Turnpike Officials: Early agreement trumps opinions

When it comes to deciding whether the Suncoast Parkway should be built through state-owned environmental property, the issue is not so much the ecological value of the land.

rather, turnpike officials say, it's a document signed in 1998 that gives the Department of Transportation access to the property to matter what.

That's the argument Florida Turnpike Enterprise is using in trying to obtain federal approval - -and significant funding -- for the 26-mile Suncoast Parkway 2 that, if built, will connect U.S. 98 in northern Hernando County to U.S. 19 in Red Level, a few miles north of Crystal River.

Three of our potential routes that start at U.S. 98 traverse through the Annutteliga Hammock, 6,000 acres of pristine scrub land bought by the state in 1999.

Two potential center sections of the parkway go through the Lecanto Sandhills, about 2,000 acres of uplands bought by the state two years ago.

The agencies that oversee those properties say the scrub and sandhills are home to species such as the red-cockaded woodpecker, indigo snake and other wildlife.

L.Earl Peterson, director of the state Division of Forestry, put it this way in a letter to the Florida Turnpike Enterprise: "The Citrus tract is one of the largest, least disturbed tracks of sandhill ecosystem in the Florida Peninsula."

In the Turnpike Enterprise's application to the Federal Highway Administration to run the road through the protected are, officials cited the 1998 memorandum of understanding as the reason for allowing construction of the parkway through the state-owned land.

The memorandum promises the DOT access to the Annutteliga Hammock because the parkway was already on the drawing board before the property purchase was considered.

Greg Brock, who oversees state acquisition and management programs for the Department of Environmental Protection, said the memorandum overrules agency opinions that the properties should be conserved intact.

"The rationale for the contradiction is that FDOT had plans for the highway before we planned our conservation lands," Brock said.

Officials with the Turnpike Enterprise and Federal Highway Administration met recently to discuss the state's application.

At issue is what's called the 4(f) review of the National Environmental Policy Act. The act allows projects on environmental land only when no other prudent alternative exists and all steps are taken to minimize harm to property and wildlife.

Suncoast 2 project manager Carl Gibilaro said the memorandum of understanding clearly gives access through the Annutteliga Hammock.

Turnpike officials also believe that agreement extends to the Lecanto Sandhills.

Citrus County commissioners have long believed that. They agreed to not stand in the way of the state buying the two properties as long as the land didn't interfere with the parkway.

Brock tried to reassure Citrus County commissioners in a July 2002 letter that said the Florida Cabinet knew what it was getting when it bought the Lecanto Sandhills.

"... When the board of trustees approved its purchase, it was with the full knowledge that the Suncoast Parkway 2 could potentially impact a portion of this site," Brock wrote.

In an interview Friday, Brock said the governor and Cabinet could modify the memo of understanding to combine both parcels.

Gibilaro said the FHA is asking for a DEP determination, in writing, that an agreement exists to potentially place the parkway in the Annutteliga Hammock and Lecanto Sandhills.

Gibilaro said Thursday he hasn't asked that of the DEP yet and he didn't know when that will happen. He stressed that these requests are early in the current planning, development and environmental study that may determine whether the parkway is built.

'Detrimental impacts'

As part of the 4(f) application, the Turnpike Enterprise sought letters from various state agencies that discussed the significance of the Annutteliga Hammock and Lecanto Sandhills.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District, which owns and is continuing to purchase some of the Annutteliga tract, predicted "detrimental impacts" to protected species from roadkill and fragmentation.

Mary Barnwell, senior land management specialist with Swiftmud, as the agency is commonly known, said the parkway also would hinder prescribed burns, which environmental experts say are vital to maintain the health of the scrub environment.

Other agencies expressed similar concerns because the Division of Forestry is reluctant to conduct prescribed burns near major roadways.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency even weighed in after reviewing the Turnpike Enterprise's corridor analysis.

In a May 5 letter, Heinz J. Mueller, chief of the office of environmental assessment, noted it will be difficult for the parkway to avoid these state lands.

"Efforts should be made to locate the proposed parkway extension closer to the development it would serve and the roadways with service deficiencies rather than in the vicinity of protected conservation lands," Mueller wrote.

Citrus County Commission Chairman Josh Wooten said the state needs to stand by the 1998 promise because the only alternative is running the road through Sugarmill Woods.

"The need to keep the agreement they had not only with the county commissions but the citizens of Citrus County," he said. "These environmental experts have said it's a good idea to go through Sugarmill Woods. You know what they say about opinions."

Even with the memorandum of understanding, another wrinkle may exist. In 1998, voters amended the state Constitution to make it difficult for governments to sell conservation land.

The amendment ways conservation lands will "... be managed for the benefit of the citizens of this state and may be disposed of only if the members of the governing board of the entity holding title determine the property is no longer needed for conservation purposes."

Brock said the Department of Transportation could likely meet that goal by buying other nearby lands for mitigation.

Others have the same idea. Files at the Turnpike Enterprise office in Ocoee show two Citrus County property owners are offering to sell their land to the state for mitigation.