Crystal River is ready to tackle growth issues

A memo from the city manager to city council members cites development rights as a key concern.

CRYSTAL RIVER - Growth is a hot topic in Crystal River these days, and the City Council will have a special, hourlong workshop on the topic at 6 p.m. Monday. The council's regularly scheduled meeting will begin at 7.

In a memo to council members, City Manager Phil Deaton said the workshop goal is to review "growth, possibilities, prospects and problems" and to "consider tools that the city may have to control or stimulate growth."

The council is scheduled to discuss water demand, sanitary sewer capacity and demand, and the transfer of development rights - a process where a land owner keeps the land but sells the water, mineral or air rights that go with the property.

Although the city's comprehensive plan mentions a city program that addresses transfer of development rights, no such program actually exists, Deaton wrote in the memo. Deaton said he and other city staffers agreed the council should either develop a plan and procedures for such rights transfers or eliminate mention of the concept in city reports.

"The possible transfer of development rights is usually most valuable in cities such as the city of Crystal River, where the entire city is in the high hazard flood area and we have density limitations," Deaton wrote. "The city may grow and expand, but it may not increase the average units per acre in the city. That is why some have said that if you are going to build something new, you must tear down something old. The other possibility is to take the development rights from land that is not desired to be developed and shift those development rights to property that is appropriate for more dense development. That's leaving the density ratio the same."

Deaton went on to write: "As development pressure increases in the Crystal River area, the demand for and therefore the value of development rights may be increasing. It seems appropriate that the municipal government formulate a program to deal with these."

The agenda is full for the regular council meeting, as well.

Among the items: consideration of a resolution asking the County Commission to formally note the need for a U.S. 19 bypass in Crystal River, and discussion of a request that the commission convey to the city title and maintenance responsibility for Citrus Avenue between U.S. 19 and Turkey Oak Drive.

The council meets in council chambers at City Hall, 123 NW U.S. 19.

Builders' plan could lower home costs

County commissioners will decide whether to study a developers association plan to stretch out the payment of impact fees over years.

If developers have their way, the initial cost of a new home in Pasco County could be cut by as much as $5,860.

But those dollars owed to the county still would get paid, being added to the homeowners' property tax bills over 10 years.

County commissioners will decide Tuesday whether to okay a $47,000 study of the idea, and developers have heavily lobbied on its behalf because of the potential it has to help lure homeowners to Pasco. The draw? Even lower initial home prices in comparison with Pinellas or Hillsborough's.

The Pasco Building Association has said it will pay for the county study of the idea.

"On the surface of it, I approve the idea" to move forward with the study, Commissioner Ted Schrader said Friday.

Schrader and County Administrator John Gallagher said the building association got the attention of county leaders by arguing that the proposed payment arrangement would actually get money into county coffers sooner.

That would allow the county to launch school, water and road projects in time for them to be ready when families move into the new homes, the argument goes.

Currently, the infrastructure costs are paid for through impact fees, which are collected upon purchase of the new home. Under the proposal brought by developers, the county would receive its money at the start of construction through the down payment of a 25 percent to 50 percent share. The remainder would be bonded and paid through payments wrapped into the eventual owners' property tax bills over 10 years. Total impact fees now stand at about $11,700 per new home in the county.

"Studies show that the average homeowner stays in the home for seven years, so the idea is to spread the cost some to the second buyer," Gallagher said.

The building association did not return calls Friday seeking comment.

Garrett Therolf covers Pasco County government. He can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6232 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6232. His e-mail address is gtherolf@sptimes.com

Oct 22, 2005

Florida juggles development, flora By Curtis Morgan KNIGHT RIDDER MIAMI - They have odd names like deltoid spurge and tiny polygala, and look like weeds you would yank from a garden. But there is something extraordinary about these scraggly little plants. They exist in only one place, sprouting from the rocky floor of pine woods scattered across South Miami-Dade's suburbs. For the first time since they were declared endangered 20 years ago, an obscure group of plants that rank among the rarest in the world are being reassessed by the federal government. A formal opinion on their health won't be out for a year, but the outlook already is clear: "It's bleak," said Cindy Schulz, endangered species coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The biggest threat is easy to see but difficult to overcome. Much of the forest that nurtured them was bulldozed decades ago, and it has dwindled since to less than 2 percent of its original size -- despite protections the county adopted in the late 1980s. By one estimate from the Institute for Regional Conservation, the remaining fragments have shrunk by half over the past decade. And development pressure is only building. Permit applications have tripled since 2000 at the same time county environmental regulators chase a spate of illegal clearings -- by builders, speculators, homeowners, even a church. The woods disappear, lot by lot. "Once you disturb the soil, it's essentially a lost cause," said Keith Bradley, assistant director of the Institute for Regional Conservation, a nonprofit Homestead, Fla., firm that surveyed the rockland last year for Miami-Dade. The pine forest sprouted from what geologists call the Miami rock ridge, a curving limestone plateau left when the sea receded 5,000 to 10,000 years ago. Some 55 miles long, it bends southwest from central Dade to below Homestead. Carved by creeks flowing from the Everglades, sections of the ridge became small islands of evolution, where plants popped from craggy niches filled with thin beds of decaying pine needles and white sand. About 40 species live only in rockland or its fringe, including five classified in 1985 as federally endangered. In June, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced it would review the status of three herbs -- the tiny polygala, deltoid spurge and Small's milkpea. The Garber's spurge and crenulate lead-plant, a shrub, also rank as endangered and at least 10 others are candidates for future listing. Secreted beneath toothpick-straight slash pines and fan-shaped fronds of saw palmetto, the plants are all but invisible to anyone without an expert eye. Tromping through the eight-acre Pineshore Park, Bradley had to lift low-hanging brush to reveal a few palm-size tufts resembling splatters of green paint. The deltoid spurge -- "in rampant bloom," he laughed. Pineland plants, born in harsh conditions, are not sexy, which hasn't helped their cause. Because mapping has been sketchy, it's difficult to calculate precisely how much pineland has been lost. The largest remaining chunk, 19,000 acres called Long Pine Key, is in Everglades National Park, but its sand-less expanse holds few rare species. Outside the park, development consumed most of the original 126,000 acres decades ago because the high and dry land was easy to build on. Last year, Bradley's survey found only 2,255 acres left, half the county estimate from 1995. County records, based on different criteria and older surveys, indicate less dramatic decline -- 335 acres in natural forest communities, which include rocklands and other wild areas, lost since 1980. Susan Markley, DERM's chief of ecosystem restoration and planning, said the county has worked to preserve the last pineland stands. In the 1980s, the county imposed a series of restrictions intended to reduce building impacts in what were designated natural forest communities, areas that include rocklands, coastal hammocks and other rare habitats. While there is wiggle room, it generally limits building to 20 percent of any parcel larger than five acres and blocked developers from chopping them into smaller pieces. On smaller tracts, as much as an acre can typically be cleared. There also are tax breaks for landowners willing to preserve and maintain rockland and the county has also purchased many of the largest tracts. About 1,600 acres of it are now in public hands. Regulators also have pursued 36 cases of illegal clearings in the past five years, doling out penalties as high as $94,000 in one blatant case. But once the damage is done and fines paid, the land can be sold. New owners can even appeal to lift the pineland designation, making the property more valuable and attractive in a spiraling real estate market. "People are still getting away with it," Bradley said. Markley acknowledged that development pressure is soaring, but said there is only so much regulators can do to keep tabs on hundreds of widely scattered tracts. "We don't have enough resources in DERM to monitor all these parcels," she said. DERM has handled more than 60 applications through July, compared to fewer than 20 five years ago. Most are small, but some major projects are in the pipeline as well. The University of Miami envisions a 1,200-home village in the Richmond Pine Rocklands near Metrozoo. The zoo has long pondered expansion itself. Miami-Dade's school system also is considering building a middle school on a tract it owns next to Killian Senior High that includes the rocklands of Ron Ehmann Park. All three projects, while still in planning stages, come with pledges to preserve and maintain the healthiest parts of the forest. But some biologists and environmentalists worry encroachments will weaken the surviving pinelands. Like many Florida systems, rocklands need regular fires to flourish, but "you can't burn a pineland when it's right next to a neighborhood," said Cynthia Guerra, executive director of Tropical Audubon. "We worry about exotic plants invading, about trash being dumped. These are fragile ecosystems." Unlike with rare animals, federal regulators have little power to protect endangered plants unless a federal agency is involved in a project. But, Schulz said, depending on the result, the federal review could direct more research money and attention to rocklands. Scientists still don't know a lot of basics about plants like the deltoid spurge. They don't know what role they play in the forest, what insects or animals might depend on them, why they sprout some years and disappear others or what might happen if one or more of them simply vanished. But Bradley said none should reduce the importance of saving them. "The standard argument is that we don't know what value these have for people, that these plants might have some cancer-fighting properties or something," he said. "I hate that argument. They're part of something unique, an environment that is disappearing. That should be enough on its own."

Still, on the pressing issue of controlling disease and pests, Bronson is correct. The citrus industry, so vital to the state's economy, needs help. Florida's leaders should provide it.

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No phoenix-like rebirth for the Olde Fireside

The beloved Brooksville watering hole and dining spot won't return in its prior form, says the owner, who also notes the property has been sold.

BROOKSVILLE - It's been more than nine months since the night the Fireside restaurant burned. Since then, there's been plenty of speculation about town as to what was going to happen with the historic, dark-wood, white-collar restaurant and watering hole. Now it's official.

The property is up for sale.

The Fireside is finished.

Rebuilding it, owner David Price said, was going to be expensive, but rebuilding it up to current county building codes was going to be really expensive.

There it is, on the Hernando County Multiple Listing Service real estate Web site: 1175 S Broad St., "AS IS," $990,000. And an offer has been made.

"So we're going to just sell," Price said, "and move on."

But Brooksville, say some longtime locals, is losing something it will never, ever get back.

"A lot of people used to meet there after work," former County Judge Peyton Hyslop said this summer.

"It was one of the very unique places to go: the ambience, the surroundings, just the feeling you got," real estate agent Mary Ann DeWitt said earlier this week. "There's not a lot of places you can go to replace that. It's the loss of another old hometown Brooksville place."

Set on 4 acres back from the increasing bustle of U.S. 41, away from the Pizza Hut, Wendy's, Dunkin Donuts and KFC, down the narrow road and past the palm shrubs, the vines and the hanging Spanish moss, the Fireside still kind of looks like it used to: big bricks and brown wood, tall windows and a deep porch.

But the roof is black, and the building has an abandoned, almost haunted look.

And the signs, literally, are there: the yellow Weichert real estate sign, No Trespassing, Beware of the Dog.

This was one of the oldest buildings in Brooksville. It was built in 1908 and was the servants quarters for tangerine tycoon A.J. Truitt. His daughter, Jean, lived there until her death in 1973, and some say her ghost stayed there even after that. The building was converted into a restaurant in the late 1970s.

Price, who in a former life was a lawyer in Cedar Falls, Iowa, came to Brooksville in 1988, bought the restaurant and changed the name to Ye Olde Fireside Inn. But everybody just called it the Fireside. "It was a place where just a lot of people went," veteran Brooksville lawyer Bill Eppley said.

The kind of place where regulars had their regular tables at their regular times.

The City Council members, the teachers, the real estate agents.

The lawyers, the businessmen, the folks from the courthouse.

No reservations necessary.

"Everybody just knew," Price said.

Defense attorney Jimmy Brown was at the Fireside so often he had a "wake" at his house the night of the fire. Price showed up, and so did his wife, Tracy, and the kitchen manager, the bar manager and a handful of other very, very regulars. The Hernando Public Defender's Office sent Brown a sympathy card.

"It was set back in the woods," he said this week. "It was secluded, and we were never rushed."

"It had a nice ambience at the end of the day," local historian Bob Martinez said.

For all that, the Fireside ended up distinguishing itself in the '90s and in the early part of this decade more because of what it was not.

"It wasn't a chain restaurant," Hernando County Clerk of the Court Karen Nicolai said Monday afternoon. "It was the one place in town you could go with some atmosphere."

Until Dec. 26.

The fire started in an air-conditioning unit in the back of the building just before 6 that Sunday evening. There was a small wedding going on. The DeWitts were there that night: Mary Ann and her husband, Bob, and so was School Board member Sandra Nicholson.

It took two hours and five engines to put it out. The second floor was destroyed. Smoke and water damaged most of the rest of the restaurant.

To repair, Price said this week, would have been to rebuild.

"The building code is very explicit as to how you do repairs to damaged structures," county development director Grant Tolbert said.

That includes 21st century electrical codes, plumbing codes and handicap codes.

"It could have looked like an old building," Tolbert said. "But it would have had to be a new building."

Price didn't want it to look the way it was.

He wanted it to be the way it was.

"I fell in love with that building, the aura and the feeling," said Price, 62, who has started Price Properties and is going to sell real estate through Weichert. "That's the reason I was in it. If I rebuild it, it's just not the same."

The offer is from someone who doesn't want anybody to know about it yet. A feasibility study is under way, and the sale is "very imminent," Price said. "Someone has offered to buy it, and we accepted.

"It could be many things," he said of the property right off U.S. 41. "Certainly another fine-dining and lounge place. But I think there are things that could make more money.

"A high-end office building?

"Some sort of shopping center?

"A hotel?

"Numerous things could be put back there."

Just not the Fireside.

Not anymore.

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

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Condo project will threaten more wetlands

If you moved to Florida to enjoy the flora and nature of this state, a person might as well move back to the concrete jungle of Manhattan or Chicago. What I am referring to is the unabated, uncontrolled and inexcusable building being done on Florida's wetlands.

For a very recent example, look no further than Port Richey. A large track of registered wetland with three large open water ponds and lots of trees and wildlife is soon to be the new home of a large condo project, Avilla Bay by Lennar Homes Inc. If you try to stop a development like this, you will be laughed at when you tell the City Council that they should not rezone this area because it is a wetland. You will receive the run-around from Southwest Florida Water Management District, which is supposed to protect against building in such areas. A spokesman for the agency informed us that it is very expensive to build on a wetland. It will cost the developer money to create wetlands elsewhere. Not too bad when you stand to profit by millions of dollars on your development.

By the way, how do you create a wetland with ponds that go down to the aquifer? If you are looking to find those remanufactured wetlands, you will have to look long and hard and will most likely come up dry. Shame on Lennar and anybody connected with this project!

Guest column

County needs to act now to prevent east-side sprawl

If Pasco County commissioners are looking for advice to help them decide whether to enhance protection of east Pasco's rural nature, they should look to Tampa's yuppies. Every weekend, hundreds of these young suburbanite go-getters put on expensive harlequin-looking bike-riding uniforms, strap $2,000 bikes onto BMWs and drive - right out of their perfectly-fine-for-bike-riding neighborhoods - for the better part of an hour to enjoy the beauty of east Pasco's rolling hills.

It is the beauty of east Pasco that brings these privileged hordes out among us. We have lovely rolling hills, red foxes, bald eagles - a natural area worth visiting and saving. What lesson should Pasco County take from the yuppie visits every weekend? It's bad enough when they visit. Let's try and keep them from moving here.

Actually, the reasons why the Pasco County Commission should act to enhance the protection of east Pasco's rural nature are far more serious. Along with our wonderful weather and the invention of air conditioning, the most important single socioeconomic fact in the last 50 years of Florida's history is urban sprawl. Sprawl is bad. Economists, sociologists and political scientists all agree. Ask the commuters sitting still on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.

Building square mile after square mile of dense residential housing is the most expensive kind of development for taxpayers. Sprawl requires high services and expensive infrastructure: new roads, new schools, more police and fire protection, and all with heavy maintenance burdens. Impact fees were meant to defer at least the startup part of these costs, but they don't even come close to covering that portion of the taxpayers' new burden.

The engine of urban sprawl is a reliable political dynamic. Developers pour funds into local elections. Then, one by one, they go to local government and ask for an exception to one little onerous land use rule. On the other side of each of these decisions is the general public. The zoning and growth plans are designed to help a community stay or become what it desires to be and to hold down the taxpayers' burden.

Every developer seeking to subdivide an acre into home sites seeks only what is natural: maximum profit. That optimal return can be had only if land use rules are dodged. The general public is too distracted by everyday life to pay attention to each chip knocked out of growth plans. One day the public realizes that all the chipping has destroyed the plan and urban sprawl is irrevocably on its way.

Developers and large landholders always roll out the same arguments that have won the day for urban sprawl for decades. Their private property rights are being attacked, government is picking on me, I'll sue the taxpayer! All while seeking to change the rules!

That is the point. The proposals to enhance the protections of east Pasco's rural nature don't affect anyone's property. They just make it harder for developers to get around the rules. The rules already limit high concentration development in east Pasco. One home to 10 acres is the general rule. The large landowners and developers resisting the proposed change wish to preserve their end-run route around the rules.

I don't blame large landowners for wanting to make the absolute most from the sale of their property. I don't condemn developers for planning on special treatment exceptions to maximize profit. The selling landowner, even if his family has farmed the land for generations, is selling out and moving. The developer will make his profit and move on to another tract to turn from rural to maximum-return high-density residential.

When they are gone what's left are taxpayers with a heavier burden, another concentric ring of urban sprawl and yet another defeated land use plan. We've seen the result for 50 years.

The Pasco County Commission should be commended for considering enhancing the protection of east Pasco's rural nature. By a show of interest now, voters can protect themselves in countless future land use decisions. Saving east Pasco's rural nature will be good for all county taxpayers. Preserving the beauty of our county will be important for our children when they take our places.

We probably should have some sympathy for our visiting harlequin bike riders from the south. They are only showing us what we should do. Escape urban sprawl when you can.

Doug Bevins, a former municipal government and land use attorney, lives in northeast Pasco.

The Citizens Advisory Committee on the future land use element of the comprehensive plan is scheduled for 6:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the West Pasco Government Center board Room 7530 Little Road, New Port Richey.

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Development arrives with grand prices

At Concord Station in Land O'Lakes, the Colonial Grande three-bedroom starter home costs $270,150.

LAND O'LAKES - For a neighborhood named after a defunct stagecoach line, Concord Station is rolling out home prices fit for a royal carriage.

The long-delayed U.S. Home/Lennar development north of State Road 54 enters the market after a recent 30-percent spike in Tampa Bay area housing values.

And initial prices in the 1,553-home development reflect that rapid housing inflation. Take U.S. Home's Colonial Grande model.

It's a starter home of 1,343 square feet. It's one story with three bedrooms on a 40-foot lot. Base price: $270,150.

That seems to be the highest price ever charged for such a small house and lot in Pasco County.

"I guess they're charging an extra $50,000 for the "Grande,"' said Tampa Bay area housing analyst Marvin Rose. "That does seem to be pushing the envelope."

What a difference two years makes.

In 2003, $300,000 bought you a 6-bedroom, 4.5-bathroom, 4,300-square-foot house in Oakstead, a similarly equipped neighborhood that adjoins Concord Station to the east.

That house, built by Mercedes Homes, came with a yard twice the size of the Colonial Grande's. For a few thousand more you could have gotten a screened pool.

With a deficient supply of new homes relative to demand, Pasco builders can afford to ration with high prices, Rose said.

The average price of a new Pasco home has reached $270,000, but Rose cautioned those are closing prices on contracts inked more than a year ago. You'd pay more if you shopped around today.

"Builders know that no matter how they price them they will sell them," Rose said.

Concord Station is the latest development on a 5-mile strip of land north of SR 54, between U.S. 41 and the Suncoast Parkway.

Its 1,025 acres link two established neighborhoods, Oakstead on the east and Ballantrae on the west. Builders have already extended into Concord two roads that had dead ended in Oakstead: Lake Patience Road and Manassas Drive.

U.S. Home spent five years getting Concord off the ground, delays caused in part by Lennar Corp.'s acquisition of U.S. Home.

The neighborhood takes its name from the Concord Stagecoach Line, a 19th century route that crossed Land O'Lakes about 6 miles east of Concord Station.

Lennar, like every other home builder, has been riding the crest in high home prices. In 2002, a U.S. Home executive told the St. Petersburg Times he expected entry-level homes in Concord to start at $150,000.

Three years of low interest rates and real estate boom have lifted prices to the level of Colonial Grande's $270,150. The largest homes in Concord approach $600,000.

Several dozen homes are under construction in the neighborhood, which is supposed to have a 4,000-square-foot clubhouse and kidney-shaped community swimming pool.

"Tucked into spectacular Land O'Lakes, Concord Station holds true to its name," says an Internet ad for U.S. Home.

"Spectacular Land O'Lakes" now has spectacular home prices to boot.

Oct 15, 2005

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'Old Florida' feeling effects of property boom

The "For Sale" sign that sprouted in Mike Hodges' lawn last week is a sign of the times.

The chairman of the Cedar Key Aquaculture Association isn't giving up clam farming, but he expects to make some serious money selling his home and workplace while escaping $275 in monthly real estate taxes. He plans to move to a place off the island of Cedar Key, but leave his boat docked in town to provide easy access to his off-shore clam sites.

"It's getting too expensive for us blue collar folks to live out here," he said.

In just a dozen years Cedar Key has cemented its place as the national leader in farm-raised clams, but some farmers feel like they're victims of their own success. As the clam industry has allowed the town to remain a place often described as one of the last vestiges of "Old Florida," newcomers flocking there for the experience sometimes contribute to altering it.

"They come here, they see it, they fall in love with it, but then they want to change it," said Mike Smith, operations manager at Cedar Key Aquaculture Farms, a clam wholesaler.

Smith works next door to Hodges' home on the Gulf of Mexico. He worries a new neighbor who's unfamiliar with the clam industry will be bothered by the constant truck traffic, the sight and odor of clam bags drying on the dock and other aspects of the business.

Ann Marie Boutwell of Baynard Realty said skyrocketing real estate prices have contributed to an unusual juxtaposition of new and old.

"You can have a $400,000 house and be right next door to a single wide that has a clamming operation," she said.

Realtor Doris Hellerman, owner of Pelican Realty, said area home prices have doubled and in some cases tripled in the past three to four years. Her Web site lists homes priced up to $1.2 million for a three-bedroom home on the Gulf.

"We don't have anything below $200,000 now that's improved," she said.

She now has more listings than any time in memory, but worries about how high prices will alter the community's character. She's critical of investors buying homes and then "flipping" them months later for higher prices.

"I don't see where they do anything for anybody but themselves," she said.

She said one of the first indications things were changing was when a man from Daytona Beach started leaving letters at every waterside home a few years ago saying he wanted to buy their properties. Investors from other parts of Florida now use the Internet to locate property owners and send letters making such requests, she said.

These speculative investors are largely behind the dramatic rise in prices, she said. Glenda Richburg, a fifth-generation resident and owner of Annie's Cafe, said the resulting rise in the cost of living and taxes has made it a struggle for local home and business owners to remain on the island.

"I don't know anyone outside of the clam business that's native to the island and still in business," she said.

Some business owners on the town's main drag of 2nd Street are newcomers, but share her concerns. Stanley Blair and her husband bought the historic Island Hotel and Restaurant in January 2004, and said she doesn't like the changes she's seen in that time.

She's concerned an influx of big-money investors will make it impossible for people who work on the island to also live there.

"We don't want this to become a bedroom community," she said. "We want it to be a working village."

Dick Martens, who has owned the nearby Curmudgeonalia Book and Gift Shop for 2 years, mocks some of the tension between old and new. Multi-generational families look down on people who came here 10 years ago, who look down on those who came here last year, who will soon find their own objects of scorn, he said.

"The people who came here last month, I suppose," he said.

But Boutwell, who moved to Cedar Key from Georgia three years ago, said newcomers simply came for the old-Florida feel and don't want to see it change any more than long-time residents.

"A lot of us don't want to see it develop into where we came from," she said, "but we also realize we don't have much choice."

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


Article published Oct 16, 2005
Area mill pumps up debate

When Gale Dickert stayed at her grandmother's place near the Fenholloway River as a little girl, children played in the river's waters, tourists visited a grand resort on its banks and panthers prowled at night in the pristine environment.

Her grandmother insisted on getting drinking water from springs that fed the river because its quality was so much better than water from the wells on their property.

Such a prospect is unthinkable today.

