Petition seeks to give voters say in land use

Proponents claim plans favor growth

By PAMELA SMITH HAYFORD, phayford@news-press.com

See the petition Read Florida Hometown Democracy Inc.’s petition and learn more about the group

Voters soon could determine whether developers can increase density or build a hotel higher than regulations allow if a petition circulating in Florida succeeds.

Two environmental lawyers are trying to get the Florida Constitution amended to put comprehensive land-use plan changes on the ballot instead of in the hands of city councils and county commissioners.

If the two get some 500,000 signatures, the measure could be on the ballot in 2004.

Ross Burnaman of Tallahassee and Lesley Blackner of Palm Beach say comprehensive plans — a city or county’s blueprint for growth and development required by law — are changed too often, and too often in favor of developers.

The two have formed a political action committee called Florida Hometown Democracy Inc.

“Rather than the plans guiding development, development is guiding the planning effort," said Burnaman, who worked for the Florida Department of Community Affairs, the agency that oversees comprehensive land use plans in the state.

Blackner came across the idea in her research after getting complaint after complaint from people who said their elected officials were not listening to them.

“I’ve had people calling me for years,” Blackner said.

The case law supports putting land use decisions under direct voter control, Blackner said, citing case after case.

The amendment is neither anti-growth nor anti-environment, she said.

“It’s just saying that land use decisions are one of the most important decisions to be made, and the people’s will needs to be factored into that,” Blackner said.

Southwest Florida is a prime example of growth gone wild, she said. “I know you all are growing like crazy without any thought to what the future is going to be like,” Blackner said. “You’re going to end up like southeast Florida. You’re making all the mistakes that southeast Florida made.”

The reaction here has been mixed, though.

“I think it might be an idea that has some promise,” said Matt Bixler, environment policy specialist for The Conservancy of Southwest Florida. “I think, for the most part, our county commissioners are doing a good job … but I don’t think it’s ever a bad thing to have more public voice in the process.”

Land use planner Greg Stuart of Stuart and Associates Inc. said the sheer complexity of land use issues would end up with nearly all changes denied, good or bad.

“People don’t understand the complexities,” Stuart said.

That’s also the concern of Rob Andrys, an environmentalist and president of ALVA Inc., a grass-roots group that tried to get an amendment to keep the community rural.

“I could definitely say that because of everyone’s hectic life, there’s no way they’re going to understand the complexities of the issues,” Andrys said.

Andrys said he believes that’s why ALVA Inc.’s amendment failed — it was a matter of which side did the better public relations job, an expensive endeavor.

“How do you inform all these people? I mean the expense that ALVA had just mailing out postcards was over $1,200,” Andrys said. “So the money you’re talking about is crazy getting everyone informed.”

Blackner and Burnaman said they have more faith in voters.

“We’re hopeful,” Burnaman said. “They’re trusted to amend the constitution.”

Richard Grosso, executive director and general counsel of the Environmental and Land Use Law Center at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, said he thinks the solution proposed by Blackner and Burnaman makes sense and could be workable.

“People have been getting fed up by the lack of backbone at the local and state level,” when it comes to growth management, Grosso said. “The Legislature hasn’t been doing its job.”

Alia Faraj, Gov. Jeb Bush’s press secretary, said the state already has a mechanism in place to manage growth. The state’s growth management act allows local and county governments to amend their plans with input from the community. Those plans then are reviewed by the Florida Department of Community Affairs to ensure they follow state law.

“Growth management plans are living documents and are usually a vision of the community, and those plans are constantly changing,” Faraj said.

Current law allows counties to amend their plans twice a year.

Under the proposed amendment, all those rules would remain the same — public hearings, state review — only the vote will move from elected officials to voters.

“We’re not proposing to change either the election law or the growth management law,” Burnaman said. "All the existing processes would continue to work."

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.