Bush: Ranch deal 'a high point' of term

Gov. Jeb Bush said Monday that he expects the Babcock Ranch preservation and development deal will be one of the highlights of his two-term tenure and that the Sierra Club is "marginalized" and "outside the mainstream" for trying to derail it.

Bush and a plethora of state and local officials were at the 91,000-acre ranch in southern Charlotte County on Monday morning to sign the bill appropriating $310 million to buy 74,000 of those acres for preservation. Developer Syd Kitson, who's buying the ranch and selling to the state, would build 19,500 homes and 6 million square feet of commercial space — a city of 45,000 — on the rest.

Bush described the planned community as a sustainable development that will help all of Southwest Florida.

"When I look back on my time as governor, this will be a high point," he said.

Bush lauded the creation of a conservation corridor that, with other conservation lands, would stretch virtually from the Gulf of Mexico to Lake Okeechobee.

"It's a phenomenal swath of land," he said.

Kitson himself warned the deal is not yet done. The Sierra Club on Friday filed a challenge to the comprehensive plan amendments made by Charlotte County commissioners to accommodate Kitson's plans, claiming they amount to nothing more than urban sprawl disguised as smart planning.

Photo by MICHEL FORTIER, Daily News

Gov. Jeb Bush shakes hands and greets cowhands David Milburn, right, and Chris Hopper, center, after signing the Babcock Ranch Preserve Act at the ranch Monday.

"As we congratulate each other we need to realize what we want is not yet fully achieved," Kitson said. "Some still don't comprehend or understand the ramifications if we're not successful. Babcock Ranch will be sold, this year, to developers. This is the last opportunity."

Bush said the challenge from the Sierra Club is disturbing.

"I'm really disappointed," he said. "Not surprised at the Sierra Club, but really disappointed. The net effect is the entire ranch could be developed."

Bush said the organization is catering to environmental extremists by challenging what so many other environmental groups have approved.

"Contrary to all the other environmental groups, the Sierra Club has proved itself so far outside the mainstream," he said.

The governor also said setting aside 74,000 acres to allow development of the rest is not urban sprawl.

"The alternative is 10-acre ranchettes going coast to coast," he said. "There is no alternative in conservation."

The challenge will be heard by a state administrative law judge. Ernie Cox, Kitson's land-use attorney, said the best-case scenario would see a hearing in July and a ruling in September. That means the closing with the state won't take place in late July as planned.

Cox and Kitson said all the issues raised in the challenge were raised at the long string of public hearings that preceded the amendments.

"I think if you look at the complaint, we've already responded to those things in detail," Kitson said. "The comprehensive planning process has been done. That speaks for itself."

Kitson again refused to say how much he's paying for the ranch, an unknown that Sierra Club director Frank Jackalone said makes it impossible to judge Kitson's plans.

The state made an effort to buy the entire ranch, but the Babcock family turned down the state's $450 million offer. The sticking point was that the state was unable to buy the Babcock companies, and the Babcocks would have had to pay the taxes on the deal.