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Politics

Board weighs control of environmental lands

A proposed ordinance and a charter change are two ideas under discussion.

By THERESA BLACKWELL
Published June 27, 2007

It's a matter of trust.

Should the public trust Pinellas County commissioners to safeguard environmental lands such as the Brooker Creek, Weedon Island and Shell Key preserves?

Or should commissioners trust the public to decide whether any significant changes are ever made to those lands?

For commissioners to retain control, they would adopt a proposed ordinance that sets some requirements for transferring those lands.

For the public to take control, voters would approve changing the county's charter in a referendum.

At a work session last week, three out of five commissioners present signaled that they favor the proposed ordinance.

That would give the county some flexibility in handling environmental and park land, according to the three commissioners in the majority, Susan Latvala, Karen Seel and Robert Stewart.

The proposed ordinance, which was initiated by Latvala, generally requires a public referendum to approve selling or transferring county-owned parks or environmental lands. And the public also would have to vote to change the ordinance itself.

But there are six exceptions to the requirement for a referendum.

One area where commissioners would need flexibility, Latvala said, is in using environmental lands to meet the future need for water.

In that case, a public vote could be an impediment.

"What are we going to need in 20 years, 50 years?" she said. "And to have to sell that concept to the entire public - it's tying the hands of government."

But that's exactly the point for environmentalists.

In recent years, county officials have pursued ideas, such as expanding a restaurant in Fort De Soto Park, that withered under protest. In the Brooker Creek Preserve, ideas proposed and abandoned in the face of public opposition include an equestrian center, youth sports fields and pumping water to irrigate private golf courses.

In favoring the proposed ordinance, which is now headed to a public hearing, Latvala, Seel and Stewart did not support a charter amendment proposed by environmental activist Lorraine Margeson.

Her plan is based on a St. Petersburg charter amendment. It would require a public referendum before any environmental lands could be sold, transferred or leased. No exceptions.

Commissioner Ronnie Duncan, who walks the Brooker Creek Preserve with his two sons, voted against continuing with the ordinance.

He said parks and environmental lands are different and should have their own ordinances.

But he stood alone on that.

Commissioner Calvin Harris saw no reason to debate the details of the ordinance since he was clearly against it.

The public has told him it doesn't like the exceptions that allow the commission to convey parks or environmental lands without a public referendum. The latest version has six exceptions.

"If you appear to have an instrument with loopholes, that's frightening, " Harris said.

Though he was not present Thursday night, Commissioner Kenneth Welch said in an e-mail Friday that he supports pursuing a charter amendment.

That means Commissioner John Morroni's preference could prove pivotal. He was on vacation.

About 20 speakers from the public told the commission that preserving the county's last wild places is vitally important, with nearly all supporting a charter amendment rather than an ordinance.

Residents are increasingly frustrated by governments that ignore their comprehensive plans for economic or other reasons of expediency, said Jan Allyn of Largo.

"It is why many residents of Pinellas County are unwilling to trust the future protections of our preserve lands to the discretion of the County Commission, " she said.

[Last modified June 27, 2007, 07:41:16]