MIAMI (AP) — The Palm Beach developer who wants to build a Walmart store on an area containing an endangered forest faced his opponents for the first time. Peter Cummings promised Thursday to make his project a model for environmentally sensitive development during a meeting of the Kendall Federation of Homeowners’ Associations.
The Miami Herald reports (http://hrld.us/1BBsRwz) Cummings told angry neighbors and environmentalists the four separate preserves planned for the 137-acre development could help scientists understand the disappearing Richmond pine rockland.
Environmentalists say the planned 43 acres preserve, which would be divided four ways, doesn’t do much.
The store is slated for a corner of 2,200 acres near Miami’s zoo. The area includes the largest remaining such forest outside Everglades National Park and is home to endangered bats and butterflies, among other species.
