Support for Hometown Democracy Grows With Every SB 360
| By Ray Seaman - Jun 18th, 2009 at 11:12 am EDT |
| Also listed in: Florida Forever Coalition | Front Page Posters | Hold The Line |
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Categories: Environment, Growth Management, Legislature, Amendments, Local Government, Campaign 2010, Governor & Cabinet
Categories: Environment, Growth Management, Legislature, Amendments, Local Government, Campaign 2010, Governor & Cabinet
A few weeks ago, Gov. Crist signed SB 360, a horrendous bill that significantly weakened Florida's growth management laws, inviting more urban sprawl in rural areas. Environmental groups, and Progress Florida, vehemently fought SB 360 for this reason. For more info, watch this great YouTube video:
We unfortunately lost that battle, but in the wider war against wasteful and destructive low-density urban sprawl, who is really going to win? That question has not been answered yet. While it seems that big developers won the day, they might have just shot themselves in the foot at the same time. You see, as the title of this blog post suggests, every time big developers and their allies in the Florida Chamber of Commerce push through another short-sighted bill that extends the already hated status quo, the more support builds for solutions like the Florida Hometown Democracy Amendment. Some folks consider Hometown Democracy a very radical solution, taking land-use decisions away from county commissions and instead turning them into public referendums. This would undoubtedly slow down the rate at which farms are gobbled up and turned into golf courses and gated communities. Many Floridians think this would be a good thing, but developers obviously view it as a terrifying prospect.
When SB 360 passed, I heard the same refrain from several unconnected individuals - that this will make it easier for Hometown Democracy to pass. I think they're right. The passage of SB 360 will only harden local resistance to sprawl, and the seemingly impossible notion of attaining real growth management regulations from the state will only drive more moderate environmentalists and Floridians into the arms of Hometown Democracy.
I actually consider myself among the latter group. I have my qualms with Hometown Democracy, mainly because I think sprawl can be stopped and new urbanism promoted through stronger and more consistent community organizing at the county level (something that really doesn't exist right now throughout Florida.) However, I know that for the sake of our state's future, sprawl has to be stopped in the next few years. I'm willing to embrace Hometown Democracy if the developers, the Chambers of Commerce, and the Builders Associations keep pushing for the kind of nonsense "solutions" like SB 360 that merely advance their bottom line at the expense of everyone else.
Should Hometown Democracy make it onto the ballot (an increasingly likely prospect) and pass the necessary 60% mark, it will be due both to the hard work of the Hometown Democracy movement, and the developers' own short-sightedness and utter greed.
We unfortunately lost that battle, but in the wider war against wasteful and destructive low-density urban sprawl, who is really going to win? That question has not been answered yet. While it seems that big developers won the day, they might have just shot themselves in the foot at the same time. You see, as the title of this blog post suggests, every time big developers and their allies in the Florida Chamber of Commerce push through another short-sighted bill that extends the already hated status quo, the more support builds for solutions like the Florida Hometown Democracy Amendment. Some folks consider Hometown Democracy a very radical solution, taking land-use decisions away from county commissions and instead turning them into public referendums. This would undoubtedly slow down the rate at which farms are gobbled up and turned into golf courses and gated communities. Many Floridians think this would be a good thing, but developers obviously view it as a terrifying prospect.
When SB 360 passed, I heard the same refrain from several unconnected individuals - that this will make it easier for Hometown Democracy to pass. I think they're right. The passage of SB 360 will only harden local resistance to sprawl, and the seemingly impossible notion of attaining real growth management regulations from the state will only drive more moderate environmentalists and Floridians into the arms of Hometown Democracy.
I actually consider myself among the latter group. I have my qualms with Hometown Democracy, mainly because I think sprawl can be stopped and new urbanism promoted through stronger and more consistent community organizing at the county level (something that really doesn't exist right now throughout Florida.) However, I know that for the sake of our state's future, sprawl has to be stopped in the next few years. I'm willing to embrace Hometown Democracy if the developers, the Chambers of Commerce, and the Builders Associations keep pushing for the kind of nonsense "solutions" like SB 360 that merely advance their bottom line at the expense of everyone else.
Should Hometown Democracy make it onto the ballot (an increasingly likely prospect) and pass the necessary 60% mark, it will be due both to the hard work of the Hometown Democracy movement, and the developers' own short-sightedness and utter greed.
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1. The public has been brainwashed to believe that only more residential construction will lower their property taxes.
2. The Smart Growth initiative was developed to lull voters into believing that all new growth will be strictly controlled and the environment will be protected.
3. Florida law, as it is written, is the greatest obstical to Hometown Democracy. If a landowners request for rezoning is refused it is viewed as a taking. F.S.187.201 State Comprehensive Plan 15) (b) 2 . Not only do we have to purchase the land, we must pay for what the land would be worth if it were developed costing millions of dollars more than its actual value. This will be the leading argument of opponents of the Hometown Democracy Amendment.