When reading the full text of Amendment 4 on the upcoming Florida ballot, I must conclude it will make unincorporated "towns" vulnerable to being out-voted by others in the county electorate, in referendums on comprehensive master plan changes. De facto towns like Melrose, Orange Heights, Earleton, Windsor, Citra, Evinston, and other vast areas outside the city limits of municipalities Gainesville, Micanopy, Archer, Newberry, Alachua, Hawthorne, and Waldo, will be outvoted in such referendums by others in the county. It betrays the well-intentioned goals of the Hometown Democracy movement.
This is because any municipal area's plan overrides the power of a county's comprehensive plan. The county's plan only pertains to areas outside town or city limits. Don't be fooled by those green towns saying "Melrose" or "Evinston"; those are not incorporated municipalities.
That means people not affected by a planning change can decide if you will have a mega-development or giant strip mall in your unincorporated town. The marketing machine of developers and "pro-jobs" advocates can be irresistible. And other rural residents may vote defensively for a development on the other side of the county, hoping it won't come to their town if it's rejected.
Unlike most of Florida, Alachua County has had a vigilant county commission and very active environmental community (almost to a fault). But that has helped keep housing prices steady and the economy even keel most of the time. We don't need Amendment 4 here, as things are much better than in the rest of overbuilt Florida. The active land preservation along with state and county parks surrounding Gainesville creates a buffer and limits buildable land, which keeps supply low and prices higher than say, in Marion County.
Amendment 4 may be sorely needed in Florida's 63 other counties. But if you live in Alachua County, you should vote No on 4. Let's hope others in the state do, too. Or something we got good here could change for the worse.
J.D. Knee,
Gainesville
