AROUND FLORIDA

1000 Friends Challenges Property Rights Amendments

An initiative to place on the ballot constitutional amendments requiring the government to compensate landowners for land use and environmental regulations went before the Supreme Court of Florida in January. 1000 Friends filed a brief in opposition to the "Peoples Property Rights" amendment, and was represented by Thomas Pelham of Tallahassee. Common Cause, Florida Audubon, the League of Cities, Association of Counties, and the Department of Community Affairs joined in the case.

Two amendments are at issue. One would change Florida’s Constitution to create a new exception for property rights in the single subject rule, which the Court applies to gauge the validity of citizen initiatives. The other proposes to create a new right of landowners to be compensated for any reduction in value of property when regulated by state, regional, or local government. This would drastically reduce the ability of state and local governments to plan for and manage growth and to protect the environment and public health. Notes attorney Pelham, these amendments "put each individual’s property rights over the rights of the rest of us." If they pass muster at the Court and receive sufficient signatures, these amendments will be on the ballot in 1998.

--Terrell K. Arline

Thomas Pelham’s Remarks Before the Florida Supreme Court:

"The People’s Property Rights Initiative permits constitutional amendment initiatives which radically alter the way in which our legal system determines the existence of private property rights and remedies for violation of those rights."

"The People’s Property Rights Initiative embraces the subject of land use regulation. It permits future initiative proposals imposing new limits on the power of any branch and any level of government to regulate the use of land. Under such a proposal, there would be no unencumbered power to regulate any use of land (other than common-law nuisances) which causes any reduction in the fair market value of land."

"The initiative permits creation of a new property right not presently recognized in this state: the right not to have the fair-market value of one’s private property reduced by any governmental use restriction unless the restriction prohibits a common-law nuisance. There is no such property right in this state today. A landowner only has the right not to have the value of its property reduced to such an extent that it constitutes a taking under the Just Compensation Clauses of the Federal and Florida Constitutions."

Sustainable Communities Selected

The Florida Department of Community Affairs announced on January 7 the selection of five communities to participate in Florida's Sustainable Communities pilot project. They are Boca Raton, Hillsborough County and Tampa as joint applicants, Orlando, Ocala, and Martin County. Secretary Jim Murley noted, "There is no doubt that as these communities move forward, their work will produce benchmarks for better land planning."

The 1996 Legislature enacted the Sustainable Communities demonstration project to further six broad principles of community planning: restoring key ecosystems; achieving a more clean, healthy environment; limiting urban sprawl; protecting wildlife and natural areas; advancing the efficient use of land; and creating quality communities and jobs. Twenty-eight communities applied for the designation.

As one of Florida's "Sustainable Communities," Boca Raton will promote downtown mixed use redevelopment projects such as Mizner Park, pictured here.

The Department of Community Affairs will now develop written agreements with each of the selected communities, outlining measures to ensure citizen participation and methods to monitor progress. The communities receive substantially reduced oversight of local comprehensive plan amendments and developments of regional impact, and are given increased priority in other state programs and projects.

Each community specified in its application what it hopes to accomplish through participation. Goals include downtown revitalization in Boca Raton, expanded affordable housing and a joint city/county planning agreement in Hillsborough County and Tampa, and downtown historic district designation in Ocala. Martin County plans to develop more disaster-resistant communities, and Orlando intends to incorporate the concepts of New Urbanism in its Southeast Orlando Development Plan and improve coordination on locating schools.

According to 1000 Friends Director Patricia McKay, "The Sustainable Communities pilot program recognizes Florida's leaders in growth management and gives them greater flexibility to excel. We all stand to learn from their accomplishments."

In response to concerns about lessened state oversight of local planning, says McKay, "It will be the responsibility of concerned citizens, and organizations such as 1000 Friends, to monitor these programs and make sure they live up to the high expectations. 1000 Friends fully endorses Sustainable Communities as a pilot program, but we need to see the results a few years down the road before we apply the concepts to other communities."

School Siting Struggles

In a planning dispute that may have statewide ramifications, the Leon County School Board is proceeding with plans to locate a new high school outside the Tallahassee Urban Services Area (USA) and in conflict with the local comprehensive plan. Both 1000 Friends of Florida and Tall Timbers Research, Inc., an ecological research center, are monitoring the situation, continuing to look for solutions, but preparing to take legal action if necessary.

The Red Hills Region of North Florida has been designated by the Nature Conservancy as "One of America's Last great Places."

The proposed school site is in North Florida's Red Hills Region--an area that has been designated by The Nature Conservancy as "One of America’s Last Great Places." It is the recharge area for the Floridan aquifer, which provides drinking water for half of the state.

Both 1000 Friends and Tall Timbers support development of a high school north of town to serve the area’s rapidly growing population. But both organizations believe that the proposed site, outside the current USA, will serve as a magnet for further urbanization in the region, violate the locally adopted comprehensive plan, and threaten the Floridan aquifer.

When the School Board made application to expand Tallahassee’s USA to accommodate the new school, the Tallahassee-Leon County Planning Department recommended against the site as being inconsistent with the comprehensive plan. Initially, the City supported this position and the County opposed it. After the local elections, the City reversed itself and joined the County in support of the site.

The issue was forwarded to the Florida Department of Community Affairs, which proposed a settlement agreement allowing the high school on the proposed site but limiting development potential in the area. The County Commission rejected the settlement in part because "the deal imposed too many conditions on growth." The School Board is now applying for permits to proceed with development, and a circuit court challenge looms on the horizon.

Patricia S. McKay, Executive Director of 1000 Friends, is concerned. "This high school siting sets a dangerous statewide precedent. It circumvents the comprehensive planning process, in effect saying that local government should only pay attention to its own plan when it wants to." McKay continues, "It also undermines the concept of the urban services area, the goal of which is to keep urban areas urban and protect and preserve our diminishing rural countryside for future generations." She also raises the issue of fairness. "What right does government have to require that the private sector comply with these rules, but not another public agency?"