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Item 6A v AGENDA ITEM # 6A OCTOBER 23, 2006 CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH CITY COMMISSION STAFF REPORT AGENDA ITEM: Resolution supporting a successor program to Florida Forever and the continued funding of programs such as the Florida Communities Trust, "~ which assists cities and counties in the acquisition, conservation and management of environmenntally and culturally significant lands. "'~ SUBMITTED BY: Sonya Doerr, AICP ~,[/ Community Development Director DATE: October 16, 2006 BACKGROUND: Current legislation establishing Florida Forever and its various public land ~" conservation programs will sunset over the next four years. On October 9th, I attended the Florida Local Government Land Acquisition, Development and Management Summit sponsored by The Department of Community Affairs and the Florida Communities Trust. At this meeting, DCA ~"" Secretary Thaddeus Cohen and Representative Alan Hays announced that the Florida Forever Coalition will support a successor program that would commit $1 billion yearly to land purchase and protection. Local governments are asked to express support for this program and the increased '~ level of funding as this effort begins to move through the legislative process. BUDGET: The COAB has an application pending with Florida Communities Trust for assistance ~. with purchase of the Buckman Tract. The FY 2006-07 budget appropriates $450,000 to be used for local match towards purchase of the Buckman Tract. RECOMMENDATION: Adoption of proposed Resolution 06-13. ATTACHMENTS: Proposed resolution and press announcement related to Florida Forever Coalition. REVIEWED BY CITY MA AGER: October 23, 2006 regular meeting ~. AGENDA ITEM # 6A OCTOBER 23, 2006 RESOLUTION NUMBER 06-13 RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH SUPPORTING A SUCCESSOR PROGRAM TO FLORIDA FOREVER AND THE CONTINUED FUNDING OF PROGRAMS SUCH AS THE FLORIDA THE FLORIDA COMMUNITIES TRUST, WHICH ASSISTS CITIES AND COUNTIES IN T MANAGEMENT OF SIGNIFICANT LANDS HE ACQUISITION, CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENTALLY AND CULTURALLY WHEREAS, the Florida Forever program and its predecessor Preservation 2000 program have immeasurably contributed to environmental health,- quality of life, recreation, and sustainability in Florida for this and future generations, and WHEREAS, Florida Forever has acquired over one million acres throughout Florida since 2000 and allocates $300 million annually to purchase environmentally sensitive and other lands, and has done so through numerous successful partnerships with cities, counties, state agencies, water managements districts, nonprofit organizations, private landowners, and others in achieving its conservation purposes, and ~. WHEREAS, Florida Forever, through its partnerships with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Water Management Districts, and others, produces benefits that include clean air and water; healthy fisheries and wildlife habitat; improved water supply protection; and protected open spaces including greenway comdors, park lands, forests, and water bodies, and WHEREAS, Florida Forever, through the Florida Communities Trust, has assisted ~" Florida's cities and counties in protecting their cultural and historical resources, and in providing recreational outdoor experiences in both urban and rural settings, and "" WHEREAS; Florida Forever has helped to save many of Florida's beaches, rivers, bays, forests, coral reefs and estuaries that provide the foundation for our $3 billion tourism industry that attract more than 70 million visitors each year, and WHEREAS, Florida is experiencing rapid population growth, with approximately 1,100 new residents every day; and Floridians demand a high quality of life that includes green space, ~" access to water, pastoral settings and recreational opportunities, and WHEREAS, Florida Forever and other land conservation programs must compete in '~ Florida's mazket of surging land and housing prices; and, WHEREAS, the funding for the Florida Forever program will sunset in 2010; and WHEREAS, research by the Florida Forever Coalition has found that over $20 billion is currently needed to purchase parks and recreational facilities, wildlife and wilderness areas, and ~" open space for our state's increasing population. s ~. ~. ~, ~. AGENDA ITEM # 6A OCTOBER 23, 2006 NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH HEREBY SUPPORTS A SUCCESSOR PROGRAM TO FLORIDA FOREVER AND THE CONTINUED FUNDING OF PROGRAMS SUCH AS THE FLORIDA THE FLORIDA COMMUNITIES TRUST, WHICH ASSISTS CITIES AND COUNTIES IN THE ACQUISITION, CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF ENVIRONMENTALLY AND CULTURALLY SIGNIFICANT LANDS, ADOPTED BY THE CITY COMMISSION OF ATLANTIC BEACH, FLORIDA, THIS 23RD DAY OF OCTOBER, 2006. Donald M. Wolfson Mayor and Presiding Officer Approved as to form and correctness: Alan C. Jensen, Esquire City Attorney Attest: Donna Bussey City Clerk Resolution 06-13 2 October 13, 2006 ~,. iIF 1 ~i~'ST 'or ` -{ t_~.- f UI3L6C; ~A'~~1.~3 ~ L:1.N D ads .., ..~.~..1 ,>n .~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~, r. ,,_ ,~ k"it uti . ~~ ~~ conservancy ~®~~~~~~c~ % ~;` 9149fTff: THE LAST GRJ17 F*_rt2S ON EAFT11{ i~1y1V~~~tlf~NCY Ol' Southwest Florida oaf` : , .