A collection of Daytona Beach News-Journal stories about the Miami Corp. and its Farmton project in Southern Volusia
Some leery of Miami Corp.'s plans for Osteen land
Daytona Beach News-Journal (FL)) - April 22, 2007
OSTEEN - A giant slept for 80 years in southern Volusia.
The Chicago-based Miami Corp. started buying land between Osteen and Oak Hill in the 1920s, eventually accumulating 90 square miles, managing it for hunting and timberlands.
Awakened now by the drumbeat of development across Central Florida, the county's largest landowner has big plans for the 57,000 acres it owns in Volusia and Brevard counties.
The reclusive company hopes to preserve up to 32,000 acres from future development. In exchange, it wants the right to build a new city someday - perhaps with as many or more homes than Deltona or Daytona Beach - in the middle of its remote woodlands.
Environmentalists fear the county will allow too many houses in exchange for preserving the land and wind up with sprawling development.
A few landowners who moved to Osteen for their own little quiet spot in the country worry their peace will be destroyed.
"We like our way of life," said Kathie Wygant, who owns a double-wide mobile home and 2.5 acres in a nearby area of former hunting camps off Lake Harney Road.
"There's a reason we moved out this far."
Local officials have mixed feelings. One consultant's suggestion of 20,000 to 40,000 homes over 75 years alarms at least two County Council members.
But, they'd like the chance to secure a hoped-for wilderness corridor through the center of the county.
Though development could be decades away, the decisions the Miami Corp. will ask local leaders to make in the months ahead concern many who care about the area's future.
PERFECT SOLUTION?
Spanning an area nearly half again as large as Daytona Beach or twice as big as Deltona, the Miami Corp. land is a maze of planted pines, woods, streams, wetlands and scrub, abounding in black bears, wild turkeys and other wildlife.
Parts of it are "absolutely spectacular," said the company's local attorney, Glenn Storch.
Board members and officers for the family owned and controlled company toured the property in April, to see for themselves what attracts so much attention from would-be buyers.
So far they have rebuffed suitors, but the land could be sold and subdivided today in five- to 25-acre lots, with 2,236 homes in Volusia and 2,044 in Brevard without the approval of either county.
Storch groans at the thought. He's convinced there's a better way.
The situation presents a dilemma for Storch, a seventh-generation Floridian who lives just a couple of miles away. How can he best serve his clients and still protect the area where he's raising his family?
A couple of years ago he served on a county committee searching for better ways to manage the county's growth and protect the county's rural interior. When he heard about a new state program called rural land stewardship, it seemed like the perfect solution.
"If we don't do something now and we have a window of opportunity right now, we're going to end up like our sister counties," Storch said. "If we're ever going to save the conservation corridor, this is going to be the way to do it."
After exploring the concept for two years, the Miami Corp. board agreed earlier this month to move forward with plans to ask the two counties to create a Rural Land Stewardship Area.
Stewardship areas were designed by the state to protect agricultural and environmentally sensitive land by allowing landowners to trade more dense development in some areas in exchange for not developing in others. The intent is to cluster homes and businesses into traditional towns, with park-like green areas, sidewalks and bike paths, where people can shop and go to school.
The areas can only be created with properties larger than 10,000 acres outside any city limits. One has been completed in Collier County in southwest Florida. A second is under way in St. Lucie County on the southeast coast and at least five others may be in the works.
Stewardship would give the county and its residents the opportunity "to create a vision for the type of community we want to have for the next 50 years," Storch said.
It would maintain swaths of woodlands, scenic rural vistas, and "create incentives for growth to happen in clustered, pre-determined areas," he said. "If you don't and it gets divided and fenced, any chance of creating a complete habitat corridor is gone forever, and that's what worries me."
It worries officials in Brevard and Volusia counties as well.
Brevard County's environmental land program has had the Miami land on its list for years, said manager Mike Knight. "We're keeping the door open to work with them."
The land has great conservation value, he said, especially with its potential connections to publicly owned land in Brevard, Orange and Volusia counties.
Storch has talked generally about the proposal with several members of the Volusia County Council, without specifics on numbers, which would have to be worked out during the approval process during the next several years.
Knowing how difficult and expensive it is to buy land, the concept of trading density to preserve land intrigues County Councilwoman Pat Northey.
