Reject Scripps' demand to build now at Mecca

The Scripps Research Institute, having created a crisis by insisting that Mecca Farms be its home, has given the Palm Beach County Commission an ultimatum: Build now, or we're gone. The commission cannot comply.

Building now would put too much public money at risk. Building now would leave no good way out if a court orders the demolition of Scripps' $140 million campus, to be built at county expense. Building now could result in a campus consisting of Scripps and little else because a court could limit development on the rest of the 1,920-acre property. The result would be a biotechnology "cluster" far smaller than Gov. Bush says is needed to deliver an economic bonanza.

If Scripps were to leave, blame wrongly would fall on the county commission. Gov. Bush and real-estate profiteers masquerading as business leaders backed the remote Mecca Farms location, which was selected in secret. Mecca's greatest benefit isn't to the county, where it would overwhelm rural neighborhoods, but to the neighboring Vavrus Ranch, where home builders claiming to be biotech promoters would build subdivisions.

Time after time, the profiteers belittled county efforts to pick an alternative site -- despite clear warnings from the county that going forward at Mecca would result in long delays. The county's Business Development Board, made starry-eyed by a $51 million windfall from development there, refused to give up plans for developing Vavrus. Through it all, the county has lived up to its contract with Scripps, giving Scripps no legal basis for this week's ultimatum.

A solution is there, as it was in February when the county commission offered it: Build Scripps at Florida Research Park. But in March, Scripps trustees rejected that option, despite knowing last year that their insistence on Mecca Farms would produce lawsuits and delay. They were encouraged in their decision by Gov. Bush, who downplayed the risk of lawsuits and said Mecca was the only site that met all of the state's criteria, including space for 8 million square feet of development. Mecca, however, is limited to less than 2 million square feet by the county's partial wetlands permit. Florida Research Park, even without zoning changes, has the right to build 6 million square feet immediately.

Commissioner Mary McCarty, however, claims that the county can ignore all the negatives of building at Mecca, start construction and still protect taxpayers. How would she achieve this miracle? By offering an exit strategy that amounts to defeat: Build now; if court rulings go against the county, jettison Scripps and build subdivisions at Mecca Farms. By selling, she says, the county could recoup its $200 million-plus investment. But her plan would leave no money to put Scripps on another site.

There's a good chance commissioners will take that risk next week. If they make such a mistake, they should not pretend that they are protecting taxpayers. They would be protecting the Vavrus developers, who could use home-building at Mecca to justify development next door at Vavrus. Succumbing to an ultimatum also would relegate the county to a subordinate role in future relations with Scripps.

Commissioner McCarty tried to raise the threat level by claiming that there is competition for Scripps from Louisiana, where, she said, the governor is proposing a $700 million biotech campaign. On Thursday, however, the press secretary for Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco said there is no $700 million campaign, and the press secretary never had heard of Scripps.

Under Commissioner McCarty's proposal, the county would start construction in the hope that no court would stop it or undo it. She argues that the plaintiffs have "laid all their cards on the table," and the county is "winning at every turn." In fact, the county's most significant victory -- related to changing its comprehensive plan -- went before a judge who works for the governor. That lawsuit has not been heard in an independent court. Another problematic suit, over the federal wetlands permit, has yet to go before a judge.

In comparing the case against Mecca to a Martin County case in which a judge ordered apartments torn down, Assistant County Attorney Jim Mize advised caution: "There are enough similarities between the two cases that we have to give consideration on how the case is going to sort itself out." And if the county's case is so strong, why has no insurance company -- despite the county's solicitations -- offered to write a policy that would cover the loss of the buildings? Florida Research Park's owners can have all the permits Scripps demands by July. If Scripps is committed to science and not to a real-estate deal, it will stop issuing ultimatums and start planning a groundbreaking.