
The new water facility, located by Lake City Community College, will
initially have a 9 million gallon-per-day capacity, said Stephen Roberts,
director of water treatment facilities.
As the city and county continue to grow, and water demand increases for
the regionally-permitted facility, it will expand and double its capacity
to 18 million gallons per day. Roberts said that won't be a problem for
the facility, which is on 1,200 acres of land that is surrounded by
wellhead conservation areas, meaning the area around it will not be
developed to help protect the water supply.
Planning for the facility started in 1997 and construction has been going
on for about a year.
“A city our size usually doesn't take on a project
this size,” said RUA General Manager Scott Reynolds.
Roberts agreed.
“But if we hadn't done it, we would have been hurting down the line,”
he said.
The high tech water treatment plant uses ozone gas to purify the water and
is monitored by computers, which Roberts said will allow staff to work day
shifts and monitor the plant from home when necessary at night.
“This is going to be state-of-the-art,” Reynolds said.
The water source that the $13 million plant will draw from will not be the
Ichetucknee Basin, Reynolds said. Instead, it's coming from a water source
that comes down from Georgia.
The facility is teaming up with LCCC and has built a classroom onto the
administration building. There, students will be able to take
utility-related classes.
“This is pretty exciting because the training that is going on here is
going to train future operators,” Reynolds said. He said the classes
will also be an excellent recruitment source for the RUA.
The water treatment facility is expected to be completed in March, Roberts
said, at which point the city's current water facility will be shut down.
Around the time when the Price Creek Water Treatment Plant is up and
running, the RUA will also be completing the laying of 18 miles worth of
20-inch in diameter pipes on the south side of town.
The project will allow the RUA to take water to city and county residents
who are currently using well water, if they choose to hook up to it.
Reynolds said the project has already started to entice development.
“There's a lot of new subdivisions being built along the 20-inch
line,” he said.
The pipe will go from the new water treatment facility out to the booster
tanks just west of Interstate 75 on U.S. Highway 90. The project, started
in 1993, cost $6 million.
“If we would not have started that process when we did, it would have
been a lot more expensive in today's dollars,” Reynolds said.
Wal-Mart discussions may be
back
HIGH SPRINGS – After coincidentally meeting with a
Wal-Mart representative at a recent meeting about local water sources, a
High Springs official soon may be back on track to negotiate with Wal-Mart
regarding its site for a Supercenter in Alachua.
High Springs officials are concerned that the site, located near Mill
Creek Sink at the Interstate 75 interchange in Alachua, could damage the
High Springs water supply if careful measures are not taken to protect
runoff from reaching the sinkhole.
Led by City Commissioner Kirk Eppenstein, the city first tried to
challenge Wal-Mart’s water permit that was issued through the Suwannee
River Water Management District.
When challenging the permit did not work, City Manager Jim Drumm met with
officials from the Water District Aug. 15 to discuss alternatives to get
Wal-Mart to protect the Alachua site.
Since that meeting, Drumm said, no more meetings have been held with the
Water District other than informal telephone calls.
But now a new route for protecting the site may be
available directly through Wal-Mart officials.
While attending a Sept. 20 Springs Summit at Camp Kulaqua, Drumm bumped
into one such official.
Drumm again met with that official Sept. 28, he said.
He additionally walked the site with the official on Oct. 15, he said, and
is working now toward a more official meeting between Wal-Mart and the
commission.
Although a meeting date has not been specifically determined yet, Drumm
said, involved parties are looking into meeting in late November or early
December.
“At this point, we’re just trying to get some information from Wal-Mart and trying to see if it’s possible to set up a meeting for Wal-Mart officials to come in and talk to the community,” Drumm said.
Fruitland Park annexation vote on holdBill Koch
Staff Writer
FRUITLAND PARK - Fruitland Park City Commissioners said they want to wait a month before deciding whether to annex 980 acres.
The City Commission had planned on voting to annex the Pine Ridge Dairy along County Road 466A. Commissioners decided to delay a vote after board member John Gunter, who was unable to attend Thursday's regular meeting, sent a message earlier saying he wanted to participate in the discussion.
City Manager Ralph Bowers said the city has little room to expand and the Commission is attempting to annex surrounding land to control the type of development.
"What we'd like to do is maintain the integrity of this town," Bowers said.
The city is boxed in on all four borders, with the Sumter County line to the west, Lake Griffin to the east, Lady Lake to the north and Leesburg to the south.
Annexing the 980 acres on the city's east abutting the Sumter County line would leave only about 1,000 acres of available space left, Bowers said.
It would take about five years before any type of development would begin on that property if it were annexed, he said.
Billed as "The Friendly City," Fruitland Park has taken an aggressive approach to annexation based on a series of "visioning" meetings held last spring.
"We know what The Villages (does). We think we have better ideas," Bowers said. A company of The Villages recently bought about 200 acres in that area.
Bowers said city officials envision about 75 acres of the land being used as a commercial center on C.R. 466A and for an elementary school.
"We're playing defensive ball," Bowers said of the Commission's attempt to grab as much surrounding land as possible.
"We're trying to come up with a workable vision to integrate the undeveloped land into the city," he said. "What we want to do is not lose control of the development."
The city also wants to hire Leesburg's consultant, engineer Henry Sheldon, to help assemble a plan, officials said.
The annexation would increase the city's size by about 25 percent, Bowers said.
Orlando attorney Eric Faddis said he objects to the annexation, saying the development specifies construction of at least 3,600 homes and apartments. Faddis represents Cade Easley, who managed the dairy before Bernice Jeffcoat, the dairy's former owner, died several years ago, officials said.
Faddis said he disputes provisions in Jeffcoat's will, which he argues was changed to remove rights that had been granted to Easley.
"He had been given the right to purchase," Faddis said. "We question that change."
He said changes in the will, made just before Jeffcoat's death, were done under "undue influence."
Capturing 'rural America'
HIGH SPRINGS - About 25 artists scattered about downtown High Springs Thursday at the first Nature of Art in High Springs Paint Out.The four-day event, which started Thursday and continues until Sunday, allows passersby to watch invited artists from throughout the Southeast paint the town's pastoral settings.
"We'd like to help document the Florida landscape before it changes," said Chuck Sapp, the owner of High Springs Gallery, one of the sponsors and coordinators of the event. "The key to this paint out, and really to this area as a whole, is the nature aspects."
After each event day and on Sunday, the artwork will go on sale at the High Springs Gallery, where part of the proceeds will go to Current Problems, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of the area's natural waterways.
"We're trying to make people aware of our water systems," said Dan Rountree, the president of Current Problems, better known by its most recognized program, Adopt-A-River. "It's especially important to this area since we're surrounded by places like Ginnie Springs, Poe Springs, Blue Springs."
Although Current Problems was not a coordinator of the event, Rountree volunteered Thursday by finding locations prime for painting and by shuttling supplies to artists by bicycle.
Gainesville painter Mary Jane Volkmann worked behind St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church on NW 1st Avenue. There she dabbled with acrylics, mastering the unkempt but colorful backyard of a one-story dusty blue house.
"You get a sense of rural America right here in High Springs," said the artist. "It's right there in that backyard."
Other artists worked along the railroad tracks next to the Golden Peanut Co. mill.
Four Gainesville mothers and their eight children, all under 5, watched as two artists toiled over their easels.
"We like to expose our children to different things," said one of the moms, Sandi Agnes-Block. "And this isn't something you get to see every day."
The paintings were not yet priced, but one artist estimated the prices from about $400 to $1,200.
The High Springs Main Street Program and Paddiwhack, a Gainesville art gallery, are co-sponsors of the new event.
Planning Department
takes on task of protecting trees
Proposed changes would require a permit to remove trees in the historic district.
Proposed changes would require a permit to remove trees in the historic district.
OCALA - The Ocala Planning Department wants to strengthen parts of the
city's tree protection ordinance.
A staff proposal winding its way toward a City Council vote - probably in early 2007 - would create a separate, more protected category for live oaks and some other "specimen" trees on land slated for development.
The staff's proposed changes would also require a permit to remove trees from any property in the city's historic district. Currently, individual parcels smaller than three acres within the city's R-1 residential zoning district are exempt from the tree removal permit requirement, unless the property owner owns more land nearby.
But the suggested changes to the tree protection ordinance would remove that exemption for the historic districts.
"We don't want to lose those trees," Planning Director Tye Chighizola said.
Thursday, the Ocala Tree Commission, an advisory board to City Council, questioned if some of the proposed changes to create this more protected category for specimen trees were too stringent.
Mike Daniels, with the Planning Department, said the idea is to provide an incentive for developers to preserve healthy live oaks and magnolias when they come in for site plan review and to increase penalties if those types of trees come down.
"It's going to be hard to get that through [city] council, with the development community, if we just max out the penalty," Recreation and Parks Director Dave Pritchard said.
Daniels said the incentives could allow a developer to keep fewer trees on a property than usually required if one of them is in the city's more protected category. He said the penalties could increase mitigation costs, usually $500 for every three inches of tree diameter removed, if one of the more protected category of trees is taken down.
The Tree Commission suggested staff whittle down the list of more protected trees as the proposal moves forward. It is expected to go to the Planning & Zoning Commission in December and the City Council early next year.
Christopher Curry may be reached at chris.curry@starbanner.com or (352) 867-4115.
A staff proposal winding its way toward a City Council vote - probably in early 2007 - would create a separate, more protected category for live oaks and some other "specimen" trees on land slated for development.
The staff's proposed changes would also require a permit to remove trees from any property in the city's historic district. Currently, individual parcels smaller than three acres within the city's R-1 residential zoning district are exempt from the tree removal permit requirement, unless the property owner owns more land nearby.
But the suggested changes to the tree protection ordinance would remove that exemption for the historic districts.
"We don't want to lose those trees," Planning Director Tye Chighizola said.
Thursday, the Ocala Tree Commission, an advisory board to City Council, questioned if some of the proposed changes to create this more protected category for specimen trees were too stringent.
Mike Daniels, with the Planning Department, said the idea is to provide an incentive for developers to preserve healthy live oaks and magnolias when they come in for site plan review and to increase penalties if those types of trees come down.
"It's going to be hard to get that through [city] council, with the development community, if we just max out the penalty," Recreation and Parks Director Dave Pritchard said.
Daniels said the incentives could allow a developer to keep fewer trees on a property than usually required if one of them is in the city's more protected category. He said the penalties could increase mitigation costs, usually $500 for every three inches of tree diameter removed, if one of the more protected category of trees is taken down.
The Tree Commission suggested staff whittle down the list of more protected trees as the proposal moves forward. It is expected to go to the Planning & Zoning Commission in December and the City Council early next year.
Christopher Curry may be reached at chris.curry@starbanner.com or (352) 867-4115.
Groups gather to talk trees
By KATE McCARDELL
Floridan Staff Writer
Two local groups devoted to the protection of Jackson County's trees are currently joining forces to preserve the area's tree-canopied roads.
The Arbor Vitae Committee of the Marianna Garden Club and the Marianna Tree Board will meet next week to discuss how they'll go about protecting the leafy arches that hover above many dirt and paved roads in the county.
"We will be meeting Tuesday (Oct. 31) at the (Marianna) City Hall at 3:30 p.m. We'd like for anybody interested in talking about saving canopied roads to come," said Juanita Sanson, of the Tree Board.
A canopied road features an arch-like quality when trees on either side of the roadway reach over the middle of the road and form shade-like a canopy.
The two groups intend to gather record of canopied roads in the area and hope to eventually achieve some form of protection, such as a tree canopy ordinance, with the help of county and state officials.
Roads included under a tree canopy ordinance are often required by the Department of Transportation to be outfitted with certain safety features, such as guard rails and a lowered speed limit.
Some citizens voiced concern last August over reports of tree canopy removal on Hwy. 73 by the FDOT.
At the time, FDOT public information director Tommie Speights reported that construction on that roadway was slated for August 2008.
Speights said that, while the road will not be widened, its shoulders will be filled in and the road itself will be resurfaced. He said that he didn't think all of the trees would be removed, only ones that stood in the way of construction.
Sanson said the public is encouraged to join in on Tuesday's meeting.
"What I've been asking people to do is if they see a canopied road in the area, to take picture so we can show whoever we'll be working with on the Legislature what we're working with. They should also note the location of the road," said Sanson.
Those who cannot attend the meeting but would like to report a canopy road may contact Joan Kandzer 482-6132.
Cities gear up to fight proposals
City
leaders ratcheted up their campaign against several proposed changes to
the county charter Thursday, saying the proposals might violate state
law and laying the groundwork for possible court battles over
initiatives now before voters.
County spokesman Dave Byron said the county's legal staff -- which
drafted the amendments -- is confident they would withstand challenges,
and supporters said the city-led effort is meant to confuse voters.
The cities, however, spent thousands in taxpayer money to try to
argue their point clearly.
Amendments that would give the Volusia County Council more say over
planning for growth, schools and water require not only a countywide
vote but also separate referendums in each city because they transfer
city authority to the county, according to an analysis by former Manatee
County attorney H. Hamilton Rice Jr.
Rice's analysis -- which some city officials contracted to get an
outside voice and said cost $15,000 of taxpayer money -- called the
amendments a "one shoe fits all" approach. "One shoe
won't fit or else the cities would not be here in the first place,"
he wrote.
The County Council-appointed Charter Review Commission put three of
the challenged amendments on the ballot, while the council advanced the
fourth. Supporters say they are necessary to help guide the county as it
grows, but many city leaders have decried them as a power grab.
On Wednesday, representatives from at least nine cities attended a
press conference on the steps of the historic courthouse in DeLand to
present the analysis, which one city attorney said raised serious
concerns about the amendments.
"I'm not a prognosticator," said New Smyrna Beach City
Attorney Frank Gummey, "but certainly governing bodies of each
municipality will review this carefully and determine their
course."
Officials with both the charter commission and County Council fired
back.
"They're trying to pull the wool over people's eyes with this
stuff," said Bill Scovell, the commission's chairman.
Officials at the press conference couldn't say which cities paid for
the analysis, but 10, including Deltona and Daytona Beach, have
separately contributed the lion's share of almost $183,000 poured into a
political action committee that opposes all the amendments.
The County Council agreed to spend $50,000 on an information campaign
officials say doesn't advocate a position. The schools sent home with
students an informational letter about the school amendment and created
a flier, said school district spokeswoman Nancy Wait. The costs of both
will be reimbursed by another political action committee that is
favoring the amendment, she said. .
Councilman Dwight Lewis said cities are conducting a campaign of
"smoke and mirrors."
The council placed its referendum directed at growth on the ballot
after deciding the charter commission's wasn't strong enough. The
council amendment would give it authority over development throughout
the unincorporated area regardless of annexations. The commission
amendment would give the council final say over a smaller area for 10
years after any annexation.james.miller@news-jrnl.com
Miami Commission approves Overtown project
Miami Mayor Manny Diaz gets a victory after commissioners approve the controversial Crosswinds development.
BY MICHAEL VASQUEZ
mrvasquez@MiamiHerald.com
In a triumph for Miami Mayor Manny Diaz's inner-city redevelopment plan, city commissioners late Thursday approved the $200 million-plus Crosswinds development for the long-neglected Overtown neighborhood.
The vote came after hours of debate, dominated by opponents of the mixed-use project. Hundreds of people packed Miami City Hall, too many to fit in the commission chambers. Some watched the proceedings from televisions in the lobby.
Crosswinds will combine 1,050 condo units in four residential towers with 75,000 square feet of retail and office space. It is viewed by Diaz as a needed catalyst for an economic rebirth in Overtown.
Critics of the project complain its mostly market-rate condo apartments are out of the price range of impoverished Overtown residents, and that by being built they will spark a troublesome rise in area housing costs.
One activist group heavily involved in fighting Crosswinds, Power U Center for Social Change, organized a protest outside City Hall before discussion of the issue began. Dozens chanted in the shadow of a 25-foot gray inflatable rat, holding signs that included ``Get the rats out of City Hall!''
By a 4-1 vote, commissioners nevertheless voted for the project.
''I'm assuming I'm a rat,'' Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones, who represents Overtown, said before voting for Crosswinds.
Spence-Jones said the project would provide an economic jolt in a neighborhood that was once a vibrant middle-class hub for Miami's black community. Responding to concerns about the area's supply of affordable housing, Spence-Jones noted that city leaders this week had announced $30 million in Community Redevelopment Agency funding to bring affordable workforce and middle-income housing to Overtown as part of a larger plan to reinvigorate part of the neighborhood.
City Commissioner Tomás Regalado cast the lone ''no'' vote on Crosswinds, saying that more must be done to help citizens squeezed by ballooning housing costs.
''We need to work harder in taking care of the people we already have rather than working full-time to bring new people to the area,'' Regalado said.
RESIDENTS SPEAK
Comments by residents who spoke for and against Overtown included numerous references to the community's glory days -- along with the occasional sprinkling of racial tension. Some viewed Crosswinds as key to restoring Overtown's lost vitality, while others worried its rich African-American history would be erased by an influx of white investors oblivious to it.
''We developed this area, my people, black people. Now I'm living through gentrification where people are being forced out by high prices,'' said Reginald Munnings, 50, a lifetime Overtown resident opposed to Crosswinds. ``I am all for beautification, but I want to be part of it.''
Another longtime Overtown resident, 76-year-old Rosa Green, spoke for the development: ''Not because I can afford $200,000 or $300,000, but I feel that change is coming,'' Green said.
``I am anxious to see something in Overtown.''
As a last-minute concession to the community, Crosswinds agreed to increase from 50 to 112 the number of heavily subsidized units for current Overtown residents. An additional 210 units would be sold at below market rates.
Although Crosswinds received its final needed approval from the city, and can begin construction, it still faces two lawsuits.
LAWSUITS
One, filed by Miami Arena owner Glenn Straub, objects to the way the city picked Crosswinds as the developer for the publicly owned land. The second, filed by Power U, says city leaders did not adequately research Crosswinds' potential impacts on the community.
