Originally Published: 30 September 2007
The Palm Beach Post
Thanks to Tom Pelham, Florida's top growth cop, for finally admitting the truth: There is no growth management in Florida.
Back in 1985, the state passed the Florida Growth Management Act to control growth that already was running rampant. The law mandated the creation of comprehensive plans to control growth and ensure that our quality of life isn't bulldozed. It was a nice idea, but it failed. Twenty years later, we live with the consequences of endless, insane overdevelopment: We are forbidden to water our yards; nonetheless, another round of 15-story condos or 2,000 houses is rubber-stamped.
The reason for failure is simple. Comprehensive plans were supposed to be a 20-year vision for a community. They were not to be easily changed. Today, the plans don't mean anything because our elected officials hand out plan changes like candy at Halloween.
Land Use 101:
Lesson 1: Plan changes are political decisions. They are not mandated by law. That's why they are voted on by our elected officials, not the planning staff.
Lesson 2: Nobody is entitled to a plan change in the first place. When you buy your land, you are presumed to know what the land-use regulations are. If you ask for a plan change and you don't get it, too bad. You can still use your property in accordance with what the plan allows.
Lesson 3: When a city or county commission is voting on a proposed plan change, our elected officials are presumed to be standing in our shoes, voting on our behalf. That is why we have public hearings. How can our commissioners know what we think about a proposed plan change unless they hear from us?
Lesson 4: The law is clear that a plan change should not be approved unless the commission makes a determination that the proposed plan change would benefit the community, or at a minimum, not harm it.
You already know the system failed in Palm Beach County. Too many of our commissioners are for sale. We have the outright bribing of former County Commissioners Tony Masilotti and Warren Newell. But there are more subtle forms of corruption as well: the job for the family member; the donation to the pet not-for-profit. The Masilotti and Newell stories are just the tip of a big old iceberg.
That's why we need Florida Hometown Democracy, which will give you the right to vote on plan changes approved by your commission. If we collect 611,000 petitions by the end of this year, this proposed constitutional amendment will be on the 2008 ballot.
Probably for the first time in Florida's history, developers are hysterical. A group called Save Our Constitution, backed by big developers, is lying to folks to get them to revoke their petitions. Incredibly, the group is saying that Hometown Democracy is run by developers and will give land-use power to evil "electors." Get a dictionary: An elector is a voter.
Another developer group, Floridians for Smarter Growth, is running its own petition that pretends to give voters land-use power. But the devil is in the details. Their petition requires folks who want a referendum to get 10 percent of the electorate to go down to the supervisor of elections and show all kinds of ID to sign a petition. All this within 30 days. Plus, their amendment says it will kill Hometown Democracy in the event both initiatives get to the ballot.
Voters beware: Florida is awash in desperate developers who will say anything to preserve the status quo of government "of the developer, by the developer and for the developer."
As for Mr. Pelham, he has the guts to admit that the system is broken, but he thinks Hometown Democracy is too extreme. He doesn't want to burden us with voting on lots of plan changes.
Truth is, once Hometown Democracy is on the books, you won't see so many requests for plan changes. Developers will learn to live with the plans, like they were supposed to do in the first place. Plan changes that benefit the broad public interest will no doubt get voter approval.
Mr. Pelham asks us whether we really want to vote on a "small" plan change. It might be little to him, but it might not be to the community. Moreover, experience shows that "small" plan changes often begin the unraveling that then morphs the countryside into gated communities.
Florida Hometown Democracy is a reform whose time has come. It's the only way to stop the corruption and save what's left. Do your share now and get this on the ballot.
Sign the petition and get everyone you know to sign. Send donations. Go to www.floridahometowndemocracy.com or call toll free at (866) 779-5513. We have only this short time to make history and put the people back in charge of the places where they live.
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