SEPTEMBER 14, 1999

COUNTY:  Brevard

LOCATION:  Sections 14 and 15, Township 29 South, Range 38 East

CONSIDERATION:  $900,000 (Board of Trustees’ share of County’s purchase price)

TRUSTEES’

APPRAISED BY COUNTY’S SHARE OF

REVIEW Miller Houha APPROVED PURCHASE PURCHASE OPTION

NO. PARCEL ACRES (11/30/94) (02/28/95) VALUE PRICE PRICE DATE

914002 Hutterli- 39.38 $2,321,000 $2,083,000 $2,321,000 $1,800,000 $900,000 150 days

Valle after BOT

approval

Pursuant to a multi-party agreement entered into between the DSL and Brevard County (County) on April 26, 1993, for the Maritime Hammock CARL project, the County purchased the property on December 29, 1997, from Jose Valle, Mark Axelberd and Enrique Hutterli, Curator for $1,800,000. This parcel subsequently became part of the Indian River Lagoon Blueway CARL project. If this item is approved, the Board of Trustees will reimburse the County for the lesser of 50 percent of the approved value or 50 percent of the purchase price paid by the County. In no event will the Board of Trustees’ purchase price exceed 50 percent of the approved value.

All mortgages and liens will be satisfied at the time of closing.  In the event the commitment for title insurance, to be obtained prior to closing, reveals any other encumbrances which may affect the value of the property or the proposed management of the property staff will so advise the Board of Trustees prior to closing

The DSL will provide a survey prior to closing. The County will provide the title insurance policy and an environmental site assessment, completed to DSL standards. The County and the Board of Trustees shall each be responsible for 50 percent of the costs associated with the title work, title insurance and updating the environmental site assessment (Reimbursed Costs). In the event a parcel does not close, the County shall reimburse the DSL 50 percent of any Reimbursed Costs associated with the parcel.

Public acquisition would help preserve and improve the aquatic natural communities of the Indian River Lagoon, one of the country’s most productive, diverse, and commercially and recreationally important estuaries. A third of the country’s manatee population lives in the Indian River, and the area is important for many migratory birds as well as for oceanic and estuarine fishes. Additionally, public acquisition would provide natural resource-based recreation in a developing area of Florida.

Pursuant to section 259.032(9)(b)2., F.S., staff recommends that the Board of Trustees designate the County as the managing agency for this site. It will be managed as a sanctuary under the Parks and Recreation Department’s Environmentally Endangered Lands program.

Section 259.032(9)(b)2., F.S., requires that the Board of Trustees, concurrent with its approval of the initial acquisition agreement within a project, "evaluate and amend, as appropriate, the management policy statement for the project as provided by section 259.035, F.S., consistent with the purposes for which the lands are acquired." The management policy statement for this project was included in the 1999 CARL Annual Report adopted by the Board of Trustees on February 9, 1999. Staff recommends that the Board of Trustees confirm the management policy statement as written:

This acquisition is consistent with section 187.201(10), F.S., the Natural Systems and Recreational Lands section of the State Comprehensive Plan.

(See Attachment 1, Pages 1-28)

RECOMMEND DEFERRAL

REQUEST: Consideration of a request to authorize the Director of the Division of State Lands, Department of Environmental Protection, or her designee, to extend offers and approve any contract for the sale and purchase of land, within the North Key Largo Hammocks CARL project pursuant to section 259.041(1), F.S., at $4,000 over the appraised value when the total purchase price does not exceed $50,000.

COUNTY: Monroe

LOCATION: Section 29, Township 60 South, Range 40 East

STAFF REMARKS: The North Key Largo Hammocks CARL project is ranked number 1 on the CARL Substantially Complete List approved by the Board of Trustees on February 9, 1999, and is eligible for negotiation under the Division of State Lands’ (DSL) Land Acquisition Workplan. This project contains 4,508 acres, of which 4,219.06 acres have been acquired or are under agreement to be acquired by the Board of Trustees, leaving 288.94 acres or six percent of the project to be acquired.

The tropical rockland hammock of the North Key Largo CARL project is a highly endangered, rapidly disappearing natural community that supports numerous rare and endangered plant and animal species with limited distributions. The hammocks of North Key Largo are the best and

largest examples of tropical hammock remaining in the United States. This project has over ten miles of shoreline that directly influence the adjacent waters of John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Preservation of the project area in its natural condition will significantly aid in the maintenance of the high water quality necessary to support and manage the living reefs of the park, and it will conserve an area where the public can enjoy the original landscape of the subtropical Florida Keys.

