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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000 02 02 Regular Item B . . . CITY OF WI NTER SPRINGS,.FLORIDA 1126 EAST STATE ROAD 434 WINTER SPRINGS. FLORIDA 32708-2799 Telephone (407) 327-1800 Community Development Depl. Planning Division ll. B. PROPOSED STAFF PLANNING PROJECTS FOR TillS YEAR. STAFF REPORT: The Planning Division of the Community Development Department has recommended certain goals/projects be addressed during the course of this calendar year to the Director of the department. Staff wanted the Planning & Zoning Board/Local Planning Agency to be aware of the projects and priorities proposed for this year in the department. There are other projects that should be addressed but the projects mentioned below are the chief priorities. The City Commission and City Manager want to move forward on annexation. To this end the City Manager has received permission by the Commission to hire a consultant to study the technical/engineering aspects related to annexation, such as the feasibility and cost of extending sewer and water lines to potential annexation areas. In two rounds, the Planning Division has sent out letters of invitation to property owners in the county enclaves and the periphery of the City inviting them to consider annexation. We have received some responses which resulted in annexation. The Community Development Director will shortly review a previous draft of the proposed Land Development Regulations (LDRs) that were reviewed by the Planning & Zoning Board approximately three (3) years ago. Due to changes with the City Attorney Office, these proposed regulations did not receive a complete legal review. The Evaluation and Appraisal Report based comprehensive plan amendments need to be completed this year. Staff has been working on them. The above three projects are priorities for this year. . FOR YOUR INFORMATION . . ING , j",\ ~ Volume XI, No.9' ,,J i NovlDec 1999 NEWSLETTER OF THE FLORIDA CHAPTER OF THE AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION DCA Chief Calls For Growth Managelllent Reforllls Steve Seibert, Secretary of the Florida Department of Community Affairs, believes that the state's jOwth management policies and process are in need of significant change. In this article he shares his views with Florida Planning readers. Environmental protection. Good transportation. Affordable housing. Enough schools. Enough parks. In- tergovernmental coordination. For 15 years, these have been some of the goals of Florida's Growth Manage- ment Act. In many communities, the comprehensive plan has been a help- ful tool in creating a better quality of life. It at least forced local govern- ments to develop a plan meeting cer- tain standards and elevated'the discus- sion of how to accommodate growth. However, the same issues that led to the enactment of this law continue to burden us today. Overcrowded roads, inadequate water supplies, troubled downtowns and a reduction in the amount and quality of natural spaces are still facing one of the fast- est growing states in the nation. Our current system of growth manage- ment-its process and product-must change. It must change because it is too state- directed, too litigious, too lost in mi- nutiae, too "one size fits all." Despite the good intentions of the current law, it has generally not resulted in achievement of the goals and objec- tives set forth in the law itself. Com- prehensive plans often do not reflect a community's vision or priorities, The average citizen does not under- stand what growth management is all about and feels powerless to affect it. I propose a reform of growth man- agement and suggest the following principles to guide that reform. 1. Leave to the communities and lo- cal governments authority over those matters which are of purely local concern. A community can best develop its own vision and those closest to the people gov- ern best. The requirements of the current law control every detail of the lo- cal comprehensive plan without regard to local or regional differ- ences such as those, for example, existing between such diverse lo- calities as Sopchoppy and St. Pe- tersburg. The Department of Community Affairs receives and reviews over 12,000 amendments a year and finds only a fraction "not in compliance with the law." What are we truly accomplishing with all this review and process? The State's intrusion into local matters adds little value to the end product. It is unnecessary, dupli- cative, time-consuming and wasteful of taxpayer dollars. (col/til/lled on page 6) 2 NovJDcc. 1999 . Florida r Planning President's Message. I " ... ~... 1\\'~1!_'. '. \j~~iT,f-. "'\ ,,r,,,!\',\~'\. '<-r..;e"'.~'''. .\' .'.y''- .,,: . . f/~.!~:il. ~. . . '<'t1t(/ .. .'..>:.1'<'. ~...tr .~ By Marie L. York, AICP My role as President-Elect had three components. I was the chair of the Legislative Policy Cornmittee. I took on special assignments, such as the Initiatives Subcommittee. I observed - looking at the big picture, not paying much attention to the details. After all, there was a two-year timeframe in which to learn. Wrong! York Phillips took ajob in Georgia. resigned. and I was up to bat. Thanks to Marcia Elder, our Executive Director, who filled in the gaps, and to a group of supportive Executive Committee members, who never grimaced at my myriad questions, I survived presiding at the Conference. The Miami Beach conference was very successful for many reasons - mainly because close to 400 of you attended, Marty Hodgkins, the conference guru, handled a mountain of details and was constantly on call. Joe Bell organized the outstanding program presented by planners .and others of all backgrounds, who shared their expertise and experiences. The Awards Com- mittee, headed up by Pat Blackshear, delivered the goods with a set of sterling winners for FApA's traditional Awards of Merit and Excellence. The Gold Coast Section, headed up by Tom Mooney, did a superb job organizing for the event, including (among many other things) hosting multiple mobile workshops that drew high marks. It is the Host Committee that has the steep learning curve, as each year a new local team helps produce the Conference without the benefit of the previous year's experience. The Chapter office did a great job at promoting the event, planning, registration, managing the Expo and sponsors, and providing other support services, Thanks, too, to our 1999 Conference Committee and the many others who contrib- uted to this year's program. At the annual meeting on Saturday morning, the rnembership adopted our year 2000 Strategic Plan and budget, along with the Chapter's Legislative Platform and policy priorities for the new year. The Strategic Plan provides the backdrop for a set of specific action steps with assigned responsibilities to guide our efforts over the next twelve month term. For the Chapter office, as well as your volunteer board, it will lead to a work program of duties and priorities. It also will be used to organize, establish due dates, and measure results. The annual budget, which appears elsewhere in this issue, reflects revenues based upon infor- mation and expectations current at the time of its adoption. The by-laws allow the Executive Cornrnittee to shift funds among categories if needed, but spending may not exceed the bottom line without coming back to the full membership. Also, at the annual meeting there was a motion approved to create a subcommittee on dues and revenues structure. The intent is to evaluate the appropriate level of dues and investigate other revenue sources. I have asked David Van Horn to head up that subcommittee; their reconimen- dations are due by the annual retreat, usually held in June. If changes are recommended, they will be presented to the membership for your approval. Our policy Platform this year includes legislative issues for the 2000 Session plus the growth management review underway through the Department of Community Affairs. Legislative issues are prioritized so that our resources are well focused. The Platform is posted on the FAPA webpage at www.fIoridaplanning.org, or contact the Chapter office for a faxed copy. Volunteers interested in working on our issues are always welcome, so let the Chapter office know if you're available to help in the months ahead. Your participation this year could be more important than ever before. Yet another decision at the Conference was to seek your approval for establishing a new posi- tion on our state board, that of Vice President for Section Affairs. See the explanation on the enclosed ballot and please be sure to cast your vote. We have a busy year ahead, and I look forward to working with you in my new role as FAPA President. APA PRESIDENT SPEAKS TO FLORIDA PLANNERS Florida APA was honored and delighted to .ave the new President for National APA - oanne Garnett, AlCP - join Florida plan- ners as a plenary speaker at FAPA 's fall An- nual Conference. Excerptsfrom her remarks follow. What do I want to accomplish! Borrowing from Chuck Colton (and alter- ing it just a bit), he said: There is this differ- ence between happiness and wisdom: one who thinks herself the happiest woman re- ally is so, but one who thinks herself the wis- est is generally the greatest fool. I take the approach that I'll be happy, and have enough wisdom to know that I can't do things alone. So any thing I hope to accomplish will be done in association with a committed, hard- working group of folks that are serving on the APA Board, AICP Commission, Chap- ter Presidents Council, Divisions Council, and Student Representatives Council. I'm equally lucky and glad to be working with quality staff from our Chicago and DC of- fices. . see us combining energy to do what we can to accomplish as much as possible on behalf of the group that matters most: our members. We just adopted a new Organi- zational Development Plan (ODP) for the coming 4 years - now we'll be able to imple- ment the strategies contained in that plan. And I like implementation, even more than setting policy. That's my bias! (By the way, the ODP is on the APA website. Check it out.) So what do I hope to accomplish? My par- ticular focus is in the areas of public rela- tions, chapter services. and outreach. Raise your hand: Have you ever been out somewhere, asked what you do for a living, and when you say you're a planner, have one of these happen: I. You get a blank look, followed by the word "Whatever..," The person says, "Lucky YOU" and breaks into sarcastic laughter And worst of all, the person asks, "So what do you plant?" 2. .. I am committed to raising awareness that there is indeed such a thing as PLANNING PRACTICE: we do valuable work, and we should be proud of the role we play within our communities and regions, and on behalf of our clients and customers. I want APA to gain the stature it deserves, to the point where it becomes the first associa- tion contacted by reporters or policy-mak- ers when they're looking for guidance about planning issues and quotable quotes, and I want to see APA cited for those quotes. We're taking steps in that direction, and I plan to keep the ball rolling by expanding our public relations efforts to develop a pro- gram for getting our message out to non- members - probably the audience we most need to reach. We should be very proactive rather than reactionary when it comes to PR. A task force has been or~anized to work with our Public Relations staff to develop a pro- active program for getting the planning word out. My intent is to get out to as many chapters as possible to visit people about our services and what they need to better perform their jobs and roles. Please take a few minutes to let me know your thoughts while I'm at your conference. I want to hear them. I've created a chapter services task force for two reasons: to analyze the quality and de- livery of our services to identify where we can make improvements, and to figure out what technical assistance resources can best be provided through Chapters. Another task force will be focusing on our divisions. We'll be working with the Divi- sions Council to do what we can to strengthen the more weak divisions and get more uniform quality control across all the divisions. APA is about 30,000 strong. That's a nice number, but unfortunately we've been at that nice number for a while. It tells me we need to question why we aren't growing, I'm pro- posing that there be expanded efforts by the APA Membership Committee to find an- swers to that question, in order to use the results for recruitment strategies. Let's take the time to periodically find out not only what our members find useful and like about APA, but also what members and non-mem- bers identify as shortfalls. With that knowl- edge, we have nowhere to go but up: We can improve. My Personal Philosophy on bein~ a Plan- ner Consider this to be a string of random thoughts! There is a Zulu expression that goes some- thing like this: Some times the future won't come to you, and you must go fetch it. "We do valuable work, and we should be proud of the role we play within our communities and regions, and on behalf of our clients and customers." As planners, I like to think we are doing something to go "fetch the future." I be- lieve it's our responsibility, in fact, to do just that. If we aren't looking ahead, visioning, assessing, wondering, and looking toward the future, who will? But also, let's do it while having some FUN. I chose to be a planner. I didn't fall into it, didn't get the short end of a straw for jobs, didn't do it for the big bucks. I chose it. Why the heck did I do THAT?? From gradu- Marie York and Joanne Garnett. ate school on, I was intrigued with the idea of affecting change. Being a change agent! To have a role in promoting social equity. I liked the idea of working with like minded people (co-workers, citizens, elected offi- (continued on page 4) Florida t Planning. Nov./Dcc. 1999 3 (continuedfrom page 3) cials). It was appealing that planners typi- cally changed jobs frequently. I found that .althY and stimulating. So what did I find? Planners can be change agents, but we can also be known for our regulatory requirements as opposed to our vision. Social equity still has a ways to go, and we need to keep it on our minds and in our plans. The like minded people mayor may not be around. Workloads create of- fice tensions; depending on the issue, citi- zens can be awfully cranky to deal with, ap- pointed boards demand a lot of close work and educating on all sides; ~nd elect~d offi- cials some times want instant results that back their positions. And some moving around planners do is the result of political heat or other job-related stress forcing them to get out. What would I like to see us do? It's time that we developed greater pride and more willingness to get vocal about our profes- sion, our worth as planners, and the good work we are capable of. I'd like to see us be "It's time that we . developed greater pride and more willingness to get vocal about our profession, our worth as planners, and the good work we are capable of." identified as professional practitioners that do planning. Too often we are identified instead as the people who say NO. Is there a way to get ahead of that curve? Planners have a lotto offer, yet we insist on hiding under a basket. We can be terribly passive when we shouldn't be. Often we don't blink an eye when other professionals promote themselves as planners, even when .. individuals have no background in it. ~at's that all about? We're getting better about organizing at the state and chapter levels for fighting bad leg- 4 Nov./Dec. 1999. Florida r Planning islation, and I'm hoping we'll get more and more proactive at proposing GOOD legis- lation. We often take ourselves too seriously. It's important to have balance in our lives so that no one aspect dominates (even if that one aspect is our work!). Let's get a sense of humor and not be afraid to use it. En- glish Philosopher Bertrand Russell said it best: One of the symptoms of an approach- ing nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important. Life ~a series of choices: Make it a point to choose to live where you want to be, and take time for yourself, family, friends. In the end, know this: I've loved being a planner, and still do. Sustainability of Planners I think we need to adopt a notion of the sustainability of planners. I looked up the definition of "sustain", and here's what it says. Sustain: to keep in existence; to supply with necessities or nourishment; provide for; to support from below; keep from falling or sinking; to prop; to support the spirits, vi- tality, or resolution of; to endure or with- stand; to affirm the validity or justice of. Looking at that definition, I'd recommend that we take time as practicing planners to recognize the need to sustain ourselves. We need to practice a little more balance in our lives, particularly at a time when we can feel very threatened by political climates or other mandates that leave many of us frazzled as we try to cope. Many of us came into our profession to per- form public good, for the good of the whole. In some communities and locations, we are instead under attack as bureaucrats that cause the public to waste time and money. My concern is about us, the planners who are taking the heat. I think we need to sus- tain ourselves better than we have been do- ing. There are several things we can do to assure this happens. And here are the Garnett Top Ten Ways to Sustain Our- selves as planners! (continued on page 6) JOU{NTCENTER