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
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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.
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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
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AGENDA ;TEM # 6A
OCTOBER 23.2006
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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.
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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
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