PINELLAS COUNTY

LAND ACQUISITION AND MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

FOR CONSERVATION LANDS

  

1.         When did the initial program start? What other programs have started since then and when?

 2.         How was the program initially funded? Did the sources of funding change at any point?

 3.         What is the length of the initial source of funding?

 Response to Questions 1 and 2 and 3: Beginning in 1972, Pinellas County began the ARed Flag Charette of Pinellas County@ and the process to identify and target specific environmentally sensitive/important preservation and conservation lands throughout the County for acquisition. A twenty-member team of architects, planners, scientists and representatives of environmental groups convened and arrived ultimately at a document that provided guidance to, and a policy foundation for, the County=s environmental lands acquisition program.

 Following the identification of significant environmental lands, the next step was to attempt to identify dedicated funding for a land acquisition program. In addition to the ability to use ad valorem funds, in 1972,  the Parkland Acquisition Fund was approved through voter referendum with 67 percent voter approval. (See Exhibit A). 438 acres of passive parkland were acquired under this program which lasted from 1974 to 1985. 

 In 1984 and 1986, the citizens of Pinellas County passed referendums to establish an Endangered Lands Fund, with 62 and 76 percent voter approval, respectively, committing additional millage for the acquisition of parkland, open space and environmentally sensitive lands. Over 2,216 acres of environmental lands were acquired using these funds (See Exhibit A), with 1,680 acres being acquired through the 1st fund, and 536 acres being acquired through the 2nd fund. 

 During this same time, the Pinellas County Water System was systematically buying large contiguous tracts of land in the northeast, or East Lake, area of the County. While the primary purpose of the acquisition was protection of the recharge area to the County's regional potable water supply wellfield, the additional priority of natural resource protection was soon established. To date, the Pinellas County Water System has acquired 3,605 acres of land which have been incorporated into, and are managed as a part of, the Brooker Creek Preserve. 

  In 1989, Pinellas County adopted its Comprehensive Plan under the State=s revised Growth Management Act. This new Plan contained extensive commitments by the Board of County Commissioners to both land acquisition and management. These commitments were reflected in the original Conservation Element (now referred to as the Natural, Historic, and Cultural Resources Element), the Recreation and Open Space Element, the Future Land Use Element and the Capital Improvements Element. While the Conservation and Recreation and Open Space Elements defined the County=s commitment to acquisition and management, the Future Land Use Element described how the land use planning process  - and application of the preservation land use category - was used to set aside additional environmentally sensitive lands for conservation purposes. The Capital Improvements Element identified the funding sources and priorities for  acquisition.

  Following adoption of  the Comprehensive Plan, Pinellas County citizens approved, through referendum and a 51 percent vote,  a one cent infrastructure sales tax, to be assessed for ten years, to provide funds for implementing significant components of the Plan. A portion of those dollars were earmarked for the acquisition of environmental lands identified in the Comprehensive Plan. This sales tax, called the APenny for Pinellas,@ has been instrumental in the success of the County=s land acquisition program over the last ten years and has resulted in the purchase of at least 2,013 acres of environmental lands. (See Exhibit A).

In July 1996, Pinellas County completed a major evaluation of its adopted Comprehensive Plan. This process, which included involvement by the public, input from review agencies and the establishment of an environmental [citizen] workgroup,  identified both needs and desires for additional capital projects and programs, including environmental and parkland acquisitions necessary to meet Comprehensive Plan natural resource and passive recreation goals and objectives.

In 1997, with the infrastructure sales tax destined to expire in 2000 and following the completion of the evaluation of the Comprehensive Plan, the Board of County Commissioners went again to the public with information specifying the additional capital improvements and investments needed to continue implementation of the Comprehensive Plan, including the investments needed to continue the extensive program of environmental and parkland acquisition.  Again, the public approved, by referendum, a ten year extension to the APenny For Pinellas.@ The extension was approved by a 65 percent vote, most likely due to the County=s record of being able to successfully implement the original plan of improvements and acquisitions identified under the first APenny.@ At a minimum, 2500 acres of land are estimated to be purchased by the time the extension expires (See Exhibit A).  

 

4.         What is the length of the overall program?

From 1972 (the inception of the first official dedicated funding source) until 2009 (the expiration of the A Penny for Pinellas@) will represent 37 years of land acquisition using five separate dedicated funding sources.

 5.         What is the current status of the program? What properties and acreages have been acquired and what is still to be acquired?

 The program remains very active. See Exhibit B for a listing of conservation/endangered lands/passive parkland acquired between 1972 and 1999, and see Exhibit C for a listing of endangered lands still targeted for acquisition by 2010.

