WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE LEAVE OUR GUARD DOWN….

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Donna Melzer who serves as the voice of good government in Martin County e-mailed the following to many of us. This is an example of what can happen when we let our guard down for just an instant. I have written my legislators, please do the same:

“A Bill was filed in Tallahassee this week described as “bill to kill local planning and environmental protection.”  

Without our Comp Plan protections, what happens to our  Martin County Difference?
Tallahassee going to trump Home Rule – our river protections?
Just one line proposes to prohibit Comp Plan Amendments that Martin County residents overwhelming supported.
The Bill proposes to STOP Our Requiring 4 votes for critical changes,
—  making it easier to weaken our river protections,

    —  making it easier to end our four (4) story building height,

—  making it easier to gut our urban boundary – cost us our conservative fiscal planning…

 

Developers Hobe Grove, Lake Point and King Ranch are challenging the stronger protections.  These Developers likely support this Tallahassee proposal.  Developers want to stop the super-majority requirement — would not allow the strong protections of our “quality of life,” of our rivers.

 

Fla. Rep. Patronis’ Bill is Attached.  An EXAMPLE of the problems:  

 

Line 78 – this is a blatant attempt to revoke the authority some local governments have used to require “super majority” votes on certain issues, including land use/comp planning;  whatever else this is, it is an intrusion into local home rule authority – I am aware of only 3 local governments that have adopted a super majority vote.

 

Lines 90-92 – this is a flagrant effort to also limit home rule authority by saying that if a comp plan amendment is adopted on Ag lands where other uses are allowed, then that amendment cannot be rescinded if the site continues “primarily” for bona fide ag purposes.   Under chapter 193.461, F.S. – any comp plan or comp plan amendment can be rescinded, revised, repealed, etc. under current law.  This would carve out a protected class status for certain Ag and allow violation of spraw.    Is this about King Ranch project in Martin County? 

    King Ranch’s AgTEC Industrial Park project west of Palm City in Agricultural areas.  Urban sprawl violations were “fixed” by a requirement to get utilities from Port St. Lucie within 5 years. The project was described as  a “peninsula of Port St. Lucie urban into Martin County.”  

Port St. Lucie has been saying No Utilities available — and King Ranch’s 5 year time is running out of – as they agreed – land use reverts to ag.     

 

Lines 172-178 – Okays 50 year permits and 30 year permits involving our water supply.  

Reminds you of Big Sugar 30-year leases Tallahassee approved last year?

 

Spread the word.  Contact any and all Florida Legislators. 

      Tell them Please VOTE NO!  NO!  to the Patronis Bill:

 

        Treasure Coast delegation:

Senator Joe Negron:  NEGRON.JOE.WEB@flsenate.gov

   Rep Gayle Harrell:      GHarrell@gayleharrell.com

Rep. Larry Lee:            Larry.Lee@myfloridahouse.gov“

 

 

 

THE FUTURE OF STUART ON OUR 100TH BIRTDAY

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The City of Stuart is approaching its hundredth birthday on May 7th. When measured against the world’s oldest cities such as Damascus, Syria or Jericho on the West Bank of the Jordan, Stuart is still in its infancy.  Even within our own state, Stuart is 349 years younger than St. Augustine.  But one thing all cities have in common, regardless of age, is that they are living organisms. Not for a moment can they rest on the past or in the present. They have no choice but to embrace the future. Cities must do so not with trepidation or fear but with dynamism that comes from a confidence of purpose.

Embracing the future does not mean neglecting our past. We are a place born of the water. It is vital for us to make sure that the Saint Lucie and Indian Rivers not only survive but are pristine and that they are returned to the state they were in when Stuart was first settled. The “Sailfish Capital of the World” can be known for nothing less.

Our historic downtown was close to extinction.  Stuart could have been consigned, as many other places were, to continued blight. Joan Jefferson and the work of many others have restored our downtown to a vibrant place of retail stores, restaurants, offices and homes. Their future is our present. Our future should be a time when we expand that vibrancy to other parts of the city such as East Stuart. It should be a time when we capitalize on our livability because of our restaurants, theaters, stores, and medical facilities.

