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Group's objection may snarl Babcock Ranch deal

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published June 17, 2006

TALLAHASSEE - A developer warned Friday that legal action by an environmental group to block a new city from being built on the Babcock Ranch could jeopardize the state's deal to purchase 74,000 acres for preservation.

Florida's Sierra Club filed an administrative challenge Friday requesting that a judge evaluate whether developer Syd Kitson should be able to build a city designed for 45,000 residents on part of Babcock Ranch.

Under an agreement with the state, Kitson is to sell Florida 74,000 acres for $310-million - the state's largest land buy ever - and keep about 15,000 acres for himself.

The state will keep its property undeveloped and open for public recreation. Kitson plans to build a city on his, with schools, stores, mixed-income housing, greenways and hurricane-resistant homes.

But some environmentalists oppose these plans.

Frank Jackalone, a Sierra Club spokesman, said he worries Kitson will build the city too far from nearby Punta Gorda and Fort Myers, leaving an undeveloped gap between cities that could attract urban sprawl.

Jackalone also claimed Kitson hasn't planned how to provide that many residents with water. He said the Sierra Club would be more comfortable if the city's size were reduced to around 20,000 residents.

But Kitson representatives and a spokeswoman for the Department of Community Affairs, which approved the plan in May, said their organizations addressed these concerns early in planning.

"To say the deal could be in jeopardy is accurate," said Kitson spokeswoman Lisa Hall. "The state closing can't move forward until we figure out what this means."

This comes days before Gov. Jeb Bush plans to travel to Babcock to sign a bill authorizing the state's purchase of the land.

The state is preserving land that otherwise would have been developed, Bush said. "We think it's better to protect the larger ecosystem and allow for a development in a concentrated space and close on the deal."

The next step is for an administrative law judge to hear testimony and make a decision, said Department of Community Affairs spokeswoman Alexis Antonacci.

[Last modified June 17, 2006, 07:08:41]