for Environmental & Urban Problems We are a university-based institution with offices at Florida Atlantic University and Florida International University. We work with policymakers and the public in managing growth, preserving natural systems, promoting a strong economy, and planning livable communities. Our services include: · Policy and planning research on growth management, land use, transportation, economic development, natural resource protection, housing, and urban design · Workshop organization and facilitation on special topics Public facility/service finance options · Redistricting plans · Annexation studies · Home-rule charter review and update Visit us at: www.fau.edujjointeenter THE YEAR 2000 CENSUS: Step Up & Be Counted! . Information collected in Census 2000 will provide local area data needed for commu- nities to receive federal program funds and for private sector and community planning. The Legislature's Committee on Intergov- ernmental Relations is promoting participa- tion in the 2000 Census by coordinating ef- forts among state and local governments and through partnerships with communities, businesses and faith-based organizations. According to Committee Chairman Repre- sentative Joe Spratt (D-Sebring), "We need to be prepared for and ready to participate in an activity that will impact our lives for an entire decade-the 2000 Census." In 1990, the last time a census was taken, Florida was the fourth largest undercounted state in the nation. State officials are hop- ing that by promoting the census, Florida will be able to obtain its fair share of federal dollars for critical social and health services, . education, and crime prevention. "Florida cannot afford to be undercounted for another decade," said Senator Ron Klein (D-Boca Raton), alternating chair of the committee. "If Florida begins the next de- cade undercounted in the census, we'll spend the next ten years playing catch-up and try- ing to make up for tens of millions of dol- lars and lost services." In the 1990 Census, minorities and people living in rural parts of the state were the most undercounted. Hispanics were undercounted by an estimated 5 percent, African-Americans were undercounted by an estimated 4 percent, and the state's white population was undercounted by 1.6 percent. Earlier this year, the Committee passed a resolution urging the Governor, cabinet of- ficers, and state agencies to direct resources whenever possible to promote a complete 2000 census count. Recommendations in- cluded publishing census information on state mail, lottery tickets, and other state publications and advertising distributed to the public. The recommendations stem fro the Committee's review of Florida's receipt of federal funds. In a 1999 report, the Com- mittee found that Florida ranked 49th out of 50 states in per capita federal funding for fiscal year 1997, receiving $8.5 billion in federal funds. In 1998, funding increased to $9.7 billion, but the increase barely kept up with the state's population growth and only raised its rank to 48 out of 50 in per capita receipts. As noted by Congressman Dan Miller, Chair of the Subcommittee on Census, U.S. House of Representatives: "Every year, over $185 billion in federal funds are awarded to states and local communities based on census numbers. . . . One way to begin to close the gap is to ensure the state starts the next de- cade with more accurate population counts." "Florida is one of the most populous states, but we're at the bottom of the list in per capita federal funding," Senator Klein added. "The census is a once-in-a-decade opportunity to bring millions of additional dollars each year to the citizens of Florida. State and local governments, community and faith-based organizations, as well as the private sector should be forming partner- ships now to make sure we take advantage of this important opportunity next spring." For further information on how you can par- ticipate, and help spread the word, check out the U.S. Census Bureau website at <http:// www.census,gov>, Wayne's World By Wayne Daltry, AICP So there I was, making room on one of my myriad office bookshelves for yet more contemporary files, removing books for trashing that I clearly had not touched since we moved to the current space 12 years ago, when I realized "hey, these are my Planning School (FSU-DURP, 1972-3) textbooks." Since nothing is more mind numbing than having to confront cleaning my office, I let myself be diverted by a brief diletanteish flirtation with these old nemises. As I thumbed through the "dusty tombs" with an attitude that this is old, old, old (and boring) stuff on the way to the landfill, I became aware that too much was still relevant and, if dates were changed to today, current. Particularly pertinent were the texts on the relationship of community attitude on planning. the tiers of politics, and the essential baselines of human behav- ior. There was even a book by Tony Catanese (Planners and Local Politics: Impossible Dreams) written before he de- . volved from planner to university president. Particularly galling as I looked at the books further was that Ideas I have always thought came from my own fertile imagi- nation seemed to be anchored in these books. This is some- thing of a quandry-admitting to others (humbly) that I actu- ally received long term value from schooling, or (with mixed joy) receiving the admission from others that they had not believed I was capable of being educated! As I trotted down to Offices R Us for yet another bookshelf (in my office we call it surrendering to situational files man- agement-in yours, clutter), one more thought emerged- Saroyan was right. "Those who do not learn from history, are condemned to repeat it." This lesson is particularly relevent in Florida for planning and growth management. Wayne Daltry, AICP' is Executive Director of the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council and aformer President of Florida APA. Florida t Planning. Nov./Dcc. 1999 5 (continued jimn page I) 2. The State should vigorously pro- . tect interests and resources of es- sential state concern. What those critical state interests are will be hotly contested, but they should be clearly delineated, and the De- partment of Community Affairs should be empowered to inter- vene when a local decision threatens such an important inter- est. Important state interests would clearly include hurricane evacuation, construction and maintenance of state roads and protection of natural resources of regional or statewide significance. 3. We must examine methods for citizen access to the local compre- hensive planning process. In or- der for the local process to work, it must be understandable, acces- sible and not prohibitively ex pen- . sive to participate in. The citizen should be the ultimate guardian of the local plan's integrity, not the State, but this process should not be a tool forharassment or delay for those who come up on the los- ing end of a legitimate debate. 4. A process must be created to ad- dress the conflicts which arise when a government's decision has impacts beyond its borders and local governments either fight too much or fail to take advantage of the opportunity for community collaboration. There is a compel- ling state interest in assuring each plan contains a meaningful inter- governmental coordination ele- ment. Ale time has come to fix these prob- ~s. I ask for your help, The De- partment has designed a growth man- agement questionnaire and has dis- 6 NovJDcc. 1999 . Florida r Planning tributed it as widely as we could. It can be found on-line at http:// www.dca.state.f1.us or by calling toll- free 1-877-FLA-DCA2. I will be traveling the state in 11 regional workshops between J an uary and March to directly have this discussion with all who are interested. Citizens from all points on the spec- trum of this debate agree on one thing-the current system is not working. Our response should not be to retain the status quo. We should take collaborative and bold steps to make the process one which produces the quality of life we seek for our- selves and our children's children. Editor's Note: November 30 was the official deadline for survey responses with written comments called for by December 15. (continued from page 4) I. Keep this equation in mind: For every complaint, make sure a solution is pro- posed. Make this a rule of thumb whether it is you complaining about something, or whenever someone else comes to you with a complaint. End- less fussing gets us nowhere; solutions do. 2, Humor is critical to personal health and attitude. Lighten up! There can never be too much smiling. Consider having a session at your conference that high- lights humorous situations in the work place, quotes and misquotes, make up slide shows of incredibly bad designs or signs, and put a twist of humor on it. Laugh at some things to defuse their hold on you. 3. Maintain a strong sense of perspective. The dilemmas of today really will end. As a dear friend of mine used to say, don't horriblize situations out of pro- portion. Brooding won't make it bet- ter; it'll just depress you. 4. At a certain point in your career, if need be, move on. It is not shameful to leave behind a situation that is no longer pro- ductive and which is bringing you down. It is much more healthy to con- sider it a learning experience, and get on with your career elsewhere. 5. If you find you are able to settle into a community long term, make sure you keep up with your continuing education and professional development. Keep sharp, and be willing to try some new planning approaches. 6. We should and deserve to honor our ac- complishments. Awards programs can be used to showcase the best. We do good work; let's have enough pride in it to submit it for peer review and pos- sible award recognition. Then let's con- gratulate our winners for what they've done on behalf of better planning, 7. Planners can and should be political. Everyone else is, so why should we be left out? Organize, and recognize that you do have something very important to say to your legislators and commu- nity as a professional and as a voting citizen. You have a right to your opin- ion - exercise it. Let's empower our- selves to have a voice. 8. Remember that life is too short to sweat the small stuff. Pick and choose battles carefully, so as to not totally bum out without at least having good reason to, 9. As much as is humanly possible, be re- spectful of the other person's opinion. Disagreements are the way of the world, Do we have to be so rude about it? P&Z Commissions can lead the way in en- couraging more respectful discourse in the public setting. 10. Finally, think about the importance of keeping balance in all aspects of your life. Keep it in mind the next time you feel buried by deadlines, or refuse to take a vacation, or you find yourself so focused on your work that you are not taking time to enjoy the other parts of your life. In short, think about it when you need more balance. My hat is off to all of you for the work you do, and here's to a balanced life that brings you a mix of adventure, contentment, men- tal stretching, and laughter. Thanks for in- viting me here and sharing your conference with me. If you have comments or ideas you'd like to share with me about APA, please get in touch with me at the confer- ence or bye-mailing me at jgarnett@wyoming.com. Thanks, Joanne, for a wonderful, inspirational pre- sentation and for helping to make our event a great success. Natural Gems ... . Troubled Waters :~: ;~~~~~~;~.'h:', . i'';,>.r-~-, "';i,.~,;.,.r-,,:.. ~;':;?;~~~J'~~~~/~:;;~ .~..... ;.t". t:;:,.JtI\' .. '. ~ . .... _ _ \~!\~: \1 "1/ ''''l)\'' .. ....'. ..,.;.... " '" -\, _.!. ., <:.:"~~\~~;~~:.<..: . :;)..::;.- : . tfJr..../';;; . ',.' ~ ..>. .', ;..; .~:.~ ~'b" ..:., .~:; .~.'~~;,~.~"< ;~~. ......~. ... .~~:.:. ....,.. .~;-?..: Florida has over 350 springs ranging in flows from mere trickles to tens of millions of gal- lons per day. These springs have been very special places to humans for thousands of years. Archeological evidence at Wakulla Springs indicates that native Americans lived and hunted there 12.000 years ago. . Spain's discovery of Florida in 1513 oc- curred during Ponce de Leon's search for a spring, the "Fountain of Youth". The Span- ish mission, Santa Catalina de Afuca. was established at Ichetucknee Springs in 1674. Health spas were built at a number of springs around the turn of the century because of their perceived medicinal qualities and churches commonly conducted baptisms in local springs, Florida's springs are among the state's most valued natural resources. Springs provided natural, social, and economic values for the people of Florida and rank with Florida's beaches in recreational popularity. . In 1766, naturalist John Bartram wrote the following passage in his journal about Blue Springs located on the St. John's River near Orange City. "What a surprizing fountain must it be to furnish such a stream, and what a great space of ground must be taken up in the pinelands, ponds, savannahs, and swamps, to support and maintain so constant a fountain continually boiling right up from under the deep rocks, which undoubtedly continue undermost part of the country at uncertain depths." Bartram's observation was very insightful. Over 200 years later, we are striving to understand the extent of the groundwater basins that feed Florida's spnngs. Everyone loves Florida's springs and the public generally assumes they are safe from harm. After all, we can buy bottled spring water off the supermarket shelf. However, there are many startling examples of their degradation. In order to determine the status of these out- standing natural resources, the Florida Springs Conference, Natural Gems- Troubled Waters, is being held in Gainesville. February 8-10, 2000. The con- ference will bring together experts in geol- ogy, water resources, economics and gov- ernment, in addition to elected officials, policy makers and the general public. The conference will focus on the natural, recre- ational and economic values of the springs, research and monitoring that describe their current health, human activities that threaten them; and solutions for their protection. Pre- conference field trips, exhibits, paintings and photographs of springs will also be avail- able. The conference is presented by the Depart- ment of Environmental Protection. Co- sponsors include 1000 Friends of Florida, U.S. Geological Survey and Florida's water management districts. For further information contact Jim Stevenson. Phone: 850-487-1750 Fax: 850-413-7478 E-Mail: James.Stevenson@dep.state.fl.us IN MY VIEW Fixing Farming: A Hand-Up, Not a Hand-Out By Shawn C. College, AICP The loss of American farmland has be- come a much lamented tragedy. Spe- cial interests have organized to lobby and support the farming industry, These organizations produce publications ex- tolling the need to directly support the fann industry for various reasons, from protecting wildlife habitat, to ensuring there will not be famine in the United States. However, there are two, often confused, but very different effects at the heart of this issue. Nationally, mar- ket changes are occurring affecting the agricultural industry, Locally, land use pressures are affecting agriculture and natural resources. At a national level, published facts and Federal government fiscal policy do not support many of these arguments. In fact, current Federal policy and the ob- jectives of many farmland preservation organizations have created, and work to perpetuate, an inefficient agricultural industry. The current state of farmland preservation is largely the result of an inflexible industry coupled with a strong lobby and special interest poli- tics. At the local level, sprawling, low den- sity development is having the effect of prematurely converting farmland to other uses. This is an issue of "sprawl", and not of agricultural preservation. In short, many of the arguments utilized (continued on page 8) :i;~"Y .1~.~'.' ~ ". " - ...~ t~~,. - .... _~._._~~'''J .""t-,.,~~,,""J-\t,..., ~~;~;~~S'~~ ..... ." <". ,~ f'!" . '1'" ......, .....;'... ~ ",....... ~~~~~~~~ . .' ."1.... . ..,:<;~, ..... if..... .I." ;";~~;;~;i~iI;:,~fEl~,,!"? Florida t Planning' Nov./Dcc. ] 999 7 (continued from page 7) by farmland preservationists, such as loom- ing food shortages, are not supported by re- search. What is supported is that the un- .. ely conversion of agricultural land at the cal level, as a consequence of sprawl, is an inefficient use of land resources to the detriment of not only farmers, but the com- munity as a whole. Other unsupported arguments include that, nationally, farmland is being converted to development at an unprecedented level. A Florida Planning article in August cited The Trust for Public Land's suggestion that 14 million acres of farmland were taken out of production from 1992 to 1997. However, a single statistic, out of context, can portray a distorted view of the state of American ag- riculture. