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Florida Trend has erred grievously, causing great confusion on behalf of some of our members. John Finotti's article "Buying Back The Future" [December 1996] concerning Golden Gate Estates [East of Naples in Collier County] starts off incorrectly and goes downhill from there. The reader is confronted with half-truths and total misconceptions as seen through the myopic viewpoint of state acquisition agent Gayle Brett and staff.
Mr. Finotti's misstatements are almost too numerous to list. Let's start with the first ten:
1. "About 30 homes exist on the property." As of December 1, 1996, our records indicate there were 6,146.
2. "Of the 18,000 lots at Golden Gate Estates, the state has bought 10,000." As of December 1, 1996, there were 42,891 lots and the state had purchased 5,377.
3. "Ten miles from the nearest convenience store." Tell that to the manager of Sunrise Plaza in Golden Gate City.
4. "Not all of the platted communities have been abandoned like Golden Gate Estates." It's one of the hottest real estate markets in Florida!
5. There are no one-acre lots. Standard lot sizes are 1.14, 1.59, 2.28, 2.5 and 5 acres.
6. The flooding, referred to in the article, is generally manmade and regulated by the state's water control structures.
7. "Golden Gate has languished, changing little over the past three decades." During that time, the population has increased about 6,000%. Some 5-acre parcels sell in excess of $100,000.
8. Faxahatchee is spelled in a variety of ways, but it never begins with a "T."
9. "Golden Gate is located more than 20 miles from the nearest hospital." The Naples Community Hospital is located five miles from the western edge of the Estates.
10. Mr. Finotti would be well advised to subscribe to our newsletter, which sells for $35 per year not $40 as stated, before dispensing any more information about Golden Gate Estates.
Jeff Hartdorn,
President
Golden Gate Landowners Assn., Inc.
If the "facts" cited by John Finotti in his December 1996 article "Buying Back The Future" about Golden Gate in Collier are representative of the other information in the article, you have just published one of the most hilarious stories of the year. It's time to admit that it was all just a bad joke!
With regard to the utility services in Golden Gate, Florida Power & Light and Sprint United have poured millions of dollars into creating service in that area. Sprint even has an exchange out there. The Collier County Building Department in September reported that they issued $39.9 million worth of new building permits for Golden Gate in August and September to be serviced by that nonexistent utility service.
By the way, will you ask Mr. Finotti where the "Taxahatchee Strand" development is? There is a geographic region in south central Collier named the Fahkahatchee Strand, which now belongs to the state but which a quarter of a century ago was included in a development plan of Gulf American. It was then called Remuda Ranch Grants and never had a road built except those servicing a resort on U.S.41 now known as Port of the Islands and a county-developed tramway constructed in the '50s and '60s on a former logging railroad roadbed that was called the Janes Scenic Highway.
David N. Pfaff
Editor/Publisher
The David Company Inc.
Naples
... and Response
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the two letters you received regarding the article published in the December issue of Florida Trend.
The confusion was caused by our failure to communicate the difference in North Golden Gate Estates and South Golden Gate Estates. The state acquisition program is only for South Golden Gate Estates, which is the area of Golden Gate Estates south of I-75. All information given to the writer (John Finotti) by my office pertains to the south end of Golden Gate Estates. Golden Gate Estates is not "officially" divided into north and south, but has been given this designation to distinguish the portion which is on the list to be purchased by the state.
All of Golden Gate Estates was originally sold all over the world. Jeff Hartdorn saw a business opportunity in working with absentee landowners. He formed an association to advise the landowners of local happenings for a fee of $35 per year. In establishing this contact, Mr. Hartdorn, who is a real estate broker, obtains listings of property for sale.
In response to Mr. Hartdorn:
1. The 30 homes refers to South Golden Gate.
2. The 42,891 lots must be for all of Golden Gate Estates - combining north and south. The 10,000 purchased figure totals both purchased by the state and under contract to purchase by the state. I don't know where Mr. Hartdorn got his figure of 5,377.
3. Ten miles from the nearest convenience store refers to the distance from Everglades Blvd. at the I-75 overpass to the nearest convenience store and was taken from the odometer of my rental car. Again, Mr. Hartdorn is referring to North Golden Gate.
4. I understand there is an active real estate market for lots in the north part of Golden Gate Estates. However, according to information from the Collier County Planning Office, only 25% of North Golden Gate Estates is developed.
5. This information is for the most part correct. The figure we've used for average lot size is 2.5 acres.
6. I don't believe his statement to be correct. I know that recently the South Florida Water Management District was cited for having the boards in their weirs higher than was allowed by their permit. The higher the boards, the more water is held in the canals. The water management district has indicated this was the practice during the dry season in order to deter wild fires due to overdrainage of the area. However, I have seen flooding in South Golden Gate Estates during the normal rainy season and extensive flooding during times of heavy rainfall. It is my understanding that when construction of the canals was completed in the late '50s, early '60s, they did not successfully drain all of Golden Gate Estates. The topography is higher in North Golden Gate Estates and gradually falls.
7. South Golden Gate has languished in the same condition basically as it was in 1979 when Gulf American Land Corp. (GAC) declared bankruptcy. Areas of North Golden Gate Estates near shopping, schools, hospitals, paved streets, utilities, etc., have flourished.
