Category Archives: Belief in Capitalism

The Decision Is Still Ours

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Florida will continue to experience huge population growth from now until 2060.

 

A new study by Woods & Poole Economics, a firm specializing in long-term economic and demographic trends, shows that the Villages will be the number one metro area for growth in the U.S. between now and 2060. Orlando, Cape Coral, and Naples-Marco Island are all high on the list to experience exponential growth by 2060.

 

The Port St. Lucie metro area will grow from 511,300 people today to 920,600 by 2060. The Port St Lucie MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) has that city as its hub. The city’s population is now 212,901 residents, and it is currently the 7th largest city, by population, in Florida.

Florida scrub habitat in early springtime at Lake Kissimmee State Park in Lake Wales.

Fort Pierce is part of the Port St. Lucie MSA and so is all of Martin County. Where do you think the additional 400,000 plus residents are going to live by 2060? It is highly likely that a big subsection of these new residents will call our county home, and to believe otherwise is denying the data.

 

What the study also showed was the growing urbanization of most of America in the past 20 years, and it is projected to continue. Government policies that do not take this into consideration will fail. Saying no to projects because of some belief that you control the use of land owned by other people will fail.

 

If Florida were an independent country, it’s economy would rank 15th in the world. By 2030, we could be ranked 10th according to a study conducted by the Florida Chamber. There is no study that doesn’t expect Florida to be an economic powerhouse now and well into the future. People are moving here not to just retire anymore but to make their fortunes and find jobs.

 

Tallahassee wants and needs tax revenue now and in the future. They need to keep the train moving to accomplish it. One place they will be looking to make sure ample housing and economic opportunities exist will be in Martin County. The days of saying no are over. There is no longer the luxury of many residents being armchair nay sayers.

 

Costco and the Kanner PUD are a good project that should go forward. It has less density than what Stuart’s comp plan allows. The state DEO pointed that out when it went for review. The developer, now owner, of the site has an excellent chance of prevailing with the Governor’s Council, but if not, it will be a slam dunk in the owner’s favor in court.

 

The state must find adequate housing for millions of people. I don’t mean affordable or attainable or work force…I mean homes to house the folks who are flocking here from all over the U.S. Businesses of all types will open to serve the population. Our growing population will fill those jobs and open those businesses. Tallahassee is not going to have a few naïve people stop it. The economic and demographic juggernaut that is and will be Florida will continue.

 

Either we are going to have rational housing policies in Stuart and Martin County by good planning or the state will do it. If the state does the planning for us, I can assure you that Martin County will be looking more like other parts of the Port St. Lucie MSA and even Broward. The decision for another year or two is still ours…after that look for the final decisions to be more and more made in Tallahassee if our county has not realigned its thinking.

Thank You Commissioner Hetherington

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Some people are saying that Stacey Hetherington sold out those who voted for her by ultimately supporting the rural lifestyle amendment to the comp plan. That is just nonsense!

In the beginning, what was originally called Discovery (now Atlantic Fields) was a project of multi-million-dollar homes off Bridge Road that was going to proceed as an exception. There was not going to be any new land use designation. The Becker and Discovery folks were making presentations throughout southern Martin County and on Jupiter Island to select audiences. It seemed everyone was on board.

 

There was no public outcry or fierce resistance. The way it was proceeding, every commissioner except Heard was in favor of it. Discovery was going to be a money generator, leave acres of open land, and even have 800 acres remain in permanent conservation for farming. What happened?

 

In the interim, the developer came back with a plan to not proceed with the project as an exception but rather as a new land use classification in the comp plan. Suddenly, thousands of acres throughout unincorporated Martin County seemed to be up for grabs. I firmly said that it was a good project, but the new land use category had me wondering why disrupt the project at this point in the approval process. Until I had answers, I could not support it.

 

There were now people who began to want to know much more about the project. When it came before the BOCC at the beginning of the year, there wasn’t so much opposition by the public as concern. They also had questions that needed answers and until we (and I am a member of the public) received them, we couldn’t support the change.

 

Ciampi went from a yes on the project to a definite no on the land use category. Hetherington said she would not vote for it until she understood it better and there was much more public outreach. I was right there with her.

