Sprawling south Lake community rejected

But the county may reconsider the project this summer after updating its plan for growth.
Robert Sargent | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted May 31, 2006

TAVARES -- The Lake County Commission on Tuesday turned down a community of 5,200 homes that could have opened up a vast stretch of rural pastures and groves to heavy growth spilling over from other Central Florida counties.

The 5-0 vote followed a nearly seven-hour meeting that saw dozens of local residents and government officials pack the County Commission chambers to offer impassioned arguments against the sprawling Karlton community.

It was the first big development in recent history that did not win county approval.

But the battle concerning the 2,000-acre project isn't over.

County commissioners decided not to send the Karlton proposal to state planners for further review. However, they told the West Palm Beach-based Karl Corp. that it could come back with its request this summer after the county updates its comprehensive-development plan that serves as a blueprint for growth.

Among the biggest concerns of those opposed to the project are what it would mean to traffic-packed roads, Lake's dwindling rural lifestyle and the need for more schools.

"I don't think people understand the gravity of the problem, and I don't think you [commissioners] are going to understand it," said Lake School Board Chairman Jimmy Conner, in a passionate request to stop Karlton.

"We are so far behind [with building schools], it could take years to catch up."

The proposed Karlton site is south of Clermont and east of Lake Louisa on a rural piece of land just inside Lake and west of Orange's massive Horizon West community, proposed to accommodate 40,000 residential units.

Clermont resident Choice Edwards cautioned Lake commissioners about rushing to approve new growth.

"I believe this has been too little, too late for something too big, too soon," he said.

Lake is the 21st-fastest-growing county in the country, with nearly 280,000 residents and about 470,000 projected by 2025.

The county currently is overhauling its comprehensive plan. But the state Department of Community Affairs recently told Lake officials that, beginning July 1, they cannot approve any more changes to the current plan in order to accommodate big developments such as Karlton until the update is completed.

Commissioners originally seemed split on Karlton.

Bob Pool, who represents south Lake, initially praised the development:

"It's not easy, it's not fun, but somebody has to have a vision for the future," he told the audience.

But then Pool did a dramatic turnaround when he realized Karlton did not have a majority of votes. Pool later said he changed his position on the large development to avoid dissension on the County Commission.

Chairwoman Catherine Hanson said the Karlton plans need more work and that the county should do an areawide study for development in that portion of south Lake.

Commissioners Welton Cadwell and Jennifer Hill both said the project was too soon while Lake is redoing its comprehensive plan.

"The timing of this project concerns me more than anything else," Cadwell said.

Commissioner Debbie Stivender had positive comments about Karlton, saying that "it is a community that helps take care of itself."

Karlton had become the target of enormous protest from south Lake residents lobbying to slow the rapid pace of growth through the rural areas once dominated by citrus trees and cattle pastures.

Debate about growth has been building for several years as the county and cities approve different residential projects to bring thousands more homes.

Many schools are overcrowded, and school leaders lack money to build new facilities. Traffic also is a problem in south Lake, where State Road 50 and U.S. Highway 27 handle most of the vehicles.

Karlton proposed a $36 million roadway, the Karl Kahlert Parkway, to provide a four-lane route connecting Orange and Lake counties from U.S. 27 south of Clermont to S.R. 429, which cuts through Horizon West.

Representatives for Karlton also proposed to find funding -- possibly from a special tax district -- to build elementary and middle schools.

"Schools -- if we don't build them, we won't be building the houses," said land-use attorney Steve Richey, who was representing the developer.

Karlton's plans call for 5,211 homes -- about half restricted to owners 50 and older -- as well as a 100-acre medical campus.

Karlton could be completed in 10 years with more than 12,000 new residents -- a population larger than most cities currently in Lake County.

Robert Sargent can be reached at rsargent@orlandosentinel.com or 352-742-5909.

 

Manatees endangered no more?

The state's fish and wildlife commission is poised to take the sea mammal off the endangered species list next week.

By CRAIG PITTMAN, Times Staff Writer
Published May 31, 2006

For five years, boating advocates angry about restrictions on their hobby have pushed state officials to take manatees off the endangered species list.

Next week, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is poised to do just that. But the commission's executive director said Tuesday that it will not lead to a rollback of boating restrictions.

Boating advocates expecting fewer regulations "are going to be disappointed by the end result,'' executive director Ken Haddad warned during a meeting with the St. Petersburg Times editorial board. "It doesn't mean we go in and start removing speed zones.''

But environmental advocates worry that state legislators will weaken manatee protections "using the theory that they're doing so much better that we don't need to protect them so much,'' said Pat Rose of the Save the Manatee Club.

An estimated 3,000 manatees swim in Florida's waterways. Computer models have found no chance that the species will go extinct in the next century, but the population could decline by at least 50 percent over the next 45 years.

That doesn't qualify the manatee as endangered under new criteria that state wildlife officials adopted recently. Instead, it fits the "threatened" designation.

Haddad and his staff are meeting with newspaper editorial writers around Florida this week as part of an unusual publicity campaign by the agency to deal with the expected controversy over reclassifying the manatee, a license-plate icon that Gov. Jeb Bush once declared "my favorite mammal.''

Yet no matter what the commission decides, Haddad's staff predicts that speeding boats will continue to cause a quarter of all documented manatee deaths each year.

"It's always been 25 percent, and we assume it will continue to be 25 percent,'' said Elsa Haubold, leader of the agency's species conservation planning section.

To boating activists such as Tom McGill of Citizens for Florida's Waterways, that means manatee regulations aren't working and ought to be changed.

"If they really want to be reasonable,'' he said, "they ought to take a lot of these slow speed zones and put a higher speed channel in the middle of it.''

Manatees were placed on the earliest endangered species list in 1967. Federal officials are reassessing the manatee's endangered status and hope to finish later this year.

Boat hulls and keels crack manatees' skulls and ribs, while the propellers slice their skin. Meanwhile, waterfront homes and marinas line the estuaries, rivers and springs where they once found refuge.

Boat ownership has continued to boom in Florida, hitting an all-time high in 2004 of more than 980,000 registered watercraft.

Last year, 80 of the 396 manatees that died were killed by boats, and an estimated two-thirds of all adult manatees carry scars from boats.

Six years ago, a coalition of environmental and animal welfare groups sued the state and federal governments, arguing both had violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to protect manatees from boats. Settling the lawsuits resulted in extensive new restrictions on boating and development, which led to a political backlash

"We're getting people that hate the manatee now,'' Haddad said. "That was unheard of 15 years ago.'' He compared it to "a kind of a little disease that starts to spread. ... Then the politicians get involved.''

When aerial surveys counted the most manatees in 30 years, boating activists petitioned the commission to reclassify manatees.

"There are a lot of people who feel there are way too many manatees," state wildlife commissioner Richard Corbett, a Tampa mall developer, said in 2004.

The commission is currently chaired by Rodney Barreto, a Miami lobbyist whose firm once represented a condo developer fighting manatee rules that prevented him from building a dock.

Besides downgrading manatees, Haddad is also recommending that the commission vote to upgrade gopher tortoises from a "species of special concern'' to a "threatened'' species. However, he could not say exactly how his agency would step up protection of the tortoise. Currently, developers can simply pave over their burrows after writing a check to the state.

"We're realists. We know you just can't stop development,'' Haddad said.

"If we just said you can't touch gopher tortoises from here on out, then virtually all the developable land in Florida would be off-limits.''

Plans In Works to Raise, Clean Lake Hancock

By Tom Palmer
The Ledger

LAKELAND -- Lakeland engineer Bob Hayes will locate a pair of plants designed to improve water quality in Lake Hancock on a private ranch on the northern edge of the lake, he announced Tuesday.

Hayes plans two plants. One will turn the estimated 4.5 million tons of muck on the bottom of the 4,519-acre lake into fertilizer. The second will clean water flowing into the lake via Saddle Creek.

Lake Hancock, which sits at the headwaters of the Peace River, is one of the most polluted lakes in Florida and is the main contributor to poor water quality in the river.

The plant will be located on a ranch owned by Lynn and Leigh Hampton.

Hayes and the Hamptons reached a "meeting of the minds" last week, said Keith Wadsworth, the Hamptons' lawyer.

He called it a "preliminary arrangement," explaining there are unresolved details such as defining exactly which piece of property will be involved and the operating time frame for the project.

Hayes said he is pursuing permits for the plant. He will need a zoning permit from the Polk County Planning Commission and various environmental permits from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

He said he expects to be ready to break ground by next summer.

Hayes estimates the operation will last six years.

Meanwhile, Swiftmud officials are still working out the final details with Polk County on plans to raise the lake's level to store water to replenish the Peace River during droughts to maintain river flow as required by state law.

The key document is a memorandum of agreement, which is expected to come before Swiftmud's Governing Board next month, said Mark Hammond, Swiftmud's director of resource management.

Swiftmud's talks with Polk County mainly deal with the effect of any lake-level rise on the North Central Landfill, which is east of Saddle Creek and a short distance north of the lake.

If Swiftmud and Polk County can work out an agreement, Hammond said the next step will be to submit the project to the DEP for review to see whether the agency will issue a permit for the work. He expects an answer by January.

Hammond said if DEP gives them the initial go-ahead on the permits, he will go back to Swiftmud's Governing Board to get a decision on whether to go ahead and raise the lake and buy a number of homes along the lake and Saddle Creek that would be flooded by the new lake level.

