The Miami Herald
Thu, Mar. 25, 2010

Suddenly, a new strip mall turns up two blocks away from your home. What about public notices? Permit hearings? Not needed any more if the Florida Senate gets its way.

Supposedly, Florida lawmakers were going to refrain from their habitual attempts to gut growth-management laws this year to appease sprawl-averse voters and ensure reelection in November. Legislators want to avoid stirring up support for the Hometown Democracy ballot question, which would give voters control over local land-use decisions.

 

But their bad old habits overcame political prudence with SB 1752, a jobs bill with unrelated provisions to water down permitting rules to the immense benefit of developers and huge expense of local communities. After just a single committee hearing, this travesty is slated for a vote by the Senate Thursday.

It deserves a swift kick into oblivion.

But if senators pass the bill, supporters of the Hometown Democracy constitutional amendment might thank them, as it could unintentionally boost their cause. Lawmakers and builders oppose Hometown Democracy, saying it will require costly referendums on every development proposal.

Yet legislators' newest blatant give-away to developers would feed directly into Floridians' growing antipathy toward unbridled subdivisions that don't pay for themselves. Among the proposals:

• Any project up to 40 acres could be built without any local or state environmental permits. Builders wouldn't even have to notify the state Department of Environmental Protection or the water management districts until after breaking ground. Sounds like the Wild West when there were no building rules.
• Builders could proceed with developments if they ``self certify'' that they are in compliance with all applicable regulations, or if a ``professional'' signs off on a project plan. Call it the ``just trust us'' approach to growth management.
• The DEP and water management districts would be required to review every permit application within 30 days -- any application not considered within that time would be automatically granted.

Applications can be hundreds of pages, requiring scientific review and environmental and traffic studies. With DEP's staff shrinking because of the state budget deficit, this amounts to open permitting season for developers.

It would also be a lawyers' bonanza as automatically approved permits would be contested in court for years.

In 2009, the Legislature gave developers the green light to build without having to pay for the roads their projects generate. The excuse was it would jump-start the stagnant construction industry. It didn't. Instead, local governments sued, charging that it's an unfunded mandate by passing on new construction's road costs to current residents.
SB 1752 is also being touted as a way to foster construction jobs. It won't. Only a recovering economy that prompts banks to start lending again will do that.

But passage could tip the scales in favor of Hometown Democracy, not quite what the bill's supporters have in mind.