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Posted by Wes von Papineäu on December 06, 2000 at 06:29:59:
FLORIDA TODAY (Melbourne, Florida) 05 December 00 Turtles complicate park project (Jim Waymer)
A few feet below the dry pine flatwoods of southern Rockledge dwells a prehistoric reptile that recently lumbered its way to the center of a debate over how to use 80 acres of vacant land.
To some, the land is not vacant. Gopher tortoises pop in and out of their tunneled dirt havens at what will soon be the Community Park of Rockledge. Droves of other critters - more than 80 different species - also nestle in the holes the hard-shelled wobbly critters dig.
So opponents of the park plans that propose to bulldoze over the tortoise's burrows want the city to set aside 30 acres for the reptiles at the north side of the property.
But others say it's too late and expensive to change the park plans. New plans could cost thousands of dollars.
There have been enough delays, they say, in providing better recreation in Rockledge.
On Wednesday, each side will tell City Council members what to do about the tortoises, which the state lists as a species of special concern. Although not on the endangered list, their numbers have been declining in recent years.
"We would just really like the opportunity to get some questions answered," said Amy Mosher, 26, who plans to speak out against the park plans Wednesday. "It seems like there was some rush to approve the site plan and just get it under way."
Mosher wants the city to recount the number of tortoise burrows on the park property.
A consultant counted four tortoise burrows on the land last June, which the city agreed to relocate to a safe place on-site when construction begins.
But a few weeks ago, Mosher and several others counted an additional 17 burrows at the site, many of which they believe still harbor tortoises and other wildlife.
"Most of them do look like they have a chance of being active," Mosher said.
That's debatable, city officials say.
"Just because they found a burrow doesn't mean there's a tortoise in there," City Manager Jim McKnight said.
Council members will consider applying for a special permit that allows workers to bury the tortoises alive during construction, as long as the city pays into a state fund used for protecting wildlife habitat.
The city has not estimated how much that would cost. It will be at least another $3,000 in consultant fees to apply and obtain the permit.
While the permit would allow the city to kill the tortoises, efforts would still be made to relocate the reptiles safely to the north side of the park, McKnight said.
"That seems to be the best way," he said.
If there were many more tortoises found on the site, relocating all of them could become costly and time-consuming, said Kelley Samuels, associate ecologist with Glatting Jackson, which counted the four tortoise burrows over the summer.
"The city's being pushed into a position; they want to do the right thing," Samuels said.
Plans for a community park on the site began in 1991.The city bought the acreage just north of Gus Hipp Boulevard five years ago.
But grander visions of a $4.9 million sports complex failed to pass voter scrutiny in November.
The plan was part of a $15.7 million plan that voters in Brevard County's central mainland rejected by a 275-vote margin - 10,689 to 10,414.
The nay vote ensured a much more pristine park for the tortoises, at least for now.
The scaled-down park plan includes two soccer fields, 100 parking spaces, concessions, a playground area, a shuffleboard court, trails and other amenities at a cost of about $700,000.