He said Swiftmud officials are still working on a plan to filter water flowing out of the lake to reduce pollution flowing into the river, which serves as a drinking water source in downstream coastal areas.

Swiftmud officials purchased land and set a plan in motion to treat the water before Hayes announced his project.

Hammond said Hayes' project could be a potential benefit to Swiftmud's goals.

"If he can get rid of the muck at no cost to the taxpayers, we're supportive," he said.

Tom Palmer can be reached at tom.palmer@theledger.com or 863-802-7535.

Sprawl Outruns Arizona's Biosphere

By FRED A. BERNSTEIN

ORACLE, Ariz.

IN 1991, eight researchers in dark blue Star Trek-style uniforms entered Biosphere 2 — a vast terrarium in the Arizona desert north of Tucson — hoping to spend two years inside without importing food, water or even air. The goal was to see whether the sealed environment, considered a microcosm of the Earth's, could become self-sustaining.

As it turns out, the real science experiment was going on outside, as development conquered vast swaths of the Sonoran Desert. The Biosphere, miles from nowhere when it was built in the 1980's, is now within the reach of a building boom streaking north from Tucson and south from Phoenix (and which some demographers say will eventually join the two cities, once 100 miles apart).

The Biosphere was designed to simulate the Earth's environment. By succumbing to sprawl, it may have done just that.

After spending a reported $200 million on the Biosphere, the Texas oil heir Ed Bass is about to sell the building and its surrounding 1,658 acres to Fairfield Homes of Tucson.

Richard Foerster of Tucson Realty & Trust, a veteran broker in the area, estimated to be worth about $25,000 an acre, or $40 million. At that price, Mr. Bass would be losing at least $160 million.

Martin Bowen, the president of Decisions Investments, a holding company controlled by Mr. Bass, said that there were "ongoing discussions" with Fairfield Homes about ways to save the three-acre Biosphere building, and that Mr. Bass would "prefer that it be used for the purpose it was built for."

But, Mr. Bowen said, Mr. Bass's contract with Fairfield does not require the buyer to preserve the structure. That means, he said, that "when the deal closes, probably later this year, our options for saving the Biosphere will be over."

It could be replaced by a housing development called Biosphere Estates. In January, Fairfield registered that name and a number of variants with the State of Arizona.

David Williamson, the president of Fairfield, said only that the deal is "in escrow," and that he would not comment on plans for the site.

If Biosphere Estates is built, it will join dozens of other new developments in Pinal County, including SaddleBrooke Resort, an upscale retirement development just south of the Biosphere property.

Last year, there were nearly 19,000 building permits issued for new houses in the county, triple the number in 2003, according to Paul Larkin, the county's tax assessor.

"And that's just the tip of the iceberg," he said. "Driving in to work this morning, I took a different route, and I saw two new subdivisions that I didn't know existed."

The population of Pinal (rhymes with canal) County, currently about 250,000, will probably reach one million by about 2020, said Elliott D. Pollack, an economist and real estate analyst based in Scottsdale, Ariz. "The growth is coming from Tucson in the south and Phoenix in the north," he said. "Pinal is where the available land is."

Twenty years ago, Mr. Bass chose the Biosphere site, in the town of Oracle, because of its remoteness at the base of the Santa Catalina Mountains. The goal was to bring in groups of "bionauts" for two years at a time for 100 years.

But during the first two-year mission that began in 1991, the Biosphere was beset by one problem after another: Oxygen dwindled, and the sea became acidic. Crops failed, causing the bionauts to lose weight rapidly, while ants and other insects thrived.

Biosphere administrators later admitted that they had secretly pumped 600,000 cubic feet of fresh air into the Biosphere, supplemented the bionauts' home-grown diet with stored food and smuggled in emergency supplies. Then, two bionauts were arrested for breaking the Biosphere's seals. Soon the 100-year experiment was abandoned, and the Biosphere was reopened as a tourist site. Visitors were now allowed inside, where the sights include 3,800 species of plants and a million-gallon sea.

Joaquin Ruiz, the dean of the College of Science at the University of Arizona in Tucson, said that because of its size, the Biosphere is "an important instrument."

Dr. Ruiz participated in a conference at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington in March 2005 to determine whether the Biosphere could still serve a useful function.

"The consensus was that it could," Dr. Ruiz said. "It is indeed an enormous terrarium, but the scaling of that terrarium allows you do to large-scale ecology experiments that cannot be done anywhere else." For example, he said, the Biosphere could be used to simulate the effects of the loss of small amounts of moisture in a desert, helping scientists understand the effects of a drought.

Now it looks as if those experiments will never happen.

On a recent Friday, traffic was bumper to bumper on Oracle Road, outside the entrance to the Biosphere grounds. Roads were torn up, as construction crews dug trenches for water mains to serve the growing population. But at the Biosphere, there were about 10 cars in the parking lot and about that many people in the visitor center.

"Clearly, you can't run it as a tourist attraction," said Mr. Bowen, the president of Decisions. "It's too expensive to maintain." (According to a sales brochure for the Biosphere property, Mr. Bass has spent $18 million on maintenance and another $9 million on major improvements in the last eight years.)

Because of the investment and maintenance costs, "you can't just keep it sitting empty," Mr. Bowen said.

He compared the Biosphere with the Spruce Goose, the giant plane built by Howard Hughes. "That's a good analogy," Mr. Bowen said. "The Spruce Goose is a fantastic aircraft, but what good is it sitting in a hangar?"

Mr. Bass, who is 60, was not available to answer questions. His spokeswoman, Terrell Lamb, said that Mr. Bass still considers the Biosphere "a unique apparatus for the study of ecological science."

Mr. Bass, who serves on the boards of the New York Botanical Garden and the World Wildlife Fund, has made efforts to save the Biosphere. In 1995, his company brought in the Earth Institute, a respected environmental program at Columbia University, to operate the site. But the partnership unraveled, and Decisions ended up suing Columbia for breach of contract. The lawsuit was settled in September 2003, and Columbia ended its involvement that December.

Soon thereafter, Mr. Bass directed CB Richard Ellis to sell the 140 acres at the center of the site, where the Biosphere and dozens of auxiliary buildings were constructed. According to the sales brochure, the property presented "an unmatched redevelopment opportunity."

But Jerry Hawkins, a vice president of CB Richard Ellis, said that potential buyers proved to be more interested in the land than in the buildings. So Decisions opted to sell the entire Biosphere site of 1,658 acres. The property "was offered unpriced," Mr. Hawkins said.

Decisions eventually received 11 bids, he said, and Fairfield Homes' offer was not the highest. "Price was not the No. 1 issue for the seller," Mr. Hawkins explained, suggesting that Fairfield was open to discussions about the Biosphere's future.

Mr. Hawkins would not say how much Fairfield is paying, but Mr. Bowen said that Mr. Bass was more interested in finding "the highest and best use" for the Biosphere than in recovering what he spent.

"Forget the money," Mr. Bowen said. "It's sunk money. What matters is that it's a fantastic piece of equipment."

Beach trash frustrates locals

Volunteers clean parks following holiday weekend

BY JIM WAYMER
FLORIDA TODAY

The needle's shiny tip stuck out in an otherwise pristine sand dune at Cocoa Beach. With white rubber-gloves, Vicky Croft placed the spent hypodermic in a soda can.

"It's frustrating," Croft said as she and about a dozen other volunteers with the nonprofit Keep Brevard Beautiful picked up Tuesday at Alan Shepard Park in Cocoa Beach and Cherie Down Park in Cape Canaveral. They scoured Brevard County beaches, garbage bags and grip claws in hand.

Medical waste, usually washed in from afar, is the tip of the trash heap.

Most of what they find drops from local hands in the shape of plastic food and drink containers, beer cans, broken bottles and cigarette butts, you name it.

The blight happens after each Memorial Day and every other big holiday weekend, especially during tourist season. It's a dirty downside of a beach economy and the bane of locals such as Rhonda Anderson, who sees a much broader problem than she hears about at City Hall.

"I came out here because I'm really upset," said Anderson, a smoker who lives in Cocoa Beach, where Mayor Skip Beeler recently called for a smoking ban on the city's beaches.

"The cigarette butts are minimal," she said. "Eating causes litter. Drinking causes litter. So what's he going to do, ban eating?"

She and the other volunteers described what they consider the much larger problem: items that can gash feet, puncture fingers and entangle birds and other marine life.

While health experts recommend calling local law enforcement or fire department to remove hypodermics, they say
there usually aren't enough viable bacteria or viruses in a needle to cause disease. Studies have found the odds of contracting HIV from a needle that washes up on New York beaches, for example, is 1 in 15 billion to 1 in 390 trillion.

But other sharp things cause concern. Anderson found eight fishhooks on fishing line the other day. Broken glass she once stepped on sent her to the emergency room several years ago.

"Current society is not responsible for their own actions," she said. "They're always blaming somebody else."

Who's to blame?

The post holiday trash problem stretches the length of Brevard's coast, and after 10 years cleaning Indialantic's beach, Joe Chiscon knows whom to blame.

"Once the kids get out of school, the beaches around here get trashed," said Chiscon, a public works employee for the town. "People blame the tourists, but it's not the tourists, it's the kids. The tourists have more conscience than anyone."

He put fresh bags into garbage cans that had been filled by Tuesday-morning good Samaritans and others through the weekend with runaway chip bags, empty cola cups and other trash.

Larry Weber, executive director of Keep Brevard Beautiful, said beachside trash has been worse in previous years when fireworks were permitted on the beach.