 

Then election season hit. And to my chagrin Stacey was a bit too strident in some of her campaign rhetoric hitting Stuart as growing too fast. It made her seem as if she was anti, anti, anti-development of any sort and that is not true.

 

Chastened, Becker, the developer, did do informational meetings and took public comment. The result was a narrowing of where the rural lifestyle could be used by Becker and county staff. It now encompassed only those properties of at least 1000 acres contiguous with the USB but outside the boundary. The number of acres to which the amendment could apply was less than 12,000, and 70% must continue to be open with at least 500 acres additional in conservation. There are 6 properties that meet the criteria.

 

There would be no package plants allowed. Water and sewer lines must be brought in at the developer’s expense and no other project can tap into those lines. My questions were answered, and there was ample opportunity for residents to go to the informational meetings held at the libraries.

 

Hetherington’s position was that questions needed to be answered and the number of acres narrowed. This was accomplished.

 

Unfortunately, she was less articulate on the dais when she was conveying her thoughts. That is too bad. But for anyone to believe she betrayed her beliefs or had situational ethics is not true. Hetherington conveyed to me that she needed a narrower definition of the rural lifestyle amendment.

 

If I had been a commissioner before the changes, I would not have voted for the designation either. Hetherington, by constant pressure on staff and the developer, received the changes she thought best for the county.

 

She also received something more…the commission’s vote to go out to RFP for a company to facilitate public meetings about where the future is for Martin County’s development. Doug Smith has been trying for years to have a real plan. Ciampi, Smith, and Jenkins all voted to do this.

 

In fact, Hetherington would not agree to vote in favor of the rural lifestyle amendment until a vote was taken on having a better planning model going forward.

 

Unlike Ed Ciampi, she never stated that she was unequivocally opposed to the rural lifestyle amendment. What she said was that she could not support the amendment as it was drafted back in February and without the chance for the public throughout the county to attend workshops on the proposal. I know that is true because Hetherington and I were of like minds and discussed it a couple of times.

 

Regarding this development and amendment, our five commissioners acted in good faith. Heard and Ciampi voted no, but I understand why even though I disagree. Smith and Jenkins were always in favor of it. Jenkins explained his position very well at the commission meeting as did Smith.

 

To think that Hetherington was somehow disingenuous is utter baloney. Is she a politician? Yes, what else is new. For that matter so are the others. Could she have better explained her position? Yes, that is for sure.

 

I applaud Hetherington for sticking to her guns at making the amendment better. I further clap my hands for putting the county on a footing to be able to construct a plan for our future. Thank you, Commissioner Hetherington.

 

 

 

 

My Questions Have been Answered Regarding Rural Lifestyle

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The Discovery folks invited me, and a few Martin media people to the Hobe Sound Polo Club for an informational meeting about the Rural Lifestyle amendment. The new amendment is a very pared down version of the original presented back in February.

At the time, I was not ready to embrace the amendment because it was county wide and I didn’t think there were enough public information meetings explaining it. I also had questions about where the water and sewer lines were going to be run and how far they would extend. Every one of my concerns have been addressed in the new amendment.

 

The acreage that would be entitled to the designation has been substantially reduced from the entire county to 11,924 acres. The Discovery development is adjacent to the urban services boundary (USB). To qualify for the designation, the land must be along the boundary. The water and sewer lines cannot extend or piggyback onto adjacent properties. So, the idea of leapfrogging to other properties should be out of the question

 

There have now been four public meetings throughout the county held in the libraries of Indiantown, Hobe Sound, Stuart, and Palm City. They were moderated by Nicki van Vonno, the past director of the Martin County Growth Management Department. A few of those meetings also had Zoom participation.

 

Though it is a developer amendment, if adopted, it can be used by any landowner who meets the qualifications. There are precious few owners that do. Here is the list I received from the applicant’s consultant:

 

Along Bridge Road:

  • Discovery/Atlantic Fields: 1530 Acres
  • Whitworth Ranch: 2824 Acres
  • Harmony/DiVosta: 2727 Acres
  • Three Lakes Golf Course: 1218 Acres

Mid County:

  • Atlas Family IV: 1695 Acres
  • Agri-Gators Farm: 1930 Acres

 

Everyone speaks about the sacred comp plan as if it is Holy Writ. It wasn’t until the 1980s when adopted that we were required to have one by the state. It is required to be updated (changed) periodically to adjust for circumstances such as population increases within the USB. At some point in the next few years, the line of the USB will be moved.

