�Ricou "Rick" Hartman
President of Hartman Real Estate
Many factors led to our decision to move forward with the creation of an entirely new land use category for our Sunrise Groves property. The context and background for our pursuit of a new plan for the land is explained in further detail below.
King Ranch is one of the largest family-owned landowners in the United States. At nearly 830,000 acres, the King Ranch in Texas is the largest ranch in the country. The pristine nature of the property looks almost the same as it did 100 years ago, thanks to the family�s environmental stewardship ethic and land management practices. To read more about King Ranch, click here.
King Ranch is also the primary owner of Consolidated Citrus LP (CCLP) � one of the largest citrus growers in Florida with holdings in seven counties. CCLP is also the largest private landowner in Martin County.
One of the properties owned by King Ranch/CCLP is Sunrise Groves, a 1,750 acres citrus grove in Martin County, FL that has become irreversibly impacted by citrus greening.
Today, the Florida citrus industry faces many challenges, including not only hurricanes and freezes, but also pests and diseases. These challenges have had a cumulative and debilitating effect on the industry�s ability to survive. With increased traffic and trade have come multiple introductions of crippling pests and diseases that have spread to Florida from Asia and South America. One of these is Asian Citrus Canker (commonly known as canker). Sunrise Groves lost thousands of trees in 2004 and 2005 to the state-mandated eradication effort, which was originally imposed on citrus tree owners to attempt to prevent the spread of this disease. That process has since been abandoned.
Much worse than canker, however, is the latest and deadliest disease to attack Florida citrus. Huang Long Bing (HLB) in Chinese means �The Yellow Dragon� and is commonly referred to as citrus �greening� because the infected fruit is lopsided, tastes bad, and stays green instead of turning orange. The disease is caused by a bacterium carried by an insect, the Asian Citrus Psyllid. Depending on tree size, citrus trees are killed by HLB within 6 months to 3 years after infection. In China and India, vast agricultural regions that have grown citrus for many centuries are now nearly devoid of citrus because of HLB. In fact, during the last 4 years, Martin County has directly or indirectly lost more than 50% of its citrus groves due to the canker and greening diseases.
Click here for more information on citrus greening from the Florida Department of Agriculture.
At present, there is no cure for greening. Most researchers and grove managers agree that once a grove becomes 15 percent infected, the entire grove will ultimately be lost. Sunrise Groves was 100% impacted by citrus greening and the last crop of oranges was harvested in summer 2010. We were unable to replant new crops due to the risks and uncertainty associated with this aggressive disease.
As an agricultural, land-based company, our goal is to ensure we add value to the land and identify ways to remain profitable through our agricultural endeavors. Our initial thoughts, after the realization that citrus can no longer be grown on our Sunrise Groves property, were to investigate the viability of developing alternative energy crops and bio-fuels. That seemed like a logical extension for us to explore.
As an example, we engaged in promising discussions with several national and international alternative energy companies, including one that specialized in using algae to make bio-fuels and high-value organic green-chemicals from carbon dioxide, water and sunlight. After months of negotiations with this company, which had the potential to bring hundreds of jobs to Martin County, we ultimately lost the opportunity, in part because our property needed a ready mix of land uses � including agriculture, corporate office and research & development space as well as ancillary uses.
At that time, there was no land use category in Martin County�s Comprehensive Growth Management Plan to accommodate our mixes of uses. There was also no location within Martin County�s urban services boundary that has our mix of features to accommodate their needs. This alternative energy company was not in a position to wait for us to go through a risky and uncertain planning process to change our land use in Martin County.
After our negotiations had concluded, Lee County courted the same company with a $10 million grant. The company is currently in the process of building a new 40,000 square foot research and development facility that will bring much needed jobs and a more diversified tax base to that community. It was an opportunity lost, not only for us, but for Martin County.
To explain the economic backdrop for AgTEC, we have included economic studies on the area conducted in recent years.
In 2006, Martin County hired economic analyst companies URBANOMICS, Inc. and Leak-Goforth Company, LLC to evaluate the sites in Martin County that were zoned for industrial use in Martin County. The assessment was updated in 2009 by Martin County staff.
2006 Development Assessment and Strategy for Vacant Industrial Lands in Martin County, Florida
2009 Martin County Staff Industrial Lands Update
While the analysis begins by identifying 209 industrial sites that exist in Martin County, its end conclusion leaves Martin County with only a handful of locations that can meet even the basic criteria necessary to attract the types of Targeted Employers that Martin County has indicated it desires to attract.
The majority of the existing industrial sites fell into the following categories:
One of the key findings in the study is that in order for Martin County to provide sufficient land to accommodate and attract the types of Targeted Employment it needs and desires, it may be forced to look at locations outside the historic urban area to find parcels that meet the unique citing criteria for these types of employment generating uses.
Companies that fit the definition of Targeted Employment desire that the following criteria be met:
AgTEC provides a viable opportunity for Martin County to diversify its tax base.