Within about two hours Tuesday, the dozen volunteers at Alan Shepard Park had filled about 50 large garbage trash bags.

"The point is, its not just cigarettes," Anderson said.

"It's everybody," Weber said.

Staff writer John Torres contributed to this report. Contact Waymer at 242-3663 or jwaymer@flatoday.net.

 

When developers arrived, peace left

Once-tranquil Yankeetown is torn apart by a proposal to build a vacation resort on the Withlacoochee.

By ELENA LESLEY
Published May 30, 2006

YANKEETOWN - This tiny town just north of the Citrus County line is imploding.

For years, 600-plus people have lived undisturbed here, enjoying a quiet life in a place where Town Hall closes at noon and the biggest thing that ever happened was when Elvis showed up 45 years ago to film a movie.

But today, Yankeetown is far from tranquil.

A developer's plan to build a vacation resort along the shores of the Withlacoochee River has plunged the hamlet into open warfare. Neighbors eye each other with suspicion. Three of the town's five council members and a chunk of the town's longtime staff have resigned as accusations of corruption fly and meetings descend into ugly shouting matches.

Last week, state investigators started probing possible Sunshine Law violations and alleged threats against town officials.

A group of residents is trying to recall the mayor. And some fear the town could self-destruct any day, leaving Yankeetown under more lenient county codes.

"I've never seen a town so torn apart as this town,'' said new council member Dan Bowman, who replaced a woman who resigned. "It's destroying us.''

The battle for Yankeetown mirrors many similar fights up and down Florida's Gulf Coast as developers clash with environmentalists and townspeople.

People live in Yankeetown because they like it the way it is: Narrow streets lined with sabal palms. Lazy days on the water. A single general store where you can get sandwiches and chicken, and if you order ahead, barbecued ribs.

The largely retired population came here to escape the sprawl of suburban Florida.

Growth breeds growth, they say. Traffic, crime, demand for resources the town doesn't have.

Still, the resort hotel has moved forward.

The disputed project - 135 resort hotel rooms, a bed and breakfast, spa, cabana restaurant and wet and dry boat slips - cleared a hurdle during a confused and raucous meeting two weeks ago, when the Town Council decided to officially start negotiating with the developers.

The council achieved a quorum to approve the opening talks by bringing back a member who had resigned, enraging already weary opponents.

"It was too orchestrated to be coincidental,'' said resident Ed Candela, who has fought the development.

The fracturing of Yankeetown started in December, when word spread that two developers were scouting out the town. Rumors simmered.

"We had people saying we were going to build 10-story condos, all kinds of things,'' said Peter Spittler, a developer with Izaak Walton Investors LLC, and one of the men who sparked the gossip.

As the resort plans filtered out, people got mad.

They got angrier when they learned the former town attorney worked for months with developers on what town records dubbed "The Marina Project.''

As the rancor built, newly elected Mayor Joanne Johannesson told residents she had "no idea'' why the proposed project had been kept secret.

A presentation from the developers in February didn't help matters.

As hundreds of residents from Yankeetown, and neighboring Inglis - where the town mayor once issued a proclamation banning Satan -filled the local school gymnasium, the suit-clad Spittler clicked his way through PowerPoint slides.

"We want to work with the community to create something unique," he told the audience.

But few held back when the time came to ask questions.

"Have you ever sold snake oil?'' one resident wanted to know.

Outside, a protestor cavorted by the door in a devil costume, telling people Satan had been driven out of Inglis and right into Yankeetown.

The stunts have added a comic touch to the debate, but there are serious concerns - including that the resort could overwhelm the town's volunteer fire department, which doesn't have a ladder truck.

Some also fear the new project will damage Yankeetown's unspoiled environment.

"I'm very concerned about the manatees and increased boat traffic,'' said Helen Spivey, co-chairwoman of Save the Manatee Club, which has been monitoring Yankeetown's battle.

The resort hotel centers around the Izaak Walton Lodge, which reopened in 2000 after fire destroyed the historic inn and restaurant. In development designs, a bed and breakfast juts off from the main building, leading to a waterfront resort and resculpted shoreline.

Spivey said the developers' plans to dredge the riverbanks could alter the natural habitat and hurt animals that lay eggs in those areas.

"You can't just whack away at the shoreline,'' she said.

Residents fighting the development agree but say more than environmental concerns are at stake. Namely, the future of Yankeetown.

"People who used to be friends are not talking,'' said Marinus De Rijke, who resigned as acting chairman of the Planning and Zoning Commission.

"They can't stand each other now.''

Town Council meetings are circuses that stretch for hours as residents hurl insults at the council and each other.

At the mayor's request, a Levy County deputy attends meetings to escort out rowdy residents.

A particularly determined antidevelopment group has mobilized under the slogan "Save Yankeetown,'' blanketing the town with bright yellow T-shirts, decals and yard signs. Angry residents rant on www.saveyankeetown.com, calling their council a "Banana Republic'' and "Puppet Government.''

Sally Price, who contributes to the local paper, the Newscaster, has helped lead the charge.

For months, Price wrote incendiary editorials for the Newscaster, hand-delivering 250 copies each Wednesday to subscribers in Yankeetown.

Recently, she has backed off, saying she was threatened by other residents. The controversy has taken its toll on others.

Council member Diane Blomgren, who resigned along with council member Roger Myrick on May 11, said the stress has affected her health, causing her to drop 26 pounds. A few days after the council members quit, the town clerk of 17 years and assistant town clerk also gave notice.

A recently hired zoning official now refuses to set foot in town, saying he was intimidated by residents. He agreed to finish a few projects from the safety of Citrus County.

Mayor Johannesson says she isn't stepping down, even though the recall petition is gathering momentum and every day someone else accuses her of selling out Yankeetown to the Walton group.

"The allegations are completely unfounded,'' she said. "I've never been dancing with the developers.''

She says the turmoil is caused by the "NIMBY'' - Not In My Back Yard - phenomenon.

Now, state officials may end up deciding the fate of the mayor, the resort project and Yankeetown itself.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said recently it was looking into allegations made by residents, although FDLE spokeswoman Kristen Perezluha said she couldn't reveal whether the department had started conducting interviews in Yankeetown.

In a letter to the governor, dozens of Yankeetown residents pleaded for an investigation "into the actions of our mayor, former mayor, majority of our Town Council, former council, current & former zoning officer(s), & group of developers that have been continuing in what we believe to be an illegal manner, possibly a criminal conspiracy."

As she battles her neighbors, Johannesson has no illusions about the small town she currently governs.

"It's an absolute mess.''

Poll Shows Voters Are Fed Up With Bay Area Growth

By KAREN BRANCH-BRIOSO kbranch-brioso@tampatrib.com

Published: May 29, 2006

TAMPA - Tonia Owen and her family moved to Brandon from Sarasota 11 years ago to a neighborhood of green lawns and easy commutes. But that was then.

"We're about ready to move out of state. That's honest," said Owen, 42, a Denny's waitress and mother of five whose husband commutes to Bradenton for work. "The roads can't keep up with nothing. … I feel the government, all they care about is building more and more houses so they can get more and more property tax."

Owen, who has no party affiliation, is one of 625 likely general election voters surveyed May 19-23 by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research for The Tampa Tribune. When it came to the question of restricting growth, political affiliation didn't matter. Region didn't matter (voters were surveyed in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Polk counties).

Overall, 71 percent agreed that state and local government should do more to restrict growth in Florida. The poll's margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points.

That opinion came from those whose professions benefit from growth as well.

Listen to Robert Tubb, 57, a Republican, who is a general contractor in Lakeland: "What I don't like is the politicians all talk about the job growth and it's good for everything, but we have one of the worst school systems going. Everybody complains about overcrowding; it's caused because they can't build the schools fast enough, plus all the infrastructure, the water - everything - falls behind the growth. They have to limit it somehow. The roads are horrible now."

Joseph Narkiewicz, executive vice president of the Tampa Bay Builders Association, said that although public opinion may call for more restrictions on growth, tough regulations exist - and some growth is impossible to stop.

He noted the passage last year of a far stronger statewide growth-management law that will require local governments by 2008 to include school capacity in their planning blueprints before proceeding with growth. Narkiewicz said Hillsborough County's comprehensive plan and land development codes are 1,000 pages apiece.

"There are not only tremendous restrictions. The public has tremendous opportunity for input on how growth is controlled or directed," Narkiewicz said, noting that growth comes from three sources - births, international immigration and migration from other parts of the country. "If we want to stop growth, we have to sterilize everybody or have much better education on family planning, or we stop all immigration, or we deny people the constitutional right to freedom of movement and stop them at the state line."

Ruth Fry moved to her waterside subdivision in Hudson from Atlanta eight years ago. She is a Republican and strongly believes the government needs to stay out of most issues. But she has seen the effect of growth in Pasco County, and she sees a need for a stronger governmental role there.

"They should make sure we have all the support we need to make sure we can handle the growth - the water, the sewer, the roads," said Fry, 55, who makes candles for a living. "You go into all these subdivisions up in Spring Hill, where there's supposed to be all of this reclaimed water available, but some of my friends up there, their subdivisions don't have the water. You can't believe all the building. It's crazy."