Dickert was 13 years old when the Buckeye Florida pulp mill opened in 1954 and starting pouring its effluent into the Fenholloway, turning the river black and making its waters stink like rotten eggs. The river became an industrial cesspool where female fish developed male features.

So she's skeptical about Buckeye officials' plans to clean the river, including building a pipeline to pump the mill's discharge closer to the Gulf of Mexico. And she considers it a "cruel joke" that Buckeye is now selling nearby land for a massive coal-burning power plant.

"It's wrong to think that this place will grow if they bring in another major polluter" she said.

Community leaders who have long supported Buckeye are now embracing the proposed power plant for its potential to create thousands more jobs. They reject the idea it would harm the environment or the health of residents.

"We don't feel like we're selling our environmental soul for jobs," said Rick Breer, director of the Taylor County Development Authority.

The county has had more than its share of environmental controversy. The pulp mill has provided the lion's share, until last year's debate over whether the Air Force should be allowed to use the coast as a bombing range. Residents soundly defeated that plan, only to be now faced with the prospect of a coal-fired power plant in their backyards.

The plant would be built a mile from the pulp mill. It would cost $1.5 billion and produce 800 megawatts of electricity - which amounts to three times the cost and four times the amount of electricity of Gainesville Regional Utilities' proposed coal-burning plant. All the electricity would go to utilities outside the county.

Mark McCain, spokesman for the North Florida Power Project, said one-third of the project's cost would be spent on environmental controls.

"It will be the cleanest plant of its kind in the country," he said.

But some residents are skeptical. They feel like they've been sold down the river by an industrial plant before - and there's no greater proof than the river itself.

In 1947, the Florida Legislature designated the Fenholloway as the state's only industrial river to attract employers to the region. Procter and Gamble opened the pulp mill seven years later, which it later sold to a former executive.

The mill cooks slash pines in a chemical brew to produce cellulose, which is used in everything from diapers to sausage casings. The process requires tens of millions of gallons of groundwater, which the mill fills with chemicals before dumping it into the river.

Even Buckeye officials concede the river was destroyed as a result, for years devoid of all but the heartiest fish and flanked by dying vegetation. But they say mill improvements are bringing the river back to life, as shown by the state health department's decision to lift its advisory against eating fish caught there in 2003 and the regrowth of sea grass at its mouth.

"It's not the disaster zone that some people would paint it as," said Chet Thompson, environmental technology manager for Buckeye.

Despite its smell and color, alligators lurk in its waters and crabbers place traps near its mouth. A sample of its water looks the color of iced tea, but Buckeye officials say the darkness of the water has been reduced in half.

Optimism and skepticism
Buckeye has spent $84 million to improve its wastewater systems and switched from elemental chlorine to chloride dioxide. They say the change has cleaned the discharge of dioxins, the same toxic chemical used in Agent Orange.

Thompson said the pipeline would complete the river's rebirth. He said even the cleaner effluent will still be high in salinity, so moving the discharge point 23 miles downstream would allow it to harmlessly mix with the Gulf's saltwater.

He said the Fenholloway would be back to a pristine condition within months, and the Gulf would be unharmed by the change.

Critics scoff at the assertions. They say the plan would dry the Fenholloway and expose its polluted riverbed to wildlife, while moving pollution closer to the Gulf's sensitive shellfish and waters already plagued by red tide blooms.

Linda Young, the southeast regional director for the Natural Resources Defense Council's Clean Water Network, said Buckeye would be allowed to continue polluting the river for nine years while the pipeline is being built.

The permit allows Buckeye to opt out of requirements to make the water transparent and remove iron, she said, while allowing levels of nitrogen, phosphorus and coliform that far exceed those discharged by a comparable plant.

"It is a cruel joke on the people of Florida," she said.

A University of Texas-El Paso researcher who has studied fish being mutated by the effluent said there's no guarantee the effect won't be moved to the Gulf. Biologist William Baldwin said he's found female fish in the Fenholloway develop male features, a common phenomenon near paper mills. But there's never been a definitive chemical linked to the changes, he said, so it's unclear whether the effluent will be clean enough to prevent it from occurring again.

"You're potentially moving the effect from Perry to someplace else," he said.

Plant officials say other plants that have made similar changes have found the effect disappeared.

But Joy Towles Ezell, a lifelong county resident and longtime critic of the mill, isn't buying it. She said fish in the Gulf will now feel the brunt of the discharge's impact, while the rest of the river will show the effects of years of pollution. She's especially worried about the river drying up, which even Buckeye executives concede will happen at times once the discharge pipe is moved.

A dry riverbed would mean birds and other wildlife are exposed to dioxins and other chemicals in the riverbed, she said. A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report in the late 1990s found the riverbed was contaminated with dioxins, which have been linked to birth defects and other health disorders.

Ezell said the mill is going to have to agree to finally clean up its act or face the consequences.

"If they're not going to clean it up, they're going to have to close it down," she said.

Many residents bristle at such a notion. A recent town hall meeting on the pipeline plant brought dozens of plant employees, most of whom said the pipeline debate has dragged on long enough.

The plan was proposed over a decade ago, but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rejected the idea in the late 1990s. Environmental critics say the agency dropped those concerns only after the election of President George W. Bush. But some plant workers applaud the agency for ending years of gridlock. Howard Pickles, president of the U.S. Steelworkers local union, said overly restrictive environmental regulations will only cost the county jobs.

"I don't want to see these jobs go overseas," he said.

Lifeblood of the economy
The mill is the lifeblood of the county's economy, employing more than 600 people and contributing to hundreds more jobs at timber companies and other related business. Only Taylor Correctional Institution even comes close to as many workers.

Project backers say the power plant would mean 1,500 construction jobs and 180 full-time jobs once completed.

The plant, which would open in 2012, would be built on 3,200 acres near the pulp mill. Buckeye has agreed to sell 1,300 acres for the project, with the rest coming from the company that provides the mill with timber.

The Taylor plant's electricity would be spread between utilities in Jacksonville and a collection of smaller utilities, including the utility serving Walt Disney World. Tallahassee voters will decide next month whether to be part of the project, but backers say it would move forward either way.

The county will get none of the power from the project, but Dickert said it will feel all the effects of its pollution. She said she's especially worried about mercury emissions, which have been shown to contribute to learning disabilities in children. "There is no way you can have an 800-megawatt plant and burn 100 rail cars of coal a day and have it be clean," she said.

Dickert said she worries that the county she remembers will never be the same. After years of watching the river be polluted, she said she's disheartened by the prospect of a towering smokestack and power lines strewn across the county.

"It's sort of like a lump in your throat," she said. "You feel a sadness for a place that could be beautiful."

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

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The Florida Times-Union

October 16, 2005

Duval County's 50 dirtiest waters

By CHARLIE PATTON
The Times-Union

The St. Johns riverkeeper calls it the "list of shame."

The state Department of Environmental Protection goes with the less melodramatic phrase "impaired rivers."

But by any name, the St. Johns River's 50 polluted tributaries in Duval County don't smell so sweet.

The 50 streams are on the list because of consistently high levels of fecal coliform, a form of bacteria involved in the digestive process of mammals, including humans.

While fecal coliform bacteria are not a health risk to humans, their presence is an indication that other bacteria, which are a health risk, may also be present.

Besides, whatever the health risks, no one relishes the idea that the waters in which they boat, fish, ski or swim are contaminated with human or animal feces.

"There's a good chance that if you are recreating in a stream in Jacksonville, there are probably going to be high levels of bacteria," said Neil Armingeon, the St. Johns riverkeeper.

In fact, Armingeon said, if the same level of pollution consistently found in those 50 rivers were found in the ocean, the ocean would be closed to swimmers. Generally, anything above a 200 measure is considered reason for caution for swimmers, while anything about 800 is considered a definite health risk. Those on the impaired rivers list are there because they consistently were measured above 400. The testing standard measures bacterial colonies per 100 milliliters.

The city's Environmental Quality Division measures fecal coliform levels at about 100 sites across the city every three months. In the spring quarter, the last for which data is available, 30 sites measured above 1,000, many considerably above. Willowbranch Creek, where it passes under a footbridge between Azalea Terrace and Willowbranch Avenue, measured 150,000.

A city plan for cleaning up the polluted rivers submitted to the Department of Environmental Protection in 2003 estimates it will take 14 years to address the problems in all 50 rivers on the state list.

Close to home

Until the city posted signs in 2003 at nine public sites where high fecal coliform levels are found, many people had no idea they were living close to such highly polluted waters.

"We kind of always wondered," said Nancy Apple, whose Miramar Terrace home backs up to Miramar Creek as it runs through Greenridge Road Park. "It looked pretty scary."

And sometimes it smelled pretty scary as well, she said.

But it was only after the city posted a sign in the park warning of high levels of bacteria that the Apples decided to forbid their three children from playing in the stream.

"They used to play in it every day," she said.

Michael Darragh, who lives on Craig Creek, which runs through Hendricks Avenue Park, said he has known for at least a decade there were problems with sewage getting into the creek.

But his neighbor Michael Munz, who worked as a senior adviser for former Mayor John Delaney, said he was surprised no one had ever notified him of the problem.

"When it floods, like it did this week, the creek is my back yard," Munz said.

Darragh said the city has done a lot to fix problems with the sewers and improve drainage in the area. But numbers compiled by the city's Environmental Quality Division indicate that high levels of fecal coliform are still present in Craig. Since last fall, samples taken in Hendricks Avenue Park have shown fecal coliform levels ranging from 1,700 to 93,000.

Root of the problem

The causes of polluted tributaries are various, with septic tank failure and what is known as sewer system overflow among the leading factors. Sewer system overflow can result when sewer lines break or when they become clogged or overloaded and back up.

For septic tanks, there are still about 140,000 in use in Duval County with more permits being issued.

Wastewater treatment plants also cause problems when they don't operate efficiently. That's why since 1987, 375 small wastewater treatment plants have been eliminated, with the sewer lines connected into regional facilities.

Animal waste also can contribute to the high fecal coliform levels, especially in rural areas. But most of the problem is caused by human waste, experts say.

Armingeon argues the existence of the impaired rivers list needs to be better publicized. At a minimum, he said, the list should be posted at every marina and boat launch in town.

But there are only nine places in Jacksonville where warning signs have been posted. They were posted in six city parks and at three public boat ramps in 2003 after the riverkeeper organization pressured the city. Two of the posted streams, Willowbranch Creek in Willowbranch Park and Little Fishweir Creek in Boone Park, aren't on the impaired rivers list. Apparently it's because they are too small to make the state's master list of identified water bodies.

The other seven places that are posted are Miramar Creek, Craig Creek, McCoy's Creek in Hollybrook Park, Hogans Creek in Confederate Park, Big Pottsburg Creek at Hogan Road, Cedar River at San Juan Avenue and the Trout River at the U.S.1 boat ramp.

But even where they are posted, the signs may not be having that much impact. Several boaters at the public boat ramp on the Cedar River said they hadn't noticed the sign.

Even people aware of the sign probably don't pay much attention, said boater Pat O'Brien of Murray Hill.

A starting point

 

Armingeon said he is encouraged by one recent development -- the Tributary Assessment Team project, a multi-agency effort spearheaded by the JEA. The project will develop a standard approach to identifying polluted streams, finding the source of pollution and dealing with the problem.

The project is being funded by money the JEA agreed to pay for failing to repair in a timely manner a broken pipeline that was allowing wastewater to flow into a canal off the Ortega River.

As part of a settlement in which it agreed to pay a $201,000 fine, the JEA agreed to spend $350,000 on environmental projects, including the Tributary Assessment Team project.

That project, which began last summer and will continue through July, will look at six tributaries and develop a way for evaluating pollution sources. The six were chosen partly because they were considered among the most polluted.

They are: Miramar Creek, an urban creek with a suspected pollution source already identified; Butcher Pen Creek, an urban creek that flows into the Ortega River on the Westside with no obvious pollution source; Deep Bottom Creek, a suburban creek in Mandarin with a suspected source; New Castle Creek, a suburban creek in Arlington without an obvious source; Terrapin Creek, a rural creek near a cattle farm north of Dames Point; and Blockhouse Creek, a rural creek in Ribault Hills with no obvious source of pollution.

 

Awareness and response

 

While pollution is always a concern, Armingeon noted that from a historical view, the city is doing a much better job of controlling pollution of its waterways than it did for the first two-thirds of the 20th century.

When Hans Tanzler became Jacksonville mayor in 1968, there were 77 outfalls putting raw sewage directly into the St. Johns River. Cleaning up the St. Johns became a Tanzler priority. In 1977 Tanzler, in a symbolic gesture publicizing the fact he thought the problem was solved, went waterskiing through downtown Jacksonville with a group of performers from Cypress Gardens.

In 2000 the City Council passed an ordinance that established a procedure for identifying and ranking areas where septic tank failure is a problem. The bill allocated $80 million to help pay for bringing city sewer service to the six top-ranked areas. As a result, about 6,500 septic tanks have been removed from service.

Dana Morton, of the city's Water Quality Section of the Environmental Quality Division, said he's encouraged by recent developments. But, he said, progress comes in small increments.

"It's slow, it's painful sometimes," he said.

In the meantime, people like Nancy Apple live with the consequences. Having a babbling brook in your back yard can be a beautiful thing.

But with what she now knows, Apple said, "I don't even want to put my foot in it."

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Ask for help

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the presence of unusually high levels of fecal coliform indicate the possible presence of disease-causing bacteria, viruses and protozoans. Health risks in such creek conditions can come from:

Swimming

Eating shellfish

Ingestion of water, including through the ears, eyes, nose, cuts and skin

Report pollution

Florida State Warning Point: 800-320-0519 (24 hours)

Jacksonville: (904) 630-3635

Florida Department of Environmental Protection: (904) 807-3300

U.S. Coast Guard: (904) 232-2648

St. Johns Riverkeeper: (904) 745-7591

Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (fish kills): (352) 732-1225

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Duval tributary watch

At a little more than 100 sites, water quality in the tributaries of the St. Johns River is monitored every three months by Jacksonville's Regulatory and Environmental Services Department. The state also has targeted 51 of these worst offenders. Following are fecal coliform bacteria levels based on bacterial colonies per 100 milliliters. Generally, anything above a 200 is considered a reason for caution for swimmers, while anything about 800 is considered a definite health risk. "N/S" is "not sampled."
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Arlington River Basin Location April-June Red Bay Branch at Lone Star Road 1,700 Strawberry Creek at Lone Star Road 80 Strawberry Creek at Arlington Road 220 Silversmith Creek at Arlington Road 800 Big Pottsburg Creek at Belfort Road 20 Bennett Branch at Salisbury Road 3,000 Big Pottsburg Creek at Hogan Road 260 Big Pottsburg Creek at Parental Home Road 80 Little Pottsburg Creek at Art Museum Drive 700 Little Pottsburg Creek at Bedford Road 800 Broward River and Dunn Creek Basin Location April-June Broward River at Biscayne Boulevard 270 Dunn Creek at Faye Road 6130 Terrapin Creek at Alta Road 700 Dunn Creek at Dunn Creek Road 800 Rushing Branch at Alta Road 2,800 Terrapin Creek at Faye Road 800 Cedar River Basin Location April-June Butcher Pen Creek at Wesconnett Boulevard 3,000 Wills Branch North Branch at Old MIddleburg Road 1,300 Cedar River East Branch at Stuart Avenue 130 Cedar River West Branch at Stuart Avenue 1,300 Cedar River at Lenox Avenue 90 Williamson Creek at Hyde Park Road 1,100 Cedar River at San Juan Avenue 110 Wills Branch at Lane Avenue 17,000 Julington & Durbin Creek Basin Location April-June Sampson Creek at Florida 210 40 Durbin Creek at Race Track Road 80 Durbin Creek at U.S. 1 80 Cormorant Branch at Julington Creek Road 340 Julington Creek at U.S. 1 260 Julington Creek at Old St. Augustine Road 1,700 Big Davis Creek at U.S. 1 500 Oldfield Creek at Julington Creek Road 900 Miscellaneous Rural Tributaries Location April-June Brandy Branch at U.S. 301 20 Deep Creek at U.S. 90 40 Thomas Creek at U.S. 1 80 Yellow Water Creek at Normandy Boulevard 210 Yellow Water Creek south of Sal Taylor Creek 120 Ortega River Basin Location April-June McGirts Creek at Shindler Drive 1,790 McGirts Creek at Normandy Boulevard 1,300 McGirts Creek at Old Plank Road 670 Ortega River at Kirwin Road-Argyle Forest Boulevard 170 Fishing Creek at Timuquana Road 20 620 Ortega Rriver at Collins Road 160 Fishing Creek North Branch at Wesconnett Boulevard 490 Pablo Creek/Intracoastal Waterway and Greenfield/Mount Pleasant Creeks Location April-June Sandalwood Canal at Kernan Road 340 Greenfield Creek at Atlantic Boulevard 20 Mount Pleasant Creek at Mount Pleasant Road 80 Sherman Creek at A1A Bridge 20 Hogpen Creek at San Pablo Road 210 Open Creek at San Pablo Road 2,400 Cradle Creek Branch at Fairway Lane 2,200 Hopkins Creek at Kings Road 140 Third Puncheon Branch at Butler Boulevard 40 Cedar Swamp Creek at Glen Kernan Parkway 220 Puckett Creek at Wonderwood Drive 700 Sherman Creek at Wonderwood Drive 170 St. Johns River Minor Tributaries/Mill Cove Arlington Area Location April-June Jones Creek at Monument Road 110 Ginhouse Creek at Monument Road 800 Cowhead Creek at Fort Caroline Road 330 Fairchild Branch at Edenfield Road 9,000 Newcastle Creek at Fort Caroline Hills Road 2,200 Unnamed stream at Ferber Road 5,000 St. Johns River Minor Tributaries Downtown Area Location April-June Big Fishweir Creek at Hershel Street 140 Willowbranch Creek at Azalea Street 160,000 Little Fishweir Creek at Park Street 3,000 Little Fishweir Creek at Greenwood Avenue 800 Deer Creek at Talleyrand Avenue 300 Deer Creek east of Haines Street 170 Hogan Creek at First Street west of Laura Street N/S Long Branch at Wigmore Street3,000 Long Branch at Evergreen Avenue 140 McCoys Creek at Myrtle Avenue 800 McCoys Creek at Leland Street 3,000 St. Johns River Minor Tributaries Southside Area Location April-June Miller Creek at Atlantic Boulevard 4,235 New Rose Creek at San Jose Boulevard 220 Christopher Creek at San Jose Boulevard 1,100 North Creek off Plummers Cove at Scott Mill Road N/S  South Creek off Plummers Cove at Scott Mill Road 455 Deep Bottom Creek at Scott Mill Road 1,635 Tacito Creek at Scott Mill Road 315 Unnamed creek at Mandarin Road and Loretto Road 565 Unnamed creek at San Jose Boulevard 1,700 Goodbys Creek at Sanchez Road 270 Miramar Creek at San Jose Boulevard 2,000 Craig Creek in park at Hendricks Avenue 3,300 Trout River Basin Location April-June Nine Mile Creek at Trout River Boulevard 80 Trout River at Bert Maxwell boat ramp 90 Moncrief Creek at Lem Turner Road 500 Trout River at U.S. 1 at boat ramp pier 1,400 Ribault River at Harborview boat ramp 700 Six Mile Creek North Branch at Imeson Road 160 Creek at Palmdale Street at Lake Palmdale Overflow 110 Little Six Mile Creek at Pickettville Road 1,620 Moncrief Creek at 33rd Street 3,500 Highlands Creek at Broward Road 80 Blockhouse Creek at Leonid Road 700 West Branch at Capper Road 60 Six Mile Creek South Branch at Imeson Road 220

 

1,100-acre slice of Connerton purchased

Lennar, the nation's third-largest home builder, will construct about 1,500 homes in the seniors-only section of the massive development.

By JAMES THORNER, Times Staff Writer
Published October 13, 2005

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LAND O'LAKES - Home building giant Lennar has bought a chunk of Connerton, one of the Tampa Bay area's biggest and most heavily promoted housing developments.

In a deal that closed in June, the nation's third-largest home builder paid $25-million for about 1,100 acres southeast of State Road 52 and U.S. 41.

Lennar's plans center on a 55-and-over active adult community that would take in the northwest corner of the 4,800-acre Connerton. Its 1,500 homes would encompass single-family houses, villas and townhomes.

Lennar and sister company U.S. Home have built about 50,000 active adult homes, many under the Heritage and Greenbriar brands. Pasco's Heritage communities include Heritage Springs in Trinity and Heritage Pines in Hudson.

Calling itself the region's only "new town," Connerton is projected to have 8,700 homes anchored by a walkable downtown crammed with stores, offices, apartments and public buildings.

The first village in Connerton, known as the Arbors, is under construction 3 miles south of the Lennar parcel. Eight model homes and a 3,800-square-foot welcome center grace the entrance east of U.S. 41.

Lennar's section is labeled Village Five and would have its own gates on SR 52. Village Five isn't contiguous with the rest of Connerton. It's separated by a state-owned nature preserve created from 3,000 acres of the former Conner Ranch.

The lead developer in Connerton, Terrabrook in Dallas, has long predicted it would hand development of the seniors-only section to another company.

Based on other Lennar projects, Village Five would have a clubhouse, a swimming pool, tennis courts and other amenities. Terrabrook removed a golf course from the community's master plan, citing waning demand for golf and Florida's water shortages.

Connerton's selling point is relaxed natural living - witness the three-dimensional pink flowers that project from area billboards - and Lennar prides itself on building near woods, lakes and conservation land.

Lennar is the No. 1 selling builder in Pasco, Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. In 2004, it sold 2,557 homes: 1,526 by U.S. Home and 1,031 by Lennar Homes.

Neither Lennar's regional president Larry Peebles nor Terrabrook's general manager Stewart Gibbons could be reached for comment.

[Last modified October 13, 2005, 01:11:19]

Ordinance might end crackers for quacks

The state law against feeding alligators is the model for the Muscovy duck feeding prohibition.

By GARRETT THEROLF
Published October 13, 2005

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County commissioners listened as the assistant county attorney soberly laid out the possibility that justice could be achieved for the victims.

"From what I've heard today, there will be videotape, which makes my job pretty easy," Kristi Wooden reported.

The offense: feeding the ducks.

In west Pasco neighborhoods stricken with flocks of Muscovy ducks, there is hardly no graver infraction than scattering bread crumbs that fatten their numbers. The black-and-white birds with warty red flesh around their bills leave driveways covered in feces, sometimes creating respiratory problems for residents.

"There are 83 petitions on file from residents of Jasmine Lakes seeking relief from the public nuisance caused by Muscovy ducks. We specifically requested an ordinance that would prohibit feeding the ducks," resident Pamela Boccaccio wrote to the Times recently.

So Wooden told commissioners Tuesday she now has "a draft of a draft" of a proposed county ordinance to outlaw the feeding of Muscovy ducks. It's modeled after state regulations that outlaw the feeding of alligators under penalty of a $500 fine.

If commissioners eventually approve the duck ordinance, it would be the first of its kind in Florida, according to county research.

One stumbling block might be when a case is taken to court and county attorneys are forced to prove that the perpetrator "intended" to feed a Muscovy duck, and that the duck is indeed a Muscovy, Wooden said.

Mallards, it turns out, are regulated by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission because they are a native species. Muscovies, an "exotic" species from Central and South America, do not receive wildlife agency protection.

But work on the ordinance's wording continues amid allegations of clandestine feeding stations; and "there was a lady I talked to yesterday that has an injured duck and is going to keep on going on with the feeding," Commissioner Jack Mariano said at Tuesday's televised commission meeting.

Said Wooden of the feeding station: "That is very helpful from a prosecutorial standpoint."

Garrett Therolf covers Pasco County government. He can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6232 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6232. His e-mail address is gtherolf@sptimes.com

[Last modified October 13, 2005, 01:11:19]

Lamenting loss of Adams and his lack of explanation

WEBB E-mail: Click here

By JEFF WEBB, Hernando Times Editor of Editorials
Published October 13, 2005

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Gary Adams resigned unexpectedly Tuesday after 16 months as Hernando County administrator.

Too bad, Gary. We hardly knew ye.