A recent city study concluded: ``Crosswinds would provide much needed economic stimulus and employment opportunities to the Overtown neighborhood. It would also provide a mix of housing types including affordable and workforce housing units which are desired by the city.''
Sky Development Group under fraud investigation
By Dave PieklikThe Citrus County Sheriff’s Office and Miami authorities are investigating a developer accused of fraudulently acquiring land in Citrus Springs.
Meanwhile, the search for company officials continues, with local offices and those in Miami apparently empty.
The sheriff’s office is looking into claims Sky Development Group of Miami either fraudulently purchased property in the sprawling development in northern Citrus County, or resold land that residents thought belonged to them. Sheriff’s office spokeswoman Gail Tierney said Thursday the office is reviewing five separate complaints involving 210 documents investigators believe are forged.
“I don’t think we’d be surprised if there are additional victims,” she added.
According to Tierney, more than 200 warranty deeds involving the company are in question. In at least two cases, Citrus Springs property owners paid $25,000 down payments each to Sky after contracting with them to build new homes.
“To date, no work has even started,” Tierney wrote in a news release.
Land sold by Sky ranged from $10,000 to $44,000 per lot, the release said.
No one could be reached for comment at Sky’s North Miami Beach office; an answering machine said the voice mailbox was full before disconnecting a phone call. Tierney said the Miami Beach Police Department also is investigating the developer over claims it defrauded investors there.
Miami detectives informed her the losses could be as much as $40 million, she said. Tierney also said the Miami offices for Sky, one in Citrus Springs and the Miami home of Natalia Wolf, company co-owner, have been vacated.
“It’s kind of like they vanished,” Tierney said.
Tierney said the FBI has been contacted about the investigation, though there is still no word if the agency will get involved. Sky has been building homes and selling lots in Citrus County, other parts of Florida, Texas, New York, Arkansas and elsewhere, Tierney said in the release.
At the Citrus County Courthouse, Clerk of the Courts Betty Strifler provided the Chronicle with two Notice of Fraudulent Deed documents involving Sky. The documents describe two separate deeds signed by Sky representatives that purportedly give multiple Citrus Springs lots to the developer.
In one instance, a Sept. 15 deed authorizes the sale of 197 lots from New Vista Properties Inc. of Miami Lakes to Sky. In the other instance, an Oct. 17 deed indicates a man identified as Igor Komsky sold 50 lots to Sky.
Though Komsky could not be reached for comment, an attorney who handles all real estate transactions for New Vista said the deed between the company and Sky is definitely fraudulent. A copy of the deed shows a signature that appears to be Janice Gavia, with deeding officer written in parentheses next to it.
Attorney Michael McKinley said the signature was forged, saying, “New Vista certainly did not sell these lots to Sky.” He added that the value of the land was around $10 million.
McKinley said while the company was doing a routine check of its land purchases, the deed was examined and discrepancies were noticed, including a fee for processing the deed that was incorrect. He believes his complaint was the first received by local investigators.
The news of an investigation comes amid several lawsuits filed against Sky Development, including at least two that accuse the developer of defaulting on payments for purchased land in Citrus Springs. New Vista filed a civil suit last Thursday saying a deed Sky signed “cast clouds” upon New Vista’s titles to property there.
Sky also was forced to sell 501 Citrus Springs lots at a public auction last week after a judge said it defaulted on mortgage payments. In that case, Sky owed two lending companies roughly $6.6 million for the land.
According to information with the Citrus County Property Appraiser’s office, Sky still owns about 500 lots in Citrus Springs.
McKinley said he is concerned about residents living in Citrus Springs who might have bought land from Sky, and urges them to check their deeds “because they might not own what they’re purported to own,” he added.
The sentiments are echoed by Strifler and Tierney. In her news release, Tierney urges residents to check with the property appraiser to confirm property belongs to them.
Anyone who bought land from Sky is asked to contact the sheriff’s office.
Added Tierney, “We’re just trying to get the word out to people so that they do make an honest effort to check on their property.”
Transportation maps on display today
By HERNANDO TODAY STAFFBROOKSVILLE — The public will have the opportunity today to comment on proposed changes to three transportation maps included in the county’s adopted comprehensive plan.
The maps will be displayed from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the John Law Ayers county commission chambers in the Hernando County Government Center at 20 N. Main St., Room 160, Brooksville.
The changes under consideration are updates to three adopted transportation maps: the Functionally Classified Roadway Map 2025, the Highway Network Map 2025 and the Buildout Thoroughfare Plan map.
These three maps outline the future road network for the comprehensive plan and need to be updated for consistency with the Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Long-Range Transportation Plan.
The goal is to plan a transportation network for Hernando County’s future population growth.
A second workshop will be held at 5 p.m., Monday, Nov. 6 at the same
location. For more information, call county planner Jim King at
352-754-4057, Ext. 28020.<
County Pessimistic About Land Talks
Published: Oct 26, 2006
NEW PORT RICHEY - Pasco County attorneys said Tuesday they are doubtful they will be able to resolve differences with a group of east Pasco agricultural landowners in court-ordered mediation next month.
County Attorney Robert Sumner told county commissioners at a meeting in west Pasco "there is nothing to mediate" in the landowners' challenge to Pasco's proposed comprehensive growth plan.
"The board's been pretty clear in the direction they've given us," Sumner said. "From our perspective, we haven't seen anything on the other side to discuss."
State Administrative Law Judge T. Kent Wetherell II has ordered Pasco County to engage in mediation by Nov. 15 with the landowners group, which collectively owns about 7,000 acres in east Pasco, according to attorney Clarke Hobby of Tampa. The county unsuccessfully challenged the mediation order.
The state Department of Community Affairs, which has signed off on the comprehensive plan and reached a settlement in its own technical challenge, also will be party to the mediation on the county's side.
The landowners' group is composed mostly of farmers and ranchers who say they are struggling because of citrus diseases, greater expenses and lower demand for their products. They say they should have the same property rights afforded to former landowners in Wesley Chapel and Land O' Lakes who sold to developers.
The landowner group objects specifically to provisions in the comprehensive plan that limit development in northeast Pasco, Hobby said. The area in question is about 10,000 acres bounded by Bellamy Brothers Boulevard, State Road 52, the Pasco-Hernando county line and the Green Swamp. The area is sparsely populated, with rolling hills and only a handful of small businesses.
According to the plan, tracts larger than 100 acres in the area must be developed as "conservation subdivisions," where houses are clustered and about half of the property is set aside for open space, pasture, golf courses or some other type of passive use. Road expansions and water and sewer systems are limited.
Hobby, the landowners' attorney, was optimistic about mediation. Several of the landowners, including Andrew Pittman and two family members, have been granted intervenor status, meaning they will have a seat at the negotiating table.
"I'm very hopeful that when the parties sit down &hellip that once we have a dialogue over these issues, that we can work something out," he said. "One thing we've never been able to do with all of the disparate groups is to really sit down and talk about what our thought process was and what the issues are and work through them. I feel we're not that far apart."
Environmental activist Jennifer Seney and members of the rural protection group Northeast Pasco Concerned Citizens also have been named intervenor. They argue Hobby's group had a chance to object during the years-long comprehensive planning process.
"We think we abided by the process," said Paul Boetcher, who represents himself and seven other Northeast Pasco group members. "The public had input for over two years. All stakeholders were involved. &hellip I think a fair compromise was reached."
If no settlement is reached, the case will be set for an administrative hearing, a proceeding similar to a trial in which both sides present evidence to a judge.
Reporter Julia Ferrante can be reached at (813) 948-4220 or jferrante@tampatrib.com.
Project on south side gets city's OKPreliminary plans are unanimously accepted
An early step in allowing a 2,800-home development on the south side of town was quickly approved by the Tallahassee City Commission on Wednesday evening, a day after county commissioners also gave their go-ahead.
The developer, St. Joe Co., has proposed leaving untouched a large swath of land bordering wetlands along the site's south side, alleviating concerns about environmental damage. Local government officials and city leaders credited that community collaboration for Wednesday's unanimous vote after a public hearing during which no one spoke out.
"When you step up and get proactive," said City Commissioner Debbie Lightsey, "you don't get a lot of speakers."
St. Joe filed its preliminary plans for the project earlier this year, and heard from concerned business owners and residents in July.
Wednesday's vote supports residential and commercial development on the site - north and south of Capital Circle Southeast and east of Woodville Highway - that's currently largely reserved for agricultural use. The proposal also calls for 1.2 million square feet of retail and office space and a possible 300 hotel rooms and 110-bed hospital.
Apart from 417 acres - a quarter of the total - that would be untouched, "what they have left is not environmentally sensitive at all," said Kristen Andersen, the south-side proposal project manager with the Tallahassee-Leon County Planning Department. "That's a good model."
The land-use change proposal now goes to the state for approval. The state has 60 days to get back to the local governments with recommendations. They'll then have 60 days to make changes and adopt the new allowed land use, the first step before the start of discussions on the actual construction.
"We have a very long way to go on this project," Andersen said.
City, county want specific growth plan
By TONY MARREROlmarrero@hernandotoday.com
BROOKSVILLE — In 2004, Hernando County and the city of Brooksville created a joint planning agreement that said the two parties would work together on annexation and growth issues to keep disagreements from heading to court.
The city contends the agreement is working just fine. But the county says the city is not sticking to its end of the bargain.
On Tuesday night, the county commission, city council and staff on both sides addressed the two most recent issues that the county says proves their case. The city says the county is overreacting.
Still, officials on both sides came up with some ideas to try to make things go more smoothly.
The two parties agreed to:
— Come up with a more specific growth plan for the areas around the city border to head off future squabbles over the city’s annexations and growth density — and try to get developers to pay for it.
— Add language to an agreement between the county, city and developer of the Majestic Oaks development that will make the county feel comfortable enough to end its lawsuit against the city over the project.
— Meet once a month to keep each other informed and prevent future disputes from ending up in court. The original planning agreement called for meetings every six months.
In addition, the city agreed to further postpone until November two annexations of two properties totaling 900 acres east of Hope Hill Road near the city’s southern boundary. That will give staff time to try to ease the concerns raised by the county.
It was this issue that prompted the meeting in the first place.
The city council had given initial approval to the annexations last month and was expected to finalize them this month, but agreed to hold off until Tuesday’s meeting after the county objected.
The county is worried that the annexations would create an irregular boundary, which they say could complicate delivery of fire and police services. The parcels contain county rights of way, including Hope Hill, Mitchell and Emerson roads.
But the city’s move also sparked a debate that has been at the root of years of dispute between the city and county. County planner Ron Pianta conveyed the county’s position at the beginning of the meeting.
“The issue for us is that the joint planning agreement envisioned land use and infrastructure planning would occur at an early stage,” Pianta said. “That has not occurred.”
The city’s method, Pianta and other officials contend, is to notify the county too late or not at all about annexations and land use changes. That violates the spirit of the joint planning agreement, he said.
“Everybody understands the city’s going to expand and that’s all fine, but we have to take into account the county’s responsibility to the unincorporated areas,” Commissioner Chris Kingsley said.
City officials assert they notify the county when necessary.
“I think what we’re disagreeing on is the time frame (planning) is supposed to occur and how to coordinate it in a more efficient fashion,” said Mayor Joe Johnston III.
County administrator Gary Kuhl and city manager Richard Anderson are to meet with planning staff to come up with a more specific plan for the unincorporated areas around the city’s border and develop a schedule for when to meet each month so each side can provide updates.
Because city and county planning staff are already stretched thin, officials hope to get developers who come to the city and county with projects in the study area to help pay for the plan.
City officials said a good first step would be for the county to amend its own comprehensive plan to reflect a more realistic designation for the areas surrounding the city.
“The first thing you need to recognize is the area around Brooksville is no longer rural,” council member Ernie Wever said.
Averting a law suit
Officials also will meet to come up with the language to an agreement between the city, county and developer of Majestic Oaks to clarify that the city’s protocol for the land does guarantee a developer additional density.
Last month, the city created a land use amendment for Majestic Oaks that would allow for 999 residential units and 100,000 square feet of commercial space. The original designation allowed for 600 residential units.
The county objected, saying that was too intense and would overwhelm Mondon Hill Road. The county filed a “placeholder” lawsuit against the city to reserve the right to take the matter to court if it couldn’t be resolved.
Bill Geiger, the city’s community development director, has maintained that the land use change does not guarantee the maximum density to the developer, Avatar and MI Homes, but rather allows greater flexibility. If the developer decides to reduce commercial space, that could allow for more residential units, Geiger said, and it makes sense to allow for that during the land use process.
“It’s more appropriate to do it at this stage then to amend our comp plan later on,” he told county officials.
“The city could not lawfully agree that it wouldn’t consider” future changes to the developer’s plan, city attorney David LaCroix added.
County attorney Garth Coller disagreed, saying the city’s action represented “a clear breach” of the tri-party agreement.
“You’re essentially pre-giving” the additional density to the developer, Coller said.
Commissioners voiced frustration that, two years after the agreement’s inception, the county still feels compelled to resort to a lawsuit.
The monthly meetings would likely go a long way, said commission chairwoman Diane Rowden.
“I think we continue to have a breakdown in communication and all of a sudden we’re here,” Rowden said. “We need to start heading off these problems before they become problems.”
Reporter Tony Marrero can be contacted at 352-544-5286.
Compromise averts court fight
Brooksville and the county will have staffs work out a deal on Majestic Oaks and annexation.
By DAN DEWITT
Published October 26, 2006
BROOKSVILLE - County Commissioner Jeff Stabins wondered if it was possible for the county and the city of Brooksville to avoid a lawsuit over the size of the Majestic Oaks subdivision.
"Or is this what I call a feel-bad issue?" he asked.
Apparently it was, as lawyers for the city and county argued over legal points at a meeting Tuesday night, ominously referring to elected officials in the room as either "clients" or "adversaries."
But Stabins, Brooksville Mayor Joe Johnston and others convinced their colleagues to try to avoid a lawsuit. In the end, they did.
County commissioners and City Council members agreed to allow staff members to try to work out an agreement on Majestic Oaks and the other main issue the two boards considered at their Tuesday meeting: whether to allow the city to annex nearly 900 acres of rural land south of downtown and east of Southern Hills Plantation Club.
To help resolve the annexation dispute, County Administrator Gary Kuhl said he and City Manager Richard Anderson would take up the city's proposal to come up with a detailed development plan for all of the land around the current city limits. The city and county had previously agreed to work together to review any plans for growth outside Brooksville.
"We're talking about the possibility of developing a master plan for the area surrounding the city," Johnston said. Developers who want to develop in the area would pay for the study, which would address the need for roads and other government services.
The city and county, which have repeatedly clashed over Brooksville's expansion plans, did not reach an agreement on another of the city's proposals: dedicating most of the land around the city for development on the county's comprehensive plan.
"The area around the city is no longer rural," said outgoing council member Ernie Wever. "It needs to be changed in classification to urban."
No one from the county responded to that suggestion, and the disagreement was even sharper on the future of Majestic Oaks.
In early 2005, the city, county and the original owners of the subdivision, a group of local investors led by Tommy Bronson, signed an agreement that set the maximum size of the development at 600 houses and 100,000 square feet of commercial or office space.
But last month, the City Council backed the plans of the developer who has bought the property, Avatar Holdings Inc. of Coral Gables, to expand the subdivision to 999 houses with 100,000 square feet for shops, restaurants and other commercial uses.
The council sent a request to change the city's comprehensive plan to the state.
City Attorney David La Croix read language from the earlier agreement that he said allowed the developer to request more density.
But granting that request, said County Attorney Garth Coller, would violate the earlier agreement.
"If La Croix is saying the agreement they have entered into has no legal consequence, I would disagree," Coller said.
Though both lawyers said their arguments would prevail in court, council members and commissioners called them off, with Commissioner Nancy Robinson picking up on a statement from Johnston. He said the city would not allow any phase of construction without the county's approval.
Robinson suggested that provision be added to the existing agreement, and that the commission and council separately consider the new version. Coller assured her this could be done in two weeks, about the same time Kuhl requested to come back with a plan to resolve the annexation dispute.
Tallahassee lawyer Jake Varn, who represented the Bronson group and Avatar on the Majestic Oaks matter, summed up its resolution in a way that applied to the entire meeting.
"Toss it back to the staff and the lawyers, and we'll get it worked out," he said.
Dan DeWitt can be reached at dewitt@sptimes.com or (352) 754-6116.
Stabins' hearing faulty on Hickory
Hernando Times Letter to the EditorPublished October 26, 2006
Stabins' hearing faulty on Hickory
Re: Republicans can differ with party, Oct. 25 letter to the editor from Shirley B. Butler:
I have read many letters from Hernando residents praising Hernando County Commissioner Jeff Stabins for having the courage to raise the issue of a supermajority vote for comprehensive plan amendments. Some have even turned it into a partisan issue. Ms. Butler even stated that Stabins "is the new hero for those whose voices have not been heard or recognized."
For a guy who wishes to hear the voices of the unrecognized, then perhaps he needed a hearing aid the day he voted to transmit to the state Department of Community Affairs the proposed amendments in regard to the Hickory Hill subdivision. He apparently didn't have a problem with growth issues then, and he certainly didn't listen to the voices of opposition at that commission meeting.
I think Stabins talks out of both sides of his mouth.
Lori Lee, Brooksville
School impact fees could skyrocketReport recommends raising single-family home fee to $12,600
Brad Buck
Staff Writer
TAVARES - School impact fees could go up 78 percent if the Lake County School Board and County Commission agree with a consultant's report.
The impact fee for single-family homes should be nearly $12,600, up from $7,055, according to the new report from Henderson Young & Co.
Growth in student enrollment is causing crowding at many schools, which led to the recommendation by consultant Randy Young to increase impact fees, school district chief financial officer Bonnie Penner said Wednesday.
