The conversation is changing in the saga of a Perico Island development.
At an Aug. 25 meeting in Tampa, Carlos Beruff, a former Southwest Florida Water Management governing board chair, led the state agency in approving an environmental permit for four homes on 3.46 acres for his friend, Pat Neal of Neal Communities. A day later, Beruff, a Manatee County developer and owner of Medallion Homes, resigned from the board.
Efforts to reach Beruff Sept. 2 by phone were unsuccessful.
On Sept. 3, Neal dismissed Beruff’s timing and apparent conflict of interest, adding that Beruff is a competitor.
Neal also announced plans to begin construction mid-September in the development dubbed Harbor Sound.
Those fighting against the Neal project, including the Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage, Sierra Club and Suncoast Waterkeepers, had expected the project delayed until the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued its permit for construction in the wetlands.
However, with the state permit approved, Neal said, “We’ve got the permit. We will be working in the uplands. We will protect the wetlands very carefully until we get the Corps permit.”
The permit was approved by a 10-1 vote of the Swiftmud board of Gov. Rick Scott’s appointees, overturning an administrative law judge’s decision in June.
The ALJ heard three days of expert testimony in February and, on June 25, concluded the project was not in the public interest.
While environmentalists say the judge applied the proper law and facts, Neal says the judge “got it wrong.”
The lone Swiftmud board dissenter was Wendy Griffin of Lithia.
Griffin said, “In my opinion, I didn’t believe the impacts were adequately mitigated because the project was in an outstanding Florida Waterway.”
Griffin described herself as “a biologist at heart,” with a different background than businessmen on the board.
She is a retired phosphate mine expansion specialist and previously worked as a regulator with the Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Agency and Florida Department of Transportation.
Griffin anticipates a compromise between the developer and environmentalists and “wouldn’t be surprised” if the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requires Neal’s project “to pull its fill line farther upland.”
The state Swiftmud permit and federal Corps permit are required for wetlands to be filled in and the destruction of wildlife habitat and mangroves.
Neal’s announcement that he wasn’t waiting for the Corps permit to begin work in the uplands triggered Joe McClash and Larry Grossman of the Sierra Club to make a personal appeal to the city of Bradenton.
According to McClash, they spoke at a Sept. 9 meeting, requesting the city halt Neal’s plans.
“We don’t believe he has any permits from the city of Bradenton to do that,” said McClash.
McClash and his supporters believe the project imperils the wetlands and mangroves on the shore of Anna Maria Sound.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project manager Mark E. Peterson said the Corps is in the midst of reviewing the project in the wetlands — and that the Corps may hold a public hearing before issuing the federal permit.
Peterson said he’d heard Neal was looking at building a fence in the uplands.
While acknowledging the agency does not regulate anything beyond the waters of the United States, Peterson said he’s encouraged Neal’s consultant to wait for the permit to avoid any question about work encroaching into the wetlands.
Giving challenge raises $22K for Suncoast Waterkeeper
With 101 online contributions, Suncoast Waterkeeper raised $10,960 in the 2015 Giving Challenge — a 24-hour fundraiser Sept. 1-2 to support more than 400 area nonprofits.
And, the Patterson Foundation is expected to double that amount.
In a Sept. 1 email, former Manatee County Commissioner Joe McClash urged the community to donate to Waterkeeper, a group that aims to protect and restore the waterways in Southwest Florida, and announced the Patterson match.
With the match, McClash estimated $22,000 was raised to appeal the permits Pat Neal is seeking to develop in the Perico Island wetlands.
“That was a very substantial amount of money,” McClash said. “It shows there is community interest.”