Hometown Threats

Hometown Threats

GOVERNMENT WATCH by Dave Szymanski | Tampa Bay Editor

The citizen's initiative to control growth has some people worried that future construction will not happen and the entire economy will suffer.

Editor's Note: This is first in a series of stories on Hometown Democracy, a citizen's movement to control growth in Florida. This story touches on St. Pete Beach, the first town in Florida to pass Hometown Democracy.

Hometown Democracy. As a name, it might conjure images of motherhood, apple pie, backyard barbecues, small town Fourth of July parades, the family farm, baseball and Chevrolets.

But to some Gulf Coast businesses, it stirs other images, like dust bowls or tumbleweeds rolling through an abandoned town.

"You're going to see more blight," says Deborah Nicholas, owner of the Sirata Hotel in St. Pete Beach, which amended its city charter to allow Hometown Democracy. "You're going to see vacant land and vacant stores. Someone has to take up that slack."

That's because to some businesses, Hometown Democracy is a threat. Specifically, the construction and development industries - a pillar of the Florida economy - and many Florida businesses affiliated with them, say they stand to suffer, as will people employed by them. As a pillar, that suffering could spread to the entire economy.

For citizen activists who are tired of traffic, highrise condos and more shopping centers, it is a way to control growth and preserve a way of life that they say drew them to Florida.

Going too far?

In a nutshell: Hometown Democracy is a Florida citizen's movement to pass laws that require major land-use changes to be voted on by referendum. There are local efforts to change the laws in several Florida cities. And there's a statewide effort to get signatures to change the law statewide in Florida through the 2008 ballot. The first of these laws passed locally, in St. Pete Beach.

What does this mean? This means that if your town passes Hometown Democracy, if you're a landowner or developer, and you want to build something, and you need to change the land use in the comprehensive plan to do it, you would have to wait for the citizen's vote. If you have a group of residents that don't like new construction, you may never get a chance to build on your property.

And that will be devastating for Florida, some people say.

"People out here are trying to decide what to do with their land," Nicholas says. "This stops everything. It truly is a mess."

She is trying keep her block intact. "We're trying to save our block for tourism," she says.

What is happening in St. Pete Beach and in other Florida beach communities is that smaller mom-and-pop motels need to come down and recreate themselves as larger, better hotels to compete. But without approval from citizens, they can't do that in St. Pete Beach. Some property values have dropped in the past year.

"There's no incentive for anyone to tear down and rebuild," Nicholas says. "The Travel Lodge here needs to come down."

The issue is political and frustrating for some businesses because some of the politicians voting on land use issues are part of the Citizens For Responsible Growth group that supports Hometown Democracy. Putting things to a vote involves campaigning.

"Planning decisions will be made on bumper stickers," says Deborah Martohue, a land use attorney in St. Pete Beach.

Unlike other citizen campaigns, Hometown Democracy is organized and is using St. Pete Beach as leverage to pass similar laws in other Florida cities, Martohue says. "Hometown Democracy is like a franchise," she says. "There are about 15 organizations that have invaded small towns. There's a large elderly demographic. They are collecting signatures."

One recent development plan in St. Pete Beach involved a business that assembled land for redevelopment into condominiums. Even though the developer was donating a park to the city, citizens voted it down.

"People don't want to listen to facts," Nicholas says. "This is a fear factor."

Fighting growth

Hometown Democracy happened because of Florida's growth spurts, she says.

"People wanted to stop it, but unfortunately, they went overboard," Nicholas says. "We need some new development. We can't let the city stagnate. There has to be a happy compromise."

But without that, there is uncertainty. And the construction market doesn't like uncertainty, Martohue says.

"When there is political instability, the market drops," she says. "We were the only city in Pinellas that lost value last year. You can do all things right and meet building codes to a T and the voters can still vote you down."

Another example of instability: The tony Ritz Carlton hotel chain considered St. Pete Beach but chose the causeway area of Tampa instead.

"This is taking the market and international investment out of Florida," Martohue says. "We will spiral into depression faster than you can say 'Boo' if Hometown Democracy takes ahold statewide."

More than construction is affected, she says. "It's everything," Martohue says. "It's banking. It affects new houses, hospitals. How can we service our demographics?

"I see a terrible impact on how Florida's economy runs," she says. "This blows the framework out of the water."

A statewide initiative for Hometown Democracy failed in 2003. But supporters got a ballot summary approved in 2005. They are now trying to get 750,000 signatures to put it on the ballot again in 2008.

The competition Florida faces from other states would intensify, Martohue says. "Businesses are already going to the Carolinas and the Midwest because of cheaper land and cheaper taxes," she says.

Hometown Democracy could eventually affect tourism because new construction and redevelopment efforts would decline. And that would affect state revenues because tourists pay the bed tax when they stay in Florida hotels.

"And if you lose the tourism industry, say hello to a state income tax," Martohue says. "We need the bed tax money that tourists bring."

Hometown Democracy has already taken a personal toll on Martohue. Her home lost $150,000 in value in the past year. Her neighborhood is changing.

"They are bulldozing part of Corey Avenue," she says. "It used to be shops and stores.

"This will touch on every business your readers are involved in," Martohue adds. "People don't know what they are voting for."

REVIEW SUMMARY

Issue: Hometown Democracy

Industry affected: Construction, development and affiliated industries

Key: Find a way to control development without crippling the economy.