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Towns crop up in plans along rural toll road

A surge in proposals worries state officials.

By MICHAEL VAN SICKLER
Published March 18, 2007

LAKE PLACID - The same companies lobbying the state for a $7-billion toll road through Central Florida want permission to develop towns on agricultural land they own along the proposed route.

They are seeking approval for these towns through a little-used state program that allows landowners to build dense villages on clusters of land in exchange for preserving habitat and farms on large tracts.

Yet a surge in applicants has state officials worried the program will fail its two main goals: controlling sprawl and keeping the state's agricultural belt intact.

The state knows of eight applications filed or on the way, covering estates that taken together are the size of Broward County. Of those, six are in counties that would be crossed by the proposed 152-mile Heartland Parkway toll road.

"There's been a sudden explosion of these proposals," said Thomas Pelham, secretary of Florida's Department of Community Affairs, which oversees the program. "The department has to ask: How many towns of 30,000 can this area absorb?"

Advocates for major landowners say the program balances intense development by requiring large conservation areas that wouldn't otherwise be set aside.

"If you're looking at a whole string of properties, not just one, it sets up the opportunity to link the green spaces, and you end up with one huge continuous piece of conservation," said Rick Dantzler, attorney for a group of companies pushing for the Heartland Parkway. "The larger the geographical area, the more comprehensive planning you'll be able to do."

Though Dantzler vouches for the state program, he said neither he nor the group he represents are lobbying the state for permission to build the towns. Dantzler represents the Heartland Economic, Agricultural and Rural Taskforce, or HEART. Since 2005, HEART has lobbied for the Heartland Parkway.

"The towns don't have anything to do with HEART," Dantzler said. "But there's some synergy there, no doubt about that."

Strategically placed ranch

Much of that synergy swirls about state Sen. J.D. Alexander, who hired Dantzler and helped form HEART, which he said he is no longer involved with.

Alexander is the CEO of Atlantic Blue Group, which owns a 62,000-acre ranch in Highlands County that is almost entirely within the proposed road's corridor. Last month, his company announced it will apply for the state program that would permit major residential development on that property.

Alexander played a role in creating the program - something that, like the Heartland Parkway, could boost the development potential of land his company owns.

In 2000 Gov. Jeb Bush appointed then-Rep. Alexander to a growth management commission that ultimately recommended giving large landowners incentives for preservation. In exchange for credits that allow compact and more profitable developments, the landowners would leave some land untouched or continue using it for agriculture.

That report became the framework for the Rural Land Stewardship program. The program makes possible the kind of major residential development that Alexander's company now seeks.

Alexander said he didn't lead the charge for the rural land program. He said he supports it because it preserves the environment, not because his company's land holdings might benefit.

"When you get all these thousands of acres preserved without spending taxpayer money, isn't that a good idea?" Alexander said. "I'd support it no matter what. It's sound public policy."

Others who want to make use of the state program include Lykes Bros. - another member of HEART - which plans to file two applications covering 326,000 acres it owns. On one application, it's working closely with Alexander's Atlantic Blue Group.

Collier Enterprises, meanwhile, which also works with HEART, is seeking to build, over the next 25 to 30 years, one new town and perhaps six neighboring villages for a population of 60,000 in eastern Collier County. In exchange, the company will agree to preserve 25,000 acres.

In the first few years after the Rural Land Stewardship law was passed, however, there were no takers.

Recently, a proposal to make it tougher to develop rural lands has gained momentum. Backers of the plan, called Florida Hometown Democracy, want to put it on the 2008 ballot. If approved, voters would have ultimate authority over major developments.

That movement has coincided with a flood of applications to the stewardship program. If those landowners get approvals before the 2008 measure is passed, they wouldn't need the approval of voters to develop their lands.

"Hometown Democracy may be playing some role," said Al Reynolds, CEO of WilsonMiller, the planning firm for some of the applicants. "But I think folks are just beginning to understand how rural stewardship works. It really represents a tool that does things that no other comprehensive planning strategy can do."

Review of applications

WilsonMiller represents the program's first applicant, a St. Lucie County ranch that filed in 2006 for permission to build Cloud Grove, a town of 30,000 residents.

Alexander said Hometown Democracy has been discussed in relation to his company's plan to apply.

"(Hometown Democracy) clogs everything up," he said. "It gets more expensive and challenging to get everything done."

Pelham said he's concerned that the cumulative effect of the applications will make them harder to review. The Rural Land Stewardship program requires extensive analysis of data that determines where to build and where to preserve, he said. Many of those key designations will be made by local governments, but the state has the final say.

"The department will have to review these proposals very carefully," he said.

Michael Van Sickler can be reached at (813) 226-3402 or mvansickler@sptimes.com.

[Last modified March 18, 2007, 00:10:18]