County turf war with cities comes to an end -- for now

SARASOTA COUNTY -- The County Commission agreed Thursday to back off one of the strongest growth control measures it has ever considered, instead accepting a six-month moratorium on land annexations in Venice and North Port.

The commission's decision pleased Venice and North Port officials, and developers who bitterly opposed a referendum that could have given the county the power to stop development on land annexed in the neighboring cities.

But the move disappointed many citizens who advocated putting the referendum on the November ballot. A county survey, which said 60 percent of Sarasota County residents favor granting the county such powers, seemed to back the residents up.

"We believe this is sorely needed here in Venice," said Sue Lang, president of the Venice Neighborhoods Coalition. "The city is undergoing land amendments that will double the population of the city."

Over the past six years, Venice and North Port have annexed almost 22,000 acres, straining roads, utilities services and schools.

In that time, the cities and county have repeatedly failed to reach a joint planning agreement governing future annexations. County leaders hope Thursday's agreement will change that.

Now the cities will have four months -- until Jan. 12 -- to accomplish what has proven impossible over the past seven years: striking such an agreement. If they fail, county leaders said they intend to place the referendum question on the March 13 ballot.

Venice and North Port proposed last-minute bargains to forestall a November referendum, which could have put the brakes on thousands of new homes and new businesses.

In addition to the six-month moratorium and commitment to form a planning agreement, commissioners agreed to exclude the massive Isles of Athena development from the moratorium, as it has already received the land use approvals that North Port and Venice agreed to suspend over the next six months.

The project's developer, West Palm Beach-based Brian Tuttle, said the county's move won't affect his project. Isles of Athena is too far along in the planning and approval process for local governments to pull the plug, he said.

County Commissioner Jon Thaxton said he would still prefer the county stave off development on the Isles of Athena property, which includes 2,200 acres of wetlands.

"It is the most important piece of environmentally sensitive land left in the county," Thaxton said.

The nearly six-hour hearing did not reach a final resolution, however. North Port city commissioners must ratify some changes to the deal they had originally offered the County Commission. The action is expected to be a formality, with the county expected to make a final vote on the deal Monday.

In Venice, the city agreed to suspend annexing 442 acres. Venice has 805 acres of annexations in the pipeline.

Venice sparked Sarasota's ire by annexing land for development east of Interstate 75, in the area dubbed "North Venice." City planners have estimated that the thousands of scrubland acres would give rise to as many as 9,000 houses in the coming decade.

On Thursday, the city slashed its estimates on how many houses would be coming to its newly annexed lands, from 9,000 to 4,373.

The county accepted the cities' terms despite an outcry for a vote from many residents.

Bill Zoller, slow-growth activist, lamented that in the years the county and cities have struggled without success to forge a joint planning agreement, more than 20,000 acres have been annexed for development by the cities.

And with each annexation, Zoller said, the county's plan for regulating growth has been "shredded." Zoller urged the commissioners to bring the issue to the voters.

By contrast, C.J. Fishman, a Venice business leader, said six months of negotiations that could bring the county and cities together was preferable to the county approving a referendum issue that could deepen the divide between Sarasota County and its southern cities.

Fishman called the opportunity to work together on a joint agreement "a defining moment in the county's history."

Robert Burrus, president of Sorrento Ranch Homeowners Association in Nokomis, was among a group who spoke in favor of placing the issue on the November ballot.

"Let the Democratic process take its course," he said.

Minton Longino, who owns part of an 8,000-acre ranch that borders the Isles of Athena property, encouraged the county to reach an agreement with Venice and North Port. He spoke against the Athena project last year.

"I just urge you as a county to make every effort with the cities. Don't give up," Longino said.

Article published Sep 15, 2006

Water Management District Officials pass tentative $85 million budget

By TONY BRITT tbritt@lakecityreporter.com
Thursday, September 14, 2006 11:40 PM EDT

LIVE OAK - More than $6 million worth of Columbia County water resource projects are a step closer to becoming a reality.

Tuesday afternoon, the Suwannee River Water Management District's governing board unanimously passed the Water Management District's proposed $85 million 2006-07 fiscal budget and millage rate following a public hearing.

The public hearing was held at district headquarters following a rare afternoon governing board meeting, and there was public comment on the proposed budget.

Ad Valorem taxes account for only seven percent of the district's total revenue in the budget. The majority of the budget's funding comes from state and federal funding.

“We feel that this budget will allow us to protect water resources. It's fully funded,” said Joe Flanagan, Suwannee River Water Management District Deputy Executive Director.

Water Management District officials have listed five “big ticket” items in the proposed budget that will impact Columbia County's water resources. Those projects include: The Lake City Cooperative Reclaimed Water program, Columbia County Stormwater project, the FEMA Map Modernization program, the Cannon Creek Basin Stormwater Basin project and the Lake City Stormwater Utility.

Water Management District officials are proposing a .4914 millage rate, the same millage rate for the 15th consecutive year. However, this year the rate is expected to generate $6,100,000, an estimated $1.1 million more than last year.

Even though the board adopted the millage rate, there was discussion regarding the possibility of the district staff using a rolled back millage rate - using the millage rate that would bring in the same amount of dollars as in the current budget.

Florida statutes mandate that the executive office of the governor is authorized to approve or disapprove, in whole or in part, the budget of each water management district.

Prior to the final budget hearing, the staff will respond to any questions from the

governor's office.

The Suwannee River Water Management District serves all or part of 15 counties and its mission is to protect and manage water resources to support natural systems and the needs of the public.

The final public hearing, where the governing board can pass the 2006-07 budget, is scheduled to take place 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 26 at district headquarters, 9225 County Road 49 in Live Oak. 

HIGH SPRINGS - Residents are invited to attend a Springs Protection Summit this Wednesday, Sept. 20 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the cafeteria at Camp Kulaqua in High Springs.

Participants will have a chance to learn about local and statewide strategies that are being used to safeguard Florida springs.

The summit will include breakout sessions led by springs experts and a panel discussion with city and county officials, including Alachua County Manger Randall Reid.

The project is being hosted by the Santa Fe Springs Working Group in cooperation with Alachua and Gilchrist counties as well as the cities of High Springs, Alachua and Newberry.

Anyone interested should call Fay Baird, coordinator of the Santa Fe Springs Working Group, at 352-372-4747 for more information. Those interested can also call Sean McLendon of the Alachua County Environmental Protection Department at 352-264-6802 or e-mail him at smclendon@alachuacounty.us

What if they built a gated community and nobody moved in? It happened. Here.

By Ronald Dupont Jr.
Herald Editor

NORTH GILCHRIST COUNTY - Finding flaws in the Magnolia Meadows neighborhood is difficult.

Located roughly 10 minutes west of High Springs on Poe Springs Road, the neighborhood stands out.

The lawns are mowed to perfection, and the road winding through the area looks as if it was just put down yesterday. There's not a pothole to be seen, not a crack in sight.

The plants at the front of the community were chosen for their welcoming image, and an elaborate sprinkler system keeps them and other vegetation in common areas throughout the neighborhood watered.

A keypad sits at one side of the entrance to the neighborhood, allowing only those people who knows its code to open the electric gate.

The roughly $700 in homeowner's association dues that each owner pays goes a long way in keeping this community looking new as the day it was built.

There is only one problem with this 2-year-old neighborhood.

Nobody has moved in. No one.

There are no homes.

While the developer was able to sell every lot with very little effort -- some people bought lots without seeing them -- nobody decided to actually move to the neighborhood.

In fact, for all practical purposes, Magnolia Meadows is still a development, rather than a neighborhood.

Developer Alex Wyszkowski, who transformed the former Gilchrist County cow pasture into a gated community with his father, Leon, said the development just happened to start accepting buyers when the land rush for North Florida was at its peak in late 2004.

Instead of people buying lots in Magnolia Meadows to move there, people were buying land for the sole purpose of investment. And most of those people were from South Florida.

With South Floridians paying sky-high prices for cramped quarter-acre lots, people found the roughly $50,000 for a 5-acre lot in a gated community in North Florida an extreme bargain.

"One man bought land sight unseen," Alex Wyszkowski said. "He snapped up five lots just like that."

A few people said they were buying lots for their retirement and may still move to the area but may also sell the lots if the value continues to climb.

While not a single home has been built, "For Sale" signs can be found near Magnolia Meadows' entrance. People already are trying to sell their land. Real estate agents call the practice "flipping" -- where somebody buys land or a home for investment purposes and then tries to sell it quickly during a hot market.

Realtor Cheryl Blanton, who represents one of the landowners, echoed Wyszkowski's comments and said the lack of homes is the result of timing.

"The market had gone crazy," Blanton said of late 2004. "Everybody was buying and flipping. Buyers didn't intend to build and live in there."

But the market has slowed and while a few "flips" did occur, most of the land still belongs to the original owners -- who are still trying to sell.

The Homeowner's Association With No Homes

Edwin Douglas of High Springs had driven by Magnolia Meadows when it was being developed. He watched as the road was built and as the electric gate was installed.

