Beruff Seeks ACOE Approval for Long Bar Mitigation Bank Amidst Claims of Undue Influence by Former DEP Employees

BRADENTON – Following DEP's recent green light, Medallion Homes CEO and Long Bar Pointe Developer Carlos Beruff has applied to the Army Corps of Engineers for a mitigation bank permit that would vastly alter the allowable development at his controversial waterfront project on Sarasota Bay. Meanwhile, a DEP employee who was suspended after failing to recommend approval for a similar bank, has finally spoken out about the developer’s influence with the agency.

Manatee County may have won an important victory against the politically-connected developer when an appeals court judge recently upheld a decision that ruled against Beruff's challenge to the constitutionality of elements of the county's comp plan that were used to deny him the ability to build a hotel and marina, while dredging critical waters in Sarasota Bay. However, Beruff is continuing the pursuit of what may amount to an end around on some of those rules through the use of a mitigation bank that would provide him with credits that could be used to facilitate the dredging.

Despite firm opposition from the public and several environmental groups, DEP put out a notice of intent to issue approval for a similar application to their agency in December. An employee who was suspended from DEP in 2012, after recommending against a similar bank in Clay County, told Politico on Thursday that she also authored a memo reviewing Beruff's mitigation bank application, but that it was never put out by her superiors.

"That was the first indication that he (Beruff) was going to control what was done with that project," former DEP environmental administrator Connie Bersok told Politico. "That was the clue. And things sort of went downhill from there."

Bersok was finally able to speak out about the issues, following her recent retirement. DEP officials have denied she was suspended for failing to issue the permit on the Clay County mitigation bank, having officially suspended her for work violations, though she was cleared by an internal investigation and an administrative law judge sided with Bersok in the Clay County case.

"People have been fired who knew too much or didn't agree necessarily," Bersok also told Politico. "That whole approach is still ongoing."


"I am confident I was let go because I aggressively enforced Florida environmental laws and gave legal opinions that were contrary to the policy initiatives that Jeff Littlejohn (deputy secretary for regulatory programs) was pushing," former DEP attorney Christopher Byrd told the Florida Current.

Beruff has been a long-time ally of Gov. Scott, supporting his campaigns, while in turn having been appointed to a number of boards by the governor, most recently as chair of the Florida Constitution Revision Commission.