Going forward, the needs of Stuart’s citizens will change.  As a society, we will be less car centric. Reliable and affordable mass transit will be needed and should be encouraged. The CRA should have greater but smarter density criteria. The building of smaller apartments should be encouraged so that young couples starting out in life and older ones looking to downsize have options. There will be more people working from home. We will need to have more reliable, faster and less expensive internet including universal WiFi.  We should look at connectivity as a utility the same as we do our water and sewer.

Stuart has a natural advantage when it comes to attracting both the marine and aviation industries. These businesses have good paying jobs for an educated workforce.  With modern production design and manufacturing, such as 3D printers, they are relatively clean as compared to other industries. However, all environmentally friendly businesses should be encouraged.

Stuart and Martin County cannot build a future on real estate development and construction. It is not only bad for the environment but unsustainable. That does not mean we do not develop and grow to accommodate our needs.  But, we shouldn’t though build just to build so that a few may become richer but the county and city as a whole becomes poorer. Our future is more reliant on a pristine waterway than on a paved-over savannah.

Stuart is a city that should encourage change and innovation in keeping with our past and present. We need to look to our past for guidance but not be blind to the world of the future. We must direct and shape our city plan toward the world that will be. This will no doubt require much discussion and deliberation among all our citizens. This future will, in no way, be as hard for us as Stuart’s founders had when they established this city on the Saint Lucie a century ago.

 

 

 

 

IS THE TREASURE COAST ALL ABOARD FLORIDA?

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There is passenger train service coming to the Treasure Coast which will be called “All Aboard Florida”. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to come aboard anywhere on the Treasure Coast since we are being bypassed. It will run nonstop from Orlando to West Palm Beach and then on to Fort Lauderdale and Miami. That doesn’t mean Martin and Stuart won’t have the train, it will just be the one rushing through 32 times a day once everything gets up and running.

The price of a one way ticket will be about $100 and take 3 hours’ time from Miami to Orlando. Florida East Coast Industries, the route’s owner, expect tourists and business people to make up the bulk of the ridership. Currently FECI not only owns the right of way but also is one of the largest real estate companies in Florida. According to their website, they currently have over 7 million square feet of commercial space. The company is a direct successor to Flagler’s railroad empire and is currently controlled by a Wall Street firm, The Fortress Investment Group.

So why is this important to the residents of Stuart and Martin County? There will be an impact to our roads and boating. With 32 added trains, although each much smaller than the current freight trains, travelling at speeds up to 100 miles per hour, those roadway gates and rail bridges will be down more than currently. Also, how about the added noise along the right of way not to mention the expense of maintaining the road crossings with the higher use?

Will the trains provide any benefit to us?  If there is no stop in Stuart, I can’t see any. A few officials and the rail road executives have said that people on the train will see the beauty of Stuart and will want to come back for a visit. That may hold true for a few of the Floridians who catch a glimpse as the train speeds by, but tourists who elected to bypass the area are not likely now to rent cars and return. All in all, the train will cost us dollars and not bring any to us in return.

What is the probability of the long term success of “All Aboard Florida”? FECI is touting the train as not receiving any public tax dollars. There is not one current passenger system in the country that is not government subsidized. So the likelihood of this venture succeeding is slim.  So why would a savvy Wall Street hedge fund attempt to do this? The same reason Flagler did over a century ago…to develop the real estate and bring tourists to his hotels.

If you look at the plans in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Orlando, these cities will not only have stations but also be development hubs for office buildings, hotels and apartments. The trains will act as a loss leader to the company. FECI will not be receiving subsidies for train travel but will have tax and development incentives for the new properties being built. Once the development is in place, if the trains then prove to be too unprofitable and government refuses to subsidize the travel, another experiment in private mass transport will end.

Currently there is no benefit to Stuart or Martin County in this passenger train plan. The likelihood that either Fort Pierce or Stuart will have even one train a day stop is not great. I’ve heard that tri-rail could be extended or Amtrak, but I wouldn’t hold my breath given the dearth of public financing. While there is nothing wrong in lobbying FECI for a rail stop in Stuart, I wouldn’t spend any tax payer dollars to move that forward at present.

