Posted on Tue, Oct. 12, 2004
Development wrong for Lake Jackson
By Dan Winchester
MY VIEW
County commissioners today will be asked to create a variance for a new large-scale development to be placed within sight of Lake Jackson. The project, proposed by Arbor Properties, is a bad idea for several reasons.
First, the proposed development violates our existing growth management plan - although the developer's public relations consultant recently asserted that this complex would be a way to slow "urban sprawl."
This statement is, on its face, absurd. While zoning allows for 53 single-family residences to be built on the site, Arbor is proposing to build an additional 120 homes, plus 312 apartments, plus nearly 120,000 square feet of commercial and office space. If this is not the very definition of urban sprawl, what is?
Second, this property has been found to be in violation of state law when the owners filled a wetland. It doesn't matter why they filled the wetland, they did, it was wrong, and the Department of Environmental Protection correctly called them on it. To say, after the fact, that this is somehow OK, and that the "turtle people" are unreasonable in their opposition, is fundamentally misguided and is offensive to the people who live in the Canopy Oaks/Lake Jackson area.
Third, this development would be bad for traffic. As opposed to the few dozen cars that would be allowed under the current zoning, this monster project would put a minimum of 1,000 new cars onto the already overstressed roads in northwest Leon County. Our growth plan is supposed to consider traffic needs, and this development fundamentally ignores the fact that Old Bainbridge and North Monroe are already well over capacity.
Fourth, and perhaps most importantly, this development would be very bad for the single-family neighborhoods it touches. A three-story apartment complex does not belong next to these single-family homes. Clearing the canopy road (as the developer intends) to create access would surely diminish one of the very special features of Old Bainbridge Road and the surrounding neighborhoods.
Through all this, here is the ultimate irony. The people of this community recognize that the developer has every right to build. But in this case, Arbor wants more - far more - than we had planned to allow.
Several years ago, we invested more than $20 million to clean and restore Lake Jackson. We removed more than 50,000 truckloads of polluted muck and sediment in the process. I am confident that taxpayers ("turtle people" included) do not want us to turn this lake into an eyesore. This issue goes far beyond the protection of the lake's ecosystem; it touches the very lives of the businesses and families who live here.
For all of these reasons citizens should stand up and oppose the request to drastically rezone this precious part of our community. You may speak out at the public hearing at the Leon County Courthouse at 6 today, or call county commissioners at 488-4710.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leon County Commissioner Dan Winchester's northwest district includes the Canopy Oaks/Lake Jackson area. Contact him at (850) 410-2223 or danw@leoncountyfl.gov
|
|
