Residents speak against brownfield

Residents speak against brownfield

KATI BEXLEY
kati.bexley@staugustinerecord.com
Publication Date: 10/10/06


The St. Augustine City Commission held its first public hearing Monday on whether to allow a developer to receive a tax break to clean the contaminated former Ponce de Leon Resort property.

"I think it's morally wrong to ask taxpayers to pay for this," said Bob Frohardt, a Ponte Vedra Beach resident, one of two people who spoke at the hearing.

The former Ponce site on U.S. 1, north of the city, covers 419 acres of which 284 acres are contaminated with arsenic. It was used for weed control on the Ponce golf course from 1916 to 2003.

Attorney Dan Richardson, representing the developer, asked the commission Monday to designate the former Ponce property a brownfield site. This is the second of three presentations Richardson will make to the commission.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection offers the brownfield program as an incentive to redevelop contaminated sites. The program includes tax benefits for the property owner.

Frohardt said the developer, Stokes & Company, was aware of the contamination when it bought the property. He said the developer told the commission "I'll take care of it. I don't need any help."

"Now he's saying, 'wait a minute. I have problem,'" Frohardt said. "I think it's wrong to apply this (brownfield program) mid-stream to bail him out."

Richardson said the developer already has a consent agreement with DEP to clean the site. He said it was Environmental Protection who suggested the developer apply for the brownfield program.

City resident Janet Craig also spoke against the development entirely, and wore a shirt that read, "Save The Ponce." Craig is part of a group who originally opposed closing the historic golf course to build a development, more than four years ago.

Commissioner Joe Boles had Richardson clarify the tax benefits developers can receive from the program.

"I think some people thought this meant the state would pay for the cleanup, but that's not the case," Boles said. "It seems there's more to this."

The developer could receive corporate income tax credit from Environmental Protection's state fund, Richardson said. The developer can only apply for money spent cleaning the site.

Environmental Protection audits the projects and decides what qualifies as tax credit, ensuring the money was used for cleanup and not on development, Richardson said. Each brownfield site developer can qualify for up to $500,000 in tax credits. But the amount is capped at $2 million for the state, Richardson said.

"So the state can say you don't have to pay $500,000 in taxes," Boles said.

Commissioner Don Crichlow said Environmental Protection told him that since the brownfield program began in 1998 the most money ever requested in one year from projects was about $1 million.

"There was an issue raised (by the public) that there could be more worthy projects than this one," Crichlow said. "To date, there have been no other applicants this year (for tax credits)."

The commission did not make a decision on the brownfield designation. The development must have its approval to become a brownfield site.

The commission will hold its final public hearing on the issue on Nov. 13.


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