The pivotal question is how much density, she said. "We have to determine if the property we get in conservation is worth the trade-off in density."
Northey, who represents Southwest Volusia, also has questions about transportation and what kinds of roads will be needed.
Local environmental advocates asked the county last year to say no to stewardship. They oppose any additional development, concerned about traffic, water use and overcrowded schools.
But Eric Draper, a land-use expert with Audubon of Florida, said this latest way of leveraging developers into preserving habitat has advantages and drawbacks.
"You end up conceptually preserving a considerable amount of land, but the trade-off is you end up with new little cities or towns," said Draper, who has toured the property with Storch. "The question becomes whether having a new town with a compact form is a better way to accommodate Florida's population growth than allowing endless sprawl."
Charles Pattison, executive director of 1000 Friends of Florida, isn't convinced it's better, though says it sounds like a great approach. "It's not statistically possible the state will ever have enough money to pick up all of the amazing places in Florida that are still undeveloped," Pattison said. "You're going to have some sort of protection/development scheme that goes hand in hand."
The new communities are supposed to be self-sustaining, with all the jobs and stores right there, Pattison said.
But what if they're not?
He said it wouldn't be the first time a developer promised something that wasn't delivered.
"One of the goals for Florida is not to have this creeping sprawl that oozes out from developed areas," he said. It puts pressure on roads and increases demands for services and facilities. The thought of more traffic on remote Maytown-Osteen Road, where garbage service only recently arrived, makes at least one resident cringe.
Kenny Thompson, who lives on Lake Harney Road, knew he wanted to live there when he first hunted on the land as an 11-year-old more than 30 years ago.
"I don't want nothing out here," Thompson said. "I didn't even want them to pave Maytown Road."
Today, cars and trucks whiz along the road, especially on weekends, their tires humming at the sleeping giant's door.
Conservation Development Plan At a Glance
WHAT IS RURAL LAND STEWARDSHIP?
A category for land use and zoning that clusters new development within large tracts of land. Portions of the land must be permanently preserved in farmland or conservation land for wildlife, recreation and water resources. In exchange, the landowner is allowed to develop more densely in other designated areas.
WHAT ARE CREDITS?
Credits are the currency of the stewardship program. They're based on the value of the land to be preserved. Higher valued resources receive higher trading values. That's where the debate takes place about how much a wetland or piece of farm land is worth.
HOW DOES A LANDOWNER QUALIFY?
The land must be at least 10,000 acres. It must be agricultural or rural and outside any city limits or urban growth boundaries.
WHY WAS IT CREATED IN STATE LAW IN 2001?
To help rural areas come up with a way to put development in specific locations but also maintain the economic value of agricultural land, tree farming, hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation and protect ecosystems and land for wildlife.
WHAT'S NEXT?
The county and the landowner must decide whether to create a rural land stewardship area, then conduct public meetings to discuss the local rules that will guide the design and then submit an application to the state.
The Chicago-based Miami Corp. started buying land between Osteen and Oak Hill in the 1920s, eventually accumulating 90 square miles, managing it for hunting and timberlands.
Awakened now by the drumbeat of development across Central Florida, the county's largest landowner has big plans for the 57,000 acres it owns in Volusia and Brevard counties.
The reclusive company hopes to preserve up to 32,000 acres from future development. In exchange, it wants the right to build a new city someday - perhaps with as many or more homes than Deltona or Daytona Beach - in the middle of its remote woodlands.
Environmentalists fear the county will allow too many houses in exchange for preserving the land and wind up with sprawling development.
A few landowners who moved to Osteen for their own little quiet spot in the country worry their peace will be destroyed.
"We like our way of life," said Kathie Wygant, who owns a double-wide mobile home and 2.5 acres in a nearby area of former hunting camps off Lake Harney Road.
"There's a reason we moved out this far."
Local officials have mixed feelings. One consultant's suggestion of 20,000 to 40,000 homes over 75 years alarms at least two County Council members.
But, they'd like the chance to secure a hoped-for wilderness corridor through the center of the county.
Though development could be decades away, the decisions the Miami Corp. will ask local leaders to make in the months ahead concern many who care about the area's future.
PERFECT SOLUTION?
Spanning an area nearly half again as large as Daytona Beach or twice as big as Deltona, the Miami Corp. land is a maze of planted pines, woods, streams, wetlands and scrub, abounding in black bears, wild turkeys and other wildlife.
