The governor's commission on growth management wants to give cities and counties the freedom to make the kind of mistakes that created this mess in the first place.

Only days before its next formal meeting and a month before its work is to be submitted to the state Legislature, Gov. Jeb Bush's growth commission finally has released a draft of its much-anticipated plan. The Executive Summary is left blank, "to be drafted last," but let's save the writers some work:

After 25 years of trying to force cities and counties to deal with the crush of development growth, Florida needs to step back from the fight and trust that they will do better if left alone.

That's right. To an extraordinary extent, the Growth Management Study Commission is recommending that cities and counties be given more freedom to repeat the mistakes that in the past three decades have produced 16-million people, traffic-choked highways, overcrowded schools, mounting landfills and water shortages. Here's a sample of how the commission proposes to change the role of the state:

Regulation of major developments: Eliminate. The state's Development of Regional Impact process, which requires builders of large-scale development to mitigate the impacts of their projects, would be eliminated by Jan. 1, 2003. It is to be replaced by an undefined plan that would count on adjacent cities to create their own requirements.

City and county growth plan requirements: Strip. Local "comprehensive plans" drive the state's growth management laws, but the commission is recommending that the plans in the future address only three "compelling" state interests: 1) environmental resources "of statewide significance," to be later defined; 2) roads "of statewide significance," to be later defined; and 3) hurricane and disaster preparedness.

New roads along with new development: Eliminate. The so-called concurrency provision, which has been the cornerstone of growth policy for 15 years, requires that local governments provide necessary public improvements "concurrent" with development. The commission would eliminate that requirement and put in its place a "full cost accounting" that cities and counties must consider when they decide.

The state's growth watchdog: An "assistant." The state Department of Community Affairs, which has been called upon over the past two decades to sternly rebuke some counties that refused to follow growth management law, would serve largely as a "clearinghouse and coordinator" in the future. Its secretary, Steve Seibert, has suggested it be renamed to the Department of Community Assistance.

The sweep of these recommendations is worrisome in itself but is made all the more troubling by the apparent haste with which the report is being thrust into public view. The draft plan was released late Thursday, which all but prevents meaningful public understanding prior to the commission's meeting on Monday, in which it is scheduled to review and possibly vote on the provisions. The final report is to be completed by Feb. 15.

"That's been part of our problem," notes Charles Pattison, executive director of 1,000 Friends of Florida, a distinguished growth management advocate group. "How do you react or propose something until you know where they're going?"

On that measure, the draft report establishes only broad outlines to which to react. Most of the vital details are missing, and some are being supplied in a less-than-inspiring manner. Consider the "full cost accounting" measure that replaces the concurrency requirements of the current law. Under the recommendation, the accounting method is designed to force local elected officials to make wise development decisions by fully disclosing the potential ramifications. Yet the plan makes no attempt to describe the methodology, the size of development to which it would apply, or how such decisions could be challenged and to whom. Seibert, when asked on Thursday, said, "I hope to have some clarity on full-cost accounting by Sunday night."

Seibert says that growth management reform is one of Gov. Bush's top priorities for the 2001 legislative session and points to the extensive public hearings and surveys as evidence of the sincerity. But the draft report that Bush's commission will examine on Monday looks little different than the rhetoric that Bush, a developer who once argued that DCA should be abolished, has used in days past.

Yes, growth management laws and regulations have become too cumbersome, overly bureaucratic, and they can clearly be focused to better purpose. But what Bush and his commission seem to miss is the root cause. Growth regulation has amassed over the past 25 years largely because cities and counties have refused to take a hint.

Drive along Ulmerton Road in Pinellas County, along the one-mile stretch between two overpasses designed to speed traffic, and you will find the litter of growth management. You will find the fast-food franchises, the hotels, the shopping strips, the traffic lights that were all the product of modern-day local government decisions. You will find the failure of the state to get their attention. The notion that city and county commissions will now do a better job if only the state will get off their backs is a simple farce.

For this growth debate to enter the Legislature with any credibility, the study commission needs to spend considerably more time at the drawing board.

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