Franklin County - SummerCamp development        (continued from Great Northwest)

http://www.franklincountyflorida.com/ The official Franklin County website

(news clips have not been kept updated - check archives)

Franklin County visioning process begins

The following is a message to everyone that may be interested in the development activities sponsored by St. Joe in Franklin County and more specifically to those that own property in the county.

If you own property in Franklin County, come speak out!

Tuesday 2/18/03
6:00-9:30pm
Franklin Co Courthouse

At the Issues and Options Workshop from 6:00 PM to 9:30 PM at the Courthouse Annex in Apalachicola, landowners and the public will have a crucial opportunity to choose the issues that will be considered during the Comprehensive Plan update now that has just begun.

The Franklin County Plan updating process has been "fast-tracked"-- compressed into one year. The data-gathering and analysis will have to be efficient and effective to support a successful Plan. FSU facilitators and planners have received funding from the County and from a group of interested organizations to coordinate the process.

FSU will organize the visioning strategy and analysis based on the priorities that citizens, landowners and others express at tomorrow's meeting.

At the meeting, small break-out groups will be asked to structure the visioning effort and guide the whole process by identifying issues, ranking importance, and suggesting options. The revised Franklin County Plan (and the land development regulations that implement the plan) will set the blueprint for County development and the integrity of the Bay. The Plan will affect everyone who values the habitat riches of the County, our public waters, and the natural landscape of the coast.

Come to the meeting and help raise issues that are important to you: land use and development patterns, keeping jobs in Bay fisheries and oystering, wetlands protection, surface and groundwater quality, habitat corridors, conservation lands management, costs of future public services, roads, evacuation plans for a burgeoning population. Show your concern for this wonderful part of the Panhandle!

Bob Henderson,  2/17/03

click for larger image

SummerCamp gets the go-ahead
Apalachicola Times Staff Report by Laurel Newman

By unanimous consent before a standing room only crowd in the new courthouse annex, Franklin County commissioners gave their first, formal thumbs-up Tuesday morning to The St. Joe Company’s proposed SummerCamp project on St. James Island at the eastern end of the county.
About 200 people packed into the meeting room to voice opinions at the public hearing to amend the current comprehensive plan in order to facilitate SummerCamp, the largest-ever residential development project in the county.

The hearing was to approve a change of land use from agriculture to mixed-use residential, while establishing conditions, restrictions and limitations on the development project.

Language was added to the amendment to impose responsibilities on developers to provide more information on proposed developments in the areas of protection of natural resources and cultural heritage, promotion of economic development and coastal high hazard awareness, among other requirements.
The audience contained a divergent group of people from environmental and civic groups, private citizens, academic and professional interests, seafood workers, business owners, and retirees.

Franklin County Commission Chairman Cheryl Sanders, who convened the hearing, told audience members to fill out a speaker’s card if they wished to speak, limited their time to three minutes, and warned that she, as chairman, would not tolerate any attacks on anyone’s character. She also asked that if a speaker’s message had already been expressed, he or she should make a brief declaration of support or opposition, in order to save time.
She then turned the meeting over to County Planner Alan Pierce, who explained the language of the amendment, and advised the board of changes made since its publication. “The number of hotel rooms advertised was 60, it is now down to 50,” he said. “The second item is an added phrase limiting the length of the community pier to ‘no longer than 250 feet to mean high water.’”

Billy Buzzett, director of strategic planning for the SummerCamp project, then outlined a history of the amendment process back to October 2001, and the marina issue which was eventually removed from the proposed development plan before being submitted to the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) for review. “They came back with nine objections, and we did address some of those objections, and came back before the board in July 2002. There was a large issue of Coastal High Hazard which required attention,” he said. “I pledged to the board then that I wouldn’t come back until we had dealt with all those nine objections.”

He then said that during the course of the process, the concern of the public about the company\'s future plans was a large issue, and therefore the company was committed to the “visioning” process necessary to update the comprehensive plan. He listed the environmental groups and agencies he had been meeting with: 1000 Friends of Florida; Apalachee Ecological Coalition (APECO), Apalachicola Bay and Riverkeeper (ABARK), the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve (ANERR), Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection, Florida State University (FSU); and the Florida Wildlife Federation. “While we haven’t always seen eye-to-eye, I think in good faith we’ve all dealt together, to see if the product can be improved, and I think it has been,” Pierce said.

