More News Clips on St. Joe's "Great NOrthwest":

Top

St. Joe will go to any lengths to get what it wants

I have already submitted comments on the St Joe Company but there are so many issues with this company that are common knowledge in Gulf County as these people have been doing business here for over 60 years and so are pretty well known in the area. Its hard to make people outside the area understand the lengths SJ co. will go to get what they want.

One of the issues with the St Joe company that has for 4 years, ticked [to put it nicely] a lot of the citizens of Gulf co. is a matter of the public roads that this company gated off and in essence "took" from the public. I am not talking about a little back alley or a couple of roads, I am talking about millions of dollars worth of property. Some were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the late 1930's and early 1940's. One road in fact which ran the length of the county and was built in the 1800's, was the first road from Alabama to Apalachicola. Many of the roads were traveled by the public for 40 and 50 years and more. 

We the public have petitioned for the return of these roads for 4 years. We have repeatedly ask our Board of County Commissioners for help and been told that the County doesn't own these roads even though the County maintained some of them up untill the time that the St Joe Co. gated them off. Around 1 1/2 years ago Clay Smallwood who is head of Land and Development for the St Joe Co. brought a proposal before the Board of Co. Commissioners for a 'road swap' proposing that the St Joe co. Swap a road [luke ford rd] to the County for 3 roads off SR 22 one of which was part of that original road from Alabama to Apalachicola fl. The proposal was dropped when it was pointed out that " how could St Joe swap a road that they had no legal title to to the county who had for 3 years denied ownership of.

Myself and another member of the public ask the States Attorney office for a Grand Jury Investigation and this issue and was turned down each time and then we both received a letter from the States Attorney's office stating that the request had been turned over to Judge Hess in Panama City Florida. a Few months later we were called to testify but were told when we arrived at the Gulf Co Courthouse that " not enough jurors had shown up. This was months ago and after repeated efforts to contact Judge Glenn Hess, we are still waiting for some recourse from the legal establishment. I shudder to think what my fate would be had I "taken" millions of dollars of public property.

This is one of the faces of this company. To refer to the St Joe Co or by what ever it calls itself, as a 800 pound gorilla is low blow to a 800 pound gorilla and a very dangerous underestimation.

...MB, Wewahitchka, 1/24/03

Top

It’s Unanimous, SummerCamp Marches Onward

Despite a public hearing scheduled for the daylight hours, the Franklin County Courthouse Annex building was packed with citizens, various group representatives, and media. By my count, there was 160 folks in the room at the start of the meeting, and up to 200 by the end. It was standing room only. Again, the citizens came to a public hearing to witness the expected approval of the County’s largest development to date. Many had come to speak, many had come to listen, all were full of nervous anxiety as if they already knew the outcome. In a way, they did. 

From the opening of the hearing led by compassionate Commissioner Cheryl Sanders, it was apparent that the County was behind St. Joe and the rest of the endorsers of SummerCamp. After the initial pitch by St. Joe representative, Billy Buzzett, the civic and environmental groups lined up to give St. Joe their apprehensive blessing. Buzzett, a Franklin County native, discussed the concessions that the developmental plans went through to get to the present proposal, including not moving highway 98 around the gated community’s boundaries, not putting in a marina or boat ramp, and only putting 19 houses in the hurricane flood zone. Also, SummerCamp will have an advanced wastewater treatment facility with a sprayfield 1.5 miles away from the coast and has included provisions to protect stormwater runoff from entering the bay. Buzzett mentioned working diligently with the various groups and State to finalize the plans. 

In all, there will be 499 houses on 784 acres, much of which will be undeveloped allowing for a clustering of houses in the compatible land. According to information from a local environmental group, the 67% of the land will be left for conservation, leaving one third of the land to be intensively developed. There will be 35,000 gross square feet of commercial space, recreation areas, a fifty room hotel, and other miscellaneous buildings. Instead of individual residential finger docks, there will be one community dock which will have ten slips for boats, and the six foot wide dock will encroach the bay 150 feet past the mean high tide mark. Also, in the plans are ten observation piers that will extend into the bay 200 feet.
The groups supporting the Comp Plan Amendment, despite the Plan not being updated, were 1000 Friends of Florida, Florida Wildlife Federation (FWF), Apalachicola Bay and Riverkeepers (ABARK), Apalachee Ecological Conservancy (APECO), Alligator Point Taxpayers Association (APTA), and Florida State University (FSU). These groups have sent letters of support and/or had representatives present at the hearing. As stated by these supporters, the St. Joe Company has displayed a willingness to make concessions and went beyond most developers to appease the initial concerns of these groups and citizens. All in all, the project is much better than the original submittal to the Department of Community Affairs (DCA). The Department that had nine objections, recommendations, and considerations (ORC) after the first submittal and it appears that many of these concerns have been mitigated or absolved.

