Growth: Too Much Too Fast

We have all heard much talk of growth bringing progress to our area and of the enlarged tax base it provides to better our economy.

Every day that passes, Florida gains nearly 1,000 new permanent residents who demand an additional 111,000 gallons of water and generate 95,000 gallons of wastewater not to mention their need for roads, parks, fire and police facilities, schools, and electric power.

Under the present tax sources, revenues won t even come close to paying the costs associated with growth. It is doubtful that many of us who have lived in this area for a few years would define what we have seen happening in our area as progress. To the contrary, our roads are choking with traffic while, at the same time, most of our county commissioners vote for every proposed large rezone to permit increased development density that comes down the pike.

A good example of their lack of concern for their constituents and their eagerness to accommodate developers at any cost is all of the rezones that have been approved in the Lake Manatee and Evers Reservoir watersheds. This means packing even more cars on roads already clearly overburdened, and with no relief in sight.

All of this subsidized growth and unmet infrastructure needs must be paid for. This means there will be less money to manage our environment. To sum it up briefly, we are subsidizing very few at the expense of the many. Hardly an example of the free enterprise system.

Just as in other areas, in Manatee County, a healthy economy and a healthy environment are inseparable. If one slips, the other follows.

The results of poorly planned and unpaid growth are spilling over into all facets of our lives. Our property taxes have increased significantly over the past 10 years, and we haven't seen anything yet. Our traffic conditions are steadily becoming untenable due to the billions of dollars owed for infrastructure backlog caused by poorly planned construction practices.

While none of these problems can be solved cheaply or easily, if we don't do a better job of planning, much of what kept us here or brought us here will be lost.

Manatee County has two sources of surface drinking water, Lake Manatee and Lake Evers, and we are going to need both, plus whatever decent quality of groundwater is available.

Yet, instead of trying to protect and conserve these resources, and in defiance of all good land use practices, the Manatee County Commission has rezoned much of the land in the watersheds. They have greatly increased the density and have permitted commercial and industrial development to occur in the watersheds that furnish drinking water for many of our existing residents.

Land-planning guidelines to protect water sources (watersheds and aquifer recharge areas) say that watersheds may be used for forestry and recreation but not for industries that pollute the environment and that the use of such areas for housing is just as risky. County and developer consultants who have condoned and pushed for the rezonings have said, despite excellent long-standing evidence to the contrary, that state-of-the-art technology such as retention ponds and the use of wetlands to treat stormwater runoff will protect the drinking water supply.

Not only will Manatee County s water quality be adversely affected but the quantity will be affected because drainage patterns will be altered, and recharge areas will be destroyed. Permitting increases in density rezones at the same time people already living here are asked to conserve water flies in the face of all logic.

Additionally, as Manatee County must turn more and more to groundwater to augment our surface water supplies, the costs for water treatment will escalate and the quality of our drinking water will inevitably decline.

Manatee County will not continue to be an attractive area to tourists, retirees, or industry if water rationing becomes a routine part of our lives or if the costs of water continue to rise beyond what is considered reasonable.

If not one new person moved to Florida over the next 10 years, we would still face an enormous growth management problem. The fact is 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.

In summary, if we are to have a stable and prosperous economy, we must protect our natural resources, our water resources, and our beaches, and to avoid adding to our backlog infrastructure costs, our county commissioners need to make sure new growth pays its fair share.

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.