wetlands protection watered down
tommyNewspapers satisfied with half-assing wetlands:
St. Pete Times editorial: Garrity’s plan is better than no program at all, but it is a loaded gun in the hands of the BOCC.
Tribune Editorial: Garrity’s changes seem sensible and will make the process more efficient and flexible. Besides, we can always change it back later.
Meanwhile, Dee Hood shows us her idea of this Hillsborough County BOCC’s new wetlands protection with another video.
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July 24th, 2007 at 6:29 pm
Here’s a note from a local developer on today’s Tribune Editorial, his family has been on the BOCC in the past:
>>> “David Campo” 7/24/2007 1:46 PM >>>
Re: Revamped Oversight Of Wetlands Could Get Board Out Of Hot Water
The Tampa Tribune
Published: July 24, 2007
Exactly what hot water is the board in? Hot water with Ms. Goudreau? Hot water with Dee Layne? Hot water with the Sierra Club? Who among you self-serving editors is an environmental scientist? Who among you is an engineer? Who among you has the decency, ethics, and willingness to seek the truth in this charade? Elimination of local wetlands protections will not result in rampant destruction of wetlands, wanton flooding, mudslides, and the eradication of wildlife as you continually claim in your weekly excoriation of the “board” and the evil, greedy developers. Certainly the big government, anti-development extremists believe this, and apparently now you have become proficient at regurgitating their talking points memo, now on a weekly basis. What a luxury it must be for you to be able to continually misrepresent the facts to the public with no oversight.
Government never does a good enough job to please everyone. Does that mean we need more of it? More government is always the solution for left wing extremists. It is profoundly sad and pathetic that the Tribune has now gravitated to this political extreme. Do we need a local IRS, because the one in Washington doesn’t do a good enough job? Do we need more sheriff deputies, because the TPD and the FHP don’t do a good enough job?
Do we need a local Department of Revenue, because the one in Tallahassee doesn’t do a good enough job? I could go on and on.
If the Sheriff cuts his budget by 5%, are we going to have lawlessness and rampant homicide? If we cut library hours of operation, are we going to become less intelligent? We don’t have a federal police force patrolling our neighborhoods, yet somehow the vast majority of us manage to abide by federal laws every day. Based on your assertions and theories about local wetlands protections, are you also implying that there are rampant federal crimes being committed because there is no local, federal police force?
The Tribune wants development stopped. At least have the guts to say so, and not hide behind some big government socialist agenda that implies we can’t brush our teeth without the government spreading the toothpaste on our toothbrush, providing us a manual with annual revisions, and taxing us on the staff to write the manual.
It is illegal to impact wetlands without a permit. This is a federal, state, regional, and local law. Does the language of each statute differ at each level? Of course. If your claim is that the Army Corps of Engineers, SWFWMD, and FDEP do such a terrible job, then SAY SO. If your claim is that all developers want to destroy the earth - then SAY SO. If your claim is that all developers are lawless criminals - then SAY SO.
Where is the outrage at the Riverwalk project? Oh I forgot, the Tribune likes that project. Where is the buffer from the river? 30ft, 50 ft., 100ft., how about NO BUFFER!! You are hypocrites. The LDC, Comp Plan, and all the agencies you think don’t do their jobs all require a substantial setback and buffer from the Hillsborough River. Where is the outrage Tribune? Sierra Club? Ms. Layne? Show me the buffer! Where is the rabid protection of the river? So ignoring setbacks and buffers are okay if it’s an urban infill project? Is that what your position is? The Tribune’s hypocrisy is deafening.
Your assertions in today’s editorial are again chicken-little hyperbole, are taken out of context, and repeatedly misrepresent the facts with material omissions of laws, science, and truth. For example, when referring to the “mining plan,” you fail to mention the 10:1 mitigation included in the “state” deal. That’s right, the mining company was going to create 10 times the acreage of wetlands it was going to impact. Oh, I forgot, mitigation doesn’t work.
You assert that EPC reviewed 446 wetland permits and SWFWMD only 166. It’s almost comical to read. Didn’t this same editorial board cite over 6000 reviews that EPC conducted last year in a previous rant? You cited comments coming from Jadell Kerr herself? Which is it, 6000 or 446? Are you also suggesting that SWFWMD is derelict in its duty by ignoring 280 permit applications? Your statements are at best misleading to the public, and at worst scandalous. Yet again the Tribune manipulates data as a means to an end.