However, the recommendation is not official yet, she said.
School impact fees pay for additional school facilities necessitated by new development.
School Board members did not seem surprised by the numbers when they were presented at a Monday workshop.
They did question the cost per student station. For example, the consultant shows the bill at $18,111 per student station for elementary schools.
Board member Larry Metz said that's not even close to construction costs of $23,000 per station for several schools the district starting building last month.
Young agreed to work on refining the costs per student station.
Lake County schools have permanent capacity for 32,625 students, according to figures from 2005-06. That figure does not include about 6,000 students housed part- or full-time in portables.
According to figures from Young, impact fees should increase dramatically for three types of homes:
n Single-family home fees would go from $7,055 in 2004 to a proposed $12,597 this year.
n Multifamily residential fees would increase from $4,260 per unit to $7,600.
n Mobile home fees would increase from $2,497 to $4,459.
Young recommended the board include in the impact fees the cost of borrowing money. Board member Scott Strong said the district needs support from the County Commission in including interest costs in impact fees.
The last time the school district tried to include those costs, County Attorney Sandy Minkoff said such a move would be indefensible in court.
Another figure used in calculating impact fees is the number of school-aged children predicted to come from a residence.
The school district's formula puts 0.41 children in all single-family homes that are not in age-restricted communities. Young recommended that number increase to 0.468.
Those numbers are based on U.S. Census data, he said.
Home-sales slowdown continues
But analysts see light after September slump.
Jerry W. JacksonSentinel Staff Writer
October 26, 2006
Sales of existing homes continued to slow in September, and the median price nationally fell by the largest amount on record.
The National Association of Realtors reported Wednesday that sales of previously owned homes slipped 1.9 percent during the month to a seasonally adjusted pace of 6.18 million units, the slowest sales rate since January 2004.
It was the sixth straight monthly decline, and the slump pushed the median price of a single-family home to $219,800, a drop of 2.5 percent from September 2005, the biggest year-over-year price decline in records going back nearly four decades.
In a separate report, the Florida Association of Realtors said the sale of existing single-family homes statewide plunged 34 percent to 13,485, the same rate of decline as in August. But the median price slipped only a single percentage point in September to $243,900. Year-to-date, Florida's median home price is still up 8 percent.
A number of industry analysts and home-sales professionals said they see signs that the housing slump may be nearing an end.
Roger Soderstrom, founder and president of Stirling Sotheby's International Realty, based in Lake Mary, said home sales should improve by the second quarter of 2007.
"I'm not forecasting any rapid price increase, but here in Central Florida, a slow and steady increase. This area does have some advantages," said Soderstrom, whose 19-year-old company closed on a record of just more than $1 billion in home sales in 2005.
About 85 percent to 90 percent of those sales were in the five-county area the agency serves with nine offices, he said -- Orange, Seminole, Lake, Volusia and Brevard -- and the company is on track to sell nearly $1 billion worth of homes in 2006 as well.
During the next several quarters, listings of homes for sale and the new home inventory both should decline, Soderstrom said, setting the stage for the rebound. Just last week, the Orlando Regional Realtor Association reported that the inventory of existing homes in the Orlando area slipped for the first time in nearly a year and a half. The number of available properties dropped 3.3 percent from August to September, though the total -- 20,319 -- still remained near record levels.
Sales in the core Orlando market -- mainly Orange and Seminole -- were down 33.7 percent in September, but remained on track for the second-best year on record. Orlando's median price held steady at $250,000, up 2.5 percent from September 2005.
Housing set sales records nationally for new and existing homes for five straight years but cooled this year under pressure from rising mortgage rates, higher energy prices and a slowing economy. In recent months, though, mortgage rates have stabilized, the stock market has set records and energy prices have pulled back.
"The worst is behind us as far as a market correction -- this is likely the trough for [home] sales," said David Lereah, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors.
The association said the inventory of unsold homes, after climbing to all-time highs, fell for a second straight month, decreasing 2.4 percent, to 3.75 million at the end of September. That represents a 7.3 months' supply at the September sales pace.
Sales of single-family homes dropped by 1.6 percent to an annual rate of 5.42 million units while sales of condominiums fell by 3.2 percent to an annual rate of 763,000 units.
Condo prices fell by 3.2 percent, to a median price of $219,800, the same as single-family homes.
In Florida, condo sales plunged 45 percent in September to 3,819, and the median price was off by 6 percent to $201,900. Year-to-date, condo sales are down by a third but the median price remained in positive territory, up 2 percent.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. Jerry W. Jackson can be reached at jwjackson@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5721
No end in sight to housing
market slowdown
The numbers for existing homes released Wednesday paint a struggling picture of the market: Sales remain way down and prices are flat, frustrating buyers who want to break in.
mhaggman@MiamiHerald.com
The numbers for existing homes released Wednesday paint a struggling picture of the market: Sales remain way down and prices are flat, frustrating buyers who want to break in.
mhaggman@MiamiHerald.com
Pilkki Mitchell was a real estate agent in Miami Beach for nine years. But when the housing market slowed, she decided to get out early this year.
After a stint waiting tables on Ocean Drive, she now works at a medical services company.
''I am working Monday through Friday and getting a paycheck,'' said Mitchell, 40. ``That is what I need now.''
Real estate -- once so hot that would-be agents flocked to get their licenses -- no longer holds the same golden allure today. The reason: There's still no end in sight for the slowdown in the housing market.
The numbers for existing homes released Wednesday by the Florida Association of Realtors did little to change that. In general, sales remain way down. Yet prices are flat, frustrating buyers who want to break into the market. In fact, demand is still strong for certain less expensive projects, suggesting that price is an issue.
Sales for condos dropped 46 percent in Broward and 40 percent in Miami-Dade compared to September last year. They also went down from a month earlier, by 12 percent in Miami-Dade and 8 percent in Broward.
For houses, sales were down 12 percent for Miami-Dade and 24 percent for Broward from a year ago. But the picture was brighter when compared to August: Sales were up 10 percent in Miami-Dade and 5 percent in Broward.
With the market sluggish, the backlog of homes and condos for sale in both counties grew in September to 62,000 -- about 1,800 more than in August, and almost triple the inventory from a year ago.
''It's a welcome relief from the frenzied 12-hour work days,'' said Kevin Tomlinson, a real estate broker with Esslinger Wooten Maxwell. ``I'm still working very hard, but business is one-fifth of what it used to be. There are brokers that don't have anything to do.''
STEADY PRICES
Meanwhile, prices held steady. Home prices in both Miami-Dade and Broward were flat to mildly down compared to last year, but up 2 percent from August. Condo prices were up slightly from last year and 8 percent from last month in Miami-Dade, while staying flat in Broward.
Some economists say sales will not go up until prices come down. But so far, both buyers and sellers are waiting it out.
The September median price of a house was $371,700 in Miami-Dade and $370,300 in Broward. For condos it was $270,800 in Miami-Dade and $205,800 in Broward. The median is the point at which half are more and half are less.
The Florida Association of Realtors does not track home sales in the Florida Keys.
POCKETS OF STRENGTH
There remain pockets of strength, such as lower-priced homes and ultra-luxury homes. A proposed downtown Miami condo by the Related Group called Loft 3 with one-bedroom unit prices starting at $159,000 enjoyed brisk sales this week. And Realtor Elena Bluntzer reported selling a Fisher Island condo earlier this year for $9.2 million.
Like South Florida's, the national housing market is also struggling to find its bearings. Across the country, existing-home sales declined for the sixth-straight month.
The reasons for the stubborn slowdown in South Florida include prices beyond the reach of many buyers, the exit of many investors and speculators, a rise in property insurance and the specter of higher property taxes on new purchases.
Yet the underlying framework is strong. Mortgage rates remain attractive, unemployment is low and long-term demand should remain strong because of a growing population, international demand and baby boomers retiring or buying second homes.
Economists disagree on how long the downturn will last. NAR chief economist David Lereah has proclaimed that ''the worst is behind us.'' But Yale economist Robert Shiller predicted last week at a conference in Miami that the slowdown could last years.
The cooling market is already prompting some people to look outside real estate for a living. In 2005, there were 94,734 applications to Florida's Department of Business and Professional Regulation for a real estate sales license. To date this year, the number has dropped to 52,789.
Mitchell said she may return to selling homes someday, but probably not for a while.
Suspicious Transactions Raise Home Prices And Lender Risks
Tampa tribune editorial Published: Oct 26, 2006
State agencies are right to investigate suspicious transactions in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, where a 26-year-old real estate agent sold dozens of homes for an average of $60,000 above the asking price. But the deals raise questions about how closely state agencies are overseeing Florida's hyperactive real estate market.
The shenanigans documented by the Tribune's Shannon Behnken could put lenders, buyers and even neighborhoods at risk.
Artificially inflated prices make mortgage companies responsible for loans worth more than the value of the homes. Buyers will find their ability to resell the houses limited. The sales can drive up prices and taxes in a neighborhood, making it even harder for families to afford a home. The result could be a rash of foreclosures.Behnken discovered that the Tampa agent, Dawn Molen, sold 36 homes during the last year, mostly in working-class Pinellas neighborhoods, where the buyers paid an average of $60,000 more than the asking prices.
The sellers were given their asking price or less. The rest of the money - more than $2 million - went to investor companies associated with the agent.
Behnken found that the same title company and the same buyer's agent were used in all the sales. And listing agents complied with Molen's request to inflate the asking price in the Multiple Listing Service, a database used by real estate agents and lenders.
In two cases, different sets of settlement documents were prepared - one sent to the lender and the other filed with the agent's broker. The one that went to the broker showed the payment to the investor groups. The one that went to the lender did not. Misrepresenting how the money is distributed on closing statements violates federal and state laws.
All this smells to high heavens. Attorney General Charlie Crist, to his credit, has directed his office's economic crime division in Tampa to investigate.
Also investigating are agencies with direct supervision of real estate transactions - the state Department of Financial Services, which oversees title companies, and the Office of Financial Regulation, which oversees lending companies.
While officials at those agencies sort out the details, they should also determine why it took a reporter's investigation to alert them to the irregular proceedings.
Why weren't the slippery transactions detected earlier? Launching reviews after the attorney general has already begun an investigation seems a little late and suggests changes may be in order.
Behnken found that local appraisers are finding many other cases where houses are selling for far more than the original price.
It may be too early to determine whether any crimes have been committed or if the state policies need to be revamped. But this much is apparent: All involved in home sales need to be exceedingly cautious. It seems easy to play fast and loose in the Florida real estate game.
Underwriter Launches Inquiry Into Home Sales
Published: Oct 26, 2006
TAMPA - The underwriter for a Tampa title company involved in inflated real estate transactions in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties says it is taking a closer look at those deals and the company that settled them.
Houston-based Stewart Title Guaranty Co. is the sole underwriter for Ocean Title & Abstract, which handled settlements for 36 transactions involving Tampa real estate agent Dawn L. Molen.
The 26-year-old agent's sales are the subject of investigations by the state attorney general's office and three other state agencies.
Molen's sales were revealed in a Tampa Tribune report Sunday that showed the properties sold for an average of $60,000 more than the original list price and had payments going to third parties associated with Molen.
On two of the transactions, separate settlement documents were handled by Ocean Title. The one filed with Molen's broker shows a large "payoff."
Documents sent to the lenders did not include that information.
An Ocean Title employee, Michelle Fabry, signed both sets of documents.
"Stewart will take appropriate action once its investigation is completed," Patrick Thesing, senior vice president, associate general counsel and chief litigation counsel, said in a statement.
More than a dozen lending institutions funded mortgages on the homes.
If the loans go into default, the lenders could be on the hook, and Stewart, as the underwriter for Ocean Title, could hold some liability.
Fabry and Molly Boston, the managing director for Ocean Title, could not be reached Wednesday at their office.
Reporter Shannon Behnken can be reached at (813) 259-7804. Keyword: Rapid, to read "A Rapid Rise," The Tampa Tribune's investigation into the real estate deals
Large retail
development coming to city
OCALA - Sizable retail development plans toward opposite ends of the
city limits along Pine Avenue moved ahead during the Ocala City
Council's hearing on large-scale land use change applications Wednesday
night.
In south Ocala, a slew of property owners, led by Cope Properties, has plans to redevelop 92 acres along the east side of the 4000 to 4800 of South Pine Avenue with a mix of retail and residential development, Cope's land use attorney Steve Gray said. The City Council annexed the property in April.
Gray said there were no definite plans for what's going in at this point, except a "mixed use" of retail and residential. Right now, automobile, mobile home and recreational vehicle dealerships occupy the developed part the land, across U.S. 441 from the Ocala Drive-In.
On almost 38 undeveloped acres along the 3500 to 3800 blocks of North Pine Avenue, which the council recently annexed, Orlando realty firm, Delcala Properties Inc. got approval of a switch from the county's high density residential and commercial designations to a retail services land use.
The property may be the new home for a Wal-Mart Supercenter planned in north Ocala because the prior location at Pine and Northwest 28th Street is in the floodplain on the Federal Emergency Management Agency's new map. The City Council has appealed the FEMA map, but that process is likely to drag on.
In total, the council unanimously voted to move ahead five development plans, with Councilman Kent Guinn absent. Every development still needs approval of a zoning change to stay alive.
Council members delayed for at least two months a vote on a proposed apartment complex development on 22 acres next to the railroad tracks along the 1800-1900 block of Northeast 19th Avenue at the request of Gray, who also represents that property owner, Laura Louise Toms. That land, which now has an industrial land use, has access problems for cars to reach nearby roads safely at a safe distance from the railroad tracks.
Wednesday's meeting moved fairly quickly with only a smattering of public opposition. A plan for retail development on about 4.5 acres along the 4400 block of the State Road 200 corridor west of Interstate 75 had residents of the neighboring Country Oaks subdivision concerned about what would be built next door. Jim Thomason, president of the homeowners association, said they wanted the city to restrict the type of tenants and did not want to live next to a restaurant.
The council also approved a request that could mean 339 new homes on almost 68 acres in northeast Ocala, if built at the city's maximum density for a low density residential land use. The land lies along the 3900 to 4200 blocks of Northeast 35th Street.
Applicants Joshua Scroggie and Steve Rudnianyn plan to combine this property with an adjacent 33 acre parcel for a single subdivision, according to a Planning Department report. The city had annexed the land recently and it carried an industrial land use designation in the county. The proposal continues a trend in recent years of plans to build residential on undeveloped land with industrial in northeast Ocala.
Christopher Curry may be reached at (352) 867-4115 christopher.curry@starbanner.com.
In south Ocala, a slew of property owners, led by Cope Properties, has plans to redevelop 92 acres along the east side of the 4000 to 4800 of South Pine Avenue with a mix of retail and residential development, Cope's land use attorney Steve Gray said. The City Council annexed the property in April.
Gray said there were no definite plans for what's going in at this point, except a "mixed use" of retail and residential. Right now, automobile, mobile home and recreational vehicle dealerships occupy the developed part the land, across U.S. 441 from the Ocala Drive-In.
On almost 38 undeveloped acres along the 3500 to 3800 blocks of North Pine Avenue, which the council recently annexed, Orlando realty firm, Delcala Properties Inc. got approval of a switch from the county's high density residential and commercial designations to a retail services land use.
The property may be the new home for a Wal-Mart Supercenter planned in north Ocala because the prior location at Pine and Northwest 28th Street is in the floodplain on the Federal Emergency Management Agency's new map. The City Council has appealed the FEMA map, but that process is likely to drag on.
In total, the council unanimously voted to move ahead five development plans, with Councilman Kent Guinn absent. Every development still needs approval of a zoning change to stay alive.
Council members delayed for at least two months a vote on a proposed apartment complex development on 22 acres next to the railroad tracks along the 1800-1900 block of Northeast 19th Avenue at the request of Gray, who also represents that property owner, Laura Louise Toms. That land, which now has an industrial land use, has access problems for cars to reach nearby roads safely at a safe distance from the railroad tracks.
Wednesday's meeting moved fairly quickly with only a smattering of public opposition. A plan for retail development on about 4.5 acres along the 4400 block of the State Road 200 corridor west of Interstate 75 had residents of the neighboring Country Oaks subdivision concerned about what would be built next door. Jim Thomason, president of the homeowners association, said they wanted the city to restrict the type of tenants and did not want to live next to a restaurant.
The council also approved a request that could mean 339 new homes on almost 68 acres in northeast Ocala, if built at the city's maximum density for a low density residential land use. The land lies along the 3900 to 4200 blocks of Northeast 35th Street.
Applicants Joshua Scroggie and Steve Rudnianyn plan to combine this property with an adjacent 33 acre parcel for a single subdivision, according to a Planning Department report. The city had annexed the land recently and it carried an industrial land use designation in the county. The proposal continues a trend in recent years of plans to build residential on undeveloped land with industrial in northeast Ocala.
Christopher Curry may be reached at (352) 867-4115 christopher.curry@starbanner.com.
Board OKs scaled-down shopping center
STAFF REPORT
The size of the project, though, was cut down from what developer North American Properties sought.
A 40,000-square-foot Publix will still be the anchor for the shopping center, but instead of 29,000 square feet for other retail shops, the county commissioners voted to limit the rest of the project to 18,000 square feet.
The commissioners voted 3-2 for the project, which neighbors claimed would cause too much traffic in the low-density area. The shopping center will be on a 10-acre parcel at Bee Ridge Road and Bee Ridge Road Extension.
The rezoning petition, which followed failed attempts to get other permits, didn't win approval from the Sarasota County Planning Commission when it was heard in 2004. Commissioners made their decision in front of a packed chamber.
The project drew attention from the neighborhood, with the county receiving 250 letters for it and 131 against.
UF fisheries researcher to receive environmental award in Sweden
Carl Walters remembers being forced to learn to fly cast for fish in California as the 6-year-old son of a fishing guide and grandson of a game warden."I didn't like fly fishing then and I still don't like it," Walters said.
