Environmentalists, St. Joe Co. settle wetlands dispute
By Associated Press
Published October 8, 2004
PANAMA CITY, Fla. - Environmental groups, the state and the St. Joe Co. have reached a settlement over an unprecedented variance that would allow the company to fill wetlands on a 32,000-acre area it owns in the Florida Panhandle.
The challenge from Panhandle Citizens Coalition, the Florida chapter of the Sierra Club and Citizens for the Bay had been scheduled for an administrative law hearing in November. The agreement gives Jacksonville-based St. Joe, the state's largest private land owner, blanket approval to fill wetlands in accord with limits set by a plan instead of obtaining separate permits for each project.
However, the settlement also affirms the right of citizens to challenge individual development projects and says the Florida Department of Environmental Protection will hold a public meeting every five years to discuss St. Joe's compliance, DEP spokeswoman Sally Cooey said.
Dan Hendrickson, Sierra Club legal chairman, said the agreement provides stronger protections than could be obtained through the hearing process.
"The idea was that it was such a general, vague permit, we were worried that citizens would be precluded from participating later," Hendrickson said. "They agreed with us that, of course, citizens will have the right to intervene."
St. Joe spokesman Jerry Ray called the pact "a good thing for Bay and Walton counties."
