Urban Environment League » Growth Management

Overhaul of Growth Management Rules

Tony Garcia — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 14:11:00 +0000

The Republican-controlled Florida House handed business interests and Gov. Rick Scott a victory Thursday by passing legislation that would lift most state controls over urban sprawl, leaving it up to local governments to deal with that issue.

And:

“We are taking a step back,” acknowledged Rep. Chris Dorworth, R-Lake Mary. “We are saying that we trust the local governments to make those decisions.”

House Democratic Leader Ron Saunders of Key West said that trust is misplaced. He cited bribery charges recently filed against local officials in South Florida in connection with development decisions.

“This is not a job creation bill except for one group and that’s criminal defense attorneys,” Saunders said.

A call to Action by the UEL Board of Directors!

Tony Garcia — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 05:34:00 +0000

Florida is a treasure which we have the privilege of enjoying with the responsibility to preserve and enhance that treasure for future generations. – Former Senator Bob Graham

AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM YOUR UEL BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

To All Those Interested in Fair Growth and Good Planning in Greater Miami:

The Urban Environment League calls on you to speak out against fast track legislation that will significantly harm the built and natural environment of South Florida. We are facing a major crisis brought on by Governor Rick Scott and the state legislature.

Is Florida prepared for more uncontrolled development? Governor Rick Scott thinks so. He’s working to destroy the growth management laws and gut the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) to appease to the interest of developers. The public’s interest is being lost and we will pay a high price in years to come. Most of the public does not adequately appreciate the complex nature of the issues involved but hopefully you can help persuade legislators that thousands of voters do care very much.

Under the leadership of Governors Reubin Askew and Bob Graham, Florida was at the forefront of states in creating the Growth Management Act of 1985 – mandating state oversight of local development so that more rational planning could assure fair funding of public infrastructure, calling for contributions by developers. Do we really want to gut this legislation in favor of paying for new development when we have such a glut of unsold properties from the past housing crisis?

What’s at stake for South Florida?

- Our fragile Everglades ecosystem faces new and unplanned for encroachment!

- Our municipal services, already struggling, would be incredibly strained by this legislation.

- Our existing infrastructure and transportation systems need to be upgraded before we can pay for more development & growth! Where would any authority effectively oversee that?

Governor Scott is proposing that the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) be drastically reduced in size and its authority to regulate development emasculated. The citizens, in the past, have been able to call on the DCA for help with issues like enforcing the UDB line rules and requiring water dependent uses for riverside properties. This will end.

The DCA has been instrumental in maintaining the urban boundary line (UDB) in Miami-Dade County as well as other counties that face the threat of decentralized sprawl. That could become history.

The Urban Environment League is in favor of well planned development, infill and encourgaing development around transportation corridors but knows all to well that some politically connected developers in Miami-Dade County can and will easily distort community needs in favor of their narrow interests. Without the oversight of the DCA, uncontrolled growth will prevail.

Now is the time to advocate and fight for smart growth planning in South Florida and throughout our state!

Join the UEL and other groups like Tropical Audubon Society in demanding that growth management laws remain intact and that the DCA remain as a vital government entity, fully funded and fully staffed.

There are a number of ACTION STEPS you can take:

1. Commit to writing a letter to the editor of your newspaper.
2. Send an email to your State Representative or State Senator in support of growth management.
3. Also call their office.
4. Post your concerns and share articles about this issue on Facebook, asking your friends to write emails and make calls to their legislators!

Please contact the UEL with any questions or requests for assistance at uelinfo@bellsouth.net

Florida really needs your support at this critical time!

Thank you,

UEL Board of Directors

Bob Graham – The Sad State of our State

Tony Garcia — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 14:55:00 +0000

Bob Graham column: The sad state of our state (reprinted from the St. Pete Times)

Bob Graham, the former Florida governor who also served in the U.S. Senate, wrote a column for the St. Petersburg Times.

As the Legislature enters its second half, there has emerged a disturbing pattern of ignoring many of Florida’s core values. Over the last half-century these values have given Florida government — whether in Republican or Democratic hands — a stability and predictability that is now threatened.

What are some of those at-risk values?

Florida is a treasure which we have the privilege of enjoying with the responsibility to preserve and enhance that treasure for future generations.

For most of Florida’s history, up until the mid 1960s, our state was treated like a commodity. If you didn’t like it you changed it: land into water; water into land. The business of the state was business, and our enormous natural resources were just another input. The quality and safety of our coasts, fresh waters, open lands and the Everglades were regularly and enthusiastically sacrificed on the altar of growth.

Riding over the horizon were two merging armies. Emerging Democratic leaders, such as Reubin Askew of Pensacola and Lawton Chiles of Lakeland, who were in the vanguard of the recently reapportioned Legislature, joined forces with young Republicans like Nathaniel Reed of Hobe Sound and Warren Henderson of Sarasota, who were appalled at the change they had seen in their newly adopted state.

These armies had a common mission: to reverse the damage commoditization had done to Florida and replace it with a culture of conservation and intergenerational responsibility.

Read the entire column here.

Save Growth Management in FL Now! By Laura Reynolds

Tony Garcia — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 14:23:00 +0000

Call today – April 7, 2011

Dear Smart Growth/Conservation Advocate:
As you know, Florida’s growth management process is in for the fight of its life. We firmly believe that the only thing that can make a difference this 2011 session is a major public outcry over efforts to dismantle growth management in Florida. The Tropical Audubon Society is reaching out to smart growth and conservation organizations across the state and asking for help. Click here for action steps at a glance.