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that during that same time period "cropland used for crops" increased by 16 million acres. One must consider the complete pic- ture to get an accurate assessment of trends and conditions. In fact, the amount of ac- ucts are also considered. In fact, it can be argued that at the national level, a primary threat to the American farmer today is too much land in active ag- ricultural use as a consequence of increased technology driven productivity. As the twen- tieth century progressed advances in farm- ing practices, machinery, pesticides, fertil- izers, horticulture, selective breeding and genetic engineering resulted in much greater yields on existing farmland. According to the Census of Agriculture, America's farm- ers now produce 123 bushels per acre of com compared to 62 bushels per acre in 1964. These advances often require larger capital investments and, therefore, benefit from economies of scale. This has, in-turn, af- forded larger, often corporate farms, a com- petitive edge over smaller farmers, result- ing in what is commonly referred to as "the plight of the small American family farm." It should be noted that this "plight" is very real. Many are suffering the indignity and shame of bankruptcy and the loss of family property, heritage and a way of life. At the risk of over-simplifying, the natural evolu- states that "...the United States currently has an abundance of agricultural land and abun- dance of food,", Key points of the Ameri- can Planning Association policy guidelines include that "Agricultural productivity must be allowed to be a viable economic activ- ity". A reduction in active farmland which reduces the farm industry's dependence on subsidies and price supports is necessary to allow agricultural activity to be a "viable economic activity." Another APA policy guideline recognizes the tendency toward adverse environmental impacts associated with agricultural activity. However, an American Farmland Trust article published Florida Planning erroneously suggested that farm practices are beneficial to the environ- ment. This article suggested that farmland provides wildlife habitat and healthy watersheds and wetlands. This suggestion is not supported by fact. Farmland by its nature requires the removal of natural habitat through the clear- ing of forests and the grading of the land. Furthermore, the significant applications of insecticides, fungicides, pesticides and fer- Land Use in the United States* (Contiguous 48 states only) 1945 1954 1964 1974 1982 1992 Total Cropland** 451 465 444 465 469 460 Cropland Used for Crops 363 381 335 361 383.' 337 Grassland, Pasture and Range 659 632 637 595 594 589 Forest Land 602 615 612 599 567 559 Urban Land 15 19 29 35 50 58 RecreationlWildlife Areas 23 28 50 57 71 87 Misc. Farmland Areas*** 15 12 10 8 8 6 1997 353 *Data in millions of acres. **Includes cropland used for crops, cropland idled and cropland used for pasture. ***Includes farmsteads, farm roads, etc. Note: 1997 data is only available for "Cropland Used for Crops." Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Natural Resources and Environmental Division, Agri- cultural Resources and Environmental/ndicators, /996-97, Agricultural Handbook No, 712. tive cropland today is virtually identical to that 50 years ago, according to the U.S. De- partment of Agriculture's Agricultural Re- sources and Environmental Indicators, .96-97, Agricultural Handbook No. 712. .owever, from a national economic effi- ciency standpoint, the amount of active cropland is largely meaningless unless lev- els of production and demand for farm prod- 8 NovJDcc. 1999. Florida t Planning, tion of an industry has resulted in the sup- ply of farmland and products outpacing de- mand. The American Planning Association (APA) policy guidelines seem to be somewhat at odds with some of the unsupported farm- land preservation arguments printed in Florida Planning, For example. APA policy tilizers, which occur on many farms, are not beneficial to watersheds and wetlands. In fact, agriculture is often cited as a signifi- cant contributor to the contamination of ground and surface waters. A recent article in Florida Planning by Ralph Grossi of the American Farmland (continued on page /6) PROFESSIONAL :DEVELOPMENT REPORT .. . Opportunities for Continued Growth FAPA Executive Director, Marcia Elder. by Joe Bell, AICP Vice-President for Professional Development For those of you wanting to qualify and take the AICP exam for the first time, I hope you didn't miss the December 6 filing deadline. For those of you who did file on time, and for those who have previously been qualified, don't forget that March 6, 2000 is the exam registration deadline for the Washington, D.C. APA office to be in receipt of your $240 registration fee and registration verification form for the May 13, 2000 exam. If you need more information, contact Michael DeVone Jones, AICP, in Washington at 202- 872-061 I xl024 or e-mail: mjones@planning.org. For information on AICP exam audiocassettes, refer back to page 15 of your September 1999 edition of Florida PLanning. . AlCP study guides are available for purchase through the FAPA Tallahassee office. Call 850-222-0808 or e-mail to cpi@creativepursuitsinc.com for details. Also, periodically check information on the FAPA Chapter website at www.floridaplanning.org. The website also accesses several local Sections' websites. These may contain information on local study groups or, at a minimum, names and phone numbers of your local Section offic- ers who can offer you help or suggestions, FAPA has also been busy on other profes- sional development activities since our very successful and well-attended annual confer- ence in September in Miami Beach-thank you and congratulations to Marty Hodgkins, AICP, Tom Mooney, AICP, and the Gold Coast Section local host committee! (I also was impressed at the turnout of 20 prospec- tive AICP exam-takers who attended the AICP "Q & A" Session at the conference.) We have been at work scheduling several .all-day seminars on planning-related legis- lative issues and on professional develop- ment skills. These are being very ably con- ducted by Past FAPA President and former DCA Secretary, Tom Pelham, AICP. and our The local seminars are in response to "grass roots" suggestions that arose as part of an Initiatives Committee effort led by FAPA President Marie York, AICP this last sum- mer. We hope'to be expanding them to ad- dress other topics suggested by Marie's com- mittee for later dates next year. At present, the Sun Coast Section has committed to host a seminar in January, and the Promised Lands Section is hosting an abbreviated ver- sion as part of an elected-legislative officials breakfast panel, also in January. Both the Treasure Coast Section and First Coast Sec- tion were also exploring the possibility of signing-up at the time this article was writ- ten. If you would like to be part of your local Section's hosting of this or a similar all-day or half-day seminar conducted by FAPA, contact Marcia Elder at our Tallahassee of- fice (see above numbers) or contact me at 813-273-3774 x347 (phone) or e-mail: bellj @plancom.org. Because not every Florida planner can attend and take advan- tage of the wealth of professional develop- ment offerings at our annual conferences, FAPA is offering these programs as an added opportunity, We hope you will assist your local Section in joining with the Chapter in this effort and bringing one of these profes- sional development seminars to your area, Do it for yourself and your fellow local plan- ners. Another professional development activity that is underway and that will be complete by the time this article goes to press, is the Chapter's sponsorship of some of those eli- gible to apply for membership as a Fellow of AICP, or FAICP. Last year national APA, through the AlCP Commission, initiated this program to recognize and honor those pro- fessional planners whose length of profes- sional service and exceptional contribution to our profession merit this special distinc- tion. Because FAlCP is new and because Florida is the second largest state chapter, we have an abundance of qualified candidates. The number of new FAICP inductees selected each year is limited, so FAPA expects it to take many years for us to catch up in spon- soring the distinguished backlog of current candidates, not to mention the expanding list of those who additionally become eligible with each passing year. November 12 was set as this year's nominating deadline. FAPA President, Marie York, AICP, appointed a committee to assist in narrowing the list of those the Chapter would directly sponsor. While Chapter sponsorship is not a prereq- uisite, without it the process requires some extra steps. Stay tuned. Those voted in wilI be announced and honored at the APA Na- tional Conference in New York City in April 2000. Finally, yet another avenue for professional development is through active service as an officer in your local Section, on your FAPA Executive Committee, or on the national APA Board or AICP Commission. I was recently surprised to learn that Florida has four current candidates for national APA or AICP office. They serve as role models to all who are striving to develop profession- ally. They include: Bruce McClendon, AICP, Growth Management Director of Or- ange County, who is conducting a petition- driven candidacy for APA President-Elect, a position he held once before; Sam Casella, AICP, FSU planning school planner-in-resi- dence, and also a past APA President, who is a candidate for AICP President; Robert B. "Bob" Hunter, AICP, Hillsborough City- County Planning Commission Executive Director, and recent Sun Coast Section Chairman, a candidate for the APA National Board; and Gail Easley, AICP, a former FAPA President, and a candidate for the AICP Commission. The message is: develop yourself profes- sionally-be involved, stay involved, keep learning, and always be a credit to your pro- fession. There are many opportunities and role models. Florida ,. Planning. NovJDec. 1999 9 EMERGENCY ., . .....\. :' ,...,' .. - -'... ,,: . , . .... . .:, . ." ,. - . . . ~': : . ...: FUTURE OF PLANNING & GRO\NTH MANAGEMENT IN JEOPARDY By NOW MOST PLANNERS ARE AWARE THAT THE NEW SECRETARY OF COMMUNITY AFFAIRS IS CALLING FOR AN OVERHAUL OF THE STATE'S GROWTH MANAGEMENT SYSTEM. NEW DEVELOPMENTS HAVE JUST OCCURRED THAT UP THE STAKES AND POTENTIALLY AFFECT ALL ASPECTS OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A PLANNER IN FLORIDA. A move is afoot in Tallahassee to undo current laws governing growth and development. A key House member has announced his intentions to revamp the Growth Management Act over the next few months as part of the Year 2000 Session, and he has urged the Bush Administra- tion to support him in this effort. Rumor has it that a push will also be made to redo the State Comprehensive Plan and to alter citizen standing at the same time. . Earlier this year the Florida Department of Community Affairs had called for, and widely pub- licized, a year long review of Florida's growth management process that would include a thor- ough analysis of diverse issues and active input from concerned citizens and affected parties. That process has only just begun. Proposals to the law were then to be developed for the Year 2001 Session, only after deliberative review of the needs and options for addressing them. The Department is continuing plans for its announced public workshops in January and Feb- ruary to solicit feedback on the current growth management process and future needs. They will also prepare a report on results from their ongoing survey (written comments for which are due December 15). However, Secretary Seibert announced at a recent meeting of Regional Planning Directors that many legislators want substantial changes to the law and he can no longer realistically caIl for them to wait until the 2001 Session to pursue them. STAY INFORMED . . . GET INVOLVED The Chapter is gearing up quickly to address the significant demands associated with these new developments. Emergency meetings have been held of our policy committees, our broadcast e- mail system is now in place, and the Chapter office is in high gear carrying forward FAPA's banner on these critically important concerns. If you have already received FAPA's e-mail alerts on the subject, we have you on our system and will continue to keep you informed. If you have not and wish to receive updates and info on what you can do to help, send your e-mail addresstotheFAPAwebmasterateconplan@mediaone.net. If you don't have e-mail, let the Chapter office know your fax number. . YOUR INVOLVEMENT CAN MAKE THE DU-t-t:.t-<ENCE! I Speaking to the same group, State Representative George Albright made clear his intent to dramatically change how the growth man- agement process works in Florida. He has acknowledged that being subject to term limits this year means now is the time for he and other lawmakers who won't be back next year to act, which he says has the backing of other legislative leaders. Albright also notes that his current bill on local planning, HB 139, is a "placeholder'" and that the real bill won't be released until next year some time before the Session. This leaves little time for the many affected by its provisions to consider their impacts, and to influence the progress of the bill-an ideal scenario for well monied special interests to.have their say in the rush of legislative decision- making. One key aspect of policy reforms to which Seibert and Albright agree is that control over growth management should be returned to local governments-an approach which FAPA believes would set the stage for even more sprawl, environmental degradation and fragmentation of our com- munities. Local governments' past failure to manage its growth, particularly in perceived com- petition with neighboring jurisdictions, led to the strong set of state growth. management laws presently in place. To conclude that the solution is to weaken the state's role and abandon its oversight responsibilities by returning growth control unchecked back to local governments is to compound the problem and turn growth management upside down. FAPA and other groups concerned about sound policy in the public interest agree that improve- ments to the growth management process are needed-including funding and enforcing the current law. But arriving at broad-based consensus on the specific changes that will work for Florida is a time intensive process. Revising the current growth management process in a way that makes things better, not worse, cannot be done overnight. Significant changes to growth management in the past have always been considered through a committee or task force appointed by the Governor or the Legislature. This approach was used by Governors Askew, Graham, Martinez and Chiles. It allowed for a deliberative process with broad public participation from all interested groups. With another 5 million people coming to our state over the next 20 years, Florida needs an effective growth management strategy: to protect our natural resources, assure affordable hous- ing, control crime, reduce traffic, preserve agricultural lands and revitalize our communities. A .strong growth management system is also our best means of ensuring that public tax dollars are spent efficiently and effectively through "smart growth." As these policies affect virtually everyone in Florida, FAPA also maintains that the people of our state deserve a responsible review process that is deliberative, open,. participatory and in the public interest-and that there is not enough time left to do it right for the 2000 Session. To say that it needs to be done in a rush because certain legislators are subject to term limits makes no sense from a policy standpoint-and runs contrary to basic principles of good government. The Bush Administration still has the opportunity to provide for a reasoned and meaningful review process. FAPA is urging Secretary Seibert and Governor Bush to follow through on their promises toward this end, with a focus on growth management changes in the 2001 Session- and that state lawmakers support them in this process. I . I~cttel.s ttt tllc I~tlitttl. "jll~m:/:!\',~i~));:; : . ,~;.iuu~~&ib.1havid Herlihy in th~~~~\81ier:issue of ,f'y_ ....),t.r~{,.'":.$:~. ....f," . .'.,^.~J'-h, ._' 1}ihg'(e" .' .. . !,~Gapita1 ImprovemWH~lanners.imd ,."~'~r~' ;,.~ "::.!'." ~~~,~~~.:; >:'~;';:'.~,:;~:. (.:;:.. :.'1::" .~~. ,~.;'.~ ::;?t;;:~:~~~ ':- ii1e interesting'J)oints;.m 'my ~.~. ... ....,.-. '... .,. ",.,g,ithe trap that l1a~snat:ed:too .:',:. ,.,~..::.!;~?,~~~::~:m I?C:'-, !h.e Comprehe~- . . '::.' ^:' ~gf~ri.J~C~1 Junsdl~t10n and a capl- tallmpro \ . tilslone,9flts most Important parts. ';., .~/r~:.~~W~t;:t1!t{~~f~:'i~~~'..~~~\'".;;,'':~~/:.,. As non~i(.' . ~r.~~r~.'.SmWRt be expected to understand the more~'~J.o/~6apii~lfbudgeting any more than .., 1,"- ,.;- .{'-:!j.,l "Y<'~"":~" "'H.' ;;:~;:::j'. they can}jc5,~I"".;,,,.",~!?&S~~~H!~.~~~p'ump, sizes for lift stations. . . ,;~.~t~;.:,.f.:;!