What caught on instead with the young Walters was a lifelong interest in how many fish were beneath the water's surface.
Today, Walters, who teaches at both the University of Florida and at University of British Columbia, Vancouver, will be in Stockholm to accept an international award for his work on "understanding the human impact on the world's fisheries and oceans."
The Volvo Environment Prize has been awarded for the past 17 years to promote environmental research and development by recognizing those who have made "an outstanding contribution to understanding or protecting the environment through scientific, socio-eco- nomic or technological innovation or discovery of global or regional importance."
A panel of international scientists - appointed by Sweden's Royal Society of Arts and Sciences - selects the winners. This year's winners will each receive $500,000 in Swedish kronor, or about $70,000 in U.S. dollars.
In an e-mail, UF Associate Provost Joseph Glover referred to such an international award as "relatively unusual" because no more than a handful of UF staff members were likely to receive international accolades each year.
Walters suspects he was tapped for the award because of his approach to studying fish populations.
"I guess I was one of the first people to admit that we don't know what's going on - there's no way to look at the whole ocean. It's too big," Walters said. "It would cost $1 billion to know exactly how many red grouper there are."
Instead of coming up with an actual census of a species, Walters said he and others "worked out a bunch of ways that didn't depend on knowing everything." Those methods to analyze both fishery stocks and harvest management are now considered important basic tools for fishery managers around the world.
This is not the first time that Walters has been recognized for his work this year. He also received the Award of Excellence from the American Fisheries Society's Award of Excellence.
Despite the international acclaim Walters is receiving this week, his proudest accomplishment - or at least the one he most enjoys talking about - are the species he has caught in the waters near the Cedar Key home he spends half the year in with his wife, Sandra Buckingham.
"Nothing is more exciting to me than to see that bobber go down," Walters said. "Over the past four years, I've caught 26 species right behind my home fishing from my kayak."
Karen Voyles can be reached at 486-5058 or voylesk@gvillesun.com
Coastal Fuels offers new
plan for petroleum storage
BY R. NORMAN MOODY
FLORIDA TODAY
Coastal Fuels will be back before city officials with another plan to build additional diesel storage tanks.
During a workshop today the City Council will discuss -- but take no vote -- on the company's revised plan to build two large fuel storage tanks.
"It takes the tanks substantially away from the residential area to the east," said Rick Torpy, an attorney for Coastal.
Last summer the company asked the city to consider a special exception to allow the tanks on a wooded buffer between homes and the existing tanks. Residents said they worried the fuel would be too close to their homes.
The company has previously proposed to put tanks 323 feet from homes, while existing tanks are more than 800 feet from homes. The company would not reveal how far tanks and homes would be separated under the new plan.
Residents, however, say they will listen to the revised plan and hear what the city council has to say about it.
"We hope to ask questions and let them provide the answers," said Ruth Anders, who helped organize residents at Solana Lake opposing the original proposal. "We're going to wait and let the city talk."
The company's plan to build two 6-million gallon diesel tanks, stalled when the city's planning and zoning board last month explained that the city did not have an ordinance that covers the storage of liquid petroleum.
The ordinance under which the company was granted a special exception to build fuel tanks 14 years ago refers to "liquefied petroleum," not liquid petroleum, which is what Coastal stores, officials said.
Coastal Fuels has for decades stored fuels on its property at 8954 N. Atlantic Ave. The company, a part of TransMontagne Products Services Inc., supplies fuels to cruise ships and service stations.
The layout for its new tanks presents a permanent master plan, the company said. It includes its current and future plans.
Torpy said the plan considers the residents' concern about safety.
"Coastal recognizes the need to work with the residents and with the city," he said.
Contact Moody at 242-3651 or nmoody@flatoday.net.
Black Hammock land suit settled
By BETH KORMANIK The Public Trust Environmental Law Institute of Florida, two residents
of the island, a business owner and a Jacksonville resident who claims
family ties to the island filed the lawsuits against the city after
officials approved a 358-acre development on private land surrounded by
the Timucuan Preserve.
Opponents said building 143 single-family homes on lots of about 1.5
acres would cause environmental harm and ruin views from Betz Tiger Point,
which they described as "one of the crown jewels" of the city's
Preservation Project.
The institute's lawyer, Warren Anderson, moved to drop the challenge
after opponents reached an agreement with developer Paul Fletcher, who
wasn't named in the lawsuits.
Under the agreement, homes will have a 100-foot buffer between the salt
marshes and the lot lines, with minimum backyards of 20 feet. No
fertilizers can be used in the buffers, and homeowners must use
slow-release fertilizers in other areas. The agreement also restricts
which vegetation homeowners can trim but does preserve their water views.
The exterior of the homes must be constructed in muted earth tones to
blend into the environment.
Fletcher promised to pay $100,000 to replace failing septic tanks in
the area and $100,000 to begin work on an archaeology center at Tiger
Point. He also will build a kayak launch for public use along with public
parking.
Fletcher already had agreed to some concessions when the City Council
approved the development in June. He agreed then to install advanced
septic tanks that treat water and discharge it through an irrigation
system to the ground rather than to a body of water. He also agreed then
to give $120,000 for improvements to a community center and fire station
on the island.
The agreement doesn't lower the project's density - a key complaint of
opponents who wanted fewer homes. Anderson called that "a
disappointment," but said he hoped the other aspects would set the
standard for future developments on environmentally sensitive lands.
Also not addressed in the agreement were accusations of improper
behavior by council members before they approved the development.
The lawsuits claimed that councilmen Warren Alvarez and Lad Daniels
acted illegally by attending a Land Use and Zoning Committee meeting and
advocating for the development. The lawmakers were only supposed to weigh
evidence at that meeting and were legally barred from expressing an
opinion, according to the lawsuit. Alvarez and Daniels weren't committee
members.
The lawsuits also claimed that council members didn't reveal
conversations and meetings they had about the development, as required by
law.
With the suit's dismissal, the allegations won't be tested in court. No
council members had been deposed, Anderson said.
"The other issues relating to the City Council would have been
interesting and possibly revealing," he said. "But once we got a
settlement to protect the Preservation Project and Public Trust, we felt
like we accomplished our mission."
Council President Michael Corrigan said he considered the charges
"one of the weaker aspects of the case."
"I didn't feel like there were any violations that I knew
about," he said. "Part of the challenge when you decide to run
for public office is you're going to make decisions that aren't liked by
people all of the time. Court is often likely the next step. It's the
price you pay for doing public service."
beth.kormanik@jacksonville.com (904) 359-4619
The Times-Union
Environmentalists have agreed to drop lawsuits
challenging an upscale development on Black Hammock Island and hope the
conditions set standards for projects on sensitive lands.The deal doesn't
address whether members of the Jacksonville City Council acted
inappropriately during discussions leading up to the development's
approval.
Panel back pedals on Carlisle project
Christopher ShermanSentinel Staff Writer
October 26, 2006
WINTER PARK -- The city's planning board on Wednesday night reversed its earlier vote on The Carlisle condominium project, recommending denial of final approval.
The project had changed too much, board members said. But perhaps more importantly, so had the attitude in Winter Park.
Early last year, The Carlisle was viewed as win-win for the city and developer. Winter Park would get rid of its unattractive post office by incorporating it into the 130-unit condo and retail project, which would also bring much-needed shoppers and diners to nearby Park Avenue. Few residents were paying close attention.
But by late last year, the plans had changed to 69 condos, meaning fewer Park Avenue shoppers. The plans reviewed Wednesday also ditched a second level of underground parking and added more than 30,000 square feet to the above-ground area of the building.
"It's a bait-and-switch," said Beth Dillaha, one of the residents who packed the city chamber. She and others thought that developer Central Park Station Partners LLC had diminished the touted benefits to the city.
"The city loses out on this deal," Dillaha said.
In the end, the three members present of the five-member planning board agreed and voted to recommend denial. The City Commission will consider it for final approval on Nov. 27.
The outcome did not seem to surprise the developers, who had long disputed the need for the final round of approvals.
Steve Walsh, one of three principal partners, said afterward: "The votes were counted before the meeting started."
A notable absence was another partner, Allan Keen, who has been under fire since it was revealed that the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority, of which he is chairman, steered $107,500 in public money to a company owned by Doug Guetzloe, one of the authority's most vocal adversaries.
The Expressway Authority and Guetzloe said he was being paid to gauge opposition to future toll-road increases.
The payments were made public by a state attorney's investigation into an anonymous attack mailer against David Strong, who was running for Winter Park mayor. No link has been suggested between the expressway money and the mailer, nor were the payments illegal.
The Carlisle was a rallying cry for Strong's campaign. Guetzloe later claimed responsibility for the mailer. On Wednesday, two members of the state attorney's government accountability unit observed the meeting from the audience.
Weeks after Strong won the March election, The Carlisle developers pulled the project from the planning board's agenda and announced they would seek to get the city to sign its development agreement without undergoing a final round of approvals.
Months of delay and unsuccessful mediation led to the project finally returning to the planning board Wednesday.
The developers' attorney Micky Grindstaff blamed the public backlash to The Carlisle on the reaction to another large building that "scared the daylights out of everybody."
Park Place, a large building on Park Avenue, killed the "lovefest" that earlier existed between city officials and the project, he said.
"Please evaluate the Carlisle project based on its merits . . . not on publicity and emotion swirling around this project," Grindstaff said before the vote.
Grindstaff said the planning board should not be deciding whether changes to the plans since preliminary approval were significant.
He cited earlier staff reports that determined that plan changes were not significant and said a final round of approvals was not necessary.
But the staff's latest report had a different opinion, especially on the increased square footage above ground. While the exterior "envelope" of the building was unchanged, an additional 33,415 square feet were incorporated into the four above-ground floors, staffers said.
The report recommended approval with the condition that the space be reduced to what was originally approved.
"It is not the same project; it is larger," the report said.
Winter Park board says city should deny final approval after changes to plans
Christopher Sherman can be reached at csherman@orlandosentinel.com or 407-650-6361.
State jettisons plans OK'd by county
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
WEST PALM BEACH — State growth management planners have shot down five development proposals that county commissioners approved in August, saying the land-use changes needed to accommodate the projects didn't meet state and regional growth laws - and in some cases, the county's own regulations.
It marked the second time in three weeks the Department of Community Affairs raised major issues over the Palm Beach County Commission's development decisions.
State planners late last month said a decision to increase the number of homes on Mecca Farms and surrounding western county farmland had not been properly reviewed and that it flew against an earlier county proposal to map western growth.
A seven-page letter released Friday noted deficiencies in five privately initiated proposals county commissioners voted on: an eightfold increase in the number of homes allowed on two parcels at Southern Boulevard and Jog Road; a tenfold increase in homes on 97 acres at Northlake and Coconut boulevards; approval for 26 homes at Lantana Road and State Road 7, where two are now allowed; and a funeral home on Heritage Road and State Road 7.
The two State Road 7 projects and the Northlake Boulevard proposal reside in the county's rural tier, where water and sewer pipes are nonexistent.
The county did not justify why more intense development was needed on these properties, which would require water and sewer hookups, the state report said.
The county also did not evaluate the impact on roads and schools the added development would bring, state planners wrote.
County planners are expected to argue that such analysis typically comes later in the development approval process.
"The writing is on the wall," said Lisa Interlandi, an attorney with the Everglades Law Center. "The state is going to strictly enforce the Growth Management Act, and the county is not going to be able to continue ignoring the law, approving development after development without regard to the impact on traffic, the environment and quality of life."
County planners have to decide whether to enter into settlement talks with the state and prepare a different plan, which would again require county commission approval. The county can also choose not to fight the state's objections, or challenge the state's decisions before an administrative law judge.
Yet county planners had originally recommended that commissioners deny each of the five projects. The planners could find themselves in the unusual situation of having to defend land-use changes they never intended to support.
Directors at the planning, zoning and building department could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Hellen Hoffman, who lives on a 10-acre lot in the Heritage Farms community, vigorously opposed the plans for the funeral home nearby because she said it would pave the way for larger development along the somewhat sparse State Road 7 corridor.
"I'm certainly glad that the state at least is adhering to their responsibility," Hoffman said.
Plans to develop on the two Southern/Jog pieces of land brought an outpouring of opposition from neighbors, most of whom live on acre-lot homes to the south.
The proposal Land Design South presented included most of the units there as two- and three-story multifamily buildings. The family of Byron Russell, president of food distributor Cheney Brothers, owns the land.
Instead of allowing a free increase in density, the county should have made the land developers purchase the rights to build more units through the county's land bank program, the state said.
"It sounds like it's more than a frivolous objection. It sounds more substantial," said George Humphries, president of the West Gun Club Road Property Owners Association, which fought the proposed development. "We're going to keep on this thing. We're not happy. We feel like the commission let us down horribly
Who's watching toll-agency cash?
Crotty wants audit of toll-roads authority
Jay Hamburg and Dan TracySentinel Staff Writers
October 25, 2006
On any given day, the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority pulls in $550,000 in tolls from harried motorists navigating Central Florida's traffic-clogged road network.
But now the public agency's entanglement in the political controversy surrounding anti-tax activist Doug Guetzloe has sparked urgent questions: Where does all that cash go? And who's watching the till?
Those concerns take center stage at the authority's board meeting today. Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty, one of the five board members, said he will call for a full-scale audit of the agency, place limits on the amount of money staffers can spend without board approval and suspend any discussion of toll increases.
The agency's troubles began with revelations that it steered $107,500 to the consulting firm of Guetzloe -- a longtime toll-road opponent -- for two years of service that resulted in a two-page report on how to deal with the distaste people have for tolls.
But an Orlando Sentinel review of the paper trail left by those payments only raises more questions about how the cash-rich agency justifies and tracks its spending. For example:
No one takes responsibility for whose idea it was to hire Guetzloe. The decision bubbled up among authority managers and advisers as they met over drinks at Houston's restaurant one evening after work.
Guetzloe was paid from three specific accounts that agency officials now acknowledge had little to do with why he was hired. There is no written contract outlining the scope of his work. That raises questions, Orange County Comptroller Martha Haynie said, about the authority's spending and accounting practices in general.
The public-relations firm that hired Guetzloe as a subcontractor -- Pecora & Blexrud of Winter Park -- routinely bills the authority $30,000 or more per month for services with scant documentation.
Expressway Executive Director Mike Snyder has said that the decision to hire Guetzloe was, in hindsight, regrettable. But he referred questions about the details of the Guetzloe payments and the Pecora contract to Bryan Douglas, the agency's spokesman and director of marketing.
"I think we are doing a tremendous job," Douglas said. "The staff we have right now is one of the best we have ever had in place."
The controversy has opened a window into business practices of the agency that maintains about 100 miles of toll roads, including State Road 408 and parts of S.R. 429, 417 and 528.
A record $200 million in toll revenues is expected to pour into authority coffers this year. In a place where hundreds of thousands of dollars or more are routinely signed over to construction and engineering contractors, it is a series of $25,000 checks to Guetzloe that hit the hot button of local politicians and toll payers alike.
"The Authority must dedicate its best efforts towards restoring public trust and demonstrating a culture of transparency," Crotty said in a written statement to the authority.
The road agency maintains there was no attempt on its part to mute the well-known political agitator. Earlier this month, the Magic basketball organization said it paid Guetzloe $200,000 to silence his opposition to a new arena and two other downtown civic projects.
No evidence of unlawful behavior has surfaced in the toll-agency case, but the Orange-Osceola State Attorney's Office has requested expressway records relating to the Guetzloe payments.
Comptroller Haynie said she has had "preliminary discussions" with Crotty and with Orange-Osceola State Attorney Lawson Lamar about conducting an audit of the Expressway Authority, although no decision has been made.
Haynie, whose office conducted a limited audit of the road agency in 2004, stressed she had not looked at the authority's current records. But she said her impression of the authority is that "they need to tighten up their policies some. And have a higher level of accountability."
Accounting questions
Expressway Authority records show that Guetzloe was paid through the authority's marketing department via its $1.7 million annual contract with Pecora & Blexrud.
Allan Keen, chairman of the road agency, has said he approved the Guetzloe hiring without informing the other board members who govern the authority. He would not comment for this story, saying he would issue a statement during today's meeting.
The Expressway Authority paid Guetzloe through three different accounts: one for radio advertising, another for television advertising, the third for contract personnel.
"We typically try to invoice to the appropriate line items, unless we need funds from another," authority spokesman Douglas said.
The radio fund originally was used, Douglas said, because the authority considered advertising on Guetzloe's radio show. But the authority changed course and moved the payments to an account set up for a contract employee after nixing the advertising notion. Money for Guetzloe also came from the television account because money from that fund happened to be available at the time, Douglas said.
Asked about such an accounting method, Haynie said: "It's pretty loose."
Authority dealings with Guetzloe have triggered a round of finger-pointing over who was responsible for what.
Douglas said the decision to pay Guetzloe was made "above him," and he just followed orders. Ron Pecora, founder of Pecora & Blexrud, maintains he advised expressway Executive Director Mike Snyder it was a bad idea to hire Guetzloe.
Snyder disputes that, saying that Pecora never warned against it. Snyder said he ordered an e-mail search going back at least two years to find any electronic correspondence related to Pecora's contention. The inquiry came up empty.
Contract lacks specifics
Pecora has been the authority's general-marketing consultant for nine years.
A review of the road agency's current 14-page agreement with Pecora shows no quantifiable benchmarks to evaluate work, as the authority has required of others.
For instance, the authority demanded specifics from consultant Jackie Benton in August 2005 and has paid her nearly $50,000 to improve minority relations. Her contract lists five tasks, with completion dates.
Pecora's firm has had to deal with tougher standards with other public agencies, too. It had a $50,000 marketing contract with Maitland in 2004 that identified 14 specific tasks.
