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November 18, 2008 Recently elected Commissioners take their seats. Commission Chair to be appointed. Please read the following: Why Sarah Heard, aka "Dr.
"K-NO-W" should not be appointed Chair. The following letter is being hand
delivered to the
8 Middle Rd. Monday, November 17, 2008 To: New Martin County
Commissioners Re: New Chair, Opinion. Congratulations to the new Commissioners and a thank you to those who have served in the past. I write on behalf of my kids & grandkids, and the counties as a whole. I am hoping that your service will lead to a future in Martin County for them. Their future in the County might very well be dependant on decisions you all make. I am hoping that those decisions will help sustain existing business and result in new business coming to the County, small and otherwise. It is important that you choose a Chair that will help lead in that effort, pro business. While tenure might very well be a consideration, as per the Stuart News endorsement of Sarah Heard, past performance should be the ultimate criteria. Mrs. Heard’s constant/regular “No’s” have become all to predictable. I have come to calling Sarah “The Best, Simply The Best” & “Dr. K-No-W” at my website. She seems to have great difficulty what constitutes a “benefit” to the County or Community as a whole. She is the “Best” dressed and the “Best” prepared to find most any detail that will derail a pro business project. One could write about many but I will use “Venture Park” as a prime example. After several attempts ( Sept 07, Oct. 07 & more and May. 20, 08) and many objections (“K-No-W”) the applicant finally gained approval, 4 – 1, of course another “K-No-W” . His closing comments were a thank you to the Commission & staff. The applicant then addressed Commissioner Heard directly stating that ratable’ (tax revenue) s & jobs are a “benefit’ to the County. That he lived in Martin County that his kids went to school in Martin and that he pays taxes to Martin. He then stated that he named his Industrial Park “Venture” because it would be and that Venture Boat Company had tried to open in Martin but Venture Boats was shot down by the Commission and they moved on to St. Lucie County! Presumably Venture Boats got “No”. He left the podium with no comment from Commissioner Heard. Venture is but one of many many “K-No-W’s! Another was Adams Ranch and her refusal to “Yea” the Adams Ranch obvious, common sense, request. Her boorish ‘Good Ole Boys” remark was un called for. 4 – 1 for Adams! Commissioner Heard’s position on most any pro business project carries on. The Commission should carry on as a whole under new progressive leadership. Vote “K-NO-W” on Heard. With Kind Regards, Don Gleichman Cc: all sitting & elected Martin County Commissioners by email or in hand. More later. July 14, 2008 Sheriff cuts 26 positions page # 30Here Click to download attachment * "Our" being that portion paid fro via ad valorem taxes.
"Ballot-box zoning," critics call it. Barney Bishop, SOC's head, is quoted by the St. Pete Times as saying that: “AIF is not about to see Florida taken over by what he calls 'no-growthers and some radical environmentalists.' Wednesday, August 22, 2007 The usual suspects made their usual obnoxious appearances. None more so than Master Gardener Summers, from Plant City. We missed any statements from Mr. Shore as we tuned in 15 after. 6 hours later not having heard from him we assume he was first up or shut up after Ms. Carol D blew him/ them out of water in her letter to the Ed. Carol Davies? Nice job Carol. More later, still in recovery after 6 plus hrs.of sheer hell. As a
county staffer who is a friend of some of my ex's said to me after I said I
watched MCTV 20, he said Don you need to get a life. That was a year ago.
The speakers refrained from abusive and loud language (the request of the
Chair prior to taking questions) and it was evident that their main concern was
urban sprawl often referred to as the Counties to the South, Broward & Palm
Beach, and County to the North i.e., St. Lucie. Who's
residents by the way have invaded our (Martins) boat ramps and beaches, oops!,
sorry for the loud. We can thank a newly elected St. Lucie Cty.
Commissioner (Grande) for a lot of that mess. Sorry for the digression.
More on that later There are obviously truly concerned citizens at these forums. Surely all will
not be appeased, nor should they. Hopefully, some of there effort will bear
fruit. County Commissioners and Staff most always seem responsive to most
issues, save for the most bellicose.