Taking the DCA’s original objections, Buzzett went through changes made to satisfy them. The first was a conflict in density, wherein the original language stated 499 units and no more than one unit per acre. The site is more than 780 acres; that conflict was resolved by clarifying the language.
References to a marina, dry dock, boat ramp and related facilities were removed, and policy protections in respect to the aquatic preserve were listed - one private community dock on the four miles of water frontage, with no more than 10 boats at any one time. With input from ANERR Preserve Manager Tammy Summers, he said, the dock was to be located to the old Camp Gordon Johnson landing. In addition, warning buoys to delineate the grass beds would be provided, as well as boater education displays. Piers will be five feet above mean high water, with no boat docking.

Buzzett said an advanced wastewater treatment plant would be built on the far eastern boundary of the site, about one-and-one-half miles due north. “We’re working with FSU to allow the lab to be hooked into that plant, and we’re committed to working with the community of St. Theresa, if they’re interested, to go from septic onto that wastewater treatment plant,” he said, noting also that stormwater will be treated under Outstanding Florida standards.

Coastal High Hazard was a tough issue, he said, with conflicting maps delineating the area. The solution was to refer to the Florida Hurricane Atlas, which led to designing around the Category One storm surge line. The policy was adjusted to allow no units seaward of that line.
He said the plan to relocate a portion of Highway 98 was removed from the current proposal, and that as a result of a meeting with FSU, 3.5 acres on the west side of the marine lab are to be set aside as a buffer zone, with a conservation easement on the east side for the benefit of the university. Future embellishments to the facility were mentioned, but not detailed.

“I’ve tried to have an honest dialogue with the community and this commission, and under strict direction six months ago from Chairman (Cheryl) Sanders to go speak to the people, DCA, and do what’s right for Franklin County,” Buzzett said. “We’ll be here for the long haul, and it’s important we have an honest working relationship with the community.”

ABARK’s executive director Dave McLain opened public comment, saying that “In fall of 2001, there were rumors and innuendoes about St. Joe’s plans, so we invited them to our meeting in November 2001 to ask some straight questions. With other groups, (we) have been involved in ongoing dialogue since then. Our experience has been that when a specific objection has been raised, beneficial and enforceable changes in the development plan have been made. In order to ensure the dialogue continues and the process is established for county-wide planning that directly solicits citizen comment and consensus on issues of concern that directly affect the community, not only environmental, but roads, schools, medical care; all the things in the future of Franklin County, we think the visioning process provides the opportunity.”

Gathana Parmenas, representing the American Red Cross, and the volunteer office manager for Disaster Services, described the Capital Area Chapter\'s policy on disaster preparedness and prevention. “The Red Cross is known for responding to disaster, but a larger part of our work is helping prevent them, preparing people and neighborhoods for the worst, and working to prevent the worst from happening, or disaster mitigation,\" she said. \"The local mitigation strategy (LMS) identifies risk and spells out policies to reduce risk, future disaster-caused damage, and loss of life. The Federal Mitigation Act of 2000 makes it even harder to receive federal dollars after a disaster unless local mitigation efforts are strong. To put it simply, if we’re not serious about preventing disaster, the feds won’t give us any money after it’s happened.

“SummerCamp, in its revised version, is still a development of 499 homes, a hotel and other businesses, and it is still in a category one evacuation zone. It adds to the evacuation challenge, and the burden of sheltering evacuees. The revised SummerCamp proposal offers some good ideas for mitigation, but no solution to the problems they create,\" she said.

“Changes in infrastructure include critical items in disaster response: medical care, police and fire protection, which are appropriately addressed before new development goes in, through a new comprehensive plan which looks at the projected needs of the entire area,” she said.

A long list of speakers followed : Ken Osbourne, who supported the original plan to move Highway 98 for safety reasons, and to build a marina; John Hedrick, who raised increased population projections and the related increase in infrastructure costs to be borne by the county, as well as the lack of details on the wastewater plant, insufficient data on endangered species, and the apparent preferential treatment afforded to St. Joe; Chad Hanson, representing the Sierra Club, concerned with wildlife habitat and contamination of fishery nurseries in the bay; Paul Johnson of APECO and Link Barnett of APTA, who presented letters of support for the project and commended efforts to answer environmental objections; Linda Eppler, aquatic biologist from Wakulla County concerned about the effects of development on the Floridan Aquifer beneath the site, using a carrot as a prop to demonstrate the distraction of other more obvious objections; Roger Bybee, concerned that data used in the revision was from the original proposal, but in re-interpreted form; Jim Lycett, who laced his presentation with colorful metaphors such as “SummerCamp has become SummerCastle” and the impression that the revisions proposed are “a transparent publicity campaign;” and a host of others asking “What’s the rush?” and urging the commission to postpone the amendment until the comp plan update and the visioning process is complete. 1000 Friends of Florida and the Florida Wildlife Federation added their support to the SummerCamp proposal.

