Development and Decay

Depending on a man's values, Florida is either one of the fastest-growing or one of the fastest-decaying states in America. Each week 2,750 new residents flock to its balmy climate; each year the crush fouls more of Florida's once pristine air and water. In draining swampland for home sites, canal builders have ruined vital water supplies and endangered wildlife. Near Naples, one huge coastal development recently erased a lovely mangrove-lined shore in favor of concrete sea walls. Asked to set aside a refuge for the area's few remaining eagles, a spokesman for the builders replied: "It's all been sold. You can buy it back for $250,000."

In the past, such a cavalier attitude would have been met with helpless resentment, since Florida officials lacked adequate means to control environmental abuses. Now, with tougher laws on the books, environmentalists are aiming their fire at reckless land developers.

Florida officials are reviewing nearly 400 projects from industrial plants to marinas, some of which may be halted until the builders mend their ways. The state has filed suit against three developers who are draining pine and cypress swamps along the northern border of Everglades National Park. Such work, claims the suit, interrupts the natural flow of water through the wilderness area and upsets food chains. Furthermore, says the assistant attorney general, this kind of activity contributed to the twelve-month drought that recently turned much of southern Florida into a tinderbox swept by stubborn fires.

Optical Pollution. Fortunately, a few developers have tried to minimize their projects' ecological impact--a hard task. For one, ITT Levitt Development Corp., a subsidiary of the largest U.S. home-building company, is building "Palm Coast," the nation's biggest "new town." A gargantuan project, it will in 20 years plunk 750,000 people onto 100,000 acres of now uninhabited coast land near St. Augustine. Levitt spent nearly $1,000,000 on environment planning to achieve a community whose residents will live in virtually pollution-free neighborhoods connected by canals. Housing density will be 2.5 homes per acre, less than that of Beverly Hills.

Dr. Norman Young, a psychologist who heads the Palm Coast development, aims to eliminate the "optical pollution" caused by rows of identical houses. He is using many architectural styles and requiring others who build in Palm Coast to do likewise. Noise pollution will be eased by siting residential areas far away from major highways. To reduce auto-exhaust pollution, shopping and commercial centers will be placed within walking or biking distance of most residents. Industry will be mostly light; factory builders must submit strict pollution-abatement plans before starting construction.

"It is difficult for conservation groups to argue with us," says Young proudly, "because in some cases our environmental standards are tougher than theirs." He may be right, but in one area he has run squarely into Florida's newly awakened environmentalists. The resulting showdown could affect the entire course of Florida development.

At issue is the 200 miles of "interior" canals designed to give Palm Coast a waterfront ambiance and link its various parts to three new, bigger canals, which in turn will be connected with the saltwater Intracoastal Waterway. The builders say that because tidal action will flush all canals, they expect no algae buildup--the process that destroys a waterway's self-cleansing power by consuming oxygen and killing marine life. As a further safeguard against algae, Levitt Ecologist Stanley Dea has ordered landscapers to use fertilizers that act like time capsules, releasing their nutrients slowly in water rather than all at once.

Environmentalists are not impressed. According to Joel Kuperberg, executive director of the Florida Internal Improvement Fund, "there is no reason to believe that this kind of system works ecologically." Kuperberg cites Fort Lauderdale as an example of what can happen when canals honeycomb densely populated areas. As he sees it, "There is no longer any body of water there fit for human contact."

Salty Canals. State officials are also worried about the effects of saltwater intrusion into Palm Coast's fresh-water environment. "As far as we are concerned," says Bernard Barnes, a senior engineer for the state's department of air and water pollution control, "Levitt can complete their three main canals, but we will not issue additional construction permits until they come up with a changed plan." Arthur Marshall, chairman of the division of applied ecology at the University of Miami, goes further. Regardless of the precautions taken, he says, the very size of developments like Levitt's is bound to upset natural habitats and ultimately destroy wildlife.

Levitt men are understandably upset by the charges, particularly since the company has spent so much time and money trying to make Palm Coast the most environmentally compatible of all new towns. Levitt planners are negotiating hard with Florida officials and, promises Young, "If both parties decide something better can be done, then we will do it."

In seeking to help developers plan communities, rather than just passing on applications as was done in the past, Florida's environmental agencies have taken on a very difficult job. They nonetheless feel that brakes on development are essential if Florida is to survive in anything like the condition that has lured millions of newcomers. Says Kuperberg: "We trust engineers to tell us the weight that a bridge will carry. For the same reasons, we must trust ecologists when they tell us how much weight this state can stand."

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