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Safari Wild Lacks Permits

Water Agency Says Safari Wild Lacks Permits

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By BAIRD HELGESON

bhelgeson@tampatrib.com

Published: November 26, 2008

TAMPA - Lex Salisbury, Lowry Park Zoo's chief executive officer, and his business partner ignored environmental regulations in developing an animal park they hope to open in a protected area of Polk County, state water managers said.

Safari Wild failed to obtain environmental permits before constructing buildings, putting up fences and dredging land on the property, the Southwest Florida Water Management District has determined.

The work included a 1-acre island and moat that once contained 15 patas monkeys, which escaped in April and made news nationwide.

Safari Wild is in the 870-square-mile Green Swamp, source of the Hillsborough, Withlacoochee and Peace rivers, making it critical to the Tampa Bay area's drinking water supply.

The water management district is the third government agency to question work at Safari Wild, a 258-acre site north of Lakeland where paying visitors would take African-style safari tours to see exotic species.

Salisbury's involvement with the for-profit park has raised conflict-of-interest questions. He is on leave from Lowry Park Zoo while the city of Tampa completes an audit, expected to be released in mid-December.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District said 13 structures were built or land changes made without proper approval, said Robyn Felix, a spokeswoman with the agency known as Swiftmud. Each violation can result in fines of several hundred to several thousand dollars per acre.

Salisbury and his partner, St. Petersburg veterinarian Stephen Wehrmann, continued to do work even after being notified of the violations, Felix said Monday.

Swiftmud will propose a fine to the district's board of directors in a couple of weeks. Salisbury and Wehrmann did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Safari Wild's owners have begun seeking environmental permits for future construction, Felix said. They met with district staff this month on expanding roadways and mitigating some of the problems.

The owners don't plan significant new development, Felix said.

They told the district they didn't think the agricultural land required an environmental permit, Felix said.

They were incorrect, she said.

The permits are designed to protect wetlands, ensure stormwater runoff quality and reduce flooding caused by new development.

Some of the work done includes a horse barn and a primate structure owned by Lowry Park Zoo, which planned to send animals there as a break from confined areas of the zoo.

But Swiftmud will hold Safari Wild responsible - not the zoo - for the violations, Felix said.

Dave Moore, Swiftmud's executive director, sits on the zoo's board of directors. Moore has no role in assessing the violations or fines, which must be approved by the agency's full board, according to Felix.

In the past, Moore said he was concerned that the zoo board had never approved the zoo's close relationship with Safari Wild.

The other agencies that have raised questions about the work at Safari Wild are the Polk County planning office, which issued a stop-work order over concerns that buildings there are more substantial than the basic animal barns permitted, and the Florida Department of Community Affairs, which filed a notice of violation because the Green Swamp has been designated for special environmental protection.

VIOLATIONS

Here is some of the work done in violation of environmental regulations, according to Swiftmud:

• A combined hay barn and office building that equaled 16,122 square feet.

•A 15,814-square-foot visitor welcome center.

•A rhinoceros pen and barn.

•The island with a moat where the monkeys lived.

•A horse barn.

•A primate structure.

Reporter Baird Helgeson can be reached at (813) 259-7668. TBO.com, Keyword: Safari Wild to read the water management district's report.

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