Parts of it are "absolutely spectacular," said the company's local attorney, Glenn Storch.
Board members and officers for the family owned and controlled company toured the property in April, to see for themselves what attracts so much attention from would-be buyers.
So far they have rebuffed suitors, but the land could be sold and subdivided today in five- to 25-acre lots, with 2,236 homes in Volusia and 2,044 in Brevard without the approval of either county.
Storch groans at the thought. He's convinced there's a better way.
The situation presents a dilemma for Storch, a seventh-generation Floridian who lives just a couple of miles away. How can he best serve his clients and still protect the area where he's raising his family?
A couple of years ago he served on a county committee searching for better ways to manage the county's growth and protect the county's rural interior. When he heard about a new state program called rural land stewardship, it seemed like the perfect solution.
"If we don't do something now and we have a window of opportunity right now, we're going to end up like our sister counties," Storch said. "If we're ever going to save the conservation corridor, this is going to be the way to do it."
After exploring the concept for two years, the Miami Corp. board agreed earlier this month to move forward with plans to ask the two counties to create a Rural Land Stewardship Area.
Stewardship areas were designed by the state to protect agricultural and environmentally sensitive land by allowing landowners to trade more dense development in some areas in exchange for not developing in others. The intent is to cluster homes and businesses into traditional towns, with park-like green areas, sidewalks and bike paths, where people can shop and go to school.
The areas can only be created with properties larger than 10,000 acres outside any city limits. One has been completed in Collier County in southwest Florida. A second is under way in St. Lucie County on the southeast coast and at least five others may be in the works.
Stewardship would give the county and its residents the opportunity "to create a vision for the type of community we want to have for the next 50 years," Storch said.
It would maintain swaths of woodlands, scenic rural vistas, and "create incentives for growth to happen in clustered, pre-determined areas," he said. "If you don't and it gets divided and fenced, any chance of creating a complete habitat corridor is gone forever, and that's what worries me."
It worries officials in Brevard and Volusia counties as well.
Brevard County's environmental land program has had the Miami land on its list for years, said manager Mike Knight. "We're keeping the door open to work with them."
The land has great conservation value, he said, especially with its potential connections to publicly owned land in Brevard, Orange and Volusia counties.
Storch has talked generally about the proposal with several members of the Volusia County Council, without specifics on numbers, which would have to be worked out during the approval process during the next several years.
Knowing how difficult and expensive it is to buy land, the concept of trading density to preserve land intrigues County Councilwoman Pat Northey.
The pivotal question is how much density, she said. "We have to determine if the property we get in conservation is worth the trade-off in density."
Northey, who represents Southwest Volusia, also has questions about transportation and what kinds of roads will be needed.
Local environmental advocates asked the county last year to say no to stewardship. They oppose any additional development, concerned about traffic, water use and overcrowded schools.
But Eric Draper, a land-use expert with Audubon of Florida, said this latest way of leveraging developers into preserving habitat has advantages and drawbacks.
"You end up conceptually preserving a considerable amount of land, but the trade-off is you end up with new little cities or towns," said Draper, who has toured the property with Storch. "The question becomes whether having a new town with a compact form is a better way to accommodate Florida's population growth than allowing endless sprawl."
Charles Pattison, executive director of 1000 Friends of Florida, isn't convinced it's better, though says it sounds like a great approach. "It's not statistically possible the state will ever have enough money to pick up all of the amazing places in Florida that are still undeveloped," Pattison said. "You're going to have some sort of protection/development scheme that goes hand in hand."
The new communities are supposed to be self-sustaining, with all the jobs and stores right there, Pattison said.
But what if they're not?
He said it wouldn't be the first time a developer promised something that wasn't delivered.
"One of the goals for Florida is not to have this creeping sprawl that oozes out from developed areas," he said. It puts pressure on roads and increases demands for services and facilities. The thought of more traffic on remote Maytown-Osteen Road, where garbage service only recently arrived, makes at least one resident cringe.
Kenny Thompson, who lives on Lake Harney Road, knew he wanted to live there when he first hunted on the land as an 11-year-old more than 30 years ago.
"I don't want nothing out here," Thompson said. "I didn't even want them to pave Maytown Road."