~~,i..'t:~;'>:'" f ~,?t~: ~...' . Dear Florida Planners, This comes to speak with favor regard- ing the "Lone Ranger's" (Phil Steinmiller's, "In My View", October 1999, FL Planning) suggestion that a state gasoline tax of $.50 a gallon, in addition to the existing rate, is excellent. The data (Fl. Stat. Abs., BEBR, U. OF F.) tell us that the state of Florida had a population of 12,938,071 in 1990 and is estimated to be 14,712,922 in 1997. Eighty and seven tenths percent of this growth is due to migration; certainly in part due to the state's reputation as a tax haven, and an earlier and persistent 20th century image of a "winter haven". In fact, I was born in such a town. We continue to be under siege. We are .now the number one oldest population in the US (that includes me). This siege and our aging supports my belief that we confuse public responsibilities for education, environmental protection, public transit, well planned infrastruc- ture and sound local planning by shirk- ing civic duty through encouraging popular notions of economic develop- ment and growth at any cost. The growth of many counties today re- . suIts from 100% migration. We must in some way begin to cope with this flood of folks who come with needs and de- mands of government looking for a sub- urban home, but come without any sense of responsibility for their impact upon local and statewide urban service sys- tems, and certainly no desire, consis- tently and perennially, to tax themselves to pay for the impacts. Perhaps a significant increase in the gasoline tax, or the establishment of a state income tax, or even any respon- sible revision of our Swiss cheese state sales tax is needed. The likelihood of such political statesmanship is very re- mote in view of the "no new taxes" rhetoric dominating political agendas at all levels ofFIorida's government today. As to Phil's observation that growth management in Florida "... is very weak, and as I (Phil) said earlier, a very insin- cere effort to manage human behavior (i.e., growth)", perhaps I (Earl) should say, had he immigrated earlier, he might have been here in the early 1970's. We then had no state planning effort, and very few local efforts, to plan for or manage anything. We have come along a very difficult political path with state initiatives and an articulated system of checks and balances. I agree, the sys- tem is not working very well, and many of us involved in the beginning know this. In my judgment, we have not strength- ened important elements of the system, and, we have even created bureaucratic exercises purporting to be important in managing growth. Some of the vital el- ements are: I) we have not promulgated a relevant state plan and map that has provided direction to urban growth pat- terns, acquisition of conservation and preservation lands, and preserving agri- cultural lands; and 2) we have not en- gendered the political will at local, re- gional nor state levels to say no to sprawl, no to sprawl infrastructure ex- tensions, and no to "jobs" at any cost; and 3) we have made NO serious at- tempts to deal effectively with archaic annexation laws. Phil, you are not alone; Tonto and other ghosts of the past are here. We have a great deal of work to do. Perhaps you might wish to stay in the "Mullet Lati- tudes" a little longer and help. Earl M. Starnes, AICP, PhD, FAIA Professor Emeritus, University of Florida .. '\ -$~;'. :,?:~{> ~.:-:~::. . ~-'.~~. . ~ ..~. The ..8-fu~~~g~ndi~tandthe relati~nship between capi- .;.,j.\{,:,:..~j~~~~,.:~......~';" .,~'.~-Y'\.}<(' ,::....,. .'. . \', . tal spen-ding{~level.ofi1;'erViceand land.use'andbe able to assist the'gb~(i&HilrB6dyj1ih'd:i~1:financiar ~anagers' (who presum- ';",':":i'.:,'\,:~!J~+a..,~'&'~~' ..:'*-f~~i.':::~~r~~'. '. . .~; '. ." .abl~~l~~d~~~g~~~~~~.~repmts of c;a~ltal budgetmg) 10 ;es- .. tabhshmg~ ". s,to~.assure success of the plan. 0'. :~,:. ~:.: ~,;,~ ," ~;,:.:, -{. '.: ,~~~.~~,~. :\' :,~ ;.~;:;'r;. Rul(t9J~part o(an.~eft~h;ito force Ibtal '.'.i govemffie ". .ing:"Th~~yardsdck'of a pl~'s ',' ....e:fr:--x~,,';."'~;~T . ..:-........, " ", effectiveness:,!:isfwlia .',on the~ground;; not whethedt :.:>.,~~' r.";<\~ '-'\':i,,"',''':'';'', .. .. passes mus-. '(~}~~;";'~;.i:,';f{' . . ." '\' .. " ,,::,,;', Bruce Kisti6r, CRe:',;,; Principal P(~ri~~rc ,:.,'~ City ofLakeI~nd' '\. " Floritfa t Planning. Nov.lDcc. 1999 15 (collfilll/ed Jrom flage 8) Tru~l. ~uggested (hat losses in farmland, if nol ren~;~~d. '.will show up eventually at mealtime." To suggest that the conversion .)f farmland to other uses could result in food horta!!es is not supported by data. The ba- ~ic la\\7 of supply and demand, coupled with minor government intervention, would en- sure that the appropriate level of production to serve demand would prevail due to eco- nomic incentive. Furthermore, while reduc- tions in farmland to bring supply closer to demand could result in more variable prices for individual products, these variable prices could be stabilized by minor government intervention without huge subsidies. Nevertheless, the Federal government has stepped in and heavily subsidized the indus- try. These subsidies manifest themselves in many ways. Often they are low income loans, direct cash subsidies, payments to farmers for not producing crops or govern- ment purchases and stockpiles of surplus farm products. These are not subsidies for short term hardships or disaster relief. These are ongoing subsidies that perpetuate eco- nomic inefficiency in the agricultural indus- try. While over-production continues to be subsidized, there is little incentive for the .. dustry to voluntarily remove land from ctive use, and become more efficient in their use of natural and economic resources. Although less than previous years, the USDA Agricultural Handbook No. 712 re- ports that Federal government programs idled 34.4 million acres of cropland in 1996, in an effort to artificially inflate the price of agricultural products. This occurred at a substantial cost to taxpayers and resulted in a drain on the general economy. While some sectors of the agricultural in- dustry, at the local level, may contribute to a jurisdictions tax base while having rela- tively low requirements for public services, government should not support the artificial preservation or proliferation of an already inefficient over-supply of agricultural land. Rather, governm~nt should ensure that all land uses pay their fair share of the tax bur- I !.~ t:l ~~ I.. /v\cMAHON AssoaAm INC.. aUrON.lIlYI TIIlAN'P'OIllTATlON 'OlUTIONS T raruportation Planning T ",(fic Impact Studio T ",((ie Signal Doign. Highway & lotc=ct;oo Doign Corridor Studio ACCes5 Managemem Contact w.Ir~. w, lkruchi~..^lcr.Sc:,,'o' Pro)c<f MUUl~f !HO Woolhrircflt Re>>d . Suitt 20-4 . Raymon '\neh, FlorM!. 1 H26 S6Ll61.1666 fu.: ';61.361..0990 16 Nov.lDcc. 1999 . Florida" Plal/I/il/g den. Changes in land use, with an emphasis on higher density mixed-use communities, public infrastructure policy, revitalizing ur- ban cores and more and stronger urban de- velopment boundaries are among the tools government should focus on to reduce the expense associated with "sprawling" devel- opment. At a national level, a practical suggestion for the American farm industry would be to reduce the supply of active farmland, bring- ing production in balance with demand. This could be accomplished efficiently and rela- tively painlessly by using the Federal dol- lars, currently allocated for ongoing subsi- dies, to support the transition of small farm- ers to more economically efficient sectors of agriculture and other related industries. Once accomplished, this would eliminate billions of dollars in ongoing subsidy expen- ditures, restore the farm industry to solvency, engage small farmers in under-served indus- tries and invigorate national economy. At the local level, the loss of farmland to sprawl is a serious problem. However, sprawling low-density development is a se- rious problem regardless of whetherit is in- vading farmland, open space or natural ar- eas, consistent with APA policy guidelines. From a land use perspective, planners have a responsibility to appropriately locate and provide for adequate agricultural land uses based upon numerous competing interests and criteria, most notably the location ofthe most productive or "prime" farmland. While there may be a surplus of agricultural land, replacing it with an equally inefficient use, low-density sprawling development, is not the solution. Sprawl, which is costly and associated with many contemporary social and fiscal issues, such as: the loss of a sense of community, greater dependency on auto- motive travel and the loss of rural uses and wildlife habitat, must be addressed. As a consequence of curtailing sprawl, we will address the very real problem of farmlands, at the local level, prematurely converting to other uses, Hence, agricultural preservation Off/uIi 7f~ ~ Swire Properties 501 DricktU Key Drive. Suire 600 Mi.mi. Floriw 33131 T,kpholl': (305) 371-3877 organizations should base their positions on sound planning research, associated with the very real problem of the premature conver- sion of rural uses due to sprawl, rather than unsupported arguments. Shawn College, AlC?, is a Senior Planner with the Hillsborough County City-County Planning Commission. Currently practic- ing in the field oj Environmental Planning, Mr:. College has a background in Econom- ics, Environmental Studies and Urban and Regional Planning. ..'-:~:~. ;. ',:;[tfi~r}{~itS~:~:--;t"~'~f.~~':A'~,,\~~;: . Edit~"'F~S' Notes :J'~.The"theme~(of"6ur~' .. .~.-. . i."I,';.~':"";.eA' '.,i..,:JJ;-;,,:l'!f. j~~.'-: -4Fi... ".qr*.,"',~: ~(~"V'. . issue,was Farmlarto',pfes'lrvati6ilWfhe; :aillt~{refers :io~~e~il~t;~llit~di-iiffitIe' , ~j.w~~:r.r in t~tt/~~~~~tSt:t~(~~fu~1'~':7'~'~ ih ../- . or takhi-lSSU~~?w'ith~7ti~Ji:ri~~~;~a~ dbW~\t~1bns or:ili~~tritiA:FfuffilliiiaiT~;t~~ '. '~"J..'J:;:'''''1";' -~~" . - :'1~d~~;:,,-~ ({/;-'~~:""''';- . '~;-,t'v~.. .....'1:"U"~\,.i:,.,'f~~ '. aIi(ntll'~Trust' f6'[:P.u~1l2jE'afid;;:wfiicfi.h~;i'e~\,~ gifd6dq~s inac2(ffit~~'~n'tlG~~~nbtta'Rti~t~a~1~ ~l.f~}'~:"ri...' , .. '~t:".!'YI: ,,"'(~"." ,(1.-. ~.. "'~<.~ ">~',~~, I(Jlt'..;-~~~ TIieir,iit'ticles consisted .of<oveFViews. of,illeir,\tj s~pie~t)matter,art~~iriJt[riri~tibn.:w~s ._pWi}\~ videdron how toobtaiii{-aeiail~';tlll~ji;s'iual~s~~ :J':---";"'~\ """ _ 1-t. ~:I,~';''''''';''':''V'.1':'t:._".:..~... _ ;~"y,\\-:;:_~-;J rep'bns<~md organiiatioris\.'.', ,.. .:';> :'n,,; ~. ..-t~E~:f,~;:~'.. ~:; ~(~% :J.~ '~1.:' :~. '~:'\:;,>,~i;J3;}.~ TIl~.'@$or notesa' dfsPann"betwee~APA~s'::. ~~r4Qiis and poii1ik"ials~~,ithSther.at;iicl~~t ,: It: is~:f}~rida Planiii rig's',poli~y~'~(>"pubJj&fi~;:. . ticl~%I~flecting vafie?;p~~rsp~~tives: ::~g,~~ '. ever,qliere are many'.;Coirupon points~be: --\_-~_,t, . .,~ '1'. ~ ,_,~ . .~.' -t(\., tWeeil:)he articles publi~h~d:~andthe'.~J\Pk Policy:~Guide on Agri2'ultt~~i}Land Piecser- vation~:as includedin',its'e~tI,i~ty in th~t~t~. gus~~i~sue. The APAG~id,e.~aIso Sl1pp(jfts v~:9~!~~points the a:u~wAf:~~~'~~~;'~'}~~Ilg ~Tm~~ (alongwl!h~l~~!~~~~~t~~1 mg ttPf.pVldes many, p.':1R,~w~g~..r;t?~t!~s~PJF1~~~., ing open space, wildlife-nal)ita'.tS and groWnd- water:fecharge~';:;u1~~Ar~!su,g~ests that our -"~' ..~,_rH;;\';t_,_.,,~'Xi., "J~'" ""-l. currerWabundaric~;idf""JgQ'(:h.supply' could '<- '1,~,'\';~''f--'7~..~~t~/_"" ~'. chang~;due tOP.9Ruti\.!iRJifi1.nsIi~aeveloPn!ent . ., ,...,~...:A'~~t'''' f.. 'l'~~-'-,' " trends:tfl1ey ~s9~WB.fi.~~i.~~'.~~ imporlfp~e of pres'erving ai9culiU~alllarids, which is'the subjeCt, of their P'~~l~t$.pl~\~tement. ...... ..... .~ ~';;::':,~:;;:;"(~f~:~' " ~ The author's view{xiinisand informatioh.are appreciated on this;.tQpic of increasing im- portance to Florida plaI111ers. ~~Kerr 8/. Associates, Inc. . Planning . ZonIng . Land Use . Expert T estlmony Leigh R. Kerr, AICP 808 East Las Oras Boulevard Suite 104 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 954/467 -6308 Fax 954/467.6309 Volume XII, No. 1 ING NEWSLETIER OF THE FLORIDA CHAPTER OF THE AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION '-,:;>,-~;:::~: ,;~~~~-:.~~]r'... : :~~~;'.' ."Sbite~~!etiator Toni~;~, , ,:,::,;~,'~~j,;:!~J,~;~~~:~~q_::), .;.; ~~: -.~.~.rr~~~~'~, "J;ee:Q~Jj~y'~S the~/":;. ',.' \:Jf..:. :__J;t;j:\~*~t(~~~i<~""-;;' _~':.~~)/J.\: growt~1~m~~~,ge.~11~,~(; . . '..;;{,l..~" '-'~.'\i1t:!,~;'."~1. . .'".'. ... .!~.~;'. '.:A~. , . - '-f:,~ ,i ~-':\J_ ~.~<l.'\''''';'' :,:;.,.\ . _ ,~"";,' ~.. ".\' reVIew':l~r(i)Cess::~.~~.' ;.>;'" '. :,<';.~~fZ~i,:~ii~0t; '<".' ,.~~)';r:.~~: shoIila:.:be';'-~'; <'f:~. .:~\:\ . '!"-".'{J,:.i?)r~P'it,i:':" ~~}:: ~?i~. dehbeFatIve~' '.,~tf.>' 11'.' ~ - '~:;f;,' ,<~:;; ,~~'t..,,:':;~;~f~;t:~<:?~~ and inciusiv'e.'.'./~:':~~dt ;:ii:i~ll~ ~':'t' r .4v) ~,~<:'~ t-:~.:-'/~[; ~~ . Managing Growth: The Process of Change by Senator Tom Lee Twenty-eight years ago, the Florida Legislature passed the state's first laws addressing growth issues. At the time, about 7-112 million people called Florida home and there were enough lots platted that projected an increase in population to 14 million. Many of those platted lots had no drainage, city water or waste water systems. Clearly, the Legislature had to address future land planning. The Land and Water Management Act was passed in response. The Committee that drafted the 1972 legislation knew any proposed legis- lation that put constraints on local governments was doomed. It was tough enough to pass any legislation regulating land use, Developments of Re- gional Impact (ORIs) and Areas of Critical State Concern were the back- bone of the legislation. Local plans were encouraged but not required. Since that 1972 beginning, there have been three Environmental Land Man- agement Study Committees (ELMS I, II & III) and other Governor or Leg- islature- initiated growth management study committees. The committees have been charged with evaluating growth related challenges and devising proposed solutions for addressing them. The Growth Management Act came about as a result of such efforts. Ap- proved by the Legislature in 1985, the Act mandates local comprehensive plans for cities and counties and requires adherence to the concurrency doc- trine whereby infrastructure is to be provided concurrent with development. The State Comprehensive Plan (Chapter 187, ES.) was enacted that same year, and, the year prior Chapter 186, ES., provided for growth related plans at the regional level, among other provisions. Twenty-eight years after passage of those first laws, Florida's population is approaching IS million and almost 50 million tourists visit Florida each year. The impacts of such growth have been heavy, and growth induced demands are increasing over time. With all the efforts to manage it, Florida's ((,oil/ill lied Oil page 4) 2 January 2000 . Florida r Planning .- President's Message'. By Marie York, AICP As we enter the new year, one of my goals, and that of others on our state board, is to further inform the members about the many benefits of being a part of our organization. As dues paying members, you should have a clear understanding of what your professional associa- tion is doing to address the needs and concerns of Florida planners. The services provided by our Chapter office are many and varied, and will be detailed in a future issue. For now. I'd like to focus on the various committees FAPA has in place, along with others on which we serve to represent the Chapter's interests. Most of the FAPA committees are headed up by volunteers and supported by the Chapter office. The best known is the Executive Committee (EC), which consists of the chair of each FAPA Section and the statewide elected officers. I mention the Section chairs first, to reinforce the fact that your Section has representation and that the Sections, collectively, wield more voting power than the statewide elected officers. As president, I chair the quarterly meetings of the EC, wherein we manage the affairs of the Chapter. A second committee that also meets about four times a year is the Legislative Policy Committee (LPC). The Sections designate most of tht:<se members, with a few at-large members ap- pointed by the president and chair. This body is an advisory group to the Executive Committee, establishing the legislative direction that we will follow each year. The presi- dent-elect usually chairs the LPC, although Tom Pelham, as our past-president, will con- vene this group until September, Together, these two committees establish priorities and set the direction for the Chapter office for each legislative session. Each year, in preparation for the annual conference, a Conference Committee is formed, headed up this year and last by our Y.P. for Membership Services, Marty Hodgkins. Then, there is a Local Host Committee, which consists of the local Section leaders working to help produce the conference and mobile workshops. As FAPA's Y.P, for Professional Development, Joe Bell is coordinating an initiative to bring professional development workshops to several areas of the state as a supplement to the conference. Tom Pelham and Marcia Elder will conduct the initial series. Our Treasurer, David Van Horn, heads up a Dues & Revenues Committee, which was formed at the annual membership meeting of our last conference. Their purpose is to evaluate the feasibility of a reduction in dues and to identify other potential revenue sources. A separate committee was also formed at the conference to review the services and performance of the Chapter office, pursuant to our Strategic Plan. t ! " The 2000 conference will be preceded by an American Assembly, which is a visioning process intended to bring together planning related organizations to debate the future of Florida. The assembly will be professionally facilitated and will produce a consensus document after two full days of discussion. There is, of course, a Future of Florida American Assembly Committee. It is chaired by Bob Hunter. Watch for more about this major initiative in a future issue. , - '. During the last two years, the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) has asked each APA Chapter to nominate highly respected AICP members to the Fellows of the AICP. Mary Anne Bowie headed up this year's FAICP Committee to identify and solicit nominations. Each year there is also a Nominating Committee, whose task is to identify (continlled 011 page 16Ji .,J -:~ ~ years. This will creale more pressure on local govcrnments and stale and fcderal environmental agencies to protect natural rcsourccs. Hopefully, we can rctain the distinction betwcen our planning and permitling programs. This is critical. However, these programs