Much of that same sentiment comes from homeowners who see the changes sprouting around them, such as William Bauers of Pinellas Park. The retired schoolteacher moved into his home 28 years ago and is eyeing the townhouse projects being built nearby

"I'm being surrounded," said Bauers, 78, a Democrat. "If we have more people, then it taxes everything: the police, fire, garbage pickup. We have traffic problems now, and when they put these [condominiums] in, it's going to tax our infrastructure greatly. I thought we should have more control."

Reporter Karen Branch-Brioso can be reached at (813) 259-7815.

Traffic, sprawl top woes in survey

The Seminole poll found support for improving roads and saving rural areas.
Robert PeRez | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted May 29, 2006
Seminole County residents are generally happy with their government, but a significant number think rapid growth is threatening their quality of life, a survey found.

Three of four residents want to adopt protections for rural areas, according to the survey.

The survey of 625 registered voters was commissioned by Envision Seminole, a nonprofit community group that helps local governments identify and develop initiatives to improve the community. The results were shared with government officials at a meeting Thursday.

Traffic is considered the biggest problem in the county, with 33 percent of those surveyed listing it as what they least like about living here. Growth, sprawl and overdevelopment came in second with 15 percent.

That surprised some who see the county's road-building program, funded by an additional penny sales tax, as one of the strongest in the region.

"Our citizens approved the sales tax and made roads a priority," said Deputy County Manager Don Fisher. "We understand how important it is. But it's very difficult to keep up with growth."

The survey found that 65 percent of respondents think taxes are about as expected, while 22 percent said they are too high.

One city manager said the impact of growth and development is a common problem across Central Florida, but there is little government can do to stop it.

"People do have property rights," Lake Mary City Manager John Litton said.

That's why the survey's overwhelming support for rural preservation is easier said than done, he said.

"Sooner or later, it will all be developed," Litton said. "That's why we have to develop in a reasonable manner. Once it's developed, it's developed. That's why we try to negotiate a deal that minimizes the impact as much as possible."

A portion of the survey that looked at community needs confirmed the public's concern with traffic and growth. Controlling traffic and improving roads was rated "very important" or "somewhat important" by 98 percent of respondents. Controlling growth and development rated very or somewhat important for 96 percent.

The phone survey drew its sampling from registered voters and was balanced according to demographics. The respondents reflected the male and female mix and racial and ethnic mix in the county. The margin of error in the survey was plus or minus 4 percentage points.

The survey, "Assessment of Community Priorities," was conducted by Cookson Research Consulting.

Robert Perez can be reached at rperez@orlandosentinel.com or 407-322-1298.

Development, pollution muddying Florida's historic Silver Springs

By KELLI KENNEDY
Associated Press Writer

SILVER SPRINGS, Fla. (AP) -- Hovering over a patch of murky water and tangled swamp trees, a dozen tourists peer through the floor of a glass-bottom boat, hoping to glimpse a passing turtle, a bowfin or maybe even the mysterious creature from the black lagoon.

But the once crystalline water that made Silver Springs the state's first tourist attraction is now clouded by a thick, brownish sludge. The algae, a byproduct of burgeoning nitrate levels, clings to the eelgrass, making it difficult to glimpse sea life in their brilliant turquoise limestone home.

Now environmentalists fear the pollution will get even worse. They say that if the state doesn't act quickly a new development that will house 22,000 residents will raise nitrate levels even higher, polluting the springs irrevocably.

"It's very depressing. This is one of the largest springs in the world and perhaps the best known and to see it in decline like this is very disheartening," said Jim Stevenson, a former biologist with the Department of Environmental Protection and chairman of the Florida Springs Task Force.

Long before tourists flocked to Walt Disney World, they made their pilgrimage to central Florida to marvel at the pristine spring that pumps about 516 million gallons a day to the Oklawaha River. Silver Springs is the state's third largest spring and the largest aboveground spring.

As a child, environmentalist Guy Marwick used to swim and canoe in the cool waters, which stays 72 degrees year round. He remembers the spring's glory days, when the site was a haven for Hollywood filmmakers and National Geographic specials.

Six "Tarzan" movies were filmed there, along with the "Creature from the Black Lagoon," "The Yearling" featuring Gregory Peck,and the 1960's TV series "Sea Hunt" starring Lloyd Bridges.

Now the only reminder of that period, is a mammoth, algae-strewn statue - a leftover prop from the TV show "I Spy." Grounded at the mouth of the cave, where water spews from the recharge basin, workers have to scrub the prop every few weeks to keep up with the fast-growing gunk.

The algae isn't just ugly to look at - environmentalists say it's choking the spring's vegetation, contributing to the demise of the ecosystem.

"It's sickening. It's just very sad to see what used to be white snail shell and sand. It's a dramatic change," said Guy Marwick, an activist with the Smart Growth Coalition of North Central Florida and former curator of the Silver River Museum. "We've seen several plants all but disappear."

Silver Springs has also seen about a 95 percent decline in its fish population since the 1950s, said Dr. Bob Knight, an environmental scientist for the St. Johns River Water Management District and the Florida DEP.

Although Knight said nitrate levels are almost three times what they were in the 1950s, he's not convinced they are the sole cause of the fish deaths - but they're certainly having an effect.

The nitrates create the algae, which "could be having some effects on the fish and the invertebrates. It's definitely having an effect on the plant community," Knight said.

Nitrate levels are rising at dangerous levels largely because of development.

"But it's all kinds of development - agricultural, septic tanks, fertilizer, storm water, waste water - all those things combined create a nitrogen load," he said.

Knight knows halting development is unrealistic in Florida's popular real estate market. He advocates smarter development - stricter storm water rules from the county and more stringent nutrient removal in wastewater discharge on a state level.

But environmentalists say there's no way the 4,436-acre development that Avatar Properties Inc. is proposing won't adversely effect Silver Springs. The Coral Gables-based group, set to break ground in 2008, also sits on a vital recharge area for the springs - about one mile away at the closest point.

The recharge area is made of extremely porous limestone, which soaks up nitrate-polluted rainwater like a sponge, Stevenson said.

"All the groundwater in the 1,200 square mile Silver Springs recharge area flows to Silver Springs," Stevenson said. "The rain that falls in the area closest to the springs may be able to get there in days. The rain that falls several miles away, may take decades."

In other words, if the Avatar property is built, all the pollutants will eventually trickle to the springs in a matter of time.

According to the Florida DEP the Avatar property is on the "A list" of the Florida First Magnitude Springs Project.

"We are currently working with Avatar and it is something that we are very interested in acquiring," said Sarah Williams, a spokeswoman with DEP. "It's a priority project."

If the state can't afford to buy the entire parcel of land, Avatar has indicated "they are open to selling parts of it," Williams said.

She would not say when the state might make an offer.

But the locals are getting antsy. A March 26 Ocala Star-Banner editorial urging the state to act quickly, headlined "Avatar Land:Time is Money."

The state offered to pay $22 million for the land in 2004, but Avatar rejected the deal. But it is willing to consider a better offer.

"If the amount was correct then the company would sell. If not we would continue on with our development and permit of the project to build a community up there," said Avatar attorney Dennis Getman.

He said Avatar also wants to preserve the springs and has pledged to grow vegetation and lawns that don't require a lot of fertilizer. They've also promised to spend an additional $50 million on a storm-water runoff system to help protect the basin.

"We do not want to develop the property in a way that would cause damage to the springs," Getman said.

Homes vs. habitat at center of Volusia land decision

Ludmilla Lelis | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted May 29, 2006

PORT ORANGE -- Developers and environmentalists are locked in familiar tug of war over a 450-acre stretch of oak and hickory hammocks, stands of slash-pine trees and a small black-water stream that flows toward the sandy bluffs of Volusia County's Spruce Creek.

But there's a twist to this contest, one that asks the governor and Cabinet to approve plans for a massive retail and housing development on land that they have already voted to try to buy for a nature preserve.

Three years ago, they tagged the land as an environmental gem and placed it as a priority purchase under the environmental land-buying program, Florida Forever.

On Wednesday, the governor and Cabinet must decide whether to approve a special government district on that same land to finance its development.

The decision could put Florida officials in the middle of a bidding war for the coveted property.

Its future as homes or wildlife habitat is still up for grabs. The developer controlling the land, influential home builder Mori Hosseini, is ready to build Woodhaven, his latest subdivision, but he says he is open to selling.

Meanwhile, environmentalists are closely watching the Cabinet's decision, as well as any other move that could affect the preservation effort.

"What nobody wants is for any government action to raise the value of a property that the state is trying to acquire," said Clay Henderson, an attorney and president of the Friends of Spruce Creek. "That's just sound public policy."

The land itself sits directly east of Interstate 95 and borders the 2,000-acre Doris Leeper Spruce Creek Preserve, one of the few remaining large natural areas that hasn't been gobbled up by the sprawling cities of east Volusia.

The preserve's namesake was a sculptor and an artist who once pulled out a map and outlined the acreage she wanted to protect. She included the 35-foot-high bluffs overlooking the creek, the Indian mounds and the 18th-century ruins of the failed Andrew Turnbull colony, which was Britain's largest attempt to colonize the Americas.

A 23-year effort to assemble the preserve has largely succeeded, Henderson said, with help along the way from several cities, Volusia County, The Nature Conservancy and the state's land-acquisition programs.

Completing the Spruce Creek preserve is still a priority for the state and Volusia County. The remaining parcels, including the 450-acre tract in play at the moment, are listed as must-buy properties for both Florida Forever and the complementary land-buying program Volusia Forever.

The Cabinet agreed that parcel belongs in the preserve boundaries in February 2003, and the state Department of Environmental Protection tried to buy the land later that year, reportedly for $6,000 an acre.