You state that the community is “going to lose a lot of marshes” and then go on to assert that the only difference between state and local laws is wetlands less than a ½ acre. Marshes are not a half acre in size. Maybe hundreds of acres in size. This discussion is not about marshes. Does the Tribune even know what a marsh is?
You continue to beat the “flooding” drum. Do you have any earthly idea what storm water retention and attenuation is? Modern storm water rules and regulations mandate that up to 15% or more of a given development be dedicated to storm water retention and attenuation. ERP (SWFWMD) standards mandate the same sort of storm water retention and attenuation. Have you no shame? Do other counties without a local EPC have rampant flooding? I think not. Of course the extremist agenda you propagate mandates fear mongering peppered with half-truths and convenient omissions of fact.
Erosion? Virtually all wetland systems in Hillsborough County occur within relatively flat lands. Our topography does not mimic that of the Rocky Mountains. Significant buffers required by current law mitigate any danger of erosion, if it even exists at all. It is a violation of FEDERAL law to discharge any sediments, turbid water, dust, dirt etc. from any site. Ever heard of the NPDES or SWPP? These are federal programs designed to prevent any erosion at all from occurring. Serious fines have been levied for even the most minor of infractions. Get yourself up to speed on current federal law before you make such careless accusations and prognostications. Developers spend hundreds of millions of dollars annually complying with these federal laws and are required to keep exhaustive records of their monitoring programs, both during and after construction. Even wanton destruction of wetlands would not provide for this cataclysmic erosion you warn of. Get out your geography book, and figure out where you live. Then do a little research on current federal law. Stop lying to the public.
Obviously you have never submitted an application for a permit through EPC. Think IRS audit, local automobile tag office, drivers license office, colostomy, root canal, and emergency room visit all rolled into one. While the Tribune and the environmental extremists revel in this, it has become a most painful of tasks. Coupled with the obvious and blatant political agenda of Wetlands Division staff (see Jadell Kerr’s rant on left wing extremist website), it has become an unfair and ridiculously costly burden. The agenda of the Division has been to stop development at all costs, while using a poorly written rule to execute that agenda. The (wetland) rule is a moving target, it lacks subjective criteria and technical standards, and the people who enforce it have realized this and use it as a baseball bat to bully developers. The permitting process with EPC is subjective, unprofessional, and has no definable review times, permitting time frames, or standards to which they must adhere. The hiring of multiple qualified environmental scientists, ecologists, biologists, land use attorneys, engineers etc. in the (EPC) permitting process adds thousands of dollars to the cost of a new home. Fair? I think not. You say the cost of EPC is a million dollars? Try hundreds of millions of dollars. It’s just not defined in a sexy budget somewhere. It’s hidden in a school teacher’s mortgage payment.
The Tribune is disgraceful for calling the (EPC) board disgraceful. The development community doesn’t have an agenda. We want a fair process and a chance to provide affordable housing to the community. We have enough multiple layers of duplicity to deal with as it is. The Tribune and the environmental extremists want 50 story high rise mixed-use developments that straddle the Hillsborough River. How hypocritical. The agenda is on the left, and it’s whatever suits them and their neighborhood. Some of us enlightened citizens want less government, lower taxes, and less intrusiveness in our lives. Sorry to steal enlightened from the left. Four (4) agencies exist to permit one event is DISGRACEFUL.
The plan offered by Dr. Garrity is courageous. The undeniable truth is that he cannot possibly deliver on all of the proposals without adding staff, and costs to his budget. It is laughable to think this is not true. “One-stop” permitting will never be achieved. Delegation from other agencies does not come without a cost. Adding staff does not come without a cost. Adding computer systems and associated training does not come without a cost. Dr. Garrity’s plan does nothing to address duplication, in regards to SWFWMD, where the most overlap occurs. EPC will never staff up to regulate ERP, a task of galactic proportions.
Ms. Layne and the extremists, like you, will never be happy unless development is stopped entirely. The extremists have a well organized lobby, and a well formed army of activists who have nothing better to do with their lives, like raising a family and working for a living. I commend them for their enthusiasm and diligence. The rest of us don’t have our entire day to devote to environmental extremism, political activism, and polarization through misinformation. Shame on you for pushing this agenda.
Please contact me for more information,
Respectfully,
David Campo
**** contact information removed - tommy ***
July 24th, 2007 at 6:30 pm
The beginning of that ;ast email should have said: “Here’s a note from a local developer on today’s Tribune Editorial, his family has been on the BOCC in the past:”
July 24th, 2007 at 7:33 pm
Same old assumptions that all opposition is from the left, from “extremists who don’t have families.” If we didn’t have families, why would we give a rat’s ass what Hillsborough County looked like in 50 years?
