The Truth About Amendment 4
I was asked to speak to the Greater Pine Island Civic Association at their Oct. 5 meeting on my reasons for supporting Amendment 4, the “Florida Hometown Democracy” ballot initiative that, if passed, would give voters the chance to agree with or to veto votes taken by the local officials to alter their Comprehensive Plans. In our case, that would mean that whatever Lee County Commissioners decided as far as changes to the Lee Plan, we voters would get the final say at the next regularly scheduled county election.
There has been much misinformation about Amendment 4, most of it coming from the opposition which includes the Florida Association of Realtors, big building corporations, developers, land speculators and others. The best thing for a voter to do is to visit the web sites of each side, read the facts, and make your own decision. You can get to the backers’ web site by simply Googling the words “florida hometown democracy” without the quotation marks. The first hit you get will be their web site. Be sure to click on “Supporters” to see who is backing a Yes vote on 4.
Surprisingly, however, some of the opposition comes from people whom you would think would be for the amendment. After I had finished my presentation at the GPICA meeting last week, the individual who was to take the No position on 4, never bothered to rise from his seat. He dismissed the proposal out of hand, claiming that “it’s a terrible law”, “there wouldn’t be any Pine Island Plan if this amendment passed”, “voters would be voting on hundreds of Plan amendments every year” and, finally, words to the effect that no one of any importance is supporting this amendment. He then promptly announced that the Commission candidate who was to speak had arrived and should be given the floor, which ended the discussion and left members with the mistaken impression that his position was correct. This individual’s position was that, if the amendment is passed, developers will have their way with us. However, the entire development community, The Florida Assn. of Realtors, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, land speculators and other groups are pouring money into stopping 4 because they think it will bring development to a halt. Supporters feel that a yes vote will stop changes to comp plans that continually ratchet up densities and encourage sprawl.
Supporters of 4 know it will curtail NEW development by giving the voters the power to do what the elected officials refuse to do. All the NO signs you see are on the properties of the growers on Pine island who know full well that the citizens of Florida now realize we are vastly overdeveloped. If all the approved development in the state were built tomorrow to their maximum allowed densities, there would be room for over a hundred million people, yet the projected population in 2020 is less than 21 million in the state. 4 would NOT stop building, it would mainly allow voters to put a stop to new bulldozing of Florida in absurd projects like Babcock Ranch. And, contrary to some who claim that there are “hundreds” of Plan amendments every year that you would be voting on, here are the actual figures from Mr. Paul O’Connor, head of Planning in Lee County:
In 2008 voters would have voted on 18 changes. Same in 2009. In 2010 there would be 9 to vote on, hardly the “hundreds” some claim. Visit floridahometowndemocracy.com. Read up on it, then, when you fill out your ballot, for your own good, and for the good of Florida, vote Yes on 4.
Dave Lukasek
Bokeelia