Mystery Company Scores Questionable $5 Million Tree Removal Discount

 

"Project Woodworking" is the code name assigned by the county to the massive 1.1 million square foot warehouse and distribution facility coming to the last remaining undeveloped land between Tallevast Road and University Parkway. The name of the company behind Project Woodworking had been confidential, due to the company’s applications for economic development incentive funding.  

 

As reported by the Bradenton Herald in June 2022, Manatee County Commissioners approved the rezoning of the approximately 301.5 acres to take the property from its former agricultural use to light manufacturing uses.

 

While the project has qualified for economic incentives that were approved by the board of county commissioners, the significant discount on tree mitigation fees was not processed as an economic incentive. In a letter explaining the justification for the deep discount, Deputy County Administrator and Director of Development Services, Courtney De Pol, appeared to partially justify the discount based on the company meeting qualifications for economic development incentive funding. 

 

Manatee County Government regulates the removal and preservation of trees in order to protect and enhance valuable natural resources. Commercial development must apply for and obtain a permit for site tree removal. Besides the required permit, the county’s Land Development Code (LDC) provides additional regulation for the mitigation of trees removed—either replanting of trees elsewhere at a development site or fees assessed and collected in lieu of replanting trees. 

 

Per the county’s Land Development Code, Section 700.3 (I) Tree Replacement Alternatives: "The Department Director shall condition a tree removal permit for all projects upon the replacement of the removed trees at a one-to-one ratio. Cash payment to Manatee County may be made in lieu of replacement. The Department Director may accept a combination of either of the above methods for compliance with this Section."

700.3 (I) (6) reads in part, "When cash in lieu payments are made, the amount of cash payments will be in the manner established by the Board and shall include all material and labor costs, as well as those costs associated with the administration of this program..."

The county's LDC, Section 700.3 (D) Tree Replacement Funds, describes that "Any payments collected under Section 700.3 (I) shall be deposited into the Tree Protection Trust Fund and are expressly designated for the replacement of trees or those incidental materials, i.e. mulch, irrigation mechanisms, required for those items to be planted."

 

The Tree Protection Trust Fund is a fund intended to collect tree removal fees paid in lieu of replacing trees. The funds are designated for the planting of trees in county park projects, street and entranceway beautification programs and other public projects. Tree Protection funds can also be utilized for landscaping in affordable housing projects (projects with at least 25 percent affordable units may apply to receive funds in order to meet landscaping requirements, per the county’s LDC Section 545), helping to ease some of the costs to developers of affordable housing. 

 

The county’s fee schedule for planning, zoning, and land development was established by a resolution adopted by the board of county commissioners. A tree removal permit for commercial development carries a one-time fee of $144.00. A tree removal fee (per tree) for trees that the developer will not be replanting at the site is assessed based on the size of the tree. The "in lieu of replacement" fee per each 3" caliper tree removed from a site is $445.00 and is $585.00 per each 4" caliper tree removed. 

The county's website also provides a Tree Removal Instructions PDF which includes fee and replacement requirements. 

 

Public records available through the county’s Accela portal show county staff noted in a report to the developer of Project Woodworking, "Amount to be paid into the Tree Protection Trust Fund has been approved by County Administration. The amount owed to the Tree Protection Trust Fund for the removal of 11,579 trees has been set by the County Administration as $250,000.00. Payment shall be received via Accela prior to Final Site Plan approval." 

 

For the removal and payment in lieu of replacement for 11,579 trees, as stated in the staff’s notes—assuming all of the trees removed were of the lowest caliber at 3"—the fees assessed should have totaled a payment by the developer of roughly $5.2 million into the county’s Tree Protection Trust Fund. 

 

In a letter written by Deputy County Administrator and Development Services Director De Pol to Stephen Racine of Tampa-based Peak Development company, De Pol informed Racine that the county would be charging the developer $250,000 for tree mitigation. De Pol wrote that the fee amount was determined based on the "unique circumstances'' of Project Woodworking, citing that the county’s fee schedule allowed for administrative adjustments to fee rates in unique situations. De Pol based her determination that Project Woodworking counted as a project of "unique circumstances" because of its economic qualifications.

 

However, per the county’s fee schedule, "Unique Situations/Projects with limited review – fees may be adjusted at the discretion of the appropriate Department Director, BADS Director's Designee, or BADS Senior Fiscal Services Manager."

 

While De Pol may be of the personal opinion that Project Woodworking is "unique," the project is not a project that qualifies as one of "limited review."

