ENDANGERED SPECIES AT THE SITE
Update: Cypress Creek
Just when you thought it was dead, Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio has resurrected the East-West road. She recently asked the state Department of Transportation to take another look at how to pay for the road. Before that, FCAN and allies thought the road was dead, killed by financial reality.
New Tampa Bridge over 275
An intergral part of the project is a bridge over 275. If the
bridge is not built, that will slow down or stop the E-W road.
A group of New Tampa residents is working to
stop the bridge.
All the various schemes to fund the road had failed, and it appeared the Cypress Creek Ecosystem would remain undisturbed. Apparently the Mayor gave in to political pressure from developers who want to build even more homes in the area and provide access to two new malls in the area.
Write to Mayor Iorio and demand she stop the East-West road.
FCAN, Sierra Club-Tampa Bay Group, Tampa Audubon, Citizens for West Meadows, the Lutz Civic Association and community environmental activists are continuing the fight to save Tampa's last remaining expanse of pristine wilderness, the Cypress Creek Ecosystem.
Pressure from development in the northern part of Hillsborough and southern Pasco counties has led to daily traffic jams for local residents -- the predictable result of faulty planning. Civic "leaders" are attempting to solve this dilemma the old-fashioned way: build a road. But there are alternatives. New light rail proposals would solve the problem.
You can find info on the proposed light rail transportation program at TBARTA and info on high speed rail to connect cities at fastrailconnectus.com Note that the rail plans would avoid Cypress Creek and get people from New Tampa and the University to downtown, Westshore, and St. Pete. Here's what it could look like:
Click map for larger version
Editorial cartoon by FCAN member WB Park
Cypress Creek Power Point Presentation
Why Cypress Creek is important:
Cypress Creek Preserve and ecosystem is a one of a kind wilderness tract in north Tampa. The main part of the preserve is located between the apex of I-75 and I-275. Unfortunately, the area is under imminent threat of development and the prospects for its protection are dim, unless citizens take a more active role in supporting its preservation. This is a top priority of the Cypress Creek Coalition consisting of the Tampa Bay Sierra Club, Tampa Audubon, Florida Consumer Action Network, and the Lutz Civic Association.
Cypress Creek, a state designated Outstanding Florida Water, is a major tributary of the Hillsborough River, which is the primary source of drinking water for the City of Tampa. Protection of the creek and associated lands will ensure protection of the water this system contributes to the City’s drinking water supply.
There are over 6,000 acres of natural uplands and wetlands in the Cypress Creek area. The diverse habitats include pine flatwoods, hardwood hammocks, cypress swamps, and wet prairies. The Preserve has been designated a "Significant Wildlife Habitat" by local planning and environmental agencies. That designation means that this ecosystem is critical to the survival of healthy and diverse populations of wildlife in the region. The Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission has listed the area as some of the most valuable habitat in Hillsborough County.
A Tampa Audubon site surveys of Cypress Creek Preserve on June 26, 1998 and Dec 19, 2001 found the following inventory of nesting pairs of birds:
| INVENTORY | Number of Nests | Listing | Dec 19, 2001 |
| Anhinga | 21 | Y | |
| Great Egret | 9 | Y | |
| Little Blue Heron | 14 | Species of Special Concern | |
| Snowy Egret | 5 | Species of Special Concern | |
| Tricolored Heron | 4 | Species of Special Concern | |
| Cattle Egret | 349 | ||
| Green Heron | 1 | ||
| White Ibis | 12 | Species of Special Concern | Y |
| Wood Stork | 5 | Endangered Species | |
| Turkey Vulture | Y | ||
| Red Shouldered Hawk | Y | ||
| Laughing Gull | Y | ||
| Morning Dove | Y | ||
| Pileated Woodpecker | Y | ||
| Eastern Phoebe | Y | ||
| Fish Crow | Y | ||
| Carolina Wren | Y | ||
| Gray Catbird | Y | ||
| Northern Cardinal | Y | ||
| Total | 420 |
All these attributes mean that the Cypress Creek
Ecosystem is a pristine and ecologically significant area that is too important to sacrifice
for development.
