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Oct 27, 7:45 PM

Endangered land plan faces fierce opposition

Tax extension would buy sensitive habitat

BY JEFF SCHWEERS
FLORIDA TODAY

The future of the county's endangered land-buying program is being challenged by a small band of determined Libertarians and property-rights advocates who oppose nearly every kind of government tax and regulation.

They have consistently fought it since Brevard County voters 14 years ago overwhelmingly approved a property tax that's helped the county buy more than $60 million of environmentally sensitive wetlands, forests, beaches and riverfront.

And they're still fighting today as several county commissioners have teamed up with equally determined environmentalists to get voters Nov. 2 to extend that land-buying program for another 20 years to buy another $60 million of pristine habitat with Referendum 2.

During debates in the County Commission chambers in recent weeks, they've accused environmentalists of being witches and anti-Christian, claimed deer collisions cause more deaths than handguns and blamed scrub jays for carrying the West Nile virus.

The environmentalists call their opponents CAVE dwelllers -- for Citizens Against Virtually Everything.

They've confronted commissioners about how the money's been spent. They've asked commissioners about the science behind the land-buying panel's criteria for choosing what land the county should buy and whether preserving habitat really works.

And they've got at least one county commissioner who agrees with them.

"There isn't any science to this. It's simply a land grab," said Ron Pritchard, the District 2 commissioner from Merritt Island.

During one commission meeting, Pritchard likened environmentalists to members of the Jonestown cult and wrote an op-ed piece critical of the referendum and the Environmentally Endangered Land program. He said it didn't raise the money it was supposed to raise, and didn't build all four education centers as promised.

Another big critic of the program is Helen Voltz, who served on the commission from 1996 to 2000 and is running for the District 3 seat being vacated by Nancy Higgs. Voltz has recommended selling the land.

Such a move would be illegal since the land was bought with voter-approved tax dollars in the first place, county managers have said.

Opponents are spreading a lot of misinformation -- some of it misleading and some of it downright wrong, said Amy Tidd, chairwoman of Preserve Brevard, a political action committee that's raised $6,000 to educate people.

"We're letting voters make up their minds," Tidd said. "We're putting out the correct information and people can decide."

For example, she said information that the Clerk of Courts, Scott Ellis, has on a Web site maintained by the Libertarian Party incorrectly says that residents are paying twice for EEL land because the operation and maintenance costs come out of the general fund.

County Budget Director Dennis Rogero said salaries, maintenance and operations come out of the EEL fund, state and federal grants and money left over from the prior year's budget.

The referendum is the "only chance the average person has to determine what their county will look like," Tidd said. "Do they want green space or Wickham road more crowded?"

Tidd said support for the referendum is strong. Even developers have come out in favor of it.

"It's clean air and clean water, a God-and-country kind of issue," she said. "We're talking about saving green space and water recharge area."

Contact Schweers at 242-3642 or jschweers@flatoday.net