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Orlando Sentinel, January 25, 2009

Way we adjust land use for growth doesn't need fixing

By Lowrie Brown

Lauren Ritchie's column on Wednesday was, once again, lacking balanced information that would provide her readers with the information necessary to make an informed decision about an issue.

The proposed "Hometown Democracy Amendment" is a simplistic concept that would have a detrimental effect on the economic future of Florida.

The alternative amendment being proposed by Floridians for Smarter Growth is not much better. However, it is a compromise position that would limit voter participation in land-use decisions to only those in which a large number of voters have a strong opinion.

Comprehensive plans are documents created by the local planning agency of a given county or municipality. In some cases, the LPA is the county commission or the city council.

In other cases, the function of the LPA is delegated to a committee of residents with the final authority being retained by the commission or council. In both cases, the process of developing a comprehensive plan is quite complex and subject to a great deal of political influence.

Therefore, there are many opportunities for mistakes and inequities as well as decisions based on incomplete information. Many times, the political climate at the time of implementation takes precedence over economics and private-property rights and the comp plan may reflect that climate.

As a result, there are thousands of reasonable changes made to comp plans each year throughout Florida. The majority of those changes are intended to deal with correcting errors or to update policies to make them relevant to the current economic and political environment.

I cannot imagine the cost to the taxpayer of requiring a referendum every time an update of a policy or a correction is needed.

Yes, there are also changes made to the future land-use maps to accommodate requests by landowners to conform the map to the landowner's proposed development. However, there are safeguards in place to allow for public input in those decisions.

First, the local planning agency must sign off on the proposed change at a public hearing. Then it goes to the county or city commission for discussion at a public hearing. If the proposed change makes it to this point, it then goes to the state Department of Community Affairs for another hearing. Assuming DCA signs off on the change, it is then returned to the city or county commission for a final public hearing.

This process can take up to two years at a great deal of expense to complete. There are four opportunities for the public to express opinions. Is it necessary to add additional complication and expense to the process?

The "red-herring tactic" to which Ms. Ritchie alludes is a proposal by the business community to suggest a compromise position. Proponents of "Hometown Democracy," as well as those who desire to use the comp plan as a tool to limit growth, are proposing an amendment to make it virtually impossible to make necessary changes to comp plans to accommodate the growth that is bound to occur.

The proposal by Floridians for Smarter Growth, by requiring a petition reflecting the wishes of 10 percent of the voters, would assure that only those comp-plan changes that are of significant concern to the public be subject to an expensive and time-consuming referendum process.

Ms. Ritchie's contention that the alternative amendment "discriminates against active-duty military people, the disabled and those of us with real jobs that require us be at to work during business hours" is flagrantly misleading. There are numerous methods to participate in a petition drive other than requiring voters to "get into their cars and drive to the supervisor of elections in person." To the business community, it is "Hometown Democracy" that is the "red-herring tactic." There are many sides to every issue. I look forward to the day the Sentinel hires a columnist who provides fair and balanced coverage.

I plan to vote against both proposed amendments. Neither is necessary to assure that future land-use changes only occur with community input.

I hope the alternative amendment by Floridians for Smarter Growth fails.

I pray "Hometown Democracy" is soundly defeated.




Lowrie Brown lives near Groveland.