But Pecora's 14-page contract with the authority shows more-general objectives. It calls for the firm to "increase public awareness of the authority programs" and to "communicate the benefits" of the toll roads. Another obligation is to "increase use" of E-Pass, which electronically records tolls and bills them to a user's account. But there are no numerical targets set for any increase.
Pecora beat out two other companies to win a three-year contract with the authority in summer 2004. When the contract ends during the summer of 2007, the firm will have been paid at least $5.2 million. That compares to $4.4 million that the authority paid the firm during the previous seven years.
Much of the money paid to the Pecora firm is passed to other vendors, such as radio stations, printing companies and other subcontractors. But about one-fourth of the contract --or $430,000 during the past fiscal year -- was paid to the Pecora firm for its own labor and commissions.
The Pecora firm bills the authority hourly each month. The rates have ranged from $100 for Ron Pecora's services to $35 for clerical help. Seven to 10 members of Pecora's staff usually bill the authority monthly.
Pecora submits a sheet to the authority containing names, rates and money owed, but no documentation showing what people did for the authority. Douglas said he has never asked for hourly records since he started overseeing the authority's dealings with the firm in January 2003.
"I've not had any indication that Pecora is not doing their duties," he said.
Pecora declined to speak about specifics of the contract, referring questions to Douglas.
Douglas has worked on both sides of the relationship between the authority and Pecora's firm. Pecora hired Douglas as an intern when he was at the University of Central Florida, later hired him full time, and during a 4 1/2-year stay he worked his way up to manager of the expressway account.
Douglas said he followed the procedures for procurement and billing that were already in place when he was hired. "I didn't change the process. . . . That's not in my purview."
Haynie, who cautioned that she had not looked at the Pecora contract, said, "I wouldn't want to sign off on a contract that had no more backup than that."
Orange County, in contrast, routinely seeks hourly documentation. For instance, an engineering firm that asked the county for $1,517 for 19 hours of work earlier this month turned in three pages' worth of documentation with the bill.
Pecora's firm also bills the authority for sending more than one of his employees to the same meeting. Marketing records indicate at least two Pecora employees attended the same meeting at least 66 times since August 2005. Their hourly rates ranged from $75 to $90.
Douglas said he approves of the arrangement because he wants Pecora employees involved with the authority to remain current on projects. He said that because he is the Expressway Authority's only marketing and communications employee, the Pecora workers function, in essence, as his staff.
"I want them aware, and I want them to know," he said.
Previous review was limited
Haynie said she would have to be "invited" to pore over authority books because the agency is independent of Orange County.
Her office previously reviewed authority records in 2004 in the wake of questions about foreign travel by authority officials and the resignation of Executive Director Harold "Hal" Worrall over erasing taped portions of a staff meeting. But that inquiry was limited, she said, by authority officials who insisted she finish quickly because of a pending multimillion-dollar bond sale.
Haynie said she would only audit the authority if she had unlimited time and no restrictions on the contracts or records her staff could study.
"We need to have the flexibility to follow things that might crop up," she said. "You don't know what you might end up looking at."
Dan Tracy can be reached at 407-420-5444 or dtracy@orlandosentinel.com. Jay Hamburg can be reached at 407-420-5673 or jhamburg@orlandosentinel.com.
Undeterred, another developer steps up
ELENA LESLEYRealtiCorp's 263 acres look like opportunity to another company.
Published October 25, 2006
CRYSTAL RIVER - A new developer wants to start fresh with the beleaguered RealtiCorp project south of Crystal River.
Crosland Inc., a development company based in Charlotte, N.C., has entered into an option contract with RealtiCorp. If, after six months, Crosland decides to go forward with a project, the company would start the process of closing on the property.
"We want to determine if there's a consensus vision for the site," said Tim Sittema, senior vice president of Crosland. "It has a lot of history."
That includes an overturned Crystal River annexation, which was approved after RealtiCorp wanted to build a Wal-Mart on the property and had been turned down by the county. The land is just south of the city limits and east of U.S. 19.
This spring, county commissioners rejected RealtiCorp again, refusing to enter into a development agreement with the South Carolina company.
So RealtiCorp decided it was time to get rid of the 263 environmentally sensitive acres.
"They RealtiCorp approached us, because they were looking for developers with a history of dealing with environmentally sensitive sites," Sittema said.
Sittema cited an example: Crosland entered into a Virginia joint venture project in which 9,250 of the property's 11,500 acres were turned over to the Nature Conservancy for protection.
"We have a completely different approach than many other folks," he said. "Our business is to build long-term communities."
Sittema thinks Crosland can potentially succeed where RealtiCorp has faltered. While RealtiCorp is primarily a land investment company, he said, Crosland focuses on development itself.
While he's not sure what form the project will take, Sittema said it may be a mix of retail and residential. He said he and others from the company will consult with major stakeholders - county government, permitting agencies, neighbors - to see what they might be amenable to.
"We hope to learn from the past and go forward," he said.
Elena Lesley can be reached at elesley@sptimes.com or 564-3627.
Rural Sarasota highway will get stoplights
By PATRICK WHITTLE
LAUREL -- The beginning of massive development on State Road 681 -- and
the end of the county's only stop-light-free route from U.S. 41 to
Interstate 75 -- is at hand.The County Commission on Tuesday gave developer Henry Rodriguez permission to build two driveways on 681 so he can gain access a 221-acre parcel of land. Rodriguez needed the approval to develop the land, where he intends to build 1,700 homes and 220,000 square feet of retail space.
The county's approval also brings the county closer to 681's future as a three-stop-light thoroughfare that cuts through up to 1,000 acres of newly developed land.
Today, the area around 681 is a rural tract near Oscar Scherer State Park and a rare piece of undeveloped land west of I-75.
It is unclear when stoplights could be built and Rodriguez still needs more county approvals before he can build.
But longtime residents such as Jane Corliss, who owns Captain Eddie's Seafood in Nokomis and travels 681 regularly, say a favorite country road is as good as lost.
"That's really going to slow things down on the interstate," she said. "You hate so much development, but when you own a business, it gets you new customers."
The county approved the three 681 traffic lights in December as a way to open up the area to development.
The new intersections will be spaced about a mile apart on the 4.5-mile stretch between U.S. 41 and I-75. Up to three right-turn-only lanes in each direction could be built first.
The stoplights and development will undoubtedly change the level of traffic on 681. The state has rated 681 an "A grade" road, with fewer than 1,200 vehicles during peak travel hours, in the past.
By contrast, other thoroughfares, such as the stretch of U.S. 301 between University Parkway and 12th Street in Sarasota, have received failing grades.
State Road 681 opened in 1980 and is seen by some Sarasota motorists as the best route to I-75 in the county.
Some residents have lodged complaints about the county's planned intersections and developers' plans to build in the area. The criticisms range from expected traffic congestion to inadequate wildlife crossing areas.
But others, including Nokomis Civic Association John Ask, believe the new lights will make for improved future development in South County.
State Road 681 sits in a key area of southern Sarasota County development.
Nearby, under-construction Bay Street Village & Towncenter will bring 550 condominiums and 130,000 square feet of commercial space. Finergy Development of Sarasota has also announced plans for a 91-room hotel, 16 condominiums and 14,000 square feet of office and retail space in Nokomis.
"It's good planning," Ask said of the 681 plan. "Nothing happens in a vacuum. It's all interrelated."
The state Department of Transportation must sign off on the county's plan to let Rodriguez build the two driveways.
State and county officials are scheduled to meet in December.
The County Commission approved Tuesday's agreement with Rodriguez after little discussion.
Commissioner Jon Thaxton said he has misgivings about a planned extension of Honore Avenue, which could intersect with State Road 681, but still voted in favor of the 681 agreement.
Attempts to reach Rodriguez for comment were not successful. County planner Tom Polk would only say the traffic lights could arrive "at some point in the future."
Plan aims to curb E. Venice sprawl
County approves an overlay district, which forces developers to conform to several restrictions.
By PATRICK WHITTLE
VENICE -- The fast-growing area east of Venice will look like a
neighborhood, and not a collection of walled cul-de-sacs, when it reaches
build-out.That is the goal of a new development plan approved Tuesday by the Sarasota County Commission.
The plan, called the East Venice Avenue Overlay District, is an attempt to cut down on urban sprawl in the area south of Interstate 75 between Jacaranda Boulevard and River Road. Nine developments, totalling more than 1,800 homes, are in the pipeline in the five-square-mile area.
Developers can still build in the area, most of which is zoned for less than two homes per acre. However, roads in the area must be built connected to foster a neighborhood feel to the community.
Developers must also satisfy a number of landscaping requirements, and in most cases will not be allowed to build walls facing the East Venice Avenue artery.
The requirements will preserve the area's rural history while still allowing the neighborhood to grow, county planner Tate Taylor told the commission.
"It is the community's desire that the area develop in a special way and we believe this district fits that," he said.
The commission approved the district unanimously. Some residents, including an attorney for local builder J&J Homes, which owns property in the area, lauded the move.
But Les Monk of nearby Venice Golf & Country Club feared the development could encourage growth without easing traffic.
"It will back up traffic from Havana (Road) to Venice Avenue," he said.
Venice's original city planner, John Nolen, envisioned the area six miles east of Venice Island as a small farm community. The land was platted in 1926. Today it is a sparsely populated rural area with more than 300 property owners, including major Sarasota development players such as J&J.
County Commissioner Jon Thaxton said it was "bittersweet" that the county had to enact growth controls to save the area from unchecked urban sprawl.
Developers welcomed at Hollywood beach
Hollywood commissioners lifted a six-month moratorium on beach development and tentatively agreed to allow developers to build taller projects with less parking.
BY TODD WRIGHT
twright@MiamiHerald.com
Hollywood beach is back open for business.
The Hollywood City Commission voted Tuesday to lift a six-month halt on development at the beach and tentatively approved new zoning rules that could allow developers to build taller projects with less parking.
Developers will also have to adhere to a new vision for the beach, one that centers on nature-driven activities and historic preservation, and reduces visitors' dependence on vehicles.
''Hollywood beach is really a destination, and we want to keep people on the beach,'' said architect and consultant Bernard Zyscovich, whom the city paid for a master plan for the beach. ``I think the commission has embraced trying to retain the scale and unique character of the barrier island.''
The moratorium was lifted everywhere but a four-block area between Iris and Azalea streets. Recommendations for that area will come in the next 60 days, said Gil Martinez, director of the beach Community Redevelopment Agency.
The commission approved the measure 3-2. Commissioner Sal Oliveri was not at the meeting.
In May, the commissioners voted to stop accepting proposals for beach development after beach residents expressed concern about overdevelopment.
Commissioners Peter Bober and Fran Russo voted against Zyscovich's suggestions because the proposal depends heavily on a new plan to resolve parking issues on the beach.
Several zoning rules would loosen the requirements on hotels and other developments to have enough parking to accommodate guests. Developers would rely on a tram or other transit system to direct visitors to city parking garages.
The plan also suggests the city offer incentives to developers to establish alternate means for guests to travel, such as bicycle parking and valet service.
Several beach business owners and residents were concerned about a proposal to allow developers to build as high as 75 feet. The current zoning on some parts of central beach caps the height at 50 feet.
To get the additional height, a developer would have to acquire at least two acres and prove the height would serve a public purpose. The plan does not define ``public purpose.''
''What is going to happen to our small village character on Central Beach?'' Russo asked.
Bober argued the parking scheme was too experimental and could leave the city with too few spaces for the number of beach visitors.
''So much of this proposal depends on the success of an untested parking concept. We've never had a tram,'' he said. ``If it's not successful, we have an enormous problem, and we could never go back.''
The city also agreed to pursue national historic designations for the Broadwalk and several other landmarks, which would save some of the properties from being bulldozed.
The designation would not force developers to design buildings that matched any of the historic properties, Zyscovich said
Ambitious plans for Vavrus Ranch appear to be off
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
PALM BEACH GARDENS — Centex Corp.'s proposal to build a massive community on Vavrus Ranch appears dead.
The elaborate and controversial development plan was years in the making, buoyed by a ripe real estate market.
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But Centex, one of the nation's largest home builders, has pulled the plug, Palm Beach Gardens and county officials said Tuesday.
The failed deal means that cows will roam the 4,800-acre farm for the near future - relief to local elected officials and thousands of residents who'd objected to the 10,000-home proposal. Exploration Pointe was one of several large-scale communities totaling 35,000 planned homes in the county's western swath.
Centex's retreat also translates to a $51 million loss for the Economic Development Research Institute, a spinoff of Palm Beach County's official economic development organization. The institute would have made the money once the sale closed.
Neither Centex nor Vavrus Ranch representatives returned calls for comment.
Palm Beach Gardens Mayor Joseph Russo said that a lawyer for Vavrus Ranch last week told him Centex walked away from its contract to buy the land. Councilmen Hal Valeche and Eric Jablin said they heard the same thing. The announcement also made its way to the Economic Development Research Institute. The think tank's board is waiting on a letter to confirm the land deal is over.
The reason for the fizzle, it seems, is a sagging real-estate market and tough financial times for builders.
Two months ago it looked as if Centex was set to jump ship, or at least spread its risk by partnering with other investors.
"I would probably feel a lot better if they were walking away because they felt what they were doing was too intense for the property - as opposed to walking away because the economy didn't call for it," Russo said.
Scaling back never seemed like an option for Centex.
The Dallas-based company dug its heels in hard to push the project ahead. Two years after submitting a proposal for 7,500 homes on 2,000 acres, it pumped up the plan to put 10,000 homes and 3 million square feet of office and retail space on the ranch.
Then on Feb. 22, one day after submitting its enlarged plan, the developer launched a month of local commercials touting the project - a bold move given no government agency or board had even reviewed it. The ads featured nature trails and wide vistas. They honed in on Exploration Pointe's biotech research opportunities; Centex wanted to capitalize on The Scripps Research Institute's plans to build to the east.
There was more: Centex hosted a series of community meetings to introduce the project and handed out glossy brochures depicting the community. It even paid owner Charles Vavrus' $1.8 million code-enforcement fines so it could keep the application process moving.
"I guess Mr. Vavrus will go back to farming," Jablin said.
Jablin is happy with the farming. So are other city council members. No surprise, given Centex had garnered little praise for its proposal.
The project's No. 1 problem was its density and intensity - particularly in light of its location. Under current rules, only about 500 homes could go on the parcel, which is wedged between Beeline Highway and Northlake Boulevard. Extending PGA Boulevard would be crucial, and neither county nor city officials favored doing that.
Regional planning officials said Exploration Pointe didn't fit in with the area. It would have added thousands of trips a day on Northlake Boulevard, which backs up to semirural homes in The Acreage community, the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council said. And it lacked the pedestrian-friendly design that Centex marketed as a top feature.
Without Exploration Pointe in the picture, coming up with a comprehensive plan for the county's central-western communities should be easier.
"I hope somebody will sit down and put together a true planning project," Russo said. "We should use this as an opportunity."
The county's growth plan for the western communities has been in limbo for more than a year. After nearly a decade of drafting the so-called sector plan and sending it through several iterations, county commissioners in August 2005 signed off on it. It calls for one unit per 1.25 acres on 85 square miles near the Vavrus Ranch. But the state hasn't yet OK'd it. And since then, commissioners have suggested increasing the density to two units per acre.
They also preliminarily approved one project, Callery-Judge Grove, which squarely conflicts with their plan. Several environmental groups earlier this year asked the Army Corps of Engineers for a comprehensive review of vacant agricultural land where owners eyed development. Nothing has happened yet.
With Centex dropping out of its bid to develop the Vavrus Ranch and a county growth plan for the area in limbo, that review can commence, said Lisa Interlandi, an attorney with the Everglades Law Center.
The sensitive nature of the Vavrus Ranch property makes it "really, ideally situated for restoration projects," Interlandi said.
Growth driving impact fee hikes
Sarasota and Manatee counties consider raising the fees on new construction to help pay for growth.
By FRANK GLUCK
Impact fees in Manatee County are likely to almost double this year, and
if history is any guide, the sharp increase may only be a taste of things
to come.Just last year, the county more than doubled its impact fees on new three-bedroom homes from $2,100 to $5,400.
County commissioners are now considering a plan that would boost that rate to $9,005, and officials warn the fees could double again soon.
Builders are charged the fees, but often they are passed along to buyers as part of the price of a new home.
Sarasota County is also considering raising its impact fees as local governments across the state increasingly look to new residents to pay the costs of Florida's rapid growth.
Charlotte County significantly increased its impact fees this year.
If increased as proposed, Sarasota's higher fees could generate about $35 million in new revenue a year, while Manatee's new rates could generate about $216 million over the next five years to fund road improvements, according to consultant TischlerBise.
But Manatee's optimistic estimate is based on 2005 boom-time construction numbers, and won't likely be enough to fund future road needs, commissioners said Tuesday.
If anything, impact fees may be raised in Manatee again next year, when the County Commission considers a new formula for calculating rates, said commission Chairman Joe McClash.
"I think that people need to realize that this is just one step," McClash said.
For now, the fee hike remains a political win/win for Manatee commissioners.
They can show that new development is starting to pay for itself, especially by contributing more money for road improvements.
And, the development community has largely not opposed the plan.
In Sarasota County, though, a coalition of builders and business leaders wants commissioners to hold off on impact fee increases until the market is "more settled." The group bought a full-page ad explaining its position in the Herald-Tribune on Tuesday.
Sarasota County will have a public hearing Dec. 19 on its proposed fee increases. Sarasota's new rates could generate about $35 million a year, said Gene Engman, senior planner for the county.
"If we don't increase them, the existing residents will pay for growth, which they shouldn't do," Engman said.
Sharply higher impact fees went into effect in Charlotte this summer.
Manatee commissioners on Tuesday held the first of two public hearings on a consultant's plan for the increases. Approval could come Nov. 7.
Impact fees for single-family homes would increase between 42 percent and 62 percent, depending on the number of bedrooms.