 

Additionally, the county’s own LDC provides guidelines related to modifications of LDC standards in Section 356. The LDC states that any modifications shall be submitted as a request from the developer and reviewed by the appropriate staff. When it comes to determining what modifications, such as fee reductions, can be approved administratively, the LDC also provides guidance on that. 

 

365.3. - Administrative Modifications, "The Department Director or designee shall have the authority to grant limited modifications, as set forth below, where it is determined that the proposed development meets the intent of the zoning district, the requested modification is the minimum necessary to allow reasonable development of the site and the requested modification is not injurious to the public health, safety and welfare. Administrative modifications are limited to ten (10) percent of the numerical requirements established in the following sections…” 

 

Section (G) under the above text, refers to LDC Chapter 7, including tree protection requirements. The LDC allows for staff to grant "limited modifications” where it is determined that the proposed development meets the intent of the zoning district and the requested modification is the minimum necessary to allow reasonable development of a site. Given that the tree mitigation fees were assessed at $250,000, as opposed to just over $5 million as the fee schedule dictates, it would appear such a modification exceeded the "limited 10 percent numerical" allowed to be approved administratively. 

 

In her letter to Racine, De Pol writes, "The site project will be relocating 400 existing jobs to Manatee County and is projected to create 75 new jobs over a five-year duration. Expansion of the tax base and growth of higher paying jobs is vital to capital investment expected from the project and the overall development results in a significant increase to the tax base…"

 

Indeed, Project Woodworking has since been approved for economic incentives based upon some of the facts De Pol included in her letter. However, there is an application and approval process for economic incentive funding and each incentive funding agreement must be approved by the board. 

 

Economic Development Incentives (EDI) are available to companies creating new high-wage job opportunities, either by expanding an existing business or by bringing a new business to Manatee County. Economic incentives allow local governments to expend public funds in an effort to attract and/or retain businesses to the county. A company wishing to apply for funding must submit an application and the project is scored through a cost-benefit analysis, the incentive customized based on the number of quality jobs created and the average annual wages of said jobs. 

 

First passed in March 2022, then revised in Jan. 2023, commissioners adopted a resolution awarding economic funding for Project Woodworking. Its anticipated wages were determined to be above the 2022 average wage for the county’s Southwest District. Additionally, the capital investment was projected at $60 million from the company for the project with an additional $166 million capital investment by the developer. If job creation and capital investment expectations are met, the project may receive local grant incentives not to exceed $2,031,557. 

 

Most recently, on March 28, 2023, commissioners adopted an additional resolution approving another economic incentive for Project Woodworking. The second incentive was in the form of a transportation reimbursement. 

 

A job description included on planning documents available through the Accela portal, described in part, "The project will construct a spine road down the center so the industrial park will have access to both Tallevast Road and University Parkway. Passenger vehicle parking will be provided for the employees and tractor-trailer parking and loading spaces will be provided for the semi-delivery trucks."

Having determined there was a public benefit in the construction of 21st Street East as a thru road from Tallevast to University Parkway, the county approved a reimbursement of $6,628,000.00 toward developer JDNJD2 Enterprises, LLC's estimated cost of $13 million to construct the road.

 

De Pol appears to justify her department’s administrative determination to also provide the same project a roughly $5 million discount on tree mitigation fees because the project otherwise qualified for economic incentive funding, but the multi-million fee reduction did not come before the board for approval as the funding agreements did. 

 

De Pol also referenced the construction of 21st Street East by the developer, construction expenses the developer will receive half in reimbursement from the county, as an additional basis for the discount on the tree mitigation fees. 

 

"The project is providing a 10-foot-multi use path along 21st Street East from the project’s tie-in location (approximately 300 ft south of Tallevast Road) to West University Parkway," De Pol wrote. 

 

The letter also included a reference to the FAA’s "Hazardous Wildlife Attractants on or near airports" as an additional justification for the director to reduce Project Woodworking’s tree mitigation fees. It is unclear why trees that presumably have existed where they are in proximity to the airport for many years would only now be in conflict with the FAA’s advisory on "wildlife attractants." Or why the FAA advisory would justify the county waiving a large sum in fees that otherwise should have been paid into the Tree Protection Trust Fund for future public use. 

 

Based on records publicly available through the county’s Acclea portal, it appears that in the case of Project Woodworking, the required analysis for tree removal and replacement was not completed. 

TBT  has attempted to obtain public records, including staff emails related to Project Woodworking. The county has denied our public record requests, claiming exemption of the records under Florida Statute 288.075. TBT believes that the records we have requested are not exempt from release and are continuing our efforts to obtain these records under the provisions of Florida's public record law.