But for what it's worth, I liked what I did know. Adams came here with the best of intentions. He was genuinely excited about the possibility of helping a community prepare for its rapidly evolving future. He was aware there had been a leadership void in county government, and he was eager to fill it.

From the outset he worked long hours. Days, nights, weekends. He accepted just about every invitation extended to him to give speeches or hand out awards. And he worked those extracurricular events into his already hectic schedule of meetings and managing one of the largest work forces in the county.

He was the most accessible administrator the county has ever had. He would meet with anyone, any time, and if he could not, he would make sure someone from his staff did. He offered his private telephone numbers and answered his own phone after his executive assistant went home.

He was a good listener and he never dodged a question. He would look you straight in the eye and choose his words carefully when he responded, even when he didn't know the answer. Sometimes he'd make a note while he listened and if he did, you could count on a followup call or e-mail the next day.

His management style was evenhanded and his temperament was kind and composed. No one could accurately accuse him of being anything less than a nice guy.

Adams was, to use a cliche, willing to think outside the box, always looking for better ways to do things even when others told him it could not be done or that it had been tried before.

When he came across a wrong that needed to be righted, he would light a fire under the people who needed to address the problem, whether it was a member of his staff or an outside agency. If he promised he was on it, you could believe him.

Adams, a former elected official as well as a municipal administrator, did not like it when politics interfered with his job here. He was frustrated by commissioners who were unwilling to tackle controversial issues because they feared angering segments of voters or special interest groups. Even then, he would express his disappointment only in private, tactfully avoiding naming names. That's what you do when you're on a team.

To counter what he called misinformation and a negative image, he tried to educate the public about county government's processes and promote its successes. He appeared on television and radio shows and he met regularly with newspaper editors.

Add it all up and you see a composite of a man who is a capable, dedicated public servant and, until he decided he needed to move on, held the best interests of the county in his heart.

Now he's on his way back to whence he came, a small city in Illinois. According to his resignation letter, he's leaving partly for personal reasons (a small pay raise and an elderly relative who needs him), and partly because he does not believe he can be effective here.

Fair enough. Everybody has a right to try to better themselves professionally and an obligation to make family their top priority. But Adams' claim that his ideas were quashed calls for an explanation.

In the coming weeks, there will be much debate and speculation on this page and elsewhere in the community about why Adams is leaving and who will replace him. That dialogue is inevitable and necessary.

But before it unfolds, let's agree that regardless of his reasons, Adams' departure is Hernando County's loss.

However, if he cares about our community as much we hope he does, Adams can help us, and his successor, by being more specific about why he threw in the towel.

Reach Jeff Webb at Webb@sptimes.com or 754-6123.

[Last modified October 13, 2005, 01:11:19]

Oct 12, 2005

Another delay on Glen Lakes expansion

By CHRISTI STEVENS
cstevens@hernandotoday.com


BROOKSVILLE - After much discussion and public input, the county commission decided Wednesday to postpone taking any action on a Glen Lakes expansion project until its meeting next month.

It's the second time the commission has delayed addressing the matter. In July, the commission tabled the discussion, stating there were still too many unanswered questions about the project.

The 293-acre expansion would add 842 more homes to Glen Lakes, an upscale development north of Weeki Wachee on U.S. 19.

The property was originally supposed to include a golf course as well as homes, but the master plan revision submitted to commissioners Wednesday didn't include a golf course.

That upset some Glen Lakes residents, who told commissioners they weren't happy such a change was made without informing residents.

Steve Sogal said he doesn't think homeowners have been consulted enough and that more information should have come through the homeowners association.

And the issue of road usage is still a hot topic as some residents worry more homes will create traffic problems in the development.

Commissioners hope their staff will find some documentation before next month that wil prove, once and for all, if any part of Glen Lakes Boulevard is public.

Another debatable issue came up Wednesday when some residents expressed concern for an old cemetery nearby, questioning whether it would be disturbed by the project.

 

Reporter Christi Stevens can be contacted at (352) 544-5271.

Plan calls for 999 homes near Inverness

The development, which would be built on 425 acres of land, would also include an executive golf course.

By CATHERINE E. SHOICHET
Published October 13, 2005

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INVERNESS - A developer wants to build a 999-home development on 425 acres west of U.S. 41 S and 2 miles south of the Inverness city limits.

The land, historically used for cattle grazing, belongs to Albert Rooks Jr. of Floral City.

Coastal Engineering Associates Inc. of Brooksville has filed an application with county government to create a planned development overlay, but it's unclear whether Rooks or some other entity would be the developer.

According to the application, the deed-restricted community would contain up to 999 single-family lots. It would also include an 18-hole executive-style golf course.

The proposed project would span across five parcels.

The land was appraised at $1,785,300 in 2004, according to the Property Appraiser's Office.

The county's review of the proposal is on hold while staffers await a required traffic study, senior planner Joanna Coutu said. Once that study is in hand, staffers will schedule workshops and hearings before the Planning and Development Review Board and ultimately the County Commission.

The project would not require any zoning changes on the property, which is currently designated for low-density residential development. But developers are requesting a reduction in minimum building setbacks and accommodations for the golf course and a model home center.

The development's main entrance would be at its northern boundary: E Watson Street.

Wetlands, including a portion of Magnolia Lake, will be protected, the application says.

Earlier this year, Coastal Engineering helped prepare the plans for a proposed 4,800-home subdivision in Hernando County. It is also working on the 411-acre, 925-home Cascades project on the southern edge of Brooksville.

The county is currently considering several other large-scale projects on property owned by longtime county residents.

Last week, the Planning and Development Review Board approved the proposed 810-home Allen Plantation project, planned for 213 acres in Lecanto owned by Phillip Allen and David and Margaret Haley.

The board also held a workshop to discuss a proposed 207-acre RV park on property off State Road 44 E that is owned by Inverness attorney John Eden IV. The park could eventually have up to 1,100 RV pads.

Rooks and representatives from Coastal Engineering did not return calls requesting comment.

Catherine E. Shoichet can be reached at cshoichet@sptimes.com or 860-7309.

[Last modified October 13, 2005, 01:10:16]

 

 

Panel is storm wise not house foolish

By ERNEST HOOPER, Times Columnist
Published October 13, 2005

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Re: Panel rejects development, Oct. 11 Times:

 

The Hernando County Planning and Zoning Commission is to be commended for rejecting the Hernando Beach housing project. Florida, this "Eden" of ours, can be as ideal as the name implies for six months of the year, and a hurricane menace for the remaining six months.

The Planning and Zoning Commission was correct in reminding us of the unstable nature of hurricanes and our desire to live and build in places where we shouldn't. Hernando Beach has not been the target of a major storm; but one day it will happen, probably in our lifetime.

We should respect the obvious and not continually challenge nature by our propensity to do what is unnatural. It's a fact: Nature always wins.

James A. Willan, Brooksville Take "success' statewide, leaders

Thank you, Hernando County commissioners, for performing the duties we elected you to do. You have controlled the "wildfire" residential growth without bringing in the jobs to keep new residents in the county when they want to spend or earn their money. You have solved the traffic problems through road improvements and public transportation. And you have made sure new development will not flood existing properties.

Now I feel it is time for you to decide that three years of public service qualifies you to take your successes statewide. Or, better yet, decide that because you know more than nature about when the sun should rise and set, we should escalate the idiotic by moving to a different time zone.

Bravo! I want to thank you for your dedication. I sleep better knowing that, unlike other deranged people in our county, you are in the commission chamber several times a month.

Richard Ross, Brooksville [Last modified October 13, 2005, 01:11:19]

Oct 12, 2005

Hoofbeats Fading In Ocala

By JIM TUNSTALL
jtunstall@tampatrib.com

Photo by: CHRIS URSO / Staff On Ocala's Bonnie Heath Farm, groom Jesus Guerrero leads a horse out to graze. The Heath family has sold much of its holdings for development.

OCALA - A generation ago, thoroughbred farms stood nearly shoulder to shoulder along State Road 200.

Yearlings danced across their lime-rock-rich pastures, jockeys breezed racing-age horses in the morning mist, and owners carried on a tradition that was seeded when the late Bonnie Heath and Jack Dudley won the 1956 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes with a speedster named Needles.

Then the developers came, bringing a flash of cash.

They took advantage of an industry suffering economic woes, and they offered farm owners what in some cases were eye-popping amounts. On the flip side, they sold buyers -- usually middle-class retirees -- with promises of having beautiful farms as their neighbors.

"For the ordinary horse owner, it's very difficult to make ends meet," said longtime Ocala horseman Dave Goldman. "Some [owners] are on life support" thanks to rising expenses and poor racing purses for the lower- to middle-tier breeders.

That's why the developers' offers were so enticing.

"It's all about money," Goldman said. "And it's caused Ocala to become overdeveloped."

Like other places in Florida and the nation, this area is experiencing inflated property values.

"When I came in the late 1970s, you could buy land for $500 an acre," Realtor Bill Read said.

"Now what's left in the peak areas is $35,000 [per acre] and more."

And there is little land left to be developed.

Subdivisions, retail outlets and professional centers have replaced the pastures and barns.

There is just one large S.R. 200 farm for horse lovers to see.

Racing Roots

Carl Rose's farm put Marion County on the thoroughbred map in the 1930s.

The late Fred Hooper created the mystique when he won the 1945 Derby with jockey Eddie Arcaro aboard Hoop Jr.

But Heath and Dudley, a couple of oil men, are the ones who ignited the fire 11 years later.

In keeping with a tradition that honors special horses, Needles' head and hoofs are interred beneath a memorial at the nearby Ocala Breeders Sales Co. Heath went on to become the breeder of Holy Bull, who was 1994 horse of the year. Silver Charm, the 1997 Derby and Preakness winner, was conceived on Dudley's farm.

Those successes helped the two breeders survive their industry's mid-1980s crash, when a glut of horses caused prices to dive. Congress also eliminated most tax shelters, and expenses soared to the point that many owners of small to midsize operations had to bail out.

"There have been favorable tax rulings since, but it's still a tough business," Goldman said.

Bonnie Heath III agrees.

He and his wife, Kim, are among those who took the developers' offers.

Selling "was never an issue until Mom and Dad got older and there was a need for estate planning," Heath said.

There were two other factors: His siblings weren't interested in joining him in the business, and the industry as a whole has remained flat or in the red for the past two decades.

In 1997, four years before the elder Heath's death, the family joined the Dudleys and neighboring Tartan Farm in a sale that gave developers 911 acres on the south side of S.R. 200. It's where a commercial, retail and 2,500-home project called Heath Brook is under construction.

The purchase price for the three farms was at least $16 million, Marion County Property Appraiser Villie Smith said, adding that the number of parcels in the block and deferred purchases through next year make it difficult to be more specific.

Smith said that during the past 25 years, as farms have given way to developments, the number of improved parcels on S.R. 200 between State Road 484 and Interstate 75 has rocketed from 217 to 12,932.

Winding Oaks, once called Mockingbird Farm and owned by furniture magnate Harry Mangurian, is the only major farm still operating on the highway.

Sky's The Limit

Offers for remaining land along S.R. 200 and other hot spots are "just too enticing," Realtor Joan Pletcher said.

Prime commercial land can reach as much as six figures per acre, she added.

Even outlying farms can cause sticker shock.

"Ten acres can cost you $45,000 to $60,000 per acre," Pletcher said.

"It's really changed Ocala. We even have a Publix with double aisles and a sushi bar."

U.S. 27 west of I-75 is undergoing a similar though so far less intense transformation, Read said.

A little farther south, S.R. 40 still has a collection of farms. It has been slow to develop as a residential or commercial area, perhaps because it remains a two-lane road, Read said.

Like some who sold, Heath found it difficult to get breeding and racing out of his blood.

He and his wife have 78 acres off County Road 225A north of U.S. 27, he said.

"We have 35 or 40 horses -- just ours. We no longer board others."

Although he isn't among the takers, Goldman said the buyouts often are irresistible. "If you have desirable land, it's hard not to sell it."

Developers "are offering a capital gain that makes you an instant real-estate tycoon."

TO LEARN MORE

• Florida Thoroughbred Breeders & Owners Association, museum exhibits. 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays; free; 801 SW 60th Ave., Ocala; (352) 629-2160, www.ftboa.com.

• Ocala Breeders Sales Co., periodic thoroughbred auctions, including this week; intertrack wagering; memorial at the grave of 1956 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Needles; periodic workouts of racing-age horses; free admission to auctions; $1 for intertrack wagering, which is held daily except Tuesdays. (352) 237-2154, www.obssales.com.

• Ocala Carriage and Tours, horse-drawn carriage tours of northwest Ocala farms; daily; $75 per couple; off State Road 40 West; 1-877-996-2252, www.ocalacarriage.com.

• New England Shire Centre; $20 per person for 90-minute tours of a draft horse farm that has some thoroughbreds; open by appointment. 4877 SW 134th Terrace; 1-877-996-2252, www.newenglandshirecentre.com.

Wetlands in hands of high court

Three cases scheduled to be heard before the new Supreme Court likely will decide the fate of vast stretches of Florida.

By CRAIG PITTMAN and MATTHEW WAITE
Published October 12, 2005

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In a move that could have major implications for Florida's vanishing swamps and marshes, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to hear arguments over how much power federal regulators have to protect wetlands.

A ruling that limits federal power could wipe out protection for 300,000 acres of wetlands in the Florida Panhandle. It could also undermine the government's ability to prevent pollution, said Jon Kusler of the Association of State Wetlands Managers.

"Polluters all over the country could dump with impunity upstream from a major tributary," Kusler said.

A decision that supports federal power, on the other hand, could extend protection to thousands of acres of Florida wetlands where federal officials have hesitated to step in.

The question will offer new Chief Justice John Roberts his first chance to weigh in on limiting federal regulation of property rights. As an appeals court judge, he suggested in 2003 that federal power over private property should be limited.

The wetlands cases, which will be argued before the Supreme Court next year, involve a long-running debate over the 1972 Clean Water Act.

Under the act, wetlands are supposed to be protected because they aid flood control, filter pollution, recharge drinking water supplies and provide habitat.

Developers who want to fill in wetlands or dredge them must get permission from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It can be a time-consuming process, but only rarely does the corps say no.

In fact, the corps approves more wetland permits in Florida than in any other state. Between 1999 and 2003 it approved more than 12,000 permits to wipe out wetlands and rejected only one.

A St. Petersburg Times analysis of satellite imagery found that in the past 15 years Florida has lost 84,000 acres of wetlands.

Yet property-rights advocates have frequently complained that the corps requires permits for destroying wetlands that were never intended to be covered by the Clean Water Act.

Federal jurisdiction extends only to navigable waterways and wetlands that are connected or adjacent to them.

"It does not make sense to put a puddle created by a truck tire during a rainstorm in the same . . . category as the Everglades," said National Association of Home Builders president Dave Wilson.

In 2001, by a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court ruled that in one case out of Cook County, Ill., the property-rights advocates were right.

For years, the corps had justified protecting isolated wetlands that were not directly connected to navigable waterways because migratory birds used them as they traveled from state to state.

The high court said that was too big a stretch.

Would-be developers across the country quickly petitioned the corps to reclassify their wetlands as isolated.

A Florida phosphate company, for example, persuaded the corps to drop protection of 3,000 acres of wetlands near the Suwannee River. And a Tampa engineer persuaded the corps to drop 14,000 acres in Hernando County that drain into a sinkhole.

Because of the 2001 court decision, the Bush administration proposed cutting back on the corps' wetlands jurisdiction. More than 135,000 comments poured in, nearly all opposed to the change. The proposal was dropped.

Among the comments was a letter from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection which said that if the Cook County case were interpreted so broadly, more than 300,000 acres of wetlands in Panhandle would be unregulated and at risk for being wiped out. Two of the three cases the Supreme Court will hear hinge on how broadly to apply the 2001 decision, said Royal Gardner, a former corps attorney who teaches environmental law at Stetson University's College of Law. Does the Clean Water Act protect only wetlands directly abutting waterways, or can they be connected indirectly?

For instance, state officials say the water flowing into the Hernando County sinkhole, known as Peck Sink, probably gushes back to the surface either eight miles away at Weeki Wachee Springs, or 15 miles away at Chassahowitzka Springs. Should that require the corps protect the 14,000 acres of land that drain into Peck Sink?

Two of the three Supreme Court cases are out of Michigan, and both involve property owners trying to fill in wetlands.

In one, John Rapanos decided in 1988 to fill in areas of his 175-acre tract to sell it to a mall developer. Although his wetlands are 11 miles from the Kawkawlin River, they're connected via a man-made drain and a creek.

A consultant Rapanos hired warned him about wiping out wetlands. But "Rapanos asked the consultant to destroy any paper evidence of wetlands on his property and then threatened to fire him and sue if he did not comply," a federal court later wrote.

Although state and federal officials warned him he needed a permit, Rapanos proceeded without one and was convicted of willfully violating the Clean Water Act.

As his case bounced through the appeals courts, property-rights advocates portrayed Rapanos as a martyr.

The second Michigan case centers on 19 acres in Macomb County, where developers proposed destroying more than 15 acres of wetlands to build condominiums. A man-made ditch beside the property connects to a drain that flows into a creek feeding Lake St. Clair.

The Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service opposed the project, and the corps denied the permit.

The developers sued, contending the wetlands were too far away from Lake St. Clair to be considered connected.

The issue in a third case the court will hear is what constitutes a "discharge" of pollution. The owner of hydroelectric dam projects on the Presumpscot River in Maine, which provide electricity for a paper mill, argues that the company should not be required to get permits just because water flows through the dams.

Staff researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report, which includes information from the Associated Press.

[Last modified October 12, 2005, 00:47:26]

Ridge Road Land Search To Continue

By JULIA FERRANTE jferrante@tampatrib.com

Published: Oct 12, 2005

NEW PORT RICHEY A county consultant in coming weeks will evaluate land that could be preserved to compensate for construction of the Ridge Road extension.

County commissioners on Tuesday voted 4-1 to extend their contract with Biological Research Associates so the company can analyze property thought to be environmentally valuable. BRA conducted a wildlife survey along the east-west connector route.

Pasco County officials think one or more of the properties could make up for wetlands that would be destroyed by the road project and satisfy regional and federal regulators.

Commissioner Ted Schrader cast the lone "no" vote, suggesting that the county allow private developers to work out the mitigation issues.

Michele Baker, Pasco's program administrator for engineering services, said the consultant will concentrate on the property with the most potential value and do a preliminary analysis on other parcels.

The county had hoped to secure 300 acres dubbed the Five-Mile Creek Corridor for possible mitigation, but officials were unable to get permission to study the land from owner James "Bo" Bexley.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District issued a permit to allow the county to extend Ridge Road from Moon Lake Road to U.S. 41 with the understanding that Pasco would purchase and preserve the Bexley property.

The county now must amend the permit to reflect that different property will be used. Baker expects that the county can decide on a new parcel by February.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also is reviewing the permit and must sign off on the mitigation plan.

Commissioners two weeks ago gave their staff another six months to work out issues involving the easternmost portion of the extension, between the Suncoast Parkway and U.S. 41. If those issues cannot be resolved, commissioners will consider ending the road at the parkway.

Schrader also suggested leaving the task to private developers at the last meeting.

"Why would the private sector not be responsible for initiating this?" he said.

Baker said the county has invested years trying to secure permits. A private developer would start from scratch.

"We've moved the ball forward a significant distance that they would have to re-cover," she said.

Commission Chairwoman Pat Mulieri also expressed frustration.

"Get something done," she said. "Because I have to agree with you, Commissioner Schrader, this keeps going on and on."

Also Tuesday, commissioners set priorities for state funding. Pasco lobbyist Joe Mannion will ask the local legislative delegation for:

• $1 million to help control flooding in the Duck Slough area of Trinity. An ongoing study shows that the drainage system must be upgraded and a facility constructed to correct flooding problems.

• $565,000 to offset the cost of building an elderly nutrition center and emergency special needs shelter in west Pasco. A study shows that the county lacks about 7,000 shelter spaces needed for a major hurricane.

• $531,799 toward building a branch library for about 40,000 people in the growing Trinity-Odessa area.

Mannion also will ask for $7.7 million to pay for acquiring right of way and widening State Road 52, but the project may be included in the Florida Department of Transportation work plan, due in December.

In other action at Tuesday's meeting, commissioners:

• Approved plans for the $17.5 million Wesley Chapel District Park at Boyette and Overpass roads, east of Interstate 75. Construction of ball fields, tennis courts and parking areas is to begin early next year. A recreation center, four-pool aquatic center and 12,000-square-foot skate park would be built next October.

• Took a step toward naming flood-prone Timber Oaks a "basin of special concern." Developers will be required to take greater measures to prevent runoff from construction.

Dozens of residents attended to support the ordinance. Developers said they have been and will continue to cooperate with the county to keep the problem from worsening.

A final public hearing is slated for November.

• Renewed their contract with Mannion, the county's lobbyist since 1987. The one-year contract provides for a 5 percent pay increase, bringing Mannion's salary to $80,813.46.

• Promoted Anthony G. "Glenn" Greer, 56, to utility engineering director. His salary will be $78,197.77 when he starts his new job Monday

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Project to end blight finally gets green light

County officials say that after years of effort, the permits and the money needed to fix up Tommytown are in place.

NEW PORT RICHEY - For years, the county has tried to bring life to Tommytown's dilapidated homes and flood-prone dirt roads. Finally, county officials said Tuesday that the permits, the money and almost everything else is in place to do it.

"It's the largest area of slum and blight in Pasco County. . . . We're getting close to improving it," said George Romagnoli, the county's community development manager.

Romagnoli told commissioners that the biggest remaining stumbling block is the lack of agreements to buy four parcels of land needed for stormwater retention. In at least one case, it's not even clear who owns the land.

Still, it won't be a problem to take the land through eminent domain, County Attorney Robert Sumner said. Once that is achieved, the path will largely be cleared to bring paved roads, sewer service and flood control to the 700 households in that area of Dade City.

The project will be funded by a $14-million loan from the federal Housing and Urban Development Department, and the money will be repaid mostly through funds that HUD grants the county every year.

Romagnoli said the county hopes to decide on a contractor by spring 2006 and then begin work. It's estimated to take two years.

Also Tuesday, the commission prepared to reduce the density of a proposed development on the other side of the county.

More than 200 residents from the Timber Oaks neighborhood in west Pasco appeared at Tuesday's commission meeting at the West Pasco Government Center in support of an ordinance that will make it tougher to build on the golf course in their community.

The golf course has been targeted for the development of townhomes, springing residents and county officials into action.

The ordinance introduced Tuesday requires that any future development plan for a storm that would dump 22 inches of rain over 10 days - something expected to happen only once every 100 years. Current regulations require stormwater systems to be able to accommodate only a 25-year storm, which would drop 12 inches over 24 hours.

County officials said the ordinance was necessary because of existing flooding problems. The ordinance would require that much more land be set aside for water retention, although the exact amount is to be determined. That means fewer homes could be built.

Joyce Gallagher, president of the Timber Oaks Community Services Association, said, "We see this as the beginning of careful consideration of the development. This community will appear again en masse every step of the way."

The final vote on the ordinance is scheduled for the Nov. 8 commission meeting.

In other business Tuesday:

Commissioners approved two road repair projects, which will be paid for through street assessments. The first project affects residents of Valencia Drive in southwest Pasco, who will pay up to $2,249.99 per household. The second project affects 27 streets in Holiday Gardens Estates at a cost of up to $945.83 per household.

Commissioners decided to authorize the design of the second phase of the county park approved for Wesley Chapel, including four pools, a recreation center and a skate park. The second phase is expected to be in use by the summer of 2007. The first phase, including baseball and soccer fields, is expected to open in late 2006.

Garrett Therolf covers Pasco County government. He can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6232 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6232. His e-mail address is gtherolf@sptimes.com

Publix fights landlord to divide, sublet an empty store

LAND O'LAKES - In 2003, Publix abandoned Willow Bend Towne Centre for the competing Collier Commons shopping center.

The supermarket chain continues to lease the vacant store until 2010 but wants to sublet the 47,000 square feet to an undisclosed health club and hardware store.

It might take a lawsuit to do so.

On Friday, Publix sued Willow Bend landlord Sembler Investments in Pasco-Pinellas Circuit Court. Publix says its 20-year lease in Willow Bend allows it to subdivide the old supermarket. Sembler contends the 1989 lease forbids the practice.