Today, cars and trucks whiz along the road, especially on weekends, their tires humming at the sleeping giant's door.
Conservation Development Plan At a Glance
WHAT IS RURAL LAND STEWARDSHIP?
A category for land use and zoning that clusters new development within large tracts of land. Portions of the land must be permanently preserved in farmland or conservation land for wildlife, recreation and water resources. In exchange, the landowner is allowed to develop more densely in other designated areas.
WHAT ARE CREDITS?
Credits are the currency of the stewardship program. They're based on the value of the land to be preserved. Higher valued resources receive higher trading values. That's where the debate takes place about how much a wetland or piece of farm land is worth.
HOW DOES A LANDOWNER QUALIFY?
The land must be at least 10,000 acres. It must be agricultural or rural and outside any city limits or urban growth boundaries.
WHY WAS IT CREATED IN STATE LAW IN 2001?
To help rural areas come up with a way to put development in specific locations but also maintain the economic value of agricultural land, tree farming, hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation and protect ecosystems and land for wildlife.
WHAT'S NEXT?
The county and the landowner must decide whether to create a rural land stewardship area, then conduct public meetings to discuss the local rules that will guide the design and then submit an application to the state.
Who is the Miami Corp.?
March 29, 2009 - See below
October 16, 2009 https://www.news-journalonline.com/article/LK/20091016/news/605079796/DN
December 2, 2009 https://www.news-journalonline.com/article/LK/20091202/news/605079795/DN
January 29, 2010 https://www.news-journalonline.com/news/20100129/volusia-farmton-decision-in-3-weeks
February 19, 2010 https://www.news-journalonline.com/news/20100219/volusia-council-oks-miami-corp-development
April 11, 2010 https://www.news-journalonline.com/article/LK/20100411/News/605078785/DN
September 13, 2010 https://www.news-journalonline.com/news/20100913/hearing-begins-in-miami-corp-case
September 16, 2010 https://www.news-journalonline.com/news/20100916/official-farmton-plan-lacks-specifics
September 25, 2010 https://www.news-journalonline.com/article/LK/20100925/News/605079042/DN
January 29, 2011 https://www.news-journalonline.com/news/20110129/farmton-land-future-still-up-in-air
March 18, 2011 https://www.news-journalonline.com/news/20110318/farmton-plan-gets-county-council-approval
April 10, 2011 - Summary of the Farmton Local Plan
April 27, 2011 https://www.news-journalonline.com/article/LK/20110427/news/605071019/DN
May 19, 2011 https://www.news-journalonline.com/article/LK/20110519/news/605071246/DN
July 28, 2011 https://www.news-journalonline.com/article/LK/20110728/News/605071987/
September 16, 2011 https://www.news-journalonline.com/article/LK/20110916/News/605072647/
January 25, 2012 https://www.news-journalonline.com/article/LK/20120125/News/605061461/DN
August 19, 2012 https://www.news-journalonline.com/news/20120819/farmton-management-plan-conserve-44k-acres-in-volusia-brevard
January 8, 2013 https://www.news-journalonline.com/news/20130108/farmton-changes-move-deep-creek-land-to-county
March 21, 2013 https://www.news-journalonline.com/article/LK/20130321/News/605062609/DN
May 19, 2013 https://www.news-journalonline.com/article/LK/20130519/News/605066232/DN
August 23, 2013 https://www.news-journalonline.com/news/20130823/farmton-property-plan-moves-forward
July 16, 2014 https://www.news-journalonline.com/news/20140716/farmton-plan-for-se-volusia-property-gets-regional-ok
November 29, 2014 https://www.news-journalonline.com/article/LK/20141129/News/605079033/DN
December 8, 2014 https://www.news-journalonline.com/news/20141208/volusias-farmton-development-poised-to-get-water-permit
December 9, 2014 https://www.news-journalonline.com/article/LK/20141209/news/605079606/DN
April 2, 2015 https://www.news-journalonline.com/article/LK/20150402/News/605054453/DN
February 8, 2017 https://www.news-journalonline.com/news/20170218/miami-corp-project-moving-forward-in-south-volusia-county
October 22, 2017 https://www.news-journalonline.com/news/20171022/groups-work-to-ramp-up-support-for-volusia-flagler-trails
September 19, 2018 http://gm5-lkweb.newscyclecloud.com/news/20180919/edgewater-site-near-i-95-could-accommodate-8500-homes?template=ampart
What is the future for Volusia's largest tract of private land? - BIG LAND, BIG CONCERNS
Daytona Beach News-Journal
March 29, 2009
When Volusia County's largest private landowner proposed a long-term development plan in January, its sheer scope provoked tremors countywide.