Before the vote, Sanders made an impassioned statement verifying the cooperation and concessions on behalf of the St. Joe Company, and expressed her outrage at the perception that anything had been going on “behind the scenes,” citing her commitment to the welfare of the people of Franklin County, and her determination to keep the development in line with the best interests of the county.

A vote was called for, and the amendment passed unanimously. Many audience members asked for a voice vote, and the commissioners all responded “aye.”

“This is not the end of it.” Pierce said. “There will be a public hearing for the PUD (Planned Unit Development), and more opportunity to have input into the process.” He then announced that the first visioning workshop will be held Thursday, Feb. 20, at 6 p.m. at the courthouse annex.
.... posted by Vance, 1/23/03

Franklin County meeting on SummerCamp 1/21/03 at 10:30 -- CRUCIAL MEETING ---
  ...The effort was made yesterday to change the meeting to the evening but the Commission as a whole said they had heard enough on the subject. 
...John Hedrick, Chair, PCC , 1/8/03

SummerCamp replay? The St. Joe company barrels ahead toward January 21 adoption hearing Panhandle Citizens Coalition (PCC) urges denial until Franklin Comprehensive Plan updated; PCC calls upon the St Joe company to debate whether their proposed projects reflect the vision of Panhandle citizens, the company dodgesIgnoring calls from citizens, the Panhandle Citizens Coalition (PCC), and others, to wait until after Franklin County's Comprehensive Plan is updated, the St. Joe Company has chosen to request and the Franklin County Commission has scheduled the adoption hearing for the SummerCamp Comprehensive Plan Amendment for January 21st at 10:30AM.  12/27/02

Panhandle Citizens Coalition launch referendum in Franklin County and citizen initiatives in 4 Panhandle cities against St Joe development 9/11/02

SummerCamp vote delayed
SummerCamp may not get approved this summer. The Franklin County Commission on Tuesday delayed approval of The St. Joe Co.'s proposed development near St. Teresa to address the state's objections to the project. 7/17/02

(more detailed notes  on the public comments from this meeting here)

A vacation in paradise gives way to real world 7/17/02

Note: The Franklin County Commission is having a public hearing Tuesday July 16 at 5:00 pm to consider adopting changes to its comp plan policies to allow St. Joe's SummerCamp development to be built. 7/14/02 
State: Growth rules must be updated
The Florida Department of Community Affairs says it wants Franklin County to be prepared for the growth - including the proposed SummerCamp development - that may be coming its way.--- The Franklin County Commission is scheduled to hold a public hearing Tuesday to consider adopting changes to its comp plan policies to allow SummerCamp to be built. 7/13/02

Notes from Franklin County Commission meeting on changing the county comprehensive plan to accommodate the St Joe / Arvida SummerCamp development

Apalachicola, FL – Franklin County Courthouse – 7/16/02 5:00 pm to 8:30 ( ??)

I was at this meeting from beginning to end. I read this morning's Tallahassee democrat SummerCamp vote delayed and a friend told me about the TV spot on Channel 6 on this evening’s news.  Both the message and flavor of the public comments made at this meeting were absent in both accounts.  

I thought I would put together the sketchy notes I took at the meeting in hopes that some of the other folks who were there might edit it and/or flesh it out. I feel it is necessary to do this because my take of this meeting was quite different from the news reports. I’m quite certain that most of the people who were present at this meeting would agree.

I should add that prior to the meeting I knew very little about the details of the projected SummerCamp development or the area in which St Joe wants to build it. What I did know about it though, I didn’t like.  

By the end of the meeting I knew a lot more, and was absolutely 100% opposed to the development. My already low opinion of St Joe / Arvida surprisingly sank even lower. I had hoped that despite what I had heard about them and had read about them on their website, maybe they were really not so bad. Maybe, they were really engaged in an honest process of negotiation with the people and representatives of Franklin County. That was not my experience.

In any event, my understanding was that the meeting was called to take public comment on the issue of the SummerCamp development. And while the Democrat reported that these comments lasted over two hours (perhaps 75% of the meeting), less than 10% of the news report focused on these comments.  But most importantly, none (0%) of the extensive scientific, and experiential data that was placed in the record was reported. There was empirical data concerning the nature of this delicate ecosystem, and the impact SummerCamp would have on it. There were serious economic concerns, and many personal experiences expressed that left all present with little doubt that this development will benefit the developer and perhaps the new residents, but not the existing community of Franklin County.