Richard Schattie, a West Palm Beach real-estate broker who represents the longtime landowners, said that offer was soundly rejected.

"They made a ridiculously low offer that wasn't acceptable," said Schattie, who represents the Stanaki Partnership, made up of two West Palm Beach brothers.

They got the right price from Hosseini, founder of ICI Homes and a prominent Volusia developer who ranks among the top-50 home builders in the nation.

Hosseini secured a five-year contract to gradually buy all of the Stanaki land, which totals nearly 1,300 acres and straddles both sides of I-95.

He would not disclose the purchase price for the land, but public records show that a 244-acre section on the west side of the highway cost $4.2 million, or more than $17,000 per acre.

With purchase rights on the remaining land -- including the 450 acres -- Hosseini has already forged ahead with his plans for Woodhaven, where he is proposing nearly 3,000 homes and 2.3 million square feet of commercial space, with several parks and miles of trails.

"It's a beautiful piece of property, and we are planning to do a very different development, more of a green subdivision with traditional neighborhoods, porches on the front and garages in the back, and soccer and football fields," Hosseini said.

To finance his plans, his company is asking the Cabinet to approve a community-development district, which can levy tax-exempt bonds for $52.5 million to pay for water, sewer and stormwater utilities, as well as roads.

An administrative-law judge reviewed the proposed district and wrote that the plan passes legal muster. The only problem he foresaw is whether approval of the community-development district could conflict with the state's attempts to buy the 450 acres desired for the Spruce Creek preserve, according to the report.

The Cabinet does have the leeway to vote against the community-development district, said Michael Allan Wolf, a University of Florida law professor with expertise in land-use planning.

"Florida is a leading state in the preservation of historic and environmental land, and the argument could be easily be made that allowing the CDD would frustrate state-preservation plans," Wolf said. "That could be a legitimate argument that could be used to modify the proposal."

Henderson said the district could easily be approved for the 800-plus acres on the west side of the interstate not wanted for the preserve.

Hosseini said Wednesday's Cabinet vote won't affect his plans either way, explaining that a community-development district would only make it easier to finance some of the recreational improvements he wants.

"People think if the Cabinet rejects it, we won't develop, but far from it," Hosseini said. "We will develop the property."

But he said he is willing to negotiate for a preservation deal.

"We have to do what's right for the community, and if the state and county feel it's crucial, absolutely we could sell," he said.

"Then it comes down to the price."

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

 

Facing reality on global warming

By Times editorial
Published May 30, 2006

A group backed by the oil and auto industries has a curious response to An Inconvenient Truth, former Vice President Al Gore's new movie about global warming. In the documentary film, which is little more than a lecture accompanied by stunning pictures, Gore makes a case for why increased carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions linked to human activity are threatening the planet.

The movie, which has gotten mostly positive reviews, warns of the consequences of persistent warming of the planet - particularly more powerful storms, melting of the polar ice caps and worldwide flooding. Included is an impassioned (yes, Al is capable of passion) plea for action.

"This is not so much a political issue as a moral issue," he says. "Our ability to live is at stake."

We're not sure why anyone would continue to deny the fact of global warming. There is irrefutable scientific evidence that it is happening. As for solutions, there is room for debate. But how could anyone deny that a reduction in our profligate use of oil - mainly through conservation and alternative fuels - would be anything other than a good thing?

The Competitive Enterprise Institute can, in a series of slick 60-second television spots that would be humorous if they weren't so blatantly insulting to our intelligence. One ad, labeled "Energy," features pictures such as a little girl blowing on a dandelion while a soothing female voice says: "The fuels that produce CO2 have freed us from a world of backbreaking labor" (flash to a peasant in the fields). "Now some politicians want to label carbon dioxide a pollutant. Imagine if they succeed. What would our lives be like then?"

The answer that comes to mind is, "We would be facing reality." But the CEI, which is funded by ExxonMobil among others (Ford distanced itself from this campaign), has a different ending: "Carbon dioxide. They call it pollution. We call it life."

See for yourself at www.cei.org, where you can view the ads. We don't recommend a steady diet of CO2. They call it life. We call it unhealthy.

[Last modified May 30, 2006, 06:08:05]

Once Vital in Fighting Fires, Spotter Towers Now Obsolete

By Gary White
The Ledger

part of a periodic series

Fire towers have been used to detect fires in Florida at least since the state created the Division of Forestry in 1927. In their prime, they numbered more than 200. This series explores historic ways of life that
persist into the 21st century.

 

When Joshua Dyer became a forest ranger five years ago, he was thrilled to learn his workplace included a penthouse suite of sorts. Dyer was assigned to a parcel of land in Northwest Polk County that includes a 100-foot tower topped by a cubicle-sized room.

"I like having it here; it's kind of a landmark," Dyer said of the structure known as the Green Swamp Tower to its owner and Dyer's employer, the Florida Division of Forestry. "I used to go up there just about every day when I was first hired on. It's a good place to sit with a cup of coffee."

These days, though, the tower no longer serves even the reduced function of a personal breakfast nook with a 20-mile view. The structure, one of just a few remaining fire towers in Polk County, has become a mere relic, a quaint reminder of bygone times.

Florida relied for decades upon a network of tall towers occupied by spotters to help detect wildfires and send crews to fight them.

But the need for fire spotters began to wane as development replaced forests in previously desolate parts of Florida, and advances in communications further lessened the towers' importance in the 1990s, as residents with cell phones became unofficial sentinels for woodland fires.

"We have a plane that flies the district if we're having a lot of lightning activity," said Eddie Gilmore, senior ranger with the Division of Forestry in Lakeland. "It's much more cost-efficient to do that than pay someone to sit in a tower all day."

The Green Swamp Tower, standing along U.S. 98 about 10 miles north of Lakeland Square, now projects a rather forlorn aura. Rotting hunks of wood dangle from some of its 132 steps. An antenna remains attached to the tower's roof, though the radio inside is long gone. And the spotting booth's only regular occupants these days are colonies of wasps.

In NASA parlance, Polk's fire towers have been abandoned in place.

"They've become obsolete for us," Gilmore said. "Eventually they will be taken down; I'm not sure how long that will take. It's kind of

sad to see them go."

TOWERS AND CROW'S NESTS

High platforms have been used to detect fires in Florida at least since the state created the Division of Forestry in 1927, said Ira Jolly, chief of the state's Forest Protection Bureau. An inventory from 1932 found 22 towers in the state, as well as nine "crow's nests" -- platforms mounted on tall pine trees with spikes serving as steps.

Jolly said the early towers were made of wood and probably stood 75 to 100 feet tall, while the crow's nests were 45 to 70 feet high.

The towers became taller, more secure and more plentiful in the following decades. At the time of its construction in 1963, the Green Swamp Tower was a crucial addition to Florida's fireprotection network.

The towers, numbering more than 200 in their prime, yielded panoramic vistas and were situated so that their visual ranges overlapped to give full coverage.

The Green Swamp Tower was originally erected near U.S. 98 and Rock Ridge Road, about 2.2 miles south of its current location. Forest rangers moved it in 1990, breaking it into three sections so it could be hauled by heavy truck and reassembled.

Polk's other towers can be seen near Frostproof, Indian Lake Estates, Bradley Junction and Lake Pierce.

For decades, the towers were staffed by full-time spotters, who often lived on the premises for quick access to the 8-foot-by-8foot perches, or "cabs."

The spotters' tools included an alidade, a sundial-like instrument used to describe the location of a fire. A dispatcher, plotting coordinates reported by two or more towers on a map, could produce fairly precise directions for firefighters in those days before global positioning systems.

Fire spotting, despite its initial appeal, could quickly become lonely and monotonous, said Gary Zipprer, manager of the Division of Forestry's Lakeland District.

"I first started as a ranger and spent about a week up there, and it was about the hardest job I ever had," Zipprer said. "If there wasn't something going on, it was extremely boring up in an 8by-8 box. And on windy days, it would sway back and forth. For those of us who have a hard time sitting still, it was hard.

"I've heard of one person who went up for an hour and called on the radio and said, `I quit,' and left the keys on the desk."

PHASING OUT FIRESPOTTERS

The state began phasing out full-time firespotters in the 1990s, and the last positions disappeared in 2001, though some rural districts still use rangers or part-time employees as spotters during the fire season -- spring and early summer. Zipprer said Polk's fire spotters either moved to northern districts, took new jobs or retired.

"It was a sad day to lose those folks because some of them were long-term employees," Zipprer said.

One of his employees in the district headquarters served as a spotter for years before being forced to take an office job. She declined to speak about her time as a spotter, her tone of voice suggesting the phaseout remains a painful subject.

After eliminating the full-time fire spotters, the Division of Forestry decided not to pay for the maintenance of towers in some districts, including the Polk area. Gilmore said the agency hasn't replaced the boards of the towers' stairs and landings in at least seven years, and the structures are no longer considered safe.

Towers are still maintained, though not actively staffed, in some northern and rural counties. One such tower stands along State Road 33 in Lake County, just a few miles north of the border with Polk. Division of Forestry officials said that tower has already proven valuable during this spring's outbreak of wildfires.

Though officially retired, the Green Swamp Tower still gets occasional use. Dyer said he and others carefully ascend its stairs -- using the metal rails to avoid the rotten wood -- to help with missing-persons searches, scout for poachers or assist firefighters from other agencies. Dyer most recently scaled the tower about six months ago to toss a bug bomb inside the cab, which was swarming with wasps.