The defendant is "unreasonably withholding its consent under the agreement," Publix complained in court papers that blame Sembler for breaching the contract.

Sembler officials didn't return calls from their St. Petersburg office. Publix, headquartered in Lakeland, wouldn't elaborate on the lawsuit.

"It is a routine business dispute between a tenant, which is Publix, and the landlord," spokeswoman Maria Brous said Tuesday.

Publix switched locations on the busy State Road 54-Collier Parkway intersection in July 2003.

Leaving Willow Bend, which it had occupied since 1989, Publix decamped to a 61,000-square-foot store in Collier Commons.

The new Publix is among the chain's most successful stores in the region, but the old store lies vacant.

The long lease suited both Sembler and Publix. Sembler collects rent regardless of whether the building is occupied. Publix keeps the space out of the hands of competing supermarkets.

But carving the old Publix into smaller businesses doesn't necessarily suit Sembler. Medium-sized shopping centers like to showcase at least two big anchors.

When Publix left, Willow Bend survived with a single anchor in Kmart. The discount store chain filed for bankruptcy a few years ago, though its financial standing improved when it merged with Sears last year.

According to the lease, Publix can't sublet the old store for uses Sembler views as objectionable. They include bars, adult bookstores, warehouses, pool halls, bowling alleys, skating rinks and flea markets.

But that shouldn't stop Publix from seeking out other tenants, the lawsuit contends.

"The agreement does not prohibit it from sub-leasing the leased premises to a health club or hardware store," the lawsuit states.

Adams resigns as county's top official

A deep "negativity" toward county officials led to his accepting a job in his native Illinois, the administrator said.

BROOKSVILLE - Hernando County Administrator Gary Adams resigned Tuesday, citing "negativity and in many cases pure hate" that he and his colleagues faced in his 18 months on the job. He also cited family obligations and a job offer in Illinois.

His last day is Nov. 23.

"When I first started with Hernando County many individuals informed me that there was a widespread negative attitude and perception concerning Hernando County government. . . . In my nearly eighteen months here what I have found is that instead of getting better it may in fact be getting worse," Adams wrote in a letter he hand-delivered to the County Commission Tuesday morning.

Adams, 57, leaves 16 months shy of the end of his three-year contract to take a job as the village administrator in Oswego, Ill., a town 50 miles southwest of Chicago. The Oswego village president announced the appointment of Adams, an Illinois native, Tuesday afternoon.

Adams' resignation letter shocked county commissioners, fueling speculation on the reasons for his unexpected departure. Topping the list, commissioners named Bob Haa's WWJB-AM 1450 radio show. The conservative talk show host has harshly criticized Adams and other county officials.

"I wish he'd been happier here because he sure was an asset to Hernando County," said Commissioner Jeff Stabins, adding, "I know he's been under a lot of stress. There's unfortunately a lot of negativity out there, especially from a radio station in Brooksville, Bob Haa and his band of naysayers in the morning."

Haa said, "I wasn't very negative at all because Mr. Adams didn't do very much to be negative toward." Haa reserved most of his ire for the County Commission, and his on-air characterization of Adams as a "consummate bureaucrat" was meant as a compliment, he said.

"There's no hate directed toward him from my show," Haa said.

Commissioner Diane Rowden, who has said she had suffered her share of criticism from Haa, said, "He (Adams) refers to the Bob Haa show as the "Bob Hate Show.' "

Adams, who enjoyed a reputation as a mild-mannered and fair leader, said he did not want such a statement attributed to him.

"I don't want to leave here pointing fingers at anybody," Adams said. He said the show was a shock to his system, but not the only reason he felt frustrated with the cynical attitude toward county government. "It's not coming from any particular place. It's coming from everywhere. I hear it all the time," he said.

That negativity stymied some of his efforts. For example, he hoped to institute a sales tax to help the growing county build some of the infrastructure it needs, but felt he would not get a fair hearing on the issue, Adams said.

A month before Adams came on board, in March 2004, voters approved a school sales tax referendum while rejecting a similar initiative that would have helped the county.

Although Adams applied for the job in Oswego six weeks ago, he kept his intentions quiet, he said. His colleagues reacted with surprise and dismay as word of his resignation spread Tuesday.

"I was meeting with him this morning and I didn't see this coming at all," said Clerk of Court Karen Nicolai. She described what appeared to be the consensus view of Adams: open-minded, fair, and a good manager.

Nicolai credited Adams with restructuring county government so that it ran more efficiently, and with boosting staff morale. The county's new performance measurement system, which will link department budgets to how well they meet performance goals, was largely his doing, she said.

Sheriff Richard Nugent said he had not seen it coming, and that it was a real blow to the county.

"He was always such a gentleman that people couldn't help but respect his opinion," Nugent sad.

Former Commissioner Len Tria, government liaison for the Greater Hernando Chamber of Commerce, said Adams' resignation surprised him, but that he had noticed a real shift in Adams' demeanor in the last six months.

"I would say a pulling back, in terms of his involvement," Tria said, adding, "At meetings, you very rarely heard him speak over the last several months."

Adams' resignation left the commission scrambling for an interim replacement. Among the possible successors, commissioners named Grant Tolbert, director of the county's development department; Larry Jennings, director of planning; and Frank McDowell III, who heads up code enforcement.

The county did an intensive search to find Adams after the retirement of former Administrator Dick Radacky, a man largely considered a placeholder until a permanent replacement could be found. Adams was named to the $115,000-a-year post in April 2004. He will make $120,000 in his new job.

Rowden said she had hoped Adams would stay "until retirement do us part." Rowden said finding a replacement will be difficult, especially in advance of the holidays. She hoped the commission would name an interim administrator in time for Adams to train his replacement.

"You want something more than a babysitter because this county is growing so fast," Rowden said.

Adams came to the job from the village of Rantoul, Ill., where he had been a city manager since 1997. He had returned to Illinois from Putnam County, where he served as the county administrator since 1984, with the exception of a brief stint in Minnesota. In his letter, Adams cited a desire to live closer to his 93-year-old grandmother.

Adams said if he had any parting message to county residents, it would be, "There's a brighter side. Everything is not wrong. There's a lot of good things going on and a lot of people that work hard and try to do the right thing."

Asjylyn Loder can be reached at aloder@sptimes.com or 352 754-6127.

Impasse on roads dispute deepens

Pulte Homes representatives leave five minutes into a meeting with planners about public access in proposed gated developments.

WESLEY CHAPEL - Pulte Homes and Pasco County remain deadlocked about whether the giant national home builder can start construction on thousands of homes in Wesley Chapel.

Pasco wants to punch public roads through what Pulte intends as private gated communities on the 5,000-acre Wiregrass Ranch southeast of State Road 54 and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.

Hopes for a compromise fizzled Friday as Pulte representatives bolted from a meeting with Pasco planners after fewer than five minutes.

The case moves on appeal to the Board of County Commissioners, which is scheduled to weigh Pulte's road plan at a Nov. 8 meeting at the West Pasco Government Center on Little Road.

Pulte has big plans for Wesley Chapel. Its three divisions, Pulte, DiVosta and Del Webb homes, could build as many as 16,000 houses, townhomes, apartments and duplexes.

But only three thoroughfares will be available to move traffic through what will be city-sized developments: State Road 56, Chancey Road and Porter Boulevard.

Pasco planners, aware of the traffic jams that plague roads in Wesley Chapel like State Road 54 and County Line Road, have demanded alternate routes.

To build them, Pulte would need to breach private, gated walled communities sought by DiVosta and Del Webb. The company insists public roads would destroy the integrity and marketability of the neighborhoods.

Pulte representatives called Friday's meeting to pitch what it viewed as concessions. Assistant County Administrator Bipin Parikh opened the meeting with words of encouragement but said the Pulte revisions failed to go far enough.

According to Pasco officials, Pulte attorney Joel Tew stalked out of the room, followed by other company representatives.

As he left, Tew warned Pasco officials he had enough votes on the five-member Board of County Commissioners to overturn their decision.

The source of the discord was an August hearing of the Pasco Development Review Committee. The committee, consisting of Parikh and other administrators, rejected Pulte's housing plans, citing insufficient roads. Without a thumbs-up vote, the company can't break ground.

Tew couldn't be reached for comment Monday.

County Expected To Approve Park

By JULIA FERRANTE jferrante@tampatrib.com

Published: Oct 11, 2005

Plans for the $17.7 million Wesley Chapel District Park are beginning to take shape.

County commissioners today are expected to approve architectural plans for an aquatics center, recreation building, skate park, ball fields and tennis courts. The park is to be constructed primarily with impact fees at a 143-acre site off Boyette and Overpass roads, east of Interstate 75.

The Wesley Chapel park is one of several major park projects planned in Pasco. Expansion of the Land O' Lakes Recreation Complex and creation of parks in the Trinity-Odessa area and at the Connerton development also are planned.

The Wesley Chapel park is to be built in phases, possibly starting in January or February, after construction contracts are awarded. The first part is to include soccer and ball fields, tennis courts, picnic shelters and hiking trails. Aquatics and recreation centers and a skate park would be added later.

Commissioners at one time considered building a 50-meter pool but decided against it because of maintenance and construction costs.

The aquatics center as designed will include a children's play area with slides, waterfalls and a gradual slope. The recreation center is to be hurricane-resistant so that it may be used as a shelter.

The commission is slated to review the plans at 1:30 p.m. at the West Pasco Government Center, 7530 Little Road, New Port Richey.

Reporter Fred Hiers can be contacted at (3520 544-5290.

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Molligan said that Swiftmud would like the whole parcel, but added: "We're willing to talk about less."

Official plans campaign fairness board

County elections Supervisor Kurt Browning wants to crack down on mudslinging. But others ask whether such a thing can be done.

Forget, for a moment, the government's responsibility to run a smooth election. What about it's duty to oversee honest campaigns?

"This is an area where we need to do more," said Pasco County Supervisor of Elections Kurt Browning. "I just get an inordinate number of phone calls every political year about the nastiness of political campaigns and people ask, "Why don't you do something?' "

So in time for the 2006 election season, Browning says he will.

In his mind, a dictionary of solutions for the future might offer a "Pasco County Campaign Fair Practices Board." Its definition: A government-appointed body empowered to discipline political candidates who lie or make distortions about his or her opponent.

The central question the board would decide, Browning said, would be, "Is what you're saying to the public about your opponent the truth and can you substantiate it? And if you can't substantiate it, you ought not be putting it in your campaign literature."

If the board, possibly made up of five retired judges, decided a political candidate's statement could not be substantiated by something on paper, Browning said he'd like the board to be able to issue a fine and a statement of reprimand.

It's an idea that has already sparked curiousity among many political figures in the county while also raising a battery of questions as Browning begins to hash out the details this month with the county attorney's office.

Chief among them: Just how much of a political campaign season's lies, distortion and skulduggery can be scrubbed away? And if a cleansing takes place, would the outcome really be better than before?

"This could really help," said Pasco conservationist Jennifer Seney, who campaigned on behalf of the Penny for Pasco initiative last year. "Untruths can sink a campaign because Americans live in a sound bite world."

"Why do you have such horrendous cynicism in this country? It's because you're constanting realizing, "Oh my god I was lied to."'

Pasco Republican Executive Committee chairman Bill Bunting, who said he's talked with Browning about the idea, voiced his support even more bluntly.

"People shoot their mouths off too much sometimes ... Don't look for any money from the party" for candidates reprimanded by the Browning's board, he said.

But for County Commissioner Ann Hildebrand, who sits on the body that would have to eventually approve such a panel, "it's a lofty, grand idea, but in the real world, how can we do this?"

"No one is going to put something so blatant in their campaign literature as "Mrs. Jones robbed Sun Trust Bank of a million dollars.' If they say something more likely like, "I'm the best candidate for the job", I don't see how you could nab someone for doing that. It's in the eye of the beholder."

"That should be left to the voters to see through the fog of campaign rhetoric and debate," said Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida. "We might start with a harmless reprimand and 10 years down the road we are left with government thought police and substantial fines for speaking your mind."

"Kurt Browning is the dean of election supervisors in Florida, but he should stick to counting the votes."

Kareem Crayton, University of Southern California law professor and election law specialist, said: "All of the board's work could be appealed, so the ultimate question is whether you are comfortable having these questions decided by a court in a state that has recently derided runaway judges? Do you want courts sitting in judgment of whether a statement is truthful? What does truthful mean? "We sort of assume that the voters are in a position to listen to the arguments and make their own judgment."

County Commissioner Ted Schrader said the idea brought up an even more nuts-and-bolts question for him. "We need to know what kind of costs would be associated with it and who is going to be responsible for paying those costs," he said.

For his own sake, Browning said he doesn't know what he would like done if someone complains that a candidate said they were the "best candidate."

"I just don't know where to draw the line for what's okay and what's not yet."

But, as Pasco County Commissioner Jack Mariano said, "If Kurt endorses (the idea), that gives it that much more credibility."

Browning, who came to work for the supervisor of elections office as a teenager and went on to win elections for the top job over the last 24 years, enjoys widespread respect inside and out of Pasco.

The governor and other state lawmakers frequently consult the Republican supervisor on changes to Florida election procedures. Browning hopes the campaign fair practices board, which would be the fulfillment of one of his own past campaign promises, will become "a model for the whole state."

He said he'll take cues from organizations in other counties such as Miami-Dade and Pinellas that ask candidates to voluntarily promise to behave, but he wants promises in Pasco to be mandatory.

In Pinellas County, a band of volunteers without any direct association with the government police the pronouncements of political candidates who volunteer to have their campaigns reviewed. More than 60 percent typically do.

Key pledges requested by the Citizens for Fair Campaign Practices include the promise that "I shall criticize only ... when such criticism is merited" and I will "not use any material of any sort which misrepresents, distorts, or otherwise falsifies the facts regarding my own candidacy or that of my opponent."

Only once in recent years did the panel decide an infraction was committed. Chairman Robert A. Kersteen believes that just by signing his group's pledge and the resulting scrutiny, candidates raise the level of their rhetoric.

In Miami, where charges are regular that one candidate or another is close with Fidel Castro, reprimands come more frequently from the Commission on Ethics and Public Trust. It asks candidates to make promises similar to those in Pinellas, but it has the ability to levy fines up to $1,000 and is run by county government.

Last year, this led to an unusual situation when county commission candidate Jorge Roque was fined $250 for violating his promise to "run a positive campaign emphasizing my qualifications and positions" by alleging in a mailer that incumbent Natacha Seijas was not "El Verdadero Republicano" or "The True Republican."

Seijas said she brought the complaint to the commission because it provided the best forum to defend her credentials in an area "that is Cuban, Cuban, Cuban, where the first question they ask is whether you are a Republican."

Some constituents said she could defend her record in The Miami Herald or El Nuevo Herald, but "the Herald ignores me and I ignore them," Seijas said. "Instead, this worked very well." Web blogs and community newspapers carried the news that Roque was found to be in the wrong.

The rhetoric was not unlike last year's race for Pasco County superintendent of schools in which candidate Chuck Rushe alleged that opponent Heather Fiorentino was a "RINO," or Republican in Name Only.

"We ran what I thought was a pretty open and honest campaign," Rushe said.

Nuclear plant idea has support

As Progress Energy considers putting a second plant in Crystal River, local officials warm up the welcome mat.

CRYSTAL RIVER - When describing the benefits of nuclear energy, Progress Energy officials point to the company's Crystal River complex with pride.

The nuclear reactor there has been pumping power into Florida homes since 1977. Last year, it generated more electricity than it had ever generated in a single year - 7.303-billion kilowatt hours, with the lowest fuel cost of any plant in the Progress Energy Florida system.

Now, as Progress Energy officials look to support the state's burgeoning population and combat rising fuel prices, they are considering constructing another nuclear power plant in Florida. And they say the Crystal River complex is on a list of possible sites for a new plant.

Progress Energy plans to pick a site by the end of the year. Construction could start in five years, with the plant beginning operation as early as 2015.

Most major national environmental groups strongly oppose nuclear power. But county and city officials, who first heard that another nuclear plant may be on the way at a briefing with Progress Energy brass last month, responded happily to the news. They say they plan to do whatever they can to let Progress Energy officials know that Citrus County is an ideal location to build.

"We have the access to the water, which you need for a nuclear plant. We also are situated in an area where there appears to be ample land there for it. I'm hoping that some of those things work to Citrus County's advantage," County Commission Chairwoman Vicki Phillips said. "We would be delighted to have another nuclear plant here."

Crystal River City Council member Susan Kirk said city officials will likely discuss ways to formally show their support of Progress Energy's possible expansion at an upcoming meeting. Inverness City Council members discussed the benefits of another nuclear power plant at a meeting last week.

County Commissioner Joyce Valentino said the thought of another plant is not only a delight, but also a relief.

For the past five or six years, she said, rumors have flown around about Progress Energy pulling out of Citrus.

"With them seriously thinking about expanding in Citrus County, that puts us at ease," she said.

At the briefing, Progress Energy officials also said they intended to renew the current Crystal River nuclear plant's license, which expires in 2016, at least until 2036.

The company is the county's largest taxpayer and its largest private sector employer. A new plant would bring something Citrus County's economy desperately needs: more high-wage jobs.

"Their wage levels are very good, because they have such technically skilled people," Economic Development Council director Brett Wattles said.

Progress Energy, then known as Florida Power Corp., began operations at the Crystal River nuclear plant on March 13, 1977.

At that time, Citrus County's population was about 38,500, according to the 1978 Florida Statistical Abstract. And construction of the plant - which took 10 years, 110,000 cubic yards of concrete and 13,800 tons of steel - met with little protest outside of environmental objections at public hearings.

Since then, Citrus' population has more than tripled. The Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Florida estimates that about 132,600 people live here. Land once covered by orange groves and cow pastures is giving way to shopping centers and gated communities.

But still, local opposition to nuclear power remains faint at best.

"The county and the city look at it as, oh, there will be all this big construction and lots of jobs. And we already have one here so it's not going to drive people away who don't want to live near nuke plants," said Helen Spivey, a former Crystal River City Council member who previously opposed Progress Energy's construction of two coal-fired plants at the Crystal River complex. "But I just have no desire to glow in the dark."

Spivey said she is particularly worried that spent radioactive fuel cells from the plant are housed on-site. "It's like the universal solvent. If you haven't got anything you can put it in, why generate more?"

Frank Jackalone, senior regional representative for the Sierra Club, said storing nuclear waste on-site is dangerous.

"The reason they built that plant at Crystal River as opposed to on Tampa Bay is because that area had been sparsely populated," he said. "Now that a lot of people are moving into Hernando and Citrus counties, the threats to the growing community in those areas are real."

County officials, he said, should be less concerned about economic development and more concerned about protecting the environment.

"Do they want to follow the road of Hillsborough and Pinellas counties and be completely built out, destroying the environment in the process?" Jackalone said.

But Progress Energy officials say the spent cells stored on-site pose no safety risks. Furthermore, the plant is amply protected against meltdown, hurricanes and terrorist attacks, they say. And local government officials - many of whom went on a bus tour of the plant after the briefing last month - agree.

"It's protected as if it were Fort Knox," Inverness City Council member Sophia Diaz-Fonseca said. "If they do get another plant, I'm very assured that they would take as good or better care of it as the one they're taking care of now. I think they're doing a real good job."

Local officials say they're also not worried about the environmental impact of building a new plant.

"They've already been through all the environmental issues," Crystal River Mayor Ron Kitchen said.

In an interview with the St. Petersburg Times last week, Progress Florida president and chief executive Bill Habermeyer said that although the Crystal River site is an attractive possibility, it also has some disadvantages. The complex already includes four large coal-fired generating units producing more than 3,000 megawatts of electricity. Adding a second nuclear reactor to the site, he said, would be "putting a lot of generation at one location."

But at the briefing, Progress Energy senior vice president and chief nuclear officer C.S. "Scotty" Hinnant said that "existing nuclear plant sites do have some desirable features," noting that Progress Energy already has a good relationship with the communities surrounding its existing plants.

"It would be perfectly logical to me if they did go forward at a site where they already have plants," said Brendan Hoffman, campaign organizer for Public Citizen's energy program. "People don't see it as breaking new ground. Everybody is already used to living near a nuclear plant . . . but that's not to say there are not other options that would be more beneficial."

Hoffman said energy company and government officials should focus on cheaper, more environmentally friendly sources of energy, like solar or wind power.

But Jim Bierly, president of the Citrus County Audubon Society, said nuclear power is a cheap and safe solution.

"I think the whole country ought to go with nuclear power rather than with fossil fuels," he said. "Most people just don't understand it really."

Catherine E. Shoichet can be reached at cshoichet@sptimes.com or 860-7309. Times researcher Mary Mellstrom and Times staff writers Louis Hau, Abbie VanSickle and Lucy Morgan contributed to this report.

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Trinity a priority for state funds

The county considers sending to the Capitol a request list that includes a new library and money to help control flooding.

County officials are deciding on a wish list to send to Tallahassee, and, if the current draft holds, the Trinity area could be the biggest winner.

Two of the four requests that the County Commission will consider at a meeting Tuesday could bring the community a new library and $1-million in much-needed flood control to the Duck Slough area.

The county is also considering a request for $7.7-million to buy land to widen State Road 52 and is preparing to push forward on its request for a $531,000 Zephyrhills building that would double as a special needs emergency shelter and a senior center.

"My job is to try and figure out areas that we can get as much (state) support as we possibly can," said Joseph Mannion, who drafted the list and is the county's lobbyist who will travel to Tallahassee for the two-month session beginning in March.

"Trinity is a growth area, so it comes up twice this year."

The new library would serve 40,000 residents of the Odessa and Trinity areas, said Linda Allen, Pasco County library director. Optimum service areas for the county branches vary between 20,000 and 50,000, depending on population density.

The county and the Southwest Florida Water Management District have already split the cost of a $500,000 study to identify drainage problems and solutions in Duck Slough, a sprawling basin that encompasses the greater Trinity area. Michele Baker, program administrator for the county's engineering department, said the study showed that the cost to solve the flooding problems could top $10-million, so the request for $1-million in state funds "would only be a down payment."

Mannion said the county wants $7.7-million to buy the rights of way necessary to eventually add lanes to State Road 52 before development increases along the highway and the cost of land rises with it.

State Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, requested the special needs shelter in the final days of the legislative session last year. That idea was shot down by other lawmakers, who complained it had not been fully considered. The county is trying to present the idea with plenty of time to go through the legislative committee process this time, Mannion said.

Garrett Therolf covers Pasco County government. He can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6232 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6232. His e-mail address is gtherolf@sptimes.com

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Big community offers little peek inside

The welcome center at Connerton gives more than 500 a preview of coming housing attractions.

LAND O'LAKES - Connerton, a new town in the center of Pasco County expected to reach 8,700 homes, is a giant among housing developments.

So when Connerton opened a new welcome center called Rose Cottage about a week ago, you might expect it to be on the large side.

And you'd be right.

Adorned with columns and stone-facing, its peaked roof stretching to two stories, the welcome center sprawls 3,800 square feet west of U.S. 41.

It's the first thing that greets visitors arriving at the 4,800-acre former ranch that's supposed to become a model of self-sufficiency within 10 years.

Terrabrook, the community's Texas-based developer, plans five different villages whose roads and walking trails merge in a commercially viable downtown between U.S. 41, State Road 52 and Ehren Cutoff.

Rose Cottage, along with eight model homes showcasing Connerton's six builders, is the first tangible evidence that Connerton is fit for habitation.

The building comes with brightly lit versions of the community's site plan, plasma screen televisions running video loops of the amenities and reams of builder information.

You won't find anything for under $200,000, not with the recent run-up in housing prices in the Tampa Bay area.

Homes range from $250,000 to more than $1-million. Builders are Westfield Homes, Inland Homes, Morrison Homes, David Weekley Homes, Arthur Rutenberg Homes and Costanza Homes.

Builders have swallowed the first 265 home lots in Connerton, an enclave called The Arbors. The next phase, called The Gardens, begins development around Christmas with a further 1,700 lots.

Connerton promises its models will be exclusive to Connerton. Architectural styles are labeled neoclassical, folk Victorian, cottage, craftsman, Florida traditional and colonial revival,

Connerton general manager Stewart Gibbons said the styles share enough features to unify the neighborhood without creating cookie-cutter uniformity.

