Showing posts with label swiftmud. Show all posts

Friday, September 4, 2015

Science Doesn’t Matter Much to Water Management District Board

Dennis Maley•

Thursday, Sep 03, 2015

Last week, the governing board of the Southwest Florida Water Management District voted to ignore the recommended order of an administrative law judge and allow local developer Pat Neal to destroy high-quality wetlands in order to build four McMansions on Perico Island.

When it comes to understanding how our local environmental resources are squandered, the story of this development is instructive. It shows a flawed process in which those who decide the fate of some of our most precious resources are often the same ones who have demonstrated the least respect and appreciation for it.

SWFMD originally voted to issue the required permit. The challengers, which included TBT publisher Joe McClash, asked that an administrative law judge review the application and issue a recommended order. After three days of presenting evidence, expert witness testimony and scientific explanations as to why the proposed development would be devastating to the local ecology, that administrative law judge’s findings of fact led him to issue a recommended order that the water management district deny the request for the permit.

In the somewhat backward process of such matters, that order than was given back to the same board who was already poised to pass it. At the meeting, Neal’s team was able to present all of their supporting arguments for ignoring the ALJ’s ruling, while McClash and his partners, which included Sierra Club, F.I.S.H. and Manasota88, then had just 20 minutes to convince the governing board to follow the ALJ’s recommended order.

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Public can tell Pat Neal where to go

Public Can Still Weigh in on Perico Island Mangroves

Published Tuesday, June 30, 2015 12:10 am

by Joe McClash

When it comes to the unique permit Pat Neal requested from SWFMD to allow the developer to destroy high-quality mangroves and replace them with four homes, the message could not be more clear: don't do it. Neal requested a permit similar to the days of the 1960’s and 70’s when there was no environmental regulation. A litany of regulatory agencies have ruled against the proposed project, but it’s not over yet.

In an ALJ recommended order issued last week, here is what the judge summarized:

“Although not acknowledged by the District, this is an unusual project. It resembles the kind of project that was common in the 1960s and 1970s in Florida, before the enactment of environmental regulatory programs, when high-quality wetlands were destroyed by dredging and filling to create land for residential development. In all the reported DOAH cases involving ERPs and mitigation of wetland impacts, the circumstances have involved impaired wetlands and/or the restoration or permanent protection of other wetlands on the project site. No case could be found where an applicant simply paid for authorization to destroy almost an acre of high-quality wetlands and convert it to uplands."

Saturday, June 27, 2015

ALJ Issues Recommended Order Against Neal on Perico Island

from The Bradenton Times

Published Friday, June 26, 2015 12:11 am

by Dennis Maley

BRADENTON — Pat Neal intended to build what was described as a family compound on 40 acres of Perico Island re-zoned by the City of Bradenton in violation of its own rules and without a public hearing. But after already having his plans to destroy mangroves on the island shot down by the Army Corps of Engineers, an Administrative Law Judge issued a recommended order to the Southwest Florida Water Management District on Thursday not to approve Neal's permit to destroy high-quality, productive mangroves and replace them with four homes.

After running down a lengthy finding of facts, ALJ Bram Canter issued conclusions of law that called the proposed development, held by Neal through a trust, "an unusual project" that

"resembles the kind of project that was common in the 1960s and 1970s in Florida, before the enactment of environmental regulatory programs, when high-quality wetlands were destroyed by dredging and filling to create land for residential development."

Canter added that "In all the reported DOAH cases involving ERPs and mitigation of wetland impacts, the circumstances have involved impaired wetlands and/or the restoration or permanent protection of other wetlands on the project site. No case could be found where an applicant simply paid for authorization to destroy almost an acre of high-quality wetlands and convert it to uplands."

Attorney Ralf Brooks represented the Sierra Club. “We agree with the findings and conclusions of the Administrative Law Judge," said Brooks in a statement after the decision was released. "It is important to preserve these mature mangrove wetlands on site because they provide natural storm protection, prevent erosion and provide important habitat for wildlife here in Anna Maria Sound near the historic fishing village of Cortez. It is important to protect our remaining mangrove wetlands as valuable natural resources especially in aquatic preserves and outstanding Florida waters."

Neal's trust has 15 days to file exceptions to findings of fact and conclusions of law contained in the recommended order with SFWMD, who issues the final order. Neal is being opposed by several groups including Manasota 88, Sierra Club, Suncoast Waterkeeper, the Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage (FISH) and TBT publisher Joe McClash.

Background

........................

Army Corp Tells Neal Not to Kill Mangroves on Perico Island

The Bradenton Times

Published Saturday, March 21, 2015 12:07 am

by Staff Report

Pat Neal Gets SWFMD Permit to Destroy Wetlands on Perico

The Bradenton Times

Published Friday, August 29, 2014 12:10 am

by Joe McClash

Citizens for Sarasota County