Impact fees for commercial construction would increase between $5,300 and $8,400 per 1,000 square feet, depending on the project's total square footage.
The impact fee proposal covers a wide range of construction and housing types. The vast majority of the fees would be earmarked for roads.
No developers spoke during Tuesday's public hearing.
Pat Neal, president of Neal Communities, calls the new fee schedule a "welcome" means of addressing the county's road woes.
"We have anticipated these impact fees would go up all year, and we at Neal Homes have factored that into our development costs," he said.
Neal and his buyers can afford to be generous. The increase in fees for Neal homes would likely come to about a half-percent of the total sale price, Neal said.
The Home Builders Association of Manatee County is officially neutral on the subject.
But some members complain higher rates will hurt business, said association executive vice president Mary Dougherty-Slapp.
They also complain the proposal would make fees due when construction permits are issued, Dougherty-Slapp said. Currently, they are due when certificates of occupancy are issued.
Those skeptics also say the county shouldn't rely too heavily on impact fees to improve roads.
But they do praise commissioners for working with a group of Manatee developers, known as The North County Partnership.
The partnership will propose a broad range of road funding options to the commission early next year.
"I don't think impact fees are the most fair way to pay for growth, but I do think it can play a part in paying for that growth," said Britt Williams, president of Williams and Herold Communities.
Plan for new trees failing to take root
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
WELLINGTON — Mulling over what to do about the tens of thousands of dead or dying pine trees in its northern end, the village could find its first test case at the Binks Forest Golf Course.
An estimated 2,000 pine and other trees have or will die there because of recent hurricanes and a pine beetle infestation, a course representative said this week. (Village estimates show that number is much higher.)
But replacing just a third of them under a proposed development plan could be problematic, course representative Marty Perry told a group of influential Binks Forest homeowners Monday.
"That's a lot of trees," Perry said. "I don't know if there's a lot of room for them."
Wellington has already rejected one of the plans to reforest the golf course because it did not do enough in restoring the greenery.
On Monday, Perry pleaded for aid in lobbying the village from some of Binks' power brokers, including planning, zoning and building board member Morley Alperstein and village Special Master Alan Zangen. Both are members of residents' group Binks Forest Golf Coalition.
Any variance given to Binks' owner Peninsula Bank to replant trees could be a bellwether, as Wellington staffers sketch a village-wide plan to recover its lost tree canopy.
Village Manager Charlie Lynn doubted there would be any breaks for Binks.
"The council has not struck me as being favorably disposed to granting variances on the trees or their buffering, especially when it comes to Binks," Lynn said.
There are no definitive minimum tree standards for area golf courses, Wellington Community Services Director Paul Schofield said. The village is pushing for the trees' replacement anyway.
The heavily wooded landscape was one of the key distinctions for the Binks Forest Golf Course in the early 1990s and before it shutdown in 2002 amid financial difficulties.
Peninsula Bank, which purchased the course a year later in foreclosure, is planning to trade the dead pines for live oaks. But the Binks Forest Golf Course may never be as lush as it was.
"There's some people that don't want the forest back," Perry said Monday.
Beyond providing scenery, the trees have been a buffer between the hundreds of homes in the neighboring communities and flying golf balls. A rash of hurricanes could have changed some of those residents' minds.
"I like the trees, but I know that I've talked to some of my neighbors and they want it open," said Gina Rascati, a Binks homeowner and former village code enforcement board member who attended Monday's meeting.
"And they don't want any more trees, especially since so many in our neighborhood fell on peoples' screen enclosures and roofs."
Sarasota County drops Conservancy
By DOUG SWORD
SARASOTA COUNTY -- It hasn't taken long for Albert G. Joerger, the founder
and president of the Sarasota Conservation Foundation, to impress the
county with his knowledge of hot properties and his ability to get what he
wants.Joerger's 3-year-old group made a big splash last year, winning a $6.6 million state grant to buy land south of Historic Spanish Point. The conservation foundation also won a $5.2 million grant toward the county's $16 million purchase of waterfront property off Blackburn Point Road for public boat ramps.
On Tuesday, the group won a three-year $1.5 million contract to purchase land for the county's $250 million land conservation program.
It's one of two contracts awarded for the voter-mandated Environmentally Sensitive Lands Protection Program. The Trust for Public Lands, a national group, won the second contract focused on purchasing land for neighborhood parks.
The two groups replace The Nature Conservancy, which has negotiated $100 million in land purchases since 1999 as the chief agent of the county's environmentally sensitive lands program.
While the conservation group was long lauded for its role during the program's first six years in negotiating the purchase of more than 16,000 acres -- mainly along the Myakka River -- the local office hasn't been the same since its director, Lincoln Borman, left last summer, county officials say.
County officials hope that Joerger, who holds a doctorate from Cornell University in Environmental Information Science and once raised money and acquired land for the Nature Conservancy, will be the local presence needed to go after sellers and reinvigorate the popular program after a less-than-impressive year under the auspices of the Nature Conservancy, which didn't even make its own bid on the contract it had held since 1999.
What's been missing over the last year is the constant contact with potential sellers, said County Administrator Jim Ley. In the early years of the program, Borman was "constantly out there pinging against the market," Ley said.
"That's what we want; we want that back," said Commissioner Jon Thaxton, who said building relationships with potential sellers of important environmental property is the biggest part of the job.
"For me, it's almost personal. When they were dragging their feet, I felt let down," said Thaxton, a longtime champion of the program to protect land important to wildlife, water quality and vegetation.
While under contract with the Nature Conservancy, the program was hotly criticized for not buying and protecting the 5,771-acre Isles of Athena property before its cost rose to an unaffordable $62 million in 2005, and for missing out on prime Myakka River frontage property bought for $650,000 in early 2005. The appraised value of the Myakka tract rose to $3.1 million by the time the county agreed to buy it last month.
Nature Conservancy officials have declined to be interviewed about the criticisms of their performance.
Ley said he hadn't expected the Nature Conservancy to put in a bid for a new contract when the county asked for proposals this spring. However, the group is handling the real-estate transaction "grunt work" for the Sarasota Conservation Foundation, so will still be involved in the program to a much smaller extent.
Generally, the conservation foundation will focus on buying environmental lands, and the Trust for Public Lands, which has negotiated for $4.5 billion worth of land nationally, will concentrate on acquiring land for parks.
The trust won favor with county officials three years ago when it negotiated the $5.7 million purchase of a CSX railroad line that is being turned into a 12-mile-long hiking and biking trail between Sarasota and Venice. The county had unsuccessfully tried for about 10 years to buy the rail line.
The new contracts are three-year deals that provide up to $1.5 million to each of the two groups, which pays for expertise in land conservation, water issues, legal work and accounting.
The Nature Conservancy's most recent three-year contract paid a flat annual fee of $269,000.
"It's a lot of money," Commissioner Nora Patterson said. "I'm hoping we will get some pretty aggressive service out of it."
The new contracts are based on how much work is done, said Rob Patten, executive director of the county's environmental services department. Patten said quarterly updates on spending will be made public, and he expects total costs will be far less than $3 million over the three-year period.
It's crucial to have a third party handle negotiations, because landowners are leery of talking to the county, which has regulatory control over how land is used, Ley said.
Having The Nature Conservancy head negotiations early on was crucial, said Jono Miller, who chairs the committee overseeing the program.
"Bringing the Nature Conservancy name into the program gave us a credibility we couldn't have achieved otherwise," he said.
But the program is established now, Miller said, and the emphasis is changing. In the first years, the county would buy from any willing seller in targeted areas. Now there's more of a focus on buying specific parcels that will connect environmentally important areas, he said.
Staff writer Toni Whitt contributed to this report.
130 acres bought for preservation
Two tracts totaling about 130 acres were purchased at a cost of about $295,720 under the Alachua County Forever program Tuesday.But county commissioners rejected the proposed purchase of a $1 million, 30-acre parcel next to San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park because of the cost.
Purchased was the 82-acre Borsch/Gladman tract at Watermelon Pond near Newberry at a cost of $278,058.
David Morris, a Watermelon Pond advocate, said the purchase is needed to help protect the site.
"I've tramped over that land for well over a decade and thought I was the only one who had thoughts and dreams about it. How wrong could I be?" Morris said. "For me, this is like hitting the lottery."
Also bought was the 48-acre Odum property for $17,662. It is located in the northwestern part of the county, just west of County Road 241 and north of CR 1491 on the Santa Fe River.
Alachua County Forever Manager Ramesh Buch said the owners are selling the property at a deep discount and added it is within a Santa Fe River Alachua County Forever project area.
The most expensive of the three proposed purchases was the 30-acre Beaver Creek parcel at more than $1 million.
It is north of Millhopper Road and east of NW 90th Street and would be a buffer to the adjacent San Felasco Hammock.
Commissioner Mike Byerly said he believes the cost is too high per acre and the money could be spent on a "more important, much more big-picture parcel."
A motion by Commissioner Rodney Long to buy the tract failed to get a second.
The Alachua County Forever program is funded with a quarter-mill sales tax. A mill represents $1 for every $1,000 of property value. Environmentally valuable land is purchased for preservation through the program.
Archer requests access to sewers
By CINDY SWIRKO
A proposal to build a sewage pipe along Archer Road from Archer to Gainesville Regional Utilities lines will be studied by the Alachua County Commission, which fears it could encourage sprawl development in conflict with the county Comprehensive Plan.Archer officials presented the plan to the County Commission Tuesday. The line is needed to enable growth in Archer and to improve waste-handling in the city, where many home septic systems are failing.
"There are two things we need that we cannot have without sewer - commercial development and family homes," Archer City Commissioner Roberta Hodges said. "Some of the septic tanks are 100 years old."
But several commissioners, particularly Mike Byerly, fear that allowing the line will open up the entire Archer Road corridor for development. The county's urban services line now ends at Parker Road.
"The fundamental question is fairly simple: Do we want a sewer line between Gainesville and Archer?" Byerly asked. "We have a lot of precedent and history in this county and in the state that when infrastructure is limiting growth, once infrastructure goes in, comp plans and zoning all follow suit."
Byerly said he would support Archer if it wanted to build its own central system.
Archer for years has been trying to develop a solution to its waste problem. It is one of the few cities in the county without a central sewer system. Many home septic systems are outdated, and the yards too small to install a modern septic system.
Hooking into GRU's system would be the most cost-effective, Archer officials said.
The county Growth Management Department will review Archer's proposal and then schedule a presentation for the commission in November.
Commission
ponders preservation of springs
Enhanced
septic systems could reduce nitrogen pollution.
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OCALA
- The 36-page document needs to be simplified, more details need to be
discussed, and the health of the springs and the finances of Marion County
residents have to be taken into consideration before the springs
protection text amendment can be finalized, the Marion County Commission
concluded during a workshop Tuesday.
"If we don't do something to minimize the damage now, the springs
will be beyond repair," said Commission Chairman Jim Payton.
"But if we overreact, we can destroy lives," he said, referring
to the high cost of enhanced septic tank systems.
The board is planning a second workshop in the near future.
Over the years, Florida's springs have become polluted and the main source
has been nitrogen coming from septic systems, pesticides and other
chemicals.
In Ocala, the focus is on environmental gems such as Silver Springs. The
county commissioners are trying to pass an amendment to develop a Springs
Protection Zone.
One way to reduce the amount of nitrogen entering the spring recharge
areas is to install enhanced septic tank systems.
"The conventional household septic system puts out about 24 pounds of
nitrogen each year," said Troy Kuphal, the water resource manager at
the Planning Department. There are 100,000 septic systems in Marion County
and 100,000 other vested properties, which would need septic systems.
Kuphal said that studies of enhanced septic systems have shown that they
can reduce the nitrogen pollution by as much as 70 percent.
"We're overfeeding the springs with nitrogen. That's why [there is]
algae growth," he said.
He added that studies have shown that the nitrogen level in springs will
be elevated by 100 percent during the next 50 years if nothing is done.
"That's ecosystem failure."
While wanting to save the springs, the commissioners also expressed
concern that some homeowners won't be able to afford the enhanced septic
system, because it can cost more than $10,000 and has significantly higher
maintenance fees than the conventional septic system.
"We want to protect the environment, but we don't want to bankrupt
homeowners," Payton said.
And there is also the question of monitoring the septic system. "How
much bureaucracy is that going to create?" said Commissioner Andy
Kesselring. "Somehow we have to figure that out."
The commissioners also discussed the option of building a central disposal
system.
During the August meeting, Commissioner Randy Harris wondered what would
happen if the commission required a property owner to install an enhanced
septic system and then, two or three years later, the county runs water
and sewer lines to areas where property owners would be required to hook
into the system.
Although a central septic system is very efficient in removing nitrogen,
it could cost a lot more than having enhanced systems, because pumps have
to be laid down, roads have to be rebuilt and "infrastructures"
have to be placed, Kuphal said. "It could cost tens of millions of
dollars," he added.
So after 2 hours of questions, debate and discussion, the board
decided that it needed to meet for a second workshop.
"We're trying to come with a good law," said Payton. "The
36-page [amendment] is a little too detailed. It's basically bad
law."
The commissioners asked the Planning Department to boil down the text
amendment to merely goals, objectives and policies, and to leave out the
details for land development regulations, which can be modified later on
if needed.
"You want the law to be broad, and with regulations you want to
define how those laws are going to be implemented," said Payton,
comparing the text amendment and LDS to laws and regulations.
Kuphal agreed to work on shrinking the amendment to as little as six
pages, but he told the commissioners that the more general the amendment,
the harder it is for it to get the state's approval.
"We're absolutely committed in taking action to protect the
springs," Payton said after the meeting. "It would have been
ideal if someone had addressed this [problem] 30 years ago."
Naseem Sowti may be reached at
867-4140 or naseem.sowti@starbanner.com.
Earthquake, construction are listed as possible causes
SPRING CREEK - Florida's largest spring has stopped flowing, and no one knows why.
Spring Creek, about 35 miles south of Tallahassee along Wakulla County's Gulf Coast, has stopped its "boiling" flow in recent months, according to area residents.
"It used to boil out a lot," but not anymore, Leon Gray said as he was casting a line Monday.
Spring Creek contains up to 14 springs. The flow is about five times greater than that of Wakulla Springs, according to the Water Resources Atlas of Florida, published in 1998.
One of the largest springs has been sucking in water at times, since at least June. The springs are surrounded by private property but are accessible by boat.
Scientists caution against using any estimate of Spring Creek's flow because, they say, it's difficult to measure. The difficulty involves having so many springs in an open bay that's influenced by tides.
Various studies have traced the routes of Wakulla Springs' water flow, but little is known about Spring Creek sources, said Rodney DeHan, senior research scientist with the Florida Geological Survey.
There are various theories on what has caused Spring Creek to stop flowing but no solid information, DeHan said.
Lack of rainfall wouldn't seem to be the cause, he said. Other streams and wetlands in Wakulla County would have dried up first, he said, and that hasn't happened.
Wakulla Springs includes caves more than 200 feet deep, and Spring Creek also is thought to draw from the same deep water, DeHan said. That deep aquifer, he said, isn't affected by changes in rainfall patterns.
Another theory, he said, is that a Sept. 10 earthquake in the Gulf of Mexico about 250 miles away somehow collapsed caves that carry water to Spring Creek.
But some local residents said the springs stopped flowing more than six months ago. And Harley Means, also with the Florida Geological Survey, said researchers collecting water samples June 12 reported seeing one of the main Spring Creek springs sucking in water.
In its 2004 report "Springs of Florida," the Florida Geological Survey said the spring sometimes reverses flow at high tide.
Another theory, DeHan said, is that mining or drilling for construction somewhere caused a tunnel to collapse, blocking water flow. But that seems unlikely, he said, because water typically flows to springs in Karst geology through multiple caves and conduits.
"All of this is just conjecture," DeHan said.
The state plans to spend $70,000 on a study to begin learning where Spring Creek gets its water, DeHan said. That study could begin as soon as February.
Half the money would be spent to measure flow, DeHan said. The other half would be spent on injecting dye into two sinkholes - at Lost Creek and Turner Sink - to determine whether groundwater there is flowing into Spring Creek.
The lack of flow may force researchers to rethink their strategy, DeHan said. They may have to drill wells closer to Spring Creek to see whether the dye comes out, and that could be expensive.
FSU oceanography professor Jeff Chanton said he wonders whether nearby oyster reefs and fish could be harmed by the lack of freshwater flow.
"I know where most of (the springs) are -there is nothing (flowing)," he said. "It is very disturbing, isn't it?"
Book Tells of Everyday Impacts on the World's Water Supplies If you're concerned about water, but don't want to do a lot of heavy reading, there's a recently published book that could fit your needs.It is "Hold Your Water! 68 Things You Need to Know to Keep Our Planet Blue" by Robert Wyland and Steve Creech (Andrews McMeel Publishing, Kansas City, Mo., $9.95 185 pages ISBN 040756826).
This book is a collection of short narratives.
The topics of the narratives include simple explanations of the world's water supply (hint: most of it isn't fresh and drinkable), the impacts of everyday activities -- getting your oil changed, fertilizing your lawn, taking a shower -- on the water cycle (one of the new terms you'll learn) and other useful bits of water trivia.
Let me share a few that come right out of recent headlines.
• In an area with a 100,000 population such as Lakeland, the canine population produces 2.5 tons of animal waste every day. An estimated 40 percent of the pet owners don't clean up after their pets, which means the waste has a good chance of ending up in a local lake.
• If you want to stay cool and hydrated during the hot weather, use a reusable water bottle rather than the throwaway plastic bottle. Even after a plastic bottle breaks down enough to seem invisible, the petrochemicals (you did know plastic was made from oil, didn't you?) that make up the plastic remain in the environment and pollute it.
• With the high cost of prescription and nonprescription drugs these days, throwing them away seems like a waste of money. However, it you must get rid of your meds, don't flush them down the toilet. Pharmaceuticals are showing up in increasingly high concentrations in water bodies and appear to be affecting fish and other aquatic life in unhealthy ways.