The development -- the only gated community for miles in any direction -- intrigued him. It had potential. So he bought a single lot with his daughter.

He showed up at the first homeowner's association meeting and was one of only a few landowners to actually attend.

And that is how Douglas became president of the homeowner's association, he said.

"I was named president by default," Douglas said.

He said despite the fact that nobody has actually built a home in the development, he has not gotten any good-natured ribbing of being president of a homeowner's association with no homes.

While the idea may sound funny, most people don't realize how much work must be done on the community -- even without homes, Douglas said.

The owners of each lot pay roughly $700 in annual dues, and there are more than 20 lots. That money gets used in a variety of ways, Douglas said.

There is a monthly electric bill to power the elaborate sprinkler system, and the development's security system requires a phone line.

Further, the wood fence that surrounds the community is bordered, in part, by trees, and every time a branch falls and breaks the fence, it is repaired by the homeowner's association.

Then there is the bill to pay the folks who mow the lawns and keep the vegetation in shape.

Last winter, the main valve on the well froze and busted. And for a time, every time lightning hit in the area, the electric gate stopped working.

"People don't realize how expensive it gets to maintain all this," Douglas said.

In some cases, people are paying as much in homeowner's association dues as they are in property taxes.

"That's what I would advise of people thinking to invest," Douglas said. "Know what your expenses are."

"Just One Home"

Wyszkowski said one landowner was able to sell his lot for almost triple what he paid and now Wyszkowski fears that landowners think they can continue to make that much.

He said he's seeing the prices in the $130,000 range for a 5-acre lot.

"If they can bring that down to $100,000, I can see people buying," Wyszkowski said.

He said he remembers well when the lots originally went up for sale. Very little advertising was done, and what little was done was directing people to the development's Website, which is still online at http://www.magnoliameadowsfl.com

Within months, all 23 lots were sold. Some people never even came out to look at the development before buying.

Some people bought land and to this day still haven't visited the development, Realtor Cheryl Blanton said.

Blanton, Douglas and Wyszkowski all agree that one single event could change the fate of Magnolia Meadows rather quickly.

Only a single home has to be built there.

"If somebody would build one house, I think it would make a world of difference," Blanton said.

Realtor Will Gillespie of Coldwell Banker M.M. Parrish represents a landowner in Magnolia Meadows. He came to the same conclusion that Blanton did.

"When you have a house built, it changes the whole feel," Gillespie said.

Douglas said he expects that to happen sooner than later. The community is due for somebody to actually build a home there, he said.

"If you ever get one home in a place like that, just having one home in there, it seems to attract other builders pretty fast," Douglas said.

And when that happens, Magnolia Meadows the development will turn into Magnolia Meadows the neighborhood.

Fla. community fights hurricane generator

BY MIKE DEESON
TAMPA BAY'S 10

TAMPA, Fla. -- Bayshore Boulevard with its upscale condos and million-dollar homes is one of the most exclusive areas in Tampa Bay. But the people who live along Bayshore are upset. They are battling the location of an emergency generator.

“I have personally spoken to many of these people, and they are angry with the placement of this industrial structure on the Bayshore greenway,” said Bernice Ross, who lives on Bayshore.

A concrete structure will house an emergency generator that would power a lift station to allow sewage to flow in the event a hurricane knocks out power.

“Does that concrete bunker add to the character we are trying to establish and preserve?” asked resident Grace Weller.

Although the city plans to cover the generator with ivy like it did with an earlier generator, the residents don't want anything ugly along Bayshore and they want the generator moved.

“It's not the ivy that is aesthetically upsetting, it is the entire size of this square structure in a linear park,” said resident Pierre Bourgult.

But now that the structure is here, there are a lot of problems in moving it. First, as the city says, there is not other site for the project.

Second, there has to be emergency generators because if the lift stations fail in a hurricane there could be raw sewage in the area.

And finally, it is extremely expensive to try to move it. What's that costing you? A minimum of $300,000 in taxpayer money.

Wildlife in their backyard

A Deltona couple spends 2 years to create an oasis of nature right outside their dining room.

Steven D. Barnes
Sentinel Staff Writer

September 15, 2006

DELTONA -- Driving through Christy and Dennis Jefferson's Twin Lakes subdivision, it's clear that few if any of the large oaks and pines remain. The couple said that, as with many such neighborhoods, nearly all of the original vegetation was removed to make room for the tidy, middle-class homes set off from the street by large swaths of thirsty St. Augustine grass.

The front of the Jefferson house looks much like other homes in the neighborhood except for a colorful flower bed that is expanding slowly toward the street. It's not likely to get much bigger, though, because homeowner-association rules require a uniform look anchored by the ubiquitous manicured lawn.

But out back, it's a different story.

After two years of work, the couple has turned much of their lawn -- which they said provided little wildlife value -- into a colorful oasis that attracts butterflies, hummingbirds, snakes and birds of prey.

"There was no wildlife when we moved in -- St. Augustine has no value for wildlife," said Christy Jefferson, 60. "It might as well have been concrete."

Now, when the couple gaze out from their dining room, they can watch as butterflies hover over colorful blazes of native beautyberry, firebush and porterweed, and predators and prey stake out their respective places in the web of life.

"We keep binoculars by the dining area. It's fun to look out and see a hawk chasing a squirrel," Christy Jefferson said.

The Jeffersons are among a growing number of people in Florida who are taking the popular hobby of gardening and landscaping a step further by creating habitat for animals displaced by development, according to Ray Jarrett, an environmental specialist with the Florida Department of Agriculture and president of the Lyonia Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society.

"It's been a little bit of a craze in the last few years," he said. "In Florida, people are looking for plants that are less thirsty. St. Augustine is a beautiful grass, but it doesn't have a great deal of wildlife value."

Jarrett said individuals willing to landscape with native plants can have a significant effect on wildlife, especially where development has disrupted natural wildlife corridors.

"By putting in some native plants, you really fill in those voids," he said. "It makes a huge difference."

The Jeffersons say their garden, which measures about 35 by 80 feet, was designed specifically to attract wildlife. Using information from Web sites and other sources, they have created a habitat that, while not all native, provides all of the resources experts say are needed for wildlife.

Water drips from suspended containers into basins on the ground, and a mixture of flowering and berry-producing plants provide food. Man-made underground tunnels provide habitat for amphibians, and a pair of pines knocked down by the 2004 hurricanes lie where they fell, providing habitat for insects and amphibians, which in turn provide food for birds of prey.

"We kept the snags [fallen trees] because the birds love it," she said. "The bugs live in them and the birds eat the bugs and other stuff eats the birds -- it's the whole food-web thing."

The couple have been so successful that their yard has been recognized by the National Wildlife Federation as a Backyard Wildlife Habitat. A plaque recognizing the achievement is displayed in their garden.

The Jeffersons say that in addition to bringing hours of enjoyment, replacing the lawn with more drought-tolerant plants has helped them conserve water. More than half of all water used by households in the district goes to irrigating lawns, according to St. Johns River Water Management District spokesman Hank Largin.

Dennis Jefferson, 63, said that a smaller lawn also means less time spent mowing, something that leaves him more time to pursue other hobbies.

"If it was all grass, I'd be spending more time mowing," he said. "Now that it's established, it's virtually maintenance-free."

Maintenance and water-conservation issues aside, the couple said the greatest joy they get comes from knowing they are helping to protect animals that are struggling to adapt to a habitat that has been dramatically changed by humans.

"We love the wildlife," Christy Jefferson said. "It's like National Geographic in the backyard."

Steven D. Barnes can be reached at sbarnes@orlandosentinel.com or 386-851-7911.

Residents aplenty at Fort White meeting

By KATIE EVANS kevans@lakecityreporter.com
Thursday, September 14, 2006 11:40 PM EDT

FORT WHITE - Fort White town officials weren't prepared for the turnout they received at Thursday's community development workshop.

“The turnout is fantastic,” said Town Planner Laura Dedenbach, smiling as she looked out at the crowd. “I stopped counting at 65 people.”

Dedenbach had planned to use workshop packets she printed out for residents - in order to keep count of attendees - but she hit a snag in that counting system when she ran out of packets before the meeting even started. More copies had to be run off and brought over to the Fort White Community Center.

More than 65 Fort White and nearby residents showed up at the workshop, which was designed to get resident input on how they want Fort White to develop in coming years.

“The purpose of tonight's meeting is not for us to tell you what's good, but for you to tell us what's good,” Dedenbach told the audience.

The meeting started off with a visual preference survey, which involved showing the audience commercial signs and buildings from a variety of places outside of Florida, and having the residents rate them and explain what they liked or

disliked about them.

The meeting then broke into three discussion groups: One for utilities, annexation and redevelopment.

The utilities group discussed the possibility of a recycling program in Fort White, debating where a potential dropoff site could be and if it should be supervised.

The annexation discussion group discussed how big residents would want Fort White to get, picking no larger than five square miles as their preference.

The largest of the discussion groups was the redevelopment group, which debated over the appearance of stores and store signs.

“How do we make sure they don't create another eyesore downtown?” asked resident George Baldwin.