Local officials and environmental activists had lots of concerns about how things could play out during the Miami Corp.'s 50-year time frame. Some worried that bulldozers would show up on the 59,000 acres sooner rather than later.
The Chicago-based family trust acted quickly to try to calm some of the fears, going back to the drawing board on a few points. Now Volusia County officials await the company's latest proposal sometime this week.
"We expected much discussion with the applicant on many points," said Greg Stubbs, Volusia's director of growth and resource management.
The company wants to amend long-term land-use plans in Volusia and Brevard counties, the first step in the eventual development of more than a third of the land it owns in the two counties.
The plan calls for at least half the acreage to be permanently preserved as conservation land. The remainder could one day hold more homes than Deltona, clustered into villages scattered from northern Deltona to Osteen. In addition to plans for industrial, office and retail space, the plan includes a number of innovative proposals, such as focusing on job creation by linking the number of homes allowed to the number of jobs created. For some, it's too early to get excited about the massive plan, called Farmton Greenkey. This first step is expected to take at least a year. Any clearing would require a separate development plan.
SOME QUESTION SIZE, SCOPE
Others are none too happy. As details emerged, school and city officials, Volusia County Council members and environmental activists questioned the project's size, scope and timeline.
That led the company to refine its plan to specify that only one area - called the Gateway - could be developed before 2025, said attorney Glenn Storch, who represents the company locally.
No other development could occur anywhere on the land before then and the company would maintain the rest of the land as it is now, Storch said.
The company had no plans to sell its property anytime soon anyway, he said. But many doubted that assertion.
"Now we're putting it in writing," Storch said. However, company directors do want to protect the family's investment and retain rights to future development on the land it has owned for more than 80 years.
The new proposal still would be a density increase, allowing the same number of houses in the first area as are now allowed on all of the company's land under existing rules.
The Volusia County school district was first to weigh in on Farmton's original proposal, saying local schools do not have enough capacity for students that could be generated by the proposed development.
In a letter to Storch, Saralee Morrissey, the district's director of site acquisition and intergovernmental coordination, wrote that the district, county and cities have designated a "no school zone" in that area, meaning no new schools are planned within 20 years. The letter didn't address the proposed 50-year time frame.
'GOING TO BE A HARD SELL'
Several County Council members have reservations about the number of homes and focusing so much growth in an undeveloped corner of the county. They share concerns with environmental advocates that the project would use up more than its share of natural and fiscal resources.
County Councilman Andy Kelly said he didn't want to even consider allowing 29,500 homes out there. The company proposes allowing 10 times more houses over the 50 years than could now be built on the land.
"This is going to be a hard sell for me," Kelly said. "This is a huge, huge concept.
"This is not at all what I envisioned when we were talking about clustering and protecting wetlands and watersheds with green subdivisions," he said, referring to the county's recently approved Smart Growth ordinance. Focusing so much growth in one area would "take away resources needed countywide," such as water and road-building money.
Public money won't be used to build roads, sewer systems, trails or other infrastructure because the developers would be required to pay for such things as roads and trails, Storch said. It would be decades before such projects are complete and turned over by a community development district for public maintenance.
Jack Hayman, whose district includes Farmton, said the proposal is "interesting."
"The problem will be to try to prevent this from looking like sprawl," Hayman said. "They have a lot of wetlands and a lot of sensitive areas they're going to have to deal with."
The Miami Corp. land covers some 90 square miles between Osteen, Oak Hill and Edgewater and has abundant wildlife. Part of the property borders the St. Johns River and includes Deep Creek.
"We've got black bears all over the place," said Mike Thomas, Edgewater mayor and manager of the hunting club that operates on the land.
The plan would preserve swaths of land identified by Volusia County as key wildlife corridors.
Environmentalists remain concerned about the project's consequences. An attorney for the Edgewater Citizens Alliance for Responsible Development, Lesley Blackner, has called the proposal a "sprawl-opolis."