must be made to work smarter. , 'Florida has some of the most sensitive environments in America. Our economy and our quality of life would not be as good as it is today, without the planning and permit- ting programs Florida put in place over the last 25 years. . Unfortunately, while we have, al least on a parcel by parcel basis, sometimes succeeded in balancing the needs of the market with the needs of the public and the environment, this is not occurring at the regional level. This coupled with the fact that both planning and permitting fail to address cumulative and secondary impacts and are not properly coordinated, means that the overall quality of Florida's environment has fallen from what it was in the 1975. By ensuring more effective intergovernmental coordination, real regional planning, especially for regionally significant environmen- tal resources, true intergovernmental coordination, and the provi- sion of data and analysis by the agencies to the local government at the time the plans are made, and by requiring the state agencies to follow the local comprehensive plan when permitting, Florida can achieve both better market efficiencies and better protection of the environment.' , Florida will grow by almost five million persons in the next 20 The Link Between Comprehensive Planning and Environmental Permitting Terrell K. Arline Legal Director 1000 Friends of Florida The following is an excerpt from a paper developed by the author for the Millennium Track featured as part of the Florida APA fall 1999 Annual Conference. Central to any discussion of the relation- .ShiP between planning and permitting is the fundamental notion that they are absolutely different things. Involved in this distinc- tion are concepts of the timing and location of development and the local governments, and citizens, ability to control land uses that affect local environmental resources. Planning and permitting ask different ques- tions and involve different assumptions. Planning asks whether, when and where. Permitting on the other hand asks how. Where they interfere with the prerogative of the other, both systems tend to fail. This is not merely an academic exercise. It is common for propel1y owners to obtain "con- ceptual" approval for environmental permit- ting of their proposed project before they have even received their local land use ap- proval. This places the local government in a difficult position when asked to change thc plan to increase the intensity or density potential of property. On the other hand, it is perhaps more common for the local govern- mcnt to first approve a land use for a totally .inappropriate place after either ignoring, or at Icast not first seeking the advice of thc environmental agencies prior to making thc land usc decision. Both situations ultimately Ilnpacl thc environmcnt and Ilow from thc - failure of local governments and state agen- cies to coordinate their activities With regards to whether a land use is even appropriate in the first instance, except in rare situations involving developments of regional or statewide significance like power plants or electric transmission lines etc.. it is properly the right of the local gov- ernment to decide if a particular land use is appropriate on a particular piece of land. Obviously, the initial planning decision of which land use goes where is governed by the minimum criteria rule, Flu, Admin. Code R. 9J-5 and Chapter 163. However, when an "in compliance" plan is implemented through rezoning or the issuance of devel- opment orders, subtle issues of compatibil- ity and the character of the neighborhood come into play. These issues flow from the local government's authority to determine the use, intensity and density of land use in the first instance, and as long as they meet the minimum criteria rule, this decision should be supported by state agencies. I Thus, whether a land use is appropriate in a particular place is properly a locallegisla- tive decision made by local elected officials. As long as the plan is in compliance, mean- ing the land use decision is consistent with the environmental policies in the plan and with 9J-5, development authorized by the plan should remain a local determination. This is especially true then a local govern- mcnt has decided to provide more protec- tion for the environment than might be pro- vided by the state.2 Thus. while the cnvironmental agencies might provide scientific advice on the en- vironmental suitability of a particular site for a particular land use decision, and they certainly should when the comprehensive plan is being prepared or amended. the is- sue of whether a land use is appropriate is normally one the permitting agencies should not make themselves in the permit- ting process. Thus, they should not even process a permit application that is incon- sistent with the local comprehensive plan. The question of when a land use is autho- rized is also a local concern. It may be that a particular land use is simply premature. Even the Florida Supreme Court has recog- nized that while a comprehensive plan may establish the maximum density and inten- sity of future land uses on a parcel of land, the decision of when to rezone property to increase land use to meet that authorized in the plan, is one of local prerogative.3 Thus, the timing of development, whether it is entitled to a permit or not, is in most cases entirely and appropriately the privilege of the local government to control. This is important, for the timing of devel- opment affects such fundamental concerns as road and infrastructure concurrency, bud- get and taxation, schools, and plans to dis- courage urban sprawl. By ignoring the lo- cal comprehensive plan, and placing their imperator on a premature land use, which has yet received local approval, the permit- ting agency in effect decides the issues of whether and when. This interferes with the local government's power to protect its lo- cal environmental resources and disenfran- (continued on page 6) Florida Planning. January 2000 3 ~~\t ,~~~;, ~l"." ',~~~' . ..,~~ (continued from page 1) " ."'. .~. ;i.~' ~ growth has still far out-paced the ability of our local and state governments to keep up with demands for a better transportation system, quality schools, protection of the environment and other fundamental public services and infrastructure. Local governments are "permitting" growth that out-strips the infrastructure and the tax base to pay for the improvements. 4 January 2000 . Florida t I'hl/lIlillK Some are now saying that Florida's growth management laws haven't worked. Others maintain that conditions would be far worse had the laws not been enacted. Perhaps everyone can agree that we need to take addi- tional steps to meet the growth related challenges that lie ahead. As Florida planners are aware, legislation is being developed by certain parties to rewrite the Growth Management Act as part of the upcoming Legislative Session. While I agree that a review of the law is needed, I have offered an alternative approach that will in effect slow the process down. Growth management affects all the people of Florida. Developing a strat- egy that will be in Floridians, best interests, for now and the longer term, will be difficult in the rush of the Legislative Session and with limited input from those affected by changes to these important laws. I believe that changes to our growth management process should come about as the result of a deliberative and inclusive review process. The outlook for future growth, and the impacts of that growth, dictates that we focus on quality change, so that we end up with a process that is truly better. Toward this end, I have filed legislation to create a 20 member commission to examine the current process and identify solutions for the future. The commission will be diverse in its composition and it will include represen- tation from the planning community. The group will develop recommenda- tions for legislative changes as well as other opportunities for process im- provements. I would expect for legislative recommendations to be ready for action in the 2001 Session. However, the timeframe is not nearly as important as doing it right. I'm pleased to be joined in this effort by Comprehensive Planning Chair, Senator Lisa Carlton, and Senate Majority Leader Jack Latvala, who will cosponsor the legislation with me. We welcome the opportunity to work closely with Florida planners in this process, and we are committed to producing a framework for change that is sensible, fair, deliberative and inclusive. Senator Tom Lee was elected to the Florida Senate in 1996. Among other appointments, he serves on the Committee on Comprehensive Planning & Military Affairs, which has lead responsibility in addressing growth man- agement issues. Prior to his tenure with the Senate, he served on the Hillsborough County City- County Planning Commission. The National Sierra Club has released a new report about sprawl, and efforts to address it, in states across the nation. Following are excerpts from that report. .SOLVING SPRAWL by Carl Pope Sierra Club Executive Director Growth is good. At least that's been the American credo up to now. Blessed with lands that seemed lim- itless, challenged to "go west" and tame the wilderness, our history, our "manifest destiny," has been to clear the forests, cut roads through rock, and plow our country, and create cit- ies. The American mission to con- quer and settle the land shaped our character. And we got good at it. Too good. Now at the start of a new century and a new millennium, Americans no Aonger reflexively equate progress ~ith development. In fact, because the costs and consequences of poorly planned development hav~ become clear and common, Americans are clamoring for better, smarter ways to grow. The good news is that suburban sprawl is not inevitable. We are not doomed to a future of traffic conges- tion, air pollution, overcrowded schools, abandoned city centers, and lost open space and farm land. America does not have to be known as a nation of parking lots, subdivi- sions and strip malls. There are so- lutions. Right now, communities and states across the nation are working hard to rein in sprawl and manage growth so that it enhances and does .ot undercut our quality of life, In 1998, voters passed over 70 per- cent of some 240 local ballot initia- - tives that sought to tame sprawling growth and created over $7.5 billion in new funding to protect open space. Governors and legislatures across the country are launching smart-growth commissions and passing smart- growth legislation. 1999 Sierra Club Sprawl Report This report is designed to recognize and rank the programs adopted by state governments to manage growth, and to showcase and promote effec- tive smart-growth solutions. We rate each of the 50 states by measuring progress in four categories: open space protection, land use planning, transportation planning and commu- nity revitalization. The selection and relevance of our criteria is discussed in greater detail in the introduction to each section. As part of our report we also include individual case studies of successful states: · In Maryland, the. state has ear- marked $140 million for the pur- chase of open space. · In Oregon, communities are de- signing growth on their own terms, encouraging development inside the urban area and protect- ing the green space outside their city limits. · In Rhode Island, the state has made a serious commitment to breaking the strangle hold of the automobile by improving access to alternative forms of transpor- tation. . And, in Vermont, a team of hous- ing advocates and environmen- talists put together a fund that has saved more than 165,000 acres of farm land while offering af- fordable housing for 10,000 people. National Trends In researching and ranking state ef- forts to manage growth, trends emerged to create a national snap- shot: Open Space Protection: Twenty-five states have taken steps toward protecting fanus and 20 states have agricultural conservation ease- ment programs. These programs compensate property owners for giv- ing up the right to future develop- ment. Overall, open-space protection enjoys extremely broad public sup- port. Yet few states have preserved enough land to protect our wild places and keep them in good health. Land Use Planning: Only 11 states have passed compre- hensive statewide growth-manage- ment acts. These laws mandate or en- courage comprehensive local plan- ning according to statewide stan- dards and enable the use of tools such as impact fees and urban growth boundaries. Clearly, the overwhelming majority of states are lagging behind in adopt- ing these powerful and effective tools -- perhaps because political leaders have yet to understand that sensible growth management isn't antithetical to economic prosperity. Indeed, as business leaders are increasingly rec- ognizing, managing growth helps ensure a strong economy. (COlllillued 011 page /2) Florida t Planning. January 2000 5 (continued from page 3) chises the public. Finally, as regards where, the location of .velopment is also normally a local issue. is is another important concern, for these decisions ultimately control the resulting urban form of the community. Under the Growth Management Act, the citizens of the local government decide what their com- munity will look like; they are empowered to create a vision for the future that then guides land use decisions,4 Where a per- mitting agency ignores this fact, and ap- proves a project that is inconsistent with the plan or current zoning, it interferes with this vision and complicates the development of the desired urban form. This also deprives the citizens of their important right under the Growth Management Act to affect how their community will look and how it will feel to live there. These are important qual- ity of life issues, which are often more im- portant that any particular, individual per- mit decision. In other words, a land use that might be permissible from an environmen- tal standpoint, may still be inappropriate from a local land use perspective. Permitting on the other hand asks how. En- .ironmental permitting by and large must ssume that a particular land use on a par- ticular site is appropriate. It should gener- ally accept that the questions of whether, when and where have already been answered by the local government in the local legis- lative process with public input and ap- proved by the Department of Community Affairs. This is especially true, if the agency was actually involved in the land use deci- sion making process by providing its input and scientific data and analysis when the plan was written. With such assumptions, permitting should proceed to mitigate the environmental impacts of the land use through the application of established en- gineering standards. Permitting, then is normally not a proactive process. On the contrary, it usually reacts to an application for a permit, either assuming that the land use decision has been made or deciding that it is irrelevant from a regula- tory standpoint. For this reason, planning must precede permitting. en an ideal world, environmental permitting agencies should not even process a permit application for a particular project without first determining whethcr from a land use (j January 2000 . Florida r Planning standpoint it is consistent with the local comprehensive plan and local zoning. For example, a water management district should not grant an environmental resource permit (ERP) for a residential or commer- cial use on a site designated conservation on the future land use map of the compre- hensive plan. It should not also review a surface water management system for a project that has not yet received local de- velopment approval. Unfortunately, most permitting statutes do not require the agencies to examine the lo- cal plan for consistency or inquire whether the developer has a local development or- der,5 Thus, developers expecting difficulty with local land use approvals sometimes first seek state environmental permits for a land use which is otherwise inconsistent with the plan. They then use these permits to coerce a local plan amendment arguing that con- cerns over wetlands have been resolved by the permitting agencies. In such a case, the permitting agency, by either its simple failure to inquire or by its failure to engage early in the land use plan- ning process, has imposed itself on the lo- cal government, and in effect dictated a land use decision inconsistent with the local citi- zens, desire for their community. To do oth- erwise interferes with the implementation of the local government's comprehensive plan and substitutes the agency's determi- nation of how for the purely local concerns of whether, when and where. This is not to say, however, that planning and permitting should never overlap. On the contrary, planning and permitting are fundamentally different things and should not be blended so that one substitutes for the other. However, sometimes a land use may be approved or allowed by the local government, but still not be permitable. To solve this dilemma, planning and permit- ting systems should be coordinated so that the implementation of each system is im- proved and the environment better pro- tected, An example of this approach is the second- ary impact analysis provided by the U,S. Army Corps of Engineers pursuant to its permitting authority under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and NEPA. Currently, the Corps is examining the sufficiency of local comprchensive plans in