Look at how the landscape has changed just in the past decade. Look at how other areas of the country have dealt with encroaching development and environmental protection more succesfully than we have. Look at how easily our elected officials cave in to developer bribes, because there’s no other big business here to put opposing pressure on the elected officials to make Hillsborough County competitive when it comes to drawing top talent.
No one in their right mind will defend layers and layers of costly ineffective bureaucracy. It’s a poor defense for the citizens of Hillsborough County, but what else do we have? We can’t bribe elected officials like developers can. Hell, we can’t even get them to represent us and we pay their damn salaries!
Developers don’t have an agenda, they just want to provide affordable housing…over every pavable square inch of the county. Hillsborough County is a cash machine for them and they won’t stop until they’ve pumped it dry. Then they’ll move on and leave us with the flooding, the traffic, the overcrowded schools, the concrete vistas, and the tax burden they claim to be saving us from by eliminating the EPC.
July 30th, 2007 at 6:06 pm
[...] at the Tampa Tribune. A Sticks of Fire reader also got a copy of the entire email, and posted the unedited version on Sticks [...]
July 31st, 2007 at 9:28 am
This comment is belated, but it seems that the current EPC process has caused very little impediment to development so one must wonder just how burdensome it truly is. Hillsborough County continues to be built-out and sprawled with little regard for the long-term effects of displacing naturally occuring wetlands. Campos letter is fraught with inconsistencies. First, urban infill certainly begs for completely different standards than suburban, low-density, widespread encroachment into semi-natural environs.
For instance the development of the Riverwalk is redevelopment of a waterfront that, for over 100 years, has been covered with manmade structures. Campo also mixes up local and larger umbrella regulators in ways that appear to be whimsical and confused. A local IRS is not necessary because the taxes collected are Federal, but we do have a local Property Appraiser and Tax collector for those taxes that are collected and administered at a local level. We also have lawmakers and local executives that direct the spending of local funds, as it would be quite assinine to have Washington-based bureaucrats directing the spending of money on our local Fire Dept, or Trash collection. He also alluded to needing more deputies if TPD or FHP didn’t do their jobs, again mixing metaphors. If FHP was not responding to calls that fell within the areas of their responsibility, you can bet the good citizens of Hillsborough County would demand the Sheriff’s Office make up the shortfall until the state was brought to task, however TPD doesn’t operate outside the city so he’s trying to form a point that makes no sense. How would the performance of TPD have any effect on the SO’s responsibility. However the very presence of TPD indicates that a more local law enforcement agency is needed to deal with the local differences in crime. Hence the need for a more local body to regulate more County specific wetlands issues.
Campo’s letter is chock full of the inconsistencies and hypocrisy of which he accuses the Tribune, with a much clearer agenda. While the local EPC might present a minor inconvenience to the permitting process, ultimately it only impacts the bottom line(delays are dollars) for the developers who are driven by nothing more than greed.
August 5th, 2007 at 9:19 pm
I think what Mr. Campo has said is in every way exactly right. There are people who claim they know and care about what is going on here or there They will beat lie, manipulate, and mislead you. Mr. Campo is not one of those people. It’s too bad people say and do things they think other people want them to say or do just so they can fit in to that certain little group. All of us should be more outspoken on what we believe in like Mr. Campo.
August 8th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
Nice video Denise. Did you work on that from your beautiful $350,000 dollar house in a subdivision on the Little Manatee River? Yeah, the house built on a filled in wetland. Good work. You got your paradise, what right does anyone else have to get theirs? I see extremists calling Mr. Campo a hypocrite. Then I type their names into the county property appraiser site and wonder who really is operating under false pretenses.
August 22nd, 2007 at 2:07 pm
AMC, actually no she didn’t. Denise (Dee) is my sister-in-law.
Her house is a small place that she and my brother bought and fixed up on a shoestring over the last nine years, doing the work themselves as their income does not afford hiring out the work. It was not built on a filled in wetland but on the river bank.
I do not doubt your appraisal of its value now, if you did look it up. I do know they didn’t pay much for it nine years ago, it was a pretty crummy place when they started.
I myself live in a trailer with addition here in Vermont which I bought for 41,000 and five years later it’s more than doubled in value, go figure.