2010 referendum growth management plan

TALLAHASSEE - Leaders of the Florida Hometown Democracy campaign think they have collected enough petition signatures to qualify their growth-management proposal for the 2010 ballot.

The initiative seeks to give voters more say over development by requiring voter approval of all changes to local comprehensive land-use plans. President Lesley Blackner said she thinks her group has submitted the number of petitions required from 13 congressional districts to make the statewide 2010 ballot.

"Mismanaged growth destroys communities," Blackner said.

Developers, the Florida Chamber of Commerce and other industry groups have strongly opposed the plan, arguing it would disrupt an approval process that works and burden voters with a dizzying number of local referendums.

Adding a question to the 2010 ballot requires at least 676,811 verified signatures. Those votes must spread across 13 of the state's congressional districts, meeting thresholds in each.

A counter-campaign, the business-backed Floridians for Smarter Growth, has gathered 443,510 signatures to add its proposal to the ballot. The group's plan would require voter approval of changes to local land-use plans only if 10 percent of local voters sign a petition calling for the referendum.

Mark Wilson, president of the Florida Chamber of Commerce and treasurer of Floridians for Smarter Growth, says in an e-mail that the Hometown Democracy initiative "could mean a permanent recession for Florida's economy."