Wildlife Officials Angry Over Florida Golf Course Project
Another Florida Golf course community, another battle to save Collier County's vanishing wetlands.
A project that would destroy nearly 600 acres of wetlands is drawing sharp criticism from federal environmental officials and local environmental groups.
"I'm gagging over the wetlands impacts," said Nancy Payton, Southwest Florida field representative for the Florida Wildlife Federation. "It's just over the top."
Plans call for building up to 2,000 homes, a golf course and enough commercial space to cover 10 football fields east of Collier Boulevard near the intersection at Rattlesnake Hammock Road. The project lies in critical Florida panther habitat and straddles Collier's urban boundary line.
The nutrients generated by the new roads, rooftops and manicured lawns might cause "significant degradation and water quality impacts" downstream, James D. Giattina, director of the Environmental Protection Agency's water management division in Atlanta, wrote in a letter last month.
One of the proposed outfalls for the project is the Henderson Creek Canal, the main tributary for Rookery Bay, which is listed as an Outstanding Florida Waterway.
But the environment isn't the only consideration here.
Swamp buggies on the move?
Toll Brothers, a luxury home builder, paid $108 million for the land last year and is looking to acquire more. The Florida Sports Park, which has hosted swamp buggy races for 20 years, might be making way for the project — but not that far away.
Toll Brothers is negotiating to buy the 28-acre park in a deal that also would give the park owners a new spot for the "Mile-O-Mud" within the project area.
Rob Swift, president of the nonprofit Swamp Buggy Inc., said "it's hard to say" whether the deal will become finalized. There are several reasons to accept the offer, he added.
"The (existing) facility is really old," Swift said "We're talking a little more land than we have now, a new facility and money in the bank."
Swift declined to discuss several details of the potential deal, such as the exact location of the new park. Representatives of Toll Brothers and the Sembler Co., which is handling the project's retail aspect, were unavailable for comment Friday.
Talks involving the park's sale go back a few years to the surrounding property's previous owner, Mike Taylor of Vision & Faith Inc., Swift said. A proposal that had the swamp buggy track moving to the Orangetree area off Immokalee Road crumbled when nearby homeowners strongly objected.
Swift said there are no plans to move the attraction outside of Collier. The raucous shows routinely draw crowds of 5,000 people.
"This is where swamp buggy racing started, and that's where we plan on keeping it," said Sandy Montz, one of Swamp Buggy Inc.'s board of directors.
Wetlands woes
With its proximity to the Everglades, Collier County has found itself at the center of a nationwide debate over wetlands destruction in recent years.
A golf course development known as Mirasol, north of Immokalee Road, turned into an emblem for an environmentalist-led movement that aimed to curtail wetlands permits. That project involves nearly 600 acres of direct impacts to wetlands and a souped-up ditch that would have affected some 1,000 acres of wetlands beyond the subdivision's borders.
The wetlands' destruction would rob wood storks of a key feeding area, environmentalists argued. The project is a few miles west of Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, an Audubon-owned haven for the endangered birds. The proposed "flowway" will lower water levels as far away as the sanctuary, by some estimates.
The project's advocates said the flowway would reduce flooding to the north, particularly in eastern Bonita Springs, where heavy rains caused mass evacuations in 1995. The flowway would route flood waters into the Cocohatchee River.
In a rare move, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied the permit last December. Landowner J.D. Nicewonder has filed an appeal to the denial.
In the meantime, several environmental groups have filed a lawsuit challenging a Corps permit that will destroy 200 acres of wetlands at nearby Parklands, another proposed golf course community.
A battle looms
Enter Toll Brothers.
"How they think they can get permitted for that when there's this intense campaign over the Cocohatchee Slough is beyond me," Payton said.
Nearly 80 percent of the project's 2,250 acres consists of wetlands, according to surveys. Plans call for preserving nearly 1,200 acres of wetlands and removing exotics such as melaleuca trees to help nature rebound.
But with its proposal to dredge and fill in 582 acres of wetlands, the project "is one of the largest we've seen in Southwest Florida," said Skip Bergmann, team leader in the Army Corps' regulatory office in Fort Myers.
The federal Clean Water Act requires developers to avoid wetlands impacts and, failing in that, minimize the effect as much as possible. As long as the Toll Brothers project includes a golf course, the developer isn't doing everything it can to avoid clashing with wetlands, said Brad Cornell, a policy advocate for the Collier County Audubon Society and Audubon of Florida.
The EPA, in its review, asked the developer to "provide alternative site locations (for the development) that have been considered that would have less adverse impacts on the aquatic environment."
Reviewers with the South Florida Water Management District, which also plays a large role in wetlands permitting, have asked Toll Brothers to revise its plans to reduce wetlands harm. One of district's suggestions was to eliminate the swamp buggy track.
