By Dr. Phyllis Olmstead
As a supervisor of the
Orange Soil and Water Conservation District, I am tasked "To provide, or assist in providing, training and education programs that further the purposes" of Florida Statute 582 to "provide assistance, guidance, and education to landowners, land occupiers, the agricultural industry, and the general public in implementing land and water resource protection practices".
Now that you're bored, I shall.
A series of seminars is being offered to be a win-win for the water and soil of Central Florida, property owners of land that have not been selling, listing agents trying to move the properties, buyers wanting the great locations, and increasing the tax basis of Orange County and its municipalities, while improving the looks of the communities. The property owners will recover losses, Realtors will profit, builders and contractors will make money, and buyers will have lovely products and not just cover up chemical-laden dirt.
Brownfields are areas of soil that have been subject to either a sudden spill or long-term leaching of any number of chemicals. Think of Lake Apopka, with the constant spraying and dusting of pesticides on the muck farms and the drums of DDT that leaked into the soil and ran into the lake and down into the aquifer.
The area was deemed not just a brownfield but a Super Fund Site of the Federal Government.
In the past, people built over or avoided the areas. As of now, Realtors and agents frequently list dry cleaners and gas stations, but do not sell them. Often, out-of-town property owners do not tidy up or maintain the property, and code enforcement is called, and the property falls off the tax roll. The area becomes abandoned and derelict, with the unsheltered moving into the empty buildings, sometimes falling down or catching on fire. Property values plummet.
Worse yet, the dangerous chemicals associated with the businesses or residences continue to leach from the soil into the watershed and the springs, then into the aquifer and finally into our drinking water.
I spoke to over a dozen Realtors, a few builders, and financiers this week. Not one knew what a brownfield was, and not one knew there were federal and state grants and tax credits for property reclamation to encourage sales and get their listings up and occupied again!
Future seminars will be distributed around the county. The first will be held on October 29th for northwest Orange. It is to remediate brownfield properties, infilling blighted areas within communities to increase property values and revitalize the areas. It will be from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at 601 South Highland Avenue, Apopka, 32703.
Infill Seminar on Brownfields
Purpose: inform owners, real estate agents, buyers, contractors, and builders on identifying brownfields, obtaining federal and state grants for brownfields, reclaiming the soil, so they can complete sales and build out to beautify derelict properties, reduce blight, and increase future tax values of the properties after tax credits expire. We are creating synergy and matching up potential owners, agents, contractors, and buyers.
Some of the properties of concern are dry cleaners, gas stations, plant nurseries, garages, tire shops, manufacturing companies, pesticide businesses, car lots, etc. Subject matter experts will inform participants of the value of turning these derelict properties into productive, attractive commercial or residential sites in Orange County.
Examples of brownfield properties in the Apopka area that are Brixton Landing LTD (15-21-28-0000-00-015), part of a former rose nursery, and Penang Nurseries, being reclaimed into a tire store, and affected the property now the Dollar General (33-20-28-0000-00-066). Many potential brownfields have been sitting idle and need remediation. One was a gas station and laundromat; there are several car lots for sale, and many idle plant nurseries are in the area. Sadly, one, the dry cleaners, is directly in front of the City Hall campus.
With four degrees in education, I feel exposure to best practices and experts in the field is the best way to make things happen instead of leaving people to guess, as it is now. You do not know what you do not know.
The chapel on the property where we are holding the meeting was built in 1886, just four years after Apopka was formed. The main building, consecrated in 1990, was designed to resemble churches of the 1880s era.
Dr. Phyllis M. Olmstead, EdD, serves as Supervisor, Seat 3, and Secretary of the Orange Soil and Water Conservation District. She is dedicated to advancing land and water resource protection through education, collaboration, and community revitalization initiatives.
