Copyright 1998 Stuart News Company
The Stuart News/Port St. Lucie News (Stuart,FL)
March 31, 1998, Tuesday
SECTION: A Section; Pg. A1
LENGTH: 783 words
HEADLINE: FISH MAY TAINT HOME SALES
BYLINE: Debi Pelletier of the News staff
BODY:
Troubled Waters
STUART - In his nearly 30 years as a real estate agent specializing
in waterfront property, Bill Laughon says he's never been more
worried about his business.
"It's going to hurt my business, there's no question about
it," the retired Navy captain said Monday.
He was talking about the current epidemic of diseased fish
in the Indian River Lagoon and St. Lucie River. Fish by the thousands
have turned up with lesions and sores, and scientists are struggling
to find out why.
Laughon said this wave of sick fish is much worse than in 1980,
the last time heavy rains and freshwater runoffs resulted in fish
with nasty-looking lesions.
"Everybody I talk to knows it's going to have a real serious
effect on people who were thinking about buying waterfront property,"
Laughon said.
The owner of Anchor Real Estate said he's convinced the declining
health of the river systems will scare potential clients away.
He said he's hearing from property owners who want to sell and
leave the area.
"They're down here for fishing, mainly, and waterfront
living," said Laughon, who lives on the St. Lucie River.
"There's not only going to be no fishing, it's going to be
smelly. At my docks, it's smelly with those dead fish. It's a
mess."
Scientists with the state Department of Environmental Protection
suspect a microalga called Cryptoperidiniopsis is attacking the
fish, eating away their protective slime coating and leaving them
vulnerable to opportunistic bacteria.
In the meantime, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
have launched a six-state investigation to determine what, if
any, health risks might be associated with the microalga.
Some researchers think the massive freshwater discharges from rain-swollen Lake Okeechobee have lowered salinity levels in the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon, dumping nutrients and pollutants that help Crypto thrive.
Attorney John Sherrard, who represents the real estate boards in Martin and St. Lucie counties, said all that remains speculation. Scientists have proved nothing and therefore, it's too early to say whether real estate agents should
be telling potential riverfront property buyers about the sick
fish.
"You have to disclose any fact that materially affects
the value of the property and that's a difficult situation, because
we don't know what the facts are," Sherrard said. In a newsletter
to agents, he warned them to "just keep updated because this
is one of those fast-changing things that in a week from now,
we may be in a completely different situation."
But he also advised agents that if they have any doubts about
the property being materially affected, they should make the disclosure.
"Unfortunately, with this situation, I think it's going to
develop into something that may require disclosure. But we're
at the early stages of it and I can't get any facts right now,"
he wrote.
Sherrard said if nothing else, just the publicity surrounding
the fish lesions and health of the rivers is bound "to have
some impact" on the market for riverfront property.
Steve Bohner, owner of Premier Realty in Stuart, agreed.
"There is no question that it will have an impact," he said. "Word is just starting to get out."
As with Laughon, Bohner said the situation today is "much
worse" than it was in 1980, and he's not optimistic anything
can be done quickly to rehabilitate the rivers.
Although Bohner doesn't think there'll be any panic selling,
he's not expecting the charm of riverfront living to be much of
a lure without the fishing.
"There's a lot of people that move here because of the
terrific river fishing, there's no question about it," he
said.
Not all real estate agents sound such a pessimistic tone.
Paul Newman of Beach Front Mann Realty on Hutchinson Island
said riverfront sales haven't been affected by the fish scare.
"Everything's absolutely fine," he said.
In St. Lucie County, Realtor Jo Ann Allen is a member of the
state's Inland Navigational District. She hasn't noticed any slump
in waterfront property sales and said she's not overly concerned.
"This type of thing comes and goes in cycles, and this
too, will go away, just like red tide, " she said.
Mark Duvall, president of the Realtors Association of Martin
County, said a committee is being formed to gather more information
to help Realtors decide what agents might need to disclose to
prospective buyers of riverfront property.
"We want to have the correct information and not rely
on gossip or "what-ifs,"' Duvall said.
Duvall also said it was "way premature" to determine
when the committee might finish its mission and report back to
the real estate board.
LOAD-DATE: March 31, 1998