But Storch calls the plan an antidote to sprawl, by laying out precise plans for how and when the property can be developed while preserving environmentally sensitive areas. The plan also requires a number of energy and water conservation measures, as well as design standards comparable to the University of Florida's Program for Resource Efficient Communities.
County officials in Volusia and Brevard have agreed to split the cost of a consultant to guide them through the plan amendment process.
Everyone, residents and public officials alike, will have many opportunities to comment, Stubbs said. "It's too large a project not to have discussion with the public and other communities."
Proposed Plan for Miami Corp. Land
The Miami Corp. has taken the first steps toward eventual development of half its land, the largest privately owned tract in Volusia County, floating a 50-year plan called Farmton Greenkey.
What is the Miami Corp.? A family trust protecting the long-term investments of generations of the Deering family. The Chicago-based corporation has owned land here since the 1920s. Philanthropists, family members donate thousands to charities nationwide each year.
How much land does the company own? 92 square miles, 47,000 acres in Volusia and 12,000 acres in Brevard County.
What's the land used for now? A hunting lease, wetland mitigation bank and timber products.
What's now allowed? Zoned forestry, agriculture and environmental systems corridor. Could be subdivided into lot sizes ranging from 5 to 25 acres, with 2,236 homes in Volusia and 2,044 in Brevard.
How much land would be conserved? About half, 30,000 acres, including 11,000 acres on Volusia County's ECO map, goes into conservation easements when the first development plan is filed. Eventually, up to another 10,000 acres planned for conservation in buffers and mitigation.
How many homes? 29,500 housing units, 23,500 in Volusia and 6,000 in Brevard.
What kind of development? Five residential areas and three mixed commercial and residential. Each class of nonresidential development has a maximum proposed square footage.
GATEWAY
820 acres
*Office, retail, warehousing, light manufacturing, a 120-room hotel and multi-family residential with up to 20 units per acre.
WORKPLACE
1,216 acres in Volusia
*Office, warehousing, light manufacturing, retail, research and development, up to 24 units per acre multifamily housing, 120-room hotel, schools.
Local officials and environmental activists had lots of concerns about how things could play out during the Miami Corp.'s 50-year time frame. Some worried that bulldozers would show up on the 59,000 acres sooner rather than later.
The Chicago-based family trust acted quickly to try to calm some of the fears, going back to the drawing board on a few points. Now Volusia County officials await the company's latest proposal sometime this week.
"We expected much discussion with the applicant on many points," said Greg Stubbs, Volusia's director of growth and resource management.
The company wants to amend long-term land-use plans in Volusia and Brevard counties, the first step in the eventual development of more than a third of the land it owns in the two counties.
The plan calls for at least half the acreage to be permanently preserved as conservation land. The remainder could one day hold more homes than Deltona, clustered into villages scattered from northern Deltona to Osteen. In addition to plans for industrial, office and retail space, the plan includes a number of innovative proposals, such as focusing on job creation by linking the number of homes allowed to the number of jobs created. For some, it's too early to get excited about the massive plan, called Farmton Greenkey. This first step is expected to take at least a year. Any clearing would require a separate development plan.
SOME QUESTION SIZE, SCOPE
Others are none too happy. As details emerged, school and city officials, Volusia County Council members and environmental activists questioned the project's size, scope and timeline.
That led the company to refine its plan to specify that only one area - called the Gateway - could be developed before 2025, said attorney Glenn Storch, who represents the company locally.
No other development could occur anywhere on the land before then and the company would maintain the rest of the land as it is now, Storch said.
The company had no plans to sell its property anytime soon anyway, he said. But many doubted that assertion.
"Now we're putting it in writing," Storch said. However, company directors do want to protect the family's investment and retain rights to future development on the land it has owned for more than 80 years.
The new proposal still would be a density increase, allowing the same number of houses in the first area as are now allowed on all of the company's land under existing rules.
The Volusia County school district was first to weigh in on Farmton's original proposal, saying local schools do not have enough capacity for students that could be generated by the proposed development.
In a letter to Storch, Saralee Morrissey, the district's director of site acquisition and intergovernmental coordination, wrote that the district, county and cities have designated a "no school zone" in that area, meaning no new schools are planned within 20 years. The letter didn't address the proposed 50-year time frame.