Until we, as a nation, decide to subsidize mass transit including inter-city rail travel, then ventures like “All Aboard Florida” will probably not succeed as a transportation alternative. It would be a great benefit to many of our citizens to have an affordable option such as this but, as a county and a city, we should not count on it happening. What we really need to do is to expand our own mass transit system with more reliable and frequent busses and trams. If Stuart wants to have a more livable downtown, this is something that we need to explore.

 

 

 

THE COST OF OUR SWEET TOOTH

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I keep hearing that all politics are local. However, there is much more to that phrase than one might think. One of the prime reasons that we cannot re-establish a flow way south from Lake Okeechobee is nothing more than the political clout of the sugar cane industry. Our rivers and lagoons on the Treasure Coast are being destroyed so that a few families can continue to live in a baronial manner. Big Sugar has blocked every attempt to correct our flawed earlier ecological mistakes when their inexcusable business practices are at all threatened. Floridians’ futures are being stymied by one interest group that is impeding us from economically moving forward.

Like no other state in the U.S., our waterways are the thing that brings billions of dollars to Florida each year. Tourists won’t come if they can’t fish or are afraid to go to our beaches or just paddle a canoe on our rivers. Without clean water, new development won’t happen, commercial and sport fishing will disappear and other types of agriculture will be harder to sustain.

So how does the sugar industry manage to stand against the interests of the rest of us? Political power is the answer without a doubt. A few sugar families located in Palm Beach County receive hundreds of millions of dollars each year in tax payer subsidies, supports and grants. That enables Big Sugar lobbyists to “contribute” to the campaigns for president, senators, congresspersons, governors and state legislators.  Political party, ideology or rhetoric is never an impediment to receiving that money. A vote that is cast for corporate welfare and crony capitalism by a pol calling himself or herself a liberal, conservative, Democrat or Republican is all the same.

Yes, the sugar cane industry is local but the politics are national. Not only do we, the citizens, support the industry with our tax dollars, we also pay well above the world price for sugar in America.  If the U.S. stopped producing sugar tomorrow, each of us would be better off. We could import our sugar at cheaper prices. Tax dollars would stop flowing to multi -millionaires. Politicians would have to get over having a sweet tooth for those contributions. And our state and its waters could stop being polluted for the benefit of the chosen few.

 

LETTER TO STUART COMMISSION RE AKRON AVENUE DEC 3RD

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Dear Commissioner:

I understand that the developer has pulled his original application from the Akron Avenue property and will re-apply to build a larger building with fewer units. That is a very disappointing development. I am definitely not someone who believes every lot should have a high density use. At the same time neither am I anti-development. The city needs smart development. From the plans I saw the original proposal was exactly what Stuart needs and was situated where it should be.

Unfortunately neighborhood opposition took into account only the number of units but not the overall footprint of the building. The city needs especially downtown small apartments to attract and keep not only younger residents but also older ones looking to downsize or just wanting to be close to downtown Stuart. This is a niche that needs to be filled.

 

The project that will proceed of right will be much larger with smaller setbacks. While a new building is better that an empty lot what will be built will not give us the size units we need. Unfortunately it will not be what the neighbors envisioned either. In most of the CRA certain residential buildings, such as a one family residence occupied by a nuclear family, will probably not be built today. This was a missed opportunity.

 

In the future it may make sense to hold a preliminary meeting between the neighbors and the developer chaired by a city official who knows the codes and regulations. With a knowledgeable city official presiding who was able to explain options to both sides, positions would not be as inflexible. For I believe even in this instance something could still be worked out to the neighbors, the developer and ultimately Stuart’s advantage.

WHY GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY IS SO DIFFICULT TO ACHIEVE

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In the last Martin County Defender Ginny Sherlock wrote concerning how county employees seem to bend the rules to the benefit a chosen few to the detriment of the rest of us. I urge you to read that issue of the Defender and to get on the e-mail list. Here is a link for your convenience;

http://cache.nebula.phx3.secureserver.net/obj/NTM1RUQwREJGOUQ0RTZBNDBEQjE6OGYxYjVlNWM2ODYyYjQyZjM0MjZiNjdkYzU4Y2FhMzQ6Ojo6

However I believe that county employees and all government in general lack accountability for their actions for a more basic reason which is accountability. Here are my comments to Al regarding this.