From the cab, Dyer can see as far west as a gypsum pile north of Plant City and as far north as a set of phone towers near Polk City. He said the southern view extends beyond downtown Lakeland, though the city lacks a landmark tall enough to be seen from that distance.

Dyer said the tower sometimes draws would-be tourists, including occasional Boy Scout leaders who say they climbed its stairs as boys and would like to repeat the experience with their troops. The ranger is forced to turn them away.

Dyer, 29, points out that all of Polk's fire towers, each anchored deep in the ground by four concrete feet, survived the hurricanes of 2004 without noticeable damage. And, he notes, the wallunit air conditioner in the Green Swamp Tower still blows cold.

The Kathleen High School graduate expresses nostalgia for the days before he became a ranger, when the fire towers were more than mere totems. He holds out hope the Green Swamp Tower might be restored, and he said at one point a local landowner seemed interested in paying for repairs to the steps, though that prospect has dimmed.

"I don't want it to go," Dyer said. "I hope they keep it here at least as a landmark."

UNCERTAIN FATE

The fate of Polk's fire towers is as uncertain as a parched forest during fire season. The Division of Forestry regularly puts towers up for sale -- sometimes with their surrounding properties -and state records show about 65 have been disposed of since the early 1980s.

Ed Kuester, the Tallahassee official who manages surplus equipment for the Division of Forestry, says any buyer must cover the cost of moving a tower and filling the holes left by the concrete footers.

"They're not a big moneymaker by any means," Kuester said. "I think the most I ever heard bid on one was $1,000."

The land occupied by towers, of course, can fetch a much higher price.

The towers often go to other government entities. Kuester said a port commission from Louisiana has expressed interest in buying towers from Florida to replace communication and security structures destroyed by last year's hurricanes.

At least one tower has already vanished from the landscape in Polk County. Zipprer said a structure that stood near Eloise Loop Road in Winter Haven was dismantled and sold several years ago after the Division of Forestry lost its lease on the surrounding land.

Another Polk tower has passed into private hands. The Davenport Tower, located northeast of the Interstate 4-U.S. 27 junction, now belongs to Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, which bought the former Division of Forestry property a few years ago.

None of the five remaining Polk towers is on the list of properties up for bid, though Kuester said that could change at any time.

It's not clear how many towers the Division of Forestry still owns. Jolly, the chief of the Forest Protection Bureau, said the state is in the midst of an inventory, and he wouldn't even offer an estimate.

Jolly insisted the towers aren't necessarily headed for extinction. State officials suggest some municipalities or historical organizations might step in to preserve towers, though Ed Etheredge, a past president of the Polk County Historical Association, said he doubted local historical preservationists would direct their scarce funds toward such a project.

The best hope for the towers' future might rest with Washington, D.C. Jolly said his department has applied to the U.S. Forest Service for a federal grant that could be used to preserve some of the structures.

"We feel it's important to keep representation of these towers up as, if anything, a memorial or monument to that part of our history of fire protection," Kuester said. "We're kicking around (the idea of) one per county, or one per district, so people could always see the way it used to be done."

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or at 863-802-7518.

 

River shrimpers say their catches are getting smaller

By KELLY CUCULIANSKY
The Daytona Beach News-Journal

OAK HILL, Fla. (AP) -- A dolphin's fin peeks above the moonlit waters of the Indian River as a shrimp net is lowered into the northern flowing tide.

Elmo Keeton moves quickly on the crowded deck of his pontoon boat, stepping over ropes and scooting by a big white holding tank.

It's a few minutes past midnight as the 71-year-old stares into the water, waiting for a shrimp catch he doesn't have much faith in anymore.

"Worst year I've ever had," said the Kentucky native, who has been shrimping in the area for 11 years. This night's run, cut short by a lost anchor, lasted about two hours and yielded only enough white shrimp for a humble cocktail.

Keeton and other river shrimpers think something is amiss and they have their own theories. While some wildlife officials have noted a decline in the amount of bait shrimp being caught in recent years, they're not sure why.

Whenever wild shrimp are caught and sold in Florida, that information is supposed to be reported to the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg.

"We know what (the shrimpers) tell us, which often is an incomplete picture," said research administrator Joe O'Hop. "But actually, they know a lot about what's going on in the water."

Though numbers are at least a month or two behind, O'Hop said his data shows a decrease in the amount of bait shrimp taken from inland waters between St. Augustine and Sebastian Inlet the past several years. For example, in 1998 about 45,285 pounds of shrimp were caught in 834 trips, while in 2005 about 8,290 pounds were caught in 199 trips.

"I can't tell if it's environmental problems or just disruptions to the general level of harvest," O'Hop said. "I haven't heard anything specific."

The lower numbers in recent years could be due to hurricanes, cold snaps or rising fuel costs driving shrimpers away from the market, O'Hop said.

A hundred pounds of bait shrimp in four hours - considered a good catch - is worth $200 to $300, Keeton said. But those nights are memories. He said a 20-pound catch, worth maybe $50 to $70, is bad for a night of shrimping. With the price of gas, boat upkeep, permits and licensing fees, Keeton said "anything lower than that is just a break-even deal."

Keeton, a part-time Oak Hill resident who shrimps commercially to supplement his retirement income, said he used to be able to make about $8,000 per season dipping bait shrimp. But this year, he predicts his earnings will be about $1,000.

Standing on his boat, dip net in hand, Keeton remembered how the profitable little crustaceans used to pile into the mesh. They would swim right into it, making a heavy, happy haul to swing into his holding tanks. But now it's a game he can't figure out.

"Nobody can predict these shrimp," he said.

Even the full moon doesn't help anymore. He said the five days before and five days after a full moon, the tide usually runs faster and higher, rolling shrimp into his nets. His favorite shrimping spot, close to Oak Hill's River Breeze Park, used to be one of the best sites around. But one group agrees with Keeton that they've seen a dramatic drop in the number of shrimp this year.

Lucky Johnson, a spokesman for the Internet Shrimpers and Anglers Association, an organization of mainly east central Florida members, blames the decline of inshore shrimp on commercial offshore shrimpers near Ponce Inlet who are wiping the sea clean before the shrimp are able to spawn.

"These shrimp are getting caught before they ever have a chance," said the Deltona resident. "The only explanation for it is those shrimp boats."

Johnson, 52, who said he has been shrimping since he was old enough to hold a dip net, said five years ago he could catch at least three to five gallons of shrimp per night. "The last three or four years, it's like, 'OK, will I get enough for dinner?' "

Soon it will be too hot to catch shrimp. Once the water temperature warms to 75 degrees, the shrimp tend to stay beneath the sand in cooler areas, Johnson said, and they won't appear again until mid-September.

There are many factors that can affect shrimp and each group will have its own perspective, said Anne McMillen-Jackson, an associate research scientist at the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. While she has not heard of troubles in the Indian River, she said Johnson's theory may not be too farfetched. Adult shrimp live, mate and lay eggs offshore, but spend most of their juvenile lives in estuaries.

"The offshore fisheries are targeting the adults," she said. "If you did fish the adults before they spawn, then you could affect the number of juveniles in the estuaries."

A lack of rain also can affect the salinity of the water and juvenile shrimp tend to thrive in less salty areas.

"If you're having a drought, you're going to tend to have higher salinity," she said.

The Southeastern Fisheries Association, with 450-member companies that include harvesters, packers, processors, marine suppliers, exporters and charter boat businesses, hasn't noticed a decline in the shrimp population, said Bob Jones, the group's executive director. But what local shrimpers are reporting is not an uncommon phenomenon.

Because the life span for most shrimp is about a year, one year's crop might not prosper because of environmental changes such as salinity, temperature or water quality, Jones said. But next year could yield "more shrimp than you know what to do with."

Though it's gotten harder to net a decent catch each year, Keeton said he will continue to chase shrimp. It's something to eat, it's something to share and "it's just something to keep you out of trouble," he said.

As the pontoon boat chugged back to the dock after a useless night, Keeton said he's giving it up for a while to spend time at Lake Erie pursuing another passion - freshwater fishing.

He'll be back in October though, waiting to see what the full moon might bring.

Write a letter to the editor

Field-of-dreams plan for site blocked

By NATHAN CRABBE

Sun staff writer

Phil Emmer had a rude awakening over his field of dreams.

The Gainesville developer proposed creating a "Great American Park" at U.S. 441 and NW 53rd Avenue, building state-of-the-art athletic fields and elaborately landscaped gardens. He pledged $1 million of his own money and started collecting the millions more needed for the project.

Home Depot's recent announcement it would buy the land has effectively quashed those plans. The company has pledged to sell 76 of the 92 acres to the city of Gainesville for a nature park, but Emmer's vision isn't being considered for the site.

The city is asking Florida Communities Trust for $4.8 million to fund the purchase, though Gainesville officials expect the land to be bought for less. Emmer said the land has been overvalued and the city won't have any money to make improvements to the site.

"I just think we aren't getting our money's worth," he said.

Gainesville Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan said such an undeveloped swath of land in the city will only increase in value. She said Home Depot will use the piece of land appropriate for extensive athletic facilities, leaving soccer fields and passive recreation for the remainder.

"It's really not appropriate for any kind of development," she said.

Wal-Mart had proposed on the site a nearly 300,000-square-foot development including a retail and housing complex and supercenter. But Gainesville city commissioners narrowly rejected the proposal in 2004, finding it conflicted with the site's hydrologic features.