"The intent is to create a street scene that is interesting with a high degree of variation," Gibbons said.

Rose Cottage had its grand opening last Saturday. More than 500 invited potential customers got the carnival treatment with a unicyclist, face painting, trolley rides and a meal of hot dogs, ice cream and popcorn.

"Today is about giving back to all those who have expressed interest in Connerton while sharing in their excitement of being able to walk through our community," Gibbons said.

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Brown-Waite and husband buy 13-acre farm near Brooksville

CRYSTAL RIVER - U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite has moved to Brooksville.

After living in Crystal River for more than a year, the Republican representative and her husband, Harvey, are selling their Crystal River home. They bought a 13-acre farm east of the Brooksville city limits where they have been living since early September. Before moving to Crystal River in August 2004, the couple had lived in Brooksville for 10 years.

Charlie Keller, a spokesman for Brown-Waite, said she wanted to be closer to family, including her daughter, Lorie, and three grandsons. "She wanted to spend more time with them," Keller said. "She sometimes helps babysit her grandsons." The Brooksville location, which is within the 5th Congressional District, is also a shorter commute from Tampa International Airport, which she uses when Congress meets, Keller said.

Atlanta builder has local plans

Todaythe Pasco County Planning Commission considers the company's rezoning request for 4.6 homes per acre.

WESLEY CHAPEL - An Atlanta builder new to the Tampa Bay market is pitching its first solo project in Pasco County.

McCar Homes, a $500-million company anchored in the Southeast, bought 51 acres of pasture between Zephyrhills and Wesley Chapel.

The site is a half-mile west of Morris Bridge Road at Chancey and Apfel roads. The property is more livestock than livable at this point, but its suburban future has already been charted.

Pasco plans to cut Chancey Road through to Bruce B. Downs Boulevard in a couple of years, giving McCar the additional Interstate 75 access it desires.

McCar has proposed a high-density neighborhood of up to 7.3 homes per acre. The company won't get what it wants.

County planners insist such dense development won't mesh with the surrounding area, where home lots range from 1.5 acres to 19 acres.

When the Pasco County Planning Commission takes up McCar's rezoning request today at 1:30 p.m., it will be for a revised plan of 4.6 homes per acre.

The meeting is scheduled for the West Pasco Government Center on Little Road in New Port Richey.

McCar is a powerhouse in Atlanta, building townhomes and single-family homes in 43 neighborhoods ringing the Georgia capital. It's also strong in Charlotte, N.C., and Greenville, S.C.

It recently dipped its toe in the hot Tampa area market. The company is filling out a section of the Heritage Isles golf course community in New Tampa. Sales have yet to start on 58 "executive home sites" with four models from 2,800 to 3,600 square feet.

The company has released few details of its Pasco project, and numerous calls to McCar's Tampa office went unanswered.

Land use idea may aid bid to conserve

A real estate broker proposes a comprehensive plan amendment that would allow a higher density in rural areas by reserving a portion of the property for conservation.

BROOKSVILLE - Gary Schraut has long crusaded against the county's rural land-use designation.

The density the designation allows - one house per 10 acres - isn't really rural but just another form of sprawl, said Schraut, a real estate broker.

"Hernando County, all of it - from U.S. 19 to U.S. 301 - is the definition of sprawl by the Sierra Club and a lot of other people," he said Tuesday.

Schraut's solution is a comprehensive plan amendment that would allow more development - not surprising, considering Schraut has often fought to develop sparsely populated parts of the county.

More surprising is that some planners and environmentalists agree with him, at least in principle.

That's partly because Schraut's proposed amendment would require landowners to set aside part of their property for conservation in exchange for the increased density. Also, many planners agree with Schraut about the inefficiency of providing services to residents on large, scattered lots, while some naturalists say those lots are not large enough to preserve significant habitat.

"It's kind of always in the back of your head: Is this (10-acre lots) the best thing to do? Is it the best way to build a community?" county planning director Larry Jennings said.

"It's a pretty interesting thought. It's a good starting point," said Joe White of the Hernando Alliance for Open Land Conservation, who suggested a similar approach to development in rural areas at a county growth management forum last year.

But Schraut and White, as well as Jennings, differ greatly on how much land should be set aside and how much should be developed.

White presented an example of a developer who owns 1,000 acres setting aside 800 for conservation.

"I wouldn't mind having 10 houses per acre" on the remaining land, he said.

Schraut, meanwhile, talked about how the policy might affect a 180-acre tract in northern Hernando County in which he has an interest.

Current law would allow him to put 18 houses on the property. He would like the county to require him to set aside one-third of the land for conservation and, in return, allow him to divide the rest of the property into 78 one-acre lots.

In their discussions, Schraut said, Jennings has been talking about 5-acre lots and leaving 50 percent of the land undeveloped.

"I can talk comfortably about 33 percent. Larry's pretty solid on 50 percent," Schraut said.

Terry Bickel, a Brooksville real estate broker who owns property with Schraut, presented the comp plan amendment to the County Commission on Tuesday because Schraut was in Georgia. He sought an extension of the deadline to apply for comp plan changes, which is today.

Commissioners did not extend the deadline, but they may do so when the matter is brought up again Oct. 12, said Jennings, who added that he did not talk specific numbers with Schraut but made it clear that he would accept only a change that truly conserved land.

"The idea of conservation subdivisions is kind of interesting, but the devil is in the details," Jennings said.

He said the county must ensure that meaningful amounts of conservation land are set aside.

"You have to make sure you're really serving a public purpose."

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

Oct 4, 2005

Reporter Fred Hiers can be contacted at (352) 544-5290.

Annexation crux of impasse

Brooksville won't hook water and sewer to a planned county building unless it's annexed. The county balks. It's a standoff.

BROOKSVILLE - Hernando County officials have reached an impasse with the city of Brooksville over the annexation of a 2-acre lot next to the county's planned emergency operations center.

Unless the county agrees to allow the city to annex the site, the city is threatening not to hook up water and sewer to the $5.6-million center, potentially delaying the project, County Attorney Garth Coller explained at Tuesday's County Commission meeting.

Coller called the annexation requirement "extortionary" and said city officials should address annexation issues before the commission, and not in a water and sewer connection agreement.

"We didn't think that it was appropriate for basically staff to redraw the borders of Hernando County," Coller said.

Bill Geiger, community development director for Brooksville, said the annexation clause was standard when the city provides utilities for any property that is contiguous to incorporated land and may eventually become an enclave. This property met both conditions, Geiger said.

"The city doesn't gain anything other than, from a planning point of view, the opportunity to avoid enclaves later," Geiger said.

The 19,000-square-foot, two-story operations center, next to the Sheriff's Office on the State Road 50 truck route in Brooksville, is designed to withstand hurricane gusts up to 160 mph. The center, which will house the sheriff's technology and communications staff, straddles land inside and outside the city, all of it county-owned. The center itself will be built on land already inside the city limits. An adjacent 2-acre lot slated for parking and drainage remains unincorporated.

In order to build, the county needed a construction permit from Brooksville that required the county to apply for water and sewer connections.

The county applied, but deleted a section of the utility service agreement that allows Brooksville to annex the unincorporated lot. The parking lot will require no water or sewer connection, and the connections for the operations center will not pass through the lot, said Assistant County Engineer Gregg Sutton.

The standoff underscores the tension between the county and the city over annexation, said Commissioner Diane Rowden. Rowden fears that signing off on the annexation would set a precedent in future squabbles over county property.

"If we sign off on something like this, what have we signed for the future of Hernando County?" Rowden asked. "Are we agreeing that everything they're doing with annexation is all right? I don't."

Sutton said the county and city have four to six weeks to resolve the issue before construction reaches the point where water and sewer connections are necessary.

The county hopes to have the center completed in time for the 2006 hurricane season.

Asjylyn Loder can be reached at aloder@sptimes.com or 352 754-6127.

Funny fumes waft from meetings with developer

Bob Barker bellowed, "Let's make a deal." Donald Trump announced "The art of the deal." And now, courtesy of RealtiCorp, comes a subtle new fragrance: The scent of a deal.

RealtiCorp owns a huge chunk of wetlands-riddled acreage on U.S. 19 south of Crystal River, for which massive commercial and residential development plans were announced several years ago.

But the county balked. Too many violations of county restrictions, staffers said. For openers, there are 70 acres of wetlands that we insist remain wet.

So, perhaps sensing a path of less environmental resistance to the north, RealtiCorp enticed Crystal River to annex its property by dangling the carrot of a higher tax base. How could the city refuse?

Citizen groups protested loudly, as did the Board of County Commissioners and legal staff, but the argument was futile. It was, as The Donald would say, a done deal.

In true Crystal River fashion, however, the deal was bungled from A to Z. Worm-ridden with legal problems, the annexation was stomped flat by the courts, and the acreage swiftly returned to county jurisdiction.

Chagrined, RealtiCorp retraced footsteps over a still-smoldering bridge to face the same county staff, the same stiff regulations, and a now-aroused public to boot. This mountain would be no easy climb. And then a funny thing happened.

Suddenly, it's reported that RealtiCorp representatives are in meetings with no less than County Administrator Richard Wesch. And while there are no specific laws against it, the faint scent of something sulfurous hangs in the air.

Low-level meetings between developers and Development Services staff are par for the course. It's only fair that developers know where they stand before running the gantlet of planning board and County Commission workshops and review.

But this upper-level stuff indicates negotiations, and negotiations suggest agreements, and agreements imply deals. Perhaps the public's right to sunshine is getting compromised.

It is, after all, the Florida Sunshine Law that protects the honesty and objectivity of the approval process wherein county commissioners ultimately vote. For this reason, commissioners are legally proscribed from privately meeting with developers, staff members and especially each other.

However, commissioners can, and do, meet with the county administrator, especially before board meetings. Perhaps the Sunshine lawmakers exempted the administrator because they never imagined this person attending developer meetings. Why would he want to?

I am not, for the record, making accusations of impropriety. Yet, neither can I imagine circumstances more apt to give the appearances of the same.

Meanwhile, it will be fascinating to see what agreements, if any, emerge as the RealtiCorp saga continues to unfold. Just as with the Halls River Retreat fiasco, we'll have answers by the time the first planning board workshop in Lecanto is announced. Tell your friends and neighbors.

And as Bob Barker would say, "Come on down."

Jim Nicoll is a resident of Homosassa. Guest columnists write their own views on subjects they choose, which do no necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.

Hillsborough's On Standard Borrow Time
By STEVE OTTO sotto@tampatrib.com
Published: Oct 5, 2005

Issuing permits for destroying wetlands: This is a job for ...

With more funding, the state could issue permits for some wetlands destruction without federal approval, a state report says.

The state can take over issuing some permits for destroying Florida's wetlands from the federal government, a state agency reported Monday.

But the state Department of Environmental Protection said it would need more money, and perhaps more time, to do so.

Currently, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issues permits for developers who want to wipe out wetlands, while the state issues a permit that says destroying the wetlands will not cause pollution.

Developers, frustrated over lengthy delays in obtaining wetlands permits, pushed a bill through the Legislature this spring ordering the state DEP to investigate taking over some permitting from the corps - say, for projects of 10 acres or fewer.

In the resulting 12-page report issued Monday, DEP officials said that to do so, they will need more money, as will the state's five water management districts, which also issue wetland destruction permits.

But DEP Secretary Colleen Castille said she does not know how much more money would be required. The amount would depend on whether the DEP took over part or all of the corps' wetland permitting duties.

If the DEP took over all wetland permitting, the report said, then the Legislature would have to repeal the state law that requires permits to be issued in 90 days or less - the main thing developers like about a state takeover.

The report says the DEP is "fully committed to implementing the most effective, efficient and comprehensive wetlands protection program in the United States." But Castille said that if the 90-day deadline is repealed, that would undercut the argument that a state takeover would be more efficient.

The corps has no such deadline.

Because of the heavy demand for federal permits, it may take more than a year to say yes.

Also, state rules on what constitutes a wetland are different from federal rules.

Corps officials estimate that they protect 3-million more acres of Florida's wetlands than the state does.

But Castille said the differences are minor.

"We both work toward the same level of protection," she said.

Corps officials said they had not seen the report Monday and declined to comment on it. Any state takeover will require approval from the corps and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The corps already approves more wetland permits in Florida than in any other state.

Between 1999 and 2003, it approved more than 12,000 permits and rejected only one. The state also issued permits for each of those projects and for the one the corps denied.

Environmental activists suggested the Legislature is unlikely to spend more money on wetlands than it does now. "That's not going to happen," predicted Eric Draper of Audubon of Florida.

But Towson Fraser, spokesman for House Speaker Allan Bense, R-Panama City, said a budget increase "is not out of the realm of possibility" because Bense is determined to make a state takeover work.

"The speaker wants to find the most efficient way to implement some type of wetlands protection program and make sure it's run in the best interest of the taxpayers," Fraser said.

The report also says the Legislature would have to extend the current state wetland permitting program to cover the Panhandle, something Panhandle lawmakers - including Bense - have so far successfully resisted.

A Southwest Florida lawmaker, state Rep. Trudi Williams, R-Fort Myers, sponsored the bill requiring the report. Williams is an engineer whose clients include big development companies such as WCI Communities. She could not be reached Monday.

During the legislative session, Williams denied that developers played any role in pushing the bill. But after the bill passed, the St. Petersburg Times obtained records showing that a Florida Home Builders Association lobbyist, Frank Matthews, helped write the bill.

Matthews has said that getting the corps to defer to the state is "the Holy Grail" for developers, because the state says yes much faster.

Meanwhile, other lobbyists for builders and developers organized a campaign to get 15 of Florida's congressional delegation members to persuade Gov. Jeb Bush to sign it, and to get Army officials to consider going along with it.

Free to good program: use of 580 acres

Swiftmud is still seeking a group to run an environmental program on the land it bought from the Boy Scouts.

INVERNESSS - Back in June, the Southwest Florida Water Management District put out a unique call.

Swiftmud was looking for a group to take over a partially developed, 580-acre property east of Inverness that had served for years as the core activity area of the McGregor Smith Scout Reservation.

The agency needed an organization to set up and operate an environmental education program for the site, and officials were willing to make it available for free to the right group.

Two organizations applied: the Learning Gate Community School in Hillsborough County and the Gulf Coast Academy of Science and Technology in Spring Hill. Both are charter schools.

But "neither of them really demonstrated that they had the resources or the expertise to run that type of operation," Swiftmud spokesman Mike Molligan said on Monday.

Because of that, in the coming weeks Swiftmud will again put out a new request for proposals for the Flying Eagle Environmental Education Center to find someone that matches what the agency is looking for.

"It's open" as far as the kind of program Swiftmud wants offered on the property, Molligan said. "Obviously, we're interested in things that have to do with water resources, since we are the water management district." But the agency doesn't want to limit what some group might be able to offer.

Swiftmud bought the entire 4,964-acre Scout property in December from the South Florida Council of Boy Scouts. Only a fraction of that will be used for the environmental education center that Swiftmud officials envision. That partially developed area, which has been used by Scouts for years, includes an administration building, cabins, meeting and dining areas, two houses and a 2,849-square-foot swimming pool.

Molligan said the secret is finding a group that has the financial means to run a program for some time.

"They need to have some stable base of resources so that they can come in and operate for a while," he said. "There needs to be some stability."

Several individuals and groups in Citrus County had talked about submitting proposals for the environmental education center, including the Academy of Environmental Science, Citrus County's only charter school, but none ended up formally submitting a proposal the first time.

Once Swiftmud advertises for a new round of proposals, a date for a preproposal meeting will also be set to allow interested groups to come talk about their ideas and to see the property. That meeting may happen early in 2006.

"It's going to be a great opportunity but we just have to have the right fit," Molligan said. "We're hoping we have better luck the second time around."

--Barbara Behrendt can be reached at 564-3621 or behrendt@sptimes.com

Oct 1, 2005

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Grapefruit trees give way to fields of hay and a view

After the virus tristeza claims the area's trees, landowners plan a new agricultural use for the area around Lake Jovita.

ST. LEO - Shirleen Smith remembers when she was a kid and caught her first glimpse of Lake Jovita. The shimmering water promised swimming, sun and freedom.

Now Smith, 54, sees the lake from the end of her street, Lemon Street, where there's suddenly an unobstructed sightline across SR 52.

"To see the lake opened up, I think it's a wonderful view," she said.

Jerry Schrader, of the San Antonio citrus family, recently cleared the last grapefruit trees from his 12-acre grove at State Road 52 and Pompanic Street. The land now is an open hillside, sloping down to the water's edge.

It provides virtually the only window to the lake from the ever-busier road as it dips past Saint Leo University and on to Dade City.

"The view is much nicer. There's a lot less mosquitoes and a much nicer breeze." said Schrader, 48, who lives in a small house on an adjacent property with his dog, Wilson. His brother Ted is a member of the County Commission.

Schrader says the land will be used for a hayfield. In fact, it's already been planted. He's doing the same on his sister's adjoining property.

"It's a very hearty, good-growing, high-protein hay," he said of the variety known as Tifton 44.

Schrader says the grapefruit trees were ravaged with tristeza, a virus that is creeping through groves all over east Pasco. It induces a slow demise, taking down one tree at a time, sometimes over several seasons.

"What happens with citrus growers is they're staring at this death and not knowing what to do. It's expensive to replant citrus," Schrader said. "Nobody wants the grapefruit anyway."

But what about the appetite for condos? For lakefront estates?

Schrader says no.

"(Local) people love that it's going to be a hayfield and not rooftops," he said. "I would like it to stay that way for at least the rest of my life."

Brother James Hallett, mayor of St. Leo, said he likes the promise of more farming.

"I think it's more compatible with what we've been accustomed to seeing at the end of the lake," he said. "It's a more comfortable change than would be more buildings in the area."

Schrader points out that the land has been designated for agriculture since at least the 1940s. His great-grandfather grew oranges in this county. He and his siblings still do.

Oh, there have been inquiries. Not from developers so much, he says, but from curious speculators.

Any lots for sale?

"I just say it's a hayfield, and thank you very much."

For tax reasons, the hayfield makes good sense. Florida tax law gives special consideration to farmland, basing assessments on its agricultural value, not its market value.

And while market values in Pasco reach skyward, agricultural values barely budge.

"The adjustments are typically rather meager," said Mike Wells, Pasco's property appraiser.

The total assessment on Schrader's grove is $50,777, according to appraiser records, $4,104 per acre. A 4.72-acre property further up Pompanic purchased in 2003 has a per-acre assessment of $30,588 - not counting the value of the home on the lot.

In upscale Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club, a 6-acre, vacant lakefront lot that sold in 2003 is assessed at $334,668, or $56,436 per acre, records show.

That's appropriate, Wells said.

"It would be a significant contrast, and there should be if we're going to provide tax relief to farmers," he said. "The ever-increasing value of raw land in this county is going to make the spread between market value and ag value even greater."

It also puts farming at an even greater disadvantage behind real estate. Said Wells: "I don't think there's an ag use that could apply to a piece of land that would support a value of $40,000 or $50,000 an acre."

--Molly Moorhead covers news about east Pasco. She can be reached at 352 521-6521 or toll-free 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6521. Her e-mail address is moorhead@sptimes.com

Retirees pay high price for paradise

In Betmar Village Mobile Home Park near Zephyrhills, sales pass the $200,000 mark.

It has finally happened. Double-wide mobile homes, those symbols of inexpensive Florida retirement, have crossed the $200,000 threshold in Pasco County.

Indiana retiree Bryan Toll plunked down $215,000 in July for a 4-year-old, 1,800-square-foot double-wide on a golf course at Betmar Village Mobile Home Park near Zephyrhills.

It's not your proverbial tin can. Toll's home is about 500 feet from Betmar's clubhouse and comes with an extra-long carport and a golf cart shed.

And his wasn't the only home to take off in a year that saw the average Tampa Bay area home appreciate by nearly 30 percent.

Two of Toll's neighbors paid $225,000 and $250,000 respectively for their manufactured homes in Betmar, a retirement community named for Betty and Mary, the wives of the park's first developers.

That's an awful lot of cash changing hands in a 40-year-old park 20 miles northeast of Tampa.

"People are just crazy to pay that much," Toll said as he relaxed at his home last week. "And I'm one of them."

Betmar's unique in many ways. First of all, it's huge. At 1,658 homes, it's almost a town unto itself. Everyone owns their own small lots.

Homeowners share 27 holes of golf, 24 shuffleboard courts, two heated swimming pools and horseshoe pits. Betmar even has its own choir and several-thousand-volume library.

The park sits two-thirds empty during the summer but swells to capacity after Thanksgiving and Christmas. A huge contingent comes from Maine, many of whose New England-trained tongues turn the park's name into "Bet-Mahhh."

"Betmarians are a family," said Chris Mills, who has monitored the upswing in home prices from the Betmar Realty office on Eighth Avenue. "If you put a super Wal-Mart in here we'd never have to leave the park."

The Betmar family is buzzing over the housing boom. Over hands of bridge, ballroom dancing sessions and shuffleboard tournaments, retirees who long ago cast off the cares of the business world are donning green eyeshades again.

"Do we talk about home prices? Are you kidding?" said Betmar library volunteer Shirley Dube. "I could sell for double what I paid. But then I'd have to buy a new place for probably triple what I paid."

Nearly everyone's gasped at stories like the empty lots that sold for $70,000 and $44,000 apiece.

The dam broke in April with the first $200,000-plus sale in the park's history. In May another newish "golf view" home, with a small pool and garage, sold for $255,000. Then came Toll's purchase in July.

"Our appraiser went into a heart attack. He called us and said, "What the heck are you guys thinking selling for so much?"' Mills said.

For an idea how steep values have climbed, Mills is listing a 17-year-old double-wide on Tara Avenue for $199,900. The owner bought it for $63,900 in 1998.

"The owner saw the others were getting over $200,000 and got excited," Mills said.

The Florida Manufactured Housing Association said such prices are fairly new to the Tampa Bay area, though they've become commonplace elsewhere in Florida.

"We have communities, especially in the Fort Myers area, where the homes consistently sell for $180,000 to $200,000," executive director Frank Williams said from Tallahassee.

That's not to say you can't find a relative bargain in Betmar. Among Mills' current listings are mobile homes, mostly older models from the 1970s, in the $50,000 to $90,000 range.

Some are in less appealing sections of the park, like those still on septic tanks when much of Betmar hooked into county sewer lines. Reduced prices are also found in Betmar's pet section. You have to leave Spot and Patches up North if you live beyond those boundaries.

"It all started with a parrot," Mills said. "It screeched in the middle of the night, and people heard it three blocks away."

If there's a lead lining to the golden dreams, it's homeowners insurance rates. They're increasing as fast as home prices. Some of the old models, built when government regulation of construction was less rigorous, aren't always worth insuring.

"Insurance will be what pops our real estate bubble," Mills said.

But for retirees like Toll and his wife, Donna, now living in their third home in Betmar, you couldn't recommend a richer life.

The Tolls used to be snowbirds who flocked to Zephyrhills in winter, but this year they've become Florida full-timers.

"The prices have been moving up over the last year," Bryan Toll said. "But look what we've got: We are just off the golf course, and the view here is absolutely beautiful."

Rising home prices squeeze middle class

The Pinellas County real estate boom has made it almost impossible for many people to live here. The County Commission is seeking ideas to remedy the situation.

Scott Mohn doesn't want to give up his job as a social studies teacher at St. Petersburg High School for something that pays more, just so he can buy a home.

But after a year of looking, he said, it's clear he can't afford a decent starter home or condo in St. Petersburg.

"There are a lot of teachers in my boat," said Mohn, 31, who made about $35,000 last year. "It's a source of constant frustration."

Mohn's predicament highlights the scarcity of affordable housing in Pinellas County, where open land has nearly vanished and new development is rare.

Mobile home residents are being uprooted to make way for pricier housing. Maids and cooks can't afford to rent near the beach resorts that employ them. Teachers, nurses and police officers are finding that despite middle-class jobs, home costs have soared beyond reach.

Should the situation continue unchecked, homes in Pinellas could soon be affordable only to those at the upper reaches of the income scale.

