Alachua County needs an environmental champion to stop destructive development
Working in unison, Florida’s counties and cities have more power than our governor and legislature. Florida's League of Cities and Association of Counties comprise a robust network of local officials that thrives off the collective power and best interests of the public they represent.
To use that power to dismantle the political/corporate machine that is methodically destroying Florida’s natural environment, there must be a true leader, a crusader, a tireless organizer who can combine these forces to truly represent the future best interests of Florida.
Alachua County is a microcosm of our statewide rush toward environmental doom. Through compromise and weak resolve, local leaders ultimately condone rampant development that has eroded the quality of life for residents — both human and non-human.
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Bound with imaginary handcuffs of comprehensive plans and special needs maps, and with the never-ending “fear of litigation,” community leaders need to find creative methods to overcome obstacles to achieve environmental protection.
Credible science has verified the increasing impairment of Alachua County’s lakes, rivers, creeks and springs. Newnan’s Lake, Orange Lake, Lake Lochloosa, Gainesville’s urban creeks, and the Santa Fe River and her 50-plus artesian springs are all polluted by excessive nutrients and suffering from altered hydrology.
The culprits causing these impairments are well known: urban and agricultural fertilizer, inadequate wastewater and stormwater management, and massive groundwater extractions.
Upland and wetland habitats that provide refuge for our native wildlife are being reduced with each subsequent development. With unbridled population and economic growth, even urban human space is shrinking with the transformation of Gainesville into a metropolis of subdivisions, high rises and increasing traffic congestion.
And yet, every new development is allowed to add additional stress to our already-damaged aquatic and terrestrial environments. “Death by a thousand cuts” is alive and well in this county that prides itself on its social and environmental ethics. Development decisions need to be made that actually represent the protection values that citizens hold dearly — a lasting quality of life for future generations of people and wildlife.
It is not too late for a true champion to step forward. The concerned public has not given up on the possibility of escaping from this societal train wreck.
A gifted leader is needed now more than ever: a leader who will put together the coalition of concerned citizens, nonprofits and elected county and city officials who have the resolve and power to stop greedy and destructive development.
For Alachua County’s local officials there are plenty of opportunities to take a stand and change the status quo described above. The proposed urban, commercial and golf course development on the Lee property is a good place to start.
Consisting of more than 4,000 acres, at least 1,500 gopher tortoises and thousands of commensal animals call this land home. County staff have estimated that up to 30,000 pounds of nitrogen per year will pollute the aquifer from this requested land-use change, 300 million gallons per year of groundwater will be pumped, and thousands of acres of prime habitat previously occupied by native plants and animals will be permanently altered.
This is just one of the many impending threats that will further erode our community’s quality of life.
Weyerhaeuser (formerly Plum Creek) is requesting a zoning change to convert 1,778 acres of forest and wetlands along north S.R. 121 to more than 1,000 new homes and 80,000 square feet of commercial land uses.
The University of Florida has 42 new construction projects underway or in planning. The ultimate goal is to crowd even more college students and staff into Gainesville.
Alachua and High Springs are designing a new wellfield that will divert more groundwater from the Santa Fe River springs.
Newberry, Archer and High Springs are considering a new wastewater pipeline corridor along U.S. 27 that could ultimately convert the western half of the county into suburban/urban sprawl.
It is time our elected leaders prioritize environmental sustainability. If there is a champion among you, please join with representatives from your sister governments statewide to stop the political corruption in Tallahassee. Try harder and smarter to prevent the environmental destruction of Alachua County, even if it requires purchasing the property as open space.
Take a lesson from the common people who stood up to beat the New River phosphate mine. The concerned public has your backs. Surely one among you is the leader who will come to the rescue of Alachua County and the “Real Florida.”
Robert Knight is an environmental scientist and director of the non-profit Florida Springs Institute in High Springs.
This column is part of The Sun's Messages from the Springs Heartland series. More pieces from the series can be found at bit.ly/springsheartland.
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This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Robert Knight: Alachua County needs to stop destructive development
