Email to County VCGMC on Farmton, 15 Mar 2010

TO: vgmc@co.volusia.fl.us

The Southeast Volusia Audubon Society opposes the Farmton project. There is

no demonstrable need for an additional 23,000 homes in and about the

Edgewater area. With Restoration nearing final approval, it will add homes

for 18,000 residents to the city of Edgewater. Additional housing will be

built within the current city limits of the city. And in 2017, when

Edgewater is again able to annex land and allow large residential

developments, who knows how many more houses will be built? It can easily

be assumed that the population of Edgewater will triple in the next fifteen

years assuming all the houses are sold and inhabited.

Florida’s Department of Community Affairs decried the development saying the

project's scale could harm habitat critical to black bears and other

protected species. They also warned that its location among wetlands, a

floodplain and a land bank could adversely impact the quantity and quality

of water and the habitat that depends on it. They also stated that Farmton's

homes, and the infrastructure needed to support them, aren't suitable

because of the critical role the area plays in sustaining wildlife such as

wood storks, scrub jays, gopher tortoises and possibly panthers.

The DCA also noted that the development is in a no-school zone designated by

Volusia County and found that Farmton didn't adequately address how roads

and utilities would support the new development. Yet the county staff and

council seem to be working hard to resolve these problems to the developer’s

advantage.

Whereas Restoration underwent a rigorous DRI process, and was still denied

by the DCA until the city of Edgewater and the developers agreed to more

stringent DCA requirements, Farmton is attempting to get two counties and

perhaps several cities to change their comp plans based on a couple of

“stakeholder meetings” and a “fifty year vision”. We don't believe that this

nominal planning process should justify the DCA negotiating with the county

and Farmton to get a "better outcome." The only logical and plausible

outcome would be a resounding NO! To Farmton.

This development, or “fifty year legacy plan” as the Farmton people like to

call it, is nothing more than a blatant attempt to get grandfathered in case

Florida Hometown Democracy is approved by the voters in November. The

county’s apparent enthusiasm for this project provides ample justification

for the passage of Amendment 4.

The Southeast Volusia Audubon Society asks the Volusia County Growth

Management Commission to vote NO on Farmton.

Donald Picard, President

Southeast Volusia Audubon Society

Http://www.sevolusiaaudubon.org

http://blog.sevolusiaaudubon.org