several places in Florida to detcrminc if they adequately protect the cnvironment when cxamining the secondary impacts associated with projects that apply for 404 permits. It is not surprising that the idea that a federal agency can "second guess" the local government's land use decisions has raised concerns at the state level. The resolution of the extent of the Corps, jurisdiction, and just how to blend it with the growth management sys- tem is currently being debated at the high- est levels in Tallahassee. The Florida Department of Transportation is also struggling with these issues, and should be commended for moving farther than any other state agency to resolve them. In response to its obligations under NEPA the agency is currently developing a pro- cess to address the growth inducing, sec- ondary impacts of its activities. The solu- tion to this problem, might be as simple as better and more meaningful coordination of permitting and planning at the local level. The agency's decision to support better co- ordination at the MPO planning level is a start. Land use issues have been raised in permit- ting cases precisely because they are often associated with the secondary impacts of a permitting decision.6 A bridge to an unde- veloped barrier island might technically be permitable, but cause other environmen- tal impacts when the houses begin to spring Up,7 A Final Order of the South Florida Water Management District, issued in June of 1997, held that while the widening of a road leading into the Florida Keys would pose secondary impacts by increasing de- velopment potential, the state's oversight and the existence of the Monroe County Comprehensive Plan "break the causal con- nection between the adverse impact of fu- ture development and the project."8 This case is currently on appeal to the Florida Land and Water Adjudicatory Commission. ...Florida has one of the nation's most com- prehensive land use and environmental regu- latory programs. Certainly our state is bet- ter for having it. Imagine what this place would look like otherwise. Would we have protected the important mangrove forests hugging our estuaries? Would there be ajet- port in the Florida Everglades? Among other successes, the Growth Management Act forced Florida to deal responsibly with its backlog of public infrastructure caused by a history of allowing development to out- (colltinued Oil page 8) WATER FOR FLORIDA'S FUTURE Bv Illid-Novelllber of each veal', Ihe . Florida Deparlmenl of Envi;onmental Protection is required to report to the Gov- ernor and Legislature on the slatus of re- gional water supply planning within each of the state 'sfive water management dis- tricts. Following are excerpts from the DEP's 1999 report. The Water Supply Challenge In 1995, an estimated fourteen million Flo- ridians used more fresh water than any other state in the East: 7.2 billion gallons a day. This enormous amount of water is menl. The Florida Water Plan, District Water Management Plans, Districtwide Water Supply Assessments, and Regional Water Supply Plans, help provide inte- grated water resource management solu- tions for each region of the state. The Florida Water Resources Act directs the five water management districts to ini- tiate regional water supply planning in all areas of the state where reasonably an- ticipated sources of water are deemed in- adequate to meet year 2020 projected de- mands during a l-in-lO year drought. Further, the districts are assigned the pri- mary responsibil- ity of conducting water resource de- velopment. In Fiscal Year 2000, the water manage- ment districts will allocate a total of $208.7 million for specific water re- source develop- ment projects. necessary to meet the drinking water de- mands of the fourth most populous state, the water needs of more than forty mil- lion visitors a year, and the irrigation needs of one of the nation's largest agricultural industries. By the year 2020, over twenty million Floridians are expected to need even more water: about 9.0 billion gallons a day. Where will that additional water come from? How much will it cost? Who will pay for it? Can we develop those sup- plies without damaging our irreplaceable lakes, rivers, wetlands, estuaries. and aqui- fers? Steps Toward a Solution .Making sure there is enough water is key to Florida's future. The Florida Water Re- sources Act (Charter 373, F.S.) rrovides an overall framework for water Illanage- In the Year 2020 Florida's popula- tion is expected to increase by 46% to 20.4 million people. Fresh water demand is projected to in- crease by 26% for a demand of 9 billion gallons per day. Agriculture and public water supply will continue to be the larg- est users. The public water supply sector is projected to increase at an average an- nual rate of 1.66% from about 2 billion gallons per day to about 3 billion gallons per day. The largest growth in demand will occur in the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) which is forecast to have almost half of the total projected statewide increase. How Will Wc Mcct Future Needs? RC1:ional Watcr Supply Planning Planning is needed to ensure that the state I~as enough water to meet the reasonable and beneficial needs of the Future while also sustaining natural systems. Already established are several water resource cau- tion area~'andI7 water supply planning regions. Water,'tesource caution areas were ;'I'1,,~>l established as~~il~sifi~ geographic areas that have wate'fbe~'buice.problems which '~"t:t\.'F"\,;:'.' . " are critical or ~~\-~l!!J.~g~R~te.d to become .. I . h' J).~.~1<J".':'i',,,'.A#), (R I 62 cntlca WIt tn' tWentYf~Y,~at:~ u e - 340(2), EA.' ~~if~Wift~'ivesource . : ':t"J'rr..t~\ ~~;r..:;..:t~: cautIOn area,f,;e~p'hasls11~~\placed ~. .~~ 't.~..\y..!.' on water I' '",conser,v\atIOn .; ~('i\ (s,373.l961( r~~ " "l~.Cil )f:l.tJ;1.~r, re'lyifes that .if,!!ii: "'~,, ,I,..r".'J} . .;RRl~ass~~~nts be completedb' !>\s:tP~~~ti);iP98. For each of the l7;P~~$}~!b~"'l'established in the state, the citsfrlcts were required to determine: Existing legalJuses, reasonably anticipated fut~r~ needs, '~l~~ting and reasonably anticipated sourcesi'o.f~)..v.ater and conser- iI"'n:"H~'>.. vation efforts; anaV' ~:':'"l> ,~&'. '::s~~~{i),. Whether eXisti~itan~~.~~:(st:~aqlY antici- pated sources ~!f~at~5:~cJ cori:s.~rvation effort~ ~re ad~~~t~~~?~~,~]ply ~\~ter for all eXistIng legaV~ses 'anp:~~asonably an- ticipated futur&1i~ds;'~d\io susthin the ."$Q),,~ " ;:\"1."... . ~ water resources~-a.nd .related natural sys- tems. . ;~~:'<;Hf~;i;~; Nine of the 17 planning regions were de- termined not to have sufficient supplies to meet the 20cy~ar projected demands while sustaining the natural systems. De- velopment of a regionat~~ter supply plan is required, by statute; for;~lny area deter- :. :,,,,~V~..';'../~',. mined to have existing;.apd,projected de- :!..~. ,.j,~ ficiencies. Only'.theySi1\vannee River Water Managemebtri.istB~t (SRWMD) . ..,or., " . found supplies to".bea~~qtiate:~lnd is not preparing a regional water.supply plan. By October I, 1998, the districts began development of regional water supply plans for each of the nine identified re- gions. Prior to October I, 1998, the South Florida Water Management District's Lower West Coast and Lower East Coast planning regions already had regional (continued on page J 4) Florida t Planning. January 2000 7 APA Resource for Youth Participation in Community Planning &A has recently published a new resource for planners, educators, and community and youth advocates to introduce and incorporate youth in- sights into the community planning process within an educational setting. "Youth Planning Charrettes," written by Bruce Race, AICP, FAIA, and Carolyn Torma, Education Manager, APA, is designed to help teachers and advocates offer creative and inspir- ing activities for children while im- parting the value of planning in our everyday lives. Ultimately, teachers, community members, planners and schoolchil- dren will benefit from new solutions to community problems resulting from these activities. "Oftentimes, young people are ex- cluded from the community planning .ocess, although, frequently, their insight is very valuable," said APA Executive Director Frank So. "Plan- ning charrettes offer opportunities for kids to become active citizens, gain a voice in community affairs, and contribute to their world." "Young people are capable of taking an active role in discerning and solv- ing community problems, and con- tributing intelligent and thoughtful solutions. We should be giving them the occasion to do that," said Torma. "Youth Planning Charrettes" con- tains case studies from events and programs held in conjunction with the San Diego Children's Museum, Smithsonian Institution's National Building Museum, George Washing-:- ton Carver Elementary School, Al- buquerque Cultural and Recreational Services Department, and the Children's Museum of Boston. Each charrette is centered within learning goals, for both children and adult participants, and includes ap- plications of history, math, science and nature, good health, and prob- lem-solving skills. The guidebook includes preparatory event check- lists, tip-sheets, sp~cific charrette exercises, a sample agenda, a plan- ning "Brain Teaser" for kids, and explanations of charrette develop- ment and implementation, among other helpful suggestions and ex- amples. "Children are extremely perceptive and have been very vocal during the charrette activities," said Race. "Heavyweight planning challenges such as transportation, homelessness, the environment, and community safety excite the children who want to help us find the answers." (continued from page 6) strip the ability of local governments to pro- vide services. For all its detractors, concurrency has at least made Florida deal with some of the costs of sprawl. The com- prehensive planning process also compelled local governments to inventory their own local environmental resources and forced them to plan for the future based on pro- jected population growth. Finally, the lo- cal citizens are now more involved in the development of their community than ever before, which is a direct result of the plan- ning process. Certainly this state's permitting system can also take credit for alIowing our state to grow to be one of the nation's most popu- lous, while at the same time trying to pro- tect our coastlines, balance conflicting de- mands for water, and protect our air, aoundwaters. rivers and lakes from .llution...By ensuring more effective in- tergovernmental coordination...and by re- quiring the state agencies to follow the lo- cal comprehensive plan when permitting, Florida can achieve both better market effi- 8 January 2000. FLorida tPLallllillg ciencies and better protection of the envi- ronment. For a copy of this paper in its entirety, check out 1000 Friends, web page at IOOOfof@usf.edu or contact them at (850) 222-6277 (phone) or terrell@nettally.com (e-mail). 1 While the Department of Community Af- fairs may not require local governments to exceed state or federal environmental per- mitting, the Growth Management Act is clear to recognize that it is the local governments prerogative to establish densities and inten- sities of land use. Section 163.3184(6)(c), Fla. Stat. (1997). 2 Environmental protection is not pre- empted to the state. Local governments have the power to exceed the level of envi- ronmental protection provided by state agencies. Martin County for example, pro- vides for more protection of isolated wet- lands than does the South Florida Water Management District. .1 Board of County Commissioners of Brevard County v. Snyder, 627 So.2d 469 (Fla. 1993). 4 Public participation in the planning pro- cess is to be provided "to the fullest extent possible." Section 163.3181, Fla. Stat. ( 1997). 5 An exception is the waste to energy pro- gram, which authorizes the Department of Environmental Protection to determine if the facility "will be in compliance with appli- cable local ordinances and with the approved....local comprehensive plans...", Section 403.7061, Florida Statutes. 6 See, Sierra Club v. St. Johns River Water Management District and FDOT, 92 ER FALR 131 (Final Order issued July 21, 1992), Conservancy, Inc. v. A. Vernon Alan Builder, 580 So.2d 772 (Fla. I st DCA 1991). 7 See, del Campo v. State Department of Environmental Regulation, 452 So.2d 1004 (Fla. I st DCA 1984). 8 Florida Bay Initiative, Inc., et aI., v. De- partment of Transportation, et aI., DOAH Case No. 95-5525 (Final Order issued June II, 1997). PROFESSIONAL DEVELO~MENT REPORT' . I . By Joe Bell AICP Vice-President for Professional Development This month with all the distractions of the holiday season and the start of the new mil- lennium, I would like to offer only a few brief reminders and re-statements from past newsletters, as well as give advance "warn- ing" of some upcoming events. AICP Exam Reminders Here are several reminders regarding the AICP exam. For those of you who filed to take the AICP exam prior to the December 6 deadline, don't forget that March 6, 2000 .is the exam registration deadline for the Washington, DC APA office to be in re- ceipt of your $240 registration fee and reg- istration verification form for the May 13. 2000 exam. If you need more information, contact Michael DeVone Jones, AICP, in Washington at 202-872-0611 x 1024 or e- mail: mjones@planning.org. Also, for in- formation on AICP exam audiocassettes, refer back to page 15 of your September 1999 edition of Florida Planning. I have had several requests for audiocassettes and will be making copies for distribution in late January or early February. Anyone who hasn't already contacted me for them needs to do so immediately! AICP study guides are available for pur- chase through the FAPA Tallahassee office. For details phone 850-222-0808 or e-mail: cpi@creativepursuitsinc.com, Also, peri- odically check for professional develop- ment information on the FAPA Chapter website at http://www.f1oridaplanning.org. You can check there for local Sections' .websites as well. These may contain in- formation on local study groups or. at least, names and phone numbers of your local Section's officers, who can offer help or suggestions to you. Local Seminars We have been successful in scheduling sev- eral all-day seminars on planning-related legislative issues and on planning and or- ganizational skills in several Section ven- ues during January. Thank you to Past FAPA President and former DCA Secre- tary Tom Pelham, AICP, and our FAPA Executive Director, Marcia Elder, for their willingness to participate in these events. The seminars are in response to "grass roots" suggestions that arose as part of an Initiatives Committee effort led by FAPA President Marie York, AICP this last sum- mer. We hope to be expanding them to address other topics suggested by Marie's committee for later dates next year. If you were a presenter in the last two years of a session at our annual state conferences in Pensacola or Miami Beach and would be willing to re-create it for presentation at several local Section seminars around the state, please contact me at 813-273-3774 x347 or e-mail: bellj@plancom.org. We are particularly interested in topics related to water resources, the natural environ- ment, redevelopment, and neighborhoods. Also, if you are a Section member who would like to help with the logistical orga- nization and seminar promotion for this kind of event in your Section. please con- tact your Section Chair or Section Program Committee and volunteer with them, and contact me as indicated above. We have found that there is great interest in the idea of the local seminars, but little enthusiasm for the local work effort involved-so we must all pull together to make the programs happen, State Conference Sessions, Tampa 2000 It is not too early to be thinking about and preparing session proposals for the Tampa 2000 Annual FAPA State Conference, scheduled for September 20-23. A notice will begin appearing in next month's Florida Planning with a March 31, 2000 submittal deadline. It always slips up on everyone, so consider this an early notice. FAPA's annual state conference is the Chapter's premier professional develop- ment effort and opportunity each year. This year is no exception. Plan now to attend. Registration will be the same as for the last three years ($275 for early registration of APA members), and the hotel is the new Tampa Marriott Waterside, next to the Tampa Convention Center at the mouth of the Hillsborough River in downtown Tampa. Rooms will be $99/night, single or double for FAPA registrants before the early September deadline or before FAPA's guaranteed block of rooms is filled. Don't wait too late to make your reservation. By then growth management law changes will be completed or well underway, and many aspects of the conference will be ad- dressing them. The Conference host Sec- tion, Sun Coast, is already busy with plans for interesting mobile tours and exceptional venues for evening receptions. Be on the lookout for more information and Regis- tration Forms in upcoming newsletter edi- tions. National Elections On a final note, as this article was written, Florida had four candidates for national APA or AICP office. As role models to Florida members who are striving to de- velop professionally, I hope you will give 'them your strong consideration when you receive your National APA Ballot. Those candidates are Bruce McClendon, AICP, Growth Management Director of Orange County, who has been conducting a peti- tion-driven candidacy for APA President- Elect, a position he