Give us a Voice

Give us a Voice

GOVERNMENT WATCH by Dave Szymanski | Tampa Bay Editor

Many Gulf Coast businesses and organizations are up in arms against the Hometown Democracy movement, but its supporters say the criticisms are incorrect and overblown and the economy is not in danger.

Editor's Note: This is the second in a series of stories about the Hometown Democracy movement in Florida which would give citizens the right to vote on land-use changes. This story deals with some people active in supporting the movement.

Treasure Island attorney Ken Weiss grew up in Clearwater. When he graduated from law school, one of the first things he did was oppose a plan to build a Holiday Inn on Clearwater Beach. He thought it would ruin the beach for residents and visitors.

"It was a question of destroying the beach lifestyle," Weiss says. "People came here to escape the concrete canyons. Developers want to dump a bunch of concrete and leave. They want to make money and leave."

Weiss failed.

Fast forward about 25 years: 2001. Some residents in Treasure Island wanted to oppose an amendment to the building code which would've taken height restrictions from 50 to 100 feet. With Weiss' help, the amendment failed by a ratio of 2 to 1.

Fast-forward five more years: November 2006. In St. Pete Beach, voters considered amending the city charter to allow residents to vote on building heights and land-use changes. Hotels were becoming condominiums.

Despite facing well-funded business opposition, and the city spending $300,000, Weiss won again. The citizens gained the right. Then the city sued. But the Second District Court of Appeal ruled the vote was constitutional.

"Citizens objected to the comprehensive plan," Weiss says. "They talked to me. We've given citizens some input into the plan."

Since then, people from around Florida have called the 59-year-old Weiss for advice and help. He earned the nickname, "the Beach Crusader."

Separate but similar

St. Pete Beach was a local effort. Hometown Democracy is a similar, yet different and legally separate statewide one. Hometown is based in New Smyrna Beach and exists to get an initiative on the ballot statewide and approved in 2008. Supporters are collecting signatures to get the initiative on the ballot. They've got more than 400,000. They need 611,099 by February.

Meanwhile, critics, including the Florida Chamber of Commerce, have begun to rally against the vote, which they linked to Hometown Democracy. To businesses, if citizens vote on land-use changes, development projects would be delayed and could die, redevelopment of older areas could be hamstrung, and the entire construction industry that is a pillar of the local economy could be undermined.

They use the words "depression," and fear that Floridians would begin leaving the state because they couldn't make a living. In an email to supporters, the chamber called the movement "Hometown Scam" and says it has an "extremist political agenda."

"This group wants to put an initiative on the 2008 ballot that will kill jobs and shut down important projects such as road improvements and school construction," the email read. "The Hometown Scam initiative would halt progress in Florida and undermine our economy."

Hogwash, opponents say.

"It's the same doom and gloom we've been hearing for a while," said Ross Burnaman, attorney, vice president of the board and author of Hometown Democracy in Tallahassee. "The defenders of the status quo said this about tobacco and the minimum wage. Their comments are totally without any merit."

Exhibit A for Burnaman: Local land use plans have already grandfathered in a lot of development. The DRIs, or Developments of Regional Impact, aren't even affected by comprehensive plan changes. And there are hundreds of those that haven't been built yet.

"There's so much growth on the books," Burnaman says. "They can build for another 50 years. The chamber is trying to whip people into a frenzy. It's just a bunch of baloney."

"If you really put some logic to this, if you have a nice place to live, the value of that land would go up," Weiss says. "Limiting density would increase the value of your homes."

Historically, business interests have not faced a lot of opposition from voters or politicians, he says.

"Basically developers have been running the state," Weiss says. "The landscape is changing. Why shouldn't citizens have a right to vote?

"Whatever developers wanted they got," he says. "Very few commissioners take a stand against developers. There has begun to be a change and I hope there will be."

Very often, there are Realtors and people with other business interests on the city commission, Weiss says.

"Once people are motivated, they throw out the people they don't want," he says. "Citizens are not against development. They are against over-development.

"Why shouldn't citizens have the right to vote?" Weiss asked. "Because developers want to make more money."

Although their goals are similar, the effort in St. Pete Beach is not legally linked to Hometown Democracy.

"The other side likes to call us a franchise of Hometown, but that's not accurate," Weiss says.

Weiss and his supporters don't oppose development. They just want it controlled.

"I think it's a question of moderation," he says.

REVIEW SUMMARY

Issue: Development and landowner rights

Industry: Construction

Key: Keep the economy healthy, serving tourists with enough hotel rooms and balancing the desires of residents.