So here are some of my recollections of the meeting. I believe the minutes from this meeting will be posted at: http://www.franklincountyflorida.com at some point.

The courthouse was full – by my count there were over 200 people in attendance.

The meeting started with the county planner providing an overview of the existing Franklin County comprehensive plan. It has been in existence for about 12 years, and in his opinion it has served the county well. About 1000 homes were added during that 12 year period and there had been only two exceptions to the plan: the Wakulla State Prison, the St James Bay development (which is located somewhere East of the planned SummerCamp location). My understanding of his comments was that he was going to work together with St Joe/Arvida (or maybe DCA) to try and work out the differences so they can proceed. Before this could happen the county commission would have to update the comp plan. It was decided fairly early on that the comp plan would not be drafted at this meeting.

A representative from St Joe spoke next. He gave the group an overview of the project – some of its history, and where it stood at the moment. There was a map of the proposed development.  SummerCamp surrounds the FSU Marine Institute on the coast of the bay like half a donut with the institute in the middle.

One of the Representatives from Department of Community Affairs (DCA) spoke next. He suggested the commission take the next 60 days to look into the revision of the comp plan, and he and St. Joe would work together on this sticky point of the Coastal High Hazard and any other plan deficiencies. I believe he said something about it maybe taking 2 years to revise the comp plan… the problem was, he said that SummerCamp is proposed in an area that hadn’t been considered for development. I didn’t understand the following statement, but I believe it was: "If in 2 months we can’t resolve it. I don’t think it can be resolved." (Perhaps someone please clarify this)

I believe at this point there was discussion among the commissioners, and they voted to take whatever time was necessary to resolve the issues and revise the comp plan. The county planner and DCA were to get together and work out the Coastal High Hazard issue

At this point the public comment began.

APECO - Apalachee Ecological Conservancy – representative spoke about the sensitive habitat; that they had met several times with St. Joe; and that though there were outstanding issues remaining, "they were very encouraged."

100 Friends of Florida – spoke to the sensitivity of the area and that this development would have a heavy impact on it. He mentioned that they had just found a spring on this land that they had not known was there before, and that there was a very delicate ecological balance with the sea grass, sand, and fresh and salt water. He said much more and seemed to me to be very concerned about this development moving forward as it was, but I have no further notes on his talk.

Next up was a county resident who opened with: "this development is like attempting to mix oil and water." It is a case of corporate profit vs. damage to this sensitive area. He said there were other options that could be considered such as allowing single lots in a manner that would be friendly to the environment. He went on to remind the commission that they are charged to protect this asset.

A commercial fisherman spoke next. He stated flatly that he is opposed to any development of this size and nature in this coastal area. He said there would be 26 wildlife species effected. It would irreparably damage the seafood industry which generates $95 million dollars and supports (I missed the number of jobs but it was sizeable amount) ______ jobs. He spoke at length about the varied fish, oysters, and microorganisms dependent on this sea grass area and how they would quickly just disappear. Bottom line = this development was not in the public interest.

Next up was a representative of the newly formed Panhandle Citizens Coalition. He spoke about the very sensitive habitat, and that we should take our time on this decision and weigh in all the factors – "The only people in a hurry are St Joe" and they stand to make $100 million on this while the citizens lose out.

Alligator Harbor Aquatic Preserve - representative said we don’t need another gated community. She was emphatic about the negative impact this development would have on every aspect of this community. She, like others who spoke, reflected a heartfelt sense of the responsibility of stewardship for this coastal area and emphasized the interconnectedness of the fish and wildlife with the fragility of this particular coastal area.

The next speaker was concerned about the influx of people into the area The 500 homes in this development would add an additional 1500 people. In addition, there are 4700 home sites in the Arvida / Southwood development in Tallahassee who would be invited to use this area as well. . There are currently 2500 people living in the Apalachicola area. This development would radically effect the nature of this community – it would take it over.

The sea grass beds are extremely fragile (they run along the coast across the entire front of the development) and they would not withstand this impact. They are a key factor in the food chain that supports the fish, oysters, and other wildlife. "Deny this project … donate the land to FSU for the Marine lab in perpetuity."

The next person reminded us of the need for "stewardship" of the land and read portions of the FEMA report which would seem to be in conflict with this development.

A representative of Concerned Citizens of Wakulla County said the people should decide what they want here and then consider development, not the other way around.

Throughout the talks there were concerns expressed about hurricane evacuation. this person said that one of the factors here is that Rt 319 is the evacuation route – and there is no density pattern yet determined for this road. This must be determined before we consider bringing in an additional 1500 + people

Someone else reiterated that St Joe / Arvida does not have the best interests of Franklin County at heart, and we should not be fooled.

