OPINION: Informed locals can hold Buc-ee, county, to highest bar
BY ROB ROBBINS
Recent local media coverage of the Buc-ee’s and Harborview proposal didn’t tell the real story from the epic May 27th marathon board of county commissioner’s meeting. No context was given to Chair Joseph Tiseo’s quote “One Buc-ee’s for all those net benefits.”
Wait, what benefits? It would be a shame if anyone assumed those unspecified benefits were merely Beaver Nuggets and brisket sandwiches. The “net benefits” in the tradeoff were a reduction in the number of previously entitled housing units from nearly 4,000 down to 1,278 and an additional 38 acres of sensitive wildlife habitat along the Peace River preserved.
There was another overlooked “net benefit.” As the public shared their comments for hours, the developers and their attorney were secretly hashing out a twelfth hour (or fourteenth hour) concession on a yellow legal pad in the back of the room, a last-ditch effort to aid the beaver’s case. Hours earlier, comments from many of the same very informed residents sank another developer’s RV park proposal. Way past 10 p.m., the developer brought his yellow legal pad to the podium. Instead of all affordable housing units (10 percent of the total proposed) reserved for those earning not more than 120 percent of area median income (AMI), they proposed that 20 percent of the affordable units be reserved for the 50 percent AMI level and 40 percent for the 80 percent level which greatly creates more opportunity for families priced out of the housing market. To the surprise of the developer, Chair Tiseo immediately counteroffered asking the developer to do even better. This late hour, real-time public “horse trading” between some of the commissioners from the dais and the profit-driven developer was overlooked by the local media.
More net benefit this time for families.
Kudos to those commissioners who grasped the challenging situation created by more than 30 years of development entitlements granted by prior boards, and who then had the audacity to take on the developer directly and ask for even more. But forget the “guys in suits” on both sides; the real power in that room came from the informed residents. They traveled across the county, took time off, arranged childcare, did their homework, sent letters, and even brought in experts. These are the folks who deserve the lion’s share of credit for the “net benefits” gained on Tuesday and prior hearing outcomes. Their organic, grassroots strength was perfectly shown when one organizer had to dash out early in the hearing to pick up her daughter from childcare – only to return later, ready to resume the fight. These are citizen superheroes fighting on behalf of Charlotte County residents.
Despite some “net benefits,” Charlotte County remains entrenched in a development crisis. We need these citizen superheroes to continue lobbying the commissioners, demanding more from developers. We must ensure that new lighting doesn’t steal our dark night skies, that increased traffic doesn’t spill into neighboring streets and schools, and that adequate police and EMS services stay ahead of the growth.
Crucially, critical habitats for endangered smalltooth sawfish, scrub jays, eagles, gopher tortoises, and other wildlife must not just be unimpacted, but actively improved and restored.
Hold the commissioners to the highest bar, making them accountable to fight for these crucial protections and more. Developers, and that beaver, should remain on notice: bring that yellow legal pad to future meetings to write up more concessions, or go home with a loss.
Rob Robbins, a director of Lemon Bay Conservancy, attended UM Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, where he has a doctoral degree in the impacts of salinity fluctuations.