Group members discussed limiting store signs to no larger than 10 feet tall, and

suggested the possibility

of requiring them to be

landscaped.

Brian Knapp, a resident, cautioned the group on how restrictive sign standards should be.

“There's so much to get into with signs that it's not something we're going to get right now,” Knapp said,

also noting that being too restrictive could deter new businesses from coming

into town.

Knapp, while cautious about some suggestions he heard, was very satisfied overall.

“I'm ecstatic,” he said. “No way did I believe that this many people would show up.”

Fuel from trees? UF scientists unveil research

By NATHAN CRABBE

Sun staff writer

Black cottonwood might one day be considered black gold.

Researchers at the University of Florida have helped map the genome of black cottonwood, a Western tree that could be used to produce a petroleum alternative. The research is featured on the cover of today's edition of the journal Science.

The research was conducted at UF and 33 other scientific institutions worldwide. It could be used to breed trees with the maximum potential for fuel production.

"It's really the first step to moving toward a new energy source," said UF researcher Gary Frank Peter.

The black cottonwood tree typically grows from California to Alaska. A hybrid of the tree and the eastern cottonwood, which occurs across the eastern U.S., could be grown in Florida, Peter said.

Cottonwoods are rapidly growing trees that can rise as much as three to four feet in height in a month, said UF researcher Matias Kirst. The research could help breed trees that have a high growth rate and produce a large volume of wood, he said.

"What we're looking for is trees that would have a high biomass produced," he said.

The production of fuel from trees is a developing science. A UF microbiology professor, Lonnie Ingram, has developed a method to use genetically engineered bacteria to convert plant material into ethanol.

A plant in Louisiana is scheduled to be operational in 2007. UF is seeking funding to build a test project on campus.

Black cottonwood and other trees might eventually be grown on a large scale for energy production, Kirst said. From out-of-business Midwestern farms to old mines in Central Florida, he said, tree farms could be planted on unused land to allow local communities to produce their own fuel.

"There's so much land that could be used for this," he said.

The research was funded by the Department of Energy as part of a push to use renewable sources for 30 percent of the nation's fuel by 2030. Much of the initial efforts have been focused on ethanol produced from corn grown in the Midwest.

Ethanol produced from trees has several advantages, Peter said. Growing corn requires the use of tractors and fertilizer, offsetting some of the energy benefits.

"With trees, you don't use a lot of nitrogen and you let them grow for years and years," he said.

Trees also capture carbon dioxide, sequestering the gas that contributes to global warming. The research allows cottonwood to be selected with the best characteristics for capturing carbon, Kirst said.

"We want to put it in the soil where it is going to be stored," he said.

Nathan Crabbe can be reached at 352-338-3176 or crabben@gvillesun.com

A green menace?Plant taking over pond causes concern

By NATHAN CRABBE

Sun staff writer

FYI: What is it?

Salvinia is a floating fern that occurs in still waters with high organic content. The plant forms dense mats that block sunlight and reduce oxygen levels. There are 10 species, none of which are native to the U.S. One species, salvinia minima, has been grown in greenhouses in the United States since the late 1880s. Plants in Florida likely first entered natural areas from flooded pools or by intentional release. Sources: University of Florida, Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants; U.S. Geological Survey.

A pond along S. Main Street in Gainesville has been overrun by a green mat of vegetation in recent weeks, bringing attention to the polluted runoff believed to be feeding its growth.

Local officials say Colclough Pond is covered with a floating, rootless aquatic fern called salvinia minima. They say stormwater from area businesses and homes is draining directly into the pond, contributing nutrients that caused the plant's explosive growth.

"It's like squeezing out a dirty sponge every time it rains," said Chris Bird, director of the Alachua County Environmental Protection Department.

A neighbor of Colclough Pond had sprayed for aquatic vegetation in the past, but the man died last year. Jay Cooper, who lives on the pond's southern edge, said the city has allowed pollution to flow into the pond and should be required to fix the problem.

"Eighty percent of the water out there is basically city water," he said.

The pond's watershed spans north past Depot Avenue and includes businesses, apartment complexes and houses, said Alice Rankeillor, city stormwater engineer. Stormwater in the area drains into a pipe under Main Street, she said, which was built to pour directly into a ditch leading to the north end of the pond.

"That was pre-stormwater regulations," she said.

The city is considering options such as creating wetlands to treat water before it reaches the pond, she said. The proposals are part of a Clean Water Act-mandated plan under which the city, county and Gainesville Regional Utilities must help clean polluted waterways.

Bird said there are several examples of stormwater draining directly into local waterways, but perhaps none with consequences as visible as Colclough Pond. The drainage system is likely the major source of pollution, he said, but residents south of the pond could also contribute through fertilizer in their yards and leaky septic tanks.

"You talk about multiple sources of pollution - this is a classic example," he said.

Colclough Pond sits between S. Main Street and the Colclough Hills subdivision, a quiet neighborhood of about 50 homes. From Main Street, the pond water appears to have turned lime green, but up close it looks like a mat of clovers covering nearly every inch.

Cooper said the pond used to be a place where he counted as many as 15 turtles in one day, but alligators are now the only sign of life there. There have been algae blooms and problems with other aquatic vegetation in the past, he said, but nothing this dramatic.

"It's just gone bonkers," he said.
The pond is bordered in part by a 38-acre sanctuary that developers of nearby apartments donated to the Audubon Society. Bob Simons, sanctuary chairman for the local society, said this was the first time since the sanctuary was created 40 years ago that he's seen aquatic vegetation covering the pond.

The pond normally attracts herons, egrets and anhinga, he said

"None of these birds is going to like it if it's covered," he said.

The city is considering potential fixes as part of its plan for improving water quality in the Tumblin' Creek watershed, an area that includes the pond. Options include treatment of wetlands or other ways to trap and treat water before it enters the pond.

Simons said the Audubon Society is open to allowing its land to be used for one of those options. But such a solution is just in the early planning stages.

In the meantime, discussions are under way over whether the city should spray the pond to kill the vegetation. Bird said initial water tests showed low levels of dissolved oxygen in the water, which means spraying could cause fish to die in the pond.

"These things always get complicated," he said.

Cooper jokingly calls the place Golden Pond, saying he hopes the vegetation will leave and the turtles return.

"I don't mind some things floating around," he said. "But we've got a 100 percent Golden Pond out there."

Nathan Crabbe can be reached at 338-3176 or crabben@gvillesun.com.

Officials get earful in Hernando, Citrus

Residents turned out in force at local government meetings to let officials know they want lower tax rates.

By ASJYLYN LODER and CATHERINE E. SHOICHET
Published September 15, 2006

Angry, fed up and fearful, hundreds of Hernando and Citrus residents crowded into their county meeting rooms Thursday to plead for property tax relief.

Like local governments throughout the region, Hernando and Citrus officials found themselves pinched between a cooling economy and the hot anger of overburdened property owners.

They responded with what many homeowners would consider minor cuts to the millage rate.

The Hernando County Commission voted 3-2 to give preliminary approval to a one-half-mill cut - 50 cents for every $1,000 in assessed value. The average homeowner will save $36.09. Final approval of that rate would come at the budget hearing Sept. 28.

With a 4-0 vote, the Citrus Commission gave preliminary approval to a one mill reduction, adopting a rate of 7.145. The final budget hearing is set for Sept. 26.

Over the last two years, tax bills skyrocketed along with property assessments. Local governments enjoyed steep increases in revenue.

In Hernando, more than 100 people jammed the commission chambers. Some carried signs that read "Cut the Fat" and "We are here for one reason: Tax Relief."

Nancy Robinson, a four-term Republican incumbent facing re-election, spearheaded a controversial move to lower Hernando County's tax rate by half a mill.

The vote to lower the millage rate came after nearly 30 people lined up, some near tears, to give the commission a piece of their minds.

Linda Hayward, a horse farmer turned antitax activist, gathered more than 11,000 signatures on a petition urging the county to cut the millage rate.

Elsie Howell said she had to decide between buying a loaf of bread or paying her taxes.

"It's a disgrace," she said.

Joseph Jordan demanded, "Where do I cut? Do I not eat? Do I quit taking medication?"

Spectators applauded demands for a 1-mill cut or more. The crowd booed one woman who stood up and spoke against the tax cut.

Lisa Hammond said she felt like "Daniel in the lion's den" when she told the commission a tax cut endangered the county's financial health while offering no meaningful relief.

Hernando Commission chairwoman Diane Rowden said she had more than 30 e-mails and phone messages from residents who were against the cut.

But Hammond was one of only four people who spoke out while more than 25 people urged the commission to lower taxes further.

The one-half-mill cut would cost Hernando County $4.7-million next year, said George Zoettlein, county budget director.

To pay for it, the county would take $2.2-million out of reserves, reduce spending by $462,056 and take $300,000 out of the county's capital improvement fund.

Hernando commissioners did decide Thursday night not to remove money from the budget that would allow the Spring Hill Fire Rescue District to continue to do its own dispatching of 911 calls.

In Citrus on Thursday, the meeting got personal when a shouting match erupted between audience members and two county commissioners.