A woman from the FSU oceanography department: Any development will drastically alter this sensitive land. She went into detail explaining that recently scientists have discovered that there is a constant flow of water washing through the sand and flowing back to the bay. Rain and runoff water as well as the incoming and outgoing tide will wash any chemicals on the ground through the sand and into bay. Not only contaminants will alter the chemical balance in the bay, but nutrients will as well. The chemical balance in this area around sea grass area is extremely sensitive and will not sustain the impact of this kind of development.

Another person referred us back to 1985 with the first comp plan, and related how each developer has come along since then and said I’ll just take this little piece of this pie, then another, and another and so on over the years – now we have St Joe wanting their little piece – but the pie’s not the same any more – there's a lot less of it - and we have to be very concerned about what’s happening to our environment.

Someone suggested we should all go to the St Joe website http://www.joe.com and read their annual report http://www.joe.com/ir/areports.html . It references s what they call a "Value creation cycle" where each successful JOE development creates opportunities for additional development…. And "regional place-making", which they define as "an unprecedented opportunity to coordinate and sequence development projects to maximize earnings while enhancing the quality of life in the region."

In other words the idea is to get one foot in and all the rest of the feet will follow…. And whose quality of life are they enhancing?

The Alligator Point Taxpayers Association was represented – they are not opposed in principle to the idea but are concerned about the possibility of losing the 5% flood insurance premium that Franklin County residents now enjoy (this could possibly go up to 10% in 2003). This issue is a key part of the "Coastal high hazard" item that was discussed earlier.

Another person was especially concerned about hurricane evacuation over the two lane bridge

A professor from FSU put the problem of the flow of water through this sandy permeable land in perspective: for every 10 feet of shoreline there will be one regular sized swimming pool full of water coming out of the land each day. Therefore anything that gets into the land gets into the bay in a very short time. He reiterated that nutrients would be a major problem (causing algae bloom such as red tide which destroys the marine life in the area of the bloom). He emphatically opposes anything that would disturb the habitat around the marine lab.

At this point someone from Arvida offered to help the commission to update the comp plan… . Someone from the audience suggested that should be a representative of the people of the county working with them as well. The planner responded that this was a very complex, legal issue and… … then someone from the audience said there were more than a few people out here who might be able to understand these complex issues.

(I thought it was interesting that neither DCA nor the County Planner responded that they represent the people’s interests in this negotiation with St Joe. Perhaps they didn’t want to go there…)

A lady then spoke about having grown up in Franklin County and said "I don’t want to be a chambermaid in their hotel"… referencing the loss of good jobs to service type jobs for the wealthy residents of the St Joe homes and hotel.

Another lady said to St Joe "This is the forgotten coast, so forget it!"

Then the county Emergency Management director came to the podium and began reading a prepared speech delineating the various state codes and statutes that he felt the SummerCamp development would violate. One of the commissioners objected to his speaking directly to the gathering without having first spoken to the commission. The EM director said he was invited by the mayor… people in the audience were saying "let him speak" – the County Planner then tried to explain to the audience that the EM director was an employee of the county and there was a proper procedure to follow etc etc, … Several people in the audience were beginning to get upset. The EM director was permitted to continue. There was a long list of statute and code violations - I couldn’t get down all of the points he made but some were:

At some point Senator Al Lawson, and Rep Kendick Meeks spoke to the group.

The comments continued…. with more people coming to the podium.

A woman said that SummerCamp will destroy the Marine Lab (which was named after the founder of St Joe Timber Co) and went on to talk about the many benefits the lab offers to the community and to the state.

Others said:

Keep this land zoned for agricultural use only – do not change it.

Local governments are being controlled by developers.

Stop the land use change. A neighbor of mine is no longer able to afford to live here because of the increased taxes already… think of the infrastructure that we will need to support this development, and the water supply – water shortages have been problematic in Central and West Central Florida already this year and people there are worried about the continuing development stretching the water supply even further…

A prominent marine biologist and author told us about a new discovery that was made in these sea grass beds recently. A source for a very promising new anti-cancer drug that is currently in clinical trials grows in these beds. He went on to describe the very delicate balance of this ecosystem and how this development would destroy it.

An attorney representing the Florida Wildlife Association made several very strong points to close the public comments. Some of these were

I’m sure I left many people's comments out - but this was the gist of it. I welcome any additions / corrections and further comments...  Please excuse any typos, I wanted to get the meeting notes up today.

… Bennett, 7/17/02