G.L. Land Swap Bad for County

OPINION EDITORIAL
Palm Beach Post
August 8, 2017
By: Drew Martin

Why the GL Land Swap is Bad for the County

There have been several letters published in favor of a land swap from the Agricultural Reserve for land in the Loxahatchee/Acreage region. This would be damaging to the Ag Reserve, and a money-loser for the county. Taxpayers voted to put $100 million toward preserving land in the Ag Reserve. The northwest county land folks want to swap is of far less value than the land in the Ag Reserve. It is also already agricultural land, so the county would gain no benefit. But the county would lose extremely valuable agricultural land in the Ag Reserve.

Years ago, we attended workshops on the Ag Reserve where we sought reduced development there to reduce traffic. Many of the nursery owners and farmers who complain about traffic have been the same ones who ask to increase development percentages on their lands. You can’t have it both ways. If you are concerned about traffic, then increasing development will only increase traffic problems. These owners are seeking zoning changes that will increase their land values but decrease the land values of the surrounding properties by taking away open space and agriculture.

Flood insurance rates in the county are tied to maintaining undeveloped land in agriculture that can retain floodwaters during storms. If these lands are developed, they are no longer available to retain floodwaters or recharge the aquifer. In addition, the Ag Reserve has always been a valuable producer of winter vegetables.

One of the letters noted only a 1- or 2-degree difference between the Ag Reserve and the proposed land in the north. But the difference between 33 degrees and 31 degrees is the difference between keeping a vegetable crop or losing a vegetable crop. When farmers came here they recognized the benefits of the Ag Reserve. That is why this area has remained historically an important farming area. Palm Beach County is the largest agriculture-producing county in Florida.

The Ag Reserve is not an ideal area for affordable housing because of its distance from the major transportation systems such as Tri-Rail and Interstate 95. It risks flooding, and it is already crowded with too much traffic. Affordable housing should be close to the main highway and railway links to downtown areas.

Finally, we cannot diminish our ability to feed ourselves by removing farmland for housing. We need to reject this swap idea and protect the Agricultural Preserve within the Ag Reserve.

DREW MARTIN, LAKE WORTH Editor’s note: Drew Martin is conservation chairman for the Loxahatchee Group of the Sierra Club.

Drew Martin - Op Ed in the Palm Beach Post

POINT OF VIEW
Palm Beach Post
July 13, 2017
By:  Drew Martin

Flooding problems are the result of too much development

In The Palm Beach Post story, “Water can flow into endangered sparrow territory” (June 29), discussing the seaside sparrow versus flooding north of the Tamiami Trail, it was suggested that only two solutions existed for reducing flooding: either the protection of the deer in the conservation area or protecting the endangered cape sable seaside sparrow, pitting them against each other resulting in flooding of the conservation area.

The story did not present the underlying causes leading to this flooding. It is the result of development policies impacting excess water, leaving us with only bad choices. This is the result of our constant filling in of wetlands, and the dredging of creeks and rivers, tuning them into free flowing canals, among the other things.

Recent attempts to change the zoning restrictions to open up the Agricultural Reserve to more homes — by removing existing preserves and permitting preserves north of the Ag Reserve to be used as preserve land rather than the 60 percent preserve requirement in the Ag Reserve that now stands — will change flooding patterns. These changes alter to a great extent how water moves naturally across the land.

Roads have also blocked important fresh water flows. One of these roads is Tamiami Trail, built almost 100 years ago when people did not understand the importance of letting fresh water flow into the Everglades, Biscayne and Florida Bay. We have drained the Everglades Agricultural Area south of Lake Okeechobee. After the deadly 1928 hurricane, the lake had a permanent berm built around it. We are taking away the open lands that provide the space to hold the floodwaters.

If the GL Homes proposal were approved, it would move all the preserves out of the Ag Reserve by using preserved land in other tiers of the county to meet preserve requirements. This would contribute to the problem. The Ag Reserve would no longer provide a buffer to the Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge.

It would no longer provide a place to hold floodwaters or to recharge the aquifer. It would no longer be the winter vegetable provider for the eastern United States. It would become another crowded urban area with all the urban difficulties. Not the refuge that many who purchased there sought. And these floodwaters from the Ag Reserve will then contribute to the dilemma of flooding the conservation area north of the Tamiami Trail by adding even more floodwaters.

DREW MARTIN, LAKE WORTH

Editor’s note: Drew Martin is conservation chair for the
Loxahatchee Group of the Sierra Club.

Development in the Ag reserve

(Suzanne) Mulvehill Nursery, west of Delray Beach, is one of the many plant nurseries in the Palm Beach County Agricultural Reserve. (Bruce R. Bennett / The Palm Beach Post)

Read about it.... Palm Beach County rules have restricted development in the Ag Reserve by requiring builders to set aside 60 acres for every 40 acres they want to develop. Land set aside for preservation must be in the Ag Reserve.

But along comes the greedy developer, GL Homes, that wants to change that rule. "After getting approval to build 3,900 homes on 4,900 acres it owns in the Loxahatchee area, the developer has floated a plan to preserve that acreage in exchange for permission to build on land it owns in the Ag Reserve.