One speaker, waving pieces of paper in the air, said property values on some parcels owned by commission Chairman Gary Bartell and Commissioner Dennis Damato had decreased.

Bartell said that was incorrect. Damato said the appraised value of one piece of property he owned had decreased, but so had the value of surrounding property in the neighborhood. Boos from audience members nearly drowned out their defense.

The outburst came after more than two hours of impassioned speeches from dozens of residents.

To make his point, Milton Whitson, an 85-year-old retiree from Homosassa, planted pill bottles on the podium.

High taxes, he said, prevent the county's elderly residents from paying for the medication they need.

Jeanne Derosier's voice trembled as she addressed the board.

"You are on a budget. Live within the budget," she said. "If I can't afford to have my hair done this week, I don't.

"We're mad as hell," the 60-year-old Beverly Hills resident said, pumping her fist in the air before she stormed out of the meeting room. The crowd cheered.

Leaders of the newly created Overtaxed Citizens group circulated a petition and handed out fliers.

Commissioners had not voted on whether to reduce the millage rate by late Thursday evening, but they told residents they plan to scale back spending and return money to taxpayers.

"We're going to do whatever we can to lower the millage rate and make government affordable," Bartell said at the beginning of the hearing.

Elsewhere in the Tampa Bay area, St. Petersburg's City Council heard from many angry residents on Thursday night, but refused to lower the previously agreed upon millage rate.

In Tampa, the City Council agreed to a minor cut in the rate, the first decrease in two decades.

Residents beg for relief from taxes

By Mike Wright

They pointed fingers, presented hand-made graphs, rattled off statistics, made sarcastic comments and told horror stories of being taxed out of their homes.

Mostly, though, the dozens of people who addressed Citrus County commissioners Thursday pleaded for a millage-rate cut so that their property taxes won’t go through the roof.

Commissioners conducted the first of two public hearings to set the 2006-07 millage rate. As with their counterparts on the school board and in city councils, they heard from a public that is outraged with significant increases in their property values.

Those increases, met with millage rates that either stayed the same or dropped slightly, meant their taxes are headed up unless taxing authorities like the county commission do something about it.

Jeanne Desrosier of Beverly Hills, pointing with a pen at the four county commissioners in attendance, barked: “They are elected by the people to follow the wishes of the people. We are the people!”

Her comments were met with wild applause by about 150 people who packed the commission meeting room in Inverness.

On the table was a proposed millage rate of 8.1238, the same as the current year. The rollback rate — the millage that would bring in the same amount of money as this year — is 6.3308 mills. That 28 percent increase in the tax rate would raise 33 percent more revenue, or about $23.7 million.

Property owners implored commissioners to either accept the rollback rate or, at least, knock one mill off the proposed tax rate. A mill, which equals $1 for every $1,000 of taxable value on property, brings in about $11.4 million, commission Chairman Gary Bartell said.

While commissioners said it is the property appraiser, and not them, that increased their property values, speakers were quick to note that the land-value increase wouldn’t be so burdensome if only commissioners reduced the millage rate.

The Save Our Homes initiative caps taxable property values at 3 percent annually for homestead property. Vacant land or rentals are not covered by Save Our Homes.

Dan Raynor, of Inverness, said he has a homestead plus other vacant land.

“My property taxes are up 87 percent over last year,” Raynor said. “There’s just the two of us — two retired people. Who’s going to benefit from your proposed budget? It’s not people like me.”

Commissioners asked for property owners to offer specific cuts in the budget. Some, like Raynor, did.

Raynor noted staff increases for parks, the property appraiser and the sheriff.

“Is there a crime ready to blow up that we don’t know about?” he asked.

Bob Pratt of Crystal River said the Inverness Airport expansion is a waste of money.

“Government is fat,” he said. “It’s got more fat than any cholesterol you find in the store.”

Mary Ann Lynn said taxpayers shouldn’t be stuck paying for new roads.

“If developers want to develop this area, let them build the roads,” she said.

Realtor C.J. Dixon of Inverness said the real estate boom of the last two years has come to a sudden end. Higher property values and higher taxes no longer can be supported by growth, he said.

“As we could all see, it’s over,” he said. “You didn’t do the rollback rate last year. You’ve got to do the rollback rate this year.”

Some people got right the point.

Milton Whitson of Homosassa Springs walked to the lectern and dumped out a half-dozen prescription pill bottles filled with his medications.

“This,” he said, “is why we need a break.”

Agency OKs Assessment; Another In The Works

By RANDY DIAMOND The Tampa Tribune

Published: Sep 15, 2006

Citizens Property Insurance Corp. approved a new one-year, 2 percent surcharge Thursday for all Florida homeowners, but another assessment of longer duration may be on the way next month.

The 2 percent surcharge will last a year, but if Citizens approves another 1 percent surcharge next month, the assessment will be applied to homeowner policies for 10 years.

The new surcharges are not expected to be implemented until later this year as homeowners renew their insurance policies. Citizens first bills insurance companies, who then pass the assessments on to policyholders.

Although the surcharges may not be welcome news for Florida homeowners strapped with high insurance rates, Citizens officials say it could have been worse

Citizens ran up a $1.7 billion deficit from the 2005 storms, but the Legislature gave the state-sponsored insurer a one-time $715 million appropriation to reduce the amount of the assessment, said Rocky Scott, a Citizens spokesman.

Insurance policyholders throughout Florida already are being assessed a one-year, 6.8 percent surcharge to pay Citizens' deficits from the 2004 storms.

Homeowners can expect more surcharges over the next few months from other organizations.

The Florida Insurance Guaranty Fund has assessed insurers a 2 percent surcharge to cover the insolvency of three insurance companies run by the Tampa-based Poe Financial Group.

The Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, another state-sponsored organization, is assessing its own 1 percent surcharge to recoup money it paid out during the 2004 and 2005 storm seasons. Insurance companies will pass that assessment on to homeowners.

Reporter Randy Diamond can be reached at 813-259-8144 or rdiamond@tampatrib.com

State Stuck With Citizens Tab

By RANDY DIAMOND The Tampa Tribune

Published: Sep 15, 2006

The board chairman of Citizens Property Insurance Corp. says it will be "next to impossible" to comply with a new state law requiring vacation- or second-home residents in Florida to pay for the insurer's deficit before permanent residents dig into their pocketbooks.

Failure to implement the plan would put a wrench into legislators' intent to partially insulate full-time property owners from future Citizens surcharges.

Legislative outrage over the fact that all homeowner policyholders in Florida were paying for Citizens' multibillion dollar deficit in 2004 and 2005 led to a new plan this spring to relieve full-time resident homeowners. The law requires property owners who are not permanent residents to be assessed surcharges of up to 10 percent before other residents are should Citizens have a deficit.

If the surcharge is not enough to eliminate the deficit, then Citizens would assess permanent residents: Citizens policyholders first and then those from other insurance companies.

The deadline for Citizens to determine who is a permanent resident is March 2007. The law would go into effect in the 2007 hurricane season.

But Bruce Douglas, chairman of the state-sponsored Citizens, said Thursday it's too complicated to determine the primary residence of Florida homeowners. Property records are not an accurate indicator because they constantly are changing, he said.

"The objective is good, but the implementation is a nightmare," Douglas said.

He said Citizens officials are calling for the Legislature to scrap the plan if they hold a special session this fall to deal with Florida's insurance crisis.

Dennis Ross, a Republican from Lakeland who chairs the state House Insurance Committee, said the reality is that Citizens officials don't want to implement the plan. "They've been resistive to doing it," he said,

Ross said insurance agents could simply ask customers whether they were using their home as a primary or secondary residence.

Douglas said insurance agents won't accept the liability because they would be open to lawsuits from homeowners who may be mistakenly placed in the wrong category.

Reporter Randy Diamond can be reached at (813)-259-8144 or rdiamond@tampatrib.com

Road panel director defends beltway

The toll road, which would connect four counties, already was blasted by the Tampa mayor. Now, a council member calls it a "sprawlway."

By JANET ZINK, Times Staff Writer
Published September 15, 2006

TAMPA - Plans for a toll road connecting eastern Hillsborough County to surrounding counties dovetail perfectly with Mayor Pam Iorio's proposal for a regional rail system, according to the director of the agency pushing for the road.

"What we are proposing is not just a road," Ralph Mervine, executive director of the embattled Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority, told Tampa City Council members Thursday.

It could accommodate multiple forms of transportation and, if blended with Iorio's proposal, all the systems would work better, he said.

Council member Linda Saul-Sena wasn't convinced. "Sprawlway," she called the toll road.

"What you proposed does not offer a smart approach to transportation problems," Saul-Sena said.

The Expressway Authority in July unveiled plans for the toll road, which would stretch north and south in eastern Hillsborough County and pass through Manatee, Pasco and Pinellas counties.

Last week, Iorio blasted it.

She said the beltway "ignores smart growth principles," and called for a "real investment in mass transit" that would include a regional rail system.

Iorio shared her views through a position paper sent to hundreds of regional political, business and community leaders and received an enthusiastic response.

Mervine called Iorio's position paper invigorating and inspiring.

