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Free Market Also Has Role In Conservation

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By TOM JACKSON, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 26, 2008

Pasco County officials are in Tallahassee today to pursue a righteous cause: eternal preservation of Cross Bar Ranch's sprawling, untainted wilderness splendor. Sealing the deal might not require, absolutely, a nod from those they have been dispatched to lobby, but clearing the Florida Cabinet hurdle is important, nonetheless.

At stake is not just Cross Bar's status on Florida Forever's "A" list, but its promotion to head of the class among land being considered for purchase and conservancy, putting its acquisition in line for state assistance.

Time is of the essence. Pinellas County Utilities, owner of the 12,500-acre spread since the worst days of the regional water wars in the 1970s, is eager to shed its ownership and management responsibilities, and would welcome a fresh infusion of cash.

Not surprisingly, however, the competition is fierce, with Florida Forever having identified more than 100 worthy projects covering 2 million acres. And state funds are scarce. A snub by the Cabinet wouldn't kill a sale to Pasco, but it would make it more complicated, forcing the county to seek partnerships elsewhere.

If only some billionaire conservation angel in the private sector would write a check. I mean, why should taxpayers have all the fun?

Massaging Growth With Transfers

Even as the Pasco delegation pitches its worthy case in the Panhandle, lots of folks back home wonder why their county commissioners have given absolutely zero attention to their similar concern - maintaining substantial stores of rural acreage when earning a living off the land is increasingly problematic.

You don't even have to be a rancher with a full-time job in town, a fractured well pump on Sunday and parched cattle in a holding pen to appreciate the allure of selling to speculators interested in building another Waterside Bridgeview Oaks deed-restricted community.

There is a better way. Since 2003, counties have had the option of establishing an exchange system designed to concentrate development in proscribed areas even as it allows landowners in rural areas to keep their open spaces while realizing financial benefits similar to selling out.

Called "transfers of density credits," the program is neither new nor particularly exotic, even if it does involve the sale of intangible assets. Variations on the theme are in place across Florida and America, but most operate from a single, fundamental premise: Owners of open spaces capable of being developed are allowed to sell their development rights to others seeking to increase the density of their proposed projects - subject to approval by the local jurisdiction.

It's a free-market solution to the worst excesses of sprawl.

A Fresh Opportunity Awaits

Alas, even as Pasco's commissioners seek millions in state money for preservation in the north-central county, Cross Bar Ranch neighbors eager to maintain their agricultural lifestyle can't get consideration of a density credit ordinance on the agenda.

It's time that situation changed, never more so than now, with the recent hiring of Jeffrey Steinsnyder as county attorney. Steinsnyder arrived from Manatee County, where density credits have been a pillar of development policy for years. He surely knows the ropes.

All it takes is one commissioner to make it an agenda item. Who's willing to step up?

Columnist Tom Jackson can be reached at (813) 948-4219.

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