 

The two ways we can preserve our rural lands are to encourage infill development and greater density within the USB and to allow limited development using planning mechanisms such as Rural Lifestyle. In Discovery’s case, 70% of their proposed development will be green lands and another 800 acres will be a permanent agricultural trust with Conservation Florida as the nonprofit owner.

 

We need to accept that these type developments will attract very wealthy people. They will pay a great deal in taxes and ask for few services. Martin County will be another playground to them. But is that bad?

 

I was in favor of leaving each project to stand on its own but then that may trigger a spot zoning claim. Spot zoning refers to when a piece of property or groups of property have special zoning laws applied to them that differ from the zoning laws surrounding them. By giving alternatives to landowners, the sprawl that these large parcels may engender could be avoided.

 

I am now convinced that the Rural Lifestyle is the way to proceed for Martin County in these very limited circumstances. I urge the commission to embrace and pass this amendment. Without it, I believe we will end up with western lands that may look like St. Lucie County or, heaven forbid, Broward.

 

But we need to remember there is a second piece to this puzzle. It is to increase density and development within the Urban Services Boundary preferably within the CRAs. If we do not do this, Tallahassee will do it for us in a one-size-fits-all bill. That may be a great boom to Miami-Dade but will be the end of the Martin County lifestyle that residents cherish.

 

All Schools Should Be Locally Controlled

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At times, the rhetoric on both sides of the education debate can be disingenuous.

 

Florida has embarked on a path that, if taken to its logical conclusion, will result in a school voucher system which is something I believe in. Competition is good in providing the best product for the least amount of money.

 

Unfortunately, the school unions and administrators have not embraced the concept. They believe that only professionals should guide the education of our children. That has given us in Florida and nationally some of the most uneducated students in the world for the most dollars spent.

 

If the state were to truly devolve education from districts to individual schools, teachers and principals would have greater freedom to institute and try different programs. Parents would choose their children’s schools based on what they felt was important. This would require that the state stop mandating as much of what they do today.

 

Tallahassee would set the millage for local real estate taxes as they do now including the local amount. It would be collected by the counties and then remitted to the state. The state would distribute the tax money in the form of a voucher for each child.

 

Their entire role in education would be to set minimum standards for teachers and schools and then stay out of the way. Would this mean the end of local public schools? I don’t believe so. What it would mean is an end to the billions of dollars that districts siphon from schools for the bureaucracy’s support.

 

Transportation and other district-wide operations such as buses would be turned over to voluntary consortiums funded by the schools if they participated. I would also remove the mandatory security that is now required and leave it up to the school to decide the level needed if any.

 

One of the few mandatory rules I would have the state enforce would be every school must have a governing board that is composed of parents of the students attending. They would be the ones that choose the principal and oversee the curriculum. This would mean real choice and not what passes for it in many instances today.

 

Tallahassee would have to be disciplined enough to not intrude in education except for enforcing those minimum standards and making sure that the money was not being syphoned off by the boards and principals. Are schools and teachers any different than other professions that they should be more closely monitored? I don’t believe they are.

 

Teachers will be able to be paid commensurate with their skills just like professionals are in other sectors of the economy with schools now being more market driven. Instead of inflexible rules, teachers would bargain not only for pay and benefits but for the ability to determine the best way of instructing their students.

 

There are far too many outdated concepts that have not allowed our students to prosper. Stop playing politics with our kids.

 

We don’t need curriculum mandates from the capitol. We don’t need state bureaucrats telling individual schools what not to include as part of their material or what books to have in their libraries. Let the parents and teachers in every individual school decide. We keep hearing about freedom, but what we really have are too many politicians and bureaucrats making decision for parents and children.

HOUSING IS A CONCERTED EFFORT

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I had heard that the Crossings in Stuart was losing its affordability status. That would have been a serious blow to families in the city.