On May 25, 1999, the Board of Trustees authorized the Director of the Division of State Lands, Department of Environmental Protection, or his designee, to extend offers and approve any contract for the sale and purchase of land within the North Key Largo Hammocks CARL project pursuant to section 259.041(1), F.S., at the full approved value when the purchase price per parcel does not exceed $50,000; and to disclose the appraisal to the sellers. Approximately 109 offers were mailed out and twelve contracts for sale and purchase have been executed and are being processed for closing. The remaining owners either rejected the offer or have not responded. In an effort to encourage the remaining property owners to sell their land to the state voluntarily, DSL staff reviewed the property record cards and tax assessed values for each parcel from 1982 to 1997. Property tax values reached their peak in 1991 and started to fall in 1992. The $4,000, when added to the approved DSL approved value, will most approximate the 1991 value.

One of the prerequisites to the Board of Trustees voting to direct the Department of Environmental Protection to exercise the power of eminent domain is the requirement that at least two bona fide offers to purchase land through negotiations must have been made and, notwithstanding those offers, an impasse between the state and the landowner was reached. As noted in the May 28, 1998 agenda item, a recent court decision found that offers made "subject to approval" of the Board of Trustees are not considered bona fide offers.

While the additional $4,000 offer is expected to significantly increase the number of parcels acquired by voluntary means, it will also satisfy the second bona fide offer requirement and hopefully reduce the overall cost of acquisition when compared to the potential cost associated with utilizing the Board of Trustees’ power of eminent domain.

These properties will be managed by the Division of Recreation and Parks as part of the Key Largo Hammocks State Botanical Site.

These acquisitions are consistent with section 187.201(10), F.S., the Natural Systems and Recreational Lands section of the State Comprehensive Plan.

(See Attachment 2, Pages 1-4)

REQUEST:  Consideration of an option agreement to acquire 174.93 acres within the Save Our Everglades (Golden Gate Estates South) CARL project from Fakahatchee Resources, Inc.

COUNTY:  Collier

CONSIDERATION:  $350,000

APPRAISED BY SELLER’S TRUSTEES’

REVIEW PARCEL/ Norris APPROVED PURCHASE PURCHASE OPTION

NO. OWNER ACRES (10/13/98) VALUE PRICE PRICE DATE

914001 Fakahatchee 174.93 $ 350,000 $350,000 $54,600 $350,000 120 days after

Resources, Inc. BOT approval

This property is being acquired utilizing Federal acquisition procedures as a condition of the award of a $25 million Farm Bill grant from the U.S. Department of Interior to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for the purchase of lands within the Save Our Everglades (Golden Gate Estates South) CARL project.

The subject property was originally part of a larger tract that consists of approximately 486 acres, excluding waterways, which has undergone development and is referred to as "Port of the Isles." The parcel was purchased by Fakahatchee Resources, Inc., at a sale on or about January 13, 1995.

The subject property has approximately 6,309 waterfront linear feet adjacent to the Faka-Union Canal, and is generally raw flat land with various forms of vegetation. The construction of the Faka-Union Canal resulted in substantial alteration along the banks of the canal where spoil was placed. Subsequent to the construction of the Faka-Union Canal, the State of Florida has constructed and maintained a dam across the canal and this public work has altered the drainage on the property and, in conjunction with the berm created from the Faka-Union Canal’s construction, impounded water on the property.

The seller had intended to residentially develop the property so as to maximize the 6,300-plus linear feet of canal frontage, complying with the five-acre minimum lot requirements of Collier County. Pursuant to its residential development plan, the owner obtained a preliminary subdivision plat approval from the Collier County Planning Commission (CCPC) on August 15, 1996, as reflected in CCPC Resolution No. 96-28. The property is within the Big Cypress Area of Critical State Concern and is thus subject to review in accordance with section 380.05, F.S., and chapter 28-25, F.A.C. Consequently, the development of the property has been the subject of a settlement executed by Collier County, Fakahatchee Resources, Inc., and the Department of Community Affairs on April 8, 1997, which incorporates this subdivision plat. The settlement agreement acknowledges compliance with the critical state concern criteria. The settlement agreement limits alteration on the platted property to 18.43 acres and it further provides that the total area to be disturbed by each platted home lot is 11,761 square feet, with a total impervious area on each platted home site lot limited to 5,551 square feet.

On January 16, 1998, the seller applied for an environmental resource permit from the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD). On September 10, 1998, the SFWMD Governing Board denied the owner’s permit application. The seller then requested a Special Master Proceeding under section 70.51, F.S. Negotiations with DEP staff for the acquisition of this property began in December 1998. The seller rejected the state’s offer because the

state’s offer was too low.

