Eliminate Privately Initiated Comprehensive Plan Amendments

All of us have heard much talk about growth bringing progress to Sarasota and Manatee County, as well as the enlarged tax base it provides to improve our economy. Under present tax sources, revenues won’t even come close to paying the costs associated with growth.

It has been obvious for some time that we have not kept pace with the infrastructure of our burgeoning population. As a result, not only are our economic problems mounting, but our environmental and lifestyle amenities are suffering. We must face the fact that we need greater investments in infrastructure and that it will cost everyone - both new and existing residents - money.

It appears that the main emphasis of growth management is to streamline permitting, allowing residential and commercial development to occur at a faster rate and with less oversight.
 
It is imperative that the development permitting process allow sufficient time for local planning staff and the public to review projects. This is something that is not presently provided. 
 
Development interests already have vast influence over the planning process; comprehensive planning should not serve to encourage inappropriate development and short-term economic gain at the expense of long-term environmental protection. To delude ourselves into believing that growth is still possible and desirable if only we label it "sustainable" or color it "green" will just make it more painful to admit that the concept itself is illogical.
 
As we have witnessed the “gutting” of the Sarasota 2050 Plan, it is difficult to envision that our local government can adequately address the future need for affordable housing, safe hurricane evacuation, existing traffic and road deficiencies, and schools in the planning process.  It must be recognized that there are limitations to the amount of development that can be sustained.

As we have seen in Manatee County, development east of I-75 uses an artery designated for regional and national traffic as a local road. This creates a serious traffic problem on a road designed for interstate travel. Such issues hamper the use of I-75 as a hurricane evacuation route.
 
To correct some of the inequities in the land use planning process, ManaSota-88 strongly recommends the elimination of “privately initiated comprehensive plan amendments”. Privately initiated comprehensive plan amendments are changes in local land use policies generally proposed for the benefit of a specific developer or group of developers.
 
Elimination of these amendments would enable land-use planning issues to be addressed on a public priority basis. 
 
The results of poorly planned growth are spilling over into all facets of our lives, with most property taxes increasing significantly over the past decade. We haven't seen anything yet, with our traffic conditions steadily becoming more untenable, to the billions of dollars owed in unpaid infrastructure backlog costs caused by poorly planned construction practices.

Glenn Compton is the Chairman of ManaSota 88, a non-profit organization that has spent over 30 years fighting to protect the environment of Manatee and Sarasota counties.