held once before; Sam Casella, AICP, FSU planning school plan- ner-in-residence, and also a past APA Presi- dent, who is a candidate for AICP Presi- dent; Robert B. "Bob" Hunter, AICP. Hillsborough City-County Planning Com- mission Executive Director, and recent Sun Coast Section Chairman, who is a candi- date for the APA National Board; and Gail Easley, AICP, a former FAPA President, and candidate for the AICP Commission. Florida t Plal/I/ing . January 2000 9 Growth Management Update: ~APA Leads Charge, Fair Process Emerges No sooner had a plan emerged to hast- ily rewrite growth management, was FAPA undertaking plans of our own to push for a more reasoned course of action. FAPA has been actively calling for decisions on growth management policy to be dealt with through an open, deliberative process that is thoughtful, fair and inclusive. As reported in our last issue, a key member of the Florida Legislature announced his intentions to overhaul the state's growth management poli- cies as part of the upcoming Legisla- tive Session. He said that the pro- posal would be unveiled late in the process as a way to limit the impact '-opponents (and that groups like ~rs would dislike what he'd be pro- posing). He also said his plan had the backing of other House leaders and was favored by the Governor. Since this coming Legislative Session is his last, he vowed to pass the bill this year. FAPA has had a constructive dialogue with the Representative on these sub- jects, and we do not disagree that the process deserves review and im- provement. However, we took strong exception to the approach he outlined for addressing the issues. Adding to our concern, the Department of Com- munity Affairs announced it could no longer realistically call for lawmak- ers to refrain from tackling a rewrite over the next several months. .e stage was set for a rushed re- vamping of longstanding state poli- I () January 2()()O . Florida t Planning - cies in an environment primed for special interest influence at the ex- pense of careful analysis, precise drafting, and sound policy in the pub- lic interest. FAPA went to work to protect and. advance the concerns of Florida plan- ners, and the best interests of the Florida we care about. The Chapter office developed a two pronged cam- paign towards this end, addressing our in-house initiatives along with efforts to work with others. Internally, emergency meetings and conference calls were held with the FAPA board, legislative committee and other pertinent committees to ad- dress policy positions and strategies. Members on FAPA's broadcast e-mail roster received update reports and alerts, and a prominent notice was included in the last issue of Florida Planning. Externally, PAPA organized a diverse range of organizations to speak out against a hurried rewrite and for a deliberative review to improve the process. Participating groups appear at right and, even as we go to press, more are JOInIng. A joint letter on the groups' behalf was hand delivered to all Florida leg- islators when they last convened in Tallahassee, and FAPA met with key legislative leaders on the subject. Press releases and other media con- tacts also resulted in strong statewide coverage of our concerns. Senate leaders have since announced plans for legislation to create a study committee to examine the growth management process in a thorough and inclusive manner over the course of a year or more. The Governor later announced that the Administration will slow things down, and that the timing for change is not as important as "doing what's right". The Senate bill has been filed as SB 758 (accessible via Online Sunshine @ www.leg.state.f1.us). Like most legislation, it is not perfect, but the prime sponsor has invited our input on it and we are offering suggested improvements. FAPA's efforts are also continuing to keep the need for sound planning and a responsible review process in the forefront. Our committee initiative to conduct our own review of growth management and identify opportuni- ties for improvement is progressing as well-and it is our desire to work with the DCA and the study committee on ways to improve current policies and the broader growth management pro- cess. Meanwhile, the Chapter and our statewide membership can take heart that our efforts to-date have paid off- and that we are poised for timely ac- tion on whatever other proposals come forward to affect state policy on planning and growth management concerns in the weeks and months ahead. (colltinued Oil puge II) (con/inlled from page /0) .. S~;TI~~;L~~~"', ~Ifyou've}l,oty:~t sig~~d up forFAPA'sbroads~~:!.e- mail network arid wish to, let the Chapter's webnulster " " ": :.' ',.' ".:;' ..' ~ ," '-', .'{l,.t: ;~ know by.e;-mai.Jing e<::9nplan@mediaone:net'.PIkby contactil1g~:thefAPA:qffice. I;~is servic.e js ~i~~'of chaige.'~rid~is aykilabl~}o FAPAmembers_onJYt~,;~,;'~,. " ,I , :; d' ,.t';;-l~., ~~:_~ ":,'-,Z",, ..,>;~~'f.;;:.';/:;' . _,' '~;'f-: i...,.:...'jj ,O>:....~.'-:...~1f.:.'!:"..~.. ~..-: .:Tokeepupwiilifurlh.'~rnews()h an evenmote}~~gu-: .. larbasi~,::~tibs~ffi!?e,:tq:'tij~ chapIer's legislative:~~~s~" .. . . .;. '"A .' r"-t;' - .~ ,l",~, :' {..~j,v-..-, . _ -, ,. ':'~ . .." .' ,:,,)~;~ lett~r;:~iJff!~({~ig~H~gfs.~'SeI19 a $25..90cht~:~W9r government P':IEch.l:l~eizRrder)' to FAPA (addre~~:~on Page 20) .... ,"'~.8 .'. . ._i~;t: ,;:::(' .. _. '. :".:.~...:)',~;':- .'~t"__" , 'J:'-:~. :. ;3~\, ."~i o:~ 'In fhe~ubIic Intefest'fa The following groups have joined forces to', call for strong growth management and a re-.' sponsible review process. . American Pla~ning Association, Florida Chapter 1000 Friends of Florida Florida;Consumer Action Network Sierra Club, Florida Chapter League of Women Voters of Florida Florida Wildlife Federation Florida PIRG Save the Manatee Club Florida Council of Churches League of Conservation Voters of Florida Conservancy of Southwest Florida Legal Environmental Assistance Foundation American Lung Association of Florida Earth Justice Defense Fund Environmental and Land Use Law Center ~ Kudos to Florida Senate FAPA wishes to acknowledge several members of the Florida Senate for their leadership in propos- ing and supporting an open and deliberative review process for growth management: Senator Tom Lee, Senator Lisa Carlton, Senator Jack Latvala and President Toni Jennings. Special thanks to these Senate leaders for an outstanding job. . Forecast for New Year: FAPA Strong & Growing As we reflect upon accomplishments of the past year, and opportunities for the year ahead, FAPA has much to be proud and excited about. The Chapter's achievements have been many, and the interests of Florida planners have been well served by our state association. As an organization, we are strong and active. Where we face challenges, we are both resilient and persis- tent. We have frequently played a leadership role on matters affecting planning and the future of Florida. We are contributors, to our profession and to our state. Equally important as the particulars of what we ac- complish is who we are as an organization, how we conduct ourselves and what we stand for. Planners can take special pride in the character of Florida APA. The new year is rich with opportunity for FAPA. As one important part thereof, the policies and programs that govern what we do as Florida planners, how we do it and the end resulnhe kind of place in which we live and that which we create for others, will be un- der review, and Florida APA can playa leading role in shaping the directions for the new millennium. Recent threats to sound policy have caused us to be all the more united, focused and effective. So let us enter the new year with resolve to, together, build upon our solid foundation and make 2000 a success of even greater proportions. The Chapter Office has moved to a new location. The move was accompanied by the usual "trauma" of hav- ing accumulated so much stuff-plus an assortment of unexpected technical problems with phones, com- puters and such. The process of unpacking and "get- ting settled" is still underway, so patience is appreci- ated. Our new venue is a nice one, centrally located in a small complex of cedar buildings with trees and mostly non-profits as neighbors. Visitors and corre- spondence welcome! 1260 Cedar Center Drive Tallahassee, FL 3230 I (850) 222-0808 (Telephone) (850) 222-3741 (Fax) cpi @creativepursuitsiIlC.COIll (E-Illai I) Florida" Plan Il illg . January 2000 11 (continI/ed from page 5) Those states .that have had growth management acts on the books for a ...i.ecade or more offer a lesson to those ~tes just now passing laws or con- sidering doing so: Enforcement is the key. Oregon is, by and large, enforc- ing its Act. Florida, by and large, is not. The difference is visible and tan- gible: Florida continues to sprawl while Oregon.is managing its growth. Community Revitalization: Twenty-eight states now have brownfields redevelopment pro- grams to clean up abandoned and often polluted industrial sites. These programs are a big step in the right direction as long as, in implementa- tion, environmental and public health standards are not watered down. Unfortunately, some states have cre- ated weak brownfield programs or ~ve eviscerated them before they ~an be implemented. Michigan, for example, has a brownfields program on the books, but the public health and environmental standards have been gutted since the law's passage. Transportation: From 1996 to 1997, 21 states spent over half of their federal transporta- tion dollars on new road construc- tion. New highways are sprawl mag- nets -- once built, they attract more cars and more development. Better to invest in repairing and maintain- ing existing roads, and building transportation alternatives. Unfortu- natel y, from 1993 to 1997, 26 states spent less than $10 per urban resi- dent per year on mass transit con- struction. Twelve states spent less .an $5 per urban resident per year. Thanks to changes in federal high- way spending and state-level leader- 12 January 200n. Plorida ,. Planning ship in places like Rhode Island, a few states are beginning to provide better transportation choices by in- vesting in bike paths, buses and rail lines. There is a movement among a growing number of states to make the transportation planning process more transparent and participatory - a move that will ensure that transpor- tation systems are actually designed to suit their users. Limits and Restrictions This report does not deal in the ideal. It compares the states with each other, not against an absolute. And a good thing too: In the open space protection category, only two states received at least half of the possible points. In land use planning, only eight states did, and in transportation planning, only 12. Clearly there is still much work to be done to curb sprawling development and manage growth - even in states where progress is being made. In addition, this report does not take into account future growth. Though most sprawl can be traced to poor planning and inefficient develop- ment, the impact of a growing popu- lation should not be ignored. While we work to rein in growth, we must also remain committed to population stabilization. Finally, this report acknowledges there are no quick fixes that will solve the problems of sprawl and its consequences. Many of the solutions showcased here are new or recently enacted. While they represent progress today, their true effects on our quality of life will not be evident until tomorrow. Slowing sprawl requires deeds, not just words. It's up to all of us to make sure our states don't head the wrong way. For a copy of the full report, check out Sierra's web page at http:// www.sierraclub.org or contact them at (415) 977-5500, Sierra Club, 85 Second Street, Second Floor, San Francisco, CA, 94105-3441. Challenging Sprawl A new report from the Na- tional Trust for Historic Pres- ervation-Challengi ng Sprawl: Organizational Re- . sponses to a National Problem - presents a collection of speeches, articles, and essays on sprawl from a variety of national and local organiza- tions, business and religious leaders, and public officials. The report includes contact information for more than 100 groups and information about the resources and strategies they have developed to fight sprawl. The report can be ordered online through the National Trust's Preservation Books Catalog for $10. Phon~: 202-588-6296 E-mail: preservation_books@nthp.org Webpage: hup:/ /www.nthpbooks.com Be }\'\~'!'ER-Sl:\'G LETO~ & ASSOCIATES. INCOHPOllJ\TED 520 South Magnolia Avenue Orlando, Florida 32801 (407) 843-5120 FA.X (407) 649-866,1 Mark Bentley, EsQ.. AICP I:~b_ I I 11 I~ q. . land Use & Zoning law . Eminent Domoln . Administrative law . Environmental Law Mechonlk Nuccio Bentley Williams & Hearne 101 E, Kennedy Blvd,. Suite 3140 . Tampa. Fl33602 813.276-1920 . Emall MNBWH@Flartdalandlaw.cam SOLIN AND ASSOCIATES. INC. Planning Consultants Comprehensive Plans land Development Codes Housing Assistance Expert Testimony 901 Douglas Avenue, Su~e 207 AI1amonte Springs, Florida 32714 (407) 682.7200 ROBERT K. SWARTHOUT INCORPORATED City Planning Consultants 2200 N. Federal Highway, Suite 209 Boca Raton, Florida 33431 561-392-5800 duncanlassociates land development regulatiOns growth management Impact tees . Marty Hodgkins, AICP 390 soufh luna lOne luno beOCh florldo 33408 561.626.2420 r:561.630.9852 marty@dunconplon.com visit our web page al www.dunconolon com _. .... .-' . _,'.. ..... '1. -, '. ,'" ... ". -(ONSUlTANTDIRECTOR~' ....... , , I . ~........Jl'j ~.II....P'j ~....,;; ~.II,; ~~ rd LARUE PLANNING & MANAGEMENT SERVICES,lnc. . Cumprchcnsivc rlan~LORs . Slrah:gic Planning . Economic [kydnpmcnt . Anncl:lIitm Analysis JAMES G. LARUE, A./.C.P. Plesident IlH JoKl.snn Slr~.<I. Suite lOb ~ FOf1 Myers. FL H.....)l "'41.JJ4.))hh ~ 1:,\:\ "'~ I.J}.4.!'tJK" ~ E.M.lil: jbrucllllScd'alll':,lttl ~t'* Berrf:tt!an ~ifar ,;....._.:..~,-;.:/:- . Corrul1Iuuty P1&Hnin& - EnviroruncnlitJ ShlCtics . Redevelopment Plaluullg - Trau$I>011anon Planning ~ New C~l(nnnuury IXslgn ~ L...I1I1cb:..:ltVC Archilcc(\uc erysla/ Hi\'f!r. Oeala. OrllmJo. Tamp". Tatlah(l.fSee 1414 S.W. MlUtm Lull'ltl Kin.g.Jr. ,\ve ~ OcOlla.. FI. 3-4474~)12\1 (J52)J68~505!- Fu (J51)J6s..~6J -1(_111..11: nauPros@hhllnc.cum (MD) WOARIS-DEPEW ASSQCW=ITES, INC. ENGINEERS. PlANNERS . ENWRONMEN1Al SCENTlSlS DavId W. Depew, AICP - 2216Mcrnont Averoa. Fort MyEll\, FL3ml (941) 337-3993 .FAX (941) 337-3994 ~ ADVERTISING IN llHE CONSULTANT DIREcrORY The Consultant Directory is a fitting place for Business Cards to be showcased. $250 buys an entire year of ads in the Consultant Directory, also available at $30 per issue. Display Ads to promote your business, con- ferences, new projects, and more are also availaple in all sizes for placement throughout the publication. Rates for display ads are $500 for full page ads, $300 for half page ads, and $175 for a quarter page ad. Get results the cost effective way: Be seen by thousands throughout Florida and the coun- try in Florida Planning! Contact our Marketing Department at (850) 222-0808. Engineers + Planners fAMM MY IHOfHIDfHO. IHC. ArwCl:Otl~ ... ... "Quality By Design" Randy Kranjec. AICP 727/531.3505 ooanjeC@lbegrp.com Providing Comprehensive Planning end Design Services Throughout Florida for Sixteen Years [C GLATTING JACKSON KERCHER ANGLIN LOPEZ RINEIIART Orla"do . Wes/ Palm Beach www.glall;ng.com Wade .~"'IIIIIII. -Trl-m r~~' IL ~~J1 .~';illIl. .. Comprehensive Plans/LORs "EARs " Redevelopment Plans .. Urban Design/Streetscape Plans .. Recreational and Environmental Planning 4919 Memorial ~ighway Suite 200. ..' . :.:. .Tampa, ,Florida 33634 .~. :Ph~~B~ 813.~,8366:.: ~~,ax:' ~n,884.5J90 i .'-! :~:Wa~~tri!l!,~E!~2 =EI MILLER SELLEN CONNER & WALSH Community Planners, Designers, & Engineers One Firm - Comprehensive Solutions 214 East lucerne Circle . Orlando, Florida 32801 407.422.3330 . fax: 407.422.3329 . 'NWW.mscwinc.com ~ Every month, 2,400 planners, elected officials, media representatives and Florida AP A subscribers look to Florida Planning for timely and informative articles and reports on a broad range of topics of concern to planners. Florida Planning's JOB MART and CONSULT- ANT DIRECTORY also offer a valuable \ink between planners and employers. Subscription rate for non-members of FAPA is $25 per year. For more information, call (850) 222-0808. Florida r Planning. January 2000 13 (colltinl/I'd .limll page 7) water supply plans. These two plans will be updated to ,ileet all the statutory re- quirements that became effective after the .tial plans were completed. . Regional water supply plans are to In- clude: . A twenty-year planning horizon. . A quantification of the water supply needs. . A list of water source options for wa- ter supply development which will exceed the needs identified. . For each water source option the esti- mated amount of water available and the estimated costs. . A list of water supply development projects that meet the criteria in sec- tion 373.0831(4). . A listing of those water resource de- velopment projects that support water supply development. . For each water resource development project listed: I. An estimate of the amount of wa- ter to become .vailable. . The timetable and the estimated costs. 3. Sources of funding and funding needs. 