By Marvin G. Cortner
Editor

Destiny was to be Anthony V. Pugliese III's 41,000-acre "green" community near Yeehaw Junction in Osceola County – but the proposed city could be delayed indefinitely due to lawsuits and state opposition.

The Delray Beach developer in December filed a $5 billion lawsuit in Palm Beach County Circuit Court seeking to make Fred DeLuca, his partner in the Destiny project and co-founder and president of Subway, and DeLuca’s company, FD Destiny, pay for what Pugliese claims was a carefully orchestrated scheme to defraud him and squeeze him out of the project.

DeLuca threw the first legal punch in September, suing Pugliese, claiming he mismanaged the Destiny project and used company accounts as his personal piggy bank, according to published reports. He also claimed Pugliese submitted phony invoices and refused to prepare financial reports.

In October, Palm Beach County Circuit Judge David Crow ordered Pugliese to temporarily relinquish control of the Destiny development company.

County update

Due to the lawsuits and in the face of opposition from the Florida Department of Community Affairs, Osceola County has for now chosen not to pursue changes to the comprehensive plan that would have allowed new cities, like Destiny, to be built outside the urban growth boundary.

“It’s considered as not necessary given the status of Destiny and the Department of Community Affairs’ opposition,” Bethzaida Garcia, county spokeswoman, said recently, referring to the proposed change to the county’s comprehensive plan.

County Commission Chairman Fred Hawkins Jr. said there has been no official action taken on the new city provision and none anticipated until the developers “sort out their issues.”

State officials who oversee development last year criticized the county’s proposed overlay provision, calling it “unprecedented” in the history of Florida’s Growth Management Act and that it would, if put into place as proposed, contribute to urban sprawl.

The agency questioned the need for a city such as Destiny and said the county should dump the overlay idea and instead concentrate on economic development, redevelopment and diversification within areas already set aside for growth. The agency went on to say there are open areas available within the current urban growth boundary – which the county expanded the previous year – to accommodate a large mixed-use development such as Destiny.

The state agency also criticized the county for providing it with inadequate data and questionable projections on a variety of overlay issues, from jobs to the impact on natural resources.

County officials at the time said the provision in concept was sound but that it just needed more work. Both county officials and staff at the time also insisted the new city overlay was not being developed solely for Destiny interests even though it was the only proposal of its type in the county.

One more issue

The Destiny site also is in an area used for military training flights to the Avon Park Air Force Range to the west. The current minimum altitude allowed for these flights in the Yeehaw Junction area is 500 feet, and developers have requested that ceiling be changed to 5,000 feet.

Avon Park range officials have said they oppose any change to the ceiling because of the negative effects it would have on training. In addition, the ceiling has been in place for at least 20 years, range officials have said, long before developers started formulating city-building plans.

More background

Pugliese, it has been reported, teamed up with DeLuca to develop the Destiny project at the suggestion of a mutual acquaintance. While Pugliese had already lined up initial financing, DeLuca offered to use his contacts in the financial world to negotiate better terms, according to the lawsuit.

In his lawsuit, Pugliese claims DeLuca duped him into signing onto a loan package that DeLuca actually controlled and that DeLuca made $23 million on the financing alone.

Pugliese claims in his lawsuit that he has lost about $10 million, not including the five years he spent working without pay on the Destiny project, expecting a huge future payoff.

Destiny last year sponsored a number of events in Osceola County, including the annual Silver Spurs Rodeo. Developers also staged a lavish showcase event for the Destiny project at Gaylord Palms in September 2008 attended by 550 people.

Pugliese and the companies he controlled also contributed tens of thousands of dollars to local political campaigns, from Osceola County commissioner to School Board races. Campaign contributions, though, have dried up since the lawsuits, according to campaign disclosure forms filed with the Osceola County Supervisor of Elections office.

Destiny also was selected to be among 16 founding projects of the Climate Positive Development Program under the Clinton Climate Initiative that would support the development of large-scale urban projects that demonstrate cities can grow in ways that are “climate positive.” Former President Bill Clinton, founder of the William J. Clinton Foundation, launched the program and on May 19, 2009, announced the projects that would be promoted through it.

Destiny had goals to achieve at least a 50-percent reduction in site-wide energy demand compared to business-as-usual, by integrating both passive and active energy design strategies.

The last news posted on the Destiny Web site was at the end of June 2009. Destiny representatives could not be reached for comment on the future of the project.