Palm Beach Post
Rivals praise Martin project

By Jason Schultz
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 12, 2007

STUART — It was a political lovefest seldom seen in Martin County.

Many of those from both camps in the usually bitter growth-vs.-no-growth debate were in rare agreement Wednesday, praising a proposed development that will bring hundreds of homes to 460 acres in Hobe Sound.

County commissioners, with one exception, were caught in the wave, voting 4-1 to change the county's growth rules to allow developer Alberto Micha to build the 650-home Atlantic Preserve project.
"Even the people that oppose my projects on a monthly basis do see the forest through the trees here. In this case, they see the Atlantic Ridge ecosystem," said Morris Crady, a land planner who represents Micha.

In return for giving the county 2,300 acres to be preserved, commissioners agreed to allow Micha to cluster the homes on the 460 acres and move the county's urban service boundary, beyond which water and sewer service normally is not allowed. If state officials approve the change, it would allow the homes to receive those utilities.

Slow-growth activists who normally blast any suggestion of clustering homes or moving the urban service boundary supported the change Wednesday to get the pristine land next to the Atlantic Ridge Preserve State Park.

"I wish all developers would give the county nice presents like this in order to get amendments," said Jensen Beach activist Jackie Trancynger.

The activists said the land is in the right location for them to support the project because it is adjacent to the existing urban boundary. The preserved land, which the state has wanted to buy for years, eventually could provide a wildlife corridor between Halpatiokee Regional Park and Jonathan Dickinson State Park.

"Wildlife, the Loxahatchee River and our children would all benefit," said Hobe Sound resident Blake Capps.

Rainfall in the preserved area flows into the headwaters of the Loxahatchee River.
Commission Chairman Michael DiTerlizzi, who voted against the proposal, criticized the slow-growth activists for supporting the boundary change after shouting so many times in the past that doing so would cause urban sprawl.

"I can only look to the places to the south and what happened every time they moved the boundary," DiTerlizzi said. "If you move it once, you'll find the justification to move it 100 times."

Commissioner Doug Smith said he hopes the commissioners who voted to move the boundary for Micha's project remember that when other developers ask for it.

"As we find all this love in the room, when it comes time to remind each other of who did what when it comes to moving the urban service boundary, I hope we find love in the room then," Smith said.

Slow-growth activists such as former County Commissioner Maggy Hurchalla said Micha's project is different from other proposals to extend the urban boundary. The terms of this change in the county's comprehensive plan are so strict that it would set a precedent for other developers to use, she said.
But many who have supported proposals in the past to allow clustering in more rural western Martin County said Micha's project could show how clustering can work there as well.

"Don't be so short-sighted as to think this is the only place this could work," said Jim Haygood, who manages the Calusa Creek Tree Farm and Ranch west of Hobe Sound.

Commissioner Susan Valliere suggested another comprehensive plan amendment proclaiming that the county is willing to consider allowing clustering for other developers.

"We should encourage more projects like the Atlantic Ridge project," Valliere said. "I believe we can have other wonderful projects if we work together."

The commission took no action on Valliere's idea.

Commissioner Sarah Heard said Micha's project is different from other clustering proposals because the land would be given to the state to become part of the neighboring state park. It could not be developed into homes later if county commissioners decided to change their policies, she said.
"The state's not in the business of developing land," Heard said.

It was clear Wednesday that future development lovefests are unlikely. Slow-growth proponents such as Bill Summers warned that their support ended at the Micha project boundaries.

"If you try to use this as a hammer to go the clustering route," Summers said, "the public will come back to haunt you."