Already, businesses are finding it tougher to attract top talent because of home costs, said Mike Meidel, the county's economic development director. Soon, he fears, companies won't consider moving to Pinellas because their employees will be unable to find housing at a reasonable price.

"We know it's coming," Meidel said. "If trends continue, it's only a matter of time."

County leaders realize that subsidized housing may become a necessity not just for the poor who need help making rent, but even middle-class wage earners who don't qualify for traditional housing breaks.

A group that includes county and city officials as well as area real estate agents and developers is scheduled to present potential remedies to the County Commission on Oct.18.

"We can no longer stick our heads in the sand," said board member Ronnie Duncan. "If we are going to do something, we need to do it now."

* * *

In August 2001, the median price of a single family home in Pinellas was $151,100. In August 2005, the most recent month for which figures are available, that number had jumped to $256,600, a 70 percent increase.

Personal wage growth has been negligible by comparison, climbing just 12 percent, from $31,741 in 2001 to an estimated $35,482 this year. That bump has been offset by increased costs for insurance, health care and transportation.

To purchase a home in Pinellas at today's median price and still fall within state and federal affordability guidelines, a wage earner would have to make about $80,000 a year, or more than twice the county's average income.

The ballooning prices result from demand outstripping supply, said Mike Mayo of the Pinellas Realtor Organization.

Stock market-wary investors have been putting more money into real estate. Property speculators, low interest rates and loose lending practices have fueled the rush to purchase homes.

Relief in the form of a housing market collapse is a remote possibility in coastal Pinellas County, Mayo said. The warning signs of a bursting bubble - speculators leaving the market and an increase in supply - aren't there.

The boom comes as existing methods of housing assistance are under strain.

In 2001, Pinellas received $5.3-million from the state for housing rehabilitation loans and down payment assistanc e for low- and moderate-income earners. The money is split among the county, Clearwater, Largo and St. Petersburg. This year, the state gave $3.8-million, a 28 percent reduction.

Even as funding has been cut, the money itself is not going as far because down payment costs rise with home prices, said Howie Carroll, Clearwater's assistant director of housing. That reduces the number of buyers Carroll can help.

"It's a vicious dynamic right now," he said.

* * *

Kristie Mack checks real estate listings every day.

Mack, 31, used to work for the Pinellas County Housing Authority and a nonprofit that helps people find affordable rentals. In January, she got her real estate license, thinking she could help her former clients buy homes.

So far, it's slow. Everything on the market is too expensive.

She and her husband Jeff, 33, rent a duplex in Clearwater. Jeff works for the city of Largo as an electronics technician. Their 9-year-old son Aaron attends Curtis Fundamental Elementary School.

The couple both have college degrees. They have been preapproved for a $160,000 home loan. Their cars are paid off. Student loans are the only significant debt they carry.

Yet their search for a house has gone nowhere.

"It's hard for us," Kristie Mack said. "It's like we are right in between. We don't make a lot of money, and we are not poor. Just the average middle-class family. And we can't afford housing."

The couple wants to have a second child, so they need at least a three-bedroom. Homes that fit the bill in their price range are either in crime-plagued neighborhoods or in terrible condition, Mack said, needing thousands of dollars in renovation.

For the Macks, the home hunt has been painful. They want their son to grow up in a house. They have even thought about moving to Pasco County to find cheaper housing, but that would mean a change of schools for Aaron and a costlier commute for Jeff.

"It's just real tough," Kristie Mack said. "It makes you feel helpless."

Realtor Duke Tieman is trying to find a home for the Macks. He is one of a shrinking number in the business willing to work with buyers who have been approved for loans of $160,000 or less.

"It's just unreal," said Tieman, who has been in Pinellas real estate for 18 years. "I still stick with the working class of people; it's just hard for me to find merchandise for them."

Matthew DeLaMeter, who arrived in St. Petersburg from the Dallas area in July to teach school, hoped to buy a home in the $110,000 to $130,000 range, pretty easy to find back in Texas.

But Realtors have not shown much interest in the 28-year-old, who now rents.

"When they find out that I'm a teacher and what my income is," he said, "they don't really have a whole lot to say to me after that."

It's not only prospective buyers but businesses that are affected.

Tim Johnson, director of housekeeping for Tradewinds Island Resorts in St. Pete Beach, said his workers used to find rentals in St. Petersburg, but are now moving to Largo, Clearwater and Manatee County in search of something affordable.

They rely on public transportation to get to and from work. A one-way bus trip can last two hours, Johnson said, and the hassle contributes to tardiness and absenteeism.

"It has gotten to be more and more of a challenge," he said. "The epidemic is just growing."

Mayo, of the Realtor organization, is on the work group coming up with possible solutions. He describes the situation as a crisis.

"The people that run this community need to make a decision: Do you gentrify, or do you take the steps you need to provide housing for your workers?"

* * *

The policy options that will come before the County Commission have gained popularity across the country as communities confront the need for below-market housing for service workers and the middle class.

County Commissioner Bob Stewart agrees a serious problem exists. But he is wary of acting too quickly and creating the impression that government can solve the problem without help from the private sector.

"I don't want to establish any false expectations," Stewart said. "Whatever we do that we don't do now is going to be a positive step. But it's not going to be a cure-all."

To be effective, a combination of measures should be used and adopted countywide, said Anthony Jones, Pinellas' assistant director of community development. Those in the work group are confident that the county and cities can overcome turf wars and arrive at shared solutions, he said.

Here are some approaches that will be considered:

The county and cities could pass an inclusionary zoning ordinance, which would require developers to set aside a percentage of their new units for sale or rental at below market rates.

--Developers could opt out of the ordinance by paying a fee that would support a community housing or land trust fund. Such trusts could also be fed by a levy on property transfers or by fees developers are charged in exchange for being able to build extra units on an acre.

--The county could dedicate a portion of Penny for Pinellas sales tax revenue to build housing.

--Development standards could be changed so that density and zoning rules don't prevent a well-designed affordable housing project from being built.

Housing and land trusts, in use since the 1980s in places like Burlington, Vt., and Montgomery County, Md., can be a particularly versatile tool to lure the private sector.

For example, money from a housing trust could be used to match contributions by large employers such as hospitals and the resort industry. The pooled money could be used to build employee housing.

By securing land in a trust, parcels could be given free to developers in exchange for building affordable units. Needing to cover only material and labor costs would be an incentive for developers to take part.

These methods are being explored in Sarasota County, where commissioners have created a housing trust. They plan to sell some county-owned land to get seed money, but the trust has no dedicated revenue source yet and has built no homes.

Sarasota leaders have also committed to creating an inclusionary zoning ordinance. But they have given themselves two years to do so, and officials have not decided how aggressive the ordinance will be.

"When you start to think about policies such as this," said Wendy Thomas, Sarasota County's community housing manager, "you need to give people, including elected officials, time to consider whether they are right for the community."

County Commissioner Ken Welch, a Pinellas native, understands the need for a thoughtful approach to policy proposals, but is unwilling to wait needlessly.

"We need to act and we need to act decisively," Welch said. "Pinellas County is for everyone. And I don't want to see us get to a point where it is only for the rich."

Inspection overload worries owners

As county inspectors try to keep up with the boom, some residents say their homes suffer.

SPRING HILL - Harry Brockway walked the perimeter of a concrete slab, stopping every few feet to jab the underside of the roof with a wooden stick.

He watched to see if the plywood sheets popped upward on impact; he listened for the clap the loose ones make as they fall back on the trusses.

A half dozen of them did, and those were just on the lower edge of the roof, the part he could reach with his stick. Brockway, a Hernando County building inspector, said he could "red tag" this job in Sterling Hill, stopping other work until the problem was fixed.

But a construction supervisor, Rick Benedict, sent a carpenter up on the roof before the inspection was complete. Brockway said he trusted Benedict to get the plywood sheets nailed down and would drive by later to make sure he had.

Besides, Brockway said, he had 30 more inspections scheduled on that day two weeks ago.

"If I can get the inspection passed, I'll do it, so I don't overload my schedule, which is already overloaded," Brockway said.

Brockway and his colleagues have cut their hourlong lunch breaks in half to keep up with their growing workload. They drive quickly from one inspection to the next. They spend their days studying engineers' drawings and climbing up and down stepladders to check hurricane straps and lintels.

Even so, the current building boom and the severe hurricanes of the past two years have raised the inevitable question: Can a squad of 23 inspectors ensure that thousands of new homes and commercial buildings in Hernando are as solid as state code requires?

"With the amount of construction going on, we can't be at every job all the time. That's impossible," said county development director Grant Tolbert.

"But we're still doing good inspections."

Homeowners such as Michael and Ferol Long of Spring Lake aren't so sure. They recently moved into a house plagued with construction problems, some of which inspectors should have caught, they said.

"I think they're overwhelmed," Ferol Long said.

As recently as the 2000-2001 fiscal year, the county issued 1,181 permits for single-family homes and conducted 43,256 inspections. Near the end of the 2004-2005 fiscal year, both those numbers have skyrocketed - 3,390 housing permits and 94,000 inspections, which comes to more than 20 per inspector per day.

The staff, meanwhile, has increased by only eight, with five more inspectors due to be added this month.

Brockway, 70, has worked through a boom before - in the late 1980s - as well as the relative lull of the 1990s. No matter, he said, "We always worked the same way."

As a former seawall contractor and construction supervisor, he understands the importance of keeping jobs moving. And, rushed or not, he issues red tags only as a last resort.

That is less frequently than many other inspectors, he said, because his jobs are clustered within a few blocks of frantic building activity at Sterling Hill, meaning a supervisor is almost always available to address problems.

After inspecting the plywood sheathing of a roof, he drove around the corner to inspect the network of steel reinforcing before concrete lintels were poured in a block house. At the second of these, he noticed an opening for a window where the plans showed a door.

That would likely be a red tag, he said, until an assistant supervisor for M/I Homes, David Gocal, was able to document that the door was optional.

Brockway also threatened to red tag the next job - a framing inspection - after finding three missing hurricane straps and a scanty network of support beams under a gable roof, the feature most vulnerable to wind damage.

"You're in a heap of trouble," he called out, only partly joking, when Gocal arrived at the site.

But Benedict, the supervisor for the framing company, produced drawings showing the trusses were reinforced according to the engineer's design. He promised to take care of the straps later that day.

"I'll check that on the insulation inspection," which would come about a week later, Brockway said.

"That's going to save him a $100 red tag."

Dan Matusik, Hernando's inspections supervisor, said Brockway's approach is acceptable, especially when regularly visiting the same houses and dealing with the same supervisors.

"We kind of put things in our memory banks to check on later," he said.

But to Michael Long, the relationship between inspectors and contractors sometimes seemed too friendly.

One inspector, he said, allowed construction on his red-tagged pool to resume without a follow-up inspection. When Long complained, the inspector explained that the contractor had assured him by telephone the problem had been fixed.

More seriously, the Longs said, inspectors had two opportunities to find problems with their roof - during the framing inspection after builders put up bowed trusses, and during the roof inspection, when the surface was obviously warped.

It was only after Ferol Long showed the county photographs of the flaws that inspectors insisted upon repairs, she said. The contractor, Alexander Custom Homes Inc., eventually replaced the shingles and the plywood sheathing.

Mark Alexander, the company's owner, said the problems with the roof were neither his fault nor the fault of the inspector: the trusses and the sheathing were in good condition until tropical-storm-force winds blew off the waterproof felt covering and exposed them to the elements.

He also said the repair was more extensive than the inspectors required.

"We replaced the roof and shingles at great expense," he said.

Other homeowners have similar complaints.

The concrete slab of Bettie Tanner's unfinished house in Royal Highlands has extensive cracks, some of which seem wide enough to allow water to seep through. Cracks also run between some of the concrete blocks, which had been laid so crookedly the trusses would fit in the spaces left for them.

John Jacobs, like Tanner, hired Designer Homes to build his house in Spring Hill. Like her and the Longs, he can cite a long list of flaws.

"It's been a total fiasco for two years," he said.

But only one of the problems - a slope that drains water into the front of his house - can be blamed on inspectors.

"I think he was overwhelmed and overpushed about having to come back constantly to the house," Jacobs said.

Jacobs and the other homeowners agreed the biggest danger to the quality of construction in boom times is not overworked inspectors but builders, especially those who have taken on more jobs and struggle to find qualified workers.

There is some truth to that, said Alexander, especially since last year's storms.

"All of a sudden we're losing labor to hurricane areas because they can make more money there," said Alexander, whose company builds about twice as many homes now as it did five years ago.

"You can't have construction activity quadruple (countywide) and expect the same kind of performance from everyone."

David Pfleger, president of Designer Homes, said most of his company's problems are a result of the death of his brother, Donald, who held the company's only contractor's license. That led to delays, he said, which in turn caused some construction problems.

But he and Alexander scoffed at the idea that inspectors are letting too many things slide. Their perception is that inspectors are too demanding, partly, Alexander said, because they don't understand the stricter building codes that have gone into place in recent years.

A decade ago, he averaged fewer than five red tags on each home he built, he said; now it's usually more like 10 or 15.

That perception, Matusik said, sums up one of the hardest parts of his job, finding a balance.

"We work for the builder and we work for the homeowner," he said. "We have to walk a fine line."

--Dan DeWitt can be reached at 352 754-6116. Send e-mail to dewitt@sptimes.com

Well, either Kevin left before I did or he missed what happened with the Meadow Oaks MPUD. Those of us destined for purgatory will be relieved to know that, at least in Pasco County, eternity is now only about six years.

What the Development Review Committee agreed to let this developer do is take a parcel that was slated to remain open space "in perpetuity" and allow homes to be built on it in order to put a handful fewer homes on another section of the development.

Even county staff recommended the DRC deny this request.

Originally, the development plan was approved with one parcel of the development transferring it's density to another section for town homes to be built.  In 1999 the commission approved this transfer of development rights with the condition that the parcel remain undeveloped permanently. I think what bothered me most was that no one on the Development Review Committee asked about the original circumstances that resulted in this parcel being identified as open space in perpetuity. Was this allowed in part to mitigate environmental impacts in another portion of the development? We'll never know because they didn't ask. Sounds a lot like Serenova.

In perpetuity lasts only as long as it's convenient.

Sep 29, 2005

Efforts To Slow Growth Opposed

By MARK HOLAN
mholan@tampatrib.com

TAMPA - Hillsborough County Attorney Renee Lee has put the brakes on county planners' first attempts to slow development in neighborhoods with crowded schools.

Lee issued a five-sentence memorandum Wednesday recommending the county suspend its one-sentence planning policy intended to "manage the timing of new development to coordinate with adequate school capacity."

"I am of the opinion it cannot be enforced at this time," Lee wrote to county commissioners and other officials. "Many policies in the county's Comprehensive Plan require a companion ordinance -- this is one of them."

As The Tampa Tribune reported Tuesday, county planners this week tried to use the policy to deny rezoning to three developments near crowded schools in east and south Hillsborough County. It was the first such attempt since the policy was adopted in July 2004.

Two developers asked for their rezoning requests to be postponed until October; the third accepted conditional approval to get more time to show that classroom capacity will be available when construction starts.

Commissioner Kathy Castor, a land use lawyer, said she "strongly disagrees" with Lee's position.

"You can't just suspend a policy in your comprehensive plan," Castor said. "I'm sure there are many developers who would love for us to suspend policies in our comprehensive plan."

Castor sent a letter to school Superintendent MaryEllen Elia urging her and school board members to ask County Administrator Pat Bean to enforce the policy.

"Further delays ... are not necessary and are harmful to students and teachers who are suffering in overcrowded classrooms," Castor wrote. "Common sense must prevail."

Cathy Valdes, the school district's chief facilities officer, was more cautious.

"We are on some shaky ground," Valdes said. "While the policy is there, there is no ordinance."

The concern over crowded schools comes as school officials grapple with how to meet the state's class-size amendment and a new state growth management law, called concurrency, that will require links between development and classroom capacity.

Hillsborough will blaze the trail for how other districts implement the state law by 2008 as one of six Florida counties selected for a concurrency pilot program.

"We are excited about being able to write the plan" for enforcing the new law, Valdes said. "It is not a five-minute process."

Bob Hunter, executive director of the Hillsborough County City-County Planning Commission, said an ordinance could be drafted and approved within three months without waiting for decisions on how to enforce state concurrency.

"We can move quicker than that if we want to address the problem," Hunter said. "We have to address school capacity if growth is going to continue to be approved."

Hunter said Hillsborough's policy is based on language similar to Orange County's comprehensive plan, which was upheld in a court challenge.

Planning and Growth Management Director Bruce McClendon, who oversees the staff who recommended the rezoning denials, said he will wait for Bean's direction before taking further action on development proposals.

County Commissioner Ronda Storms placed the county's school capacity policy on the agenda for Wednesday's commissioners meeting. She also wants to discuss increasing school impact fees, fees charged to builders for each new home to pay for land to build schools.

Hillsborough's impact fees, the lowest in the state, haven't been increased in 20 years.

"Even people on the development side would say impact fees for school sites are very low," said development attorney Biff Craine. He represents a fourth project county staff considered for rezoning denial.

School officials said their construction plans would open more classroom space to accommodate students from the project, 78 town houses on 25 acres in Apollo Beach.

Craine said the county school capacity policy should apply to development approvals, not rezoning requests.

"Flying by the seat of your pants without including the proper legal framework of an ordinance is probably problematic," he said.

Craine said bringing development "to a grinding halt" won't benefit school or county officials, who collect taxes on the growth.

"It's easy for the public to paint developers with a broad brush," he said. "You shouldn't have to hire attorneys just to use your property."

 

Extension Of Ridge Road Approved

By JULIA FERRANTE jferrante@tampatrib.com

Published: Sep 28, 2005

NEW PORT RICHEY County commissioners voted 4-1 Tuesday to proceed with plans to extend Ridge Road to U.S. 41, despite reservations about additional costs and delays for the easternmost portion of the project.

The county plans to build the road in sections, with the first phase connecting Moon Lake Road and the Suncoast Parkway and Phase 2 extending from the parkway to U.S. 41. County Administrator John Gallagher said the county has secured most of the property needed to compensate for wetlands destroyed by Phase 1, and officials are examining several properties as potential mitigation for Phase 2. He asked for more time to negotiate sales of the Phase 2 property and right of way.

Gallagher estimated it would be six months before the county hears whether the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will require additional studies of wildlife in the area. He asked to use that time to work out the property issues.

"I see light. When I don't see light, I'll come back to you," he said.

The board had set a deadline of Sept. 1 to secure the 300-acre Five-Mile Creek Corridor north of the extension route from owner James "Bo" Bexley as mitigation for Phase 2, but Bexley has refused to grant access to his property.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District, known as Swiftmud, approved the road with the understanding that a 240-acre parcel known as Mablebridge would be put into conservation to compensate for Phase 2. That property since has been approved for development, so county officials set their sights on the Five-Mile Creek Corridor. Swiftmud would have to approve any substitute mitigation.

Attorneys for Bexley have given verbal assurances that their client would convey right of way for the road without condemnation proceedings but not mitigation property. No written agreement has been signed, Gallagher said.

County Attorney Robert Sumner said it is unlikely Bexley will sign such a contract.

"You're not going to get that letter," he said.

Build To The Suncoast?

Commissioner Ted Schrader agreed and questioned whether another delay was prudent. He advocated building the east-west connector to the Suncoast Parkway and allowing private developers to work out details of the second phase.

"How many times have we heard that?" Schrader said, referring to the time extension request. "And how many times have we blinked? I think we need to draw a line."

Gallagher said several property owners stepped forward and offered their land as possible mitigation after hearing of the county's difficulties with Bexley. The properties range from a combined 240 acres to 884 acres and have various environmental significance.

Gallagher said Bexley's attorneys also have told him Bexley is unwilling to convey right of way to a private developer.

"I think I will get a better deal than a private developer," he said.

Commissioner Jack Mariano agreed.

"The scary thing is this is how Mr. Bexley is treating us, and he wants to negotiate with us. I would hate to see how he treats a private developer," he said.

Commission Chairwoman Pat Mulieri asked how much the county will have to spend for additional research and appraisals for Phase 2.

"You want six months, and we don't know how much money?" she said.

Gallagher estimated an additional $60,000 or $70,000 will be needed.

Needed Now, Official Says

Commissioner Ann Hildebrand said the Ridge Road extension is needed desperately, in its entirety, as a hurricane evacuation route. She said the board should stay with the project "for the long haul."

The Ridge Road extension has been on future transportation maps for 20 years, but the project has been delayed by permit issues and opposition from environmental groups. Swiftmud approved the road in 2003. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is reviewing the permit.

Also Tuesday, the board unanimously agreed to extend Gallagher's contract for another four years and Sumner's for two years, with 3.6 percent cost-of-living increases for both each year.

Mulieri said she supports Gallagher, who has been in the county's top post for 24 years, but urged him to hire a chief assistant county administrator so he may delegate some of his responsibilities. He has gone without one for several years.

Other commissioners agreed Gallagher needs to delegate more and said they also have urged him to hire a chief assistant.

Gallagher said he believes that when he had an assistant, he lost control of the direction of the county. Now that he is more involved, he has righted "the ship" and is willing to share the workload again.

"How many times have we heard that?

And how many times have we blinked?

I think we need to draw a line."

County Commissioner TED SCHRADER,

on request for time extension

 

Sep 28, 2005

Public Asked To Help With Preserve Plan

LAND O' LAKES - The Southwest Florida Water Management District invites the public to help update the Cypress Creek Preserve management plan.

A workshop is set for 6 p.m. Thursday at the Land O' Lakes Community Center, 5401 Land O' Lakes Blvd.

The preserve, about 7,400 acres in central Pasco County, protects an extensive floodplain along an 8-mile length of Cypress Creek.

People can hike, ride horses, bicycle, in-line skate, fish and camp on the property.

The preserve and adjoining land owned by Tampa Bay Water are home to the Cypress Creek well field.

For information about the management plan or the workshop, call Eugene Kelly in the water district's Land Resources Department at 1-800-423-1476, Ext. 4464.

Sep 28, 2005

Where's The Room?

By COURTNEY CAIRNS PASTOR
cpastor@tampatrib.com

TAMPA - Climbing enrollment and shrinking space have created such a crunch in Hillsborough County schools that the district no longer can rely on new construction for a fix.

The district can't build schools fast enough to offset population growth and voter-approved restrictions on class sizes. Tackling the problem could mean solutions both innovative -- more online classes or year-round school shifts -- and unpopular -- double sessions.

The school board sifted through strategies proposed by district officials at a workshop Tuesday morning. No decisions were made; that will come after community meetings this fall and winter that are yet to be scheduled.

Class-size caps have worsened crowding, but something had to be done, board member Carolyn Bricklemyer said.

"We need to do this anyway," Bricklemyer said. "Shame on us for not doing this sooner, quite frankly."

In some areas, such as those surrounding Bryant Elementary in the northwestern part of the county, new subdivisions keep popping up. That means more houses and more children moving there. But no new schools are on the drawing board anytime soon.

Debbie Reeves has a son in kindergarten at Bryant -- the most crowded school in the county -- and likes the school. But she sees no more room for the new students who keep coming.

"We're definitely at our maximum optimization point," Reeves said. "There's not an ounce of space."

A majority of Hillsborough schools are under capacity. A few are under by a third or half. Enrollment at those schools is likely to increase as the district moves more students out of its most packed schools.

The new students can come voluntarily, drawn by school choice or magnet programs such as gifted academies.

Some might go through far less popular options, including changes to attendance boundaries or grades added to elementary or middle schools.

Many Factors Affect Moves

Before reaching conclusions on how to fix the problems, the district has to examine transportation, if students have been moved before, growth projections and neighborhood dynamics, said Lewis Brinson, assistant superintendent for administration.

If officials decide to move special-education classes to a less crowded school, for example, they need to look at how that would affect the new school and the students, Brinson said.

The board also talked about visiting Wake County, N.C., which includes Raleigh and its suburbs. That district has received national attention for improving standardized test scores among minority students after it started busing low-income students into wealthier schools.

Another possibility is shaking up traditional grade groupings at some schools. The district will consider kindergarten through eighth-grade schools or high schools that start with eighth grade. Middle schools might encompass grades five through nine.

Board member Susan Valdes said putting eighth-graders into high school concerned her because ninth-graders already struggle with the transition.