8. Unfortunately, Fakahatchee was misspelled; it is an "F" rather than a "T."
9. Again, North Golden Gate, not the area of state acquisition.
10. There is a similar association in South Golden Gate Estates and the charge (originally) for their newsletter was $40.
In response to Mr. Pfaff:
South Golden Gate Estates, has electricity only in the first mile south of I-75. I believe telephone service is available to the same areas as is electricity. There is no water or sewer service available in any part of South Golden Gate. This is not true, of course, for the majority of North Golden Gate.
Fakahatchee Strand is not totally owned by the state. The majority of the area when counted by acres is state-owned, however, there are still approximately 6,000 private owners of 1.25 to 2.5 to 5-acre tracts in the area which was Remuda Ranch. GAC sold Remuda Ranch using the same marketing plan as Golden Gate - all over the world, sight-unseen for the most part. The state is continuing to buy from willing sellers in Fakahatchee Strand, both small and large parcels.
Gayle Brett
Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Land Acquisition
Tallahassee
More Sugar
Editor John Berry's column in the December 1996 issue, "Sugar Coating," insults the voters of Florida. It implies they are not smart enough to figure out how to vote on an issue.
Contrary to your point of view, the voters recognized that taxing sugar farmers in the constitution was a bad idea. Yes, Floridians overwhelmingly want the Everglades protected, but so do farmers. The good news is that the Florida Legislature passed the Everglades Forever Act in 1994, a comprehensive piece of environmental legislation that is working far better than anyone expected. The quality of water entering Everglades National Park and in the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge meets both interim and long-term water quality goals outlined by federal and state governments. This is remarkable since these goals were not envisioned to be met until after the 40,000 acres of manmade marshes (Stormwater Treatment Areas) were built and operating. Additionally, farmers have surpassed on-farm phosphorus reduction goals by reducing the amount of phosphorus in runoff water by more than 68%. (The law calls for a 25% reduction.)
The proposed tax on farmers was premature at best and totally unnecessary since the South Florida Water Management District didn't even have a plan on how to spend the money. We don't know if Phase II of Everglades restoration is going to cost $2 or $10 billion. Until we have a sound, scientifically based plan on how to proceed and where we need to go under Phase II, the best public policy is not to assign blame or foolishly spend taxpayer dollars. Let Everglades restoration continue as outlined in state law, unimpeded by special interest politics.
Your editorial also charges heavy-handedness in our involvement with the Tax Cap Committee. Tax cap efforts stand on their own. Many sections of both our state and national constitutions require super majorities prior to passage. John D. McKinnon's article "Reduced Expectations" [FT, December 1996] is relevant to our position on taxes and constitutional amendments. It deals with the 1998 Constitutional Revision Commission's agenda of developing a tax structure suitable to the growing needs of Florida and restricting initiatives that "keep cluttering the constitution with ill-conceived amendments."
George H. Wedgworth
President, Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida
Belle Glade
Races Relating
"Anger," John F. Berry's January 1996 column, addresses an important audience, many of whom, I suspect, will not be comfortable with the message. It is absolutely true, though, that listening and learning from a walk in another's shoes will do a lot, on a personal basis, to ease the mistrust between white and black Americans.
Mr. Atwater is probably right that, but for the riots, Mr. Berry wouldn't have written the article on anger about race relations among many black people, and I certainly wouldn't be responding to it! The suggestion that all of us find an "Atwaters" is a good one. Ways to know each other on a one-to-one basis, and not as members of some faceless group, are too few. When it's all said and done, though, middle class black Americans and middle class white Americans have a lot more in common than not. Please maintain the dialogue.
Walter Barry
Director of Finance & Personnel
Alachua County Property Appraiser
Gainesville
Corrections & Clarifications
One of the two restaurants listed for Golden Spoon award-winner the Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island [FT, March 1997] was incorrectly identified. The restaurants are The Grill and The Cafe.
In Of Counsel for March 1997, Florida Trend mistakenly referred to a Fort Lauderdale law firm as Abramowitz & Associates; the correct name is Abramowitz & Pomerantz, P.A.
Inside Trend: Golden Spoon Awards Dinner
The second annual Florida Trend Golden Spoon Awards Dinner was held in January at Michael's On East, hosted by owners Michael Klauber and Philip Mancini. Most of the other 20 Spoon winners from around the state traveled to the Sarasota restaurant for executive chef Keith Doherty's superb six-course meal. It included Maine lobster tartlette with tarragon and black truffles, grilled rack of lamb brushed with lavender honey and served with potato risotto, and for dessert a tall chocolate and coconut timbale with toasted coconut dacquoise and chocolate-banana-rum mousse. Each course was accompanied by a superb selection from Michael's famed wine cellar. In remarks, Florida Trend publisher Lynda Keever thanked the hosts, who closed their restaurant for the occasion, and editor John Berry took note that 1997 marks the 30th anniversary of the Golden Spoon Awards. The awards were presented to the restaurateurs by Florida Trend restaurant editor Robert Tolf.
Business Beat - Week of May 10th
