The dispute over developer Carlos Beruff’s move to operate a mitigation bank adjacent to a mixed-use development on Sarasota Bay is in the hands of the Florida Department of Administrative Hearings.
In a June 15 order, DOAH Administrative Law Judge Bram E. Canter set Oct. 4-7 for a hearing on whether the bank should be approved, denied or modified.
After the Florida Department of Environmental Protection announced its intent to grant Long Bar Pointe LLLP a mitigation bank permit in April, two environmental groups and a former Manatee County commissioner challenged it with a petition — leading to the DOAH hearing.
The mitigation bank is proposed for 262 acres of mostly submerged lands on Sarasota Bay 2 miles south of the village of Cortez.
The bank would form part of a Beruff-controlled proposed 529-acre, mixed-use subdivision now in the county development pipeline.
Florida Secretary of State records show Beruff, who is running for U.S. Senate in the GOP primary in August, and Larry Lieberman, of the Barrington Group in Sarasota, are Long Bar Pointe LLLP’s corporate managers.
Cape Coral attorney Ralf Brookes filed the petition May 19 on behalf of former Manatee County Commissioner Joe McClash and two nonprofits, Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage and Suncoast Waterkeeper.
Brookes is up against five attorneys, DEP attorney Marianna Sarkisyan and, on behalf of Long Bar Pointe, Douglas Manson, Paria Shirzadi and Chris Tanner.
FISH is a Cortez-based group that aims to protect the environmental integrity of the maritime community. Suncoast Waterkeeper seeks to protect coastal waters of Manatee and Sarasota counties.
Other opposition comes from an online petition initiated by McClash.
More than 750 people signed the petition, objecting to the mitigation permit as a ploy to allow Beruff to dredge a channel to his development, destroy mangroves and seagrasses, with the potential to incorporate a marina, boat basin, and hotel — a development plan Manatee County commissioners turned down in August 2013.
The proposed mitigation bank would operate for developers ordered by state and local regulators to buy credits from “bankers” to offset wetland destruction from Terra Ceia in Manatee County to Placida in Charlotte County.
Developers would pay a Beruff company for DEP-approved mitigation activities, such as preserving mangrove swamp and removal of non-native vegetation, by purchasing credits at a cost ranging from $100,000-$200,000 per credit, equivalent to an acre of wetland restoration.
The proposed DEP permit would assign the Beruff/Lieberman partnership 18.62 mitigation credits, most allocated to seagrass and mangrove wetland activities.
In the May petition against the DEP permit, Brookes wrote that the “overall plan does not emphasize restoration and enhancement of degraded systems.”
Brookes’ petition contends the Beruff plan fails to provide reasonable assurances environmental rules will be met and proposes instead to disrupt ecosystems and create an artificial open water lagoon.
Both the DEP and Long Bar Pointe developers favor the DEP permit.
The DEP describes the mitigation bank as mostly mangrove swamp/proposed mangrove hedges and submerged seagrass bottomlands “proposed for preservation only,” with some coastal marsh and uplands degraded by exotic vegetation, proposed to be enhanced and perpetually maintained.
The DEP points out the mitigation permit does not authorize mangrove trimming, although it recognizes Beruff’s plan to trim 40 acres of mangroves to a minimum height of 12 feet.
If the DEP permit and a required mitigation permit of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are issued, Beruff will be able to sell mitigation credits to developers, including his own companies, in Manatee, Charlotte and Sarasota counties.
Beruff’s Long Bar Pointe and Cargor Partners VII Aqua By The Bay submitted an application for Manatee County permits and rezoning in August 2015.
At a May 18 county meeting, Beruff’s consultants advised the county planners of possible housing density reductions of 189 or 276 units, but confirmed 3,197 units. The developer also seeks 78,000 square-feet of commercial space.
At press time, the county was reviewing and taking comments on a new Aqua plan until July 13.
Meanwhile, the DEP agreed to extend the permit appeal deadline for Manatee Fruit Company and Lake Flores I LLC, developers of a nearby proposed 1,300-acre subdivision, controlled by Whiting Preston. Their attorney told the DEP it had concerns for its established drainage rights for a conservation easement. Such easements require landowners to forgo development rights.
In a second extension granted by the DEP, Preston’s two companies now have until July 21 to file an appeal petition. If they file an appeal, they are expected to intervene in the DOAH hearing.
In addition to the hearing, the DOAH’s ALJ ordered prehearing ground rules, including timelines for disclosures and a September deadline on a joint stipulation about the parties’ positions, witnesses and exhibits.
Canter also ordered the Oct. 4-7 hearing will begin at 9 a.m. in Bradenton, with a location to be determined.
Prehistoric sites indentified at Long Bar Pointe
Florida’s historical resources department is calling two prehistoric archaeological sites at Long Bar Pointe to the attention of state environmental regulators.
The archaeological sites were noted in a 2002 survey for cultural and historic resources, according to a June 3 letter from Timothy A. Parsons, the state historic preservation officer and director of the Florida Division of Historical Resources.
The state Department of Environment Protection announced April 28 its intent to permit Long Bar Pointe LLLP to operate a mitigation bank on 262 acres of mostly submerged lands about 2 miles south of Cortez.
The letter requests the DEP include a 50-acre buffer around the sites to protect them from bank activities, including equipment staging, if it issues the permit.
It also recommends any future DEP permit require the bank operator preserve “inadvertent discoveries” of prehistoric or historic artifacts.
The two sites are “recorded,” “significant and “eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places,” the letter stated.
Meredith Beatrice, the state’s communication director, identified the sites as prehistoric middens and refuse grounds, one dating to 300-1513 A.D. and the other 300-900 A.D.
Former Manatee County Commissioner Jane von Hahmann said these may be the same upland sites the county was alerted to when original development plans were submitted in 2004.
The 262 submerged acres in Sarasota Bay, now part of a 529-acre, mixed-use development, were not part of the original development request, but added later after developer Carlos Beruff came into the plan, she said.
Beruff’s companies purchased the property from SBC Developments in June 2012.