Double sessions, sending students to school in shifts, remain an idea, as do variations of the plan. High school students could opt to take half their course load online, board members suggested, or enroll in an early or late period that allowed them to stagger arrivals and dismissals.

District Looks For More Space

The county will also look for space where there doesn't seem to be any. That could mean installing dividing walls in some larger classrooms to serve two classes or having art and music teachers give up their permanent rooms.

Board member Jennifer Faliero said she didn't understand how to move art and music teachers with the kilns, pianos or other large equipment those classes may have.

"I don't know how you're going to manage that one," she said.

Brinson said if it wasn't possible, the school wouldn't do it.

"We're not going to take the piano away from them," he said.

Solutions will not be uniform. Superintendent MaryEllen Elia said the district must look at each crowded school to see what works best.

Crowding is widespread.

The state class-size amendment caps the number of students per classroom, meaning that many schools no longer can hold as many students as they were designed to accommodate. In Hillsborough, 92 of 200 schools exceed their capacities when considering class-size reduction and growth.

New schools will ease some numbers. Riverview High School will lose students once Spoto High opens next year. Benito and Liberty middle schools will benefit from a new middle school.

Durant High, though, with more than 2,800 students, won't have an additional high school opening until 2009. Bryant Elementary won't get relief until 2007.

Even schools that aren't severely crowded feel cramped. Alonso High opened a new classroom wing in August, putting it barely over capacity, but students can't ignore their 2,700 classmates.

The numbers are fine when changing classes outside in the courtyard, said Scott Landay, a junior. But when the hallway of the new wing fills up, Landay must squeeze through to get to the three classes he has there.

"It's really, really tight in there," Landay said.

New store packing it all inside

JCPenney, a tenant at The Shops at Wiregrass, opens its doors to customers for a trial run on Sunday.

By JAMES THORNER, Times Staff Writer
Published September 29, 2005

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WESLEY CHAPEL - They call it a soft opening, the trial run before the formal ribbon cutting when new stores work out their bugs and kinks.

But when the doors of JCPenney fly open on Wesley Chapel's Wiregrass Ranch at 10 a.m. Sunday, manager Connie Lant expects there will be nothing soft about the sales.

"We expect to be extremely busy all the way from Sunday to the grand opening on Oct. 7," Lant said.

The new 99,000-square-foot store at Bruce B. Downs Boulevard and State Road 56 opens decked out for fall and winter. Think artificial Christmas tree displays, sweaters and down vests.

And to those accustomed to the larger, two-story JCPenney at University Mall, the Wesley Chapel store represents the company's new prototype that copies the wide aisles and bright displays of rivals such as Target.

Cash registers line the store's three entrances, no longer lost among the various departments as in old JCPenney's stores.

An expanded beauty salon boasts waiting room chairs of green and purple. Extra services include facials and pedicures.

On Wednesday, the store looked ready to open but for the missing JCPenney signs on the facade and the storm shutters blocking the entrance doors.

Lant roamed the football-field sized enclosure as dozens of employees finished stocking shelves and racks and hung advertising signs atop ladders.

"We're spending this week finding a home for all this merchandise," Lant said as she darted past boxes filled with items still seeking a display space.

The Wesley Chapel store replaces the much larger University Mall store. But more efficient use of space ensures the full array of merchandise shoppers are accustomed to.

Outfits on racks, for example, are now hung 2 feet apart, less than the 21/2 feet separating rows of clothes at the old store.

JCPenney is the first tenant in a proposed shopping center called The Shops at Wiregrass. A dirt field beyond the store, still surrounded by construction equipment, is to be the second anchor, Dillards.

"We'll be totally alone for at least a year," Lant said.

[Last modified September 29, 2005, 01:19:16]

Building permit office tries to rev it up

An official proposes closing the office every other Friday to process pending permits. The goal: Cut waits from 45 days to 10 days.

By CATHERINE E. SHOICHET
Published September 29, 2005

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LECANTO - With the hot real estate market fueling a statewide building boom, permit applications are piling up at the county's development department.

The backlog is so bad that Director of Development Services Gary Maidhof said he is ready to take "radical action." In a memo last week, he proposed closing the department's offices to the public every other Friday so staff can focus on processing applications.

"I realize this requires (County Commission) approval and creates an inconvenience to the general public, but I believe the benefits of working through the backlog exceed the temporary loss of staff contact," he wrote.

Maidhof said he plans to present his proposal to the commission at an October meeting. He said he would like to implement the proposal for a six-week trial period. If the system is successful, the commission could consider implementing it permanently.

County staffers are juggling nearly 1,000 residential permit applications. It takes them 40 to 45 working days to process a permit application for a new home. The county's goal for turnaround time, Maidhof said in an interview Wednesday, is 10 days.

Maidhof's memo came several days after a meeting with the Citrus County Builders Association's governmental affairs committee.

Incoming association president Chuck Sanders said builders at the meeting told Maidhof they were very concerned about permitting delays. The association, he said, is trying to work with county officials to eliminate bottlenecks in the permitting process.

The association would be in favor of closing development services offices to the public on alternate Fridays, he said, if that would speed things up.

"As a builder, I'm seeing six to eight weeks to get a residential permit," said Sanders, who is also chair of the association's governmental affairs committee. "That's just inexcusable."

Nelson Maughan, co-partner of Sweetwater Homes of Citrus Inc., one of the county's biggest home builders, said permitting delays cause increased costs for builders and home buyers alike. And rebuilding after this year's hurricane season will cause prices to go up even more, he said.

"Costs have been in some cases jumping as much as twice a month on various products," he said, citing the cost of drywall, wood and shingles as particularly volatile.

Even with staffers regularly working overtime mornings, nights and weekends, Maidhof said, the permit requests keep mounting. Sometimes builders drop off more than 40 applications at a time.

"It's like trying to send a bushel of cherry tomatoes down the sink," he said.

In addition to the increasing number of applications, staffing shortfalls also slow down the permitting process, Maidhof said. Two key planning positions in the Community Development division have been open for months, he said, while county officials search for qualified applicants.

Last year, the county received 16,024 permit applications. So far this year, Maidhof said, the county has received 14,000.

In an Aug. 31 memo, Assistant Planning Director Kevin Smith said that the "rapid growth in residential development continues unabated" in Citrus County. In the past year, he wrote, developers have proposed 21 major subdivisions with 2,785 lots.

Counties across the state are struggling to deal with increased permit applications, said Edie Ousley, a spokeswoman for the Florida Home Builders Association.

But she said closing offices might make things even worse. When the Army Corps of Engineers decided to use a similar approach, Ousley said, even more permit applications accumulated.

"When you get right down to it, it really only causes additional problems," she said.

--Catherine E. Shoichet can be reached at cshoichet@sptimes.com or 860-7309.

[Last modified September 29, 2005, 01:19:16]

Sep 28, 6:54 PM EDT House GOP using hurricanes to end offshore gas drilling ban By H. JOSEF HEBERT Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- Legislation that would end the longtime ban on energy development along most of the country's coasts and open an Alaskan wildlife refuge to oil drilling advanced Wednesday in the House. Opponents said Republican leaders were exploiting the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita to pass pro-industry measures that they failed to get included in an energy bill signed into law only two months ago. It is a "leave no oil company behind" wish list that will damage the environment and do nothing to ease high gasoline or winter heating costs, said Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass. Attempts by Markey to strip the offshore development and drilling provisions failed, both by a 28-14 vote, in the House Resources Committee. The committee then approved the energy legislation 27-16. The bill will be combined with proposals intended to spur expansion of construction of refineries - an idea being worked on Wednesday by a different House committee. The effort to allow natural gas drilling of the U.S. coast attracted support from Republicans and Democrats. But some Democrats said it would be years before any of the fuel would become available. The proposal from Rep. John Peterson, R-Pa., applies only to natural gas. The legislation would allow states to approve oil drilling off their coasts. Since 1981, oil and gas development has been off limits in virtually of the coastal waters outside the central and western parts of the Gulf of Mexico. That was due to environmental concerns or worries in Florida and elsewhere that such development might hurt the tourist industry. The coastal areas contain huge resources of natural gas . "We can't wait any longer," Peterson said. "We're in the middle of a full-fledged natural gas crisis" after the two hurricanes that disrupted natural gas production and processing, he said. Peterson's plan, approved by voice vote in the House Resources Committee, also would give states half of the royalties from the new drilling. Separately, the committee endorsed opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil development. The House repeatedly has called for exploiting the refuge's estimated 10.4 billion barrels of oil; the Senate has refused to go along. Supporters said the hurricanes in the Gulf Coast exposed the country's concentration of oil resources in one region and may persuade some senators to drop their opposition to drilling in the refuge. "Republican leaders are shamelessly exploiting the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the disruption it caused to our energy supplies to promote their long-sought radical energy policy ... (and) devastate vast amounts of America's most prized environmental possessions," said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif. Meanwhile, the House Energy and Commerce Committee tried to find ways to spur the construction and expansion of refineries. "More refineries will result in more domestic production of gasoline," said the committee's chairman, Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas. Committee Democrats said the Republican measures threaten the environment. "It's a sop to the industry that is not going to do anything to help consumers" and will "run roughshod" over environmental laws and local involvement in deciding where refineries are built, said Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo. Barton's plan included easing air pollution control rules on refineries and shortening deadlines for issuing permits. A government-funded "risk insurance" program would to shield companies against lengthy regulatory or court delays in refinery construction. The primary role for refinery permitting and environmental reviews would shift to Energy Department from the Environmental Protection Agency. Also, Washington would have a greater say in where refineries and pipelines go. Opposition is coming cities, counties and state governments as well from as state officials in charge of putting in place clean air requirements. A Democratic alternative would have given new powers to the Federal Trade Commission to pursue gasoline price gougers and required the government to build a reserve of refinery capacity to be made available in an emergency. The plan failed along a party-line vote, 27-22. --- On the Web: House Energy and Commerce Committee: http://energycommerce.house.gov/ House Resources Committee: http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/ © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.

Developers To Hit Snag In School Crowding

 

By MARK HOLAN mholan@tampatrib.com

Published: Sep 27, 2005

TAMPA - In a preview of what could happen under the state's new growth management law, county planning officials are considering denying rezoning to several large subdivisions in south Hillsborough County because there aren't enough schools.

Two projects on tonight's zoning hearing master agenda are drawing the attention of county planners, who say a year-old planning commission policy leaves few choices other than to recommend denial.

The policy requires the timing of new development to coincide with adequate school capacity.

"This is the first time the policy has been brought into play," said Lorraine Duffy, a senior planner with the Hillsborough County City-County Planning Commission.

One of the projects would transform 580 acres of pasture land near the intersection of Progress Boulevard and Falkenburg Road, east of Progress Village, where Centex Homes proposes building about 2,000 houses.

The other rezoning could bring 90 town houses to a 10-acre parcel on the east side of Williams Road in Brandon. It was postponed at Monday's zoning hearing after Kevin Mineer of the Genesis Group requested an extra day to iron out confusion about the condition.

A third project would sprout 82 town houses on 48 acres at U.S. 301 and Sligh Avenue in east Hillsborough. Woodland Development on Monday asked to have the hearing postponed until Oct. 18 to meet with county planners and school officials.

County planners and parents have raised the school capacity issue in the past, but commissioners were prevented from stopping development because there was no written policy, Duffy said.

"This at least is raising it to the level of discussion," she said. "Maybe all this policy is saying is that developers need to talk to the school system about how to accommodate the schoolchildren."

School planning reports show Armwood High School, which would serve the proposed Genesis town home project, and James Elementary, which would provide classrooms for the Woodland project, are over capacity.

Details of the Centex Homes project were not available late Monday, and school officials could not be reached. But school system officials have said they face a projected $276.5 million shortfall in their five-year countywide building program.

Mineer said the policy is being applied too early in the process.

"We have no qualms meeting the policy," he said late Monday. "But it's the development that triggers the policy, not the rezoning."

County planners said there are options to accommodate the projects, including phasing in construction or obtaining commitments from developers to help meet school space needs.

However, even those options may not be available under the state's growth management law, to take effect in 2008.

Under that law, known as "concurrency," residential construction projects could be blocked from breaking ground if there aren't enough classrooms in place or on the drawing boards.

Hillsborough is one of six Florida counties selected for a pilot program to iron out how city and county planning agencies, school districts and developers will meet the requirements.

The hearing master has until Oct. 17 to make recommendations about the rezoning requests. County commissioners are to consider the projects Nov. 8.

 

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Thanks Pat March 2005 Old McDonald Still Has a Farm: Agricultural Property Rights After the Veto of S.B. 1712 by Richard Grosso and Robert Hartsell Page 41 In July 8th, 2004, Governor Bush vetoed S.B. 1712, enacted by the legislature during the 2004 legislative session, which would have ensured agricultural landowners in Florida the right to develop their lands at levels equivalent to surrounding land uses. The bill would have opened Florida’s agricultural tracts to development at the same pace and density as their neighboring parcels. The veto message states that the governor is committed to “meaningful and consistent” growth management policies, and that he wished to prevent farmers from being lured to “cash out” their lands for development, preserve environmentally sensitive areas by preventing large scale development on converted lands, and prevent litigation over land use decisions. The governor also stated that it would be inappropriate to tie the hands of local governments as they make land use decisions.1 The veto message also raised the property rights of agricultural landowners, stating that “concerns of the supporters of this bill for protection of property rights must be incorporated into future discussions on growth management issues.” It further stated that the rights of agricultural landowners are not superior to resource protection and must be “carefully balanced” to achieve the “appropriate” land use. According to the governor, agricultural land use decisions are not “statewide” concerns and decisions concerning the “appropriate” balance must be determined at the local level. This response begs the question: What constitutional and statutory property rights do agricultural property owners have in Florida? Constitutional Property Rights Defined The Fifth and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution state: “[N]or shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”2 The Florida Constitution is essentially the same, requiring “full” compensation.3 Land use or environmental regulations which “go too far” and require a private landowner to bear a burden that should be borne by the public are a taking of private property.4 There is no bright line for determining “the point at which regulation becomes so onerous that it has the same effect as an appropriation of the property through eminent domain or physical possession.”5 However, courts consistently find that regulations are a taking only if they establish a physical occupation, are arbitrary or capricious, or preclude all or virtually all economically viable uses.6 The leading Florida case is Graham v. Estuary Properties, Inc., 399 So. 2d 1374 (Fla. 1981), cert. denied, sub. nom., Taylor v. Graham, 454 U.S. 1083 (1981), in which the Florida Supreme Court upheld a development order that required half of the owner’s property (a large mangrove forest) to remain in its natural state. Because the action served a legitimate governmental purpose and allowed the landowner to enjoy an economically viable use, the court rejected the takings claim, and found that “an owner of land has no absolute and unlimited right to change the essential natural character of his land so as to use it for a purpose for which it was unsuited in its natural state and which injuries [sic] the rights of others.” Rights to Nonagricultural Uses In determining whether a regulation denies a landowner all economically viable use, the focus is on the existence and value of permissible uses.7 The landowner bears the burden of showing that there is no available beneficial use of the property under the challenged regulation.8 There is no right to any level of nonagricultural land use, such as residential, commercial, or industrial, as long as the allowed uses are “economically viable.”9 Thus, as long as agricultural use is economically viable, regulations may preclude all development. Under this line of reasoning, unless the denial of a density increase would leave the landowner with only uses that are not economically viable, it will generally not constitute a “taking.” In Martin County v. Melyvn R. Yusem, 690 So. 2d 1288 (Fla. 1997), the Florida Supreme Court upheld a county’s decision not to “up-zone” agricultural lands, concluding that the county was not required to amend its comprehensive plan at the landowner’s request. The court held that landowners do not have a right to density increases, and ruled that decisions to deny requests for comprehensive plan changes are legislative decisions subject to the deferential “fairly debatable” standard of review. In Martin County v. Section 28 Partnership Ltd., 772 So. 2d 616 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000), the Fourth District rejected a taking claim against Martin County’s decision not to amend its comprehensive plan to change agricultural zoning. The court held that such decisions “will not be considered arbitrary and capricious if [they have] a rational relationship with a legitimate general welfare concern.”10 The court found that “the record contains sufficient evidence establishing that the County’s comprehensive policies are based on rational and sound planning principles, designed to preserve agricultural lands, protect wetlands and environmental resources, ensure the efficient use of public resources and discourage urban sprawl” and that because of the extent of the impact from the proposed density increase, the refusal to amend the plan bore a substantial relationship to a legitimate governmental interest. Thus, if agricultural uses are economically viable, local governments will typically be well within their police power and without “takings” liability if they decline to approve rezonings or comprehensive plan amendments on agricultural lands. Senate Bill 1712 would have granted legal entitlements of rural or agricultural landowners to density and use increases that they do not currently enjoy. Reductions in Allowable Use, Density, or Intensity Landowners are also not legally protected from reductions in allowable use or intensity under the U.S. or federal constitutions unless they “go too far.” In Florida, there is no vested right to the continuation of current zoning, which can be reduced for valid reasons.11 Thus, even “down-zoning” or increasing restrictions is supported by both federal and Florida law. Because an owner is not guaranteed the most profitable use of his land, but simply some use that can be economically carried out, an action which “down-zones” land or increases legitimate restrictions is not invalid simply because it denies the highest and best use of the property.12 Regulatory actions have been upheld against takings claims even where they dramatically diminished the value of the property, including impacts potentially as great as 95 percent.13 In Florida, so long as the approved zoning allows some economically viable use, a landowner is not entitled to more favorable or economically valuable zoning. In Lee County v. Morales, 557 So. 2d 652, 655 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990), rev. den., 564 So. 2d 1086 (Fla. 1990), the Second District rejected a takings claim against a “down-zoning” because the resulting densities were economically viable and the reductions were not made arbitrarily, but for valid planning reasons based on a study. The court found that the county acted within its discretion to revise the zoning allowances based upon the new information presently available. Changes to local government comprehensive plans that reduce allowable densities have specifically been addressed as potential takings. In Glisson v. Alachua County, 558 So. 2d 1030 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990), rev. denied, 570 So.2d 1304 (Fla. 1990), plan amendments that reduced density from one unit per acre to one unit per five acres were not held to be takings since the change was not arbitrary, and the remaining uses were economically viable. The validity of the amendments was strongly supported by the fact that they were adopted pursuant to the authority of Florida’s growth management laws. Thus, local governments’ hands are not tied when it comes to changing existing planning and zoning provisions. If existing rules are no longer appropriate, government is not precluded from making changes that reflect current information. Planning and zoning is not a perfect science and is often dependant on predicting the future and contingent on unknown factors. Government has significant flexibility to reduce use or density or increase restrictions, so long as the resulting rules allow some economically viable use and are not arbitrary. In determining whether regulations are arbitrary, or legitimate subjects of regulations, courts give significant deference to the judgment of the regulating body.14 The courts repeatedly take the stance that they will not become “super zoning boards”15 and have given regulating agencies much leeway to use their police powers to “down-zone” at their discretion, as long as that decision addresses a legitimate governmental concern and is supported by competent and substantial evidence.16 Among the interests and issues that will be deemed legitimate subjects of government regulation are preservation of residential or historical character of a neighborhood,17 protection of environmentally sensitive areas and pollution control,18 and issues relevant to compliance with growth management laws.19 Permit Conditions and Mitigation Requirements One potential “takings” scenario occurs when government conditions a development approval on a requirement that some portion of the land be preserved or dedicated for a public use or protection. The constitutionality of permit conditions, exactions, and mitigation requirements arises often in the context of a permit condition that requires certain portions of a parcel of land to be set aside, preserved, or dedicated. Such requirements are a valid tool for agencies when weighing property rights against the need to offset development impacts to natural resources, community resources, or public facilities and services. Such conditions are generally legal and are not an invalid taking if they bear a rational nexus to the project’s impact and are “roughly proportional” in extent to the project’s impact.20 Next, conditions that require some portion of private land to remain in a natural condition, or be dedicated to a public use, are not a per se taking of the subject portion of the parcel. Courts determine whether a taking has occurred by viewing the end result of the regulation on the property “as a whole,” and not some distinct segment thereof.21 Thus, zoning ordinances and environmental permitting rules and orders which preclude the use of certain portions of a parcel in order to mitigate for the development impacts allowed on other portions, or to prevent a public harm, are generally not a taking. The caveat is that such restrictions must be for a legitimate public purpose and proportional to the development impacts.22 Moratoria From time to time, the need arises for local governments to maintain the status quo during the pendency or implementation of a study, perhaps including the development or consideration and adoption of substantial changes to a comprehensive plan or land development code. Temporary moratoria that are in effect for a reasonable time period, and are rationally related to a legitimate governmental purpose, are not a taking.23 As long as there is a rational nexus between the moratorium and the legitimate purpose to be served by the policies and regulations to be developed during the interim period, a temporary moratorium is not a taking. In Tahoe-Sierra Pres. Council, Inc. v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, 535 U.S. 302 (2002), the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a takings claim against a 32-month moratorium on development while a preservation plan for Lake Tahoe was being implemented. In Moviematic Industries Corp. v. Board of County Commissioners of Metropolitan Dade County, 349 So. 2d 667 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977), the county imposed a building moratorium for the purpose of conducting and preparing a comprehensive study directed to the protection of the fresh water supply and the natural ecosystems in that part of the county. The court upheld the moratorium, holding that protection of drinking water supplies and ecological systems are legitimate objectives of zoning resolutions and ordinances.24 Thus, as at least one commentator has observed: “The typical land use regulation, even where it drastically interferes with use of property for a period of two or three years or revokes an existing use, is unlikely to be held to constitute a regulatory taking.”25 Florida’s Statutory Property Rights: The Harris Act Florida law provides some additional protections to owners of private land beyond those granted by the “takings” clause of either the U.S. or Florida constitutions. Enacted in 1995, Florida’s Bert J. Harris, Jr., Private Property Rights Protection Act (“Harris Act”) is intended to require compensation in more cases than would be required under both the U.S. Constitution and the Florida Constitution.26 Although the Harris Act represents a compromise between all of the stakeholders—landowners, government, environmentalists—the real effect of that compromise is undetermined. The Harris Act finds that the actions of government may inordinately burden, restrict, or limit private property rights without amounting to a taking under the State Constitution or the United States Constitution. The Legislature determines that there is an important state interest in protecting the interests of private property owners from such inordinate burdens. Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature that, as a separate and distinct cause of action from the law of takings, the Legislature herein provides for relief, or payment of compensation, when a new law, rule, regulation, or ordinance of the state or a political entity in the state, as applied, unfairly affects real property. The act then creates the following cause of action on behalf of private property owners: When a specific action of a governmental entity has inordinately burdened an existing use of real property or a vested right to a specific use of real property, the property owner of that real property is entitled to relief, which may include compensation for the actual loss to the fair market value of the real property caused by the action of government, as provided in this section. This cause of action does not apply to “temporary impacts to real property.”27 The “inordinate burden” standard leaves much room for interpretation. How much more protection to landowners and restriction on government the Harris Act provides is highly questionable. The act requires compensation where regulation “inordinately burdens” a landowner, while the constitution requires compensation where “all economically viable use” has been precluded. The act does not render government liable for any burden on the use or value of real property. The act defines “inordinate burden” as government action that has “directly restricted or limited the use of real property such that the property owner is permanently unable to attain (1) the reasonable, investment-backed expectation for the existing use of the real property,” or (2) “a vested right to a specific use of the real property with respect to the real property as a whole,” or (3) “that the property owner is left with existing or vested uses that are unreasonable such that the property owner bears permanently a disproportionate share of a burden imposed for the good of the public, which in fairness should be borne by the public at large.”28 This language is strikingly similar to case law interpreting the takings clause, which requires compensation when regulation prevents an owner from attaining her “reasonable, investment-backed expectation,”29 limits a vested right,30 or has such an adverse impact on the landowner that “justness and fairness require the burden to be borne by the public at large.”31 Thus, while the express legislative intent is to “provide more protection,” the statutory definitions and decision factors track closely those used by courts under the “takings” clause. For this reason, the Harris Act is likely to be interpreted as granting rights not greatly in excess of those given by the constitution. Because the act uses the same terms of art as federal takings case law to flesh out the meaning of “inordinate burden,”32 there is no clear basis—other than the general legislative intent that the bar be lower in Harris Act cases—upon which a court can determine when a burden should be deemed “inordinate.” Given that some of the constitutional cases have found fair market reductions of 80-90 percent not to be a “taking,” one can surmise that lesser reductions would violate the statute. However, it is unlikely that a court would stray far from the constitutional line. There are no judicial interpretations of the Harris Act to shed light on this issue. Only a limited number of Harris Act cases have reached the courts, and they have been determined on procedural and other matters unrelated to the substantive liability standard. The most common result in such cases has been settlements. The Judicial Interpretations Florida appellate courts have decided only three Harris Act claims, with the Middle District of the federal court sitting for an additional one, leaving wide-open the question of what this law means. Only one of these cases, Royal World Metropolitan v. City of Miami Beach, 863 So. 2d 320 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003), addresses a substantive issue. In that case, the Third District made no rulings about what constitutes an “inordinate burden,” but did rule that the Harris Act does not allow a defense of local government sovereign immunity. The other Florida existing cases address purely procedural issues.33 In one federal case, a federal court denied a motion for removal of a Harris Act claim to federal court, and instead remanded the matter back to state court.34 Harris Act: Final Analysis The Harris Act is a compromise that preserves the state’s legitimate interests in growth management and environmental protection, so long as new regulations do not have so great an adverse impact on an individual landholder that a court would consider it “inordinate.” The act does not prohibit appropriate environmental protection and land use legislation. Even the sparse legislative history of the act makes clear that the act was not intended to drastically affect Florida’s growth management or environmental laws.35 The act should be viewed as requiring land use entities to proactively avoid property rights violations, by authorizing administrative waivers and other mechanisms to avoid property rights suits where the strict application of new rules would likely violate property rights, and to act with common sense.36 While the act does provide some increment of additional protection to landowners beyond that afforded by the constitution, it clearly does not preclude a local government’s ability to strengthen land use regulations or even “down-plan” or “down-zone” land for a valid planning reason. Ultimately, government must continue to serve the public good and not fear the threat of Harris Act litigation, except in the rare case when its protections are truly violated. Conclusion Neither the U.S. Constitution, the Florida Constitution, nor the Harris Act prevent local or state agencies from strengthening land use or environmental regulations, including the “down planning” or “down-zoning” of land, when such actions are rationally related to legitimate governmental purposes. Neither are owners of agricultural or rural land guaranteed any increases in use or intensity. Florida’s Harris Act does provide some substantive rights to use and intensity beyond those granted by the federal or state constitutions, but these increased rights are likely incremental and not significant. In vetoing SB 1712, the governor struck a balance that allows existing and even future land use and environmental laws, rules, and ordinances to meet legitimate and changing public needs while guaranteeing agricultural and rural landowners their existing private property rights. 1 Governor’s Veto Message, Governor Jeb Bush, July 8, 2004, SB 1712. 2 U.S. Const. Amend. V.& XIV. 3 Fla. Const. Art. X, §6. 4 Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon, 260 U.S. 393 (1922). 5 MacDonald, Sommer & Frates v. Yolo County, 477 U.S. 340, 349 (1986); Penn Central Transp. Co. v. New York City, 438 U.S. 104 (1978). 6 First English Evangelical Lutheran Church of Glendale v. County of Los Angeles, Cal., 482 U.S. 304 (1987); Agins v. City of Tiburon, 447 U.S. 255 (1980); American Savings & Loan Ass’n v. Marin County, 653 F.2d 364, 368 (9th Cir.1981). 7 Hodel v. Virginia Surface Mining and Reclamation Act, 452 U.S. 264 (1981). 8 Lake Nacimiento Ranch Co. v. San Luis Obispo County, 830 F.2d 977 (9th Cir.1987). 9 Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council, 505 U.S. 1003 (1992). 10 Section 28 Partnership Ltd., 772 So. 2d at 620 (quoting Restigouche, Inc. v. Town of Jupiter, 59 F.3d 1208 (11th Cir. 1995)). 11 Smith v. City of Clearwater, 383 So. 2d 681 (Fla. 2d D.C.A. 1980), aff’d, 403 So. 2d 407 (Fla. 1981). 12 Penn Central, 438 U.S. 104 (1978); Goldblatt v. Town of Hempstead, 369 U.S. 590 (1962); Graham, 399 So. 2d at 1380. 13 Susan Trevarthen, Advising the Client Regarding Protection of Property Rights: Harris Act and Inverse Condemnation Claims, 78 Fla. B.J.61, 61 (2004); see Hadacheck v. Sebastian, 239 U.S. 394 (1915) (reducing property value by over 90 percent); Graham, 399 So. 2d at 1382. (75-percent reduction of value not a taking); Penn Central, 438 U.S. at 124 (in some cases regulations may result in a 95-percent loss without justifying compensation as a taking). 14 Town of Hialeah Gardens v. Hebraica Community Center, Inc., 309 So. 2d 212 (Fla. 3d D.C.A. 1975). 15 City of Naples Airport Authority v. Collier Development Corp., 513 So. 2d 247 (Fla. 2d D.C.A. 1987); Broward County v. Capelleti Bros., 375 So. 2d 313 (Fla. 4th D.C.A. 1975). 16 Graham, 399 So. 2d at 1381. 17 Moviematic Industries Corp. v. Board of County Commissioners of Metropolitan Dade County, 349 So. 2d 667 (Fla. 3d D.C.A. 1977). 18 Graham, 399 So. 2d 1374. 19 Glisson, 558 So. 2d 1030. 20 Dolan v. City of Tigard, 512 U.S. 374 (1994). 21 Penn Central, 438 U.S. 104; DEP v. Schindler, 604 So. 2d 565 (Fla. 2d D.C.A. 1992); DEP v. MacKay, 544 So. 2d 1065 (Fla. 3d D.C.A. 1989). 22 Morales, 557 So. 2d 652. 23 Penn Central, 438 U.S. 104. 24 Moviematic, 349 So. 2d at 669. 25 Trevarthen, supra note 13. See also Santa Fe Village Venture v. City of Albuquerque, 914 F. Supp. 478 (D.N.M. 1995) (30-month moratorium to protect the status quo in lands within national monument not a taking); Woodbury Place Partners v. City of Woodbury, 492 N.W.2d 258 (Minn. Ct. App. 1992) (two-year moratorium on development pending traffic flow study not a taking); Cappture Realty Corp. v. Bd. of Adjustment of the Borough of Elmwood Park, 336 A.2d 30 (N.J. Super. App. Div. 1975) (four-year moratorium prohibiting construction of flood prone lands not a taking); Estate of Scott v. Victoria County, 778 S.W.2d 585 (Tex. App. 1989) (seven-year interim ordinance not a taking); Matter of Rubin v. McAlevey, 288 N.Y.S.2d 519 (1968) (two-year interim development ordinance valid until the enactment of a new comprehensive zoning ordinance). 26 “Bert J. Harris Private Property Rights Protection Act,” Fla. Stat. §70.001 (2004). 27 Fla. Stat. §70.001(3)(e) (2004). Thus, the Harris Act does not appear to apply to temporary moratoria. 28 Fla. Stat. §70.001(3)(e). 29 Penn Central, 438 U.S. 104 (1978). 30 See Lucas, 505 U.S. 1003 (1992) (where a regulatory taking deprives the owner of all economic uses, compensation may be denied only where the proscribed use interests were not part of the owner’s title to begin with); also see Monroe County v. Ambrose, 866 So. 2d 707 (Fla. 3d D.C.A. 2003) (the purchase of land is a subjective expectation and not a vested right to develop property). 31 Penn Central, 438 U.S. at 124; see also First English, 482 U.S. at 319; Dolan, 512 U.S. 374; Nollan et ux v. California Coastal Commission, 483 U.S. 825 (1987). 32 Trevarthen, supra note 13. 33 See, e.g., Osceola County v. Best Diversified, Inc., 830 So. 2d 139 (Fla. 5th D.C.A. 2002); Sousa v. City of West Palm Beach, 762 So. 2d 981 (Fla. 4th D.C.A. 2000). 34 Seminole County v. Pinter Enter., Inc., 184 F. Supp.2d 1203 (M.D. Fla. 2000). 35 Sylvia R. Lazos Vargas, Florida’s Property Rights Act: A Political Quick Fix Results in a Mixed Bag of Tricks, 23 Fla. St. U. L. Rev. 315, 363 (1995). Senator Mackey, sponsor of the bill, states in his closing argument that the act is not intended to have any drastic effects. Id. at 363 n.263. 36 Id. at 359. Richard Grosso is an associate professor of law at the Shepard Broad Law Center at Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale and the general counsel of the Environmental and Land Use Law Center, a public interest land use and environmental law firm, where he concentrates in land use law. Robert Hartsell received his undergraduate degree from the University of South Florida and J.D., with honors, from Nova Southeastern University, Shepard Broad Law Center. He is staff counsel for the Environmental and Land Use Law Center where he practices environmental, growth management, land use, and Everglades restoration law.

