The Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) is slated to vote Thursday, July 30, on several changes that would rock the very foundation of our Ag Reserve model.
Please urge the county commissioners to protect what remains of this jewel in our county’s agricultural economy by voting ‘No’ to the proposed Comprehensive Plan Amendment, Amendment Round 15 -2.
Make clear you OPPOSE the Amendment Round 15-2 changes to be considered July 30 by the BCC:
- “NO” to the proposed “contiguity” changes for small preservation parcels
- “NO” to removing the minimum 150-acre requirement for preservation parcels.
- And, “NO” to the changes to the Unified Land Development Code (ULDC) to enable the changes, especially the insidious language changes that include striking the term “unified whole” from Ag Reserve parcels.
Contact information for the Commission is here.
The official amendments, staff reports and changes pertinent to the hearing can be downloaded at the Palm Beach County Website at http://www.pbcgov.com/pzb/Planning/ag_reserve/ag_reserve.htm,
Why Is The Ag Reserve So Valuable?
The 22,000+ acres comprising the Agricultural Reserve in western Palm Beach County is unique among Ag Reserves in the U.S. Its fertile, sandy soil — impervious to hard freezes* — produces winter vegetables for the entire Eastern seaboard and provides healthy, local vegetables. Agriculture is a major contributor to the county’s economy.
Why Were the Protections Put in Place?
Anticipating intense pressure and tempation from developers on farmland in the future, a confluence of far-sighted farmers, citizens, government planners and commissioners put protections for the Ag Reserve and the Agricultural Reserve Tier (under the area of Managed Growth) in place.
Some of those protections are grounded in the county’s Unified Land Development Code (ULDC) and in the Future Land Use Elements (FLUE) section of the Comprehensive Plan.
A majority of voters in Palm Beach County, nearly 67%, also passed a referendum taxing themselves $100 million to buy land in the Ag Reserve with intent of protecting agriculture in the area.
Recent court decisions have re-asserted the obligation of elected officials to heed the mandates inherent in voter referendums.
What’s at Stake – Doing Away with Restrictions
The restriction enforcing contiguous preservation areas was designed to preserve large, continuous swaths of lands that can sustain farming, crop rows, conservation, open space for drainage areas and more uses for the public good and stated purpose of the Ag Reserve.
Removing the “contiguity” requirement for parcels smaller than 150 acres and removing the minimum size restriction would allow smaller preservation areas to be isolated into piecemeal areas that could then be swapped out to give developers rights to larger, prime pieces of Ag Reserve land for their developments.
The “Preservation” areas would then be scattered, like holes in Swiss cheese, around the Ag Reserve to serve the purpose of development in luxury gated communities, and not the reverse.
The Palm Beach County planning staff has identified 133 parcels that would immediately become eligible for development if the amendment passes. The staff report acknowledges the potential for any or all eligible preservation parcels to be swapped for development purposes.
LOCAL PLANNING AGENCY UNANIMOUSLY DENIES RECOMMENDATION
The Local Planning Agency (“LPA” or “Planning Commission”) has unanimously denied recommendation, 12 to 0. The advisory commission, meeting on June 12, expressed serious reservations about the impact and fate of those isolated “Preservation Areas.”
- The commission members want to know who is responsible for maintaining these isolated, small parcels, which would no longer be part of the practical stretches needed for crop rows or wildlife corridors or substantial drainage? The HOAs around them? County attorney Robert Banks told members, no, if the parcel wasn’t part of the development.
- The members heard the truth about the Ag Reserve’s valuable asset of not having a hard freeze in a quarter century (or more), contrary to the testimony of the small nursery owners at the county commission’s March 24 workshop, who would like to see the Ag Reserve and its restrictions go away.
Such neglected patches (like some abandoned golf courses we know) could end up as nuisance properties, annoying the surrounding luxury gated communities, who may soon demand that they, too, be developed or manicured into square trees and golf-ball shaped bushes.
Separated from its more noble public service role, such orphaned parcels, uncared for, would begin to attract exotics — invasive species that decimate our native flora, fauna and wildlife.
WHO WANTS TO WEAKEN PROTECTION OF PRESERVATION PARCELS?
The entities lobbying for these damaging changes as soon as possible (preferably on Thursday) are:
- The Biggest Developer in the Ag Reserve, G.L. Homes.
- The Small Nursery Owners in the Ag Reserve Who’d Like to Sell to the Biggest Developer.
- The Developer-Friendly Majority of the Seven Palm Beach County Commissioners.
- The instigators of the failed state bill in Tallahassee’s last legislative session that would have effectively benefited a certain developer by stripping local government of the ability to make land use and density decision on agricultural lands.
Staff Report
On March 24, the county commission (BCC) directed the planning staff to put these changes in “appropriate language” for a proposal. Staff has since formalized the proposal and submitted its report justifying the changes and recommending its approval.
WHO WANTS TO KEEP PROTECTIONS OR POSTPONE THE AG RESERVE PARCEL VOTE?
The entities opposing these damaging changes, or who at the very least, want to postpone the vote until independent studies can be done on the impact to the Ag Reserve and welfare of the county’s residents and economy are:
- Palm Beach County Advisory Planning Commission, serving as your Local Planning Agency. Unanimously, 12 to 0, on June 12, the advisory group voted to withhold its recommendation after questioning both county staff and citizen groups. The Planning Commission is composed of thoughtful, civic-minded citizens, some of whom proved to be wells of valuable, historical knowledge of the county and its agricultural resources. (To see for yourself the Planning Commission public hearing, click here for the Palm Beach County government-on-demand video posted at pbcgov.com)
- Grass roots citizen voices and non-profit organizations supporting conservation of farmland, natural resources and open space.
- Palm Beach County Commissioner Paulette Burdick, on the basis that the United Way of Palm Beach County will be releasing its report on hunger and food sources on July 31, the day after the vote is scheduled. The report could have a bearing on the issues at hand.
- The 1000 Friends of Florida, a statewide 501(c)3 smart growth advocacy nonprofit organization with a substantial amount of members that live and work in Palm Beach County.
- The editorial page of The Palm Beach Post calling for a suspension of further development in the Ag Reserve long enough to order a comprehensive economic impact study.
- And, in spirit, the nearly 67% of Palm Beach County voters who passed a $100 million bond referendum for the purpose of protecting the Ag Reserve as an agricultural haven.
There are probably also hundreds of thousands of Palm Beach County residents who are stressed and busy and assume the “bond referendum” took care of the Ag Reserve long ago and that the BCC is taking care of the public trust.