He asked the council for a chance to work with the city staff and the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority to show how the two proposals could work together. The council scheduled time for Mervine to come back Nov. 9.

"No one form of transportation is going to satisfy all our needs," Mervine said after the meeting.

The toll road, he said, will include corridors for mass transit. But his agency specializes in building roads, and he has been waiting for someone to come forward with a mass transit plan. "The mayor has taken that bold step," he said.

The future of the Expressway Authority and its projects has been called into question in recent weeks.

Last month, amid charges of improprieties in the selection of legal counsel for the authority, Gov. Jeb Bush suggested the lucrative contract be rebid and recommended a thorough audit of the agency.

Some state lawmakers, including Sen. Mike Fasano and Rep. Bill Galvano, want to abolish the Expressway Authority. Fasano and Galvano are part of a group working to create a larger regional transportation authority.

They say the new agency could take over the beltway project.

"The way I envision what would happen is the beltway would fall under the purview of the regional authority," Galvano said. "It doesn't mean the authority would do it, but it would evaluate it. I think it would be something very similar to what is now proposed. The beltway is a reasonable project."

Times staff writer Michael Van Sickler contributed to this report. Janet Zink can be reached at jzink@sptimes.com or 813 226-3401.

State Delays Causeway Project

By TOM BRENNAN The Tampa Tribune

Published: Sep 14, 2006

PALM RIVER - People here have waited decades for the state to widen Causeway Boulevard, one of the major arteries to and from Tampa that gets jammed with gridlock during commuter rushes.

Residents will have to wait a little longer.

The Florida Department of Transportation planned to begin construction this fall.

Only one company bid on the project, however, and its price was almost twice what the state had available to spend.

Department officials are scrambling on what to do while residents brace for more disappointment.

"It is absolutely critical," said Liz Gutierrez, executive director of Greater Palm River POINT, a nonprofit organization that oversees a variety of community programs.

"The widening is important to the social and economic lives of this neighborhood."

The state had put aside $30 million for the work, but the only bidder, Cone & Graham Inc., wanted $53.7 million, which the state rejected.

FDOT spokeswoman Marion Scorza said her department is weighing options and hopes to narrow its list of alternatives in about a month.

She said the easiest solution would to be to widen only as much of the 3.2-mile stretch of Causeway between U.S. 301 and U.S. 41 as the state can afford.

But the state is still looking for the cash to do the whole project, Scorza said.

"We need to find a way to get it funded without breaking the project in half," she said.

Gary Anzulewicz, a local business owner and community leader, said the state must find the funds to do the whole project.

"'Do half' is not an acceptable solution. It will just cause a bottleneck wherever it ends," he said.

Anzulewicz said residents fear the cash crunch will give the state an excuse to continue to drag its feet.

"If they only do half, it will be another 10 years before they do the other half," he said.

The FDOT originally planned to widen Causeway from two lanes to four, two in each direction, from U.S. 301 to U.S. 41. The lanes would be separated by a raised median as wide as 17 1/2 feet in some places and have bicycle lanes and streetlights.

Scorza said rising construction and materials costs are among the roadblocks to getting the whole job done.

"It was a whole litany of things going up," Scorza said.

Commuters have long complained about the bottleneck the current configuration creates as Causeway narrows from six lanes to two east of Tampa at 50th Street. The road doesn't expand back to six lanes until it intersects with U.S. 301.

The county lists that narrowportion of Causeway as a "failed" roadway. Traffic counts show more than 21,200 vehicles use the road each day, while it has a capacity to handle about 17,000. Trucks hauling freight in and out of the Port of Tampa mix with school buses and commuters' vehicles.

Anzulewicz said the Department of Transportation should prioritize the projects in its work plan and borrow funds from projects that aren't as crucial to pay for Causeway.

"Not only is this an evacuation route, it is an investment in our community," he said.

Reporter Tom Brennan can be reached at (813) 657-4528 or tbrennan@tampatrib.com.

Light rail gets on track

A St. Pete Times Editorial
Published September 15, 2006

Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio has hit on the key challenge facing this region by calling for a light rail commuter system that would serve the Tampa Bay area. There is time to vet the big questions: Where would the line go, what would it cost, who would pay and would car-crazy Floridians actually take the train? For now she has moved the ball forward, put the practicality of rail into a larger context and brought what's been a private-sector initiative more directly under government's wing.

Iorio's proposal, unveiled last week, is short on specifics but remarkable for how it recasts the policy debate. By incorporating rail with a better bus system, Iorio avoids criticism her plan is urban-centric and an unfair cost burden shifted onto underserved suburban communities. Indeed, the big winners under her proposal would be residents in the outlying neighborhoods, whose long and costly commutes, barring rail, will only worsen. Reaching across county lines to build a regional system recognizes that thousands of commuters use the bridges and highways in the Tampa Bay area every day. Iorio is the first elected official in Tampa in a decade with the clout to put rail on the public agenda, and she understands that Pinellas, Pasco and the private sector are key to overcoming resistance to rail by Hillsborough commissioners closely allied with the road, home-building and strip mall lobby.

Iorio wants to dust off two feasibility studies, one dating to 1993, and examine basing a rail system in Hillsborough that could extend to Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando and Polk counties. Her call adds momentum to an effort the Tampa Bay Partnership has pushed for months. The regional economic development group has called for unifying transportation efforts along the Gulf Coast, from Sarasota to Citrus counties, and for rail to play a "significant role," given that the region's 3.7-million residents could double in number the next 40 years.

Iorio's plan, for now, sidesteps the issue of forming a regional authority to manage these transit projects, which the partnership wants. That idea is practical, given the coordination, local tax support and united front in Congress any meaningful system would need to get off the ground and survive. But there is time to debate governance; more important now is to build the case that the region could never afford the concrete to meet its needs. By embracing the idea now, Iorio has put transportation on the front burner this election year.

Building a rational case and a political one are two separate things. Compared to new roads, rail may move people quicker, limit sprawl and be easier on the environment and cheaper in the long run. But area residents have not channeled their frustrations with commuting into a ground swell for rail. This effort also would require more cooperation among localities - whose wealth, populations and transit problems vary - than this region has ever seen. To sell the public, Iorio and others need more than statistics; they need to describe how rail would improve everyday life as the region grows, be it by attracting better jobs, making housing more affordable or putting time and money back in people's hands as we become less reliant on automobiles. Her wakeup call is a start.

County votes to cut tax rate by about 16%

CHARLOTTE COUNTY -- Four years ago, Alabama bartender Paul Moto bought five acres in Charlotte for $42,000 with the intention of building a home.

His investment has done incredibly well -- the property is now worth about $180,000 -- but with his property taxes soaring to more than $2,400 a year he can't afford that dream home anymore.

"I feel like a millionaire except I can't afford to pay the taxes on my property," Moto said.

In an effort to bring relief to residents like Moto, the County Commission on Thursday voted to lower the property tax rate about 16 percent, from 5.37 mills to 4.49 mills. A mill is equal to $1 for every $1,000 of taxable value.

Under the new rate, the owner of a home with $200,000 in taxable value would pay $898 in property taxes, a savings of $176 over last year's bill. The bill doesn't include charges for Municipal Service Benefit Units or school taxes.

But officials admitted Thursday the cut won't do much to help property owners not protected by Florida's Save Our Homes legislation, which caps the maximum property value increase at 3 percent a year.

Charlotte's total taxable property values went up about 50 percent this year. The increase, from $16.1 billion to $24.3 billion, left the county with more than $30 million in extra revenue.

The county's overall budget is about $900 million, up 20 percent over last year.

"I feel like we are trapped in our own homes and businesses," said Port Charlotte resident Park Pilikian, who drew applause when he stood up to complain about a tax bill that increased 300 percent.

The county's final property tax rate won't officially be set for another two weeks and could be lowered more at a Sept. 28 meeting. The new budget year begins Oct. 1.

Commissioner Tom D'Aprile said the rate cut will leave enough money for the county to provide services.

"We need a certain amount of revenue -- 'God-forbid money' if you will," he said.

Commissioners said Thursday they will never be able to cut property taxes enough to solve the problem of inflated property values.

Instead, state law makers should figure out a way to cap the value of all Florida property, said Commissioner Tom Moore.

"We can't do it on our own," D'Aprile said.

Angry home buyers air frustrations

Topic No. 1 at a meeting of upset homeowners: three home builders that take buyers' money but don't deliver finished, quality houses.

By DAN DEWITT
Published September 15, 2006

SPRING HILL - Connie Timpanaro's complaint about her home builder was different from many other grievances aired at a meeting Wednesday night:

In her case, the county could take immediate action.

She said a builder had failed to properly pour the foundation of her home and left wooden form boards that are now being eaten by termites.

County Commissioner Chris Kingsley said the county sent an inspector to her house on Thursday.

Addressing most of the other complaints will require long-term changes in the way builders work and the way the state and the county regulate them, said Kingsley, who helped organize the meeting.

He, several homeowners and state Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, arranged the meeting mostly to respond to the problems of Central Harbor Homes of New Port Richey, and Coral Bay Construction Co. and Designer Homes Inc., both of Spring Hill.

