CLEARWATER - Pinellas County commissioners this afternoon unanimously approved banning dogs and alcohol on Shell Key, an ecologically fragile island where officials say partying by boaters has gotten out of hand. ...more

October 2, 2007

SEBRING — The county's long-running dispute with the state over development plans in Highlands County should be settled by mid October. At stake is final state approval that would allow: * Development of 4,637 acres; * Construction of 6,438 housing units, broken down into 4,537 single family homes, 192 mobile homes and 1,739 multi-family units; * Commercial projects totaling 5.1 million square feet; and * Industrial/warehouse projects totaling 5.9 million square feet. That is the total potential growth within 42 large-scale amendments to the Highlands County Comprehensive Plan which were approved by county commissioners in 2004, 2005 and 2006 but not yet approved by the Florida Department of Community Affairs. DCA recently sent the county a final settlement offer to approve all of those comp plan amendments. County commissioners will vote on DCA's settlement offer following a public hearing at their Oct. 16 meeting. ...more

September 30, 2007

The city-county Planning Commission will have until at least January to analyze 13 land-use amendments that recently were proposed, county commissioners decided Tuesday. ...more

September 26, 2007

Dade City officials touring a state-of-the-art landfill in Polk County on Tuesday morning liked what they saw: clean grounds, recycling programs and technology that compacts trash so it takes up less space. ...more

September 19, 2007