 6.         What have been the major successes of the program?

 Seeking to optimize the funds available for land acquisition, the County has frequently partnered with other agencies when land acquisition goals were complementary. For example, Pinellas County has received several Preservation 2000 awards from the Florida Communities Trust. Most of the land acquired through this program has been in the Brooker Creek Preserve, the over 8800 acre natural preserve managed by Pinellas County in the northeastern part of the County. Additional lands acquired under the Preservation 2000 program include the McKay Creek Greenway acquisitions. The County has also applied for and received several greenway grants through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Through this process, the State acquires the land, but the County manages the land. Once a contract is finalized, acreage will be added to the almost 700 acre Weedon Island Preserve in the southeastern part of the County through this process. Other successful partnerships include, but are not limited to: (1) that between the County and the Southwest Florida Water Management District to acquire lands for inclusion in the Brooker Creek Preserve, (2) the joint purchase by the County and the [then] Department of Environmental Regulation of the Gateway area, 699 acres of contiguous preservation lands along the eastern coast of  Pinellas County, and (3) joint acquisition with the City of Clearwater of Cooper=s Point for conservation purposes, and with the City of Largo for the Largo Narrows. Additionally, the County has received 705 acres of environmentally sensitive land through the process of individual donations.

 Frequently, the County and a participating agency may partner not only in acquisition but in management as well. Overall, these partnerships are both fiscally and environmentally successful and advantageous. 

 One of the hallmarks of the County's land acquisition program remains the over 8800 acres of land systematically acquired in north County to comprise the Brooker Creek Preserve. Emphasizing management of County lands and consistent with Comprehensive Plan requirements, the County developed a management plan for the Preserve in 1993, with the cooperation of scientists and technical experts from the University of South Florida, the Audubon Society, etc.  

A very significant recent achievement/acquisition has been the County=s ability to acquire almost all of Shell Key, one of the most significant bird habitats/stop-overs in the region. Again, this has been accomplished through a process of systematic land acquisition by the County, partnership with the State (to lease certain lands under State ownership), and ongoing negotiations with private landowners for the last remaining two submerged parcels not yet acquired. The management plan for Shell Key is currently being completed by the Pinellas County Department of Environmental Management.   

Overall, the amount of land acquired and managed for environmental purposes since the 1970s - over 3,650 acres of regional passive parkland, 11,490 acres of open space and 1,169 acres of beach access/coastal lands - represents a major success.

  In fact, to date, most of the lands targeted through the Red Flag Charrette have been acquired by the County, by another municipal government or by another agency, or they have been set aside as preservation lands without development potential. Similarly, during the process of evaluating the success of Comprehensive Plan implementation in 1996, County staff  reviewed the A Closing the Gaps in Florida=s Wildlife Habitat Conservation System@ report compiled in 1994 by the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission. This review revealed that most of the significant lands identified by the State as being critical for meeting the conservation goals for declining wildlife and plant species were currently in public ownership within Pinellas County.

Finally, a new innovation for the County is the Pinellas County Environmental Foundation, managed by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, with the intent of providing support for the environmental conservation and management goals of Pinellas County. The Pinellas Foundation, established in 1998,  is the very first partnership of this kind between a local government and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. The Foundation will provide grants for those activities that further the Foundation=s environmental conservation goals, including land acquisition and management.

Overall, what enables the Pinellas County program to be successful is not just the amount of land acquired, but the equal commitment by the Board of County Commissioners to land management, as supported in the objectives and policies of the Natural, Historic and Cultural Resources Element. And most importantly, the success of Pinellas County's environmental lands acquisition and management program is directly attributable to Pinellas County voters and their desire to protect the natural Florida that remains in this County, combined with the strong and consistent commitment by the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners since the early 1970s towards this end.       

7.         Is the most current program a follow-up program?

(This question is unclear) Please see the responses to Questions 1 through 4 which describe how Pinellas County has successfully instituted a series of land acquisition programs, beginning in 1972. 

8.         Was management built into the original budget? How? (e.g., percentage)

No, specific management costs were not built into the original funding program; however, since at least since the late 1980's, general operating funds have been applied towards management of these lands. In fact, a special division of the Pinellas County Environmental Management Department has been established and staffed specifically for environmental lands management. Consistent with the Comprehensive Plan,  management plans are required to be developed for all County-owned lands (please see the goals, objectives and policies of the Natural, Historic and Cultural Resources Element).

 

9.         What land trusts are currently active in the County? What is their mission statement?

Not applicable