The three companies have collected payments from dozens of buyers in the past two years and failed to complete the contracted work.

Dockery was not able to attend, her office said, because of illness.

The homeowners who attended the meeting at the Senior Citizens Club of Hernando County mentioned other issues. Several of them, including Timpanaro, said county inspectors had failed to catch substandard construction.

And many of them echoed the final words of her complaint.

"I'm angry," she said.

Residents complained that the Sheriff's Office had not filed criminal charges against any of the troubled builders, and one of the buyers, Robert Kuderick, said he had never received word from deputies about the result of a complaint he filed against Designer.

"It's been six months since I filed that," he said.

Though no representatives from the Sheriff's Office spoke at the meeting, sheriff's spokeswoman Donna Black said last week that the investigation into Coral Bay was still active.

Other home buyers complained, as they have in the past, that the county Development Department had continued to issue permits to troubled builders.

Development director Grant Tolbert has repeatedly said he has little right to deny builders the right to request permits because contractors are regulated by the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

The homeowners also discussed two ideas to protect buyers in the future.

They favored changing the law that allows subcontractors to place liens against a homeowner even if the homeowner has paid the general contractor for work or materials.

At least one homeowner said the county should require residential builders to have bonds guaranteeing the completion of work they have been paid to do.

Both of those matters would require long-term action and, possibly, changing state law, Kingsley said.

"We can make movements to get all the people to support the legislation to take care of that," he said of the lien law.

Discussing the problems, as they did Wednesday night, was a good first step, he said.

The meeting "was meant to gather information and see what we need to do and who we need to talk to," Kingsley said.

"It worked out really well."

Dan DeWitt can be reached at dewitt@sptimes.com or 352 754-6116.

Frustrated homeowners ask for help from county

By TONY MARRERO
lmarrero@hernandotoday.com

SPRING HILL — One by one, homeowners took the microphone to tell their horror stories and vent their frustration with the builders who took their money but didn’t deliver.

Cracks in walls. Shoddy craftsmanship. One woman’s contractor built her house without installing concrete footers, prompting an engineer to warn her that roof collapse is “imminent.”

Other customers’ homes hadn’t been started after two years or more.

But homeowners also had plenty to say about what they saw as the county’s role in their plight. They levied sharp criticism at the building department.

“The county failed us because these are extreme circumstances,” said Ellie Ramirez, who said her son was swindled out of thousands of dollars by Central Harbor Homes and left with an unfinished house.

More than 80 people gathered at the Senior Citizens Club of Hernando County Wednesday night, invited by Commissioner Chris Kingsley to tell their stories and give input on how the county could help ease their pain.

“I’m positive in my heart and my brain that the county has not bent over backwards to help you in this process,” Kingsley told the group. “I know you’ve heard this before, but we’re going to try.”

Many attendees were victims of Central Harbor Homes and Coral Bay Construction. Coral Bay filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this year, leaving nearly 200 customers across Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties with unfinished homes or garages.

The company took hundreds of thousands of dollars in deposits but produced little to nothing for customers.

Customers of Central Harbor Homes have filed complaints with the county building department and the sheriff’s office over unfinished homes and sloppy construction.

The sheriff’s office is working with the State Attorney’s Office to investigate both companies.

Homeowners contended the building department should have a way to recognize telltale signs that something was amiss, including permits that sit at the department’s office for months waiting for builders to pick them up.

Brooksville resident Walt Harfmann, a customer of Coral Bay, said he was told by a building inspector that the contractor had more than 40 permits expire because they weren’t retrieved from the building department six months after they were issued.

“How can the county continue to offer them the right to take people’s money when they have a stack of permits that haven’t been touched,” Harfmann said. “I don’t know what else to call it except negligent.”

Tom Dampman of Weeki Wachee is unsatisfied with his contractor’s work and called his home “a piece of crap.” He said he has become increasingly exasperated that the building department won’t allow him to pull new permits so he can complete the job.

“I should be able to fire this guy and finish the house myself,” Dampman said. “I just want my permits.”

Others said the department dragged its feet or offered conflicting information.

Kingsley and county administrators vowed to follow up on complaints, but warned that chaos caused by bad builders will have to be unraveled in the courts and prevented in the future with action by the state legislature.

County Administrator Gary Kuhl said the county could help by compiling a list of contacts, such as that state’s Construction Industry Licensing Board.

“At least you would know where to start,” Kuhl said.

Kingsley promised a follow-up meeting.

No representatives from the building department attended the meeting. Reached Thursday, county building director Grant Tolbert said he wasn’t invited.

He said he has assigned investigators to work with customers of bad or suspect builders but in most cases his department is limited by state laws.

“The frustration was as much on our side as it was on theirs because there’s so little we can do to help,” Tolbert said.

Under state law, the contractor is owner of the permits and the copyright on the building plans, “even if that contractor has defrauded them,” he said.

In the case of Central Harbor, owner Steve Penna released permits and plans so customers could finish their homes, said Ron Aliff, an investigator with the building department.

Unsatisfied homeowners often seek to secure the certificate of occupancy from the department to prevent builders from taking the final draw on an account. But state law forbids the building department from releasing the certificate to anyone but the builder, Tolbert said.

And he said permits that sit at his office for months aren’t necessarily a red flag of bad builders. When his department falls behind in issuing permits, staff will work weekends to catch up, which can swamp builders with permits all at once.

Tolbert said his department would be willing to consider some kind of system to evaluate builders but he questioned the legality of that.

“You don’t want to come up with a program that’s potentially negative for the good builders out there,” he said.

He said the state’s lien laws could be amended to give more protection to the homeowner so they are not left with a contractor’s debts, and that the legislature should up the amount contractors are required to hold in bond protection.

Reporter Tony Marrero can be contacted at 352-544-5286.

Agency OKs Connerton Development In Airport's Flight Path

By KEVIN WIATROWSKI The Tampa Tribune

Published: Sep 15, 2006

NEW PORT RICHEY - County officials on Thursday approved a new section of the massive Connerton development in north-central Pasco, despite potential conflicts with a nearby private airport.

Miami-based Lennar Inc. plans to build 1,250 homes on the 1,100-acre parcel near the junction of U.S. 41 and State Road 52.

The parcel is bisected north to south by the flight path for Pilot Country Estates, a private airport catering to small-plane owners.

Pilot Country lies just north of S.R. 52 from the Lennar property.

The Connerton project is the latest development to conflict with an airport in recent years.

Changes at Wesley Chapel's Tampa North Aero Park last year provoked sharp reactions from residents of Lexington Oaks who live under the airport's northern flight path.

That outcry later prompted the county's Development Review Committee to require Seven Oaks' developer to notify future home buyers that they would be living under Tampa North's southern flight path.

County Administrator John Gallagher, who chairs the committee, revived that requirement for Connerton, despite resistance from the developer's attorney, Ben Harrill of New Port Richey.

"We've had bad experiences in the past with developers selling houses under the flight paths," Gallagher said.

County officials were particularly concerned about Lennar's plan to build three-story town houses in the federally mandated clear zone off the end of the runway. The town houses could be up to 45 feet tall.

Premier Design Homes won federal approval in November for a similar town house development, Cypress Village, across County Road 54 from the northern end of Tampa North Aero Park's runway.

At that time, county officials worried about planes colliding with the buildings.

Perhaps anticipating those thoughts Thursday, Harrill said the clear zone concern is more about noise than safety.

"An airplane can crash anywhere," he said.

Also Thursday, committee members:

•Approved rezoning for Wesley Chapel's Grantham Ranch to allow more than 400 homes on the property straddling Old Pasco Road. The proposal drew neighbors concerned that it might exacerbate flooding in the Quail Hollow area.

•Approved variances to the county's tree replacement rules for three developers in exchange for a total of $57,387.25 paid to the county's Tree Mitigation Fund. The fund pays for landscaping in public areas such as road medians.

•Approved the construction of just over a mile of Chancey Road from Bruce B. Downs Boulevard east into Wiregrass Ranch. The road will be built as part of Pulte Home Corp.'s first phase of home construction on the 5,000-acre ranch.

Orlando home sales slide in August

Meanwhile, a record number of homes -- more than 20,000 -- are awaiting buyers.

Jerry W. Jackson
Sentinel Staff Writer

September 15, 2006

Exactly one year after hitting an all-time high, Orlando's existing-home sales had their slowest August in four years last month as the area's housing market continued losing steam at a slow but steady pace.

The number of homes resold in the core Orlando market dropped nearly 34 percent compared with August 2005, the single-busiest month in the history of the Orlando Regional Realtor Association's central listing service.

The median price of the homes sold held relatively steady, at $249,900, but the market's inventory of available properties continued to grow, surpassing 20,000 for the first time.

Sellers, increasingly thwarted by the high number of competing homes, are beginning to fret as the weeks tick by without a sale.

Maria Rivera, who has been trying to sell her two-bedroom, two-bath Port Orange home for nearly a year, said Thursday that she is about to list her property with a Realtor once again -- her third listing since last October.