 

Stuart City Manager David Dyess forwarded to me an email he received from the county’s Housing Program Coordinator clarifying that this was not true. The complex will continue having rent limits based on the adjusted AMI (Adjusted Median Income) until 2044. As the AMI changes so too will the rents. Even with a rising AMI, there are rent caps for tenants.

 

While this is much better than the apartments going to market, using the AMI may still place rents out of the reach of many people. When HUD was active in providing funding for different housing programs, the rent people paid was more tailored to the individual. That of course has all changed with the shrinking of those programs, which has resulted in the crises we see today.

 

Using solely the AMI to determine affordability will leave many renters not able to afford their apartments. The government needs to greatly expand the number of families that would be eligible for HUD’s Section 8 program.

 

Section 8 is a voucher program that allows those eligible to find their own apartment in which to live. The tenant then pays the landlord a pre-determined amount based on their income, and the government sends the landlord/owner the remainder of the rent.

 

This program worked extremely well in the 1980s and 1990s. All properties are eligible to participate. There were gross rent caps on the funding depending on family size. The Section 8 program was instituted at a time when public housing was failing to provide safe housing. The program became the perfect public-private partnership.

The federal government has all but given up on housing for people who need help. Homelessness for families is one of the outcomes of greatly reducing this type of aid. Can we really expect a few private owners, even using other government-backed programs, to build all the housing needed? The answer is obvious.

 

There are many problems in Martin County when it comes to affordable, workforce, or attainable housing. Some of the housing shortages for more affluent people can be solved by just building. The more product on the market, the cheaper prices are.

 

Years ago in big cities, unions and manufacturers constructed housing for their members and employees. This was an attempt to provide “wholesome” homes instead of tenement apartments. It was very successful in combatting social as well as economic problems and contributed to a stable workforce.

 

I don’t quite understand why the school board and Cleveland Clinic do not investigate doing something like that. Employees just starting out in their careers could be offered this type of housing first since their earnings are the lowest. More and more employers throughout the country are coming to this realization such as the “Teachers Village” in Newark N.J. and “Sea Pines” in Hilton Head S.C. Employers who want to attract good personnel can also provide rent subsidies as a perc.

 

Progressive has come to mean socialist in our political era. It wasn’t always so…just remember Theodore Roosevelt. Nothing beats the free market for sorting winners and losers. The government needs to be ruthless in not protecting industries or individual companies and enforcing anti-trust laws. However, when it comes to individuals, government has an obligation to provide basic needs…one of which is housing.

 

The question is will we? The answer would require a national effort. It is not anything we can do on the local level alone.

 

AFFORDABLE, ATTAINABLE, WORKFORCE HOUSING

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The most significant item of the day wasn’t even on the agenda.

 

During commissioner comments, Ed Ciampi brought up how much the county needs affordable or attainable or workforce housing. That was precipitated by the comments made by advocates for such housing during public comment which Ciampi probably knew were going to be made. Ciampi wanted to keep the ball rolling from the joint meeting last month.

 

As usual with such a spur of the moment discussion, there were many ideas floated. Doug Smith would like to see focus groups headed by the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council. Ciampi wants to use staff and existing groups and others to move it along.

 

Heard made it quite clear that taxpayers don’t want to grant any subsidies for such housing nor have it in their backyards. Then she began saying density is not the solution. Too much traffic on the roads and zoning incompatibility were also bywords.

 

Hetherington wants the private sector involved and, perhaps, the school board. She has constituent families that have had their rents raised. But she believes too much housing is already being built. And non-profits should collaborate.

 

Jenkins does want an item to come back. He is working with Banner Lake on a community land trust to foster home ownership. Ciampi made a motion to bring back an agenda item that Jenkins seconded. It passed 5-0

 

At the present, the members of all these committees who are pushing for an answer to the affordable, attainable, and workforce housing shortage have no real experience with operating, building, or maintaining such housing. I have worked with and managed this type of housing using the Section 8 program and other such federal and state programs, and it is daunting. One thing those programs did do was allow the private sector to make money. Alas most of those programs are now history.

