Of land deals and road construction

Finally, a little fiscal responsibility in this little corner of heaven.

Unfortunately, it wasn't the homegrown variety and had to come by way of Tallahassee. But, we'll take what we can get when it comes to saving tax dollars.

This photo shows what the final stretch of State Road 429 currently looks like just a hop, skip, and a jump from ye olde Lake Hammer chalet. But, the lovely toll collectors over at the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority are salivating over a two billion dollar scheme to ram the so-called "Wekiva Parkway" even further north--about 25 miles through some very environmentally-sensitive land.

The only thing stopping them were legislative mandates that two chunks of undeveloped property be purchased from the existing owners and set aside as state conservation lands:

Tract #1: "Neighborhood Lakes" encompassed 1,600 acres, and was successfully acquired by the state for $74 million in March of last year. ($46,250 per acre).

Tract #2: "Pine Plantation" is much smaller at "only" 385 acres, but owner Jim Palmer (an Orlando attorney) wants $37.5 million for it. ($97,402 per acre--more than twice as much as tract #1).

I was impressed that our illustrious governor was willing to nix the deal yesterday (and thus delay the road construction plans). Mr. Palmer has been one of his biggest supporters in this part of the Sunshine State, and was only recently rewarded by the governor with an appointment to the board of the Orlando International Airport. So, to see him draw the line at this outrageous asking price was refreshing. I know some yayhoos on the Orlando City Council would have simply gone along with it and raised our taxes to pay for it.

The reason this was a bad deal transcends politics (and environmental considerations, for that matter). I absolutely HATE to quote Bill Clinton, but "It's the economy, stupid."

Land values across Central Florida have decreased substantially over the last year and a half, not more than doubled. Even using the out-of-date sale price per acre of tract #1, the state could not in good conscience offer more than $17.8 million.

Also, as more and more people are staying home or carpooling, there are fewer and fewer vehicles on the roads and thus less and less need for expensive toll roads. And, since there is less driving going on across the state, there's less gas tax revenue to finance them anyway.

As someone whose family has lived here for 9 generations, I am all for preserving as much of our region's natural beauty while we strengthen our infrastructure. But, a bad deal is a bad deal, and that's not worthy of posterity.

Slightly-reluctant kudos to Governor Crist.