The Danger
The entire area is designated "Environmentally Sensitive" land on local growth management plans. The designation is meant to indicate areas inappropriate for development. However, suburban sprawl and a major road network to serve the ever increasing congestion in north Tampa threaten the preserve. Lennar Homes, Inc., the developer of Tampa Palms, has government approved plans to build homes on upland areas encroaching on the ecosystem. The plans were approved prior to adoption of growth management laws. Therefore, while most wetlands will be preserved within the proposed development, Lennar is exempt from the law’s provisions to protect upland habitat.
Lennar is giving land to the City of Tampa for a major road network, called the East-West Road. The road will connect Cross Creek and Bruce B. Downs boulevards with I-275 and Livingston Avenue, splitting the proposed Preserve east and west and north and south -- piercing through the heart of the ecosystem.
What has happened so far:
To date, our local Environmental Lands Acquisition and Protection Program (ELAPP) has acquired approximately 3,500 acres of the Preserve, north and west of Lennar’s property. The land ELAPP has acquired is a mosaic of uplands and wetlands, providing shelter for the rich variety of species listed above. But it's not nearly enough. More habitat must be saved to assure that these creatures will thrive.
| In recent years, ELAPP has been working to acquire various properties along the creek near interstate apex, and south of the Florida Power and TECO transmission corridors and west of Bruce B. Downs. But due to the land’s high price tag, ELAPP has negotiated successfully for only the northernmost 3,500 acres of the preserve. |
 Cypress Creek - A Road Could Run Through It |
Once ELAPP and Lennar completed their most recent negotiation, the City moved forward with plans to locate the East-West Road directly adjacent to the property acquired. This would make undesirable the acquisition of any of the remaining Preserve land in this area and would open it all up to development. Despite testimony from dozens of families who skipped their dinner in order to tell the Metropolitan Planning Organization the road was the wrong solution, the MPO finalized its "Cost-Affordable" transportation plan for the year 2025 with a highway bisecting the West Meadows neighborhood and the heart of the preserve. Affordable? Estimates from experts in the road-building business have placed the price tag at $63 million+ (!), a huge sum that would be spent on a road serving fewer than 15,000 cars per day -- out of the over one million residents of Hillsborough County.
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The MPO commissioned a study to determine whether sufficient money could be collected at tollbooths on the East-West road to fund the project. That is the funding mechanism committed to when the road went on the map. Activists from FCAN and the Sierra Club have confirmation from the consultant for the study that tolls could not fund the road. The City attempted a plan to have the scandal ridden Expressway Authority bid out the toll road as a for-profit plan, but that too failed. |
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The Cypress Creek
Coalition meets on site to discuss strategy.
From Left: Lynn McGarvey, Sierra Club Rob Heath, Wildlife Biologist Denise Layne, Lutz Civic Association Ged Caddick, Tampa Audubon Linda Saul-Sena, Tampa City Council Bill Newton, FCAN Rene Weisner, ELAPP |
What you can do:
The citizens of Tampa and Hillsborough County need to let Mayor Pam Iorio and Tampa City Council know that:
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Tampa
City Council John Dingfelder Gwen Miller Mary Mulhern Linda Saul-Sena Joe Caetano Tom Scott Charlie Miranda 315 E. Kennedy Blvd Tampa, FL 33602 813-274-8131 813-274-7076 FAX |
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| LETTER-WRITING TIPS: *Personalize the letter. *Keep it short but strong. *Ask for a written reply. *Kids can make drawings. |
Mayor Pam Iorio City of Tampa 306 E. Jackson ST Tampa , FL 33602 813-274-8251 813-274-7050 FAX |
Don't let Cypress Creek be given over to the bulldozers! There is nothing else like it. Once gone, it can’t be replaced. Future generations may never know, except from pictures, what a beautiful region was once near their homes in Tampa. Your actions can make the difference.
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FCAN Executive Director Bill Newton speaks to the Hillsborough County Commission on Cypress Creek while canvassers display hundred of petitions. |
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Photo by Melissa Silvers |