 

Dear Al:

I always enjoy reading your “Martin County Defender”. On county affairs it is almost always right on the money.  I want to thank you for doing such good work.

Ginny Sherlock is correct in her assessment of how some county bureaucrats seem to be going out of their way to help certain people to the detriment of all residents. I don’t believe that is consciously the case. Instead the county employee sees his job as trying to expedite a request, especially one that is asked from a familiar lawyer or architect or consultant. That is the way things are done among “friends”. The other and more telling factor is that when confronted with a problem all employees, private or public, just want it to go away.

The real problem is supervision. I owned my first business, a luncheonette in Queens N.Y. at eighteen years old, and more than forty years later still own a business. In all that time I have owned restaurants, bars, hotels, construction companies, dress factories and always real estate firms specializing in property management. I have stressed to all employees to bend over backwards to assist the customer or client. They are never to argue. Mine and the manager’s job if needed were to confront the offending person and set him straight. The nub of the problem is there is no “boss” in government.

You can say there is a county administrator or a department head and their responsibility is supervision and stepping in when something like Trailside is about to happen. The bottom line is that there is no bottom line. It is not their money as it is mine. They won’t lose their job for those reasons. No one is ever disciplined.Human nature is not to make waves unless there is a gain by making those waves. The proof is no one raised any flags at the county when that monstrosity of a house was being built out by Trailside.

It is the same mentality that permeates the schools where every student is a genius and every teacher is superior. Yet we continue as a nation to fall in world rankings. The students aren’t to blame nor are teachers who play the game. It is the school superintendent and school board for accepting mediocrity and claiming that it is superiority. The county commissioners do the same by praising their employees for doing their jobs as if that is an accomplishment. When was the last time they held anyone accountable for not doing their job? The commissioners have no skin in the game either.

Why Can’t the County Make Up Their Minds

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Why is it so hard to have the Martin County Commission accept an offer of free land from Stuart to build offices for the Tax Collector and Appraiser? It seems to me that, for a variety of reasons, locating those offices in the city (particularly downtown) would be a win for both governmental entities as well as all the residents of the county. Rental rates are climbing, so the faster the relocation of those offices to county-owned buildings the better.

Building in most areas of Martin County would mean encouraging sprawl and the added cost of new infrastructure to handle the development. It would be unwise to place offices in different areas from one another. This would result in the public, other businesses that need to be in proximity to these offices, and county employees would be inconvenienced by not being in a central location. The more we can keep government functions in a compact space, the better the efficiencies of scale.

As a city and with a modicum of infrastructure improvements, Stuart can accommodate these offices as well as the associated businesses that will move into the area. By being located within the downtown area, density is not an issue and sprawl is averted in other parts of Martin County. At the same time, other sections of downtown will be redeveloped because of this influx. It is a win-win situation.

Sometimes it seems to me that these two governmental entities are busy working at cross purposes instead of working together. They forget that the citizens of Stuart are also citizens of the county. They vote and pay taxes to both. What is good for Stuart is good for Martin County and visa-versa. One is not better than the other and, in fact, each needs the other to be successful. No commissioner from either body should be disdainful about dealing with each other or their counterparts on the other commission.

This county commission has proved that it can accomplish much in a short period of time, witness the Comp Plan Amendments. It shouldn’t take months or years to decide what to do regarding our constitutional offices. The city commission has done everything asked regarding those parcels. Now it’s time for the county commissioners to fulfill their part. There is no room for prima donnas or indecisiveness.

 

Leasing of the Flagler Center

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Here is a link to a letter that was printed in the 11/24/2013 edition of The Stuart News:  http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2013/nov/24/letter-analyzing-stuart-commissions-vote-to/

This is the letter I submitted….just in case there are problems connecting via the link.

I was at a recent Stuart Commission meeting where they voted unanimously to lease the Flagler Center. I, like Mr. Steinberg whose letter was recently published in this newspaper, was initially confused as to why the lowest bidder won.   But, calling on my experience as an owner and manager of real property, it is important not only to look at the amount being offered but also to the person’s ability to perform on his proposal.

