Program creates towns, leaves farms

Date: January 30, 2006
Edition: Okeechobee News, Vol 97 No. 30
By: MaryAnn Morris, Independent Newspapers of Florida

Rural Land Stewardship Program (RLSP) was established in state law by the Florida Legislature first as a pilot program in 2001, and again in 2004 as a specifically "encouraged" land use strategy. The law sets up a process whereby land (and it can be more than one owner) 10,000 acres to 250,000 acres can be valued based not only on its potential for housing and shopping centers, but also on the natural ecosystems existing or that can be restored on the land.

According to the Florida Department of Community Affairs (DCA) it is a "county planning process to develop and protect rural areas."

A RLSP gives a market value to the uses and features of a property that the county decides are of value to the public, but which currently have little saleable value in the market. These features include the presence of wetlands, endangered species, recharge areas for underground aquifers that provide drinking water, flight paths for commercial aircraft and military training exercises, scenic view sheds, open space, etc. Instead of reducing the development potential of land, ecologically valuable features increase the value of the land developed under the RLSP. A RLSP does away with the public cost of acquiring land for parks, preserves, etc. by protecting open spaces.

In South Florida the water issue is a big issue, not only the periodic flooding, but also having enough clean water to support the population. In the dry season Floridians often have water use restrictions. By not paving large areas with sprawled-out development, rainfall can soak back into the ground.

The City of Moore Haven was the vision of James A. Moore and Clewiston, of A. Clewis. The result of the RLSP also is a small town with residential neighborhoods surrounded by farms, ranches and open space, much like American history: one man's vision or perhaps the natural grouping of individuals where transportation ways exist.

Yesterday, it was boats on the Kissimmee River, today the Turnpike! The Adams Ranch/Cloud Grove project in northwestern St. Lucie County is a RLSP. Of the 16,446 acres, about 12,000 are reserved to nature and cattle ranching. The remaining land will be turned into a town center, with schools, churches, homes and parks with interconnected local roads and places to walk and bike. Land planning calls for about 2 million square feet of commercial development in Cloud Grove.

The developers of RLSP projects are keenly interested in the thoughts of the people already living in the area.

"It's called a 'visioning' process," said Anita Jenkins of Wilson-Miller, land planners for the developer. (Wilson-Miller is also the land planner for the Ave Maria RLSP project in Collier County.) In a visioning process, developers hold public forums to learn the wants of the general public. The second of these meetings for Adams Ranch/Cloud Grove took place Wednesday, Jan. 25.

"We took all comments, narrowed it down to common themes. Now we are working with those themes to incorporate them into the plans for the community," said Steve Kaufman, director of planning for the Florida Conservancy and Development Group (FCDG). FCDG is a joint venture between two developers, Lennar and Centex Homes.

"It's a way to tap into the economic engine of growth to drive conservation," said Ernie Cox with Gunster, Yoakley & Stewart, P.A., attorneys for FCDG.

Mr. Sonny Williamson, Okeechobee County citrus grower and cattle rancher has a history of involvement with environmental issues. A past SFWMD board of governors' director, Mr. Williams currently sits on the board of directors of the Nature Conservancy.

"I could have intensified the use of my land, but my dad and I looked at it, long ago and we just said we wouldn't and we never did. We just left some of the land like it was. I didn't develop more pasture," he said. Mr. Williamson said the RLSP is a good alternative.

"Agricultural land in Florida is considered to be 'holding land,' land that's being held for what I've heard called the 'last crop' and that's houses. Houses are the last crop because once they're built there, they're never removed," said Mr. Williamson. "The RLSP gives that value to the land. It keeps the best of it, lets the farmer keep on farming. Rather than sprawling development, it creates towns and villages within."

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