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Central Florida mitigation bank approved and selling credits A 1,000-acre mitigation bank at the headwaters of the Kissimmee River is fully permitted and ready for business, having been through the regulatory approval process in a record 13 months, its owners report. The project, an effort of Florida Mitigation Bank, required the review of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the EPA, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the St. Johns River and South Florida water management districts. It is a tract with environmental significance, yet the property's historic drainage characteristics were altered decades ago and the wetlands have been in a state of decline. Consulting firm Bowyer-Singleton & Associates Inc. of Orlando, which accomplished the quick regulatory approval, spent more than 1,000 hours of field time on the project. The fact that the firm has engineers, biologists and survey crews all under one roof was instrumental in the fast permitting, according to Allen Keen, an owner of Florida Mitigation Bank. Bowyer-Singleton will direct the construction of a berm nearly a mile long and 6 to 8 feet in height as a means of controlling the water level on the property and rehydrating the historic wetlands. Construction is to be completed before summer. The property is situated at the confluence of Shingle Creek, Reedy Creek and Bonnet Creek at the headwaters of the Kissimmee River. It is adjacent to the Walt Disney Co.'s Celebration community and its western boundary is Canal C-1. Construction of the canal in the 1960s was the change that drained the wetlands and allowed upland species of vegetation to gain a foothold in the area. "By returning this property to its natural state, the bank is preserving a part of the real Florida," Keen said. "The ecological significance of this property accounts for the high ratio of credits to acres permitted by the state." By reserving credits in a mitigation bank and paying the requisite fees, developers in the region are able to offset losses of wetland space that their own projects are likely to cause. The money from sale of credits provides revenue for the bank's ongoing maintenance and environmental management. The state's mitigation banking rules have allowed such programs in several locations around Florida, where desirable wetlands and similar habitats can be restored by private financing instead of tax dollars. Florida Mitigation Bank's owners are Allan Keen, who develops single-family housing; former accountant Jack Spillane, investor Filippo Guani, and contractor and real estate developer Dennis Benbow. The venture recently closed its first transaction_a sale of 60 credits to the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority to offset some of the airport's wetland impacts because of an upcoming expansion. |