Plum Creek, the largest landowner in Alachua County, has worked for three years on Envision Alachua, a planning process that involved the community in identifying future opportunities for the company’s land.
This process sought to strike a balance between providing economic opportunity while also protecting the environment and enhancing the community.
The master plan created through the community involvement group was submitted to Alachua County in December 2013.
Participation in planning for the land continues. The county commission will hold community workshops on the proposal before considering it.
In addition, Plum Creek is involving the public in creating “detailed specific area plans” that will outline economic, environmental and community approaches for the two areas it plans to develop.
Members of the community are interested in having their questions about the proposed master plan answered, so Business in the Heart of Florida is presenting a summary of information about the major topics of discussion.
Question: Are Plum Creek’s lands too wet to develop?
About 30 percent of the 60,000 acres Plum Creek owns in the county is wetlands. On the land proposed for development, only about 18 percent is wetlands. The plan calls for building around most of those wetlands, clustering development to minimize impacts while also considering filling about 250 acres of wetlands over the next 50 years to accommodate job centers.
State and federal rules require that the storm water system provide enough storage to offset the flood storage capacity of the filled wetlands, replacing the flood protection they provide. The rules also require mitigation to replace the natural resource value lost by the process.
The Envision Alachua plan would preserve all high-quality wetlands.
“Not all wetlands are created equal,” said Charles Lee, a member of the task force that Plum Create created and director of advocacy for Audubon Florida. “Some have been impacted by past ditching and draining and are not functioning as wetlands.”
Question: Does the county’s comprehensive plan achieve better conservation than Envision Alachua’s master plan?
The Envision Alachua master plan will use significantly fewer natural resources, thus providing for a more sustainable future, concluded a recent University of Florida study.
Current zoning on Plum Creek’s lands allows one single-family home — with a well and septic tank — for every five acres and it permits any type of agriculture. In addition, a plan to create a variety of subdivisions could be proposed to the county commission over a 50-year timeframe, with the outcome determined by shifting attitudes among commissioners.
“The benefits of the Plum Creek plan would create the best possible scenario among the ones we considered for the property — conserving more land, using less water and requiring fewer roads to be built than would occur under the current comprehensive plan,” said Pierce Jones, director for the Program for Resource Efficient Communities for UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
Jones led the UF study that examined three possible scenarios for the land and estimated the amount of new roads needed under each scenario. The study drew the following conclusions:
- Keeping the current zoning with one home per five acres — 270 miles of roads
- Creating 28 low-density residential subdivisions (common on west side of the county) — 125 miles of new roads
- Implementing the Envision Alachua plan — 75 miles of new roads
“Scenario 1 would create a ‘Swiss cheese’ style of development across Plum Creek’s entire property while Scenario 2 would create typical suburban subdivisions (common on the west side of the county),” Jones said. “The proposed Plum Creek plan would use fewer natural resources.”
Jones, who has previously consulted on projects planning compact developments that use minimal resources across Florida, said the Envision Alachua plan is the best one he’s seen in resource conservation.
This is especially true in terms of water use. The Envision Alachua plan would prohibit irrigating residential landscapes with potable or reclaimed water.
“These requirements are enormous,” Jones said. “I’m not aware of any project in Florida that has made such a strong commitment to water conservation.”
Task force member Rob Brinkman, a longtime environmental advocate, applauded the plan’s water conservation provisions.
“The current comprehensive plan, which people want to stand by, does nothing to protect our water,” he said.
Lee, of Audubon Florida, agreed that the proposed clustering of development would be beneficial.
“Fragmented scattering of development dumbs down the capability of creating good management of natural resources,” he said. “Creating jobs close to Hawthorne, as the plan proposes, makes sense.”
The Envision Alachua plan provides protection of over 51,000 acres from development at no cost to taxpayers. It does this by clustering growth into, at most, 7,975 acres.
David Denslow, a retired UF economist, has studied the impact of the Envision Alachua plan. By creating more jobs at all skill levels — from GED to the Ph.D. — the plan would be an economic boon for eastern Alachua County, he said.
“It’s possible to develop jobs in the east while keeping it beautiful,” he said.
UF is also collaborating with Plum Creek to create research and teaching opportunities on the land.
“The collaboration will make the rewards of the plan even greater,” Denslow said.
Question: In the future, could Plum Creek sell the conservation land and the buyers could to do whatever they want on the land – with votes on the county commission?
The restrictions enacted through conservation easements would be held by the county and at least one qualified conservation organization such as Alachua County Trust. Any change in these restrictions would require approval by the commission and each organization, which is highly unlikely.
Question: Doesn’t Alachua County have more than enough land already set aside for industrial development?
Only a small amount of land zoned for industrial use exists within the county. In fact, it represents less than one-half of one percent of the 658,000 acres within the county. Only about 900 acres of industrial-zoned land is for sale.
The shortage of land that is both suitable for modern industrial uses and close to major highways or railroads limits the county’s ability to attract new industry.
The Envision Alachua master plan will help create more jobs by providing large tracts of land for manufacturing.
Question: Do the Koch Brothers own Plum Creek?
Plum Creek is a real estate investment trust (REIT), a type of company that allows people to invest in diversified income-producing properties similar to investing in stocks and bonds through mutual funds.
In 2001, Plum Creek acquired all the timberlands owned by ThQe Timber Co., an operating group of Georgia Pacific Corp.
Four years later, Koch Industries purchased Georgia Pacific. Koch Industries does not own Plum Creek — individual shareholders do.
Question: Once the plan is approved, could another developer buy up the plan and there would be no way to hold them to the promises Plum Creek is making?
The requirements go with the land, and they are not limited to Plum Creek.
The Envision Alachua plan is full of ways to ensure accountability and enforce its provisions. In order to move forward on specific projects within the plan, Plum Creek will need additional approvals, all of which will require community meetings and county commission approval.
Question: Does the Envision Alachua plan call for building regional shopping centers larger than Oaks Mall?
The proposed master plan provides economic and community opportunities greater than ever seen in Alachua County. The total potential size of commercial and industrial buildings would be three times the potential build-out of Innovation Square in Gainesville.
The plan would provide up to 30,000 jobs to be created over the next 50 years.
Question: Will the development proposed through Envision Alachua drain resources needed for present and future schools in East Gainesville?
Envision Alachua is designed to make use of existing resources first — for example, the current K–12 schools — before investing in new ones.
In fact, the plan specifies that existing schools will be the preferred option for serving the area.
This is purposeful: With new jobs and new residents, enrollment will increase in existing schools, and the school district will be able to make the investment that comes with higher numbers.
When current schools reach their capacity, new schools could be built within the developed area.