I even gave ya'll and the CAC books on the subjects of planning and land use to edify yourselves (see 2000 article, tampa trib, J. Fox). They are probably being used as door stops somewhere in the county, just as Harry Wright and I witnessed with a volume of our Complan, it is certain they were never read. This is witnessed by our present state of affairs in this county where the ONLY property rights that matter are those of large land owners and developers, no one else has any! Of course this is true for our whole state as is evidenced by the New Yorker magazine's 40 page article of February 14-19, 2009 titled "The Ponzi State", a very good read if you want to know how we got to where we are!
Most interesting though is that you choose to ignore their most expen$ive advice!!! It is understandable though, oh not because you are stupid Pat, but more because ya'll are stuck in a mind set unable to visualize the BIG picture. Mr. Gehring is right as rain, the tip of the iceberg is the only warning you are going to get, just ask the souls of the Titanic! The idea that this is only 5 small, insignificant acres and therefore makes no difference, well the Chinese have a name for that ... the Death of a Thousand Cuts! It is about the small, insignificant, incremental actions we take, like this 5 acres, which when put with the 1,000 others that ya'll viewed in the same way, results in something hugely detrimental ... like death, this failure is irreversible!
This mentality is also best illustrated by our current water crisis that no one wants to call a crisis or take any of the truly difficult steps to properly deal with it, just stick your head in the sand and hope it gets better!! Of course to do that you must 1st recognize the true nature of our crisis, it is MANMADE! Not drought, not weather but poor policies and politics as we drain the swamps for more development to create more demand for more water!!!
Development traditionally goes on the undisturbed uplands which provides the highest quality recharge to our severely depleted aquifer, while the 2nd highest quality recharge, our wetlands, are also allowed to be plowed under for even more development and water demands. Wetlands provide amazing functions which cannot and are not duplicated through "creation" or mitigation.
See for yourselves, just LOOK at the monstrosities that represent this failed policy; they can NEVER pass the delineation procedures of any agency to be found "functional". Yet these agencies ACOE, FDEP and SWFWMD continually permit the needless, unwarranted, unjustified and clearly avoidable destruction of our 2nd best method of recharge to our severely depleted aquifer, our wetlands! There are NO isolated wetlands ALL are connected to our aquifer and even a severely degraded wetland provides more function than anything the agencies approve to mitigate their destruction.
Most importantly are the functions provided by wetlands as a natural means of flood control to collect, capture and contain our precious rain water and then to filter it while allowing it to slowly percolate down to our severely depleted Floridan Aquifer. These functions alone are reason enough to protect every wetland left, yet there are additional functions provided such as wildlife habitat for foraging, nesting, aesthetics and conservation.
We have already destroyed more than 100,000 acres of wetlands in our state and you wonder why we have a water crisis, this IS the Death of a Thousand Cuts to our severely depleted groundwater resources! And yet the permitted destruction continues unabated. Our local governments are the 1st to blame for their shortsightedness and false belief that the agencies authorized to protect will do so even when they personally know that will NOT happen.
However it allows them to pass the buck, ditching their responsibilities to their constituents!
The agencies themselves, especially at the top, are corrupt to the core. When you confront them as to their failures to protect and enforce the rules they pass the buck right back to our elected officials. They argue that because the local municipality authorized it they are now required to make it work, a vicious cycle of blame.
That giant sucking sound you hear is why we are in Land of used to be Lakes as Tampa Bay Water exceeds their groundwater permit by more than double and SWFWMD fails to regulate not just TBW but hundreds of other users industry, mining, agriculture, golf courses, the list is endless! But YOU must conserve while they permit more and more users while destroying the last remaining mechanisms to replenish our severely depleted water resources.
The end result will be irreversible ... salt water intrusion into our aquifer is occurring at an amazing rate. Just as Pinellas destroyed their portion of the Floridan Aquifer by salt water intrusion while ignoring the warnings and the science, the tip of the iceberg! TBW, FDEP, SWFWMD, ACOE, EPA and your elected local officials are destroying what is left of ours one wetland at a time!!! The Death of a Thousand Cuts.
My point is that despite, nay in the face of overwhelming warnings from scientific research, professional advice, educated minds and the very nose upon their faces our elected officials continue to do the same things over and over again expecting a different result ... isn't that the definition of insanity?
With highest regards, peace and be well,
Clay G. Colson
Board Director and Water Issues Chair
Citizens for Sanity.Com, Inc.
Land-use fuss is look into future
Where it meets State Road 54, Trinity Boulevard is lined with brush and trees - a condition that might make the casual observer wonder what all the fuss was about this week when developers sought to make changes to their plans for the intersection.
Adam Smith Enterprises, which is developing the eastern parts of Trinity - a 20-year-old project between S.R. 54 and the Pinellas County line - asked the county for permission to shift five acres of future retail land from the east side of Trinity Boulevard to the west side.
That kind of request isn't uncommon for a project as large and as old as Trinity. But it came at a time when county officials are trying to reform the way they do business with developers, particularly those whose land is earmarked for job creation.
Those changes are growing out of last year's visit by the Urban Land Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based group that advises communities on issues of growth and management. ULI had sharp words for Pasco County, among them: Protect your future employment sites.
About 80,000 people - half of Pasco County's work force - commute to Hillsborough and Pinellas counties for jobs. Pasco officials would like to stem that tide and maybe even reverse it by turning the S.R. 54 corridor into a magnet for high-wage employers - a strategy that got strong support from ULI.
Land loss would be 'tip of iceberg'
As the county works toward formally adopting ULI's guidelines, this week's debate over Adam Smith's five acres offers a peek into the future when the county's new philosophy toward development is likely to run headlong again into landowners' plans for their property.
The crux of Adam Smith's request was this: shifting the retail space to the other side of Trinity Boulevard took five acres away from Trinity Corporate Center, a site the developer has set aside for a high-end industrial park.
Five years after the developers demolished the North Tampa Executive Airport to make way for it, the corporate center has yet to sprout a major employer. Its only tenant at the moment is a gas station, but the potential for jobs is there.
That was the reason Richard Gehring, the county's new growth management administrator, gave for opposing the request. It was a decision that put him at odds with Adam Smith officials and with the majority of the county commission.
"The loss of these five acres are, to us, the tip of the iceberg," Gehring said. "Those jobs we're trying to get to come up and stay here - this is where they should go."
The corporate center's position within a few miles of both northern Hillsborough and northern Pinellas counties makes it vital to the county's plans for luring work north, Gehring said.
"This land use doesn't move real fast when we're in a recession cycle," Gehring said of the industrial land. "But you have to have a site when the economy recovers."
Adam Smith officials insisted shifting the retail site across Trinity Boulevard wouldn't spell the end for future job growth in the area.
"We're going to build every square foot of entitlements that we have," said Lew Friedland, president of the development company.
Friedland said the ongoing debate over the five acres is putting the rest of the property at risk.
"We have been held up to the point where we have people who want to build on our property who believe we have no support from this county," Friedland said.
Commission votes to support swap
Wednesday's debate descended briefly into accusations of lying and misrepresentation, culminating with Commissioner Pat Mulieri chastising Gehring directly for his handling of the situation.
"I almost feel you're saying we're stupid sitting up here," Mulieri told Gehring. "I feel we're sitting here, and you're saying we don't know what we're doing."
Gehring, on his 47th day working for Pasco County, defended his position regarding the five-acre tract by citing the ULI study's recommendations.
"All I'm trying to do is protect employment," Gehring said.
In the end, commissioners voted 4-1 to support Adam Smith's land swap.
Commission Chairman Jack Mariano, one of the county's staunchest supporters of the ULI study, dissented. Mariano cited a recent survey of county residents where only 10 percent said the county offered enough job opportunities.
"We've got a chance to really capitalize on the S.R 54 corridor," Mariano said. "We already gave up prime land for a gas station."
On Thursday, Mulieri defended her vote in favor of the land swap as important to protect the developers' property rights.
"I just felt that it was the right thing to do," Mulieri said. "I don't think this five acres will cause the whole ULI process to implode."