Rivera has tried without success in recent months to sell the house on her own, after her first two Realtor listings expired.

"My original price was $240,000, but now the price has been lowered to $219,000," she said. Adding to her frustration, Rivera is trying to relocate to Texas because a daughter there needs help caring for her husband, who has health problems as a result of a tour of duty in Iraq.

Rivera said she fears that rising property-insurance rates and taxes are key reasons buyers are reluctant to make offers these days.

A total of 2,077 homes changed hands in August through the Mid-Florida Regional Multiple Listing Service, compared with 3,134 a year earlier. It was the lowest total for August since 2002, when 1,957 homes were sold.

As a result, the year-to-date total for 2006 fell behind last year's record-setting pace for the first time: 19,404 homes were sold in the core market as defined by local Realtors -- mainly Orange and Seminole counties -- compared with 20,702 during the first eight months of last year.

Existing-home sales within the broader metropolitan area -- Lake, Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties combined -- also were down, by 31 percent when compared with August of last year, and year-to-date sales in the four-county metro area are running 3.1 percent below last year's pace.

But 2005 was a "chart-topping year," and 2006 could still wind up as the second-best sales year on record for the Orlando market, local Realtor President Beverly Pindling said Thursday.

"The factors that buoy a local economy -- creation of new jobs, a population influx, the state of commercial real estate -- remain very viable in Orlando," Pindling said.

The $249,900 median price in August was just 2 percent higher than the median in August 2005. The median -- the price at which half the homes sold for more, half for less -- has been stuck between $239,900 and $252,900 for more than a year now, after a spectacular run-up during the preceding two years.

Mortgage interest rates nationwide actually dropped a bit in August after six months of increases: The average for a 30-year, fixed-rate loan fell from 6.53 percent in July to 6.20 percent in August.

The inventory of available homes continued its upward trend into record territory with a net gain of 1,250 listings in August. Inventory last month totaled 21,077 properties, the equivalent of a 10-month supply of homes.

The last time the inventory-to-sales ratio was that high was back in February 1997.

The average number of days that homes spent on the market edged up to 62 in August. That's more than double the time it typically took to sell a home in 2005, when it dipped as low as 27 days during the hottest sales stretch in mid-summer. But 62 days on the market is not high by the area's historical standards. In the late 1990s, for example, it generally took at least 70 or 80 days to sell a home in the Orlando area, and the wait sometimes topped three months.

Newly built homes are now being added to the Realtors' Multiple Listing Service in significant numbers, and that's a new wrinkle, said Anthony Crocco, Central Florida division director for Metrostudy, which tracks new-home activity.

"This is really something we haven't seen before," Crocco said. The number of new homes being offered through Realtors is now "in the thousands," he said, as increasingly desperate investors or speculators decide to compete directly with the previously owned homes that typically comprise the Realtors' listings.

The backlog of unsold homes is actually worse in coastal counties such as Brevard, Crocco said, though builders are rapidly throttling back on construction regionwide as contracts are canceled and potential buyers walk away from their deposits.

Area Realtors say they are holding more weekend open houses and hustling harder than ever -- particularly for sellers such as Rivera, who need to relocate and are not just testing the market with unreasonably high asking prices.

"I still have faith someone will fall in love with it," Rivera said of her Volusia County home.

Jerry W. Jackson can be reached at jwjackson@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5721.

232 homes, 380 condos planned by airport, I-75

Developer's goal: 'get as close to work force housing as we can'

PUNTA GORDA -- A 138-acre swath of undeveloped land along the east side of I-75 near the Charlotte County Airport is set to become the area's newest planned community.

Fort Meyers-based Land Solutions Inc. plans to turn the property into 232 single-family homes and 380 town homes aimed at middle-income buyers.

Initial plans earned approval Thursday from the county's Development Review Committee.

"Our goal is to get as close to work force housing as we can," said Ron Inge, chief operating officer for Land Solutions and its sister company, Development Solutions LLC. "This will not be something that's upscale."

Inge said it was too early to give a price range for the homes. The project, called Oak Haven, would be bordered to the north and south by Jones Loop Road southeast of Punta Gorda.

"We didn't see any major problems," said DRC Chairman Tom Burns.

Plans for the property call for the destruction of less than one acre of wetlands. As required by the county, about 40 acres are being preserved as open space, including a pond and land that abuts Alligator Creek.

Airport Director Gary Quill said he was concerned that the project's close proximity to the airport would affect its future.

"A lot of airports around this country have closed because of residential encroachment," Quill said.

Quill asked that a condition be placed on the development that requires the company to notify potential home buyers in writing about the airport during the title transfer process, making it less likely that the airport could be sued over noise complaints.

Inge said his company would comply with Quill's request.

Land Solutions has been the primary developer or project manager for more than two dozen projects throughout Southwest Florida, Inge said.

This is the company's fourth development in Charlotte County, he said. One previous project was the 349-unit Devonshire community.

The company, which has an office in Port Charlotte, also does work for other developers and land owners.

The 138 acres near the airport actually are owned by SW Florida Land Fifteen LLC, which is controlled byLand Solutions owner Randy Thibaut.

School Ave. condo plan on track

City OKs a land-use change over Alta Vista neighbors' objections

SARASOTA -- City commissioners late Thursday gave an important boost to a developer's plan to build 400 condominium units -- about 130 of which could be reserved for Sarasota's hospital workers, teachers and law enforcement officers.

The 3-2 approval of a major land-use change for the School Avenue property came after residents in the Alta Vista neighborhood begged commissioners to slow the project, pleading that the new condos and traffic would jam local roads and ruin the quaint enclave near Payne Park.

Commissioners could not resist the urge for affordable housing, especially after being forced last week to reject a strategy to create moderately priced units in and around downtown.

Supporters of the project included representatives of Sarasota Memorial Hospital and Doctors Hospital of Sarasota, who argued that the development could provide needed housing for its employees. Attorneys for the developer touted a freshly signed agreement with Habitat for Humanity, which could run the developer's unique affordable housing program.

Neighbors and resident leaders say affordable housing is a front for a project that didn't fit in with the Alta Vista residential area.

One city planner said that the project was "inconsistent" with the city's comprehensive plan and development code, bringing downtown height and density to a single-family neighborhood. Attorneys for developer Ron Burks disagreed.

Planner Doug James also said that the developer's affordable housing program lacked details, as well as a written commitment to build affordable units.

"I know the city is thirsty for affordable housing, but this is not going to be the vehicle to quench that," James said. "The devil's in the details. Staff doesn't believe the details are here."

Developer Burks said he's come up with a novel idea for affordable housing, and he'll work the details out.

"Sarasota has no affordable housing," he said.

"It's hard for me to come up with a plan when no one's ever done it."

The meeting proved contentious at times as emotions piqued over a project that could transform the area surrounding Payne Park.

Burks' project will span 9.5 acres and include the derelict Scotty's store. Burks said his project is essential to beautifying the landscape around Payne Park, which some officials want to turn into Sarasota's Central Park.

More than 30 speakers came in front of the commission, many of them against the project. Some wore black T-shirts that read, "How Dense Can Sarasota Get?"

On the other side were residents who think that neighborhood leaders were using misinformation to create fear among residents wary of change.

The project has had controversial moments.

In April, the developer made last-minute changes to his plan, and two commissioners wouldn't even vote on it.

The other three commissioners voted to move the plan forward.

Settlement Near In Magnolia Well Case

By JULIA FERRANTE The Tampa Tribune

Published: Sep 15, 2006

NEW PORT RICHEY - County attorneys say they are close to reaching a settlement with a Magnolia Estates couple to keep them from using a well that many say never should have been dug.

Pasco attorneys have offered the Burches $14,500 for digging the well and associated costs, Chief Assistant County Attorney Barbara Wilhite said Wednesday. The county is to share the expense with Magnolia Estates' developers and attorneys, who failed to follow through with restrictions on wells in the neighborhood.

"We are continuing to work with them to finalize the settlement," Wilhite said, noting that the parties must identify all costs and agree on how the well would be capped to ensure it cannot be used.

Lisa and Howard Burch secured a permit for an irrigation well in June and paid to have the well dug in July. They were unaware of a county provision against wells in their neighborhood, Lisa Burch has said.

In 2002, county commissioners approved Magnolia Estates, a community of 190 homes between Perrine Ranch Road and the Pasco-Pinellas county line, but included a condition that homes be served by county water and sewer systems.

Agreements said that "no individual wells or septic tanks [either shallow or deep] shall be permitted for individual lot usage."

The residents of neighboring Oak Ridge and the Stockman Road area, who are served by private wells, argued at the time that wells in Magnolia Estates would threaten their own.

The provision was supposed to be included in deed restrictions for Magnolia Estates, but that never happened. The only prohibition is what County Attorney Robert Sumner calls a "vague" reference in development agreements.

Lisa Burch, who was unavailable for comment Wednesday, has said she and her husband secured a well permit from the Southwest Florida Water Management District, which also was unaware of the county restriction.

According to a 2002 meeting transcript, lawyer Steve Booth, representing Magnolia Estates' developers, promised to include in deed restrictions a provision against wells.