Although there were several groups supporting St. Joe’s efforts, many in the crowd were either apprehensive or opposed to the proposal. Many citizens asked the County to update the Comp Plan as initially promised before SummerCamp went back to DCA. There were several in the crowd, not being represented by any civic or environmental group, who outright opposed SummerCamp in fear of environmental damage to the Aquatic Preserve and their culture. Two groups, the Panhandle Citizens Coalition (PCC) and the Big Bend Sierra Club, had reservations about the size and location of the project. The overall tallies: 7 speaking in favor (six groups), 13 speaking against (two groups), and 2 neutral citizens. 

The dissenters claimed that some of their concerns have not been thoroughly addressed in the present proposal. A volunteer from the Red Cross stated development should be directed away from the coast and the hurricane flood zone. The PCC representative had trepidation about the 10% increase in population this would create for Franklin County, and that many of St. Joe’s concessions have not been put in writing. A representative of the Big Bend Sierra Club asked for full protection of Apalachicola Bay and stated that the size and capacity of this development on the coastal fringes is incompatible for the long-term health of the Aquatic Preserve. Several citizens from Wakulla County asked the Commissioners to not make the mistakes of South Florida, to take care of the drinking water, and to be cognizant of the traffic this will present for Crawfordville. A local environmental consultant claimed the proposal does not comply with the previous submittal and that documents used for both submittals are in error. Another local citizen thought limiting the use of lawn and household chemicals would not be feasible and asked to keep land use as agriculture to serve as a buffer. One gentleman drew a series of laughter when he compared “SummerCastle” to an alien spaceship landing and claimed a gated community is inclusive rather than exclusive. A Wakullan claimed St. Joe had much bigger plans than previously revealed: stating plans for a turnpike, a Disney-type amusement park, a transformation of job base for Tallahassee and Panama City. A resident of East Point questioned if the voice of the people was being truly represented and changes in the plan were merely window dressings. Several in the crowd questioned alleged special treatment towards St. Joe versus other developers. Amending the Comp Plan before it is revised and updated would potentially allow other smaller developers to get approval of their amendments. 

Now that the approval is final with all Commissioners voting in favor, the SummerCamp Comp Plan amendment will be sent to DCA for review a second time. Alan Pierce, mayor of Apalachicola and Franklin County Planning and Zoning Director, reiterated the developer would still have to come back for site plan approval and asked for continued public participation. Much of this participation will come in the “visioning” process, which is being led by FSU’s Urban and Regional Planning Department for a cost of $100,000. So far, the St. Joe Company has committed to half of that expense and several of the supporting groups have committed to a few thousand dollars. Anyone wanting a say in how Franklin County, in particular St. James Island, is to be developed in the future may want to consider contributing to the visioning funds.

There still are many loose ends remaining, and many of the groups stated their commitment to making sure the St. Joe Company follow through with all of their concessions. St. Joe is under a lot of pressure to develop SummerCamp to the restrictions imposed, and citizens and groups need to be vigilant. St. Joe has spent years getting state and local laws adjusted to meet their needs, and time will only tell what’s lined up next. 

... Chad Hanson, 1/23/03

top

Text from a speech by a Franklin County resident at the Commission meeting 1/21/03:

