The recent filings of Bert J. Harris Act claims by aggrieved homeowners in the Boca Del Mar community, demanding financial compensation for the loss of value in their homes resulting from the County Commission’s approval of development on the designated open space/golf course area, is now playing a role in the Ag Reserve hearing coming tomorrow Monday (Oct 26)..
An eleventh hour change of heart by Rebecca Caldwell, head of the PBC Planning Department, on proposed amendments to be heard at the Monday, October 26 hearing on the Ag Reserve, cited Bert J. Harris Act claims as a basis to amend a proposed amendment. The email with this news went out after the county commission was officially closed — at 5:19 p.m. on Friday, October 23.
Members of the conservation community say the threat of Bert J. Harris Act claims from small lot owners in the Ag Reserve is a specious pretext for the county commissioners to back away from their promise to stop swapping the large valuable Preservation Areas for inferior slivers with GL Homes, the largest developer in the Ag Reserve. The laws impacting the small lot owners in the Ag Reserve are based on zoning changes made in 1995 — two decades ago. Their ability to succeed now on Bert J. Harris claims, after receiving decades of huge property tax breaks for being in the Ag Reserve, is considered an implausible excuse to back away from swapping preserves.