The developers later sold the property to Ryland Homes, and the provision was never included.

Doug Lines, who represents the Oak Ridge Homeowners Association, said the county, the developers and their attorneys should pay for their mistakes.

"The county shouldn't be spending one dime of taxpayer money to pay them [the Burches] off, because it was their mistake," Lines said. "I won't be happy until three things happen: They pay off Mr. Burch, they seal the well - and by seal I mean pour it full of concrete, and Ryland Homes needs to amend the deed restrictions to say, 'No wells.'"

County attorneys initially offered the Burches $10,000, but the couple wanted additional compensation for irrigation costs, which they estimate at about $300 per month with county water, Wilhite said. Monday, the Burches said they planned to use the well next week, Wilhite said.

That prompted county Commissioner Jack Mariano to suggest court action against the couple. But fellow commissioners did not support that approach, fearing that if the county lost, additional wells would be dug.

The attorneys instead plan to file court affidavits attesting to the commission's intent that no wells or septic tanks be allowed. They also are sending certified letters to residents informing them of the county restrictions. Magnolia Estates residents have said they plan to amend their deed restrictions to prevent future disputes.

Pasco officials also have asked the water district to inform them if it receives additional applications for wells in the area. District officials have agreed to notify the county, Wilhite said. As it stands, though, the district has no basis to deny such permits.

Reporter Julia Ferrante can be reached at (813) 948-4220 or jferrante@tampatrib.com.

Greenway backer seeks help from Palm Beach County

By Chuck McGinness

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Friday, September 15, 2006

WEST PALM BEACH — For the serious bicyclist or hiker, it would be an incomparable experience — a 2,950-mile trail stretching from Calais, Maine, to Key West.

Herb Hiller, an author, ecotourism advocate and consultant for the East Coast Greenway Alliance, met Thursday with the Palm Beach County's bicycle, greenways and pedestrian committee to talk about mapping a route for the trail through the area.

The Wakefield, R.I.-based alliance does not build facilities but works with local officials to designate existing off-road trails, nature corridors, bike lanes and low-traffic roads to be part of the greenway, Hiller said.

"We have trails happening just about everywhere in the state of Florida now," he said. "This trail is going to happen. People like it too much."

Often referred to as an urban Appalachian Trail, the East Coast Greenway runs through 15 states and Washington, D.C. More than 20 percent is open to public use.

In Florida, some segments already have been designated, including the Flagler Drive Trail in downtown West Palm Beach, the Overseas Heritage Trail in the Keys and the River to Sea Trail in Flagler County.

One idea is to continue the greenway west of the Intracoastal Waterway or along Lake Osborne and Lake Ida in south county. Another possibility is to put it along the edge of the Everglades and Lake Okeechobee, where the state is building a paved multi-use pathway.

It's not likely to go along State Road A1A, where small coastal towns have opposed the construction of wide bike lanes.

"West Palm Beach would like to be the shining star to welcome the trail," said Raphael Clemente, director of transportation, planning and public services for the Downtown Development Authority. "It (Flagler Drive) is good now, but it's going to be much better soon."

The city is working on a multi-million-dollar plan to renovate the waterfront and create more park space to encourage walking and biking.

The East Coast Greenway offers visitors a little bit of everything, from the rocky coast of Maine and the historic and cultural sites of New England to the skyline of Manhattan and the architectural treasures of St. Augustine and Miami Beach.

Among the well-known segments of the greenway are the National Mall, the Hudson River Greenway, Boston's Charles River Bikeway and the American Tobacco Trail in Durham, N.C.

The alliance wants to create an alternate route in Florida, providing access through Orlando to the Gulf Coast.

Locally, the greenway will attract tourists, giving an economic boost to cities involved in urban renewal and redevelopment projects, said Hiller, whose book, Highway A1A: Florida at the Edge, serves as a travel guide for counties along the state's east coast.

It will work if there's strong grass-roots support and the political will to make it happen, just as it did in bicycle-friendly cities such as Madison, Wis., and Boulder, Colo., said Bret Baronak, the county's bike and pedestrian coordinator.

"There's always promise," Baronak said.

Park development plan leaves residents unimpressed

By Jason Schultz

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Friday, September 15, 2006

STUART — People who reviewed a plan to develop the south end of Halpatiokee Regional Park on Thursday night mostly came back with one suggestion — it needs more work.

More than 30 residents attended the meeting, and overall most said the proposals included too much man-made influence and not enough nature.

Runners and hikers said the trails weren't long enough. And kayakers were unhappy with the proposed docks and fishing platforms along the South Fork of the St. Lucie River.

"They will reduce the wildlife experience we get from kayaking on the river," said Laurie Odlum, who has lived on the river for six years.

Bikers at the meeting in Blake Library said they did not want to see buildings or access roads in the southern end of the park, which is next to Interstate 95.

Martin County's plan includes three different kinds of hiking and biking trails, picnic tables, kayak launches, walkway bridges, fishing platforms, a nature center and a campground on a lake. The plan also calls for about six miles of trails. "It's a pretty minimalist plan," said Russell Moore, a Sarasota-based consultant hired by the county to create a master plan for 347 acres at the southern end.

The state Department of Environmental Protection and the South Florida Water Management District own the land at the south end of the park. Patrick Vicknair, the county's project manager, said construction of any facilities that involve active recreation, such as ball fields, are prohibited in that area. According to the plan, the proposed nature center, resting areas and campground will be designed to look rustic and will be built on upland areas to minimize impacts to wetlands, Moore said. After listening to the suggestions on Thursday, Moore said the plan would probably be changed to combine the separate hiking and biking trails into multi-use trails.

Vicknair said he hoped to take the proposal before the Martin County Commission on Oct. 24. Vicknair said the consultants have not determined how much the park will cost.

Kevin Landry, the county parks development administrator, said the county has not set aside any money to actually build anything related to their plan. He said a proposed county half-cent sales tax on the Nov. 7 ballot could provide the money needed. The sales tax, proposed by the county's parks and recreation advisory board, would pay for building park projects and buying land for conservation.

No Home On The Range

By RONNIE BLAIR The Tampa Tribune

Published: Sep 15, 2006

WESLEY CHAPEL - Rain threatened as agriculture teacher Anne Hammer and three students lugged buckets of feed across the field behind Thomas E. Weightman Middle School.

Eight calves eyed the buckets hungrily and trotted toward the feeding trough.

"We go through a lot of feed," said Jenna Ferreira, 15, a former Weightman Middle student who helps with the school's agriculture program.

"No one can tell us we don't feed our animals," Hammer said.

That's a big check mark. The animals are well-fed.

Whether they are well protected from the elements is another matter.

Hammer and members of the school's FFA chapter say the answer is "no."

A small lean-to provides the pasture's only cover from the relentless Florida sun and the afternoon showers that sweep across the field.

The cow and eight calves that call the pasture home can fall prey to sunburn, heat stress and pneumonia because they lack a shelter they can scurry to when Mother Nature turns unkind, Hammer said.

The school's FFA members want to change that. They are raising money to build a pole barn for the livestock. Hammer said about $22,000 is needed.

So far, the FFA has collected about $1,000. Among businesses that contributed are Nortrax, Cap's Tiki Hut, Beef O'Brady's, Quail Hollow Animal Hospital and Texlea Distributors.

Anyone who wants to contribute can contact Hammer at (813) 794-0276 or aneel@ pasco.k12.fl.us.

Hammer said the dream of building a barn isn't recent.

"We were talking about it last year, but it didn't go anywhere," Hammer said.

When this school year started, Hammer discussed the need with school district officials.

"They said go for it," she said.

The district plans to pitch in money for the barn, though it's unclear how much because the district is just finishing with two other pole barns at Pasco High School in Dade City and Zephyrhills High School, Hammer said.

She guesses Weightman Middle's barn won't be up until near the end of this school year.

"We're going to be dedicating the barn to my dad when it's done," Hammer said.

Her father, David Neel, died in March 2005, the victim of a random highway shooting on Interstate 75 in Tampa.

The slaying remains unsolved.

Neel often volunteered his time to help his daughter and her students.

The agriculture program at Weightman has a number of animals, including a hog, two goats, two guinea pigs and four rabbits.

The cow and calves, though, will be the primary residents of the barn because the school already has a shelter for the hog and the goats, and the rabbits and guinea pigs stay inside the classroom.

Agriculture students help care for the animals. One afternoon this week, eighth-graders Marcus Crescentini and Stephen McKinney, both 13, joined Hammer and Ferreira for the after-school excursion to feed the calves.

The two boys hope to show calves at one of the fairs scheduled in February and March. Weightman students participate in the Pasco County Fair, the Florida State Fair, the Florida Strawberry Festival and the Sumter County Fair.

Hammer said about 40 to 50 students belong to FFA. They must apply to show one of the eight calves because there aren't enough to go around.

Crescentini and McKinney aren't sure whether agriculture careers are in their futures, but they like Hammer's class.

"I like being around the animals and stuff because I never had a chance to do that before," Crescentini said.