 

On a national level, that is one of the reasons that fewer and fewer units are available at affordable rents. This isn’t the only reason. But This problem will never ever be solved without an infusion of massive federal money. Even states can’t do it, and it is certainly prohibitive for local government to do so.

 

Sybil was a book in the early 1970s that dealt with a woman that had 29 multiple personalities. Martin County may have that many or more when it comes to its affordable, attainable or workforce housing goals. It can be seen by the commissioners’ comments.

 

It is not that they are not serious about the task, but it is beyond county or municipal government capabilities. To encourage private sector response, you will need to encourage building of more housing not less. Real estate is where supply and demand make the market. As a glut happens then prices fall, and this is very true of the rental market. Right now, we have nowhere near the number of units needed.

 

The county can eliminate impact and other fees for those who will commit to a specific number of apartments with rental rates based on an AMI derived formula. They could give a density bonus in their CRAs if the extra apartments had cheaper rents using an AMI derived formula. The more apartments that came under the formula, the more they would be allowed to build up to 30 units per acre.

 

Every single-family home, regardless of where it is located even within HOAs, could have an accessible dwelling unit that, if rented, would not be subject to increased real estate taxes. The community land trust idea is a good one, but like Habitat for Humanity, it can only build so many homes.

 

In fact, all these suggestions would eventually lead to more housing options. However, these are stop gap measures without a commitment by the feds to release billions in housing dollars. And that is not likely.

 

Heard and Smith and, now to a lesser extent, Hetherington are not interested in more housing being built. The City of Stuart did approve more housing for the last few years but has now gone back into its shell and is not likely to come back out for a decade or more. Politicians cannot blame greedy developers and property owners when the reason existing prices are so high is a lack of product.

 

Government adds about 25% to the cost to build and that doesn’t consider the increased building prices due to more stringent construction codes. The private sector’s motive is profit. Local government can incentivize to some extent, but it cannot do so unless it gets behind a continuous effort to produce these units. They cannot retreat every time people complain about a new project being built.

 

So, form any committee you want. I would be glad to lend my expertise. Commissioners, just realize you can’t complain about the lack of housing and then do everything in your power to prevent new housing. And if you think by allowing more single-family homes to be developed you are going to solve the existing problem, you are not. That is what will contribute to sprawl.

clipart review

The Four Hundred of Martin County

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TC Palm had a column recently that stated the BOCC had received emails from celebrities writing about Atlantic Ridge/Discovery. Those emails were in favor of the project. No surprise there since they would be the ones buying multi-million-dollar homes in the proposed development.

 

The entire controversy was never about that project but rather introducing an entire new land use category. Martin County residents care about these things. And most of what I heard was not that people were against the land use as much as they didn’t understand it.

 

It appears that the county commissioners and the administration thought that a public meeting or two would suffice. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Kiplinger took years of explaining to groups of residents what was special about his project. Why that project deserved its own classification. I guess, in this instance, no one wanted to do the work necessary.

 

Another “community group” wrote a series of emails outlining why the “rural lifestyle” should be adopted. Some of the reasoning made sense and was spot on. What didn’t was writing how those who are not in favor are just wrong. That is just the opposite of the Kiplinger approach.

 

I was at the annual Martin County/Stuart Chamber of Commerce Leadership Dinner this past week. I am a graduate of the program and I volunteer to help put it on throughout the year. Many of the graduates and students are government employees. Most others are those that are very involved in Martin County non-profits and the life of the county. The attendees were a connected group.

 

                Mrs. Astor & The Four Hundred (Pinterest)

In 1892 The New York Times published a list purported to be based on Mrs. Caroline Astor’s “The Four Hundred.” She was the doyenne of High Society. Anyone who was anyone in New York Society was listed. Martin County also has a group of people who similarly are very influential. It has been my experience that there are locally influential people in every place I have ever lived.

 

Sometimes just normal work-a-day individuals become involved in what their government is proposing. This is what happened with the rural lifestyle amendment. A few of the “no growthers,” who believe in freezing development entirely, instigated, and made people aware of the amendment and described it negatively. Though the majority of those that came out were just looking for information.