Environmentalists and residents fear the proposal could put an end to a unique area in South Florida intended to limit suburban sprawl and preserve one of the nation’s most productive farming areas east of the Mississippi River." The biggest opponents to restricting development are the nurseries.

Preserve the Ag Reserve -Town Meeting Presentation

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7th,
KERNER, INERLANDI, AND WALLACE TO SPEAK AT COBWRA “PRESERVE THE AG RESERVE” TOWN MEETING

Palm Beach County Commissioner DAVID KERNER, Everglades Law Center Senior Counsel LISA INTERLANDI and Land Use Attorney STEVEN WALLACE will be the featured speakers at a “PRESERVE THE AG RESERVE” Town Meeting hosted by The Coalition of Boynton West Residential Associations (COBWRA) on June 7 at 7:00 p.m. at Valencia Reserve (on Lyons Road south of Boynton Beach Boulevard).

GL Homes has proposed a plan that would permit GL to build in the Agricultural Reserve (Ag Reserve) contrary to strict County rules now in place.  This plan violates COBWRA’s Strategic Plan for the Ag Reserve and would take density from northern Palm Beach County and deposit that density in the West Boynton region of the Ag Reserve.

Area residents are encouraged to participate in this interactive conversation about the plan and how it will impact the quality of life in Palm Beach County’s unique treasure – The Agricultural Reserve.

Following the presentations, members of the audience will have an opportunity to ask question and offer comments.

Valencia Reserve
9288 Lake Royal Road, Boynton Beach, FL 33437
Phone: (561) 670-1085.
Directions: (Located on west side of Lyons Road 1.1 miles south of Boynton Beach Boulevard).

GL Homes wants to build in Ag Reserve

You can bet your last dollar that county commissioners will change their comprehensive plan for this developer--isn't this what elected officials always do?  Florida is for the developer, giving them waiver after waiver and changing land development regulations. Lake Worth fits right into this mentality as well.

Read about it... and GL Homes wanting to build 3,900 homes in the Ag Reserve.

Ag Reserve Palm Beach County

Yesterday, the Palm Beach County Board of Commissioners met for their regular meeting. As you know, we have two new commissioners--David Kerner, who was elected to the former seat of Shelley Vana who was term limited and Mack Bernard who defeated Priscilla Taylor.  Paulette Burdick was previously voted in as the new mayor.

The important item on the agenda was the SFWMD and its desire to sell off its interest in 571 acres it owns in the Ag Reserve. The District has a 61% interest in the property acquired with proceeds from the $150 million bond that was passed by PB County voters in 1999 with Palm Beach County owning the remainder. It seems to me that the residents of Palm Beach County are the owners of this land and what they say must have weight.

SFWMD says this acreage no longer fits its plan and they want to sell it and say if the county does not go along with their desire to sell, they will sue. Drew Martin, Chair of the Sierra Club Loxahatchee equated this to "blackmail."  It's definitely a strong armed tactic. This land needs to remain in the hands of the County, not some potential developer down the road in spite of easements that could be attached to the property.  We all know through experience that easements and land use can be changed from the dais.

Read about it... and the County's refusal to give an up or down vote on the sale of this land. Mary Lou Berger, Paulette Burdick and Mack Bernard voted against postponing a decision. They voted correctly.

The best thing to do is for the County to buy out SFWMD's interest in the land and let this acreage stay protected as agriculture as the voters wanted.

On the Agenda Palm Beach County - Purchase of Ag Reserve land

This is the first attempt to sell Ag Reserve Land purchased with the Tax Payer Bond Money, says Drew Martin

This property was purchased with bond fund money.
The Agenda for this Tuesday's meeting shows on Item 4E1. Tuesday at 301 Olive in West Palm in the County Commission Chambers at 9:30

E. FACILITIES DEVELOPMENT & OPERATIONS 1. Staff recommends motion to approve: a Third Amendment to Interlocal Agreement with the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) authorizing issuance of an Invitation for Bids for the sale of the jointly owned 571 acre McMurrain Farm property. SUMMARY: The County (39.4%) and SFWMD (60.6%) jointly own the 571 acre McMurrain Farm property in the Ag Reserve.

The property was initially purchased for interim agricultural use with plans for SFWMD to construct an above ground reservoir as part of SFWMD’s Agricultural Reserve Reservoir program. SFWMD has since determined that the Ag Reserve Reservoir program is not feasible, has terminated the program, and has declared its interest in the McMurrain Farm property to be surplus. SFWMD desires to sell its interest in the property to recover its investment. SFWMD has obtained a 2015 appraisal valuing the property at $15,400,000, (SFWMD $9,335,000; County $6,065,000), and is currently updating that appraisal. SFWMD is requesting that the County participate in the sale of the County’s interest in the property.

While the property has an AGR Preserve land use and has no density, in order to provide additional assurances that the land remain in Agricultural production and not be developed, SFWMD proposes that the property be sold subject to a Perpetual Agricultural Conservation Easement in favor of the County and SFWMD, and that a separate Perpetual Agricultural Conservation Easement be granted the State Department of Environmental Protection. The Conservation Easements restrict use of the property to agricultural production and provide an added level of protection against change in use beyond what is in place today.