(return to media page)Charlotte Sun Herald, January 25, 2008
Contested ballot initiative seeks to control growth BY Neil Hughes
While voters will decide on Amendment 1 this Tuesday, another possible ballot initiative on the horizon has already begun to make waves.
Florida Hometown Democracy would put development management in the hands of citizens. The proposed constitutional amendment aims to require voter approval for all land-use revisions to a municipality's comprehensive plan, a document that serves as a blueprint for development.
Imagine going to the polls to vote on dozens of proposed developments, neighborhoods and more every year. It's democracy in its truest form, and what the proposed amendment aims to achieve.
If the group can collect enough signatures by the Jan. 30 deadline, Florida voters will decide on Hometown Democracy in this fall's presidential election.
Many across Florida feel Hometown Democracy would stifle growth and development, but organization founder and chairwoman Leslie Blackner says it would place control in the hands of the people.
"Growth really hasn't been accountable to the people that actually live in the community. It's not serving the residents the way it has been promised," Blackner said. "The way we've grown in Florida has been very destructive. Right now the current system is just not really accountable to the people who live in the community, because all it takes is three votes out of five, and boom, the landscape is changed forever."
Blackner is currently collecting signatures in hopes of meeting the 611,009 petitions required by the Jan. 30 deadline. Numbers from the Florida Division of Elections show the group about 100,000 verified signatures short as of Jan. 10.
Opposition to Hometown Democracy is strong. Both 1000 Friends of Florida, a community planning activist group, and Floridians for Smarter Growth are leading the charge against the proposal. They fear the amendment could severely damage Florida's economy.
Floridians for Smarter Growth is a political action committee created last summer with the exclusive purpose of defeating Hometown Democracy. Numerous local governments, associations and chambers of commerce have supported the group, including the cities of Fort Myers and Bonita Springs.
Michael Caputo, executive director of Floridians for Smarter Growth, cited the example of Orange City, Fla., which had to pass 478 comprehensive plan amendments to build a new hospital, hospice, cancer unit and other medical-related facilities. With Hometown Democracy, he said, voters would need to approve all of those required amendments.
"Citizens would have had to vote 478 amendments in," Caputo said. "478 votes in one year."
But Blackner of Hometown Democracy cited a 1999 study that said more than 100 million development units had been designated in Florida. That means that if all of Florida's density were to be fully realized, there would be more than 100 million homes in the state of Florida. For comparison, there are 300 million people (not homes) in the entire United States.
In Blackner's eyes, that large number of potential homes is evidence that Florida's local governments and developers have not worked in the best interest of the people.
"They overbuilt and they crashed the economy, so for them to complain is ridiculous," Blackner said. "They realize that probably a lot of growth has been approved by commissions that the public really didn't want."
The cost of 'Democracy'
Caputo, of Floridians for Smarter Growth, said Florida had more than 10,000 individual comprehensive plan amendments in the last year.
"If you were going to have a year like we had last year with 10,000 (separate) votes, printing costs alone would have been a billion dollars," Caputo said.
But realistically, all of the comprehensive plan amendments in a one-year period would likely be lumped onto one bill. At least, that's the best hypothetical guess Charlotte County's Growth Management director, Jeff Ruggieri, could offer.
He said in an average year, Charlotte County has 50 to 70 comprehensive plan land use amendments that are submitted to the Florida Department of Community Affairs for approval. Hometown Democracy would make all of those require public approval.
In North Port, about 10 to 12 land-use comprehensive plan amendments are made every year, according to senior planner Brett Harrington.
Supporters of Hometown Democracy believe its passage would lead to fewer comprehensive plan amendments.
Coordinating major projects for an election could be a hassle for North Port's permitting department if Hometown Democracy were to pass, Harrington said.
"It will be a planner's nightmare, for sure, if it passes," he said.
As for the proposal's election-related requirements, Charlotte County Supervisor of Elections Mac Horton said he'd expect such a vote to cost $150,000 to facilitate.
That cost is the main issue Jim Sanders, president of the Charlotte DeSoto Building Industry Association, has with Hometown Democracy.
"Somebody's going to pay for that, and it's going to be the taxpayers," Sanders said.
Officials are elected for a reason, Sanders said, and deciding on development and growth is one of the jobs voters trust them to do. If voters are unhappy, there are ways for them to let their government representatives know, even when they're not up for election.
"There's a process for this right now, public hearings are held when someone has a need for a change in land use," Sanders said. "It's a democratic process now as far as I'm concerned."
Seeking signatures
With less than week to go, the push is on for Hometown Democracy to get its last 100,000 signatures.
In Charlotte County, Arleen Abram has been working for weeks in front of the Murdock Administration Center, asking those coming and going to sign the petition.
Hometown Democracy recently upped her pay-per-signature to $1.50, Abram said.
Even if the group can't reach its goal by Jan. 30, the signatures are valid for four years, giving plenty of time to put the constitutional amendment on the ballot in 2010.
Caputo said Floridians for Smarter Growth plans to stay in stride with Hometown Democracy. His group has begun collecting its own signatures for an alternative plan that would bring major developments to a vote if 10 percent of a municipality's population signed a petition.
"You'll vote maybe two or three times, because according to our amendment, only two or three major problematic issues would make the ballot in a year," Caputo said.
As of Jan. 10, Floridians for Smarter Growth only had 120,034 verified signatures.
Sanders said he believes those who have signed petitions for Hometown Democracy may not understand what they supported.
"They were just approached by someone and said 'Hey, would you like to have more control in what goes on in government?' or something," Sanders said. "And I think when it's put to you that way, who wouldn't say yes?"
He encouraged those who think they have mistakenly signed the petition to contact the Florida Department of Elections and have their signature invalidated.
But Blackner, with Hometown Democracy, believes most Floridians are tired of what they see as growth mismanagement. She feels the ballot initiative is the only way to solve the problem.
"Land use is politics," she said. "If it wasn't politics, these votes wouldn't be made by your city or county commission."
Dueling petitions
Supporters and opponents of Hometown Democracy are both seeking signatures for their respective petitions. For information on the initial proposal, visit floridahometowndemocracy.com. For the opposition amendment, visit flsmartergrowth.org.