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SEBRING -- No matter on which side you stand, Blue Head Ranch, a proposed community development in southwestern Highlands County, will have a significant impact on the existing environment. Over the next few weeks, the News-Sun plans to continue to introduce the community to the plans and controversy over the new town projections, and this time we have asked the some environmentalists and citizen activists opposed to the Blue Head Ranch Development questions about the social, environmental and economic impacts of the proposed settlement along S.R. 70. According to Paula House with Save Our Creeks; Dale Gillis, president of the Highlands County Audubon Society; and citizen activist Maureen McKenna, the new development does not sit well with the lifestyle that most county residents want. "The county commissioners are openly admitting that they are taking the county from a rural county to an urban one. What I want to know is where did they get permission to do that from?" House asked. House pointed out that the 2006 visioning plan expressed that the residents were interested in keeping the county a rural environment, but the owners of Blue Head have a different plan. "These type of developments do not work. This is like the city built by the shah in Dubai in the middle of the desert. It is one person or company who has more money than almost all the citizens in the county combined, and they want to build their own little fiefdom," House said. House continued to discuss the impact that the development will have on the wildlife corridor, as well as the objections that the Florida Department of Community Affairs has with the proposal. "That area was set aside by both the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the University of Florida as a strategic habitat as well as a priority greenway. Their study shows that area ranked as a critical link area for creating a statewide ecological network. And Blue Head Ranch is right smack in the middle of that area," House said. "The DCA has also stated that they have major concerns about the development, and they stated that last year. It wasn't until August of 2009 that Allison Megrath proposed placing the development into the comprehensive plan," House said. "If it is included as part of the county's comprehensive plan, then it avoids or puts off most of the DCA objections for now. "The county did not start talking about a 'sustainable community' until it was mentioned in an e-mail to the county's Development Director Mark Hill in August. It was then taken from a large scale development and placed in the comprehensive plan. Very sneaky," House said. According to Gillis, there is more at stake than just the loss of the local resident's desire for a rural lifestyle. "There are several endangered species that are located in that area, and a development of that size is going to change their habitat significantly," Gillis said. "There are many species that will be impacted including the Florida panther and the bald eagle, both on the endangered list." When asked if not there, then where proposed development should happen, Gillis responded that there were plenty of spaces available throughout the county. "Why not on the lots that are already plotted and have the infrastructure in place? There are several areas away from Fisheating Creek that are available, they just need some encouragement from the county," Gillis said. "Fisheating Creek is a pristine creek, and by building in that area it will interfere with the nutrient balance all the way to Lake Okeechobee. That will significantly impact that entire part of the state. The Audubon Society is opposed to any development in that area that will effect the creek." McKenna works with both the Audubon Society and Save Our Creeks, but presented herself as a citizen activist. "These two presented it correctly, and stated the position very well. The development will damage the area that we have fought so hard for in the past with Save Our Creeks," McKenna said. House pointed out several more studies, all of which she said were supported by experts from around the state. "These are not a bunch of crazy people. These are smart, educated doctors, scientists and attorneys that have conducted research independent from Save Our Creeks. Several of the documents were retrieved through Freedom of Information requests from Blue Head themselves." When asked their opinion on the county commissioner's take on the development, House responded that the county has announced it is pro-developer. "But it costs a lot to deter the county commissioners from moving forward on this. The county staff is beholden to the large landowners, and Mark Hill has stated that he is there for the landowners, not the taxpayers, at a previous county meeting. This development is lose-lose for the taxpayer," House said. Gillis agreed. "For some reason, the county leadership is dedicated to turning this county into an urban development. I don't understand it, but a lot of folks oppose it," he said. Gillis went on to assert that his organization supports the idea of Hometown Democracy, an amendment to the Florida Constitution where each new development has to be presented to the citizens of a community before it can be approved, and is currently on the 2010 Florida Legislature agenda. "It is something that will return the rights to the citizens about what they want their community to look like," Gillis said. Don't be so naive. County commissioners will bow down to the rich. JD Alexander has been wanting to put that "highway to nowhere" through there for a long time. He's not giving up. You are foolish to believe that Alico is not pushing this. Closed door meetings happen all the time. Alexander has used his office to push his personal agenda of influencing more riches for Alico and the family. Just ask his cousin Baxter Troutman whom Alexander had unceremoniously tossed off the board of Alico for guess what, opposing development and wanting to keep Florida natural. But cheer up! It will happen, the development will come through unopposed by those who have the authority to stop it. I wouldn't be at all surprised if they named it Alexanderville or Alico City!