 

Unfortunately, the longer that the rural lifestyle classification remains clouded in suspicion, the greater the likelihood that the support of some individuals will be lost who would have seen the benefit. And yes, there will be some that no matter how much outreach is done will take the facts and bend them to their own pre-conceptions. That should not stop this issue being thoroughly and publicly vetted.

 

Like Kiplinger, Atlantic Ridge/Discovery wanted to introduce a new land use. Unlike Kiplinger they didn’t want to spend years getting Martin County residents to buy-in. The entire concept was staff and consultant driven. When and if that project comes back for approval, if it is done as an exception then it would pass 4-1or perhaps 5-0.

 

Should the rural lifestyle amendment be ditched? No, it has some great benefits. What needs to happen is the county needs to hire an organization like the Planning Council to take further public comment and to run community meetings. This is not complicated, but it takes time. But, without investing the time, this will be one more debacle for the Martin County Four Hundred.

The Mouse, The Governor, And His Legislative Dwarves

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The governor decided that it was going to show Disney who was in charge!

 

By an act of the legislature and signature of Governor DeSantis, the Reedy Creek Improvement District will cease to exist as of July of next year. Disney has been very measured in its response. If it gets into the courts, Disney’s position is going to be that because the district has debt, it cannot be dissolved until the debt is paid off under Florida statute.

 

There have been statements made by some Florida officials that Disney is not paying its fair share of taxes. Last year, Disney paid $780 million in state and local taxes according to Reuters. Included in that figure are property taxes paid to Orange and Osceola Counties. It also pays for the Orange County Sheriff to provide law enforcement. Reedy Creek provides water, sewer, fire and emergency services which are all functions that local government would have to pick up.

 

The Disney Company is much more than amusement parks. They own ABC, ESPN, Fox Networks Group, Hollywood Records, National Geographic, A&E Networks, Touchstone Pictures, Blue Sky Studios, Pixar, Marvel Studios, 20th Century Studios, Lucas Films, Hulu, and dozens of other companies including a cruise ship line. Does this sound like a company that is trembling over Ron DeSantis and his legislative dwarfs?

 

When Disney came to Florida, the state was known for oranges and vacations on Miami Beach. In 1965, the population of Florida was less than 6 million and the Orlando metro area’s population was 250,000. A good deal of modern Florida is based on the “Mouse” for good or bad.

 

The reason to establish the district was never to allow Disney to not pay its fair share of taxes. It was to allow it to skip the bureaucracy of dealing with local building permit departments and politics. The company still must comply with the Florida building codes, safety codes, and all other state statutes. It can just knock off the interminable bureaucratic and political delays when building a theme park or hotel.

 

If I had been an adult and living here, I would probably have been against granting the special district. I believe that government should tend to its sector and business its sector. But Disney created their theme parks (and really their theme parks with the hotels are small cities) under the auspices of the Reedy Creek District. It seems the company did nothing more than express an opinion about a law and a politician. It seems to me that is clearly allowed in the American constitution.

 

Perhaps some would like to lock up Democrats for not going along with the governor. Our history has always prided itself in having a loyal opposition thankfully. We shouldn’t penalize free speech because we disagree with the message. The governor should not have businesses or individuals serve as his enemies to rile up his base. This is the stuff of Putin not America.

 

We are becoming very illiberal in our politics (and, no, it has nothing to do with being either right or left). We are not heading to a good place. Once we lose our democracy, it may never come back.

They Should Have Seen This Coming

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The April 19th BOCC meeting regarding the Rural Lifestyle amendment to the comp plan was one where the outcome was no surprise…at least to a few astute observers.

 

What made Becker Farms believe they could get this passed in fearful Martin County? Where was the constituency for this change which might have been a good idea with a ridiculous name? More importantly, where was the outreach?

 

Photo From Conservation Fund

We heard from Becker that they held meetings onsite…a couple of hundred in fact. But were they with regular Martin County citizens? No, they were with the usual suspects including me. They won me over for their specific project, but we never spoke about applying a new land use category countywide.

 

That was one of the problems. Was Becker Farms speaking for the Discovery Project or for a countywide land classification being created and applied? This confused people more than it should have. What a waste of time and resources this foolishness became.

