TALLAHASSEE
- Ormond Beach state Sen. Evelyn Lynn says she only was trying to help
rural areas around the state lure more development.
But the
result was that Lynn last week helped derail a proposed rewrite of
Florida' growth laws in the dying hours of the legislative session. She
tried -- but failed -- to add an amendment that would have exempted
some large-scale rural developments from Florida's anti-sprawl law.
Tom Pelham, Florida' top development regulator, says her language would
have helped one project, a 2,000-acre multi-use development called
Mariposa, planned for rural eastern Putnam County but rejected by the
state Department of Community Affairs that Pelham heads.
The
project, which was in Lynn's district, called for more than 3,000
homes, offices and a hospital on a tract of land bigger than the University of Florida's Gainesville
campus. Lynn's amendment spells out that a qualified project would have
to include a hospital with at least 70 beds, which Mariposa did.
Pelham said it was being pushed by a lobbyist
for the
developer, Boca
Raton-based Ascot Acquisitions.
His department had denied the project's permit, and last month the
County Commission also pulled the plug.
Pelham called it "one of the worst development proposals I've ever
seen," adding the massive project was "out in the middle of nowhere,
with major wetlands on it, miles from any roads and objected to by
virtually every state agency, locals, environmental groups and
surrounding land owners."
The amendment would have reopened the
door for the project to get approved without demonstrating to the
department how it would avoid creating sprawl.
Lynn says the
language wasn't given to her by Ascot's lobbyist and was designed to
help not just that project, but others in rural areas.
"All the
economic-development dollars and people who want to create jobs are
going to the larger areas and not the smaller areas where people are
absolutely suffering," Lynn said Tuesday.
Teri Gevinson,
co-founder of Ascot Development, said the change probably would have
come too late to restart her project but would have helped other
developers.
"It was more so those kind of things don't happen again," she said.
The proposed amendment was to a bill originally pushed by Pelham.
The bill was intended to curtail piecemeal development and empower
citizens in community planning.
After her amendment failed 20-18, Lynn made a procedural move to delay
a final vote on the bill -- effectively killing it on the last day of
the session.
The House version was carried by Rep. Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park.
It also would have reduced state scrutiny for clustered economic
development around high-tech centers such as Orlando's Burnham
Institute.
Both chambers' bills would have tightened the limits on how often local
governments can change their growth plans -- a problem Pelham argued is
fueling public angst about growth and giving ammunition to Florida
Hometown Democracy, the group trying to mandate that development
decisions be approved by voters.
"I expect that the sponsors of Hometown Democracy are very happy with
the way things turned out," Pelham said Tuesday.
"All of this will add fuel to their cause, I'm sure."
Aaron Deslatte can be reached at
adeslatte@orlandosentinel.com or 850-222-5564.