The
following presented as handout at Blake Library meeting of the “Martin County
Consensus, Inc. Monday July 9, 2007. They
were the substance of the meeting. This amendment allows 2 acre lots throughout the entire agricultural area. Any owner of Agricultural land anywhere in Martin County may elect to cluster and propose a future land use amendment on the remaining unclustered land to Institutional Conservation. Staff proposes to modify the definition of Institutional Conservation to clearly allow construction of stormwater treatment/ drainage areas on these "conservation" lands. Can these stormwater areas be used for the sole benefit of the cluster? This "conservation" tract may be conveyed to a "public entity". "public entity" is not defined. There are NO requirements that the proposed tract to be conveyed to the "public entity" have any environmental significance or be on any lists for prioritized conservation land acquisition. A state or local acquisition list could include right of way for any new road or the widening of an existing one, such as 609 or the tree-canopied part of 714. There is no mention anywhere of how much the land to be conveyed will cost the "public entity". Will the developer sell for market cost to the public? All Agricultural land is also eligible for TDRs using agriculture protection easements to be deeded to the Board of County Commissioners. There are no provisions for perpetual protection. There are no requirements for bonafide agriculture to continue on that sending area. Removal of all development rights from the sending area is not a requirement. This amendment, for the first time, allows Planned Unit Developments throughout the entire agricultural area. If agriculture easements or conveyed lands are part of the PUD, they stay with the PUD.
The current right in the Agriculture future
land use to develop at one unit per minimum 20 acres may be transferred (at
maximum density) to another property in the PUSD or SUSD. Those transferred
densities will be added to the maximum densities on the receiving land. There
is no prohibition of future density or intensity increases on the receiving
property.
Valliere Amendment at a Glance · Destroys the Urban Services Boundary - Allows and gives incentives for urban development throughout the county. · Fiscally harmful for taxpayers - Compare status quo with the cost of delivering urban services to the 2 acre "villages" dotting the 200,000 acres of rural Martin County. · Land not required to be donated. Presume The seller will expect prices as close to market rates as possible. • Land will be sold to a public entity, not to a state, regional, or local government. • There is no environmental benefit required. • There is no benefit to our rivers required. · If land is sold for conservation, that land need not be on anyone's prioritized list for acquisition. In fact, it need not be for conservation. It could be For right of way purchase for a highway or any other List of local, state, or federal "needs". For example, the Western Corridor, Highway 609, or 4-laning 714 through the scenic tree-canopied area. • The conservation land, if part of a PUD, remains part of the PUD. · The conservation land can include stormwater treatment/ drainage areas, presumably for the sole benefit of the clustered development. · The 2 acre clusters can also include agriculture easements on the non-clustered tract. These agriculture easements are controlled by the Board of County Commissioners' discretion. · There is no requirement that the agriculture easements remain in bonafide agricultural production. They are still ag. tax exempt.
The following is a draft by Martin
County staff, as the
reporter/poster understood it. This amendment donated 1958 acres of environmentally sensitive land targeted for acquisition on local and state conservation acquisition lists. It will bridge the gap of 2 currently isolated portions of publicly owned Atlantic Ridge, thereby creating a contiguous public land of 7840 acres that restores vital habitat and the watershed of Kitching Creek, Jonathan Dickinson State Park, and the Loxahatchee River. The goal of this amendment is public benefit. To that end, it requires that for every acre converted to the PUSD, at least 2 acres must be conveyed to a state, regional, or local government agency as part of an established conservation program for conservation use and permanent preservation. Simultaneous with the conveyance of the conservation land to the government agency, the Board of County Commissioners will transmit a Future Land Use Map amendment change to Public Conservation. All lands conveyed shall be essentially donated - conveyed at a price no greater than the closing costs (title insurance and documentary stamps), thus insuring that this is a donation for public benefit. At least 90% of the land to be conveyed for public benefit shall be land listed for acquisition by a state, regional or local government as part of an established conservation program. These shall include Save Our Rivers, Florida Forever, and the Indian River Lagoon Plan. Lands to be converted (the receiving area) must be contiguous to the PUSD for a distance of at least 1000 feet and already in the SUSD as of December 2006. All of the receiving area will become PUSD. After the land is converted to PUSD, it will never be eligible for any future land use amendment proposal to increase the density or intensity of its use.
“Consensus” critique:? • Preserves 20 acre minimum lot size for rural lands protective rule · Preserves Urban Services Boundary - only the land inside the urban boundary gets switched from Secondary to Primary · Land must be adjacent to the urban boundary. No additional densities are allowed. Hence, the cost of the infrastructure improvements necessary for the new development are equal to or are less than the previous Improvements.
• Requires land to be donated to a state,
regional, or local Government · Must provide environmental benefit. The land to be donated for public benefit must be land listed for acquisition by a state regional, or local government agency as part of an established conservation program. · 1958 acres of environmentally sensitive land prioritized for state and local conservation land acquisition is donated, fee simple, to local, state, or regional government as part of an established conservation program. Simultaneously, the Board of County Commissioners will transmit a Future Land Use Map amendment change to Public Conservation. · Additionally, nearly half of the remaining acres of the Developable portion are a critical natural slough. It will be preserved and restored, where necessary, in perpetuity as part of a Preserve Area Management Plan.
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