Hungryland Slough Natural area parcels seized by eminent domain
Published November, 18th 2008.
By John Johnston
Managing Editor
Some $1.4 million from permit fees imposed by the South Florida Water Management District on various developments will be used to purchase 32 of 60 natural area parcels in the Hungryland Slough Natural Area in Commission District 1.
The parcels have been taken by eminent domain, county commissioners said, and a final value has not been established. The final cost will be determined either by pretrial settlement or by a 12 member jury at a Dec. 8 trial. A trial date for the remaining 28 parcels is not yet known, commissioners said, but added that in any case, only interest earnings from the SFWMD permit fund can be spent.
The Hungryland area has been identified by the county as a priority acquisition site that will link several existing high-quality conservation and natural areas, including the DuPuis Management Area, J.W. Corbett Wildlife Management Area, Loxahatchee Slough, and West Palm Beach Grassy Waters Preserve.
The natural area will in turn “serve as a wetland preservation area to help maintain the viability and diversity of wildlife species native to the area, and protect habitat for a variety of threatened or endangered species,” commissioners said.
The Plan
In addition, one portion of the natural area, the Unit 11 tract in which the 60 parcels are located, has been identified by the SFWMD and others as a regional wetland mitigation area for impacts to wetlands resulting from development activities within the Acreage and other portions of Palm Beach County. As such, a plan to purchase the parcels for wetland development goes back to 1995, commissioners said. The wetlands are necessary to:
· Help protect the quality and quantity of surface and ground water resources within and adjacent to the Unit 11 tract, including the C-IS Canal, a Class I water body which provides drinking water for the Town of Jupiter.
· Avert potential flood-related health and safety problems, private property losses, and non-budgeted emergency expenditures of public funds which would most likely occur should development of the lots in Unit 11 proceed.
· Provide a wildlife corridor which, when completed, will link several existing high-quality, publicly-owned conservation and natural areas.
· Provide opportunities for passive recreation, environmental education and scientific research.
· Serve as a wetland preservation area to help maintain the viability and diversity of wildlife species native to the area.
· Protect, restore and enhance nesting and foraging habitats for a variety of threatened or endangered species. Commissioners said it is the county’s intent to change the future land use designation for the Unit 11 parcels to “conservation,” and to provide long-term management “so the natural biological values associated with this designated wildlife corridor are preserved and protected in perpetuity.”
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