Tony Glenn gives the NO BS version of Apalachee development

I wanted to pass along some sad news I received this weekend from Paul Poninski. ALP has begun some initial bulldozing for its development off US441 along the Apalachee River. This is not full scale “rape-and-scrape” of the land yet. It is so far just two dozers doing some initial clearing. However, this indicates that more intensive clearing may be coming soon.

You will likely remember that this development was one that got approved with a 100 foot buffer on the flood plain, which was later weakened to 50 feet. So far this buffer has not been reduced any further. Yet, I should point out that the county has now completely abandoned any buffer on the flood plain. Since the State doesn’t require such a buffer, the county feels they don’t have the legal footing to mandate a buffer. This shows their willingness to appease the developers. The county has a history of unusually strong environmental standards such as the flood plain buffer and exceptional river buffers, but the developers have fought and threatened law suits often enough that the county has backed off.

You will also likely remember that this tract of land has been on the front lines of efforts by Russ Page to get a river walk established along the Apalachee. Russ had also engaged ALP in a discussion about possible donation of the land to the county in return for some significant tax breaks. I can only assume that ALP has opted not to pursue a donation of the land.

For the record, the “A” in ALP is Dan Arnold, Chairman of the county’s Planning Commission. This is the same Dan Arnold that has received lots of coverage in the papers over the past year. There were reports on apparent ethical misgivings surrounding Arnold’s failure to recuse himself on the rezone request by Plum Creek, an adjoining development along the Apalachee. Arnold and his business partner, Peck (the “P” in ALP), are also the developers behind the townhouse development that was approved where the former Arbor Glen mobile home park was located.

Should one of the leading developers in the county be allowed to serve as Chairman of the Planning Commission? This seems to be a blatant conflict of interest.

Keep in mind that Arnold is not an elected official. He is appointed. The BOC that continues to support him as Chairman of the Planning Commission is the same BOC that has endorsed the sprawl of development across the county, including the residential development in the south end of the county.

As an example, consider the vote breakdown on the recent Plum Creek rezone request:

Hale and Horton voted to deny the rezone request.

Luke and Norris voted to approve.

Chairman Davis broke the tie in favor of approving the development.

Tony Glenn