'GOING TO BE A HARD SELL'
Several County Council members have reservations about the number of homes and focusing so much growth in an undeveloped corner of the county. They share concerns with environmental advocates that the project would use up more than its share of natural and fiscal resources.
County Councilman Andy Kelly said he didn't want to even consider allowing 29,500 homes out there. The company proposes allowing 10 times more houses over the 50 years than could now be built on the land.
"This is going to be a hard sell for me," Kelly said. "This is a huge, huge concept.
"This is not at all what I envisioned when we were talking about clustering and protecting wetlands and watersheds with green subdivisions," he said, referring to the county's recently approved Smart Growth ordinance. Focusing so much growth in one area would "take away resources needed countywide," such as water and road-building money.
Public money won't be used to build roads, sewer systems, trails or other infrastructure because the developers would be required to pay for such things as roads and trails, Storch said. It would be decades before such projects are complete and turned over by a community development district for public maintenance.
Jack Hayman, whose district includes Farmton, said the proposal is "interesting."
"The problem will be to try to prevent this from looking like sprawl," Hayman said. "They have a lot of wetlands and a lot of sensitive areas they're going to have to deal with."
The Miami Corp. land covers some 90 square miles between Osteen, Oak Hill and Edgewater and has abundant wildlife. Part of the property borders the St. Johns River and includes Deep Creek.
"We've got black bears all over the place," said Mike Thomas, Edgewater mayor and manager of the hunting club that operates on the land.
The plan would preserve swaths of land identified by Volusia County as key wildlife corridors.
Environmentalists remain concerned about the project's consequences. An attorney for the Edgewater Citizens Alliance for Responsible Development, Lesley Blackner, has called the proposal a "sprawl-opolis."
But Storch calls the plan an antidote to sprawl, by laying out precise plans for how and when the property can be developed while preserving environmentally sensitive areas. The plan also requires a number of energy and water conservation measures, as well as design standards comparable to the University of Florida's Program for Resource Efficient Communities.
County officials in Volusia and Brevard have agreed to split the cost of a consultant to guide them through the plan amendment process.
Everyone, residents and public officials alike, will have many opportunities to comment, Stubbs said. "It's too large a project not to have discussion with the public and other communities."
Proposed Plan for Miami Corp. Land
The Miami Corp. has taken the first steps toward eventual development of half its land, the largest privately owned tract in Volusia County, floating a 50-year plan called Farmton Greenkey.
What is the Miami Corp.? A family trust protecting the long-term investments of generations of the Deering family. The Chicago-based corporation has owned land here since the 1920s. Philanthropists, family members donate thousands to charities nationwide each year.
How much land does the company own? 92 square miles, 47,000 acres in Volusia and 12,000 acres in Brevard County.
What's the land used for now? A hunting lease, wetland mitigation bank and timber products.
What's now allowed? Zoned forestry, agriculture and environmental systems corridor. Could be subdivided into lot sizes ranging from 5 to 25 acres, with 2,236 homes in Volusia and 2,044 in Brevard.
How much land would be conserved? About half, 30,000 acres, including 11,000 acres on Volusia County's ECO map, goes into conservation easements when the first development plan is filed. Eventually, up to another 10,000 acres planned for conservation in buffers and mitigation.
How many homes? 29,500 housing units, 23,500 in Volusia and 6,000 in Brevard.
What kind of development? Five residential areas and three mixed commercial and residential. Each class of nonresidential development has a maximum proposed square footage.
GATEWAY
820 acres
*Office, retail, warehousing, light manufacturing, a 120-room hotel and multi-family residential with up to 20 units per acre.
WORKPLACE
1,216 acres in Volusia
*Office, warehousing, light manufacturing, retail, research and development, up to 24 units per acre multifamily housing, 120-room hotel, schools.
TOWN CENTER
500-acre social, economic, educational hub
*Office, retail, educational, recreational and medical, a 120-room hotel and a 160-bed hospital. Residential includes up to six single family homes per acre, 16 town homes per acre and 24 multifamily units per acre.
VILLAGES
No more than 90 acres, preserving at least 95 percent of wetlands, with transit stops including bicycle racks
*Office, retail and bed-and-breakfast. At least 90 percent of the homes in the village must be within one mile of village center. Up to six homes per acre or 16
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