In response, Emilio Robau of RWA Consulting, one of the developer's consultants, wrote that "it is not feasible" to do away with the track because "Collier County recognizes the swamp buggy facility as part of its cultural heritage."
"We're going to try to work with them," said Ed Cronyn, senior supervising environmental analyst with the Water Management District's Fort Myers office.
The development also will need a growth management plan change and a rezoning approval from Collier County, officials say. The growth plan change could take years because the next review period doesn't begin until early 2008.
Nutrient loading
By the developer's estimate, the project will contribute 4,524 kilograms of nitrogen a year to the watery environment, about twice as much as what the sprawling property adds in its undeveloped state.
But environmentalists contend those calculations are flawed and that the difference in pre- and post-development water quality will be far greater.
The methodology is based on a developer-backed study that, environmentalists argue, incorrectly assumes that natural wetlands cause pollution. Wetlands act like kidneys, filtering nutrients that would otherwise trigger algae blooms in open water, experts say.
Part of the Parklands lawsuit questions the wetlands-as-polluters methodology, Cornell said.
Toll Brothers' consultants estimate that the site's wetlands produce 2,171 kilograms of nitrogen a year. "Water that goes through wetlands doesn't come out as distilled water at the other end either," Bergmann said in defense of the methodology.
He acknowledged, though, that the methodology "is not a perfect method" and will be replaced when the state develops a list of maximum pollutant loads for individual waterways in Southwest Florida.
One of the potential recipients of the polluted storm water would be the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, a federally protected 12,500-acre system of mangroves, pine forests and water.
"This area is extremely vulnerable to changes in timing and amount of water flowing through it toward Rookery Bay ... to the south," reserve administrator Gary Lytton wrote in January in response to the development proposal.
The development will "increase the anthropogenic (human) disturbance in the area," Lytton added.
Wildlife concerns
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists are still reviewing the project to determine its impact to wildlife, Bergmann said.
Toll Brothers' consultants note that Florida panthers, red-cockaded woodpeckers and wood storks have been found on the site, but, they argue, none of the species will be threatened by the project.
Four radio-collared panthers have wandered onto the property at one time or another. Last year, two panthers were killed on Collier Boulevard not far from where Toll Brothers intends to build.
There are about 80 panthers left in the wild, making them one of the most endangered species on the planet. South Florida is their last refuge. A federal recovery plan made public in January called for relocating some panthers to other southeastern states because subdivisions have eaten away too much of the panthers' habitat for the species to survive here.
A project that would destroy nearly 600 acres of wetlands is drawing sharp criticism from federal environmental officials and local environmental groups.
"I'm gagging over the wetlands impacts," said Nancy Payton, Southwest Florida field representative for the Florida Wildlife Federation. "It's just over the top."
Plans call for building up to 2,000 homes, a golf course and enough commercial space to cover 10 football fields east of Collier Boulevard near the intersection at Rattlesnake Hammock Road. The project lies in critical Florida panther habitat and straddles Collier's urban boundary line.
The nutrients generated by the new roads, rooftops and manicured lawns might cause "significant degradation and water quality impacts" downstream, James D. Giattina, director of the Environmental Protection Agency's water management division in Atlanta, wrote in a letter last month.
One of the proposed outfalls for the project is the Henderson Creek Canal, the main tributary for Rookery Bay, which is listed as an Outstanding Florida Waterway.
But the environment isn't the only consideration here.
Swamp buggies on the move?
Toll Brothers, a luxury home builder, paid $108 million for the land last year and is looking to acquire more. The Florida Sports Park, which has hosted swamp buggy races for 20 years, might be making way for the project — but not that far away.
Toll Brothers is negotiating to buy the 28-acre park in a deal that also would give the park owners a new spot for the "Mile-O-Mud" within the project area.
Rob Swift, president of the nonprofit Swamp Buggy Inc., said "it's hard to say" whether the deal will become finalized. There are several reasons to accept the offer, he added.
"The (existing) facility is really old," Swift said "We're talking a little more land than we have now, a new facility and money in the bank."
Swift declined to discuss several details of the potential deal, such as the exact location of the new park. Representatives of Toll Brothers and the Sembler Co., which is handling the project's retail aspect, were unavailable for comment Friday.
Talks involving the park's sale go back a few years to the surrounding property's previous owner, Mike Taylor of Vision & Faith Inc., Swift said. A proposal that had the swamp buggy track moving to the Orangetree area off Immokalee Road crumbled when nearby homeowners strongly objected.
Swift said there are no plans to move the attraction outside of Collier. The raucous shows routinely draw crowds of 5,000 people.
"This is where swamp buggy racing started, and that's where we plan on keeping it," said Sandy Montz, one of Swamp Buggy Inc.'s board of directors.
