Foley Timber & Land's Future Coastal Development Plans
This was emailed to me tonight:
'Last Thursday there was an invitation only meeting wherein Foley Timber set forth their future developmental plans along our coastline. I would suggest that you attend the county commission meeting next Tuesday whereas you can hear first hand Foley's proposed development project as it is presented to the commission. Just for starters it will involve MOL 30,000 acres of developable land with an additional 20,000 acres of greenways. This project will put basically a new town on the map. It probably will also be the largest development project in the state. Now that I've got your attention attend the meeting.'
The meeting this person is refering to is the meeting this Tuesday, June 16 at 6:00PM if anyone wishes to attend and listen.
I bet all of the local potentates, charlatans and hangers-on riding the coattails are chomping at the bit. I bet folks are creating schemes to lock up contigous land as well. Given the state of the economy and the fact that there is a surplus of property for sale from Steinhatchee to Econfina, I wonder what long term will be? 10 Years? 50 Years? This may be the next Pruitt-type fiasco. I for one am looking forward to see how Foley does this project. Pruitt lined up every local pseudo-potentate in the county for his "plan", a lawyer(s), surveyors and others who were licking their chops for profit. I am sure that Foley will be more diplomatic. I hope that Foley will do all of their homework and impact plans prior to submitting a plan, unlike Pruitt. I hope that our local elected officials and county attorney do not end up like the Dixie County officials and attorney. I think the project will be great, but not being inclusive with the "meeting" does set a certain tone, a tone which must change to have community support.
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Okay, here we go, now the four or five complainers on tct can gripe, complain, and whine about all the negatives this will cause, but you may say all the do gooders in the county can make all kinds of moneies on this plan. But I tell you what I bet you four or five kids are the first to ask us for donations to everything that goes on, and you probably do not support local businesses in any way.
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"Us" and "support local businesses" that is a big assumption. Sounds like you feel that by "giving" you feel that you are in charge and can make decisions for the whole county, well thank goodness there are 25,000+ other citizens in this county.
When a group starts off by invitation only meetings, you can not expect the average citizen(s), who will bear some of the cost directly and indirectly, to jump up and down and support a pie in the sky project. It is typical for a group to circle the wagons, getting support by all of the potentates and charlatans with a free meal and then force it down the tax-payers throat. I do not know what is worse, all of the potentates and charlatans being "bought" with a free meal or the selling off of our community without a consensus from the community.
Foley is a private land owner and can develop their land, but the long term costs of infrastructure and related items will be paid by all of the tax-payers. I hope Foley does not "give" roads to the county to maintain, which has been done by others. I hope Foley will have some type of inclusionary housing plan and a plan to save the tax-payers money. Of cousre most do not know these answers...they are awaiting the invitation.
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"it will involve MOL 30,000 acres of developable land with an additional 20,000 acres of greenways"; what amount of Metropolitan Open Land (MOL) are they planning? I would hope the MOL would recognize its responsibility to take every possible means to ensure safe co-existance and make all-out efforts to prevent marine pollution resulting from accidents and strive to develop in a way that minimizes the burden on the marine environment. I hope that Foley and/or the County is going to develop LDR policies which specifically protect certain pieces of open space because of the use to which the land is put (sport and recreation) or some additional quality of that land (its value for nature conservation). Do the County LDR's even have an MOL component? Maybe not. This "project" has a long way to go. I hope they are better prepared than Pruitt was and that they are doing the homework and not expecting the county to do it for them. I too am waiting for my invitation! Leaving many residents out of the process only creates an element of distrust, an element (distrust) that is pervasive in regard to TCDA, the Chamber, the County and others. I wonder why Foley is undertaking such a large project when others, such as St. Joe Corporation, have scaled back many plans recently and over the last few years. Things that make you go um.......
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I do not understand what the problem with any development by Pruitt and Co. or Foley.Yes the would make $$$$$,but so would Taylor County as a whole.Local business would pick up.Alot of jobs would be created during construction,and alot of permanent jobs afterwards.Store sales wuold pick up from visitors and more permanent residents.All you people want to whine and complain about unemployment but when someone tries to develop and do something about it,all you do is cry because someone might make some profit.It takes money to make money.Maybe you will wake up one day and Taylor Co. will stop becoming the wasteland you are creating!!!!!!!!!!
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I thought MOL meant more or less. Silly me!
