Group Forms to Oppose Plum Creek Development

by Scott Camil

Plum Creek, one of the largest Real Estate Investment Trusts in the country, is also the largest landowner in Alachua County.

Their roughly 65,000 acres east of Newnan’s Lake include some of the wettest and most remote land left in the county, and straddle an important regional wildlife corridor.

For nearly two years, Plum Creek has waged a state-of-the-art public relations campaign to orchestrate support for their plans to develop this land. Numerous “public workshops,” long on pictures and promises but short on specifics, have generated many misconceptions, the most important of which is that their proposal is an expression of the public will.

At last, Plum Creek has submitted their formal request to the county.

Alachua County’s Comprehensive Plan balances the need for growth and jobs with environmental protection and planning, but Plum Creek is proposing its own plan. It’s requesting over 200 changes to the Comprehensive Plan that would apply only to their land.

The public hearing process for this complex and historic proposal will play out over the spring and summer. A coalition called Stand By Our Plan is assembling to inform the public and defend the community’s Comprehensive Plan.

Visit StandByOurPlan.org to learn more about Plum Creek’s intentions and to get involved.

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