Land for lagoon restoration may become part of housing proje= ct

By Robert P. King,= Palm Beach Post S= taff Writer
Monday, May 31, 2004

Rural= Martin County = land slated to help restore the Indian River Lagoon instead will become part of a 4,584-acre housing development, water management employees are recommending= .

T= he 212-home Harmony Ranch proposed west of Hobe Sound includes 1,800 acres of pasture where the South Florida Water Management District had planned to restore drained wetlands near the St. Lucie Canal.

I= nstead, water managers would have to look elsewhere for land needed to complete the 17,143-acre wetlands project. The swath is part of the district's $1.2 bill= ion Indian River Lagoon restoration plan, which Congress is expected to consider this year.

E= nvironmentalists objected, while the district's staff said the permit won't harm the restoration.

&= quot;This is a very small piece of land in the southeast corner of the Indian River Lagoon area," spokesman Roberto Fabricio s= aid Friday. The lagoon plan calls for a total of 92,130 acres of restored wetla= nds, plus 21,000 acres of reservoirs and filter marshes.

&= quot;There's still lots of land out there," said environmental regulation director Terrie Bates, who is recommending that the district's board OK the permit on June 9.

H= armony Ranch won't hurt any existing wetlands, she added.

B= ut Lake Park environmental lawyer Lisa Interlandi accused the district, once again, of letting development interfere with restoration.

&= quot;It's not OK to say, 'We think there's land elsewhere,' " said Interlandi, of the Environmental & Land Use Law = Center. With congressional review approaching, "It doesn't send the right mess= age to be making permitting decisions that will make land required for the proj= ect unavailable."

T= he water managers' decision is "tragic," said Martin County environmental activist Lloyd Brumfield. "They never saw a permit they didn't like."

T= he debate is nothing new for the district, which is competing with the region's galloping development as it scrambles to buy land for restoration.

E= nvironmentalists complained last year after the district and Palm Beach County agreed to let= The Scripps Research Institute sprout on Mecca Farms west of Palm Beach Gardens= , which water managers had considered using for a reservoir to replenish the Loxahatchee River.

T= wo years ago, water managers voted to let developer Lennar Corp. plop more than 2,000 homes in the middle of Biscayne Bay coastal wetlands that were part of its Everglades restoration project.

M= artin County Commissioner Michael DiTerlizzi said he = would object to the Harmony Ranch permit only if it would interfere with the lago= on restoration.

&= quot;If the district feels they have alternatives elsewhere, th= at's their decision," DiTerlizzi said. "As= long as the end result is a cleaner St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon, the= n I think we're on the right track."

H= armony Ranch caused a furor last year after developer Tom Kenny proposed building = 886 homes -- four times the number allowed in the county's land-use rules. Coun= ty commissioners rejected that proposal but agreed to a plan for 212 homes on 20-acre "ranchettes."

K= enny had considered clustering all those homes on the north end of the property, leaving the south end for preservation, according to a district staff repor= t. But such clustering would run afoul of county rules, the district reported.=

K= enny could not be reached Friday for comment.

bob_king@pbpost.com=