Anti-Growth Proposal Raising Concerns in Florida
Concerns are growing in Florida over a petition drive that would put on the state's Nov. 2, 2004 ballot a constitutional amendment requiring voter approval of changes to local growth plans.

The Florida Hometown Democracy at latest count had only collected about 5,500 signatures toward the roughly 500,000 it needs to submit its proposal to a statewide vote. However, the Sierra Club recently weighed into the debate, indicating that it is mobilizing its 30,000 members in the state to support the amendment.

If passed, the amendment would stop growth and undermine the economic vitality of the state by derailing the residential real estate and construction industries, said Denise Wallace, president of the Northeast Florida Builders Association (NEFBA).

“These industries are the bread and butter of our economy and have helped keep our state afloat during the recent economic downturn,” said Wallace.

Based on NAHB analysis of the local economic impact of home building, Wallace said that the 10,600 single-family permits issued last year in the Jacksonville area represented the creation of 26,000 full-time jobs, $841 million in wages and $450 million in combined federal, state and local revenues and fees.

“That's not including the economic benefits from commercial, heavy industrial and multifamily construction and other segments of the economy that benefit indirectly from the industry,” she said.

The amendment “is just a move under the guise of causing no more growth in the state of Florida,” said Michael Reitmann, executive director of the Lee Building Industry Association.

Industry leaders across the state are stressing that members of the public currently have the right and several opportunities to be heard in the land-use process.

A July 30 editorial in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel said that there would be several negative repercussions if the amendment became law. Among them:

• Voters would have a difficult time of making sense of changes to land-use plans. “Last Year, Broward County and city land-use plans were amended 40 times,” the newspaper said, “and Palm Beach County and city plans were amended 1,500 times, often for minor, technical, housekeeping reasons.”
• “Land-use amendments are dozens of pages long, highly technical in nature, confusing even for experts and wholly unsuitable for a referendum,” according to the editorial.
• “Reformers wrongly assume that amendments inevitably weaken land-use plans. In reality, some amendments modernize, strengthen and upgrade outdated plans. Future growth in South Florida will focus on redevelopment of often-blighted urban core areas, requiring desirable ‘smart growth’ concepts not allowed in many land-sue plans,” says the Sun-Sentinel.
• Land-use decisions that now take a few months could be delayed for as long as two years, increasing development costs and resulting in higher housing and business costs.

NAHB staff members are currently working with builders in Florida to ensure that the no-growth proposal is defeated.

This story is based on reports by Michael Bonts, communications director for the Northeast Florida Builders Association.

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