Commissioner Michael Cox said Thursday he understood Gehring's "tip of the iceberg" argument regarding the land swap and the county's loyalty to the ULI study.
"That's a valid point," Cox said. "But we haven't implemented the ULI study yet. The point will be well-taken six months or a year from now."
Adam Smith Enterprises, which is developing the eastern parts of Trinity - a 20-year-old project between S.R. 54 and the Pinellas County line - asked the county for permission to shift five acres of future retail land from the east side of Trinity Boulevard to the west side.
That kind of request isn't uncommon for a project as large and as old as Trinity. But it came at a time when county officials are trying to reform the way they do business with developers, particularly those whose land is earmarked for job creation.
Those changes are growing out of last year's visit by the Urban Land Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based group that advises communities on issues of growth and management. ULI had sharp words for Pasco County, among them: Protect your future employment sites.
About 80,000 people - half of Pasco County's work force - commute to Hillsborough and Pinellas counties for jobs. Pasco officials would like to stem that tide and maybe even reverse it by turning the S.R. 54 corridor into a magnet for high-wage employers - a strategy that got strong support from ULI.
Land loss would be 'tip of iceberg'
As the county works toward formally adopting ULI's guidelines, this week's debate over Adam Smith's five acres offers a peek into the future when the county's new philosophy toward development is likely to run headlong again into landowners' plans for their property.
The crux of Adam Smith's request was this: shifting the retail space to the other side of Trinity Boulevard took five acres away from Trinity Corporate Center, a site the developer has set aside for a high-end industrial park.
Five years after the developers demolished the North Tampa Executive Airport to make way for it, the corporate center has yet to sprout a major employer. Its only tenant at the moment is a gas station, but the potential for jobs is there.
That was the reason Richard Gehring, the county's new growth management administrator, gave for opposing the request. It was a decision that put him at odds with Adam Smith officials and with the majority of the county commission.
"The loss of these five acres are, to us, the tip of the iceberg," Gehring said. "Those jobs we're trying to get to come up and stay here - this is where they should go."
The corporate center's position within a few miles of both northern Hillsborough and northern Pinellas counties makes it vital to the county's plans for luring work north, Gehring said.
"This land use doesn't move real fast when we're in a recession cycle," Gehring said of the industrial land. "But you have to have a site when the economy recovers."
Adam Smith officials insisted shifting the retail site across Trinity Boulevard wouldn't spell the end for future job growth in the area.
"We're going to build every square foot of entitlements that we have," said Lew Friedland, president of the development company.
Friedland said the ongoing debate over the five acres is putting the rest of the property at risk.
"We have been held up to the point where we have people who want to build on our property who believe we have no support from this county," Friedland said.
Commission votes to support swap
Wednesday's debate descended briefly into accusations of lying and misrepresentation, culminating with Commissioner Pat Mulieri chastising Gehring directly for his handling of the situation.
"I almost feel you're saying we're stupid sitting up here," Mulieri told Gehring. "I feel we're sitting here, and you're saying we don't know what we're doing."
Gehring, on his 47th day working for Pasco County, defended his position regarding the five-acre tract by citing the ULI study's recommendations.
"All I'm trying to do is protect employment," Gehring said.
In the end, commissioners voted 4-1 to support Adam Smith's land swap.
Commission Chairman Jack Mariano, one of the county's staunchest supporters of the ULI study, dissented. Mariano cited a recent survey of county residents where only 10 percent said the county offered enough job opportunities.
"We've got a chance to really capitalize on the S.R 54 corridor," Mariano said. "We already gave up prime land for a gas station."
On Thursday, Mulieri defended her vote in favor of the land swap as important to protect the developers' property rights.
"I just felt that it was the right thing to do," Mulieri said. "I don't think this five acres will cause the whole ULI process to implode."
Commissioner Michael Cox said Thursday he understood Gehring's "tip of the iceberg" argument regarding the land swap and the county's loyalty to the ULI study.
"That's a valid point," Cox said. "But we haven't implemented the ULI study yet. The point will be well-taken six months or a year from now."
Commie Liberal !
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