Twin Oaks park in Osceola closed after developer destroyed land

[Baitball Blogger]

One of Osceola County's newest parks remains closed indefinitely after a land developer's crew destroyed at least 100 acres of wetlands on the shore of Lake Tohopekaliga..

The damage was discovered Friday when the head of the county Natural Lands program tried to stop a tractor operator dragging a massive harrow from destroying $300,000 worth of plants and trees at the Twin Oaks Conservation Area, records show.

"I think it's safe to say more than 100 acres were impacted but I don't have the numbers yet," county spokesman Mark Pino said Wednesday afternoon.

The county described the damage as an unintentional, despite a criminal complaint filed by the head of the county Natural Lands program Robert Mindick who accused the DR Horton development company of refusing to stop the harrowing.


http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/osceola/os-twin-oaks-park-closed-osceola-20150603-story.html

[valerief]

1. Oh, well, might as well put up condos now, right?

Isn't that the plan?

[Mr. Robot]

2. The developer should have forfeited his land as a result of his damage.

Expand the conservation area, at the expense of the idiot.

Teach him a lesson!

[csziggy]

3. I agree with that as a remedy - though it will not return the native plants

Or animals that were destroyed.

How can any developer or land clearing company get away with this and be allowed to continue to do the same work? They should lose their licenses to operate and any permits to clear or build currently in their names!

If I "accidentally" went onto my neighbor's property and cut down ONE tree or mowed their landscaping, I would be arrested and charged with destruction of their property. The public's property, especially land set aside for conservation, should engender more severe consequences.

A number of years ago someone bought a lot down the street from us and hired a guy to clear it for them. Neither the property owner nor the land clearing man got permits from the county. In addition, the land clearing guy was "trying out" a bulldozer to buy - not realizing that the owner of the bulldozer (who had told him to NOT use it to push down trees) lived just down the street from the lot.

Within half an hour six people (my husband among them) had called in complaints to the county since there were no permits to take down trees. The bulldozer owner had also called in about no permits and had the cops there to charge the "land clearing" guy with theft of services for unauthorized use of the bulldozer.

The resultant fines and charges cost the land owner so much he lost the lot. The "land clearance" guy was criminally charged and will never be able to get a license to operate that kind of business in this county - he never had one to start with.

While Leon County, where I live, is a small county that values our trees and natural lands, Osceola is not much larger. I don't understand why the head of the county Natural Lands program couldn't get law enforcement out there to stop the tractor operator immediately.