by Mark Stowe
In Alachua County, as in much of Florida, many people fear helpless in the face of the juggernaut of development. It is particularly frustrating that we cannot count on even the limited protection of the Comprehensive Plan for our area.
Again and again we see that developer interests are able to obtain from the city and county commissions the zoning changes and special use permits they desire - even when these changes are clearly at odds with the spirit of the comprehensive plan, and the expressed wishes of the people living in the affected neighborhoods.
A case in point concerns the area that is now the Hunter's Crossing shopping center. The city commission's decision to change that area's zoning from residential to commercial was very unpopular with the area neighborhood association and the vast majority of a large number of citizens attending the commission meeting.
WEALTH DESTROYS RURAL BEAUTY
The combination of the Devil's Millhopper Park and the officially designated Scenic (Millhopper) Road lent a wonderful rural character to the whole neighborhood and made it a favorite of bicyclists and joggers. But the wealth of our memories was toosed on the garbage heap in favor of the wealth of commerce.
It is particularly annoying, given that a shopping center serving that neighborhood could have been built north or east of that intersection, instead of being built pratically on top of one of the most popular parks in North Florida.
The Newberry cement plant decision (if it is not overturned) will change a large rural area of the county into an environment akin to something out of the movie Blade Runner (drive by the Brooksville cement plant at night to see what I mean).
If the high density housing near Biven's Arm is approved, we can look forward to losing the wilderness value (esthetic and ecological) of one of Gainesville's jewels.
CITIZEN ZONING CONTROL?
How can we prevent these travesties?
In theory, we can always elect city and county commissioners who will stand up to developer interests. In practice, the voters' mood will always swing periodically in the conservative direction and periodically there always will be commissioners who give the developers what they want. Sooner or later the development ratchet will turn Alachua County into another Orlando.
Actually, I believe there is some hope of saving some of Alachua County's character -- if the law is changed to decide zoning changes by popular vote. There are many ways this could be done.
At one extreme, zoning changes would be voted on as usual by city and county commissions, but a period of time after the decision could be allowed for citizens to gather petitions to force a referendum on controversial zoning changes in the next election.
At the other extreme, all zoning decisions would be decided by ballot --the ballots going out only to those voters deemed by some legal definition to be in the area most affected by the change (much like the voting mechanism for annexation). Whatever the mechanism, I believe that even a predominantly conservative electorate will vote against zoning changes that are damaging to the character of an area.
ATTORNEY'S ADVICE SOUGHT
Many questions come quickly to mind. Would a zoning change referendum require changes in city, county or state regulations? How could the new law be written to prevent NIMBY (not in my back yard) conflicts with public interests? What counter tactics will the developers use? Are there laws like this anywhere else?
Mark Hostetler (a friend, fellow biologist and Biven's Arm acitvist) and I have contacted an attorney who has offered to explore these questions for a minimal fee of $500.
At the suggestion of Friends of Alachua County (FAC) members and Elections Supervisor Beverly Hill, Mark and I have formed a registered Political Action Committee (PAC) to raise funds to pay the attorney.
PAC APPEALS FOR FUNDS
So we are asking for your help! We aim for a few score of small donations (even $5 helps!) to get the research done. Any money left over wioll be used to take the idea toward the charter/constitution amendmnent stage. If at any time the PAC is dissoved, we have designated the Nature Conservancy to receive the remaining funds.
Send your checks made out to P.L.U.C. (we don't like this temporary name and welcome suggetions for change) to:
Mark Hostetler, 1752 S.W. 37th Pl., Gainesville, FL 32608 Look for reports of progress here in FACT.