Since I was not privy to the information or the metrics used by staff on why one was chosen over the other, I don’t know how I would have voted if on the Commission. But what bothered me that night was the reason given by each Commissioner for how they voted. Each stated that they could not go against staff recommendations. If the commissioners had said that, after digesting the report, they agreed with staff, then I would have had no problem.

As elected officials, they are the final arbiter. That is why the matter comes before them.  The Commission is not a rubber stamp of the bureaucracy. Stuart does have dedicated and knowledgeable employees, but in the final analysis, it is our elected Commission that serves to protect the people’s interests. While that interest may have been ultimately served, it was in spite of the reason expressed that night by the Commission.

To the other point in Mr. Steinberg’s letter, I voted no on the ballot initiative. I did so only because of the non-county use expressed therein. Mr. McDonald and the Commission are exactly correct in wanting the County offices to remain in the city. While I was not in favor of abandoning the ball fields, I would not hesitate to donate the Frazier Creek parcels. To do otherwise would be penny wise and pound foolish.

THOUGHTS ON THE RIVER

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My wife and I live on the Saint Lucie River in Stuart. We own a boat, but I am not much of a boater. I have a few poles, but I really don’t fish. In fact, I am not a recreational water person. However, I live on the river because I am mesmerized by its currents and flows.  The sheer majesty of the river at times takes my breath away while at other times it relaxes and soothes.

Water is a powerful force of nature. It shapes the shore where it runs. The river nourishes not only ecosystems of plants, fish and birds but also the human soul. It takes us on journeys of the imagination. Close your eyes and let the mind drift on its currents. The water in the Saint Lucie is connected to the lagoon and then to the oceans throughout our planet and eventually back to us.

I had a country place on the east branch of the Delaware River. Just like the Saint Lucie, water was controlled by a series of gates. But that is where the similarities end. The gates on the Delaware held back the water from winter snows.  There were no chemical pollutants from farms and septic systems as exist currently in Lake Okeechobee. Water released from the Delaware was clean. It was fresh water into fresh water. My kids swam and fished and played in the river. We all gazed at the deer drinking in the evening, an osprey searching the water for dinner or even the occasional bear trudging along the banks in fall.

But now a bit older, I have chosen to live here on this river. We all mouth the correct words and attend meetings. Politicians continue to tell us what we want to hear, and the blame and the promises continue. But our river is still abused today as it has been since it was connected to Lake “O” 80 years ago.

Yet it is a magnificent sight to see the sunset against the water. A peaceful daydream can still be had by gazing at the Saint Lucie from my back porch. Perhaps it really will someday be devoid of life. All the birds, dolphins and manatees will cease to be part of the scene. But the river will still flow… only with the detritus and sewage of man.

 

 

THE BEGINNINGS OF WATERWAY PROGRESS

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It is wonderful to see that Senator Negron has decided to now back Plan 6. Nothing short of enactment of the Plan will end the death of the Indian River Lagoon. The only variable in the lagoon’s demise will be whether it will be slow or quick. That will depend on the weather and the Corp’s water release timetable.

But all of us must keep the pressure on state and federal officials not only to approve plans but to appropriate money. If we can send Governor Scott to Japan, can we not send the excess water south from Lake O? If we can spend thousands to build water projects in Afghanistan and the rest of the world, how can we plead a shortage of funds to implement Plan 6? Perhaps the lack of political will and funding is because there will be no large corporate government contract winners and the subsequent political contributions.

So when we decide which candidates to vote for in the elections next year and thereafter, don’t just judge them by their platforms and speeches. Don’t just judge the candidates by the hearings they conducted and the words they uttered. And definitely don’t judge the candidates just by their photo ops. They have the power to move, enact and sign into law legislation that will save the rivers and waterways of our state. They have the power to say no and return contributions from those industries and individuals who are responsible for the pollution of those waterways.

We should never forget that elected officials are not there to serve their friends or relations. They are not elected to delegate their decision making to their staffs and the bureaucracy. They are not there to call themselves public servants and then ultimately when they leave office become advocates and partners of those they regulated. We must always keep a watchful eye on anyone we entrust to be our leaders.

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