 

Of the more than 50 people who spoke at the commission meeting, by an almost 3-1 majority, it was in opposition to the amendment. A distinct minority were in favor of the project even if they opposed the countywide land designation. This was a colossal failure on the part of Becker but much more so on the part of the county’s growth management department.

 

Perhaps the department was right that doing projects by exception is not the best planning tool. That does not mean you can ram a poorly named new land use classification down the public’s throat. What the county, Becker, and Becker’s consultants did not consider was that this was not about land planning but a vision of what the western county is going to look like.

 

Their vision was about maps and not open land which is what Martin County wants to see. They spoke about color squares representing tens or hundreds of acres, not the pictures of homes that could go there if it were mishandled. Preachers paint pictures using cadence and words…staff drone on to make sure even those interested lose the ability to care.

 

The commission voted to table the matter and allow Becker to come back without paying additional fees. I hope Becker comes back with the land use amendment of rural lifestyle changed to the name of rural resort but to be applied only to their project. Having the 800 acres in conservation is a good step. Allowing public access to the Atlantic Ridge Preserve Park is a great public benefit and all the rest outlined in the original proposal for the 313 homes to be built there is a home run.

 

Once Discovery is approved, there should then be charettes and meetings, etc. to discuss what to do with our western lands. They should be conducted throughout the county by using an organization such as the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council and not the Guardians. If the public’s questions could be answered and consensus achieved, perhaps this Becker land use could be applied to several more properties.

 

Smith mentioned buying more land to connect and create an environmental flow way which is a great idea. Funding needs to be secured for that, but Ciampi also had another great idea to dedicate a percentage of the increased real estate taxes from Discovery and apply it to buying environmentally sensitive lands. If pledged, it could result in obtaining a loan or bonds.

 

Government has a proclivity for screwing things up. They certainly did so in this case. Yet there is still time to right the ship. Just don’t believe that elites or the moneyed are always going to do it for you.

 

 

What Is Supposedly A Native Prairie

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Some people believe that when a parcel of land doesn’t have tall buildings on it or other dense uses, it should be pure and pristine and the way that God intended.

 

That is usually not true. And that is particularly untrue of the property known as the Kanner PUD. The Kanner PUD was an old farm where tons of debris were strewn and buried. Perhaps today farmers are good shepherds of their land, but that is a recent phenomenon. For years, farmers would throw their old machinery, garbage, and chemicals in unused sections of their property. They didn’t care that those chemicals would leach into the ground water and pollute. Perhaps, at an earlier time, they didn’t even know about such things.

 

More recently after farming on that parcel ceased, others who owned the property didn’t seem to care about rusting cars with crank cases full of oil, gas tanks with fuel, or other old machinery strewn about that had been improperly dumped there. Some with the loudest voices against building the Costco PUD are those whose relatives made a fortune by selling off the land but felt no compunction at not having cleaned it up to be good shepherds to our birds and animals.

 

This “range” is not full of antelope and deer that play. The Kanner PUD has been used as a dump and, as the pictures show, they even discarded things into the wetlands and supposed ponds. Most of those ponds were dug by the “farmer in the dell” not to attract native species but to drain the land and hold the water for irrigation. There are 130 slides showing the degradation to that property. It will all be cleaned up before the PUD is built but isn’t it a shame that it is not in the pristine state claimed.

 

Let’s not have a holier than thou attitude toward this mess which was created by the past owners and not the present ones. There is no good stewardship by anyone except the current owners. You look at the photos and you decide. Pristine Florida prairie or exotic toxic dump? Don’t be fooled by silly platitudes.

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We need to move on and have actual people living there and businesses operating. This is an urban area, and the land is owned by a responsible party that, rightfully, wants to make a profit. After all the additional money they will have to spend on this “Garden of Eden,” they are entitled to it.

 

Please carefully look at all 130 photos received through a public records request which are attached. It is important that we all understand what is at stake. Don’t be fooled by a group of people who want to prevent a cleanup because they want you to believe that there is only goodness and light on the property now.

 

You can find the photos here. It had to be in four files because of the amount of detail:

HERE

HERE

HERE

HERE