We are asking our friends to commit to undertake a number of actions to help save growth management:

1.    Commit to arrange for at least five letters to the editor to your local paper in support of growth management.In partnership with the state’s leading conservation groups we are planning a press conference for Wednesday, April 6. We hope you will ask some of your members to write letters to the editor supporting growth management over the week following April 6. These letters do not need to be loaded with facts, but rather “from the heart” pieces that talk about how important it is to manage growth to protect our quality of life, drinking water, and citizen rights to participate in planning.

2.   Send out an email blast to your members asking them to call their Representative and Senator in support of growth management. We will send you an email alert that you can forward to your members, or we can assist you with crafting a message of your own. If you have other groups in your email system, please ask them to forward the message to their members as well. We need all the calls we can get.

3.   If you are on Facebook, share the message with your Facebook friends, asking them to call their legislators. Also, please “like” The Tropical Audubon Society on Facebook and we will keep you posted on a regular basis.

4.   If you’re not on Facebook, consider signing up for The Tropical Audubon Society’s email alerts. You can sign up at www.tropicalaudubon.org.

5.   Consider writing an op ed for your local paper on behalf of growth management. Specific examples about how growth management and citizen participation have made a difference in your community would be best.Conclude your piece by asking readers to contact their State Representative and Senator to oppose damaging proposals and support effective growth management. Again, we can provide assistance with developing op eds if you wish.

Please contact the Tropical Audubon Society Executive Director Laura Reynolds at director@tropicalaudubon.org with any questions or requests for assistance.

We really need your support at this critical time. If you have suggestions on other steps we can take in support of growth management, we hope you will share them with us.

Tampa Tribune Editorial: Growth Management and the Florida Legislature

Tony Garcia — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:00:00 +0000

An awful lot of development’

Tony Garcia — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:33:00 +0000

The vision of the UEL for Miami-Dade County begins with:

“A safe, clean, vibrant, sustainable community guided by the public’s interest and governed by a Master Plan…”

Editorial for the Miami Herald:

GROWTH LAWS GET A BREAK

In a rare mood of candor, legislative leaders have admitted that they’re forgoing their usual assaults on Florida’s growth management laws this session because it’s an election year. They’re worried that voters will retaliate against how they’ve managed growth (badly).

Yet knowing that the majority of Florida’s residents hate sprawl and support sound growth management principles never stops them from weakening these laws in off-election years.

Consider 2009: The Legislature approved a bill that lets developers off the hook for paying for roads for new subdivisions. Lawmakers used the recession as an excuse, arguing that it would jump-start construction.

It was a false premise then, and it still is. Construction is at a standstill. In the midst of the foreclosure crisis the state has more vacant housing stock than ever.

Lawmakers are also worried about a 2010 ballot question — called Hometown Democracy — that would let voters decide land-use decisions. They’re being careful not to bad-mouth it, fearing voter backlash.

Remember this cynical double-dealing come November. Legislators deserve a reckoning for their reckless pursuit of paving over more and more of Florida.
The Miami Herald

There is no stopping committed citizens!

Tony Garcia — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 08:21:00 +0000

This is a news report from the St. Pete Times of two women who persevered and used the system to their advantage. It shows that citizens in Florida can make a difference! Their efforts stopped an 800 home development in Marion County and yesterday Governor Crist and the Florida Cabinet agreed with the women: There was no need for the development in Marion County.

Can we get some good news?

Tony Garcia — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:23:00 +0000

News has been grim in the dog days of Summer: We have to fight with lawsuits to protect our quality of life in South Florida as our elected officials are not doing it for us. It was recently announced that Lowe’s is going to appeal an Administrative Hearing decision, which would not allow them, through our County Commissioners, to move the Urban Development Boundary for a store. There is also the lawsuit that has been filed by Weston to challenge SB 360. 360 is now a law put in place by our State elected officials. We recently found out that County Manager George Burgess was not accurate in his assessment of the cost of the Marlin’s Stadium deal. Outside sources confirmed it would cost at least $2.4 Billion, at a time when our community is scrambling for funds. Governor Crist has given the power to control Florida’s greatest commodity “water” to 5 individuals, removing 5 water management District Boards and public comment from the process.

News for our pocketbook is also grim. The newly elected Miami Dade Property Appraiser has revealed that almost every city has seen more than a 5% property value decline which translates to less revenues. The County decline is at about -10%. The unemployment in Miami Dade is at about 9.6%. Citizen Insurance premiums are set to sky-rocket according to reports in today’s Herald and FP&L is having hearings to increase rates. Mortgage’s low introductory interest rates are resetting for thousands. The middle class is getting squeezed from every direction.

Citizens are feeling more and more powerless in South Florida. What are our next steps to turn things around? Any of you have any ideas?

Who is this Meeting Really For?

Tony Garcia — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 03:03:00 +0000

Representative Erik Fresen (R-Miami) will be hosting a forum regarding Florida’s new growth management laws. Representatives from the development industry -including the Builders Association of South Florida (BASF) and the Latin Builders Association (LBA) – as well as those from local governments will be in attendance.

The forum will take place on Wednesday, July 8th at 6:00 pm in the City of Coral Gables Youth Center (402 UniversityDrive, Coral Gables, Florida).

“I felt it was important to create a forum whereby the development industry, local governments and citizens could discuss what this legislation actually does and how it affects current growth management practices. It’s important for everyone to be on the same page”
Fresen said.

Fresen was a lobbyist before being elected and was working for applicants that wanted to move the UDB line.