The land includes the headwaters of Hogtown Creek, which runs through Gainesville before draining into Haile Sink. Home Depot's plan differs in the fact it would be about half the size and placed within an old driving range already zoned for commercial development.

The Alachua Conservation Trust prepared the city's application for the conservation funds, but won't know for months if the application was approved. Robert "Hutch" Hutchinson, the trust's project manager, said it would hold a two-year option on the land.

That will ensure the land isn't developed even if state money isn't approved this year, he said. He said everyone would have liked to go forward with Emmer's park vision on the entire site, but Home Depot ended those thoughts.

"We all wanted this to happen and tried to stay out of the way until it was clear he wasn't going to come to terms," he said.

Emmer said he'll still pursue plans to build athletic fields elsewhere. The area needs such facilities more than just nature trails, he said.

"I don't really know if we need any more conservation land in Gainesville," he said.

Saving water, one sheet at a time

Kelly Griffith
Sentinel Staff Writer

May 30, 2006

Putting crisp new sheets on hotel beds every single day of Florida vacations wastes billions of gallons of water in laundries, state officials say.

Area restaurants, likewise, each spray tens of thousands of gallons needlessly down the drain washing dishes when a $40 fix would conserve the precious commodity without compromising clean dishes.

Despite a state program aimed at promoting "green lodging," which urges cutting down on hotel laundry, retrofitting restaurant sinks to be more water-friendly and a bevy of other conservation measures, only six area lodging properties have met the state's criteria for the designation. All are Disney-owned resorts.

Potential water savings in the Orlando market if all area hotels participated and guests complied with the laundering schedule: 1.43 billion gallons of water per year.

Resistance comes in part, state officials say, because hotels fear patrons' perceptions. Cutting back on services would be intolerable to many. In the industry, hospitality is everything.

"I want my slick sheets every day," said tourist Byron Graham of Mississippi, staying at the Quality Inn on Interstate 4 near Davenport last week. His family visited Walt Disney World and was en route to Savannah, Ga., on vacation. "I want them washed every day. Yes, every day."

His wife firmly agreed.

That, conservation experts say, is one of the tallest hurdles: challenging travelers' expectations. Sometimes saving for years for a family vacation, many people are unwilling to give up the demand to be pampered, said Patty Griffin, president and founder of the Green Hotels Association, a Texas-based nonprofit that promotes conservation practices and provides members with educational literature.

State officials concur.

"There is a mentality on the part of a tourist that 'I'm paying $300 for a room; I should be able to use as many towels as I want to,' " said Bruce Adams, water-conservation officer for the South Florida Water Management District, whose jurisdiction includes the tourist corridor of southwest Orange and north Osceola counties.

Its westward counterpart, the Southwest Florida Water Management District, which governs water use in Polk County and areas toward Tampa, is promoting a similar program that zeroes in on linen and towel washing. The agency offers participating hotels educational literature and door hangers that explain the program to guests, which includes an every-third-day laundering schedule unless instructed otherwise by guests.

Education crucial

Educating guests is the key to making it work, Griffin and others said. A customer such as Graham, who had $16,000 in damage to his home from Hurricane Katrina, comes from a state where water-supply issues aren't often in the news. Most people who come to Florida have never heard of the Floridan Aquifer and may have no idea there is a water shortage, considering they see marshes, beaches and lakes all around.

With a captive audience in the hotel room, the industry has an opportunity to be educators, said Griffin, who added that business travelers take to such programs more easily than tourists.

"Most people don't do linens every day at home," said Mike Molligan, a Southwest Florida management district spokesman.

Seventy-one hotels in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area saved 100 million gallons in one year after beginning the program, according to a local-government study in 2002-03.

Laundry costs for a hotel can drop up to 30 percent, helping reduce operating costs by $1 per occupied room per day, according to program officials. Guests sometimes use up to 300 gallons per room per day, although most average about 150 gallons daily, water-management officials said.

The expected savings of washing linens and towels every three days is about 50 gallons per room each day.

So far, more than 200 hotels in the Southwest Florida district's 16-county region, which includes Polk and part of Lake, are signed up for the Water Conservation Hotel and Motel Program, or "Water CHAMP." The St. Johns River Water Management District does not have a similar program, and the South Florida Water Management District participates only in the state's Green Lodging program. That, however, involves many other things in addition to laundering schedules. Issues with air quality, lighting, pollution, staff training and other issues come into play before the state's Green Lodging certification is granted.

Slaves to hospitality

The six-room Heritage Country Inn in Ocala has been participating in the Southwest Florida laundering program for six or seven months.

Tanja Gross, who helps operate the inn owned by her in-laws, said the inn has about 50 percent participation from guests on rehanging towels. No one ever complains about washing linens every third day, she said.

Because the inn is on well water, she isn't sure how much water it has saved.

"Some of them [guests] don't pay attention or don't care and still just throw the towels down," she said. "But about half of them hang up the towels and want to reuse it again."

Hoteliers are slaves to hospitality, Griffin said, and if guests tell hotel managers they appreciate the conservation efforts and don't perceive them as a "lack of" anything, they will listen and do more, she thinks.

Eateries face scrutiny, too

Restaurants also are in the cross hairs of water managers looking for ways the tourism industry can save water.

Officials in the South Florida water district, the area covering the tourist corridor, said countless gallons of water are being wasted when restaurants wash dishes.

They plan to rewrite the guidelines used to dole out grant funds, recommending that hotels and restaurants have the spray valves in their dishwashing areas retrofitted with a lower-flow version. That could save 77,000 gallons of water per year on each valve and up to $1,000 yearly in water bills for the average restaurant. It's not uncommon for a restaurant to have two or three spray valves and a hotel to have three or four in its kitchen.

The cost to make the change for each valve: $40.

"These are things that cost next to nothing," Griffin said.

Added Adams: "Eighty percent of people say they are environmentalists, but how can they do that? I think this helps make the 80 percent of people who say they are environmentalists prove it."

Kelly Griffith can be reached at kgriffith@orlandosentinel.com or 863-422-5908.

Make mine rare, as in a dinner downtown

Dinner in downtown Brooksville is still hard to come by. One historian says it's been that way for about 40 years. Theories abound but the reasons are still unclear.

By MICHAEL KRUSE
Published May 30, 2006

BROOKSVILLE - About a month ago, Debbie McCallister, the owner of the downtown restaurant called Maw's Vittles, looked at her empty tables in the evenings and made a decision on her weekday dinner hours. No can do. So the country cookin' place at the corner of Broad Street and Mildred Avenue now is open for dinner on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and no longer on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Chalk it up as another dinnertime defeat in downtown Brooksville.

The shift at Maw's rekindles an often-asked question around here: Why can't a guy or a gal get a bite to eat in this town's two- or three-block center anytime after 5:01 p.m.?

"I don't know," City Manager Richard Anderson said . "That's an enigma."

"If you're talking about lunch," new Brooksville redevelopment coordinator Joe Murphy said, "you can fill your belly every day and be very happy about it."

"But Brooksville's not a dinner town," said Lisa Miller, a co-owner of the Rising Sun Cafe, the year-old coffee shop on Main Street. "Brooksville's a breakfast and lunch town, period, and there's no getting around it."

Folks here in the Hernando County seat used to be able to get dinner right downtown at the Florida Cafe and the Tangerine Grill.

Ye Olde Fireside Inn was a nice place, but it burned down a year and a half ago, and it wasn't really downtown, anyway - "downtown," for purposes of this debate, being defined loosely as walking distance from the courthouse.

Mykonos II has some good food, and so does Luigi's, and Papa Joe's, and John's Corner Restaurant and Victoria's Steakhouse, but they're not downtown, either.

"If you're talking about sit-down, genuine dinner restaurants directly around downtown, there really hasn't been anything for 30 or 40 years," said Bob Martinez, the local historian who publishes Old Brooksville In Photos & Stories.

At Maw's, McCallister makes stick-to-your-stomach sorts of stuff like meatloaf, chicken and dumplings and plates of fish with hush puppies. Groups of seniors come at their regular times for their regular breakfasts. The grits are good.

For dinner, though, most of the time the business isn't enough to support gas, electric and payroll.

"I can't understand it," McCallister said. "I've tried everything."

Ads in mailed-out coupon books. Free tea. Even free wine.

The new dinner hours include all-you-can-eat catfish for $7.95 on Friday nights and all-you-can-eat spaghetti Saturdays and Sundays for $5.99.

Meanwhile, on State Road 50 on the other side of the Suncoast Parkway, a soup and a salad and a beer plus a tip can run up quickly to 15 bucks at Ruby Tuesday. Down the road at Johnny Carino's, and on U.S. 19 at Chili's, Outback and Red Lobster, get in line and wait for a table. Even on weekdays.

Downtown Brooksville?

Nothing.

Except theories.

Some say there's not enough parking.

Others point to real estate gone too high.

Murphy, the redevelopment coordinator, thinks it's because the SR 50 truck route takes too many potential customers around the city instead of through it.

And then there's the intangible that always has to count for something here. Tradition.

"I believe that Brooksville is more of a hometown place," said Miller from the Rising Sun. "People want to be home in the evenings with their families."

"The government center draws a lot of activity during the day," said Mike McHugh, the director of the county's Office of Business Development. "Translating that activity in the evening and on weekends is one of the many challenges for the downtown area. How do you get that energy? There's no easy answer."