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Heck, I had not thought of that! It is no telling what the acronym is or being used for. It could be for 'maybe others lose'. LOL!
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Any updates on this? Did the meeting take place last night?
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It's great to have plans and discussions, but all of this is really an academic issue right now. Significant improvements will need to be accomplished in Florida's economic recovery (still not sure if we are going forward, backwards, or nowhere at all with that) before any development plan would have any chance of success. Could be many many years from now.
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Very true.
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Great point Robert. That was my thoughts when this came up. Development plans all over Florida have been put on "hold" if you follow Florida Trend articles. I hope that this project does not make the development mistakes that you can see in every Florida County. No one wants to promote controled growth, but in reality that is exactly what we need to keep Taylor from becoming "Trailer" County. The county's infrastructure barely can keep up with the little growth and projects we have currently. If you read into the other posts on this blog, the citizens of this county have little faith in the "inept" elected officials at the county level. I doubt as well the BOCC ability to have any positive impact on land development when they cannot even develop a solution to the Yates Creek fiasco. We really do not have any local legal or any other expertise in coastal development in the county. This project will need a lot of reviews!
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Johnny, great analysis. Yes, detailed plans do need to be in place for controlled and quality growth (i.e. how the infrastructure can support it, environmental impacts, etc). Florida's economy will eventually recover, though changed, and it is better now to have plans in place that can be modified as necessary, than to be starting from scratch when people are ready to move on development.
I, personally, decided to wait this one out. I am an attorney and recently left the area to become involved in solar energy development projects out in the remote desert Southwest. Still hope to return to Taylor County someday as it is #1 for me, but saw nothing on the horizon happening there anytime soon.
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Keep your hat on and drink plenty of water. Take care! Hope you make back "home"!
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRXRGTKNLb8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R-FZsysQNw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOI9tQXJ86o
http://floridahometowndemocracyamendment.blogspot.com/
http://www.tampabay.com/news/perspective/article1013814.ece
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Why don't ya'll just tell the locals it's all about development of Blue Spring Lake(BSL) with "Georgia Mansions". Remember when "BSL" was a gift to locals for public use by "good neighbor" so where is a man's word his bond. You have been had by those who do others.. oh so well. All I can say is
ground control to Houston.. We have lips to butt contact..
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Now that they have shown their intent of the property is the property going to be relieved of its "Greenbelt" tax exemption? I doubt it!!!!!!!!! they should pay taxes like the rest of us anyway but DON'T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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http://www.storiesthatmatter.org/20090720190/NRNS-Stories/nestle-draining-america-bottle-by-bottle-how-nestle-got-millions-and-millions-of-dollars-from-a-230-permit.html
How much water is needed to produce our latest job producing venture.
City sewage/waste water going where? Ask the mayor and senator Al Lawson about that shovel ready project.
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That was quite an interesting article.
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http://www.storiesthatmatter.org/20090715177/NRNS-Stories/nestle-draining-america-bottle-by-bottle-rural-communities-take-a-stand.html
Very interesting memory loss.
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The Taylor County locals/residents are being set up to pay for big ticket infrastructure items for the developers. Developers of “new towns/cities” are using the grants/funding of local and state governments to reduce cost of development projects. It all looks good on paper; Fleming Island, Eagle Harbor, and ill-fated Nocotee are excellent examples of Florida’s renewal plans/visions for communities that are based on attracting new residents in large numbers. The idea of building a new tax base to cover cost has turned into a shell game not a reality. The overuse of exemptions for industry and businesses coupled with legal tax loopholes have cost the residential tax payer millions of dollars in paid tax and loss of tax benefits received.
The quality of life is used to sale these models to consumer and local government amounts to little more than typical telemarketing techniques of big promises going into the agreement and law suits coming out for failures to live up to contracts.
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Oh come on, we in trailer county will sell our soul and our children's souls for 50 low-wage jobs that TCDA says we have to have. You have a very valid point about the tax-payer "paying" for developers. Unfortunately our local citizenry is not smart enough to figure this out, all they need is a free dinner, country music concert, a couple of ads in the mullet wrapper and other assorted trinkets. Maybe that is why the BOCC always makes the decisions for trailer county! LOL!!!! Seriously, the comp plan should have a component that allows for the developers to pay for their impact. Does anyone know if this is in the county comp plan.
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