The last item emphasizes the fact that this book not only speaks about water in terms of its usefulness to people, but also recognizes that water is the main habitat for many of the earth's plants and animals.
That's a point that sometimes would otherwise be overlooked in water planning and is certainly one of the limiting factors in the plans to siphon water from rivers and lakes to feed the demands of new development.
FLORIDA'S WATER HISTORY
Water is frequently in the news, but sometimes what's helpful in any discussion is a sense of historical perspective.
If you want to dip deeply into the history of water management in Florida, there is an interesting ongoing project that can provide you more than you probably ever wanted to know.
It is called the History of Water Management in Florida Project. It includes an archive of documents as well as a collection of oral histories from people involved in some way in the history of water management in this state.
This is a work in progress. Researchers are still looking for people whose memories they can tap for oral history recordings or who may have maps, letters or other documents that could help others understand water management history in Florida, especially in the modern era since 1947, when work began to organize agencies that eventually became today's water management districts.
To learn more about contributing to the project, contact Dave Fisk at the St. Johns River Water Management District, P.O. Box 1429, Palatka FL 32178-1429 or at dfisk@sjrwmd.com
Go to www.uflib.ufl. edu/UFDC/UFDC.aspx?g=flaw&c=flagua to visit the Web site.
That will get you to a home page, from which you can enter key words to search for material on any topic that interests you.
FIRE WORKSHOP
If you live in a wooded, rural area and would like to know more about protecting your property from wildfire damage, an upcoming workshop could provide the information you need.
The free workshop will be held Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. at The Nature Conservancy's office in Tiger Creek Preserve, 674 Pfundstein Road.
Topics that will be covered include wildfire home protection, fire ecology and plant communities, fire's natural role in Florida, the importance of preparation for wildfires, prescribed fire's role in fuel reduction and forest health and the importance of fire mitigation.
This workshop may be of particular relevance because of the increased wildfire danger some land managers are predicting for next year because of lack of rainfall this year.
To register call 863-699-3742 or e-mail ridgerangers@myfwc.com.
Tom Palmer can be reached at tom.palmer@theledger.com or 863-802-7535.
Flagler officials heed warning, begin manatee planning
BUNNELL --Flagler County commissioners committed themselves Monday to creating and implementing a manatee protection plan after a federal official said it would help developers continue waterfront projects already approved by the county.
Twelve counties in Florida have implemented the complex plans, many after years of frustration and controversy while trying to balance the rights of boaters and fishermen with the protection of manatees.
Volusia County took 13 years to create a plan suitable to state and federal officials, but still heard criticism from the Maitland-based Save the Manatee Club.
What lies ahead for Flagler County is unclear, but Dave Hankla, a field office supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said the county should have an easier time because it's getting started early.
"If you act now you have flexibility," Hankla told commissioners.
A manatee protection plan addresses issues like public education, waterway speed limits, allowable numbers of boat slips and locations for waterfront facilities.
The move comes after state and federal wildlife officials determined too many manatees were dying in Flagler County. For many years there were few, if any deaths, but as the population increases -- and along with it waterway traffic -- more manatees are dying in boating accidents, officials said.
Six manatee deaths in five years have been attributed to watercraft. There were only four watercraft-related deaths in the previous 26 years.
"We see something that's emerging," Hankla said. "We don't think it's at the point where the world has to shut down."
But state and federal officials agree that based on the number of deaths in recent years, along with proposed developments that will increase waterway traffic, it's time for Flagler County to create a protection plan.
The county has approved five waterway developments, but developers also need permits from federal agencies. Those permits were being withheld until the county agreed in writing to create a manatee protection plan, Hankla said.
The commissioners directed County Administrator Doug Wright to send the state a letter confirming the county's intent to create a plan.
Wright warned that the plan will be expensive and require a lot of work by county staff, but Hankla assured him that state and federal governments will provide, or help find, funding to offset at least some of the cost.
More condos planned for
Palm Bay
BY LINDA JUMP
FLORIDA TODAY
An Altamonte Springs developer plans to build 180 condominium units in five, seven-story buildings a block from the Indian River Lagoon.
Jaymor Reed Development Inc. received permission to build Tradewinds Condominiums on about nine acres south of Gran Avenue, with some restrictions. David Reed, vice president, agreed to all city requests, which include a condo management plan, a perimeter wall, landscaping and lighting, variations in building height and facade and protection of some existing vegetation.
All buildings must have an automatic fire sprinkler system and siren-activated access gates for emergency vehicles. The city also requires a traffic study to explore extended turn lanes. A small, triangular piece of property not planned for development and located west of the railroad tracks would include a conservation easement.
The bottom floor of each building will have parking, free-standing garages and outdoor parking. Also planned is a clubhouse with a swimming pool that overlooks a pond.
Bayfront Community Redevelopment Agency member James Ritter wanted to be sure there would be sidewalks provided along U.S. 1 near the project.
"The developer could either construct the sidewalk or put funds into an escrow account for future construction," Ritter said.
City council members Thursday approved the use for the development. The land already had been zoned for 20 units an acre and has been slated to become the third phase of the Lighthouse Pointe Apartments Community.
Contact Jump at 409-1423 or ljump@brevard.gannett.com
Ad deluge on Amendment 3 looms
JONI JAMESNeither side is saying when it will start running television ads, but both sides of the debate over Amendment 3 have more than $1-million on hand for the final two weeks before Election Day.
Published October 24, 2006
TALLAHASSEE - Neither side is saying when it will start running television ads, but both sides of the debate over Amendment 3 have more than $1-million on hand for the final two weeks before Election Day.
The state constitutional amendment proposed by the Legislature would require that future proposed amendments be passed by 60 percent of voters.
Trust the Voters, which opposes the amendment, was the clear financial underdog until Friday, when it filed a campaign finance report showing donations totaling more than $1-million from Americans for Limited Government in Chicago and the Humane Society of the United States.
The influx drew a quick attack from Protect Our Constitution, the pro-Amendment 3 group that's raised $2.3-million and has spent at least $1.2-million on still-to-air TV time. The group is led by the Florida Chamber of Commerce's Mark Wilson.
"We've been saying for years that what is wrong with that position is it's being driven by out-of-state interests," Wilson said. "Most of our money comes from inside the state of Florida; 97 percent of theirs does not."
But Amendment 3 opponents had a quick retort: Their analysis showed $1.6-million of the supporters' fundraising came from addresses within a few blocks of the state Capitol in Tallahassee.
"They want to have a debate about whose money is pure?" said Paul Seago of Trust the Voter. "On their side is all the special interests that are continually going to the Legislature for favors."
The bulk of Trust the Voter's new cash, $800,000, came from Americans for Limited Government, a pro-citizen initiative group chaired by Howard Rich. Rich is also on the board of the Republican Club for Growth, whose founders include Charlie Hilton, a prominent Republican and Panama City developer who co-chairs Trust the Voter. Another $250,000 came from the Humane Society, which backed the 2002 amendment that bans caging pregnant pigs.
The $2.3-million flowing to Protect Our Constitution reads like a who's-who of Florida business and their national affiliates. For example: $300,000 from National Association of Homebuilders; $100,000 from Blue Cross and Blue Shield; $100,000 from Alico Inc.; $75,000 from U.S. Sugar.
Another $250,000 came from the little-known Foundation for Preserving Florida's Future, a nonprofit that calls itself moderate on growth management.
Wesley Chapel is hitting puberty
By LISA BUIE, Times Staff Writer
Published October 24, 2006
WESLEY CHAPEL - Cindy Young remembers how she used to look out behind her home in Country Crossings and see men in hunting jackets looking for quail. She could drive for 10 minutes on State Road 54 without meeting another car.
Officials never forced her older child to change schools to alleviate crowding.
And a trip to a nice restaurant meant a trip to Tampa.
That was 1982, when Young and her family moved one county north to get away from the traffic jams and crowds of the big city. Cow pastures and orange groves were the only next-door neighbors.
And if anyone had actual next-door neighbors, chances were they knew one another.
Today, Young sits for what seems like forever as she tries to make a left onto State Road 54 for the commute to the insurance office she owns west of Interstate 75.
Her second child, now in high school, is switching to the new Wiregrass Ranch High School because of rezoning.
The new neighbors come and go. She doesn't know their names.
But she is enjoying the opportunity to dine at places such as Bonefish Grill, which opened last week at Bruce B. Downs Boulevard and State Road 56 - a road that didn't exist nearly a quarter century ago either.
"I like that the restaurants are here and the malls are coming here," she said. "It's more convenient to live here now. I almost don't go to Tampa anymore."
Yes, Wesley Chapel is growing up. Bruce B. Downs, once known as the "Road to Nowhere," now has a busy intersection with new SR 56. In that area alone, we can nosh on fancy fish with sauces at Bonefish Grill, enjoy Mexican food at Panchero's and Tijuana Flats and chow down on scrambled eggs and English muffins at First Watch.
We can get file cabinets, printer paper and chairs at Office Depot, buy chic maternity clothes at Her Special Time, see Pulte floor plans, get a slice of pizza, drop off dry cleaning, take dance lessons, get groceries at Publix and buy designer brand clothes at JCPenney and Beall's.
Across the street we can stock up on huge vats of mayonnaise at Sam's Club, drop off prescriptions at CVS, furnish our new homes at Rooms To Go and soon compare prices and quality at several other furniture retailers.
Soon we'll be able to make reservations for our houseguests at hotels that are in the works. Someday, we likely will do our holiday shopping at a regional mall a bit farther down SR 56. A little farther north on State Road 54, we can buy a new car. Soon we'll be able to pick up midnight groceries at a new Wal-Mart Supercenter that will be open 24/7.
"Wesley Chapel is the town they didn't see coming," said Alison Morano, a former chairman of the board of the Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce.
"We stopped being called a bedroom community. Yes, we are a major off-ramp of I-75, but that's not what we are. We are a good focal point to get from one part of Tampa to another."
When the chamber was born in 1998, it had about five members. Today it has more than 500.
I have seen many of the changes myself.
When my husband and I moved to Meadow Pointe in 1997, dinner out usually meant dinner on Dale Mabry Highway or Fletcher Avenue. Now, many businesses on Fletcher have migrated up here, and we now have many of the same restaurants as Carrollwood.
We still have to drive a bit to a mall but the presence of JCPenney, Beall's and Belk in nearby Land O'Lakes makes mall trips less necessary than they used to be. I recently picked up a bottle of Chanel No. 5 at Belk.
Longtime resident David Marshall recalls with a laugh how just a few years ago the chamber printed T-shirts for a festival that said "Where the heck is Wesley Chapel?"
"We've grown up," he said.
Challenges Ahead
Yes, Wesley Chapel has grown, but in many ways it's still at that awkward adolescent stage, with pimples such as lollipop-style signs that predate new rules requiring classier looking markers. Roads also are jammed with traffic as commuters fill the thousands of new homes being built. The county tries to play catchup by building new roads or widening old ones, only to have the new ones jammed again as even more new homes and stores go up.
"Transportation," Marshall said without hesitation when asked to identify the biggest challenge for the area. "We have some really confined roads. We've got to get those expanded, but will that add to the problem?"
Identity crisis
Like a teenager, Wesley Chapel also struggles sometimes to establish an identity.
Officials have yet to come up with a signature festival, though they are working on it. There are tensions with upperclassman Land O'Lakes about where one community begins and another ends. (Wesley Chapel and Land O'Lakes both want to claim the proposed new Cypress Creek Town Center.) There's also the fight to avoid being called by the name of older sister New Tampa.
And there's the struggle to get along with Mom and Mad, which in this case is Pasco County government.
The County Commission makes decisions that affect unincorporated Wesley Chapel, yet it does not have a representative who lives in the community. Its commissioner, Pat Mulieri, lives in Gowers Corner.
Morano thinks Wesley Chapel has more clout than it used to.
"Now they call and ask us what we think," she said.
Morano, recently the chairwoman of the county's Democratic Party, says the day will come when a Wesley Chapel resident sits on the County Commission. She doesn't really mind that it might be a Republican.
Morano says that Wesley Chapel residents, with their cries for better sign and landscaping rules, have made the county a nicer place for everyone.
Still, some old-timers pine for the old days, despite the convenience of big box retailers.
"I still enjoy looking out the back door into a swamp," said Marshall, who lives near Old Pasco Road in a section that is still off the beaten path. "I think the county to their credit knows (more development) is coming."
Young is a bit more opinionated.
"If I didn't have children going to school, I wouldn't be here," she said. "I'd move."
New 'city' proposed for north county
By MICHAEL D. BATESmbates@hernandotoday.com
BROOKSVILLE — Brooksville, Spring Hill, Ridge Manor and Weeki Wachee are the major communities in Hernando County.
But if Florida Rock Industries has its way, there will be a fifth community north of Brooks-ville, complete with schools, parks, stores, homes and all the other amenities.
Florida Rock submitted a comprehensive plan amendment to the planning and zoning office Thursday, showing the development of 4,282 acres north of Lake Lindsey Road and west of U.S. 98.
The size is staggering: 4,500 homes, 217,800 square feet of corporate park and office space, 609,840 square feet of retail, three golf courses totaling 54 holes, schools and parks.
Put in perspective, the retail space alone would encompass the combined space of a Sears, Belk and Wal-Mart Supercenter.
“Basically, you’re talking about a new Brooksville,” said Dennis Dix, the county’s transportation planning coordinator. “It’s a new city.”
But Florida Rock has a long road to travel before getting the county’s approval. Probably the biggest is the lack of adequate roads to handle such an endeavor.
“You’ve got a two-lane rural state road, U.S. 98 and there are no plans slated to widen it for the next 20 years,” Dix said.
Because Florida Rock filed the request Thursday, it should be exempt from the new supermajority ordinance county commissioners passed two days earlier. That ordinance will require a supermajority vote of four county commissioners to approve comprehensive plan changes.
County Planner Jim King said he was not surprised to see the Florida Rock request come in now. As he told Hernando Today two weeks ago, developers were expected to rush their requests before the supermajority ordinance goes into effect, probably later this week.
Any developers whose amendment requests were already “in the hopper,” would also be excluded from the supermajority vote. That includes the proposed 1,750-home Hickory Hill slated for Spring Lake.
Chief Planner Jerry Greif said the Florida Rock request cannot be considered until April, the next scheduled date for comprehensive plan amendment debates.
Jacksonville-based Florida Rock Industries owns the property. World Woods is about 1.5 miles to the north on U.S. 98. Portions of the property have been mined and the land is being reclaimed.
The company estimates that mining activities will be complete by 2025 and now is the time to determine the best uses for the property.
The plan calls for 25 percent of the land to remain open space, which can include golf courses.
If approved, the new homes would add about 1,500 students to local schools.
“Unbelievable,” County Commissioner Jeff Stabins said about Florida Rock’s request.
The last thing this county needs, he said, “is more homes and more golf courses.”
“What this county needs, in my opinion, is more jobs for our citizens,” he said. “The mining industry has provided good jobs in the past and I’d like to see them be encouraged to find innovative ways to continue to provide good jobs.”
To that end, Stabins said he would prefer to see local government work with the mining industry on bringing clean industry to that part of the county.
Stabins said he has not seen the company’s request and doesn’t want to pass judgment too soon.
“(But) they’re going to have to make a pretty good sales pitch,” he said.
Reporter Michael D. Bates can be contacted at 352-544-5290.
Hooray for super-majority!, 10/24
Hernando times letters to the editor published October 24, 2006Our family would like to join the vast majority of Hernando County residents in congratulating and thanking Commissioners Jeff Stabins, Chris Kingsley and Diane Rowden for passing the new supermajority vote for changes to the comprehensive plan.
Growth is out of control and needs to be managed. In addition, the comprehensive plan provides for areas of development.
Keep up the good job for Hernando and its majority of voters.
Doug , Holly , Rae-Lynn and Barrett Sheffield
Marion County land buy bars development plans SILVER SPRINGS - A 4,500-acre swath of environmentally sensitive land north of Ocala that developers once planned to flatten and carve into a 14,000-home subdivision will be spared that fate.Florida Department of Environmental Protection officials announced Monday they struck a deal with Avatar Properties Inc. to buy the mixed farm and forest land for $76.2 million and turn the area that helps replenish the pristine Silver River into conservation land.
"This will be a phenomenal piece of property," said DEP Secretary Colleen Castille during an announcement of the land purchase at Silver River State Park, with Avatar, Marion County and state government officials in attendance.
The purchase of the 4,471 acres north of the park along County Line 35, which also includes Indian Lake, is a financial partnership between DEP, The Nature Conservancy and Marion County.
Under the agreement, DEP will pay about two thirds of the $76 million, The Nature Conservancy will pay about one-third of the bill and Marion County will kick in $2.5 million. Next year, the state will buy out The Nature Conservancy's share, turning the property into public land, said Keith Fountain, director of protection for The Nature Conservancy.
The deal will go before Gov. Jeb Bush next month for approval. It is expected to be approved.
The plan for the swap came about after the state had already spent most of its money earmarked for land purchases this year, namely from the Florida Forever program, Castille said.
So The Nature Conservancy stepped in to fill the financial breach.
"That's because the (Avatar) ecosystem is very high in biodiversity and very underprotected," Fountain said. "It's home to a number of rare and endangered species and a rare sandhill habitat."
Silver Springs puts out about 550 million gallons of water a day into the Silver River.
Four years ago, former Marion County teacher Guy Marwick, a member of the Silver River Basin Working Group, began negotiations with Avatar for the property.
"He was a bulldog," Avatar vice president and lawyer Dennis Getman said of Marwick.
But it was the right thing to do for the company," Getman said of the sale. "We have an excellent relationship with DEP. We don't need to be a business creating ill will with Florida regulators."
Avatar received approval for its property about 20 years ago from the county and could have fast-tracked the project, Getman said. But the company has several other developments under way and thought best to sell this land to the state.
