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Land conservation deal in the works

Tampa philanthropist Frank Morsani is willing to sell Pasco 650 acres. If the deal comes together, the land would never be developed or mined.

By CHUIN-WEI YAP
Published June 30, 2006

Pasco County's fledgling land conservation program could have its first purchase by the fall in a deal with Tampa philanthropist Frank Morsani for 650 acres in central Pasco.

The two-tract Morsani property lies north of State Road 52 and west of U.S. 41, just northeast of the Crews Lake park.

Officials at Pasco's Environmental Land Acquisition and Management Program, or ELAMP, say about two months of work lie ahead in hammering out the final terms and purchase price of Morsani's easement.

"He's willing to sell a conservation easement," said Rene Wiesner Brown, ELAMP's manager. "Because it's the first (ELAMP purchase), it's taken longer than what we expect for the future."

If it succeeds, the easement will represent a first for ELAMP.

Since it began four years ago, officials at the program have had to cope with developers armed with far deeper pockets than the county's and landowners less conservation-minded than the Morsanis.

In December, ELAMP lost a 450-acre conservation prospect in northwestern Pasco, when a deal officials were about to move on was scooped up by Bill Hunt, who owns property in Hudson and Tarpon Springs, officials said.

With just $3.6-million annually funded through the Penny for Pasco tax, ELAMP has been like a budget-conscious buyer at a high-society auction.

It's a story that's typical of conservation pains in a development-friendly county.

"People flock to ELAMP thinking it's a cash cow, and then they encounter the length of the process and they lose heart," said Jennifer Seney, an ELAMP selection committee member and executive director of Pascowildlife. "You have to want this, as a developer. It has to have a willing seller, and it will not happen in a bidding war."

Seney spoke of a Trinity prospect whose developer told conservationists that he would sell to them for $100,000 an acre - at a time when property prices averaged $20,000 an acre.

In the Morsani deal, the conservation easement protects the property's environmental resources forever, regardless of future changes of ownership.

The property has one mobile home, belonging to a ranch hand. Apart from that home, ELAMP's draft easement agreement would allow no other development, Brown said. No wetlands will be filled, and no mining or harvesting permitted.

"Those are all our terms, our wish list," Brown said.

Officials expect to have experts issue a draft agreement next month, after which it goes to Morsani's attorneys.

The price is to be determined based on two independent appraisals, which set out the before and after values.

This means an appraised value of the preconservation property, and another that assumes the easement is in place.

The deal would likely seek a medium price. "It's not like we're asking for bargain prices," Brown said.

A third appraiser then reviews the appraisals, Brown said.

On June 1, former car dealer Morsani and his wife, Carol, announced a donation of $10-million to the University of South Florida, including $3-million for a football practice facility and a softball stadium.

Morsani did not return a call for comment Wednesday.

[Last modified June 29, 2006, 23:30:50]