~~~~ AGENDA ;TEM # 6A OCTOBER 23.2006 r `~_ __- - _ nonmu euYrenoa t reti euact~nDx - -_= -_ FLORIDA CHAPTER _ AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ~~~i~,~~~TRUS I LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS ~'~®ly°d~dD ~'®D"~U9~Dp ~'®~~a~~®Da ~~c~s ~~ ~addd®Da ~D~DaD~~d~~v~®D~ IL~Da~ ~~°®tec~a®~a October 9, 2006 '~ Dear Floridians: The preservation of more than two million acres of Florida's natural landscape is a proud legacy of our governors, legislators, and fellow citizens dating back 40 years. As successive generations of leaders have added their influence, new public conservation funds have been approved, and many acres of land have been saved. ~. Now, as time runs out for Florida's remaining open spaces, preserving land for parks, people, and wildlife takes on a new urgency. It is time again for Florida's leaders to put land conservation at the top of their to-do lists. ~„ The conservation projects approved by the Florida Cabinet on ®ctober 3 will effectively drain Florida Forever's natural lands preservation funds for this fiscal year -- with three-quarters of the year still remaining. ~„ The loss of land to development is irreversible. While many societal and policy choices can be made as needs arise, we cannot replace woods and wetlands once they have been paved over. We cannot make new beach access for family fun once condos have walled off the shoreline. The loss of every acre of natural Florida puts wildlife and water resources under increasing stress. ®ne of the central lessons of Florida Forever and of the Everglades plan is that it is far cheaper to protect the enviroml~ent today ~. than to attempt to restore it later. That is why the Florida Forever Coalition -- sixteen regional, state, and national nonprofit organizations -- is ~* proposing that the Florida Forever Program, which has been so successful at providing funds for land and water conservation, be extended and expanded. ®ur Coalition believes that this great program, the purchasing power of which has dropped precipitously il~ recent years, must be funded commensurate with the conservation needs and the ~*' economy of today. State leaders who take charge after the November elections have an extraordinary opportunity to shape '"' Florida's future. The Florida Forever Coalition believes that Florida's new political leaders must step up the pace of enviroin~lental protection and continue the job started in 1962 -- to preserve enough of natural Florida and to protect special places ran~in~ fi•rnn landscape-scale tracts of land to widely used urban narlcs. Page Two October 9, 2006 T3'e propose that, by 2008, Florida Forever or a successor program spend up to $1 billion per year preserving environmentally sensitive land, buying parkland, and securing our water resources. Given Florida's rapid rate of growth (a net increase of 1,100 new people every day, the equivalent of a new Floridian every minute), accelerating the pace of conservation and environmental protection only makes ecological and economic sense. Furthermore, our prodigious growth is providing the very public funds needed to pay to preserve what is left of our beautiful and life sustaining natural landscapes. Florida is unique not only for its special places, but for the efforts we as a state have made to preserve them. Over the years our citizens and elected leaders have decided again and again to spend to protect the environment. We have approved many state and local initiatives providing funds for coasts, springs, rivers, beaches and the Everglades, and citizens of every county enjoy parks, wildlife management areas, forests, and waterfronts as a result of these wise decisions. Our water is cleaner, and the populations of many species are recovering Florida's legacy of conservation is so strong that the 1998 amendment to allow even more spending for conservation lands gained more votes than any other issue on the state ballot. Polls show that three-fourths of voters support Florida Forever. Florida Forever was one of Governor Jeb Bush's first initiatives eight years ago. Legislative leaders recognized that growth in the state's economy would easily pay the bill and added their commitment. Now we can look back at that decision and applaud the hundreds of thousands of acres of land saved as a result. Yet today, Florida Forever is nearly depleted and has become small in contrast to the job it was created to do. Florida Forever's annual $300 million has not increased since 1990, when it represented $23 per Floridian. Today it has dropped to $15 per person. Land prices and development pressure have overwhelmed the available funds. The average price of land in Florida has increased from $3,800 per acre in 1990 to over $29,300 today. No family should be denied the opportunity to visit a beach, walk or bike a trail, or swim in a spring: Future Floridians cannot lose their right to clean water, clean air, our state's remarkable wildlife, and wild places. Our leaders need to re-commit our state to preserving the best of what is left of Florida's special places. The Florida Forever Coalition believes that a new program that coconuts $1 billion per year can go a long way in securing the legacy that began so long ago. Our fuhire depends on it. Alliance of Florida Land Trusts Audubon of Florida 305-371-6399 www. audubonofflorida.org Conservancy of Southwest Florida 239-262-0304 www.conservancy.org The Conservation Fund 850-386-8683 www. conseivationfund. org Defenders of Wildlife 727-580-9585 www.defenders.org Everglades Tnist www. evergladestrust. org Florida Chapter of the American Planning Association 850-201-FAPA www. floridap fanning. org Florida Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects www.flasla.org Florida Native Plant Society 321-271-6702 www.fnps.org Florida Recreation & Park Association 850-878-3221 www.frpa.org Florida Trail Association 877-HIKE-FLA ......... 41 ..... ,l ., i~.....1 ...... Florida Wildlife Federation 850-656-7113 www.fwfonline.org The Nature Conservancy 407-682-3664 www. nati.~re. org/florida 1,000 Friends of Florida 850-222-6277 www.1000fo£org Rails-to-Trails Conservancy www.railh-ails.org The Trust for Public Land 850-222-7911 www. tpl. org/floridaforever ~.