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Low-rise, low-price condos on the horizon

Units costing less than $200,000 are planned as the average price of a new Pasco home nears $250,000.

By JAMES THORNER, Times Staff Writer
Published September 27, 2005

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HUDSON - In Pasco County, $200,000 doesn't buy a lot of house anymore.

That's one reason condos are catching on. Essentially large apartments for purchase rather than lease, condo units are among the few housing options near the Gulf of Mexico available for less than $200,000.

The latest project is a condo of 600 units proposed for 185 acres west of U.S. 19 in Hudson. The building site, mostly flat and forested, lies southeast of Old Dixie Highway and Gulf Way.

ICI Homes hopes to erect 25 three-story buildings. They'll be made of prepoured concrete slabs as a precaution against gulf storms, though the site is 11/2 miles inland and outside the area most affected by hurricane storm surge.

"We don't even use concrete block anymore," said Serge Gootan, director of development for ICI's Central Florida division.

Gootan insists his units will be among the lowest priced new homes in west Pasco. He plans a sister project, of 216 units, in the Lake Bernadette neighborhood near Zephyrhills.

The Zephyrhills project will be restricted to seniors. Not so the Hudson condos. As the averag e price of a Pasco new home approaches $250,000, condos are a budget housing option.

The smallest unit, about 1,400 square feet, would start between $190,000 and $200,000, Gootan said. Prices could rise, however, as Louisiana and Mississippi siphon workers and building materials for hurricane reconstruction.

"I wouldn't be surprised that quite a few buyers would be a collage of empty nesters, divorcees and young couples," Gootan said of the Hudson condos.

"I'm just stunned by the numbers people are throwing out for what I would consider to be barely habitable residences."

The 185 acres sold to developers in July for $2.25-million. If the land is rezoned as requested, ICI could start construction next summer and deliver to buyers by early 2007.

Gootan expects the project to harmonize with neighbors that include the Sea Pines and Gulf Side communities. Another condo project, 362 units on property 3 miles to the south near Leisure Beach, was approved in August over objections from neighbors.

ICI has tried to anticipate complaints. Buildings would take up only a quarter of the acreage, the rest of the land serving as buffer. Gootan promises not just affordability but invisibility.

"We originally tried for five-story buildings, but county officials felt that five stories wouldn't be well received by adjacent neighbors," Gootan said.

[Last modified September 27, 2005, 02:45:31]

Final Vote On New Budget Expected Today
By JULIA FERRANTE jferrante@tampatrib.com
Published: Sep 27, 2005

NEW PORT RICHEY County commissioners today are expected to approve an $871.87 million spending plan that would give Pasco County residents their lowest tax rate in 18 years.

Commissioners are slated to review last-minute changes to the budget at a meeting starting at 1:30 p.m. at the West Pasco Government Center, 7530 Little Road.

The board is set to approve the budget at a 6:30 p.m. public hearing.

The spending plan, which will go into effect Saturday, is nearly 13 percent higher than last year's, but it is based on a property tax rate of $6.68 per $1,000 of property valuation, said Michael Nurrenbrock, Pasco's director of management and budget.

That is a 74-cent decrease from the current tax rate of $7.42 per $1,000 of valuation.

The municipal fire service unit tax rate also would decrease to $1.16 from $1.61 per $1,000 of valuation, but the solid waste annual assessment will increase to $62 from $58 per residential unit, to cover expenses without dipping into reserves, Nurrenbrock said.

Pasco County's rapid growth is allowing commissioners to decrease the tax rate while still increasing spending.

The county's appraised property value rose by more than $3.6 billion, or 21.77 percent, from last year to this year, Nurrenbrock said.

About a third of the increase is from construction. The rest is from increases in the assessed values of existing property. The total property value is $19.8 billion.

The spending plan includes money for an expanded judicial center and libraries, a regional park and new fire stations as well 104 new full-time positions. A good portion of those salaries will be paid with grants and permit and court fees.

Other budget increases came from added expenses for building maintenance, storm damage and fuel costs. Commissioners also agreed to allocate $250,000 to the Pasco-Pinellas public defender's budget for a diversion program for mentally ill jail inmates. The Economic Development Council is getting $460,000, a $100,000 increase from last year.

Property taxes cover about 20 percent of the budget. Other revenue comes from state and federal sources as well as impact fees, water bills, ambulance fees, building permits and gasoline and sales taxes. A large portion is from the fund balance, or carryover from the previous year.

County officials did not have to advertise a tax increase this year because the new tax rate is lower than the "rolled back" rate, or the tax rate necessary to collect the same amount as was collected last year, minus revenue from construction.

Her Asking Price Has Gone Up
By KEVIN MCQUAID
Published: Sep 26, 2005

SARASOTA - El Vernona Avenue is a lot quieter these days for Sonia Hamouda.

Though a few short-term renters remain, the palm tree-lined street is mostly deserted, poised to become part of Sarasota's renaissance.

Forty-seven of El Vernona's 48 resident owners are gone, having sold out to the Irish development group that is planning up to $1 billion worth of condominiums, hotel rooms, shops and parking spaces at the nearby Sarasota Quay.

Hamouda alone has stuck it out, her heels dug deeply into the El Vernona dirt.

The soft-spoken, 28-year-old Ringling School graduate says she is happy in her two-bedroom, one-bath unit with the raspberry-colored walls, with her dog and cats.

Her father, Louis, and the president of his aviation parts company in Punta Gorda believe Sonia's condo, between Fourth Street and Boulevard of the Arts, is more than just a joyful abode, though.

They think the 43-year-old condo is the key to the entire project.

To unlock it, they are asking for $3.5 million -- at least.

They have committed to stay or fight to get what they consider true market value for Sonia's 782-square-foot residence, for which the Hamoudas paid $74,900 in May 1998.

"How much is a key to a billion-dollar construction project worth?" said Rickey Hilton, the president of Aeronautical Services Inc., Hamouda's company. "I don't know. But what I do know is, they can't do what they want to without us."

As the pace of redevelopment in southwest Florida accelerates, developers may increasingly find themselves at loggerheads with the likes of the Hamoudas, titleholders determined to exercise what leverage they have for a big payday.

In Hamouda's case, the holdout continues even as Irish American Partners, a Dublin-based development group led by Patrick Kelly, is preparing to file formal plans with the city next month.

Irish American wants to transform a mostly empty 15-acre tract, bringing residents, retailers, hotel guests and millions in city property taxes.

Hamouda's condo, one of four in a building that sits in the northeast corner of the overall Quay property, could -- in theory -- alter that plan.

Whether Hamouda's hard-line stand is enough to significantly disrupt the Quay redevelopment remains to be seen.

Kelly already has directed architects to design the massive Quay project around Hamouda's tiny unit.

The Price Dance

Hamouda's struggle began early this year, when the developer began snapping up El Vernona condos in earnest.

A meeting with James Hart, a real estate agent representing Irish American, yielded a $250,000 offer.

Hamouda, who owns an interior design firm, rejected it immediately. A subsequent meeting of Hart, Hamouda and Hilton produced similar results.

Though Hart threw out a figure of $1 million, he didn't put it in writing during the meeting, and the chasm remained.

Frustrated, Hart called Louis Hamouda and the two discussed a one-for-one swap: Hamouda's two-bedroom walk-up for a plush, new condo in one of the three 18-story towers planned for the Quay.

Hamouda also asked that Irish American rent an apartment for his daughter during construction. By their reasoning, if Kelly and company plan a $1 billion project at the Quay, they could afford it.

Though both sides seemed amenable, no deal was struck.

That's when the Hamoudas added a zero -- and then some -- to Hart's original offer.

They told Hart the El Vernona condo would cost $5 million; they later reduced the figure to $3.5 million.

Hart never responded, and hasn't since late April, the Hamoudas say. Hart did not return a telephone call from the Herald-Tribune for comment.

But Quay representative Jeffrey Gareau said Irish American has negotiated in good faith.

"We've tried to be fair to them, as we were with the other 47 of the 48 individuals there," Gareau said. "Three point five million for 782 square feet is a ransom price."

Paid Less To Others

In price and dealings, the Hamoudas' experience stands in stark contrast to that of other former El Vernona residents.

Though some owners made significant profits, no one came close to the dollar figure that the Hamoudas are seeking.

"I have no problems with Irish American," said Daniel Pressler, a former resident who sold in January. "They weren't the least bit arbitrary."

Eric Halvorsen, who bought El Vernona unit 506 in July 1990 for $26,714, was the most fortunate. He sold for $667,000.

Most sellers more closely followed Shirley Daniels' experience. She bought El Vernona condo No. 522 for $46,000 in September 1992. The unit fetched $250,000 in January, property records show.

Of the 47 sales to date, the average sales price has been $313,470. Only eight units, nearly all of which are less than 1,000 square feet, sold for in excess of $400,000.

In all, Irish American has spent $14.7 million.

The Hamoudas look to Kolter Property Co.'s $13.3 million-per-acre deal for the former Metropolitan land in March -- another condo property less than a mile from El Vernona Avenue -- as evidence that the real estate market has accelerated.

By comparison, Irish American paid about $6 million per acre for the Quay land in January 2004.

The family also worries that the city may condemn Sonia's condo, using its power of eminent domain. That concern grew in late June, when the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling, granted municipalities the ability to take private property for private-sector economic development.

Before the ruling, eminent domain was used exclusively for "public benefit" and to obtain land for schools, airports, roads and like uses.

If threatened with eminent domain, Hilton and Louis Hamouda say they will press for a portion of the Quay development's profits. The nation's highest court didn't address profit sharing in its ruling.

"I am prepared to fight, if necessary, in court," Louis Hamouda said. "My daughter is happy here. We didn't ask Patrick Kelly to come into our lives."

Both sides say they are still open to discussing a swap or exchange.

 

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Wal-Mart Opponents' Suit Can Continue
By DAVID SOMMER dsommer@tampatrib.com
Published: Sep 26, 2005

TARPON - SPRINGS A group of residents opposed to the construction of a Wal-Mart Supercenter on the banks of the Anclote River has overcome its first hurdle in appealing the city's approval of the plan.

The Wal-Mart proposal calls for a 204,000-square-foot store with about 1,000 parking spaces to be built on the east side of U.S. 19 near the Pasco County line. The undeveloped, 74-acre site includes wetlands and is inhabited by gopher tortoises and ospreys.

The tract has been zoned for commercial use for about 20 years, and Wal-Mart plans to give 28 acres to the city for a nature park, create wetlands to replace those it builds on, and give the store a Greek-themed facade, in keeping with the area's ethnic traditions.

City commissioners approved the plan over vocal opposition after a marathon, all-night meeting that culminated with a 6:55 a.m. vote Jan. 19.

An opposition group calling itself the Concerned Citizens of Tarpon Springs, formerly known as Friends of the Anclote River, has asked a circuit judge to evaluate the Wal-Mart project to see whether it conforms to city law. In a lawsuit filed Feb. 18, Concerned Citizens alleged the megastore site plan is in conflict with the city's land development code.

The project, according to the lawsuit, is "not compatible with the City of Tarpon Springs' cultural heritage, historical resources, tourist-oriented economy and environmental settings."

In May, Wal-Mart and the city asked to have the lawsuit dismissed on the grounds that it was filed a day after the 30-day limit to contest a vote of the city commission. Wal-Mart and the city argued that the commission meeting in question began Jan. 18, 31 days before Concerned Citizens filed its protest.

Mark Connolly, an attorney representing Concerned Citizens, found that argument questionable.

"How can you claim an order is dated on the 18th when you didn't vote on it until after 6 a.m. on the 19th?" he said. "I've done government work before, and I've never seen anything like that."

Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge David Demers agreed.

"A plain reading of the transcript reveals that the 13-hour meeting, which began on Jan. 18, 2005, was not concluded until the following morning. ... Therefore, for the purpose of these ... proceedings, the court finds that the order sought to be reviewed was entered on Jan. 19, 2005," the judge ruled in denying the city's and Wal-Mart's motion to dismiss.

Both sides are in the process of submitting written arguments on the merits of the case. Wal-Mart and the city have asked Demers to schedule additional oral arguments, although the judge is not required to do so.

Meanwhile, a second lawsuit filed by Concerned Citizens is proceeding through the discovery stage, in which pertinent documents are shared and witnesses give sworn statements before a civil trial.

The second action alleges the Wal-Mart project is not consistent with the city's comprehensive plan, which is part of the county and state comprehensive plans for development in the area, Connolly said.

Opponents of the project contend that such a large store on a riverfront site will damage the character of the 117-year-old city and its historic sponge docks tourist district about 1 1/2 miles to the west.

Jim Yacavone, whose firm represents the city, said the site long has been zoned for retail business development.

"It's a strong case for us," Yacavone said. "The zoning permits retail establishments, and you can't tell me Wal-Mart is not a retail establishment."

Wal-Mart's attorney and public relations department did not return calls for comment.

 

'Little bit of heaven' savored

Neighbors oppose a bid to rezone nearby land. The county is leaning their way, despite the prospect of acquiring eagle habitat.

By THERESA BLACKWELL, Times Staff Writer
Published September 26, 2005

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EAST LAKE - What would be good for the eagles and their neighbors would be bad for the chickens and their owners.

And that, according to county officials, is why county commissioners should deny a proposed rezoning and development agreement requested by developer Roy E. Shaffer Jr.

The eagles live in a 9-acre sanctuary that Shaffer created within the Grey Oaks subdivision.

The chickens live among the homes on East Lake Drive that are next to a piece of land that Shaffer wants to develop.

Shaffer has requested donating the sanctuary to the county. In exchange, he wants to transfer the development rights from the sanctuary to his new subdivision, called Black Hawk Preserve.

With the transfer, Shaffer could build 46 homes. Without it, he could build 12.

The county would love to have that 9 acres with the eagle nest to fill in a piece of the planned Brooker/Anclote Corridor, a band of preserved open space, said Paul Cassel, the county's director of development review services. But that, he said, is not enough to offset the effect on East Lake Drive residents.

"It just doesn't outweigh the extra density being put in that neighborhood," he said. "His density is almost four times as great as what you find in that neighborhood."

That's why county officials have recommended that county commissioners deny Shaffer's request.

Shaffer, 63, is trying to settle one last project before throat cancer claims his life. He has applied for a change in zoning for 24.5 acres he owns at the end of East Lake Drive off Keystone Road from agricultural estate residential to planned residential development. But he also wants to find a way to protect the eagle sanctuary forever, because watching a pair of protected bald eagles raise families there has meant so much to him.

Audubon Society Eaglewatchers and Grey Oaks residents support the plan. But most residents of East Lake Drive, who live on lots of 2 acres or more, oppose it. They see it as a threat to their quiet and private way of life.

The recommendation to deny the zoning change was good news for the 18 property owners who gathered at the home of David and Jennifer Lewis Wednesday, across the street from the Shaffer property on East Lake Drive. They were there to discuss why they oppose the plan and their strategy for defeating it.

We're just normal, everyday people here, said Peter Ireland, Jennifer Lewis' stepfather, who lives next door. "We've just found a little bit of heaven here."

Some value the freedom to have a gaggle of geese, three Arabian horses, a goat, a flock of chickens or even a spoiled-rotten pet rooster named Robert - if they choose. Others just like the privacy and slower traffic that goes with having fewer neighbors.

"We all chose to live back here for our own peace and sanity," said Ray Szelest of Ridge Top Drive. "We're Pinellas County's best-kept secret and we want to keep it that way."

"And we pay