News-Press from Fort Myers, Florida • Page 1

Pertly cloudy High In th C3t; lowinthaedt Details 2A FORT MYERS EWS- Final Edition FRESS Serving Southwest Florida Since 1 084 A Gannett Ijlewtpaper 25c Daily, 75c Sunday Fort Myers, Florida Friday Morning, April 17, 1981 97th Year Issue No. 147 ruled out Estuaries pensation i com Project is a decade-long environmental battle State justices' decision is touted as landmark Map locates proposed Estuaries project By BARBARA JOHNSON Nfwvmu Staff Wrltw A decade ago this year, a rumpled Atlanta lawyer and Southern confidant of Kennedys and Rockefellers plunked down a $100,000 deposit on 9,240 slushy acres on the northern shore of Estero Bay. More water than It was land, most of the acreage was an oozing, gurgling black muck mangrove forest. Nearly all of the property at least part of the time was flushed by stinking, brackish tides. Landward from the bay, the property was wispy sea grasses and gnarled mangrove roots.

Beyond that were the crusted, chalky-white salt flats. The $100,000 deposit covered more than 3,000 acres of privately owned bay bottoms and wetlands Inside the state's Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve. Within the preserve, the deposit Included Shoe box Island and Dog Key, also claimed by the U.S. government Robert Troutman Jowly, unpretentious, a Harvard Law School grad- uate, was looking for land to create his dream of "The Estuaries," his proposed $500 million waterfront condominium city of 73,000 people. What he found was a financial and legal nightmare awaiting him In the Estero Bay wetlands.

To date, Troutman has invested the main tunnel were cleared up more than $20 million toward development of The Estuaries on the shores of Estero Bay, yet he hasn't built the first condominium. The Estuaries never was able to get a federal, state or local development permit The waterfront vacation playground planned by Troutman Instead became one of the nation's great environmental battlegrounds. Since Its inception, The Estuaries has been mired in three court challenges, tied up with eight years of governmental red tape, investigated by the Florida Senate and Jeopardized by mortgage defaults totaling millions of dollars. Local environmentalists, under the banner of the Lee County Conservation Association, sued the state over The Estuaries. The Estuaries mortgage holder sued Troutman.

Troutman sued Lee County. The Estuaries has been considered the major test case in Florida of local government's right to regulate development of environmentally sensitive lands. The Florida Supreme Court now has decided Lee County's regulatory powers Include the right to protect the public interest In the Estero Bay wetlands at Troutman's expense. If the Supreme Court had not ruled for Lee County, the county could have been forced to either buy the property from Troutman for untold millions Turn Te BATTLE, Page 17A from water pockets Inside the mountain Thursday when pumps were taken Into NiwiPrmmiy Is much greater than the tract of land In Lee County." Bowen said the decision will have statewide and consequences In validating environmental protection as a goal in the use of local government police powers. 1 Roland Roberts, chairman of the county board of commissioners, said, "I know the conservationists In this area and others wanted this type of decision from the Supreme Court Turn To ESTUARIES, Page 2A Arm.

Thursday's ruling was called by Florida Attorney General Jim Smith "an Important victory In the state's effort to protect Florida's fragile and threatened natural environment" side, said Thursday, "This is going to be a real landmark In land use and environmental law In the state of Florida. They (the Justices) have hit every Issue. Its significance Rescuers must rebuild ventilation in effort to reach trapped miners Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council, an ally of the state and county In The Estuaries battle. "It means certainly that black mangroves can be used as a basis for turning down a development I think this to a case they'll be quoting for 100 years." James Humphrey an attorney representing Lee County in the case, told county commissioners In a special meeting Thursday the Cabinet decision on possible development changes could lead to a new round of appeals. He said the state Supreme Court decision could also be appealed to the federal courts.

"No, It's not over yet," he said. The proposed condominium city would encompass 1,800 acres from Hendry Creek to Punta Rassa in addition to the 4,600 acres of bayfront mangrove forests. The Estuaries was the 10-year-old dream of Atlanta lawyer Robert Troutman, president of Estuary Properties Inc. But It had been a decade-long anathema to conservationists, men and local government officials who felt the proposed coastal com-jriunlty would pollute the Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve, 1 The state and county had been facing a 1979. appellate court order now reversed by the Supreme Court to either permit the development or buy the property from Troutman's advantage sere gravity aboard the apace by fells astrsaaat said-deck area By BARBARA JOHNSON Nf wt-Prtw Staff Writer TALLAHASSEE In what is being balled as an landmark environmental victory, the Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Lee County and the state have the power to stop destruction of mangroves by the gl-' ant Estuaries development without compensating the property owner.

-However, the 6-1 decision does not rule out development because the Justices also said the Florida Cabinet must tell Estuary Properties Inc. the owners what changes could be made In the projectto make It eligible for development permits. The decision means that the state and county don't have to buy up to 4,600 acres of mangroves to prevent their destruction In the construction of The Estuaries, a proposed waterfront condominium. city of 73,500 people oa the north shore of Estero No decision has been made yet by Estuary Properties Inc. on whether to appeal to the VS.

