Lawmakers approve growth control bill

Last-minute compromises lead to tighter rules on development, but some critics groan about the changes.

By DAN DeWITT
Published May 7, 2005

TALLAHASSEE - Florida lawmakers late Friday passed a growth management bill they hope will stop the spreading epidemic of overcrowded roads and schools and overtaxed water supplies.

But environmentalists and the Florida Association of Counties were not so enthusiastic.

They said the bill, which passed the House and Senate unanimously, includes so many provisions to satisfy developers that it may do more harm than good. They were especially concerned that the language could undermine a requirement about roads to serve development.

Critics also said the primary thrust of the measure is not to control growth but to allow more development by providing roads, water and schools.

The legislation commits $1.5-billion this year to roads, schools and alternative water sources, and $750-million annually in future years.

But that barely addresses the needed $27-million in road projects, said Randy Johnson, R-Celebration, the House sponsor of the growth management bill.

The measure also requires that schools and drinking water be available to serve new developments, filling two of the biggest gaps in current law. It also reduces from five years to three the lag allowed between the time when development is permitted and adequate roads are in place.

The Senate dropped its contentious proposal to give counties and school boards power to raise sales and gasoline taxes without voter approval.

The Senate wanted the new tax revenue, potentially as much as $4.5-billion annually, to be spent only in areas designated for urban development.

The House, however, considered that a tax increase and refused to consider it, blocking progress on the bill for weeks until Senate negotiators agreed to drop it.

Without the local taxes, environmentalists said, the bill contains few meaningful restraints on sprawl, especially since the modification of the House's proposal to focus some of the $1.1-billion in the coming year's transportation allocation into urban areas.

Beyond that, "there's a lot in this law that has absolutely nothing to do with growth management," said David Gluckman, a lawyer for the Florida Wildlife Federation.

The House bent only slightly on its "pay and go" provision that allows developers who have paid transportation impact fees to build anywhere in the county. The modified version is still tied so loosely to counties' road-building plans that it undermines the bill's assurances that development will be served by adequate roads, environmentalists said.

An amendment added in recent days lets counties allow developments of up to 20 acres in some rural areas without state review, said Eric Draper, policy director for Audubon of Florida.

These counties often have small planning departments that need the state's assistance, he said, and the dense development it allows in rural areas "is just the kind of growth this bill is designed to prevent."

Draper, however, applauded the bill's provisions on water. It requires that water is available for development and helps protect polluted lakes and rivers from further contamination by runoff.

It also devotes $200-million next year and $100-million annually in the future for matching funds to help water suppliers and water management districts develop alternative sources of water.

Bush has been pushing growth management legislation for years, though nothing this ambitious.

Lee cited growth management one of his top priorities and earlier this week said time was slipping away on a rare political opportunity to pass a "major, major piece of legislation."

"These stars don't line up real often," Lee said.

[Last modified May 7, 2005, 06:45:02]