Agenda Item Name:
Title
Addition of Land Conservation Projects to the Alachua County Forever Active Acquisition List
End
Presenter:
Andi Christman / (352) 264-6803
Description:
Staff requests the Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) approve the addition of the following land conservation projects to the Alachua County Forever Active Acquisition List. The staff recommendation is based on the addition of these properties to the Priority Pool by the Land Conservation Board as outlined in Resolution 22-066.
1) Santa Fe River - Block Family Partnership of Gainesville, LTD (Bargain Share)
2) Lochloosa Forest- Levy Prairie Connector - Rimes (Full Price)
Addition of these projects to the Active Acquisition List, authorizes staff to: obtain title work and appraisals, negotiate price and terms with the owners, and execute option contracts.
Any purchase contract or option will be brought back to the Board for consideration.
Recommended Action:
Recommended Action
Approve the addition of the following properties on the Active Acquisition List as Fee Simple Acquisitions.
1) Santa Fe River - Block Family Partnership, LLC (Bargain Share List)
2) Lochloosa Forest - Levy Prairie Connector - Rimes Addition (Full Price List)
End
Prior Board Motions:
June 27, 2006 - The BoCC added the Lochloosa Connector - Rimes project to the Active Acquisition List.
On April 10, 2012, the BoCC voted to defer an Option Contract for the Lochloosa Connector - Rimes project per Alachua County Forever staff recommendation. (At the time, staff’s opinion was that the costs did not justify the acquisition of the property with regard to limited remaining acquisition funds in 2012 and other acquisition opportunities. Staff recommended deferring the Rimes project until the Board could weigh the benefits of this acquisition against others that were under negotiation in 2012, or until an impasse was reached.)
Fiscal Consideration:
Fiscal Consideration
Santa Fe River - Block Family Partnership of Gainesville, LTD (Bargain Share) - Cost Estimates:
• ACPA Value & Acquisition Due Diligence: $380,234
o Due Diligence: title work, appraisal, survey, environmental assessment
• Stewardship, initial 10 years: $110,848
Total estimated cost for acquisition and stewardship: $491,082
The current annual property tax revenue of all the project parcels is: $3,350.75
Lochloosa Connector - Rimes, parcel additions (Full Price) - Cost Estimates:
• ACPA Value & Acquisition Due Diligence: $1,232,253
o Due Diligence: title work, appraisal, survey, environmental assessment
• Stewardship, initial 10 years: $367,500
Total estimated cost for acquisition and stewardship: $1,599,753
The current annual property tax revenue of all the project parcels is: $15,423.30
*Some of these taxes will still be paid by the Rimes family after the acquisition, due to the parcel splits that will happen and the family retaining acreage on several parcels with existing homes or other structures.
Estimated stewardship costs for the initial 10 years for both properties total: $478,348
Sufficient budget exists in the Wild Spaces Public Places Land Allocation for these costs.
Project 6184160- WSPP-General Operating & Due Diligence: 021.41.4160.537.31.00
Project 6194101-WSPP-Land Acquisition: 021.41.4160.537.61.00
End
Strategic Guide:
Strategic Guide
Environment
End
Background:
Pursuant to Resolution 22-66, properties placed on the Active Acquisition List are to be designated either Full Price or Bargain Share. A designation of Full Price means that the entire cost of acquisition may be paid with WSPP funding. A designation of Bargain Share means that no more than 50% of the cost of acquiring fee simple title may be paid with WSPP funding.
Santa Fe River - Block Family Partnership of Gainesville, LTD: On May 10, 2022, the Block Family Partnership of Gainesville nominated the subject property to the Alachua County Forever Program. On June 23, 2022, the Land Conservation Board placed the 250.21-acre Santa Fe River - Block Family Partnership of Gainesville property on the Priority Pool as a Bargain Share, Fee Simple acquisition project.
The Block Family Partnership project includes two parcels (01475-000-000 and 01475-001-000). The land is in the northwestern portion of Alachua County along the boundary with Gilchrist County. It is just south of CR340/ State Hwy 236, across the road from Alachua County’s Poe Springs Park. The property is not in a Strategic Ecosystem, but it is within an Outstanding Florida Springs Priority Focus Area and falls fully within the Santa Fe River watershed.
The property is almost entirely slash pine plantation with trees ranging from less than one year in age to approximately five years in age. The youngest trees were planted in January 2022. The stands with the older trees support a variety of remnant native vegetation in the understory. There are also approximately eleven known or suspected sinkholes on the property that vary in size and depth. The overstory in all the sinkholes was largely oak dominated, but there were several other tree species represented in lower densities. Invasive plants were only observed in low densities on-site, and gopher tortoise burrows were abundant.
(Exhibit 1 & 2)
Lochloosa Forest- Levy Prairie Connector - Rimes: On February 10, 2006, the Conservation Trust of Florida (CTF), with the approval of the property owners John D. Rimes Jr. and Lessie M. Rimes, nominated the subject property (18354-038-045) to the Alachua County Forever Program. On May 25, 2006, the Land Conservation Board placed the 239.12-acre Lochloosa Connector - Rimes property in the Priority Pool as a Full Price, Fee Simple Acquisition Project. The property was appraised, and staff undertook negotiations with the family; culminating in a signed contract to purchase the property for $582,820 in January 2012. Despite initial efforts, staff ultimately recommended that the BoCC vote to defer the execution of the Option Contract at the May 26, 2006 meeting due to Program funding constraints, and in consideration of other nominated properties that were being negotiated at the time that were a higher priority for remaining funding.
The property was on hold for many years, but the Rimes family reached out to Alachua County Forever staff again in 2022 to inquire about revisiting their project. By July 26, 2022, ACF staff had received a nomination of five additional parcels (18354-054-016, 18354-054-020, 18354-054-019, 18354-038-046, and 18354-038-007) that the family wanted to include in the project, increasing the total project area to 268.39 acres. Staff revisited the property to ascertain that its condition had not been significantly altered in the time since the project was placed on hold. Staff presented their assessment to the LCB on July 28, 2022, where the LCB voted to approve the additional parcels for placement in the Priority Pool with the original nomination.
The property is located in southeastern Alachua County north of the Cross Creek community and adjacent to the Cross Creek waterbody which abuts the property on the west and flows into Lochloosa Lake. The entire eastern boundary of the Rimes project is shared with the St. Johns River Water Management District’s Lochloosa Wildlife Management Area. The property has frontage on the south shore of Lochloosa Lake in the portion of the Lake called Little Lochloosa Lake, which is designated as an Outstanding Florida Water. The wetlands on the property are some of its most significant ecological features and include lakeshore swamp, basin marsh, and marsh lake that are in Excellent to Good condition. According to lidar data, roughly 175 acres of the property lie below the ordinary high-water line and are therefore considered Sovereign Submerged Lands. Uplands on the property are dominated by mesic hammock that are in fair condition. Due to grazing history with the hammocks being utilized as rough pasture, species richness and diversity are not as abundant as similar natural communities nearby that have not been subject to grazing. Invasive plants were observed in low to moderate densities on the site.
(Exhibit 3 & 4)
General:
The staff recommendation is based on the addition of these properties to the Priority Pool by the Land Conservation Board as outlined in Resolution 22-66.
As with all Alachua County conservation lands, if either of these properties are acquired by the County, they would will go through the vetting process for the Registry of Protected Places.
Comp Plan Reference:
Policy 6.0 Land Conservation Program within the Conservation and Open Space Element, states “Establish and maintain a land conservation program for the purchase, preservation, and management of natural areas and open space to complement the regulatory approaches identified in other section of this element.”