Land for lagoon
restoration may become part of housing project
By Robert P. King,
Monday, May 31, 2004
The 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.
Instead, 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 billion Indian River Lagoon
restoration plan, which Congress is expected to consider this year.
Environmentalists objected,
while the district's staff said the permit won't harm the restoration.
"This is a very small
piece of land in the southeast corner of the Indian River Lagoon area,"
spokesman Roberto Fabricio said Friday. The lagoon plan calls for a total of
92,130 acres of restored wetlands, plus 21,000 acres of reservoirs and filter
marshes.
"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.
Harmony Ranch won't hurt any
existing wetlands, she added.
But
"It's not OK to say, 'We
think there's land elsewhere,' " said Interlandi, of the
The water managers' decision is
"tragic," said
The debate is nothing new for
the district, which is competing with the region's galloping development as it
scrambles to buy land for restoration.
Environmentalists 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.
Two years ago, water managers
voted to let developer Lennar Corp. plop more than 2,000 homes in the middle of
Martin County Commissioner
Michael DiTerlizzi said he would object to the Harmony Ranch permit only if it
would interfere with the lagoon restoration.
"If the district feels
they have alternatives elsewhere, that's their decision," DiTerlizzi said.
"As long as the end result is a cleaner St. Lucie River and Indian River
Lagoon, then I think we're on the right track."
Harmony 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. County commissioners
rejected that proposal but agreed to a plan for 212 homes on 20-acre
"ranchettes."
Kenny had considered clustering
all those homes on the north end of the property, leaving the south end for preservation,
according to a district staff report. But such clustering would run afoul of
county rules, the district reported.
Kenny could not be reached
Friday for comment.