Cape San Blas Real Estate Blog

Please take a minute today to address the following – by Thursday morning it will be too late!

Yesterday, Tuesday, the Planning Development Review Board met and reviewed Ashwood’s request to increase their density in Ovation by roughly 100 lots and building duplexes rather than the single family homes originally approved.  The vote was deadlocked 2 to 2.  It then went to the Commissioners last night and they tabled it to gather additional information and, will vote again tomorrow Thursday morning in a meeting scheduled to begin at 9 a.m..  They need to hear from the land/homeowners on the Cape.

The argument their attorneys from Atlanta are using is even though they stated in the first round that the 42 acres underwater were wetlands in order to get the density they have today, they are now saying they are not wetlands, but uplands.  You can’t have it both ways…..it is the Bay and should be neither and not able to be used as property for density purposes.  They wish to put duplexes on 40 foot lots.

Secondly, I am told for every call they receive from a land owner, they receive two from contractors needing business.  This argument does not hold water as Ashwood has not used any local contractors in Ovation so far.  Steve Neuman, one of the largest contractors in our area, owns property in both of their neighborhoods and stated he did not want the zoning changed.  The Ovation property owners purchased land in a single family subdivision of high quality and now they are going to change it to duplexes?  If you know any Ovation property owners please share this with them.

And third, local landowners and constituents are foreclosing on their homes due to the horrible market today.  Do we really want a corporation from out of town to increase the already overloaded inventory on the Cape and get the sales instead of the individuals?  Ashwood has a wonderful product and has done a great job, and it is not their product that is causing the lack of sales, it is the marketplace.

Commissioner Peters is firmly against this increased density.  In order to receive the 3 votes needed for this not to happen, Jerry Barnes and Bill Williams need to hear from YOU today.  Jerry is our Commissioner and he is running for re-election this year.  His vote should firmly hands down support his constituents and future constituents, current landowners.  Even if you don’t have a vote today, this will affect you – please call.  Bill Williams will support the proper position based on the facts.  The points above should be enough to logically have this motion voted down.

PLEASE call Commissioner Barnes and Commissioner Williams today at the cell numbers listed below.  If you can’t reach them, please leave a message.  Tomorrow will be too late.  Let’s not set a precedent for increased density on the Cape.

Jerry Barnes              850-227-1647 or  850-340-0220

Bill Williams             850-227-6422

 UPDATE: 

Thanks to everyone for jumping on this. I’ve been hearing from a lot of people that they’re having trouble getting through to Jerry and Bill’s numbers as the boxes appear to be full by this afternoon. We’re having an impact!.  I just talked to Jerry and he said he has received over 50 calls today, not a single one in support of this variance. If you want to e-mail your thoughts to him via Don Butler’s e-mail, that address is:
gulfcoadmn@gtcom.net

Bill Williams’ e-mail address is:
Gericarealf@aol.com;

You can also send your thoughts to David Richardson of the building department at to have them entered into the public record
Gulf1@gtcom.net

Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Like roadweary vacationers anxious for the ride to be over and finally reach the destination where the fun begins, we’ve all been wanting to know when this market will finally reach its bottom and begin to turn around. Encouraging news heard this morning from a guy with a good track record for recognizing and calling economic trends and earning gazillions by doing so. I found the following on CNBC’s website:

  According to billionaire investor Sam Zell, chairman of Equity Investments Group and owner of the Chicago Cubs, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and other companies the US economy will avoid recession as the housing market begins to recover this spring.

Speaking on “Squawk Box” . . . , Zell attributed much of the current economic troubles to fear-mongering and politicking by Democratic presidential contenders Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.

“Obviously what we have going on is an attempt to create a self-fulfilling prophecy,” said Zell, . “We have two Democratic candidates who are vying with each other to describe the economic situation worse.

“The reality is that if you live on Wall Street and you’re in the credit markets the world couldn’t be worse. If you’re a farmer and you’re getting $25 for your wheat, you’re having a great time. If you’re a CEO and you’ve got a balance sheet that’s bullet-proof, you’re in a great position. This whole thing is way out of control, way out of hand.”

Zell said that although he doesn’t try to pick bottoms in markets he believes housing has hit its nadir and will turn around this spring as inventory clears out (emphasis added).

As for the credit situation, he projected that once markdowns are out of the way banks will begin to regain their footing.

In the wide-ranging interview, Zell also voiced support for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

“I think Bernanke’s reduction in interest rates has been spot-on, because basically we’re going to fix the credit markets by creating a big enough spread between the risk-free cost of capital and what’s available so that greed overtakes fear and the game begins again.”