Supreme Court, according to thecompanysTallabas-sae attorney. Gary Sams. Sams said he could not declare the ruling overall as either good or bad for Estuary Properties. reported the ruling to company official Morris Burnham of Fort Myers Beach. "I'm elated." said Roland Eastwood, executive director of the Floating in space ftotert Crisfea taek i i i By ANDREW ROSENTHAL AtMClatMl Prau Writer REDSTONE, Colo.

Rescue workers had to rebuild a ventilation system and pump water out of swamped tunnels Thursday as they slowly inched closer to 15 men trapped by an explosion 7,000 feet inside a coal mine in the Colorado mountains. Asked to estimate the odds for a successful rescue, Robert Delaney, attorney for Mid-Continent Resources replied, "I wouldn't place oddson them one way or the other. I'd say they are remote." Doug Bowman, environmental coordinator for Mid-Continent operator of the Dutch Creek No. 1 mine 30 miles west of Aspen, said a rescue group had gotten to within 400 to 500 feet of some of the trapped miners by 7:15 p.m. MST (9:15 EST), more than 27 hours after the blast Officials at the mine were unable to estimate when the rescuers might break through to the trapped men.

Company spokesman Ed MulhaU said the rescue effort would continue through the night Bowman said that streams of water pouring through the mine, omciais naa earner saia iney learea ine water -was a danger to the trapped men. Bowman said the 15 men had been working in two crews about 2,000 feet apart, more than 7,000 feet deep in the shaft While the cause of the blast has not been determined. Bowman said equipment being used by the miners might have set off an explosion In a pocket of methane gas. If the miners had run into a big pocket of gas, said Bowman, "The force of methane could have created damage to the electrical equipment and caused a spark. "It's called an outburst of coal," he said.

"It was a big explosion and, from the size of It they hit a pocket (of methane)." The blast roared through the mine at 4:15 p.m. MST (6:15 EST) Wednesday, with 22 men at work in the sloping shaft Seven men came out of the mine shortly after the blast three of them suffering from burns, bruises and, shock. Turn Te MINE, Page ZA Legislators get petition for mandatory sentences Insido Today's News-Press More arms sales to Saudis sought The Reagaa administratis, la aether move te bolster Persian Gulf security, has decided sell Saodl Arabia grwnd radar stations and 1MM antitank missiles even while ether major arms sales te the all-rich kiagdam are aader fire la Caa-gresa. Page SA. ONLY one In three crimes where force either is used or threatened gets reported to police In America, the world's most violent industrial democracy, a federal task force Is told CUasifted.

s-zac Cosaica Craaawerd 4B Flaaacial lt-MA Newsmakers 2A Maviea 14D OpialM 6-7A People SectleaD ScUl Secmrtty Cantest ID Sparta SectleaC TV TD 1 1 i -A i I i sj By BARBARA JOHNSON Nmrnu Stiff Wrttr TALLAHASSEE A cardboard box containing signatures of 32,000 Lee Counttans was delivered to Republican legislative leaders Thursday by. Sheriff Frank Wanlcka "to show what a little county can do" when It gets fed up with crime. Wanlcka presented the results of his petition drive for minimum mandatory sentencing of criminals to House Minority Leader Curt Kiser. R-aearwater, and Senate Minority Leader Jim Scott R-Fort Lauderdale. The presentation was arranged by Rep.

Paul Nuckolls, R-Fort Myers, who has sponsored a UU to Impose minimum mandatory sentences for people convicted of second-degree murder, rape, burglary, robbery and aggravated assault "I think It's a good year (for this bill)," Wanlcka said. "It's the mood of the country. The public rve never seen them so Incensed." Wanlcka told Kiser and Scott that Lee County residents have taken the petition Into the shopping malls and neighborhoods and still are ing more signatures. Wanlcka said he believes mini mum mandatory sentences will deter at least some potential criminals from violating the law. He said the bill Is needed to keep repeat offenders, who sometimes are responsible for one-man crime waves, off the street Wanlcka also called for the state to build more prisons so It can keep more prisoners longer.

On the question of financing prison construction, Wanlcka said, "That's not my problem. "The key is they're going to have to build more Jails and make them minimum-security facilities that aren't hotels. The way It Is now, It's nothing but a numbers game (to the parole board) we need 20 people released today because we got 20 more coming in," Wanlcka said. Both Kiser and Scott said they've supported minimum mandatory sentences for some crimes for years. Kiser said he hadn't looked at Nuckolls bill yet Scott called the petition drive a "remarkable project" The presentation also was attended by Sen.

Tom Lewis, R-North Palm Beach. Although they were invited by Nuckolls to the presentation, which Tan Te PETITION, Page 4A i setae acrobatics darlag his receat flight saattte CslasaMa. The pkete was saade JsfcaYaaagaadslMws Crisfea at et the apaceahlp. Stary ea Page llA. spaceship.