I am here today not to talk about the specifics of the St. Joe requests but rather about a broader and general concern, about the intangibles of this project. I shall call it a "sense of community."
     When St. Joe first proposed Summercamp, that is just what it was going to be, modest structures attuned to the idea of weekend getaways for people wanting to enjoy Franklin County's smorgasboard of outdoor activities and pristine environment. But that idea has faded and thanks to marketing research and financial imperatives Summercamp has turned into Summercastle, a gated community sporting million dollar homes.
     For Franklin County this will be akin to an 800 acre alien spaceship landing here. We don't know whether it will be good or bad. We don't know if more spaceships are coming. And we don't know if this spaceship carries some social virus that will kill off life as we know it.
     Gated communities is an oxymoron. They are really anti-communities. Summercamp will be exclusive not inclusive. By St. Joe's own admission Summercamp will be filled by second home and retired people, and I have little doubt that the majority of inhabitants will not come from Florida. These people will have little knowledge and no understanding of why Franklin County is so special and won't need to because they will be living in their own private world.
     The big disappointment is that St. Joe had a clean slate to work with to start out their development. They could have hired imagination and creativity to invent new communities of vision and social benefit. Instead we have the same cookie-cutter development that has despoiled so much of Florida. St. Joe's publicity campaigns involving donated land and habitat for humanity full page adds are so transparent in their intent it is hard not to be cynical.
     I would suggest that if it was anyone but St. Joe proposing this project before the Comprehensive Plan was completed they would be dismissed out of hand. St. Joe will suffer no undo hardship or burden if they are asked to wait til the Comprehensive Plan is completed. In fact they enjoy undue benefit already as the taxpayers subsidize St. Joe development with negligible tax rates on land clearly slated for development and which increases in value daily.
     The Franklin County planning office and by association this board has been negligent in getting the Comprehensive Plan on track. Monies are available all over the map to assist with this and I urge this commission to expedite the process by making it it's top funding and accomplishment priority. Put the Comprehensive Plan on the fast track.
     Do not set a precedent for more approvals of projects before the Comp plan is done. Please delay approval of Summercamp until our comp plan is completed.
... JimL, Franklin County, 1/21/03

SummerCamp OK'd  by Franklin County Commission

To no one's surprise, St. Joe's revised SummerCamp amendment to the comp plan in Franklin Co. passed unanimously. Bruce Ritchie will no doubt have a detailed piece on the Wed. Democrat.

The amendment as revised won the qualified endorsement of 1000 Friends, APECO, ABARK and the Florida Wildlife Federation. Still, comments -- many of them quite eloquent, well informed and reasoned-- overall ran 2:1 against. Many in opposition were simply saying, hey, what's the rush?  Let us redo our comp plan first by mid 2004), then we'll see how SummerCamp fits in and with what possible other modifications. (Just before the vote, county planning director Alan Pierce said that revising the comp plan would have little or no bearing on SummerCamp. But the proposed visioning process WOULD.)  In the final analysis, it was quite clear there wasn't much the public could say that would sway the pre-decided commissioners who in the course of the meeting made few if any intelligent inquiries about the project and its many ramifications.

St. Joe does deserve much credit for making changes that make SummerCamp more palatable environmentally. However, as one engineer pointed out, the new maps submitted with the revised SummerCamp proposal contain dated and faulty engineering data with respect to runoff and flood plain (or possibly high hazard flood zone?) calculations. New consultants did the revised analysis but with the same bad data -- garbage in, garbage out as the speaker said.

And land that was zoned agricultural with one unit per 40 acres is now going to be more like one unit for every 1 and 1/2 acres.  Questions about cost sharing, school construction, sewerage capacity, coastal evacuation, and more still remain.

The amendment now goes on to DCA for further review.

I left the meeting scratching my head about why public meetings take place when so much is decided ahead of time.  Nothing new here, I know.

... June, 1/21/03

Top

JEB's concern not for the people of the Panhandle, but for his St. Joe business partners

Top

Soon the whole state will be on a leash. Florida is rapidly becoming one big, green, chemically fed golf course with space reserved for McMansions, fast food alleys and eight-laned expressways so you never have to get stuck behind some Cracker's old raggedy truck on your way to the beach. From St. Petersburg to Cross City will be a brown-aired conurbation, with subdivisions named after the trees cleared, the lake polluted or the animals driven out in order to build it there. From Tallahassee to Pensacola, the forests will be cut down and the beaches cut off for the benefit of people who can afford to live in pastel fabrications called WindMark, WaterColor and SummerCamp.

The leash is starting to look like a noose.

