“The Guardians were disappointed that the new Rural Lifestyle Zoning that was approved by a majority of the County Commissioners did not include provisions that will ensure protection of water quality, compliance with Best Management Practices for golf courses, dedicate a portion of new ad valorem tax revenues for acquisition of environmentally sensitive lands, and other items described in the position paper that was adopted by the Guardians Board of Directors in April. We are pleased however, that the spatial extent of properties potentially eligible for rural lifestyle has been scaled back considerably, even though it does still include over 10,000 acres that are outside the County’s “Urban Services District” said Greg Braun, Executive Director of the Guardian of Martin County
“We remain cautiously optimistic that the economic benefits of these Comp Plan Amendments will be adequate to offset potential adverse impacts on affordable housing, sustainable agriculture, sprawl into agricultural areas and the ability to purchase lands for the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, which include properties within the Loxa-Lucie Headwaters/Atlantic Ridge Ecosystem Florida Forever project”.
For more information, read the article by Lina Ruiz here: