EDITORIAL

Our position: Black Hammock deserves protection from Winter Springs.

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Seminole County has good reason for wanting to preserve the Black Hammock, where

wildlife, trees and rare plant species flourish among sparse homesteads.

That Winter Springs would even think about a recent proposal that could drastically

increase the number of homes in the area is worrisome, but it shouldn't come as a surprise.

 

While the county has tried to limit the number of homes in the area, the city has

aggressively fought back by annexing land and letting in more homes.

Now comes the alarming proposal that would allow at least nine times as many homes as is now permitted. Currently, the county allows only one house per three, five or 10 acres.    This would allow three to an acre.   Yes, it sets aside 70 percent of land

there, but that's just a ploy that doesn't undo the real damage.

City commissioners last week accepted the report and, fortunately, took no further action. But the meeting itself,

coupled with the city's history in the area, is cause for concern.

First of all, the proposal is premature. Seminole is still waiting for results from a study on the preservation of its

east-side rural areas including the Black Hammock, Geneva and Chuluota.

And next month, the county is to make its arguments at the 5th District Court of Appeal, challenging a Circuit Court

ruling that overturned a charter amendment requiring county approval of land-use changes in rural areas, even

where cities annex the land.   Voters approved the amendment but a judge overturned it, saying the wording was

misleading and in violation of state law.

The study's conclusions and the appellate-court ruling will lead to better informed decisions about the Black

Hammock.    Aside from timing, the density recommended in the proposal improperly manages growth.    The best

formula is to keep dense development in urban areas and let rural development ring sensitive sites.

Winter Springs City Manager Ron McLemore says that approach has not worked and that eventually, because of

economic pressures, the area is going to change anyhow.    He says it's better to let those changes happen within

the  boundaries of a plan that sets aside some conservation land in perpetuity.   But that argument doesn't hold up.  

Only government can decide whether to allow more intense development.    It doesn't have to be viewed as

inevitable.

Winter Springs Mayor John Bush has said he wants his city, the county and Oviedo, where annexation talks also

have surfaced, to agree on guidelines so developers won't play one off the other.

It sounds good, but Winter Springs' vision for the Black Hammock area has been so far removed from that of the

county's that it's tough to believe they could ever see eye to eye.

It would be great if the governments could work together, but given Winter Springs' track record, it's best to

greet this olive branch with a long arm.