Driving by the Avatar property Monday, Marwick said only now could he exhale in relief.
"I always had a feeling of dread knowing we could lose it all. It was almost like an instant headache - the restriction of the capillaries. But now, wow," he said.
County Commission Chairman Jim Payton admits if the land had been developed, it would have created a hefty tax base for the county.
"But government is not necessarily in the business of building a tax base," Payton said. "It's not all about the money. It's about preserving our way of life. It's about preserving some heritage for our children and our grandchildren."
Court upholds DeBary's rejection of subdivision plans
DEBARY -- The City Council was within its right to deny a rezoning on 278 acres earlier this year that would have allowed a large subdivision at the south end of town, a court recently decided.
"The court determines that the City of DeBary's decision is supported by competent substantial evidence ... the denial cannot be arbitrary, discriminatory or unreasonable," Circuit Judge Margaret Hudson wrote in her three-page ruling released last week.
Empire Cattle Co. had asked the city to rezone the property at the southwest corner of Fort Florida and Barwick roads. The existing rural agricultural zoning allows one home per five acres. The requested residential planned unit development zoning and development agreement proposed 600 single-family homes and town houses on 202 developable acres.
After a lengthy hearing, city officials denied the rezoning because of the large number of homes. Officials also mentioned unsuitable roads, overcrowded schools and potential flooding and wetland destruction on the property near the St. Johns River that borders three sides of the Meadowlea on the River manufactured home subdivision.
Company attorney Mark Watts argued that the City Council violated the company's right to due process by not listing specific reasons for the denial in its motion.
"I don't see how they could claim we did not give them due process when we gave them three hours and 40 minutes at a meeting," Vice Mayor Patrick Fulton said Monday.
Hudson agreed that the city provided full due process with its lengthy hearing and denial, and it followed its comprehensive plan policies and codes.
The ruling pleased residents of Meadowlea who opposed the proposed number of homes.
"This is key victory for the city," resident Mark Meister said. "Some people think there will always be a pasture there. I don't look at it through rose-colored glasses. It will be developed someday, but at least now the city has more control of what will be built, and I hope it's not so dense."
Empire Cattle Co. officer Steve Costa was "disappointed" in the judge's ruling.
"I guess it's up to the city to decide what goes there. I have no rights," Costa said. "I would like to find a middle ground and still hope to do that, but it has to be something we are all comfortable with."
Costa declined to say what his future plans are for the property. But, he suggested he may follow a recent trend of developers presenting conceptual plans to the City Council for input and blessings before spending thousands of dollars on negotiating plans with city and county staffs only to have the City Council reject the proposals.
Gloom, doom, and who will get the money
Published October 22, 2006
It's not about growth, it's about power.
And money.
And world conquest.
Sorry.
Columns, like political campaigns, sometimes indulge in exaggeration. Take my reference to world conquest.
That's not really part of the campaign against proposed changes to Volusia County's charter.
The power and money parts are, however. And they, likewise, are exaggerations.
Volusia's cities have joined forces in an attempt to smite the charter amendments before they destroy the county as we know it.
Cities are especially worried about a pair of amendments that would allow the county to control land-use decisions after property is annexed into a city.
Cities Against Consolidated Government, a political committee, sent out a slightly wild-eyed mailer suggesting the charter changes could spell doom for municipal governments, which as we know always act in the best interests of residents.
"It's nothing more than a power grab," Holly Hill Mayor Roland Via declared in a testimonial. "The people of Volusia County need to decide if they want a consolidated county government or if they want to maintain the cities they love."
Holly Hill is the place where local government is letting developers build 25-story condominiums on the Halifax River's west shore, whose low-profile skyline will never be the same. But hey, it means millions in new taxes for the city to spend.
This is about power and money, all right, but not necessarily Volusia County's lust for it.
A nickel for your vote. Volusia County's recent "transportation summit" was not supposed to dwell on solutions.
Instead, everyone thought it would be dandy to first get an independent study of county road needs.
You know where this is going.
Forced to cut their budgets after a property tax revolt, local officials will resurrect the idea of swapping the nickel-per-gallon gas tax for a half-penny sales tax.
Which is going to be more expensive for consumers, no matter how you slice it.
I will be amazed if a sales tax referendum for roads is not on the ballot next year.
Another reason to say no. While we're on roads, you must have seen the news that the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority paid anti-taxer Doug Guetzloe more than $100,000 to analyze opposition to toll increases.
That is to say, keep quiet.
This is the same Expressway Authority that wants to study a new highway through Volusia County.
Question: Does Volusia want to do business with an agency that does business with Doug Guetzloe?
Sooey! Sooey! Florida -- land of sunshine and pigs.
I was gone for a week, backpacking in North Carolina's mountains.
On the return drive through the Carolinas were highway medians and roadsides filled with wildflowers and newly mown grass.
Very nice, until Florida.
The roadsides along Interstate 4 were newly mown, too, and completely littered with trash.
What a pit. What an embarrassment.
Mike Lafferty can be reached at 386-851-7921 or mlafferty@orlandosentinel.com.
And money.
And world conquest.
Sorry.
Columns, like political campaigns, sometimes indulge in exaggeration. Take my reference to world conquest.
That's not really part of the campaign against proposed changes to Volusia County's charter.
The power and money parts are, however. And they, likewise, are exaggerations.
Volusia's cities have joined forces in an attempt to smite the charter amendments before they destroy the county as we know it.
Cities are especially worried about a pair of amendments that would allow the county to control land-use decisions after property is annexed into a city.
Cities Against Consolidated Government, a political committee, sent out a slightly wild-eyed mailer suggesting the charter changes could spell doom for municipal governments, which as we know always act in the best interests of residents.
"It's nothing more than a power grab," Holly Hill Mayor Roland Via declared in a testimonial. "The people of Volusia County need to decide if they want a consolidated county government or if they want to maintain the cities they love."
Holly Hill is the place where local government is letting developers build 25-story condominiums on the Halifax River's west shore, whose low-profile skyline will never be the same. But hey, it means millions in new taxes for the city to spend.
This is about power and money, all right, but not necessarily Volusia County's lust for it.
A nickel for your vote. Volusia County's recent "transportation summit" was not supposed to dwell on solutions.
Instead, everyone thought it would be dandy to first get an independent study of county road needs.
You know where this is going.
Forced to cut their budgets after a property tax revolt, local officials will resurrect the idea of swapping the nickel-per-gallon gas tax for a half-penny sales tax.
Which is going to be more expensive for consumers, no matter how you slice it.
I will be amazed if a sales tax referendum for roads is not on the ballot next year.
Another reason to say no. While we're on roads, you must have seen the news that the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority paid anti-taxer Doug Guetzloe more than $100,000 to analyze opposition to toll increases.
That is to say, keep quiet.
This is the same Expressway Authority that wants to study a new highway through Volusia County.
Question: Does Volusia want to do business with an agency that does business with Doug Guetzloe?
Sooey! Sooey! Florida -- land of sunshine and pigs.
I was gone for a week, backpacking in North Carolina's mountains.
On the return drive through the Carolinas were highway medians and roadsides filled with wildflowers and newly mown grass.
Very nice, until Florida.
The roadsides along Interstate 4 were newly mown, too, and completely littered with trash.
What a pit. What an embarrassment.
Mike Lafferty can be reached at 386-851-7921 or mlafferty@orlandosentinel.com.
Reluctant Leesburg OKs strategy on schools
The city had tangled with the School Board on the plan to ease crowding.
Nin-Hai TsengSentinel Staff Writer
October 24, 2006
LEESBURG -- During the past year, school, county and municipal officials in Lake have labored to develop a plan to better manage residential growth and relieve school crowding.
Now it's up to Lake's 14 cities to adopt the school-concurrency plan. But officials of the county's second-most-populous city aren't thrilled with it. City Manager Ron Stock said the plan gives school-district officials too much say in whether a development should be approved.
That's because under the plan School Board members could accept or reject payments from developers to ease crowding at particular schools.
Stock said such a setup does little for Leesburg, because the payments must be tied to the school system's five-year construction plan detailing which schools are to be built or expanded throughout the county. Leesburg doesn't have any projects on the list for the next five years.
On Monday night, city commissioners reluctantly voted 4-1 to adopt the plan as written.
The motion that was passed said commissioners could back out if issues aren't resolved after three years.
School Board attorney Steve Johnson said everyone gave up something to arrive at this point.
"The plan isn't perfect, but it's a good starting point," Johnson said.
The issue threatened to come down to a power struggle between School Board members and Leesburg city commissioners.
City Commissioner David Knowles provided an example of how the School Board could trump the city when it comes to growth decisions.
"If a developer in Leesburg gives the School Board $1 million to help build a new school, they don't have to take it," Knowles said before Monday's meeting. "That's a weakness all by itself."
His comments come at a time when Leesburg is experiencing unprecedented growth, with officials anticipating at least 25,000 new homes in the coming years.
To ensure that Leesburg gets something concrete for developer payments, Knowles suggested that the school district expand its five-year plan to 10 years and include schools that are lined up for Leesburg.
School concurrency is part of a state mandate requiring that county and city governments have enough classroom space before they approve new residential developments.
Lake is one of six counties chosen to come up with the plan for others to follow. School concurrency must be adopted statewide by 2008.
Deputy County Manager Gregg Welstead, who helped craft the plan, said a handful of Lake cities have already signed on.
Any changes Leesburg may suggest would have to be considered by other cities.
Welstead said it's too early to say what penalties, if any, the state could impose on cities or counties that do not adopt the schools plan.
Nin-Hai Tseng can be reached at nhtseng@orlandosentinel.com or 352-742-5919.
Two City Managers Work Out Land Swap Deal
The two city managers have worked out a land swap deal that they will be taking to their elected officials for final approval.
The deal involves 180 acres of land off U.S. 27 North near Holly Hill Road that would go to Haines City and 120 acres of land near Snell Creek Road to Davenport.
"We're giving up land we have the potential to annex per the turf battle war of 2003, which is located between Holly Hill Road and U.S. 27,'' said Davenport City Manager Ryan Taylor. "It's not U.S. 27 frontage, it's mostly residential area and some has already been developed. They're getting annexation capability of land that is already in their service area.''
In exchange, Taylor said Davenport will be getting 120 acres of land that they can annex and also extend the city's utility service area.
"They may be getting more land, but we are getting to extend our utility service area, which was important to us,'' Taylor said. "We don't feel that anyone is getting the upper hand here.''
The two cities were embroiled in a two-year annexation battle, which resulted in the case going to Circuit Court and the land along U.S. 27 North being divided up.
In the end, Haines City got the Heart of Florida Regional Medical Center and the new Ridge Community High School, and Davenport got some frontage land on U.S. 27 North near County Road 547.
The land swap came about when developer Mitchell Kalogridis, who is building a residential development near Snell Creek Road, approached both cities inquiring about water and sewer capabilities.
"We do have a waterline along the road,'' Davenport's Taylor said. "The development land is actually in Haines City's utility service area, but it was a mile away to the nearest connection, so in an effort to help the developer, we got together and did some bartering.''
City Manager Ann Toney-Deal of Haines City told her commissioners at a meeting last week that the two cities had reached an agreement and would be amending the interlocal agreement the two sides worked out in 2004.
"It is our recommendation that you authorize the city attorney to draw up the necessary documents,'' Toney-Deal said. The City Commission unanimously approved the motion to have the documents drawn up.
Tom Cloud, Haines City's city attorney, said the documents would have to be approved by both the Davenport City Council and the Haines City commission and then be forwarded to Circuit Court Judge Ron Herring for approval.
Cloud did not know how long that would take.
Taylor said he was not anticipating any problems with the deal going through. He also said he sees the two cities working together more in the future.
"There are no hard feelings,'' Taylor said. "Ann and I work very well together.''
Amber Smith can be reached at amber.smith@theledger.com or 863-422-6800.
Village returns to county agenda
By KATE SPINNER
CHARLOTTE COUNTY -- The fate of Murdock Village will be back in front of the
County Commission today at its 9 a.m. meeting in the County Commission
Chamber.Blaming a slow market, Stock Development of Naples rescinded its offer to buy and develop the 1,100 acres early this month.
The county last week asked developers who had lost the bid for the project in April to answer a number of questions about their interest.
The county posted their replies on its Web site Monday.
County administrator Bruce Loucks said Murdock Village, a planned mix of commercial and residential properties surrounding a town center, is alive and well, despite the recent setback.
"It's moving forward," Loucks said. "We have two good developers."
The developers are Babcock Ranch developer Kitson & Partners and an Ohio firm, Forest City Land Group.
For the Kitson group, locating Florida Gulf Coast University's Charlotte County campus at Murdock Village is a key component of the deal. But, while FGCU entertained the idea last spring when it was originally proposed, the school may have moved on.
FGCU officials have narrowed their preferred sites to three, and Murdock is not on the list.
"While K&P was in general agreement with FGCU in April, it is our understanding that FGCU is now considering other locations within the county," wrote the firm's senior vice president, Terrence Holihen, in his response to the county.
Holihen could not comment Monday.
Bob Burns, president of FGCU's temporary Charlotte Campus, did not return phone calls inquiring whether locating on the Murdock property was still an option.
Forest City's response cites Tax Increment Financing as crucial to the project's success. Such financing would allow taxes generated from Murdock Village to help pay for the redevelopment over time.
Frank J. Stringer, vice president of Forest City, declined comment on his proposal.
The county borrowed $93 million to buy the Murdock site at the corner of U.S. 41 and State Road 776.
Last year, commissioners thought they were nearing the culmination of their economic revitalization dream, but then their selected developer, Lennar Corp., backed out.
Last April, County Commissioners put their hopes in Stock Development, but Loucks said Stock Development wasn't willing to commit to its original proposal to buy the Murdock land outright for $94 million.
"He has some other commitments that were overriding this project and he needed to pay attention to those," Loucks said.
Stock's proposal was attractive because it would have allowed the county to get out of its debt fast.
Loucks said he wants to see the two remaining developers propose plans that would also swiftly get the county out of the debt, which is costing $14,000 a day in interest.
"We'd like to have them make the county whole quicker," Loucks said.
Residents vent over new zones for floods
More than 150 residents facing higher insurance rates because they are now in flood zones pressed both the Alachua County Commission and Federal Emergency Management Agency for relief at a special meeting Monday night.Commissioners voted to waive the fee charged by the county for written county information on flood elevations and requested FEMA to open the appeal process for another 90 days.
However, FEMA engineer Mark Vieira said he does not believe the agency will allow another appeal process, saying the legally required period took place in June and that no one responded.
The crowd filled the 135-person commission room to capacity while a few dozen others watched on television in other parts of the building.
Many speakers complained their land is too high or dry to be considered flood-prone. They objected to the higher insurance rates they face with the new designation.
Mary Fossum, president of the Huntington Homeowner's Association, said about half of the homes there have been placed in a flood zone. She said the county in some way failed the process and should pay some of the relief to seek a map change from FEMA.
"If we have to bear that cost - $350 to $450 - to get the map amendment, we are asking the county to give each homeowner a credit on their taxes next year," Fossum said.
Vieira outlined the process of remapping done by FEMA, saying it got county maps that met its specifications. The agency then used more modern technology to arrive at new flood elevations.
Only certain areas where remapping was considered most needed were done because of limited money, Vieira said.
The two primary options are requests for individual reviews to amend the map for their home or, in the case of an area that is being planned for development, a review for the new subdivision, Vieira said.
But Vieira said it is unlikely the agency would hold another appeal process.
"We are going by the federal law," he said. "No, we cannot go back and redo the 90-day appeal process."
That drew murmuring from the crowd and a response from commission Chairman Lee Pinkoson.
"I'm sure your are right in that you've done what the letter of the law is, but you know that explanation is falling on deaf ears," Pinkoson said. "It doesn't exactly exude, 'Let's help.' "
FEMA began revising the flood maps in 1999 and used existing county maps that gave some indication of elevations. The flood zones were then recalculated to make what FEMA considers better estimates of areas subject to flooding.
Alachua County Assistant Public Works Director Michael Fay said about 12,000 homes countywide had been in a flood area.
That number rose to 15,000 in the new mapping.
Some residents said the county Public Works Department should have better informed the community about the proposed maps during the appeal process.
Jerry Steinberg added that the county should have informed FEMA of the area's porous terrain.
"Our county folks know how important karst topography is to flood zones. I measure a lot of rain but I don't get so much as a puddle, and I'm in a low spot," Steinberg said. "I would appreciate that tax credit, because I am going to have a big expense."
Commissioners did not consider tax credits.
FEMA's remapping has also place some Gainesville homes into flood zones, particularly in the Mile Run subdivision off NW 53rd Avenue and the Duck Pond neighborhood.
Alice Rankeillor of Gainesville's Public Works Department said meetings will be held Nov. 14 in those areas.
2 Agencies Will Examine Real Estate Agent's Deals
Published: Oct 24, 2006
TAMPA - The state attorney general opened a criminal investigation Monday into inflated real estate transactions in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.
A second state agency that oversees real estate professionals is asking appraisers and at least one real estate broker for records connected to the deals, revealed Sunday in a Tampa Tribune investigation.
Attorney General Charlie Crist said the economic crime division, based in Tampa, will look into 36 sales by Tampa real estate agent Dawn L. Molen. The Tribune story showed that Molen's sales had recorded sales prices of an average of $60,000 above the original list price.
The unaccounted money - at least $2 million collectively - was paid to companies associated with Molen.
"Others may turn their heads to this kind of activity in a slow real estate market, but the attorney general's office will not," said Crist, who is a candidate for Florida governor.
Among the Tribune's findings:
•In two cases, different sets of settlement documents were drawn up. One was sent to the lender and the other filed with Molen's broker. In one transaction, the broker's documents show a $120,000 "payoff" going to one of the companies Molen worked with. The lender's set does not.
Misrepresenting whe