Wetlands woes
With its proximity to the Everglades, Collier County has found itself at the center of a nationwide debate over wetlands destruction in recent years.
A golf course development known as Mirasol, north of Immokalee Road, turned into an emblem for an environmentalist-led movement that aimed to curtail wetlands permits. That project involves nearly 600 acres of direct impacts to wetlands and a souped-up ditch that would have affected some 1,000 acres of wetlands beyond the subdivision's borders.
The wetlands' destruction would rob wood storks of a key feeding area, environmentalists argued. The project is a few miles west of Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, an Audubon-owned haven for the endangered birds. The proposed "flowway" will lower water levels as far away as the sanctuary, by some estimates.
The project's advocates said the flowway would reduce flooding to the north, particularly in eastern Bonita Springs, where heavy rains caused mass evacuations in 1995. The flowway would route flood waters into the Cocohatchee River.
In a rare move, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied the permit last December. Landowner J.D. Nicewonder has filed an appeal to the denial.
In the meantime, several environmental groups have filed a lawsuit challenging a Corps permit that will destroy 200 acres of wetlands at nearby Parklands, another proposed golf course community.
A battle looms
Enter Toll Brothers.
"How they think they can get permitted for that when there's this intense campaign over the Cocohatchee Slough is beyond me," Payton said.
Nearly 80 percent of the project's 2,250 acres consists of wetlands, according to surveys. Plans call for preserving nearly 1,200 acres of wetlands and removing exotics such as melaleuca trees to help nature rebound.
But with its proposal to dredge and fill in 582 acres of wetlands, the project "is one of the largest we've seen in Southwest Florida," said Skip Bergmann, team leader in the Army Corps' regulatory office in Fort Myers.
The federal Clean Water Act requires developers to avoid wetlands impacts and, failing in that, minimize the effect as much as possible. As long as the Toll Brothers project includes a golf course, the developer isn't doing everything it can to avoid clashing with wetlands, said Brad Cornell, a policy advocate for the Collier County Audubon Society and Audubon of Florida.
The EPA, in its review, asked the developer to "provide alternative site locations (for the development) that have been considered that would have less adverse impacts on the aquatic environment."
Reviewers with the South Florida Water Management District, which also plays a large role in wetlands permitting, have asked Toll Brothers to revise its plans to reduce wetlands harm. One of district's suggestions was to eliminate the swamp buggy track.
In response, Emilio Robau of RWA Consulting, one of the developer's consultants, wrote that "it is not feasible" to do away with the track because "Collier County recognizes the swamp buggy facility as part of its cultural heritage."
"We're going to try to work with them," said Ed Cronyn, senior supervising environmental analyst with the Water Management District's Fort Myers office.
The development also will need a growth management plan change and a rezoning approval from Collier County, officials say. The growth plan change could take years because the next review period doesn't begin until early 2008.
Nutrient loading
By the developer's estimate, the project will contribute 4,524 kilograms of nitrogen a year to the watery environment, about twice as much as what the sprawling property adds in its undeveloped state.
But environmentalists contend those calculations are flawed and that the difference in pre- and post-development water quality will be far greater.
The methodology is based on a developer-backed study that, environmentalists argue, incorrectly assumes that natural wetlands cause pollution. Wetlands act like kidneys, filtering nutrients that would otherwise trigger algae blooms in open water, experts say.
Part of the Parklands lawsuit questions the wetlands-as-polluters methodology, Cornell said.
Toll Brothers' consultants estimate that the site's wetlands produce 2,171 kilograms of nitrogen a year. "Water that goes through wetlands doesn't come out as distilled water at the other end either," Bergmann said in defense of the methodology.
He acknowledged, though, that the methodology "is not a perfect method" and will be replaced when the state develops a list of maximum pollutant loads for individual waterways in Southwest Florida.
One of the potential recipients of the polluted storm water would be the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, a federally protected 12,500-acre system of mangroves, pine forests and water.
"This area is extremely vulnerable to changes in timing and amount of water flowing through it toward Rookery Bay ... to the south," reserve administrator Gary Lytton wrote in January in response to the development proposal.
The development will "increase the anthropogenic (human) disturbance in the area," Lytton added.
Wildlife concerns
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists are still reviewing the project to determine its impact to wildlife, Bergmann said.
Toll Brothers' consultants note that Florida panthers, red-cockaded woodpeckers and wood storks have been found on the site, but, they argue, none of the species will be threatened by the project.
Four radio-collared panthers have wandered onto the property at one time or another. Last year, two panthers were killed on Collier Boulevard not far from where Toll Brothers intends to build.
There are about 80 panthers left in the wild, making them one of the most endangered species on the planet. South Florida is their last refuge. A federal recovery plan made public in January called for relocating some panthers to other southeastern states because subdivisions have eaten away too much of the panthers' habitat for the species to survive here.
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