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Riverside builder calls a timeout

Plans for those 538 homes along the Little Manatee River? Moot for now. But can Ruskin and the developers compromise on 168 natural acres?

By LETITIA STEIN
Published February 25, 2005

RUSKIN - The e-mail asked readers if they were sitting down.

Ruskin residents and local environmentalists were about to receive big news - the kind that warranted two dozen exclamation points.

A proposed 500-plus home development on the Little Manatee River was derailed. Largely thanks to an outcry from the community, developers with Manatee Bay Associates withdrew the rezoning request last week.

"I'm hoping that this signals their willingness to explore their options with regard to selling the property for preservation," said Mariella Smith, a Ruskin activist whose ecstatic announcement landed in e-mail in-boxes around the region.

But the developers insist they only have called a "timeout." They are exploring options - and still plan to build on the waterfront property. First, they say, they want time to repair relations with the community.

"We've called a timeout so that we can once again invite community input," said Richard McGinniss, a general manager for the Fort Myers development company. "Our primary goal was and is to develop a first-class single-family community."

What happens next is sure to be scrutinized.

Environmentalists are focused on protecting the 168-acre property, which completes a path of publicly owned green space in south Hillsborough County. To many Ruskin residents, the debate also represents a last chance to stand up to the developers, who now have claimed most of the vacant land in their community. Yet developers say they are eager to share their vision and hope that community members will give them a chance.

For years, local environmentalists have hoped to preserve the property, which forms a natural bridge for wildlife between county-owned environmental land and the Little Manatee River. Residents have watched bobcats, foxes, gopher tortoises, osprey and hawks using the mix of wetlands and uplands. The site also includes wetlands critical to protecting the river's water quality, according to the Environmental Protection Commission.

The environmental agency recommended denial of the recent development proposal because new docks and boat ramps could damage the delicate seagrass beds in the Cockroach Bay Aquatic Preserve. Then there's the matter of a bald eagle's nest, protected under federal law, near the eastern boundary of the proposed development. "In a community that values its natural resources, we wouldn't allow that to be developed," said Ann Paul, regional coordinator for Audubon of Florida. "What happens to this will really speak volumes about the things that are important to this community."

In 2001, the county tried to acquire the land through the Environmental Land Acquisition and Protection Program. The conservation program succeeded in preserving several parcels - totaling 149 acres - of coastal habitat. Called the Bahia Beach coastal restoration area, it linked to E.G. Simmons Park and the Wolf Branch preserve. But owners of an adjacent property, off Shell Point Road, did not want to participate in the program at the time.

The county still could try to preserve the land. But it can't do anything unless the owners of the property approach the county. That hasn't happened.

In September 2003, a company called Manatee Bay Associates purchased the 168 acres for $4.6-million, county clerk of courts records show. Local residents were familiar with another corporation based at the same address. Everyone knew of EarthMark Cos., the developer of Mariner's Club Bahia Beach, a resort next to the property along Shell Point Road. It recently was renamed Little Harbor.

EarthMark had sold the community on plans to build golf course on the land next to the resort.

When yellow posters went up on the property announcing a rezoning request, many residents assumed the golf course was coming - until local leaders double checked the documents that the developers had filed with the county.

Developers now requested to rezone the property from various uses - including agricultural, residential and commercial - to planned development. Their application called for 538 homes and up to 50,000 square feet of commercial space. A golf course, developers explained later, couldn't work on the property with extensive wetlands and only 106 upland acres.

"That's not enough to support a golf course without significantly compromising the integrity of the wetlands," said McGinniss, the general manager for the developer.

Still, many Ruskin residents felt duped.

"They have shown us plans, and then the next thing we know, the signs go up for something totally different without any discussion with the community," said Smith, who fired off e-mails to organize opposition in the community.

Weeks ago, residents targeted the proposal in a "Rally for Rational Development." More than 70 people attended, including members of environmental clubs on both sides of Tampa Bay. Protesters waved posters reading, Just Say No and You Want to Build What? One man even brought his golf clubs, drawing chuckles all around. But the stakes were serious.

"This is the one piece that would be great to preserve, because the rest of Ruskin is being paved over," said resident Dolly Cummings. "It's almost a last-ditch stand."

Developers say they never had a chance to present their vision to the community.

They studied other neotraditional communities for inspiration. The architectural style would look more like the Ruskin of yesterday than a cookie-cutter community, developers said, with sidewalks, front porches and garages accessed from alleys.

Neotraditional communities tend to have smaller lots. But developers planned to incorporate other elements that residents wanted in the Ruskin Community Plan, now winding its way through state and local approvals. Developers wanted to use native landscaping. There were no gates around the subdivision. Forty percent of the property was to be preserved as parks and open land.

"We think it's going to raise the bar as far as development goes in Ruskin," McGinniss said.

His proposal, he thinks, bore the brunt of community frustration over housing streaming into Ruskin.

"We're kind of like the straw that broke the camel's back."

McGinniss said he tried to work with local leaders during the rezoning process but that community members were not receptive. Residents said a final site plan was not made available.

Manatee Bay Associates surprised residents Feb. 16 by withdrawing the application for 538 homes. McGinniss called it a gesture to begin meaningful dialogue with all interested parties. "We want to cooperate and create a plan that is a win-win."

The developer says its plans are evolving, and community opinion is welcome. But McGinniss says residents cannot realistically expect Manatee Bay to preserve the entire property.

"We bought this land to develop. That's our business," he noted.

If all else fails, he said the company will attempt to build on the property's existing zoning, which includes some residential uses. A commercial allowance could permit a hotel.

Still, any development would be subject to further reviews by the county. The environmental issues may not go away, as the county considers approving permits.

Neither, residents promise, will their opposition.

[Last modified February 24, 2005, 09:35:09]