No formula, either, said Aaron Allen, the chief executive of the Orlando-area Quantified Marketing Group, a consulting firm for the restaurant industry. Where to put restaurants is a decision based on a number of factors, including traffic counts, demographics, cost of real estate and closeness to competitors.

but really," Allen said, "it comes down to an individual approach."

Brooksville grew very little in the 1980s and 1990s, and the population is still around 8,000, but that's about to change. In the last five years, Brooksville has grown from 5 to 10 square miles due to annexation, according to Bill Geiger, the city's community development director. Homes are being built in big new developments like Hernando Oaks, Majestic Oaks and Southern Hills, and folks who buy nice homes in those spots are going to want good little restaurants where they can eat out and spend money, right?

"Maybe a good seafood restaurant, maybe a little glass of red wine," said Martinez, the historian. "I think that would do well. I live downtown. So I'd love to see that happen."

"As long as it's good food for a decent price, a fair price, and with good service, people will come," Brooksville real estate agent Robert Buckner said.

But a restaurant has to come first.

"And they all need somebody to validate the demographics," said Anderson, the city manager. "They all want someone else to be first."

As for the early returns on the changed dinner hours at Maw's?

"Not too good," McCallister said Saturday. "Even slower."

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

[Last modified May 30, 2006, 01:09:11]

A City's Search For Its Soul

By CHRISTIAN M. WADE cwade@tampatrib.com

Published: May 29, 2006

PORT RICHEY - It's the most densely developed retail corridor in west Pasco, a mile-long stretch of asphalt, shopping centers and belligerent motorists.

Welcome to Main Street, Port Richey, otherwise known as U.S. 19.

It's not much to look at right now, but city officials have big plans to transform the ultra-congested thoroughfare into a picturesque gateway to this small waterfront community.

A beautification project will add palm trees, landscaping and even a "Welcome to Port Richey" sign along the highway median. A $150,000 grant from the state Department of Transportation will pay for it.

Vice Mayor Phyllis Grae has worked with DOT officials to secure funding, and local landscaping architect Margaret Moore is the designer.

The landscaping will stretch from Grand Boulevard to Ridge Road and will include clusters of greenery on two "triangles" in the median, Grae said.

"It's going to look beautiful. She [Moore] really has an eye for it," the vice mayor said.

The forlorn strip of yellowing grass is long overdue for a facelift, she said.

And that's just for starters.

The U.S. 19 project is part of a broader effort by city officials - working with an Orlando-based architectural firm - to define the soul of this city, carved out of the wilderness by citrus farmers and cattle ranchers more than a century ago.

"We've got a blank canvas to work with," City Manager Jerry Calhoun said. "We can be Key West-style or Mediterranean-style. We have a range of possibilities to explore."

Known for its retail stores and outlets, Port Richey often is mistaken by tourists and even area residents for its larger and more populous neighbor, New Port Richey.

A lack of signs leaves some guessing where one begins and the other ends.

Unlike New Port Richey - which has an old-style Main Street with historic buildings, wide sidewalks and picture-window storefronts - Port Richey has never had a downtown.

Calhoun said the lack of a defined center can work to the city's advantage.

"The one good thing about not having a downtown is we're starting from scratch and can create whatever we want," he said. "We don't have to build around it."

Possibilities for redevelopment are endless, he said.

The civic heart of Port Richey has always been difficult to identify. Some say it's west of U.S. 19, near the mouth of the Pithlachascotee River. Others say it's Ridge Road, where city hall is flanked by gun and pawn shops and liquor stores.

This search for identity is complicated in a city where folks are more likely to run into friends and neighbors at the Wal-Mart Supercenter or Gulf View Square mall.

In the early days, when Port Richey was little more than an expanse of family farms and sandy roads, most thought of New Port Richey as downtown.

Now, the "Little City by the River" finds itself trying to shatter its image as a retail rest stop for motorists bound for somewhere else.

To accomplish that, city officials have enlisted landscape architects and designers from Bellomo-Herbert and Co. Inc.

Redeveloping the waterfront overlay district will be a challenge.

"That's where we'll definitely need some help," Grae said. "Personally, I'd like to take a bulldozer, knock it all down and start over. It looks like a shantytown."

Christian M. Wade can be reached at (727) 815-1082.

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Project to add water to aquifer

The county will create underground storage for rainy season runoff from Lake Tarpon to later go for landscape watering.

By THERESA BLACKWELL, Times Staff Writer
Published May 30, 2006

EAST LAKE - Uncorking three wells in the Brooker Creek Preserve is not the only idea Pinellas County has for increasing the supply of water available to irrigate the landscape.

A few miles west of the preserve, another innovative water supply project is under way just south of Brooker Creek in John Chesnut Sr. Park.

Pinellas County Utilities has received a permit to create an underground reservoir for water that would otherwise flow from Lake Tarpon into Tampa Bay during the rainy season.

Instead of spilling over the flood control gate into the Lake Tarpon Outfall Canal, the water would be diverted for storage. It would be treated and injected 225 to 320 feet below ground and float like a bubble in the brackish surrounding water.

Then, in dry times, the water would be withdrawn to irrigate yards.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection issued a permit for the subterranean reservoir, known as an aquifer storage and recovery project.

The county will build a full-scale demonstration project over the summer, said Pick Talley, county utilities director, and start testing. Then officials should know how much water can be stored and pulled back out during a drought, he said. They are hoping to recover 1-million gallons per day of a suitable salinity for watering plants.

"It will allow us to expand the reclaimed water system," said Talley. "The more reclaimed water you use, the less potable water you use."

Talley said the project was suggested by the Southwest Florida Water Management District, also known as Swiftmud.

"We get 60 percent of our rainfall between June and September," Swiftmud spokesman Michael Molligan said. "If you can find ways to capture that water and store it for later use, that's beneficial for everyone."

Funding for the project totals about $3.3-million, he said. That includes about $1.5-million each from Swiftmud and the county, and a state grant of $340,000.

Swiftmud, the Department of Environmental Protection and others will be reviewing test results. Molligan said no adverse impact will be allowed.

St. Petersburg has a somewhat similar project in testing. But the water the city is storing there is reclaimed from treated effluent.

One concern officials have, St. Petersburg Water Resources director Patti Anderson said, is whether the reclaimed water stored underground will mix too much with the brackish water that surrounds it. If so, she said, "it might not be suitable for landscape."

Largo looked at aquifer storage recovery and decided against it, said Assistant City Manager Norton Craig.

"We have 18-million gallons of storage space in three tanks (for reclaimed water)," he said. "It's meeting our needs for now."

Clearwater has tested the feasibility of aquifer storage and recovery at its northeast plant, but test results showed the salinity of the water underground was not suitable. Andy Neff, Clearwater's public utilities director, said officials probably won't do any further testing at other sites for now.

The county also is moving toward an aquifer storage project at the South Cross Bayou water reclamation facility on 54th Avenue N in St. Petersburg. The permit application has not been submitted yet.

Initial testing in John Chesnut Sr. Park looked good, officials said, so they are going ahead.

"The estimated seasonal storage capacity is between 60- and 120-million gallons a year," said Dave Slonena, county hydrogeology manager.

The water will be filtered and then disinfected with a technology new to the county. Ultraviolet light from fluorescent bulbs will kill bacteria and pathogens, he said, before the water is injected underground.

If the East Lake well can provide 1-million gallons a day when needed, officials said, the county may seek permits to triple the program with two more wells.

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Gators and Sharks Are Overrated

By NATHAN CRABBE
New York Times Regional Newspapers

GAINESVILLE -- Fatal alligator and shark attacks have been big news in Florida during the past few years.

But there's an animal 300 times more dangerous, despite its innocent face and bushy white tail.

There's an average of 130 fatal vehicle collisions with deer in the United States each year, according to statistics kept by the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville.

By comparison, on average, there was less than one shark attack and one gator attack per year during the 1990s.

George Burgess, director of the shark file, said he keeps such statistics to put shark attacks in perspective. He said recent fevered news media coverage of three fatal gator attacks reminded him of fatal shark attacks getting blown out of proportion in years past.

"It's really nice to see an animal other than sharks get abused for a change," he said.

Experts say humans have little to fear from most wildlife. There have been no reported fatal bear attacks in Florida and no reports of wildlife bites giving Florida residents a fatal case of rabies in decades. Just six of the 49 species of snakes in Florida are venomous and potentially deadly.

"People tend to blow things up and think they're going to get killed, but it doesn't happen that often," said Anni Bladh, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's nuisance-animal biologist for the region.

Bladh said most of the calls she gets are from people who spot raccoons in daylight and think they're rabid.

Alachua County has treated nine people for rabies this year and 38 last year after they were bitten by raccoons and other animals, said Paul Myers, director of environmental health for the county.

But the effectiveness of those treatments and widespread vaccination of pets has virtually eliminated rabies deaths in people, he said.

"The cases are sporadic across the United States," he said.

People have even less to fear from Florida's black bears, said Walter McCown, a biologist with the wildlife commission who studies the animals. Bears are very shy and have never attacked someone unprovoked in this state, he said.

He said people should keep food inside to prevent bears from being attracted to their homes, but shouldn't worry about fatal bear attacks.

"Dogs regularly kill people, and we tend to accept that risk," he said.

Snakes are another story. About 150 people are bitten by snakes in Florida each year and, on average, one of those bites results in death, according to the wildlife commission.

Last year, Putnam County Fire Marshal Joe Guidry shot a diamondback rattlesnake t