4. Who will implement the project and how it will be implemented. . A funding strategy. . Consideration of how the options serve the public interest or save overall costs. . Technical data and information. . Minimum flows and levels and asso- ciated recovery and prevention strate- gies established within the planning region (s.373.036I, FS.). Water Resource Development Proiects and Fundinc Section 373.0361, FS,. directs the water management districts to include in thcir water supply plans "a listing of thosc wa- tcr rcsource dcvelopment projccts that _port watcr supply dcvclopmcnt" and idc ;111 csti mate of the amount of wa- lcr to bccomc available through cach wa- tcr rcsollrce developmcnt project (s..\7.l.03() I (2J(b) I. <111<.1 2., FS.). 14 January 2000. F[orida ,. ['[anning Estimated Costs Through its review of water management district budgets (Section 373.536(5),FS,), the Governor's Office requires the districts to identify funds allocated specifically for water resource development projects. For fiscal year 1999-2000, the districts are allocating approximately $208.75 mil- lion for all water supply activities, which represents a decrease of approximately $22.5 million from last year's budget. About $66.4 million of the water supply area of responsibility is allocated for wa- ter resource development projects and water supply development assistance. This represents an increase of approxi- mately $12,1 million over last year's al- location. All of the districts increased their allocation to these projects. As regional water supply plans are com- pleted. the identification and quantifica- tion of water resource development projects will be clearer, and funding for their implementation will increase as needed within each district. .' . _ , " ',:i"~~~:~!:'!.' J:-.,.':>.%'-I;i,:~~/)t::'~'I>~~,~~~ Howin6ch~w~ier is.b'-ehlgiused1r:i,j 1,. :!:i~:: t,'i.'-. -:<'~:'~':Zl}:~~;.\~~ ': ./~'\'~.t':';~;~:~}~~~'~~\'::(r{~: :..:;~,?', · In :Y9.95~':tO:t~IUre:SnAYiilel' ;#s'~'\~A in ~~~~l~~;~~t~b~~r;~:%:~f.ljf(~~~::~ gaIl0ns{a.'daYi~(BGE))"i.,;;~.<,. u., ~~.r,1 · ~~:,~kt~l~~~~~~tt;:!~ an 19iher,S:tA1"?\:~a~.rot:t~e.;:Mi.~~,.:.: sissippi). . "'~' ;" ... :".::, Who's ,been using the.'wa~~r?'.; · Agricultur~ used api)[~ximatdy '.." 45% of all fresh water. · Approximately 29% of all fresh water was used for public sup- ply. · In 1995, Palm Beach County used the largest amount of fresh water. · Total fresh water withdrawals in the SFWMD are greater'than the total of all the other districts. A National Drought Policy Commis- sion, began.)neeting in July:if1.re:-. sp~n~e tof~~,eral. ~~gislati~:.~)~;p.h; ,. J<illli~i:t 20dO~'theCom'inissibllfis"i<ii.: -," '-'-fw-{'i~::iFJ- '''''f~'''~~U'' '':t;;';;I;.,.~:tdr'"~:l'"'''fi~....>ft.,.((W.J.'''::'1,_:''' ; . r'g~d.n{mend~~.fP' tfi~J,)E'resTd.~ilt:~1ifi1;I\:~~ G.d";~'!~ss, al{~ti9I1til;pt~\ig@p.~lr~y.;':;'~: . Yo;...': ~~%~, ' Making It Happen Water supply has clearly emerged as a pri- ority state issue. In fiscal years 1997- 2000, the five water management districts have allocated almost $440 million toward implementing water supply-related re- quirements of the Water Resources Act. From the work completed so far, it is clear that existing or reasonably anticipated sources of supply will be inadequate to meet 20-year projected demands for many areas of the state. Meeting these demands will pose difficult and costly choices. When the Regional Water Supply Plans are completed next year. Florida will have a much better understanding of the avail- able options and their approximate costs. For a copy of the full report, which in- cludes a breakdown of plans and activi- ties for each of the water management dis- tricts, contact the DEP's Office of Water Policy, 2600 Blairstone Rd, M.S. 46. Tal- lahassee, FL 32399 or call (850) 488- 0784, ~ I. !.- . By Lorraine Duffy, AICP The Hillsborough County City-County Plan- ning Commission, under the direction of Robert B. Hunter, AICP, has contracted with the noted land use firm of Freilich, Leitner and Carlisle from Kansas City, MO, to de- velop an implementation component for Hillsborough County's Comprehensive Plan. While all local governments are re- quired to have a comprehensive plan. the concept of a specific implementation com- ponent is not common amongjurisdictions. . The purpose of this new component is to outline plan priorities and identify specific strategies to achieve those priorities. With over 1,200 Gaps in Hillsborough's Plan, the document had become everything to everybody. It was used both to argue for and against development proposals. While the intent was well meaning, the document does not provide that overall guidance of WHERE Hillsborough County is headed. . Between 1996 and 1998 Hillsborough County was working through an arduous 2 year "discussion" with the DCA to finalize the Hillsborough EAR. The urban sprawl indices used by the DCA indicated that Hillsborough County needed to firm up their development approval and planning pro- cesses and better manage growth within their urban service area or sprawl would be the future. During that same time, Bob Hunter, executive director of the Planning Commis- sion, attended a conference where Robert H. Freilich, Esq. the attorney noted for bring- ing the landmark growth management case, Golden v. Ramapo to the NY Supreme Court, was speaking. Freilich spoke of cre- ative approaches to directing and timing of growth using win-win proposals that capi- talize on tax savings to rural landholders, using development fees, not only as a rev- enuc source, hut as growth managcmenttool, Hillsborough County Responds to Sprawl using develop- ment "tiers" to' stage growth, and putting the County as a part- ner in the devel- opment busi- ness. Hunter concluded that Freilich was just the person to help Hillsbor- ough get a grip on their growth issues. Planning Commission Executive Director Robert B. Hunter explains the Urban Service Area concept. At the end of 1998, Hillsborough County adopted a ma- jor revision to the adopted USA growth man- agement strategy. These changes generally addressed the DCA concerns regarding sprawl and used a "tiered" approach to de- scribing growth areas. Freilich and his team, headed on the planning side by Michael Lauer, AICP, have had the task of implementing those revised strategies. They were brought on board as the revised plan was taking shape and pro- vided valuable insight into developing a policy foundation that would support cre- ative and solid implementation tools. The planning team has been working with the Planning Commission, staff of the local planning department and county administra- tion, groups of interested citizens, includ- ing chambers of commerce, homebuilders, agriculturists and citizen activists to seek reaction and comment on their proposals and then revise and redraft to address those con- cerns. The appointed 10 member Planning Com- mission determined a prioritization of the Gaps in the adopted Comprehensive Plan, with efficient use of land coming out at num- ber one. Proposed revisions to the Compre- hensive Plan have been drafted and are un- der review by various groups, These revi- sions include proposals such as the use of rcquired minimum densities within the USA: minimulll standards for connectivity be- tween developments; permissibility ofTDRs Crolll rural areas IOlargeled areas inlhe USA where density bonuses would apply; and having the county plan infrastructure (wa- ter/sewer) in areas in close proximity to es- tablished communities, capitalizing on the other available services in the area. These proposals were brought before the Hillsborough County Board of County Com- missioners for the first time in a workshop on October 27, 1999. There was enough interest on the part of the Board to direct that a second workshop on the issue be sched- uled. Since many of the concepts being pro- posed are unfamiliafto many policymakers and citizens, there will be substantial oppor- tunity for the public to review and respond to the concepts being proposed before ac- tual plan amendments are brought to public hearings. The work being performed on the Hillsborough County Plan has been furthered by a contract issued by Hillsborough County to have the same firm draft revisions to their LDC. This will pro- vide an enormous amount of continuity be- tween these two projects, revising the Com- prehensive Plan and the LDRs in quick suc- cession. For further information about this ongoing project contact Robert B. Hunter, A ICP. at 813-272-5940. Lorraille DlIff," is a Sellior Plallnillg Mall- ager wilh Ihe Hillshorollgh COllnly Cil\' - COllllly Planning CO/lllllissioll. Florida ,. Planning. January 2000 15 "'ht ,_... I..~"'l_ tAi~;.:~~.I~,i~~g;~i~;;'>~,:'~'~' :.>._ i~'~~A"" 0 _..... ..~ . ji~:i~,_;1 ,~ ,\ 0"'''';'-:.''' JIII!l Plodnn;"" '\S!\>odRI;un .,,(' .. .~:~ . . .:\~ ".........- ,.......... of ~.i{I..J~ _ '."-.:;:,~~>-;::\~,:"~"?~~'-~I .~;......:..'::.., .---- . .........iU......~.....area..~...- ........ llil'1tftM.1t*Ic . .ttf1IIo.OIII......IUJIIi'lIIIt~,~...~...........~~.... q,..a4ll..114...aJ1Q........'.........-.......-..~ ~_.. .,..'::?;~~~~~~~J;-~::- . ..... - . . ~ I At the APA/ AICP web site at www.planning.org you can... · Find your colleagues on APA's new membership database · Search Jobs Online for your next job · Buy hard-to-find books and reports from Planners Book Service · Find a consultant or register your firm at ConsultantSearch.m · Keep up to date on the latest planning research · Learn about recent and pending planning legislation · And much more! Stop by today! Hi January 2(H)(l . Florida ,. l'lallllillg (colllilllll'djimlllJ(fgl' 2) nominees for the statewide Chapter offices, while striving for di- versity and geographic balance. I will be appointing that commit- tee soon for our 2000 elections. David Van Horn has recently been selected as the FAPA webmaster, and an E-stuff Group has been formed to work with him in devel- oping and maintaining our web site. Atthe state level, FAPA members periodically are appointed by the Governor's office. the Legislature. or Department Secretaries to serve on various committees. In 1999, I served on the State's Transporta- tion & Land Use Study Committee. This fall another statewide com- mittee was fonned with FAPA representation Beth Lemke is serving on an FDOT advisory committee to help with development of the 2020 State Transportation Plan. Her committee's focus is on sustainability concerns. Additionally, the Governor's office will have a State Comprehensive Plan Committee to address revising the state plan. FAPA likely will have a representative on this committee, with the expectation that Tom Pelham will represent us. Tom also heads up an internal FAPA State Plan Committee. Linc Walther will soon be appointed by DCA as our representative on their Local Mitigation Strategy Review Committee. Also at the state level, Annetta Jenkins is the nominee we have recom- mended for the Governor's Affordable Housing Commission. The Secretary of DCA has reinstated a version of the fonner Growth Management Advisory Committee, which Marcia Elder serves on for FAPA. This past year there has been a State Septic Tank Workgroup, with FAPA represented by Steve Pitkin and Marcia Elder. This group was formed by DCA, DEP and the Department of Health as a result of the proposed legislation to change septic tank regulations and planning reviews. The 1999 Legislature created the Clean Fuel Florida Advisory Board, which is housed under the DCA and deals with alternative fuels for meetirig Florida's transportation and clean air needs. Marcia Elder was appointed to that group on behalf of FAPA's energy program. Additionally, Marcia heads up the Public Interest Forum consisting of a diverse mix of public interest oriented orga- nizations that meet monthly, and weekly during the legislative session, to coordinate on issues of common interest. That group turned out to be an important factor in our recent growth manage- ment victory as reported on elsewhere in this issue. On the national level, Jan Hansen serves on the national APA Leg- islative Committee. In addition, I serve on APA's Chapter Presi- dents Council, which provides FAPA the opportunity to glean in- formation from other chapters around the nation and to share infor- mation from our chapter. My first meeting with that group was in Chicago ill August. This is just a part of the Chapter's many activities and initiativcs on behalf of Florida planners. So. the next time you are asked, "what docs FAPA do for its membersT. you can hanclthem this impres- sive list-and tell them it renects only a portion of our mcmber services. Happy Ncw Year! . )1~Df~1 ( R f R By Christina Miskis FAPA Student Representative . While the winds of change blow fur- tively around Florida's growth management sys- tem, I'm happy to report that work in one arena of plan- ning, community development. shows no signs of slowing down with the help of university partnerships. An example of innovative community development is the work of the Center for Urban Redevel- opment and Empowerment (CURE), housed in the Florida Atlantic University's College of Architecture and Urban and Pub- lic Affairs, and under the inspired director- ship of Dr. Jerry Kolo. The work of the CURE was born as a result of a 1992 provision of the Florida Legisla- ture to provide FAU funds to undertake ac- tivities for enhancing re-development in the 1-95 corridor. The self-stated primary pur- pose of the CURE is to "participate actively in the process and task of empowering pub- lic, private, and civic entities in the 1-95 Corridor to address community needs and problems". . Since 1992, the CURE has undertaken microbusiness training, fair housing semi- nars, and job skill services to very low-in- come residents, In addition, the CURE staff lead applied community research projects, such as group surveys, visioning sessions, charelles, and strategic planning projects working in concert with municipalitics and non-profit organizations. Among lhc many hands-on projccts that the CURE sponsors arc eight computer labs that allow commu- nity rcsidcnts to improvc computcr skills, and incrcase their compctitivcncss in the job market. The CURE's strong partnerships allow projects such as the computer labs to di- rectly reach those in need, and enhance the quality of the serviccs. The pmtncrs include community development corporations, com- munity organizations, research centers and local and state government, such as the le- gal Aid Society of Palm Beach, the NAACP, the City of Dania Beach, the Mount Bethel Human Services Corp. and the U.S. De- partment of Housing and Urban Develop- ment. Partners such as Mount Bethel pro- vide sites, utilities, Internet connections and instructors at the computer labs while the CURE provides the computers, curriculum and technical support. Through the CURE's partnerships and grants, the center continues to expand its reach in the community. The U.S. HUD has recently awarded a $400,000 grarit to the CURE that will allow the center to ex- pand much of its work, including microbusiness training that will grow from an initial three training sessions in 1994, to 27 sessions by the Spring of 2000. The training has already expanded to nine sites. The HUD funding was awarded to the CURE so that it could serve as one of the many Community Outreach Partnership Centers (COPC) throughout the nation, which parallels the mission of the existing projects. The CURE at FAU is not the only Commu- nity Outreach Partnership Center in the state of Florida. The University of Florida, Uni- versity of South Florida, University of West Florida, and Florida International Univer- sity have also received 3-year grants of up to $500,000 to serve as a COPe. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Devel- opment sponsors Community Outreach Part- nership Centers in accredited public or pri- vate institutions of higher education grant- ing 2 or 4 year degrees, which must show in their application for grant funding how they will play an active role in community revitalization. HUD's theory is that the physical and economic resources of colleges and universities are vital to grass-roots ef- forts to create strong, vibrant communities. The community developmcnt work and the partners of COPCs vary from onc univer- sity to the ncxt, but all share the goal of contributing to community revitalization. For example, the Florida International Uni- versity COPC pmtners with area commu- nity development corporations in concert with LISC, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, to provide community assess- ments and visioning plans as well as to pro- vide technical expertise to implement eco- nomic development projects. The Uni- versity of South Florida plans on opening a one-stop career/job center and a small busi- ness incubator among its other initiatives. The community development work of uni- versities is ambitious, but it has also shown positive, concrete results. The work of the Center for Urban Redevelopment and Em- powerment in Ft. Lauderdale exemplifies the success that can result from partnerships between universities and the local commu- nity. If you would like to keep up with the exciting community development work of universities, a good site is HUD's office of University partnerships at hUp:// www.oup.org/ Christina Miskis is a graduate student in planning at FAU-FlU. She is specializing in community and economic development, with a special interest in Geographic Infor- mation Systems. APAJAICP Website At the APAI AICP website at www.planning.org you can... · Find your colleagues on APA's new membership database · Search lobs' Online · Find a consultant or register your firm at Consultant Search · Keep up to date on the latest planning research . Learn about recent and pending planning legislation ...And much more! Stop by today! Florida r Planning. January 2000 17