At the Special Master Proceeding the seller contended that his proposed residential development complied with all the applicable requirements of chapter 373, Part IV, F.S. The

seller asserted that he complied with all of the technical requirements associated with water quantity and water quality treatment. In addition, the seller contended that the proposed residential development was not contrary to the public interest as evaluated pursuant to section 373.414, F.S. The seller argued that he complied with these programmatic requirements by minimizing and avoiding wetland impacts while providing a net overall benefit to the environment through restoration of spoil berms and re-hydration of areas currently isolated from the sheet flow associated with waters in and around the Faka-Union Canal.

The seller, SFWMD staff, and representatives from various concerned environmental groups met with the special master. These meetings resulted in a settlement which the SFWMD Governing Board approved by issuing permit number 11-01730-P at its July 1999 meeting.

The seller agreed not to develop the site for residential housing, but instead to restore the site and sell it to the state. The restoration will involve removing exotic species that currently heavily infest the site, and creating 14.33 acres of wetlands by scraping down a portion of the existing berm adjacent to the Faka-Union Canal. Additionally, every 200 feet a 0.25-acre area will be planted with wetland trees. The remaining portions of the site will be preserved and subjected to a long-term maintenance plan which includes the removal of exotic vegetation to ensure the viability and integrity of the wetland and upland preserve areas.

After the seller completes the restoration activities, and the SFWMD determines they are successful, the seller will transfer the property to the state. The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Forestry (DOF) has agreed to manage the property after its transfer to the state by incorporating the property into the management of the Picayune Strand State Forest. The seller will establish a trust fund for the benefit of the DOF to cover long-term management costs. The DOF will receive maintenance funds from the seller in the amount of $250 per acre. The DOF staff has determined that the trust fund will provide more than adequate funds to pay for long-term management.

In exchange for conducting, and after completion of, the restoration activities, the seller will receive 23.53 mitigation units. These mitigation units are only available to offset wetland impacts from projects undertaken by Fakahatchee Resources, Inc., Robert Hardy, or other entities in which Fakahatchee Resources, Inc., or Robert Hardy owns stock or otherwise has an ownership interest. Thus, the mitigation units are limited to use by the seller or entities under the seller’s control or ownership. The mitigation units may only be used for wetland impacts within the SFWMD/Collier County mitigation service area.

The SFWMD has determined that this settlement does not result in the creation of a mitigation bank under sections 373.4135 and 373.4136, F.S., and the SFWMD implementing rules - chapter 40E-4, F.A.C. Thus, the SFWMD has not required a mitigation bank permit pursuant to section 373.4136, F.S.

All mortgages and liens will be satisfied at the time of closing.  In the event the commitment for title insurance, to be obtained prior to closing, reveals any other encumbrances which may affect the value of the property or the proposed management of the property, staff will so advise the Board of Trustees prior to closing.

Board of Trustees

A title insurance policy, a survey, an environmental site evaluation and, if necessary, an environmental site assessment will be provided by the purchaser prior to closing.

West of the huge sawgrass marsh of the central Everglades spreads a landscape of cypress swamps, marshes, slash-pine flatwoods, and tropical hammocks, through which water slowly flows to the mangrove swamps of the Ten Thousand Islands. The Save Our Everglades CARL project will conserve three large pieces of this landscape, connecting and extending existing conservation lands, helping to save the last of the Florida panthers and a host of other rare animals and tropical plants, preserving the flow of water to the rich estuaries of the Gulf coast, and allowing the public to enjoy this unique landscape for years to come.

The property will be managed by the DOF as a part of the Picayune Strand State Forest.

This acquisition is consistent with section 187.201(10), F.S., the Natural Systems and Recreational Lands section of the State Comprehensive Plan.

(See Attachment 3, Pages 1-49)

RECOMMEND APPROVAL

Clarification of when the Board of Trustees’ prohibition regarding mooring of gambling cruise ships "cruises to nowhere" will be incorporated into modifications of existing sovereignty submerged lands leases.

LOCATION: Statewide

STAFF REMARKS: On June 22, 1999, the Board of Trustees made a decision to prohibit gambling ship "cruises to nowhere" from mooring on sovereign submerged lands. In accordance with that decision, Department of Environmental Protection staff drafted the following language, which was incorporated in three sovereignty submerged lands leases (Items 18, 19 and 20) which were approved at the August 12, 1999 Cabinet Meeting, and which will be incorporated into all new leases, renewals, extensions, modifications or assignments, as a standard lease condition:

The question arose at the August 12, 1999 Cabinet Meeting as to when to incorporate the standard condition into future lease modifications. Staff will incorporate the standard lease condition into all lease modifications, except those modifications involving existing leased areas where gambling cruise ships are currently legally mooring under the terms and conditions of the existing lease, unless;

1. the modification facilitates any expansion or significant change to the existing gambling cruise ship operations.

(See Attachment 4, Page 1)