I am one of those catfish-eating white people. My ancestors came down in Andrew Jackson's bloody wake around 1825. My father's people homesteaded in the swamps of Wakulla County. My mother's people farmed in the hills of Washington County. I guess you could call them developers -- in a sense. They logged the piney woods, they cleared oaks and hickory to plant cotton. They made a living off their land. So you might say I'm hypocritical in wishing that the St. Joe Co., the people who mean to develop 1-million acres of what they insist on calling "Florida's Great Northwest," would go away and wreck someplace else. But I'll embrace my hypocrisy. The Other Florida, as Gloria Jahoda famously called it, has a value far beyond the subdivisions and vacation houses and retirement villages and, God knows, the golf courses St. Joe dangles before the poor folks of the Panhandle as if they were the answer to a prayer. Not in my backyard. Not in yours, either.

The land our house in Tallahassee sits on used to be a pecan farm. Before that, it was part of Col. Robert Butler's Sea Island cotton fields. Before that, it was an Apalachee camp, just about a mile from the sacred mounds on Lake Jackson. It's now worth a fair amount of money to somebody who would like to build a couple of "plantation estates" or one of those ant-hill apartment complexes. It's worth more to us as a couple of green pastures, a hundred old trees and the kind of quiet that used to characterize all of North Florida. We don't want to make a killing off beauty and history.

Obviously, we're lousy capitalists, the kind of Panhandle people soon to be excommunicated from the Church of St. Joe.

The Other Florida is losing the battle with the behemoth of development. St. Joe will redraw the map with bulldozers, the promise of "maximizing economic opportunity" in hardscrabble Panhandle counties, and taxpayer money. You will be paying half the $47-million it will cost to move Highway 98 so that St. Joe can have more gulf-front property for its WindMark community. You will be paying 80 percent of the cost of Panama City's new airport, which St. Joe wants built on 4,000 acres of woods and wetlands it owns and has been leasing to the state as a wildlife management area.

Despite the current outrage over corporate greed and the pious noises politicians make about it, you will be subsidizing one of the wealthiest developers in Florida. This is what your state government calls "progress."

St. Joe's minions and fellow travelers proclaim -- with a straight face -- that their colonization of the Panhandle will benefit the people who used to make a living shrimping or farming or working in St. Joe's now-defunct paper mill. Alfred Cook, the imperially titled executive director of Florida's Great Northwest, recently wrote in a Tallahassee Democrat column that the developer's real goal is to ensure that "all the people in every town and hamlet enjoy prosperity." Well, maybe if groundskeeping at one of the golf courses or waitressing at one of the chi-chi seafood restaurants or running the cash register at a beach boutique counts as prosperity.

This so-called Florida's Great Northwest outfit styles itself a "forward-thinking group of business, academic and economic leaders." It is closely associated with St. Joe -- as well as Florida State University, the University of West Florida, Sprint, various energy companies and various banks. I don't see a lot of environmental groups listed on their Web site.

St. Joe claims they want to preserve the "character" of the places it bulldozes. But obviously all these little red-necky towns would be so much nicer with more Range Rover dealerships, faux Seaside houses, sushi places and marinas where regular citizens like you and me can park our yachts. Cook tries to convince the catfish-eaters of North Florida that their home must be "branded" so as to better express its "magic." You "brand" something to sell it. And I've seen how St. Joe "brands" the land. They took the old plantations of Verdura and Southwood, 9,000-odd acres of monumental live oaks and magnolias in Leon County, and made SouthWood, an alleged example of the "new urbanism." It's all nostalgic houses and "greens" and the earnest pretense that "folks" will sit on their front porches and shoot the breeze. North Florida's own Mayberry.

But the place is as fake and inorganic and historyless as Disney World. And no wonder: Peter Rummell, St. Joe's chairman, used to run Disney's wonderful world of real estate. He uses expressions like "regional place-making." It's as if he sees the Other Florida as a tabula rasa, a blank slate waiting for some almighty developer to come and declare, "Let there be townhomes!"

And to think we all thought we already lived in a real place, a beautiful place that should be valued in terms far more important than money.

Toward the end of Sunshine State, the golfers discuss how species are going extinct right and left and how Florida will one day return to the sea from whence it came. One golfer, disgusted with the depressing intricacies of weather and global warming, snarls, "Nature is overrated." Then the other one comes back with, "But we'll miss it when it's gone."

-- Diane Roberts, a former Times editorial writer, is a professor of English at the University of Alabama. 

Old Florida is falling to the developers
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 12, 2002

....posted by Galloway, 8/18/02

Top